Begins April 18, 2021

How can we help students use the knowledge and skills of English Language Arts to understand the world around them and take informed action in their communities? 



This in-depth course lasts 8 weeks, taking approximately one-two hours per week to complete.  We will guide secondary and elementary teachers through the design of a course overview, unit plan, instructional calendar, and lesson plan for learning that transfers. During this cohort model, content is released weekly so that we all stay at a similar pace, but all activities are completely asynchronous. Optional live calls for connection and Q and A included. View the course syllabus here. 


Familiarity with conceptual learning and transfer are highly recommended before taking this course. Participants who complete the course will receive a certificate noting 15 hours and 1.5 continuing education credits (CEU), plus a Learning That Transfers Level 2 badge to use in emails, resume, etc.


We hope you'll join us! Group discount for 4+ participants. 


Please reach out with any questions julie@edtosavetheworld.com 

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome and Orientation

    • Welcome from Julie & Trevor (6:47)

    • Course Orientation

    • Participant Introductions
  • 2

    Intro to Conceptual Learning and Transfer

    • Module One Introduction (1:21)

    • Complex World Discussion (1:33)

    • How Learning Transfer Works (5:00)

    • The ACT Model (4:38)

    • Acquire and Connect Student Experience (2:48)

    • Transfer and Student Action Student Experience (2:13)

    • Envisioning Possibilities (5:10)

    • Module 1 Reflection
  • 3

    Shifts in Practice

    • Module Two Introduction (1:43)

    • Adapting to Changing Times (4:47)

    • The Role of Student and Teacher (4:07)

    • Teacher-Directed vs. Student-Directed Game

    • Strategies for Student-Directed Culture (1:53)

    • Impact of Technology on Curriculum (6:50)

    • The Role of Curriculum and Instruction (4:45)

    • Strategies for Deeper Learning (2:07)

    • The Role of Assessments (5:10)

    • The Unit Storyboard (3:19)

    • Module 2 Reflection

  • 4

    Disciplinary Literacy

    • Module Three Introduction (3:20)

    • Video: What Concepts Are Here? (2:36)

    • Real-World Challenges (3:19)

    • The Purpose and Role of English Language Arts (1:47)

    • Student-Centered Disciplinary Literacy (1:51)

    • Selecting Disciplinary Lenses (2:52)

    • Vertical Alignment (2:58)

    • Module 3 Reflection

  • 5

    Modern Literacies

    • Module Four Introduction (2:04)

    • Education Evolution: Video and Discussion (2:33)

    • Real-World Challenges (1:31)

    • Narrowing Our Focus (5:21)

    • From Disciplinary Literacy to Modern Literacies (5:10)

    • Horizontal Alignment (6:01)

    • Module 4 Reflection

  • 6

    Story of Your Course & Unit Planning

    • Module Five Introduction (3:10)

    • Video and Discussion (6:31)

    • Critical Steps for Arranging Content (7:09)

    • Crafting the Story of Your Course (7:25)

    • Selecting Anchoring and Subconcepts (6:53)

    • Drafting Conceptual & Compelling Questions (3:43)

    • Module 5 Reflection

  • 7

    Unit Planning Continued

    • Module Six Introduction (1:12)

    • Similar to Dissimilar Transfer

    • Video and Discussion

    • The ACT Storyboard (2:01)

    • Student Voice and Choice (6:28)

    • Student Action (3:29)

    • Module 6 Reflection

  • 8

    Assessing Transfer

    • Module Seven Introduction (2:11)

    • The World Is Changing... (3:20)

    • Assessment as System of Feedback (6:31)

    • Designing Summative Transfer Tasks (4:13)

    • Value Beyond School Walls (2:09)

    • Drafting a Formative Assessment Plan (6:56)

    • Module 7 Reflection

  • 9

    Lesson Planning

    • Module Eight Introduction (2:09)

    • Relevance Video and Discussion (3:17)

    • Promoting Intellectual Growth (7:22)

    • Instructional Calendars

    • Acquiring and Connecting Concepts (7:55)

    • Transferring Concepts to New Situations (2:50)

    • Designing a Lesson Plan (2:46)

    • Module 8 Reflection

    • Course Feedback

Instructor(s)

Trevor Aleo

Trevor Aleo is an English teacher in Connecticut. In addition to leading grade level teams at his own school, he’s drafted curriculum at the district level, created instructional resources for the Virginia Department of Education, and presented at local, state, and regional conferences. He believes education should help people become better meaning makers, problem solvers, and story tellers and is dedicated to facilitating learning experiences where that can happen. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Master of Arts in Teaching, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Learning Design and Leadership.

Julie Stern

Julie Stern is passionate about synthesizing the best of education research into practical tools that support educators in breaking free of the industrial model of schooling and moving toward teaching and learning that promotes sustainability, equity, and well-being. She is the best-selling author of Learning that Transfers, Visible Learning for Social Studies, and Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding, Elementary and Secondary. She is the thought leader behind the global workshop series Making Sense of Learning Transfer and is a certified trainer in Visible Learning Plus. She is a James Madison Constitutional Fellow and taught social studies for many years in Washington, DC and her native Louisiana. Julie moves internationally every few years with her husband, a US diplomat, and her two young sons.

Erin Leininger

Erin Leininger is the Middle School Curriculum Coordinator at International School Manila. She has a Doctor of Education Leadership and is the co-author of the book Teaching Adolescent English Language Learners. She has taught diverse groups of adolescents in national and international contexts, including California, Rhode Island, Kuwait, China, and the Philippines. She is passionate about the science of teaching and learning and is dedicated to fostering collaborative, innovative, and reflective learning environments for both teachers and students. She also holds a certificate of International School Leadership from the Principals’ Training Center, a Master’s Degree in Education, and a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Spanish Literature.

Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Design learning experiences that use the knowledge and skills of English language arts to help our students make sense of the world and respond to its complex problems.

  • Explain why education needs to evolve and articulate how the ACT model helps students become adaptable.

  • Build a disciplinary vision for ELA that fosters disciplinary literacy.

  • Select Modern Literacies that prepare students to navigate a complex and changing world.

  • Write a story of the course that articulates the disciplinary vision and modern literacies that students will harness to transfer learning.

  • Draft unit plans that foster deep thinking and transfer of learning.

  • Design a summative assessment and a formative assessment plan for learning that transfers.

  • Create an instructional calendar that harnesses the ACT model to move students toward conceptual organization that transfers.

  • Create a lesson plan that helps students become more conscious of their learning and transfer their learning to new situations.

Course Facilitators

experienced educators who support participants' learning

Jemima Khalli

Jemima is an English Language & Literature educator currently living in Hong Kong. She has a passion for encouraging students to ask their own questions and using language as a vehicle for independent thought.

Shana Sabourin

Shana teaches preAP English to sophomores and American Literature to juniors in Prince William County in Virginia. Fundamentally, her passion as an educator comes from helping to facilitate students to see how everything we read and experience lays the groundwork to be more aware of, and, therefore present in, the world around us by establishing connections that allow us to develop a deeper understanding of that world.

Karli Lomax

Karli Lomax is a Deeper Learning Coach at Graded, The American School of São Paulo, in Brazil. She is passionate about literacy and inquiry-based teaching and learning rooted in conceptual understandings that promote deep, enduring and transferable learning.