Summer 2008

• All Courses Earn 3 College Credits

• To register, see our registration information.

• New! Effective June 1, 2008, all GIS courses may be taken for 4.5 or 9.0 CEUs; these courses may also be taken for 3 or 6 graduate credits. Consult the course descriptions, FAQs, and Registration pages for further information.

Guided Independent Study: Lots of new course offerings!

• The Art of the Essay: Reading and Writing Essays in the Classroom

• Among the Notables—Sinclair Lewis: America’s First Nobel Laureate for Literature

• The Authentic Voice: The “Writing” Teacher

• “Away From It All”— Writers on the Wilderness of Maine

• Beyond “Charlotte’s Web”: E.B. White—the Man, the Writer

• For the Love of Reading: On Engaging Students with the Printed Page

• Give Them Roots and Wings: The Power of Story for Teaching and Learning

• Great American Writers: A Self-directed Study

• Helping You Help the Young Learner

• How Did We Get Here From There?—Historical Perspectives on Contemporary Issues in Schools

• “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”: The Imaginative Literature of Flannery O’Connor

• Looking at Ourselves in the Mirror: Teachers as Reflective Practitioners

• The Long and the Short of It: Teaching—through the Short Story

• On Maine and the World: May Sarton—Her Work, Her Life

• Remembering Our Writers: Utilizing Maine Writers in the Classroom (K-12)

• So All May Learn: Behavior Management Strategies for Educational Technicians
  and Teachers (K-12)

• Successful Strategies in Today's Classroom for Education Technicians

• Teaching: A Novel Approach

• Their Voices Were Not Silent—Women Writers from Maine

• Whatever Happened to Childhood?—On Growing Up in Today’s World

New! Beyond Words: Teachers as Critical Readers

Mortimer Adler believed that reading was a life-long art form that required continually practice like any other art forms like playing a musical instrument, painting, cooking, etc. Adler wrote in his classic, HOW TO READ A BOOK (1940), " . . . most of us do not regard reading as a complicated activity, involving many different steps in each of which we can acquire more and more skill through practice, as in the case of any other art. We may not even think that there is an art of reading. We tend to think of reading as if it were something as simple and natural to do as looking or walking. . . . . Knowing how to real well [is] like any other art or skill. There [are] rules to learn and to follow. Through practice good habits must be formed. There [are] no insurmountable difficulties about it. Only willingness to learn and patience in the process required."

This study offers the opportunity for teachers to improve their own skills in the "art of reading." Using Mortimer Adler's classics (1940) and (1972), we will practice our own art of becoming better readers and thereby better teachers of "reading across the curriculum," by examining Adler's work and then taking on the challenging analysis of teaching written by the late, notable Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire. Freire's work on Critical Pedagogy will offer teachers the opportunity to enhance their own practice of reading and to reflect on Freire's critical analysis of post-modern education.

Independent Study

By request.

Instructor: Stephen York

Give Them "Roots and Wings"-the Power of Story in Teaching and Learning for Teachers and Educational Technicians K-12

Stories are powerful tools for teaching children important Life lessons.  Indeed, storytelling provides an enriching experience for students:  to learn about the past, to affirm important values for today and to explore their future ambitions.  The sharing of stories ignites the imagination and increases the appreciation for learning about the people and places in the world around us.  And, most importantly, it provides young students with a unique opportunity to travel within themselves on a wonderful journey of self-discovery.

This Independent Study will help educators:

•           develop new, creative ways to present stories to young people

•           build skills in reading and telling stories

•           identify several, great story and storytelling resources

•           deepen  their own understanding and appreciation for the “Power of Story”

Independent Study

By request.

Instructor: Bill Wood

New! The Long and the Short of It: Teaching—through the Short Story

“Stories have the power to direct and change our lives.” --Nel Noddings, Stories lives tell: Narrative and dialogue in education, (p.157) New York: Teachers College Press. (1991)

The short story as a literary genre and pedagogical methodology is considered through the lens of three classic 20th Century American writers: Flannery O’Connor, Jesse Stuart, and Eudora Welty. Participants will read and reflect on the short story in theory and practice, as well as read about the lives of these three acclaimed storytellers. Teacher reflection, with an eye toward using the short story effectively in the classroom, is a critical component of the study.

This is a limited enrollment course and may be taken at the locations below in weekend or summer sessions, or as a Guided Independent Study (GIS). Acceptance into the course is by consent of the instructor. This is a rigorous, graduate level course and may be taken for either 3 semester hours of graduate credit or for 4.5 or CEUs. Graduate credits are issued through Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire. CEUs issued by AICE are recognized for teacher recertification purposes by the Maine Department of Education, as stated on the DOE website.Participants must possess an undergraduate degree.

For a syllabus, contact the instructor, Stephen York at StpYo@aol.com or 207.367.5807

Independent Study

By request.

Instructor: Stephen York

New! So All May Learn: Behavior Management Strategies for Educational Technicians and Teachers (K-12)

We will look at challenging behaviors in schools (K-12) and ways that teachers and educational technicians may work in the classroom to maximize learning and to minimize disruptive behavior.  This course will be a collaborative learning process using Best Practices in adult learning.  Contact the instructor for course syllabus information upon registration at: StpYo@aol.com.

Independent Study

By request.

Instructor: Stephen York

New! Successful Strategies in Today's Classroom for Education Technicians

This course includes a comprehensive study of the vital role and responsibilities of Educational Technicians in the classroom. It includes behavior management, classroom organization, ethics, developing instructional skills, effective communication, and much more. A great opportunity for new and continuing Educational Technicians to develop professionally. This course will be a collaborative learning process using Best Practices in adult learning.

Independent Study

By request.

Instructor: Stephen York

New! Teaching: A Novel Approach

In a culture of unprecedented demands on teachers from federal and state mandates, systems issues and challenging pressures from a variety of stakeholders in schools, teachers need time to pause and reflect on their vocation. This course offers a "novel" opportunity for teachers to do so and to remember all of the good reasons why they entered the teaching profession in the first place.

Participants will select, read, and reflect on teaching through the lens of literature: the novel, memoir, biography. Throughout this venue, teachers will have the opportunity to explore the vast numbers of stories about teaching and to reflect on their own practice. This course is also offered as an independent study.

Independent Study

By request.

Instructor: Stephen York