LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

CEU courses open for enrollment

The Civil Rights Movement in Context
Investigate the precursors to the Civil Rights Movement, its leadership, its opposition, and its legacy, including lesser-studied events of the movement and primary sources.
Take this course: Begins February 2.

From the education reference

personal growth plan
Teacher description of goals set for personal professional growth, including both long- and short-term goals. Many states provide a template for organizing growth plans, often aligned to professional standards (for example, INTASC or school improvement plans). Teachers select professional development, in-service, and continuing education opportunities to help them achieve personal growth goals.
aesthetics education
Teaching students to critically view art so as to become more reflective and discriminating in their opinions of various art forms.
aesthetic education
Education that recognizes the interconnectedness of body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Enabling students to express perceptions, feelings and ideas through reflective shaping of media including paint, clay, music, spoken or written words, and bodies in movement.
bilingual education
Classes taught in a combination of a students’ first language and English, geared toward helping student with limited English proficiency (LEP) become proficient in English as a second language (ESL). Students in bilingual programs receive part of their daily instruction in English and part in a second language. Significant portions of the school day are devoted to ESL instruction, in which each student receives intensive assistance in learning English.
comprehensive sex education
Sex education programs that teach about abstinence and contraception. Comprehensive sex education includes discussions of human anatomy, reproduction, and sexually transmitted diseases.
multicultural education
Education philosophy and curriculum that expands traditional white Western European curricula, highlighting themes and subjects from diverse cultural, ethnic, racial, and gender perspectives. An important focus of multicultural education is to create equal educational opportunities so that all students can succeed in an increasingly diverse and pluralistic society.
distance education
Instructional delivery option that takes advantage of various space or technology resources. Distance education enhances options for students to access educational resources to overcome geographic, mobility, or time constraints.
experiential education
Instructional approach based on the idea that ideal learning occurs through experience. Learning tasks require the active participation of the student in hands-on opportunities and must connect content to the student's life.
gifted education
Educational programs designed to offer enriched opportunities for students identified as having the highest academic potential, including additional classes, programs, or services. Gifted students are considered to have the capacity to achieve beyond the norm based either on IQ scores, demonstrated ability in the classroom, or both.
abstinence-only education
Curriculum that teaches abstention from sexual activity until marriage.
special education
Programs serving students with mental and physical disabilities. Special education programs provide individualized education plans that detail services children will receive.
character education
Educational initiative that promotes integration of core moral and civic values in the curriculum.
banking model of education
Model of education in which teachers "deposit" information and skills into students. The emphasis is on memorization of basic facts rather than on understanding and critical thinking. The idea of the banking model was articulated and critiqued by Brazilian liberation theologist Paulo Freire in Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970).
year-round education
Model of education in which students attend school throughout the year with regular short breaks.
comprehensive sex education
Sex education programs that teach about abstinence and contraception. Comprehensive sex education includes discussions of human anatomy, reproduction, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Brown versus Board of Education
Landmark decision of the U. S. Supreme Court (1954) that affirmed the constitutional guarantee of equal opportunity in education. Arguing that the doctrine of "separate but equal" facilities had no place in the American system of education, the court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
continuing education unit
Nationally recognized unit of measurement for participation in non-credit continuing education programs. One CEU is recognized as 10 contact hours of participation in a continuing education experience under responsible sponsorship.
Individualized Education Plan
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, mandates that each student with a disability who is enrolled in the Exceptional Children's (EC) program have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The goal of IDEA is to educate students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment possible. IEPs describe how the school plans to educate each EC student while accommodating the student's disability. IEPs often specify modifications to be provided by teachers.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
1975 federal law (amended in 1997) under which schools must guarantee that all children with disabilities receive "free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment." The statute requires that children with disabilities be educated with children who are not disabled, and that removal from the regular classroom may occur only when the nature or severity of the disability interferes with the successful delivery of aid and services.

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DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program
The DESTINY (Delivering Edge-Cutting Science Technology and Internet Across North Carolina for Years to Come) Traveling Science Learning Program is Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s formal science education initiative serving pre-college teachers and students across North Carolina.
Format: article/field trip opportunity
LEARN NC Virtual Mentoring Program
LEARN NC mentors are experts in their subject matter and have effectively mentored teachers in their own school systems. Whatever the challenge, LEARN NC will be there from the first day of class through the final bell of the year.
About LEARN NC
LEARN NC, a program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education, provides lesson plans, professional development, and innovative web resources to support teachers, build community, and improve K-12 education in North Carolina.
Format: article/help
The law and disabilities
A brief overview of two major laws — the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 — that protect students with disabilities in schools.
By Margaret P. Weiss.
The Binational Migrant Education Program
In Bridging Spanish language barriers in Southern schools, page 3.1
The Binational Migrant Education Program helps students, teachers, school administration, and parents manage the education of students who move between the United States and Mexico.
By Jennifer Whytock.
Carolina Online Teacher Program (COLT)
Now you can earn a LEARN NC Certificate in online instruction through the Carolina Online Teacher program (COLT). In five core courses and two electives, totaling a minimum of 17 CEUs, you’ll master the component skills of online teaching: effective collaboration and facilitation, creating learning communities, navigating the virtual classroom, and developing student-centered instruction.
Format: article/help
Communities In Schools of Wake County: “Just passing isn’t good enough!”
The educators of Communities In Schools (CIS) of Wake County, after ascertaining that the average grade of their middle school students was low D to F, determined to change their program drastically. They researched programs across the country that demonstrated success with students with profiles similar to those of CIS students, hired an education consulting company to help them establish measurement matrices, and instituted a range of new policies and activities. As a result, CIS students’ grades improved to C in just six months.
Format: article
By Susan B. Hansell.
Integrating computer use into a Trainable Mentally Disabled Level IV curriculum.
Students involved in the Trainable Mentally Disabled program will use computers to supplement reading and personal information skills being taught as part of the implementation of student's Individual Education Plan. This activity will also allow students to reinforce fine-motor, visual-motor and behavioral skills.
Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Computer/Technology Skills)
By Suzanne Morris.
Using a classroom webpage to communicate with parents
Kathleen Eveleigh keeps her parents involved in her first-grade classroom by integrating a classroom webpage with her daily instruction.
Format: article
By Sydney Brown.
Global education as good pedagogy
A wide variety of teaching strategies and resources pass under the name of global education. This article provides strategies for evaluating global education and ensuring that it focuses on students' academic success.
By Suzanne Gulledge.
Special education in Mexico
In Bridging Spanish language barriers in Southern schools, page 3.3
In the 1990s, the inclusive education movement gained ground in Mexico, which resulted in the mainstreaming of special needs students into regular classrooms. The effects of this movement can be seen in the educational policies and services focusing on special needs students in Mexico.
Format: article
By Mary Faith Mount-Cors.
So many choices, so little time
This lesson will introduce students to Theoretical and Experimental Probability using Crazy Choices and Spinner, a resource of Shodor Education Foundation, Inc. Permission has been granted for the use of the materials as part of the workshop Interactivate Your Bored Math Students.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
By Beth Jorgensen.
Cooperative learning
Cooperative learning is an instructional method in which students work together in small, heterogeneous groups to complete a problem, project, or other instructional goal, while teachers act as guides or facilitators. This method works to reinforce a student's...
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Helping Latino students feel comfortable in your classroom
In Bridging Spanish language barriers in Southern schools, page 2.2
Most Latino students have experiences, family backgrounds, and expectations that conflict with the expectations of the American classroom environment. By understanding the expectations of Latino students and their parents, teachers can help them to succeed.
By Sarah Plastino.
Conversations, questions, and answers for a beginning teacher
A kindergarten teacher begins her career with an excellent support network.
By Kathleen Casson.
Managing paperwork: top priorities for organization
Suggestions for keeping track of your teaching materials, your students, and their work.
By Mitch Katz.
Experience North Carolina's state parks with EELEs
An EELE is an Environmental Education Learning Experience -- a site-specific program offered by the North Carolina state parks system. EELEs include pre-visit activities, on-site activities and post-visit activities, but they do not necessarily have to be used in conjunction with a group visit. Educators can attend EELE workshops to gain rich educational experiences that provide knowledge, insight, and immediate practical materials for use in the classroom.
Format: article
By Linda Dow.
Interdisciplinary integrated unit on DNA and genetics Part A: Science
The first part of an interdisciplinary week-long unit on DNA and genetics, focusing on science. Parts B and C of the unit focus on math and language arts.
Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Information Skills and Science)
By Jane Lentz, Jimmy White, Tori Goldrick, and Marlene Smith.
Fair or unfair: Introduction to probability
This lesson introduces the idea of probability theory. Students will use everyday experiences and intuitive understanding to gain an understanding of probability.

This lesson uses resources of Shodor Education Foundation, Inc. Permission has been granted for the use of the materials as part of the workshop-"Interactivate Your Bored Math Students."
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Mathematics)
By Bonnie Boaz.
Light, camera, action! Shadows?
This lesson will demonstrate how the position of a light source or direction of light and the time of the day will affect the shadow images that are depicted in our environment over a period of time.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Computer/Technology Skills, Mathematics, and Science)
By Alta Allen.