Your Location Welcome Frequently Asked Questions Don't see your question here? Visit How to Order or call Heartwood at 1-800-HEART10! FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Questions about Teachers Questions about Facilitators Questions about Meetings Other questions See How to Order for information about payments, shipping, refunds, etc. See Materials and Costs for information about what is included in Focus on Ethics. See How to Enroll for information about recruiting teachers and setting up a seminar. Questions about Teachers How many teachers can take a Focus on Ethics seminar? The collegial discussion format is designed for groups of 6 to10 teachers. Smaller groups are okay, but discussions will not be as rich. Larger groups present a problem because, with everyone participating, the discussions and meetings take longer than planned. If you have more than 10 teachers interested, please split into two or more groups. What if we don't know how many teachers will be in the seminar? You need a close estimate before ordering Focus on Ethics so all teachers receive Teacher Materials (see Materials and Costs) and website access. How do teachers receive continuing education credits for the seminar? Heartwood is a registered Professional Development Provider in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and several other states. Each state has different procedures for certification. In many cases, your school approves in-service programs, and all you need is your principal's approval. As the provider, Heartwood will require participants to sign in on attendance logs at each meeting and, following completion of the seminar, will mail certificates stating the number of hours the participants were actually signed in. If you have questions about how to receive credits that your principal cannot answer, please contact Heartwood before beginning the seminar. Does Focus on Ethics benefit experienced Heartwood teachers? Yes! Heartwood's curriculums can be easily implemented with little or no training. But Focus on Ethics can help you achieve higher quality implementation by taking full advantage of the multi-faceted curriculum, integrating it with literacy, standards and other curricular areas, and making an impact beyond the classroom. The seminar can also help form a team to support Heartwood in the school and keep it vital for many years. Questions about Facilitators Who should facilitate Focus on Ethics? Usually one of the teachers interested in the training agrees to serve as the facilitator. Sometimes a support person such as a counselor or reading coach facilitates. No prior experience as a facilitator is needed; the Facilitator's Guide provides step-by-step instructions as well as tips and advice. The facilitator should have an email address and basic familiarity with email and the internet, but this is not critical if he or she is assisted, for example, by a librarian or technology teacher. Do facilitators need Teacher Materials? Teacher-facilitators should order a set of Teacher Materials for themselves so they can participate fully in the Seminar. If the facilitator is not a classroom teacher, he or she will not need Teacher Materials. Questions about Meetings Where and when should meetings be held? The first meeting should be held in a computer cluster or library so all participants can practice logging on and locating web-based resources. After that, any convenient and quiet classroom, library or meeting room will do. At least one computer with Internet access is recommended (but not required). The meetings take about an hour and should be scheduled weekly or biweekly either before or after school. Since participants try out ideas and curriculum in classrooms between meetings, it does not work well to meet during vacations or to cluster meetings on a single in-service day. What is covered in the meetings? The seven 1-hour sessions cover: Exploring the Website-how to locate web-based resources Getting Started-how to teach a basic Heartwood lesson Understanding the Attributes-what does Courage mean to you and your students? Using Stories-why literature is a powerful medium for ethics Doing It Yourself-how to create Heartwood lessons with other books Creating Literacy Portfolios-how to integrate Heartwood with standards Widening the Circle-taking Heartwood from Classroom to School to Community Other questions How can I get my other questions answered? Call Penny Levy at the Heartwood Institute: 1-800-HEART-10 Related Links Heartwood Ethics Curriculum Use the power of stories to teach children universal ethical attributes. Order Now! A 5-step on-line process that puts Focus on Ethics in your hands. How to Do Focus on Ethics Setting up a seminar and choosing a facilitator. Materials and Costs Make a long-term investment. Examine Focus on Ethics materials and pricing. return to top © 2001 Heartwood Institute | Phone 1-800-HEART-10