District Administrators: For credit information on our courses, please see our University Credits, Units, and Transcripts page. 

Salary Advance Courses for Teachers | Jump Into PD

SCI 1339A (2 units)

REVOLUTIONIZE your science pedagogy, curriculum, AND align your course to the Next Generation Science Standards WHILE you earn units to advance your salary. Explore the hottest new science teaching trend: the storyline curricular model. More than a trend, however, it is a new and extremely engaging way to teach your students how to think and act like real scientists. Explore real phenomena and build your students’ critical thinking skills like never before.

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Total Cost with University Credit:
$240
How It Works:
Pay an initial course fee to Jump Into PD for course access. Before you complete the course, pay the remaining balance to Fresno Pacific University and order your transcript. More info.

Jennica

SCI 1339A (2 units)

30 hours
All levels
0 lessons
0 quizzes
2 students

Requirements

  • Google/Gmail account

Features

  • All coursework available online
  • Self-paced
  • Created by educators FOR educators
  • Google Classroom makes coursework simple and easy to use

Target audiences

  • Middle school science teachers
  • High school science teachers
  • Teachers who want to move over on the salary schedule
  • New Teachers
  • Teachers who want to learn more about adapting instruction to the NGSS

Before you enroll in one of our courses, please be sure and review our “How It Works” page.

SHORT SUMMARY: This online, self-paced, 2 unit course provides 6-12 educators like you with a comprehensive understanding of the science storyline curricular model. Compatible with currricula like OpenSciEd Biology, OpenSciEd Physics, OpenSciEd Chemistry, Inquiry Hub Biology, Inquiry Hub Chemistry, Amplify Science, Illinois Storylines, and others, this course dives into the pedagogical structure of the storyline curricular model and prepares you for adapting (or improving upon your current adaptation) to the changes in science teaching that the NGSS call for.

DETAILED SUMMARY: This course introduces new or experienced middle and high school science teachers to “science storylines.” Storylines are a novel way of creating units by organizing learning sequences so that all learning is phenomena-driven, each lesson is rooted in scientific inquiry and progressive sensemaking, and students “figure out” the content by engaging in science and engineering practices. The storyline curricular model provides teachers with both pedagogical and curricular strategies to prepare students to meet the performance expectations outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards.

Upon completion of this course, teachers can expect to obtain a much more thorough understanding of:

  • The Next Generation Science Standards
  • The benefits and drawbacks of the storyline curricular model (with strategies for mitigating those drawbacks)
  • The overall structure and concept behind “storylines” and
  • The storyline curricular options currently out there so you don’t have to “reinvent the wheel” (see full list below)

What if every time you asked a student in your classroom “Why are we doing this assignment right now?”, they actually KNEW the answer? 

Attention! A personal google/gmail account is required to access all coursework via Google Classroom.

*Be sure to get school district course approval PRIOR to enrolling if taking courses for salary advancement.

Curricular Options this Course is Compatible with:

  • Inquiry Hub
  • OpenSciEd
  • San Diego Unified Storylines
  • Illinois Biology Storylines
  • Peer Physics
  • New Visions for Public Schools Biology (NY)
  • New Visions for Public Schools Earth and Space Science (NY)
  • Schoolwide Labs Project
  • Amplify Science
  • K-12 Alliance
  • NextGenStorylines
Jennica
Hey there! My name is Jennica and I am a classroom educator with experience teaching a wide-range of science classes at the high school level. For more information about me please see the ABOUT section of our site.
Yes! Although this course is intended to be an introduction to storyline curriculum and its philosophical basis, this course comes with several freebie resources you can use immediately in your classroom.
Yes! The instructor has been teaching her high school students using storyline curriculum for years. She has made every mistake, experienced almost every possible roadblock, and has developed her own teaching strategies, scaffolding, and assessment systems to improve the storyline curricular model that make implementing it in the classroom significantly easier.
The transition to teaching using the storyline curricular model is steep- and heavily involves asking your students to actively learn (which can be a struggle, at times). Lectures from the teacher and direct instruction are few and far in between when you are teaching a storyline, so this course is structured in a way that mimics this.