We offer a number of options for teachers and administrators interested in the Responsive Classroom, Developmental Designs for Middle School and Building Academic Communities Through the Arts approaches. Training is available in various locations throughout the year. Additionally, there are a variety of services offered on-site in your school or district, including the One-day Overview and weeklong workshops.
This on-site Overview will give the school a glimpse of the philosophy and practices of the approach, providing enough information to begin the conversation of whether or not RC is a good fit for the school. If the school location requires an overnight stay for the Origins consultant, we recommend scheduling a One-day Overview.
During this overview, educators gain an initial awareness of Responsive Classroom practices. They participate in an adult Morning Meeting, explore the foundational ideas behind the Responsive Classroom approach, and see a video showing the practices in action. They hear about the Responsive Classroom approach to discipline and learn practical strategies, such as signals, modeling, energizers, closing circles, and greetings, to use in the classroom. Workshops are offered for K-6 educators year-round, hosted by Origins and at school sites.
Responsive Classroom 1 (RC1)
For K-6 educators new to the Responsive Classroom approach (or who are using some of the strategies) and have not participated in extensive training at their school. You'll learn about the key practices listed below. There are large-and small-group sessions, times for individual reflection, and opportunities for learning classroom songs and activities. This workshop is a prerequisite for RC2, RC3, and Literacy in a Responsive Classroom.
Responsive Classroom 2 (RC2)
For K-6 educators who have taken RC1. You'll further your understanding of how to use the basic Responsive Classroom practices to connect social and academic learning. You'll also learn new strategies for implementing academic choice and helping children solve common classroom problems.
Responsive Classroom 3 (RC3)
For K-6 educators who have taken RC1 and RC2. As a way of exploring Responsive Classroom practices in depth, you'll be asked to bring an issue you're challenged by in your classroom or school area. Working with colleagues in a seminar format, you'll think of ways to use Responsive Classroom strategies to address your issue.
Literacy in Responsive Classroom (LIT)
For K-6 educators who have participated in RC1. The Literacy in a Responsive Classroom weeklong workshop applies the instructional approaches of the Responsive Classroom to the language arts curriculum, grades K-6. Participants will discover ways to engage children with a broad range of learning styles and histories in active literacy experiences with high levels of accountability. They will discuss and practice techniques, prepare materials, and plan curriculum and individual lessons in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. See Key Topics below.
KEY PRACTICES FOR RC1 RC2 and RC3
Morning Meeting—gathering as a whole class each morning to greet one another, share news, and warm up for the day ahead
Rule Creation—helping students create classroom rules to ensure an environment that allows all class members to meet their learning goals
Interactive Modeling—teaching children to notice and internalize expected behaviors through a unique modeling technique
Positive Teacher Language—using words and tone as a tool to promote children's active learning, sense of community, and self-discipline
Logical Consequences—responding to misbehavior in a way that allows children to fix and learn from their mistakes while preserving their dignity
Guided Discovery—introducing classroom materials using a format that encourages independence, creativity, and responsibility (introduced in RC2)
Academic Choice—increasing student motivation by differentiating instruction and regularly allowing students teacher-structured choices in their work (introduced in RC2)
Classroom Organization—setting up the physical room in ways that encourage students' independence, cooperation, and productivity (introduced in RC2)
Working with Families—creating avenues for hearing parents' insights and helping them understand the school's teaching approaches
Collaborative Problem Solving—using conferencing, role playing, and other strategies to resolve problems with students (introduced in RC2)
This on-site Overview gives educators a glimpse of the philosophy and practices of the approach, providing enough information to begin the conversation of whether or not DDMS is a good fit for the school. If the school location requires an overnight stay for the Origins consultant, we recommend scheduling a One-day Overview.
Participants learn about the principles underlying and the key practices of DDMS and learn some practical structures for integrating social-emotional learning into academics.
The One-day Overview provides participants an experience of community-building through the Circle of Power and Respect an introduction to the Six Principles that guide the work of Developmental Designs for Middle School insight into the developmental needs of young adolescents and the practices designed to meet those needs, both socially and academically demonstrations and a chance to try several of the practices: the signal for silence; modeling; cooperative game-playing; the Reflective Loop; Engaged Learning Strategies; and a closing meeting More info
Developmental Designs for Middle School Weeklong Workshops
DDMS 1 and 2 are for educators of grades 5-8 who work in a middle school setting. They present an approach to building community, classroom management, and instruction designed to strengthen teaching practice with a sound, integrated social and academic curriculum. The DDMS2 weeklong workshop reinforces and builds upon DDMS1 practices while focusing on how to improve engagement in academics and address the problem behaviors of especially challenging students. More info
Building Academic Communities Through the Arts (BACTA) Workshop
In a fun, active, participatory week, teachers practice ideas for integrating storytelling, drawing and other visual art-making, casual singing, movement, storytelling, and poetry into the teaching and learning day. The workshop provides tools to engage and empower children for high achievement by providing them multiple attractive doorways into learning. BACTA is designed for K-8 teachers who may feel that they have no particular strength in any art form, but wish to add the appeal of the arts to their instruction. It's easier and more effective than you may think!
Prerequisite: RC1 or DDMS1 weeklong workshop
Participants in the Leadership Institute deepen their understanding of Developmental Designs or Responsive Classroom implementation at the classroom, school-wide, and adult community levels; broaden leadership skills, especially in the area of structures for good communication and healthy school culture; and make plans for next steps in the comprehensive implementation of the Developmental Designs or Responsive Classroom approach.
Please see School Services for more information about the importance of leadership to the implementation of RC and DDMS.
Prerequisite: RC1 or DDMS1
Registration minimum: 2 participants, including the principal; we recommend no more than 5 from one school.
Tuition is $695 per person. This includes materials, morning refreshments, and lunch Monday through Thursday, and morning refreshments Friday.
Tuition for One-day Workshops
$179 per person. This includes materials, morning refreshments, and lunch Monday through Thursday.
Funding Workshop Tuition and Implementation
Many schools use state, federal, and philanthropic funds for violence prevention, character education, and instructional improvement to pay for professional development in the Responsive Classroom or Developmental Designs approaches. Origins can supply text and research to assist your grantwriting efforts. We also offer a limited number of partial scholarships to teachers of color. Contact Origins for more information about scholarships.
See funding sources
Registering for a Workshop: Important Tips and Information
To be sure that each participant has the best possible workshop experience, registration is limited by the number of sections in a given Institute. It is not unusual for a workshop institute to be fully registered weeks before its start date. Once a workshop is full, we start a waiting list in case a registrant must withdraw and can be replaced by someone on the waiting list.
Here are some steps you can take to be sure your registration is accomplished without confusion or delay:
Register through the office handling your workshop. If you are registering for a workshop in the 5-state Upper Midwest (MN, WI, ND, SD, IA) or Oklahoma, register by contacting Origins in Minneapolis – not the Massachusetts NEFC office.
If you wish to take graduate credit, register for it at least ten days before the start of the workshop.
If your school or district will be paying all or part of your tuition, include a check or purchase order with your registration. Nobody is officially registered in a workshop until they are paid or named on a guarantee to pay.
Tell us when you register what grade you will be teaching next year – that’s the group you will be placed with. If you learn after registering that you will be teaching a different grade next year, inform us right away.
If your information is faxed to us, follow up with a phone call to be sure the fax came through.
Confirm That Your Registration Reached Us
Every summer, a distressing number of would-be registrants learn that the person they thought was sending in their registration did not get the job done. Somebody forgot, or misunderstood something, or faxed but didn’t follow up to be sure it got here ... or the dog ate the registration! As the workshops fill, it becomes less likely that we can get these people in. Confirm that your registration reached us when you know we should have received your registration, whether you or someone else had responsibility for getting it to us.
Graduate Credit
Most weeklong workshops may be taken as graduate courses. Workshop courses in Minnesota and Wisconsin are offered through Hamline University, St. Paul, and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Winona; in other states, we try to arrange with a college in the area to offer graduate credit for the course(s).
During the summer, you may choose to do work for either 2 semester credits ($360) or 3 semester credits ($570). The 3-credit option includes practicum work which extends into the school year—this means that completion of the course work and grading occur in December, not before. Graduate students who want to receive their grades before December need to choose the 2-credit option. Graduate registration information is sent to registrants with the welcome letter; graduate registration must be completed and course tuition paid three days before the start of the workshop.
Only 2 graduate credits are offered for the 8-session winter workshop courses.
Plenty of Good Food
We serve continental breakfast and lunch. If you have dietary restrictions, please inform us well before the start of the workshop so we can provide for you.
Cancellation Process
If you cancel your registration 7 days or more before the workshop begins, we will refund your tuition, less 10% for processing. Less than one week before the workshop begins, you may 1) substitute another person at your grade level in your place or 2) apply your credit toward an Origins workshop within one year. We will work with extenuating circumstances as necessary.
90-minute Overview
an experience of community-building through the Circle of Power and Respect
In a fun, active, participatory week, teachers practice ideas for integrating storytelling, drawing and other visual art-making, casual singing, movement, storytelling, and poetry into the teaching and learning day. The workshop provides tools to engage and empower children for high achievement by providing them multiple attractive doorways into learning. BACTA is designed for K-8 teachers who may feel that they have no particular strength in any art form, but wish to add the appeal of the arts to their instruction. It's easier and more effective than you may think!
To be sure that each participant has the best possible workshop experience, registration is limited by the number of sections in a given Institute. It is not unusual for a workshop institute to be fully registered weeks before its start date. Once a workshop is full, we start a waiting list in case a registrant must withdraw and can be replaced by someone on the waiting list.
Every summer, a distressing number of would-be registrants learn that the person they thought was sending in their registration did not get the job done. Somebody forgot, or misunderstood something, or faxed but didn’t follow up to be sure it got here ... or the dog ate the registration! As the workshops fill, it becomes less likely that we can get these people in. Confirm that your registration reached us when you know we should have received your registration, whether you or someone else had responsibility for getting it to us.
