Friends, as you may be aware, we have been offering a free online course series, The Civics Classroom, open to all teachers but primarily targeting new and early career civics teachers in Florida.
“I just wanted to thank you for offering the online Civics Modules, I learned so much during the first one and can’t wait to implement some of the things I learned.” —A beginning civics teacher “Thank-you also for the course- I learned quite a bit about how to teach Civics in Florida and to especially to 7th graders.” —An experienced teacher new to civics in Florida
After much reflection, review of data, and discussion with teachers, we are going to be relaunching the course series later this spring with a new approach. The original iteration of the course featured a heavily interactive component where participants would engage with each other to discuss particular aspects of civics teaching and learning. The goal was to build a PLC of civics teachers that could work together and get to know each other, serving as a resource for each other no matter what district they were in.
Unfortunately, this did mean that we required folks to work on a specific timeline in each course; it was hard to feel successful in the course when you had to wait an extended period of time for someone to respond to your posts!
We believe that this course can improve instruction in civics. We think it can make a difference in the experiences and practices of civics teachers, and help hold the hand of new and beginning civics teachers as they find their way. So we want folks to find it beneficial, and to complete it. We want folks to feel success. As such, we are revising the course series in its entirety. What does this mean? Well, the videos and extra resources will remain, as will the expectations of a pre-test and post-test and submission of student data in order to get recertification points. The most significant change will be the replacement of the discussion boards and any timeline/deadline expectations.
The discussion boards are being replaced with a quiz at the end of each module, to ensure that you did learn about the focus of the module and are coming away with a greater sense of what is necessary to succeed.
You will be able to work at your own pace and not rely on others for successful completion of the course.
We expect to relaunch the course series later this spring, and we believe that the revisions we are making based on your feedback and the data we have reviewed will make the course series far more accessible and beneficial to civics teachers across the state and beyond.
Watch this space for more information about the relaunched course series! Questions can be directed to Dr. Steve Masyada.
Florida Civics 