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=Planning Wiki for the DI Certificate Program 1. Moodle Training 2. Course Development 3. Course Facilitation 4. Miscellaneous: (e.g. notes from our conversations, contact inforrmation) = 5. @Resources 6. @How to Use a Wiki

Dear Pirchie, Melanie and Joe,
 * [[image:adventure-3.gif width="268" height="194" align="right"]]Letter of Invitation**

I want to let you know about some exciting new developments at the Institute that will both continue and shift the work we have been speaking about together regarding advancing the field of Differentiated Instruction.

The Institute has been awarded a very important cutting edge grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation to create an online certificate program in Differentiated Instruction for teachers in Jewish day schools nationwide. ** We want to invite the three of you to be the co-teachers/co-facilitators of this course and to be trained on the use of Moodle technology which is the software in which the course is run. ** Our goal is to launch a series of 3 - 12 week courses that will run from January – August 2011 (a tight timeline we know). If the program goes well, we would hope for it to continue in future years.

Given the timeline of this course, we are thinking that we might want to delay creating the community of practice until after the first course has run. We consider this to be a really positive development and one that will allow you to grow and also advance the practice of others significantly.

To be teachers in these online courses, we would be asking from you the following;

1. Participate in an online training course in Moodle that starts Sept 15th  · Time: 1-1.5 hours day for one week x 2 courses; or 15-23 hours for the span of thirty days

2. Work together and with the support of an advisory team (Scott, Ilana Turetsky, Chani Maybruch or anyone else you want) to develop materials for the courses  · Time: At the beginning 1 hour content prep + 1 hour technology prep per 1 hour of course materials but over time the technology prep will be integrated with content prep and it will just be 1 to 1.

3. In January play a role in teaching the course (we may decide you will each take one segment, we may decide you will team teach, or we will have guest experts like Scott, Ilana and Chani, but we would like you to play an important role in facilitation)  · Two hours a week on class management (answering questions, grading, quizzes, tests and activities). And 2-3 hours of "office hours" where students can sign up for a time slot to talk on the phone. Part or all of those times should be in the evening and/or midday time during lunch for the teachers.

4. Recommend resources on DI for posting on our new resource website  · 1 hour per month or less

We are able to make a commitment of $3500 to you for the year for all of the above. If all goes well there will be opportunities in future years to continue teaching these courses.

I would like to get a sense from you about: a) Your interest in being involved in this project   b) Your overall comfort with technology – blogging, tweeting etc – how much of a stretch will this be for you? – it will require a strong emphasis on written communication with students. We are eager to support you in your growth.

I would like to set up a time to speak with each of you individually about this project. And need to get a few more details to you about the time commitment at each phase.

Can you let me know when you have time next week?

Thank you for being open to this adventure. We are very excited about the opportunity to share your important expertise and experience with the field.