The "Hows"

You can begin by learning a single SIM Learning Strategy or Content Enhancement Routine.  

SIM EVENTS, no cost for Montana Educators!

These professional learning sessions include a Canvas Course with lesson overview videos, instructional resources (like teacher presentation slides, and digital copies of student exercises), and 3 synchronous live webinars (dates set by participants). Because these sessions will be running during the same time frame, we recommend selecting only one for participation this spring.  DOWNLOAD SESSION FLYER

Thanks to funding from the Educational Promise Foundation, this professional learning and accompanying instructional materials are available to educators in Montana at no cost.  

REGISTER TODAY AT 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jjBmDqXDdNvefgIcojnIIz-TnChv7-Hz/view?usp=sharing

The Paragraph Writing Strategy

Presenter: Marc Markell, Ph.D., C.T., SIM Professional Developer

Launch Session: March (date TBD by registrants)  Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM MT
Follow-Up Implementation Session: April (date TBD by registrants) Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM MT

Time Span of the PD Experience: 2 months 

Registration deadline: January 31, 2024

This course comes with 2 Professional Development Credits from the Montana State University Billings and 30 OPI Renewal Units.

The Paragraph Writing Strategy is a set of lessons to instruct students to plan and write paragraphs using a variety of Topic, Detail, and Clincher Sentences. They also learn to use consistent verb tense, point of view, and transitions. By the end of the strategy instruction, students learn to write different types of paragraphs such as informative, descriptive, and persuasive. Participants will receive the following as part of their registration: Paragraph Writing Strategy instructor’s manual and student materials manual, access to the Professional Development Course on Canvas, access to digital teacher resources, and an individual follow-up coaching session with the professional developer.

The Inference Strategy

Presenter: Nanette Fritschmann, Ph.D., Strategy Author, SIM Professional Developer

Launch Session: March (date TBD by registrants)  Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM MT
Follow-Up Implementation Session: April (date TBD by registrants) Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM MT

Time Span of the PD Experience: 2 months 

Registration deadline: January 31, 2024

This course comes with 2 Professional Development Credits from the Montana State University Billings and 30 OPI Renewal Units.

The Inference Strategy helps older students make inferences about information they have read and answer inferential questions. Students learn to identify key words in questions or invent their own questions to help them search for important information as they read a passage, determine what type of question they need to answer, think about what they already know about a topic, find clues in the reading passage that will help them answer the questions, look for additional information, and answer the question.

Cross-Curricular Argumentation Routine

Presenter: Janice Creneti, SIM Professional Developer Leader

Launch Session: March (date TBD by registrants) Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM MT
Follow-Up Implementation Session: April (date TBD by registrants. Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM MT

Time Span of the PD Experience: 1 month 

Registration deadline: January 31, 2024

This course comes with 1 Professional Development Credit from the Montana State University Billings and 15 OPI Renewal Units.

Teachers use the Cross-Curricular Argumentation Routine to guide students to evaluate whether a claim is supported by evidence and reasoning, consider counterarguments, and make a decision to accept or reject the claim. Students whose teachers used the SAR had significantly higher overall test scores than students in the comparison condition with large effect sizes. Participants will receive the following as part of their registration: the CCAR Routine instructor’s guidebook, access to the Professional Development Course on Canvas, access to digital teacher resources, and an individual follow-up coaching session with the professional developer. 

The Unit Organizer Routine

Presenter: Sarah Davidson, SIM Professional Developer, Instructional Staff Developer, Pinellas County Schools, Florida

Launch Session: May (date TBD by registrants)  Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM MT
Follow-Up Implementation Session: June (date TBD by registrants). Time: 4:00 - 5:30 PM MT

Time Span of the PD Experience: 1 month 

Registration deadline: April 5, 2024

This course comes with 1 Professional Development Credit from the Montana State University Billings and 15 OPI Renewal Units.

Teachers use the Unit Organizer Routine to plan units, introduce and maintain the big ideas in units, and show how units, critical information, and concepts are related. The Unit Organizer Routine improves content learning and achievement for all students, including those with disabilities. Participants will receive the following as part of their registration: the Unit Organizer Routine instructor’s guidebook, access to the Professional Development Course on Canvas, access to digital teacher resources, and an individual follow-up coaching session with the professional developer.