Course Description:
More and more school districts nationwide are struggling to implement the many new teaching standards and programs, and many now have to create and implement all new curricula. In order to accomplish this, districts are now mandating that their teacher’s addend district run, program-specific workshops. Some districts offer in-district credits; fewer offer stipends; and even fewer offer their teachers access to university units.
This course will support and reward teachers for attending their district sponsored workshops, as well as require that they come away from the experience with something of value to enhance their individual teaching and learning
environment.
Registration Instructions
A. Register for your district sponsored workshop
- Before enrolling in the course, you must first register for your district-sponsored workshop.
B. Register for the course at Dominican University of California (DU):
- Decide on then enroll in the number of credits you wish to earn.
- Follow the prompts to identify your specific workshop location and title.
- After you enroll you will automatically receive a verification email from the university confirming your registration in the course.
*NOTE: It is highly recommended that you receive prior approval from your Administration before enrolling in this course.
Requirements:
A. Assignments for 2 Semester Credits/Units:
- Attend all required workshop sessions and complete all pre, during, and post workshop requirements
- Describe the workshop requirements and expectations
- Summarize of each workshop session
- Tell how you contributed to workshop.
- Summarize and Evaluate the workshop
B. Assignments for 1 additional semester credit/unit (course total = 3): In addition to Section “A” above, do “1” below AND either “2” OR “3”:
- Select at least 3 workshop concepts and write a lesson plan for each
- Choose one of the lessons from “1” above and teach the lesson.
- Present what you learned from your workshop experience to:
- A Faculty Presentation
- School or district staff training
- Department sharing
- PTA presentation
- Other (explain)
Instructor

Mary Lou Varni
B.A.30+ years teaching experience.
Curriculum developer, in-service leader in the teaching of writing.
Taught course on the development of standards-based teaching, best practices and strategies.