True collegial groups among teachers, in any context, still remain the exception and not the norm in many schools — especially for online teachers.
In our last post on instructional leadership, we touched on the issue of professional development (PD) and the necessity of providing online teachers with ongoing training, support, and PD. This post will expand on the critical importance of PD for new online teachers and ongoing PD for all online teachers.
Teachers, I’d like to introduce you to my new friend, 2019. We’ve just met, but I have the feeling we’re going to get along splendidly.
When it comes to our students, we strive to foster growth mindsets and implement competency-based learning in our classrooms. But when it comes to our own professional development, we
I’m not ashamed to admit it — I’m 34, married with three children and I still like to play video games. While the Sega Genesis
My colleagues, Kelli Hixon and Stacey Schuh, regularly facilitate blended learning regional events across the state. In most cases, they’ve partnered up with intermediate school
Throughout my childhood, I had teachers I connected with in a way I will never forget, while others have faded in my memories. What is the extra “something” those teachers possess? I think I’ve finally figured it out.
Exploring a blended learning project from start to finish.
We’re sorry to inform you that we have reached capacity for several of our Semester 1 and Trimester 1 courses. You’ll notice when attempting to enroll students in our Student Learning Portal that some courses are unavailable. While we are no longer accepting new enrollments for these courses at this time, many courses continue to remain open for enrollment.
With many students across the state 100% remote, demand for our online courses is greater than ever before. Because every course we offer is taught by a Michigan-certified teacher, this high volume of enrollments has created capacity issues for our teachers who provide each and every student with individual feedback.
While the Michigan Virtual team anticipated and planned for significant increases in student enrollments this Fall, the increased demand we’ve experienced has been unprecedented. As a result, we are taking steps to hire even more part-and full-time teachers to support larger numbers of student enrollments for Semester 2 as well as for Trimester 2 and 3.
For schools that still need online learning options this year, please fill out the form at the bottom of our virtual pathways page to meet with someone to discuss other solutions. While some of our teacher-led courses are full, we may still have the capacity to help you in upcoming terms or can discuss timing to implement a whole-school or collaborative program in which local teachers from your school/district use our online course content to teach students. We also have free course content and resources available for you to use.
We know this is an incredibly stressful time for all, and we’re sorry if the courses you’re looking for are unavailable. We never want to turn away a student who wants to learn from us. Our top concern, however, is student success, and we have a policy to not take on additional enrollments if we cannot guarantee that all students will have a quality online learning experience.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate the unusually high volume of enrollments we are receiving.
