North TIER 

Professional Development

See the catalog for course details.

Course Information

· Courses are 30 hours of work and earn either 30 hours towards re-certification . Participants spend 4-6 hours each week completing class activities.

· There is no need to be online at a certain time of the day, nor a set time each week.   Class participants must log in at points during the course week, complete the readings, activities, watch videos, create products, and participate in the discussion board. 

· North TIER does not charge fees to those that drop before the end of registration. We offer 90% refund for those dropping during the drop period, which is from the end of registration until 7 days after initial notification from your instructor.  There is no refund after the drop period.

· Graduate credit requires completion of all course work and discussions, plus an additional graduate-level reflection paper/action plan. Graduate credit fees include enrollment fees and instructor fees. Two hours of graduate credit will be awarded, in lieu of recertification hours, for successful completion of requirements. 

· Course instructions, including where and how to log in, are e-mailed to you when the course begins. You will receive reminder emails as you approach the start date of the course.

Note: North TIER requests that participants share their knowledge and participate in surveys.  All sessions take place online. All projects are due on or before the final date of the course.  For more information contact admin@northtier.org

When are courses?

North TIER holds courses four times a year: fall, winter, spring and summer.

Course Fees (Recertification)

15 hours $30 : non-member $5530 hours $55 : non-member $100

Graduate Credit Fees

2 credits $170 : non-member $210
Graduate Credit available through Colorado State University

Teacher Reviews

Differentiation Using Technology

I really enjoyed the discussion boards and getting ideas from other teachers. I also really appreciate all of the links to activities that are suitable for my classroom.During week 5 of this course there was a family emergency and I was able to take my mobile device and do my readings while waiting for results from my family members. I was also able to take my device and do some readings while my daughter was taking her swimming lessons. It made the course portable, and Moodle had no loading problems even when the internet was sketchy.I really appreciated the online discussion interactions with my classmates. I am from a different school district than anyone else, so it was great to be able to share ideas and hear thoughts from those who also work in Virginia but in different districts. I appreciated that the class materials were shared in a variety of articles, websites, and videos. This made the learning more engaging. I appreciated being able to sign in whenever I could and not having a particular time to sign in. Finally, the course facilitator did a good job of pushing conversations further in the discussion posts by asking further questions, etc.

Google Apps - Basic part 1:

I just wish we could have gone longer and learned more, but, as I stated earlier, I know that will be in the Google Classroom 2 course.Thank you! I plan on taking more courses through North Tier in the near future.This was a great course, I think there was added benefit to taking the course with a colleague.The workshop provided great questions to think about for the discussions but also had relevant material that was easily accessible and easy to follow as well. I found the videos they provided to be quite helpful.I am fairly new to G suite and resources that were available helped me to make sense to what was being requested. The functionality of all features were relatively easy to use.

Google Apps - Basic part 2:

Thank you for the great content! I learned a lot through creating the different assignments in each session, and plan to take this information back to my team!I loved being able to work with the Google Suite tools. Instead of just reading articles or viewing tutorials, we were able to have hands-on experience creating great content with these Google Apps. Another bonus was that I get to use everything that I created with my class this upcoming school year.

Building a Better Classroom:

I loved this class! It gave me time to self-evaluate what my classroom looks like, I was able to consider what I really like about how I teach, and work through somethings I need to improve. I also experimented with several new technological presentation tools and will definitely use them again.The clear instruction and expectations from the instructor. She was awesome!I really like the format of North Tier, I find I learn so much from my colleagues. We all have different visions and techniques that we use in the classroom, the forum really gives us a chance to express and learn.

Theoretical Models and Strategies for Gifted and High Ability Learners:

I recommend that all teachers, regardless if they work with gifted learners, take this course.The workshop was easy to work through and the assignments met the instructor’s goals. It was manageable and very informative. The instructor was very kind and helpful.

Engaging ELLS:

It was a great class, enjoyable and yet challenging.Many teachers at my school enroll in these classes together so we meet one a week discussing our findings and collaborating. These courses have a huge impact on teachers in my school.This was a good experience that will help me with my new assignment this fall, which is teaching a class specifically of ELLs. I have never worked with this population before, so I at least feel now that I have a baseline to work from.I found the hands-on aspects of this workshop the most valuable. I was encouraged to read and watch videos about the teaching strategies and then got to immediately apply the concept for my weekly discussion boards and receive feedback from others. This type of networking and collaboration was very beneficial and led to a comprehensive final product that incorporated each weekly topic.

Spanish for Educators 1A

Content of the course was great, and the vocabulary was perfect for the school setting. Thank you for all of your feedback and your effort. Overall, I enjoyed the course, and am excited to test out my Spanish on my students this school year.I love the final project. It is nice to create something that you actually can use in your classroom. Thank you. I learned a lot about where I am strong and weak in Spanish.

Spanish for Educators 2A

I really enjoyed the course, and the Quizlet flashcards were very useful. I like that I can save them to my own folders to go back and practice when I need to.I'm sure that it is a lot for you to listen to/read all the areas, but it is super helpful to hear you read them and to correct our submissions. Thank you very much!

Telling the World’s Stories Using Google Maps –

I thought the requirements for using GM and GE were really accessible and very relevant for classroom teaching. I think it was good to tell us the final project from the beginning so we could keep it in mind as we explored the new tools we were using.The assignments were very hands-on and helpful in creating teaching materials to be used in my actual classes.