Introduction

Teachers Without Borders welcomes you to our Certificate of Teaching Mastery!

At 59 million, teachers are the largest professional group on the planet. Together, we have the ability to significantly improve the quality of life for our children, our communities, and our earth.

The Certificate of Teaching Mastery provides hands-on experiences coupled with theory and educational innovations from around the globe. In the end, you'll create an electronic Teaching Portfolio to showcase your work and develop a culminating Service Project - a professional gift to your community.

Thank you for making the commitment to join us and for connecting with a widening web of global colleagues and kindred spirits. Our grandest wish is that you take what you learn and use it for the greatest common good - apply it with heart, with mind, with hospitality, gratitude, and celebration.

HOW TO NAVIGATE THROUGH THE COURSE

One Way is to go Page by Page:

To get to the next page, look at the right side of this screen. You'll see a blue horizontal bar and just to its right is an orange-brown colored bar with the word "Next" written inside in black letters. Click on the word "Next." This takes you to the next page.

Another Way is to view the entire Course Outline:

This way allows you to see the whole course at once and to go anywhere. Courses are divided into several "Modules," which contain reading material, assignments, and access points to the TWB Learning Cafe. If you look at the blue horizontal bar to the right you will see that it says, "Module: 1 Page: 1 of 6." This tells you what module you're in and what page you're on out of the total number of pages in that module.

To get the "big picture" of the course, look underneath the blue horizontal bar and click on the word "Outline." If you click on "Outline," a screen will come up that will show you the outline for this course. Click on the second topic (in the long list of black words) that says, "Outline of Certificate of Teaching Mastery." This will get you to the next page, OR click on any other title in black and it will take you to that part of the course.

Whenever you wish to go back to a previous page, look to the left of the blue horizontal bar and click on the word "Previous." This takes you back one page. (You can also use the "Outline" button described above to take you back one page or to any other page in the course.)

Outline of Certificate of Teaching Mastery

The Certificate of Teaching Mastery is made up of 5 distinct online courses that are practical, interactive, and oriented for educators who teach children ages 5 to 18. They are as follows:

Course 1: Education for the New Millennium

Course 2: Teaching Methods

Course 3: Assessment Practices

Course 4: Culture for Understanding

Course 5: Educating for Civil Societies

These courses can be taken in any order, and upon successful completion of all 5 courses, a teacher earns a Teachers Without Borders Certificate of Teaching Mastery.

Courses Can Be Taken Individually

For teachers who do not wish to earn the Certificate of Teaching Mastery, Courses 1 - 4 are available to be taken as separate, "stand-alone" courses. Given the distinct nature and focus of each course, a teacher may choose to take only 1 or 2 courses, 3 or 4 as needed to support the work that they are doing in their classsroom. This kind of course flexibility allows teachers to choose what they need and to enter any course at any time.

TWB Learning Cafe

Each course has access to our TWB Learning Cafe - an interactive cyperspace where teachers can meet; gain practical tips for their classrooms; discuss ideas; share assignments; and see examples of "what works" from colleagues around the world.

HOW TO VISIT THE TWB LEARNING CAFE:

To go to the TWB Learning Cafe, click here.

Once you arrive, read the welcome page first and then look at the bottom of it and click on "What I See." Read what has been written, and add what you see from YOUR window. Click on the "Question Wall," and add a question to it.

At certain points within the course, you'll specifically be instructed to go to the TWB Learning Cafe to deepen your understanding of the course material through conversations with global colleagues. Please know, however, that you may enter the TWB Learning Cafe at any time you wish - read what's there and share your thoughts. You can also enter the TWB Learning Cafe even if you are not navigating within a course but you're on the internet by typing the following URL into your browser: http://oneface.typepad.com/lois/1_welcome_to_course_1/index.html

A Closer Look

Find the course(s) that works best for you:

Course 1: Education for the New Millennium - Bringing New Thinking in Education into Classroom Practice

In this course, you'll be introduced to educational theories and approaches to learning and how to apply them to your classroom; aspects of effective teaching; and contemporary issues in education. The material reflects a pattern of inclusive, discovery-oriented, culturally-attuned, and globally-aware teaching.

Course 2: Teaching Methods - Looking at Theory, Planning, and Management

In this course, you'll be introduced to thematic learning and cooperative learning and you'll have a chance to develop lesson plans with these ideas in mind. You are given practical tools for classroom management and ways in which you can guide students to think about their own process of learning.

Course 3: Assessment Practices - Improving Student Performance

You'll discover a new way of designing curriculum so that you get the results you want. This course includes an introduction to student portfolios, problem-based learning, and rubrics that assess different aspects of student work such as mastery of the material, or the ability to apply what one has learned to real-life experiences.

Course 4: Culture for Understanding - Understanding Our Students

In this course, you'll explore your own cultural competence in the classroom; apply multiculturalism to problem-solving; receive training on service learning; and discuss how to create and sustain connections with classrooms around the world.

Course 5: Educating for Civil Societies - Teaching as Research and Action

This course is a culminating experience with two outcomes: 1) The creation of an electronic Teaching Portfolio (E-Portfolio) that showcases your work from Courses 1 - 4 of the Certificate of Teaching Mastery; and 2) A Service Project - a professional gift to your community that applies what you have learned in the previous four courses to address a local, national, or global need in one of the following areas:

E-Portfolio

Teachers who successfully complete Courses 1 - 4 will gain access to our Teachers Without Borders Electroninc Teaching Portfolio (E-Portfolio) as part of Course 5.

As you know, a portfolio is a powerful assessment tool, and includes evidence from your work on major topics - successes, challenges, and questions. The key word is evidence that can show - far more than tests - what you know and what you need to do in order to improve. Portfolios are a professional way of demonstrating your competence and showing employers your achievements.

Traditional portfolios in the form of folders, boxes, or 3-ring binders hold papers, pictures, cassette tapes, and more. With an electronic Teaching Portfolio, known as an "E-Portfolio," information can be stored digitally, taking up little physical space, and is easily accessed from anywhere in the world.

Teachers Without Borders is pioneering E-Portfolios for teachers, and we have provided a way for you to design one. Your electronic Teaching Portfolio will contain the following elements:

You will be able to complete all of the E-Portfolio elements by completing your assignments within each course as you go along.

To view the electronic Teaching Portfolio, click here .

HOW TO GET TO THE NEXT MODULE:

Usually, you just click "Next" to go to the next page. However, if you look at the blue horizontal bar to the right, you will see that it says, "Module: 1 Page: 6 of 6." This means that you have finished all six pages of that six-page module. When you finish a module, you need to click on the "Outline" button, which is on the bottom, right-hand side of the page. Look underneath the blue horizontal bar and click on the word "Outline."

When you click on "Outline," a screen will come up that will show you the outline for Course 3. Look for the next section to read and click on the first topic in that next section. For example, when you get to the outline now, look under the next section called "Understanding Our Students" and look for the first topic in black lettering called "Course Overview." Click on "Course Overview."