Core Connection Course Catalog
Take PRIDE in Your Classroom: Supporting our LGBTQIA+ Students
This course is designed to equip educators with the knowledge, tools, and strategies necessary to support LGBTQIA+ students and foster an inclusive, respectful classroom environment. Through a combination of lectures, case studies, and practical exercises, participants will explore key topics such as gender identity, sexual orientation, and the unique challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ individuals in educational settings…
Summer Reading for Teachers 2025
This is the event to help you build your summer reading stack while connecting with fellow educators. Our expert panel will share their latest favorite children’s literature, offering fresh ideas you can immediately connect to your students. Plus, they'll highlight impactful professional books and articles on literacy that will spark your creativity for the upcoming year. Co-sponsored by the Literacy Teaching and Learning Department, University at Albany, and the Albany City Area Reading Council.
Teaching Assistants and Aides Support Series 2025 Book Study: "What We Say and How We Say It Matters"
This blended learning experience, based on the book, What We Say and How We Say It Matters, is designed specifically for paraeducators and combines synchronous virtual meetings, asynchronous learning, and in-person collaboration to explore how intentional language choices can transform the classroom environment…
Art of Connection: Empowering Art Teachers to Create Inclusive, Positive Environments Through Creative Activities
This professional learning opportunity will equip K-12 art educators with creative and effective strategies to foster community, build routines, and cultivate positive relationships during the first weeks of school…
Canva for Teaching: Create & Inspire
In this course, educators will explore Canva's tools and features to create engaging visual materials that enhance student learning. Through hands-on assignments, participants will develop materials to experiment with all tools and options Canva has to offer, including AI…
Bright Lights, Stage Fights, and a Dazzling Chorus: An Educator's Guide to Directing Musical Theatre
This course is designed to equip educators with the knowledge, tools, and strategies required to successfully produce and direct a school musical production. By the end of this course, educators will have a better understanding of the many facets required to successfully produce a full-scale musical as well as resources and strategies to overcome obstacles that are certain to pop up along the way…
Designing Place-Based, Data-Rich Science Lessons: Summer 2025
Places are more than just physical locations. They can include different cultures, histories, languages, and stories that create the world where science is done and data is worked with. These connections can be leveraged to create more engaging and authentic learning experiences in any science classroom. In this course, participants will discuss ways to use both primary and secondary data to tell a more coherent story about phenomena…
New Mentor Training July 2025
This course guides veteran teachers through the analysis of the knowledge and attributes critical to teacher mentoring. It will consist of asynchronous assignments with feedback provided by the facilitator weekly…
One Score, All Standards: A Comprehensive Musicianship Approach to Music Teaching
During this course, we will investigate strategies for teaching the full spectrum of NYS Music Standards through the lens of a single music composition. Working with repertoire selected specifically for your students, you will craft a unit of instruction that brings music to life…
Rhythms and Colors: Integrating Hispanic Music and Art Traditions
This professional learning opportunity is designed for art and music educators who seek to deepen their understanding of the rich and diverse traditions of Hispanic art and music. Through hands-on activities, discussions, and multimedia resources, educators will discover the vibrant forms of visual arts, folk music, and contemporary works that have shaped Hispanic cultures…
Engaging Practice with Digital Escape Rooms
Digital Escape Rooms can increase student engagement without sacrificing quality learning or wasting time. This course will teach you how to use Google Forms, Drawings, Slides, and Docs to create Digital Escape Rooms! In these activities, as students complete problems, the answers create a code to "unlock” each digital "room”…
Writing Workouts Book Study
Join us for an online book study on Rebecca G. Harper's new book, Writing Workouts. This book provides a method for instruction that gives students the fun they want and the targeted skill practice they need. Rebecca G. Harper shows us just how to use the method systematically, so writing is tied to relevant lessons and standards…
A Teacher's Guide to Math Workshop Book Study
This book study will give you the tools to take your current math curriculum and turn it into a successful math workshop. The chapters of this book provide overviews of components of math workshop, beliefs vs. actions, keys to success, read aloud books that go along with the components/concepts, and online tools and videos to support implementing math workshop…
No More Math Fact Frenzy Book Study
This book study of No More Math Fact Frenzy will provide educators with information about how what is happening in math class when studying and learning math facts is not working and how to fix it. Educators will gain knowledge about how to build stronger foundational skills, efficient strategies and meaningful math fact practice in and for their students…
The Science of Writing: Differentiated Practices for K-12 Success
Drawing from both cognitive science and classroom experience, The Science of Writing: Differentiated Practices for K-12 Success isn't just about theory - it's about practical, proven strategies you can use tomorrow. Whether you're helping kindergarteners form their first sentences or guiding high school seniors through complex analytical essays, you'll find strategies tailored to your students' needs…
What the Science of Reading Says about Word Recognition Book Study
In this book study, we will unlock helpful background information that will examine current research on the science of reading and topics such as phonological awareness, sight words, and fluency. Participants will also explore practical classroom tips and techniques to help students develop word recognition skills…
Study Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation
This book study of The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt's groundbreaking analysis, reveals how social media and modern parenting have created unprecedented mental health challenges for an entire generation. This 20 hour study includes discussion groups and practical applications for all participants…
Book Study for Special Educators: The Artificial Intelligence Playbook
This summer book study explores The Artificial Intelligence Playbook, focusing on how AI can serve as a virtual administrative assistant for special educators. Participants will learn practical applications of AI tools to reduce administrative workload and maximize time for meaningful student interactions. Led by a special educator for special educators, we'll focus on applications for case managers, inclusive classroom teachers and special class teachers…
Asking Questions to Improve Student Learning and Sustain an Inquiry-Based Culture
In this completely asynchronous course, we will learn how to use the Question Formulation Technique (QFT), a concise and powerful protocol that enables learners to produce their own questions, improve their questions, and strategize how to use them, with ways to apply it to your learners. We will then explore how to expand the use of the QFT from a one-off activity to a fully integrated and sustained inquiry-driven practice…
Authentic Literacy Experiences in Early Childhood: Balancing Fundations and Heggerty - Part 1
This professional learning course introduces reading and writing experiences designed to supplement your Fundations and Heggerty teaching by integrating phonics skills with authentic literacy practices, boosting engagement, and fostering a love for reading and writing in early childhood classrooms…