This spring semester (mid-January to mid-May), University College at Rockland will offer two graduate education courses from the University of Maine at Farmington.

The two courses will run in the popular "blended format", meeting three Saturdays (Feb 7, March 28 & May 2) face-to-face at URock with the balance of instruction taught online.

Elyse Pratt-Ronco will teach EDU 519, "Children at Risk: Fostering Resilience and Hope". This course will focus on helping students "bounce back" from adversity, examine the impact of risk on students and their education and encourage teachers to develop effective curricula and relevant practices.

Pratt-Ronco is the Assistant Director of Upward Bound at the University of Maine at Farmington. She holds a Doctorate in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology from Boston College. Her research on rural poverty has been nationally recognized.

Susan Boyce-Cormier will teach SED 531, Curriculum and Instruction for Learners Who Are Gifted. This is the second course offering in a 4-course Gifted and Talented sequence. New students are welcome without prior course work in gifted and talented education.

Students in SED 531 will learn to apply the "concept of differentiation" for gifted learners, examine the effectiveness of self-designed lessons and learn to adapt new and existing curriculum, to meet the cognitive and affective needs of gifted learners.

Boyce-Cormier wrote and developed the K-12 for the Peru Elementary School; she has been the Gifted and Talented Coordinator for the RSU 10's program. She is also an accomplished author of three novels.

Registration for these courses is now open and ongoing.  Contact University College at Rockland for more details at 596-6906.