Class Description - Express: Living a Life of Joy! (8.21.26-8.20.27)

Date: Register anytime between August 21, 2026 - August 20, 2027
Course #: LR 288:733
Number of License Renewal Credit Hours: 3
Registration Deadline: Last day to register is Friday, August 20th 2027 by 5:00 p.m.

How it Works:
Participants will have at least 2 full months after registration to complete their course.

Examples:

Register FEBRUARY 1ST and start the course as soon as your registration has been processed.
You will have until APRIL 30TH to complete the class.
Register FEBRUARY 25TH and start the course as soon as your registration has been processed.
You will have until APRIL 30TH to complete the class.

Students must monitor their progress and finish the course at the end of 2 months after registration.
If there is a problem, or any questions, it is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor.

We hear about death and destruction every day. We are surrounded by personal, professional, societal, and global problems. Sometimes we can barely listen to the news. Can we make sense of everything and still keep our sanity? Absolutely! There is joy and with joy comes a feeling of inner peace.

Reinhold Niebuhr wrote:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

How do we get to this point? We may not be able to change the world, but we can change ourselves. This class covers the elements of living that can bring joy to our lives:

Gratitude
Generosity
Forgiveness
Kindness
Compassion
Patience

We will end the class with an examination of what it means to be joyful and how it can be achieved. We will look at how laughter fits in with joy. Nothing is easy and developing habits of joy means developing habits of intention and practice. The participant will be provided with the meaning of each element and how it can be brought into their lives. Practices, meditations, and suggestions will be given.

Required Materials:
All materials are provided online.

Outcomes and Objectives:
By the end of the course participants will…

1. Understand gratitude and how to practice and achieve it.

2. Understand forgiveness and how to practice and achieve it.

3. Understand kindness and how to practice and achieve it.

4. Understand generosity and how to practice and achieve it.

5. Understand compassion and how to practice and achieve it.

6. Understand patience and how to practice and achieve it.

7. Understand how each of the above elements brings joy into our lives.

Course Topics that Support Instructional Practices and Strategies:
*Getting started on the Path to Joy
*Being Grateful
*Being Generous
*Being Forgiving
*Being Kind
*Being Compassionate
*Being Patient

Instructor Methods and Course Design:
This is a 3-credit hour Iowa license renewal course. Course goals will be met through an instructor-designed lesson, supplemental readings, videos, reflections, and assignments.

This course is presented in a modified, self-paced format. Participants are expected to access the course and post regularly (at least once a week) and make reasonable progress, but there are no due dates attached to individual assignments. Instead, there are 2 absolute due dates (mid-term and the last day of class) to provide flexibility and to better accommodate participants' busy schedules.

How Does This Course Support The Iowa Core?
Teachers and students should have a good understanding of student health (health literacy) both mental and physical. These essential skills are needed to maintain mental and physical well-being and provide the 21st-century citizen with the tools necessary to live a happy, healthy, and productive life.

Students and teachers who build strong, healthy relationships are better at critical thinking and problem-solving and are more curious and willing to take on leadership roles. They also work well with others. Research has shown that good coping skills during times of sorrow help with executive functioning and provide everyone with ways to cope in a tough world. Joyous teachers tend to be more effective teachers. More effective teachers produce better learning and achievement in their students.

This falls in line with the Iowa Core that states school preparation should produce the following:

1. Students who are college and career ready in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.

2. Students who are proficient in English, language arts, history, social studies, science, and technical subjects in all grade levels.

3. Students who are proficient in 21st-century skills such as critical thinking/problem-solving, curiosity, collaboration, and leadership.

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**Important Registration Information for You**
Please read through as these are Frequently Asked Questions in which answers can be found within this page.

1. The instructor will email you once the start date arrives with information on how to get started in the class.

Emails regarding this class will come from the instructor/organization with an email address ending in professional.development@educateteachers.org;
Be sure to check your junk/spam/clutter folders-mailboxes in case the email address isn't recognized as a known address; and
IF YOU ARE USING A SCHOOL EMAIL ADDRESS, many schools have their network security filters set up to push unknown emails directly to spam and you will not even see it-if this is the case you will need to either talk to your IT department and request emails with the email address be allowed through or let us know you want to use a different email address.

2. The Tabs at the top of the registration page have important additional information regarding this class:

The Syllabus gives information of what will be expected of you in the course. Generally, it will include course policies, rules and regulations, required texts, and a schedule of assignments;
The Fees will let you know how much this class will cost depending on the type of credit you want to take it for as well as if you are an ISEA member or not;
The Cancellation Policy is important so you know how to cancel if you need to and how refunds are handled; and
The ISEA Official Transcript page tells you how to access your transcript once the class has ended.