To personalize professional learning, the SC Writing Improvement Network offers micro-credentials to SC educators. A micro-credential recognizes an educator’s discrete skill related to their practice based on evidence demonstrating competency. Micro-credentials are natural extensions of educators’ professional learning journeys. Educators actively and often participate in formal and informal professional learning opportunities, yet informal learning often goes unrecognized. Micro-credentials fill that gap. While a micro-credential recognizes a discrete skill of an educator based on evidence that demonstrates competency, a stack is a collection of micro-credentials addressing related skills. The SC Writing Improvement Network offers micro-credentials from the following stacks:
Stacks
This stack is designed to provide educators with the tools to create high-quality literacy instruction that recognizes communication in a diverse world that is textual, digital, and highly visual.
WHAT YOU'LL DEMONSTRATE
You will demonstrate the essential components of analyzing, designing, and implementing a variety of instructional strategies to support literacy instruction in communications.
WHO SHOULD APPLY
PK12 educators
Instructional coaches
Literacy coaches/interventionists
Education support professionals
Communicating Ideas: Academic Conversations
After modeling how to share personal ideas, the educator creates a learning opportunity for students to share personal ideas within an academic conversation.
This stack is designed to provide educators with the tools to create high-quality learning environments to support literacy instruction.
WHAT YOU'LL DEMONSTRATE
You will demonstrate the essential components of creating learning environments to promote student engagement in literacy experiences.
WHO SHOULD APPLY
PK12 educators
Instructional coaches
Literacy coaches/interventionists
Education support professionals
Facilitating Inquiry Based Learning
The educator guides students in an inquiry-based learning (IBL) project to promote critical thinking.
Establishing a Book Club
The educator establishes a book club to engage students and their parents/guardians in reading and discussing books as a social activity.
Analyzing Engagement Inventories
The educator will complete engagement inventories and analyze the data to determine next steps for instruction.
Analyzing Classroom Libraries – Diversity
The educator intentionally and systematically collects classroom library data to encourage students to become lifelong readers, build student confidence, and give students a sense of ownership.
Analyzing Classroom Libraries
The educator intentionally and systematically collects classroom library data to encourage students to become lifelong readers, build student confidence, and have a sense of ownership.
Collecting Classroom Library Data
The educator collects classroom library data to encourage students to become lifelong readers and build student confidence and a sense of ownership.
This stack is designed to provide educators with the tools to create high-quality literacy instruction to improve student achievement in writing.
WHAT YOU'LL DEMONSTRATE
You will demonstrate the essential components of analyzing, designing, and implementing literacy instruction through a variety of instructional strategies.
WHO SHOULD APPLY
PK12 educators
Instructional coaches
Literacy coaches/interventionists
Education support professionals
Analyzing a Holistic Rubric
The educator demonstrates the ability to effectively analyze students’ writing samples with a holistic rubric.
Analyzing Student Argument Writing
The educator analyzes student argument writing samples for strong thesis statements and supported claims.
Analyzing Student Writing Samples
The educator analyzes student writing samples using a rubric to identify implications for writing instruction.
Assessing Writers
The educator assesses students’ writing to determine students’ instructional needs at the beginning of the academic year.
Creating Text-Dependent Analysis Prompts
The educator develops text-dependent analysis (TDA) prompts that require students to analyze specific reading element(s) (i.e., literary devices, text features) and/or text structure.
Designing Learning Progressions: Whole Class
The educator creates learning progressions as a tool for learners to self-assess.
Facilitating Audience and Voice
The educator provides instruction on the role of audience and voice in writing to help students create a writing that aligns to its purpose.
Facilitating Organizational Strategies
The educator introduces strategies that allow students to create an organizational structure that aligns to the purpose of the writing.
Facilitating Prewriting Strategies
The educator facilitates specific prewriting strategies to generate ideas for writing aligned to specific tasks and purposes.
Facilitating Revision Strategies
The educator provides instruction on the role of revision to help students move from a draft toward an effective piece of writing which aligns to their purpose.
Facilitating Writing Conferences
The educator facilitates conferences with students to assist them in moving forward with their writing.
Introducing Editing Strategies (6-12)
The educator introduces strategies that allow students to effectively edit their writing.
Introducing Organizational Writing Strategies
The educator plans for introducing students to organization and its impact on a piece of writing aligned to task and purpose.
Introducing Prewriting Strategies
The educator introduces students to specific prewriting strategies to generate ideas for writing aligned to specific tasks and purposes.
Planning for Writing: Educator
The educator demonstrates proficiency in prewriting by explaining the relationship between writing task and writing purpose, reviewing prewriting strategies, and using a prewriting strategy to complete a piece of writing.