Online Courses

Announcing...

Backdrop to Success: The Three Pillars of Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom

Learn strategies on how to build a positive classroom or school community that empowers all learners – while earning Professional Development Points (PDPs)!

Backdrop to Success is an engaging, on-demand, 15-hour professional development course geared to educators, administrators, school counselors, social workers, and paraprofessionals. It’s one of Dr. MC’s most requested presentations. Now, the curriculum has been adapted so that you can learn and apply these skills at your own pace.

Backdrop to Success for MTA Members

Starting July 15, Backdrop to Success is available to Massachusetts Teachers Association’s 117,000+ members as a summer PDP course. Participants can complete the course at their own pace.

Spots are limited and filling fast!

Trauma-Informed, Teacher-Tested.

One of the best online courses that I have taken in years. I have so many more strategies to add to my toolkit, as well as a deeper understanding of how trauma affects students in our care.

Andrea

This course helped me move from being trauma-aware to becoming more trauma-responsive. It was a great overview of a complex topic.

Laura

I learned a lot about how to best support all students. I am feeling empowered to use my voice and my sphere of influence to make changes in my school as a whole to support students.

Dana

The course was well-designed and laid out in such a way that made learning thorough and fun.

David

This course has been truly transformative for my practice as an educator. I had no idea just how deeply trauma affects a student’s life, from emotional regulation to cognitive processing. This class provided me with actionable strategies and an entirely new lens through which to view student behavior, learning, and relationship-building.

Christina

I love that this course also acknowledges the stress of the teacher. Most courses don't even mention that. It has a huge impact on your teaching and regulating your own stress and emotions has such a big impact on the classroom.

Melissa

The course seamlessly integrated rigorous neurobiology, actionable classroom strategies, and practical self-care assessments. The video modules were engaging, compassionate, and logically structured, moving from fundamental concepts to whole-school MTSS and DCAP frameworks.

Isabella

Susan
High School French Teacher, Falmouth Public Schools

Jackie
Elementary Teacher, Swansea Public Schools

Mike
Special Education Math Teacher, Northbridge High School

Course Curriculum

Discover the impact trauma has on brain development, the importance of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and dispel common misconceptions. Then, dive into academic instruction techniques and relationship-building strategies for working with students impacted by trauma. This version of the course will also explore an educator’s self-care practice and resilience skills and how both translate into student success.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Define trauma and recognize its potential impact on students’ behavior, learning, and well-being.
Understand the basics of brain development and the neuroscience of trauma.
Create safe classroom environments that promote students’ sense of security and belonging.
Explain methods to cultivate resilience in both students and yourself, fostering a culture of emotional growth and self-care.

Massachusetts educators can earn 15 Professional Development Points (PDPs) upon completing Backdrop to Success. Educators outside of Massachusetts may also be eligible to receive continuing education credit. Check with your given state or district and email info@drmcselfcare.com for questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Thanks for participating in Backdrop to Success!

Find answers about accessing and using the course platform, completing assignments, and earning Professional Development Points (PDPs).

Getting into the Course

How is the online course set up? What systems does it use?

Backdrop to Success is hosted on a learning platform called Podia. Google Forms are embedded within the course modules on Podia and used to submit your required assignments.

Podia and Google Forms are two separate systems. Your Podia completion percentage is just a progress tracker; it does not determine whether you have successfully completed the course. Course completion is verified through your required Google Form assignments.

If you’d like Podia to track your progress, click the forward arrow as you move through each video, section, and module.

How do I access the course or create an account?

Please log in using the same email address you used when you registered for the course. This applies to all participants, whether you registered for this course through Massachusetts Teachers Association, a school district or organization, or signed up as an individual.

Log Into the Course

Once you are logged in, look for the course title on the left-hand side of the screen. If you see the course page and it prompts you to pay, you’re not in the correct place.

I forgot my password, or Podia says my email doesn’t exist. What should I do?

First, double-check that you’re using the exact email address you used to register for the course.

Reset My Podia Password

After resetting your password, return to the course login screen.

Log Into the Course

If Podia says your email doesn’t exist, please do not create a new account or try to purchase the course again. If you’ve received access to the course through a district or organization, confirm the email address used for registration with their team.

If you’re still having trouble, reach out. In your email, include your full name and the email address you used to register.

Do I need a Gmail or Google Drive account to complete the course?

No. However, a Google account can help you track your form submissions. It is recommended that all participants save assignment responses on a separate document as you progress through the work. This gives you an important backup if you have trouble submitting a Google Form.

Where is the course pre-assignment?

The pre-assignment is in the introductory materials before Module 1. Be sure to complete and submit it. The pre-assignment is a required course assignment and counts toward your course completion.

Completing Your Assignments

How do I know if my Google Form assignment was submitted?

When you successfully submit each assignment, you will see a “Thank you for submitting” confirmation on the integrated form in the Podia platform.

You will also receive a confirmation email from Google Forms. Plan to save these Google Form confirmation emails, perhaps in a dedicated email folder, until you receive your Professional Development Points (PDPs) certificate.

As an added precaution, it’s a good idea to save your assignment responses in a separate document while you progress through the course.

Clicking Complete or Next in Podia does not submit your Google Form assignment. If you did not reach the Google Form confirmation screen, your assignment may not have been submitted.

I didn’t register for the course with a Gmail account, but I have a Gmail email address. Should I log in?

Absolutely! You can still log into your Gmail account if you have one. On each assignment form, where it asks for your email, put the email that you registered with.

When submitting all assignments, use your full name. Not a nickname, initials, or an abbreviation.

Podia says I completed an assignment, but it is not in the system with Dr. MC. What do I do?

Podia and Google Forms are separate systems.

Clicking Complete in Podia only updates your personal progress tracker. It does not submit the integrated Google Form on a given page or tell Dr. MC that you completed an assignment.

Every Google Form assignment has its own Submit button.

If you did not click Submit on the Google Form and receive the “Thank you for submitting” confirmation, the assignment may not have been received.

If you cannot find a confirmation for an assignment, you may need to complete and submit that assignment again. This is another reason we recommend saving your responses in a separate document as you work.

Should I click “Complete” in Podia after each section or module?

Yes, you can! You can click Complete and then move forward after each section or video if you would like Podia to accurately track your progress.

Keep in mind that the Podia tracker does not determine whether you receive credit for completing the course. The important thing is completing and submitting all required Google Form assignments.

Do I have to use the same email address for every assignment?

Yes, please! Please use the same email address you used to register for the course. This allows Dr. MC to match your assignments to your registration.

Hundreds of educators are often taking this course at the same time. Keeping your information consistent across assignments helps us quickly match assignments to your registration and streamlines your process for receiving your PDPs. Different email addresses, nicknames, initials, or different versions of your name can make things more difficult.

Knowing You're Done

How can I tell whether I’ve completed everything?

Check your email for your Google Form submission confirmations. As you move through the course modules and assignments, you may want to create a subfolder in your email for all submission confirmations so they are easy to reference later.

You should have confirmations for all 8 assignments, starting with the pre-assignment and continuing through the final assignment. Saving your Google Form confirmation emails is the easiest way to verify your submissions.

If you have all of your required Google Form submission confirmations, you have completed the course!

Hundreds of educators are often taking this course at the same time – especially in the summer months. Dr. MC may not always be able to individually confirm every participant’s assignment upon request during the course period. Keeping your confirmation emails is the easiest way to track your submissions.

My final assignment says I received a zero. Did I fail?

No. The final assignment includes open-ended questions. Google Forms cannot automatically grade these responses as correct and may display a score of zero or indicate that answers are incorrect.

This does not mean you failed an assignment or failed the course.

Your submitted responses are reviewed as part of verifying your individual course completion.

Do I need to complete the separate PDP request form in Podia?

Maybe. It depends on how you registered for the course.

The separate PDP form you may see in Podia is for participants who take the course independently through Dr. MC’s Self-Care Cabaret.

Massachusetts Teachers Association participants and participants through another district or organization partnership should NOT complete this additional form. The MTA manages the PDP process for its participating educators.

If this form doesn’t apply to you, no worries! Your Podia tracker may show 97% course completion rather than 100% for this reason. That does not mean you have missed an assignment.

Who sends my Professional Development Points (PDPs) certificate? When do I get the certificate?

If you’re participating through organizational partnership, your organization will issue your PDP certificate after Dr. MC has verified your successful course completion.

You do not need to request a separate PDP certificate from Dr. MC.

Please allow time after the course ends for completion information to be reviewed and processed.

If you purchased this course directly through Dr. MC’s Self-Care Cabaret, you will need to complete the PDP form in the course in order for Dr. MC to send you your certificate.

Podia says my course access is expiring, but I finished the course. Is there anything I need to do?

If you have completed and submitted all the required assignments, you can disregard the automated Podia expiration email. Podia automatically sends these notices when a course access period is ending.

If you have remaining coursework to complete, do not wait until your access expires.

Can I finish the course after my Podia access expires?

Do not count on accessing the course after the expiration date.

While the official course deadline and the date your Podia access ends may not match, you should still complete all required coursework within the timeframe provided for your organization or individual subscription.

Once your Podia access expires, we may not be able to reactivate or restore it, and you could lose your progress.

Still Need Help?

My question isn’t listed here. How can I reach out?

Before emailing Dr. MC, please check:

Are you using the same email address you used to register?
Have you checked your spam and junk folders for Podia emails? Or emails from the Self-Care Cabaret?
Have you searched your inbox for emails from info@drmcselfcare.com? Several emails are sent to registrants about course registration and updates.
Have you tried resetting your Podia password?
Are you logging into the existing course rather than trying to purchase an individual user version?
Do you have Google Form confirmation for your assignments, and did you click Submit on each Google Form?

If you have checked these items and are still experiencing a technical problem, send us an email.

When emailing for assistance, please include your full name, the email address used for your registration, and a brief description of the problem.