Act 48 • About Time We Have Fun Again: Teaching Strategies to Improve Achievement and Engagement
45 Act 48 Hours + 3 Credits — or — Fast Track with 90 Act 48 Hours! Online & Self-Paced
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Welcome, PDE Educators!
Earning your Act 48 Hours can be simple, flexible, and stress-free. Pennsylvania teachers need 180 Act 48 Hours for license renewal — and in many districts, a lane jump begins at 15–18 graduate-level credits. We’re here to make that process as easy and teacher-friendly as possible.
Confirm For Teachers By Teachers in the official PDE PERMS system.
- Choose “View Approved Providers.”
- In Provider Name, type: For Teachers By Teachers.
- Press Search to see our active listing.
You have three flexible options to earn your Act 48 Hours and/or graduate-level semester credits:
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Receive 45 Act 48 Hours — $175 per course
This is our standard option. Once you complete the course, we report your hours directly to PERMS for you — no extra steps. -
Earn 90 Act 48 Hours — Add $190 (paid to UMass Global) for 3 graduate-level semester credits
Replace your 45 Hours with 90 total Act 48 Hours — perfect for fast-tracking Act 48 requirements. Your 3 graduate credits are reported directly to PDE as 90 Hours. -
Earn 45 Act 48 Hours and 3 Graduate-Level Semester Credits — Add $190 (paid to UMass Global)
Ideal if you want 45 Hours reported to PERMS and 3 graduate-level credits to bank toward salary advancement. Your official UMass Global transcript is provided.
Course Description:
Join teacher wellness guru Chanelle Walker, M.Ed., as she guides you through reimagining learning environments as places where educators and students are having fun while achieving. This course is designed to help you recognize the critical role of joy in enhancing student engagement—and, in turn, achievement—in the classroom.
By integrating fun into everyday teaching practices, participants will learn to foster curiosity, motivation, and stronger learning outcomes across grade levels. Through research-based strategies, practical tools, and a custom classroom “Fun Playbook,” educators will discover how joy improves retention, builds positive attitudes toward learning, and strengthens classroom culture. With expert insights and interactive activities, this course will transform how you teach—and how your students learn.
What You’ll Learn:
- Evidence-Based Strategies: Explore the science linking joy, engagement, and academic achievement, and use it to design learning experiences that resonate with your students.
- Making Reading Fun: Reignite a love for literacy through gamification, interactive storytelling, and creative challenges that make reading engaging for all learners.
- Fun for the Neurodivergent Learner: Adapt fun-oriented strategies to create inclusive, joyful classrooms that support neurodivergent students and help every learner thrive.
- Fun for the Educator: Discover wellness-focused, joy-infused approaches to prevent burnout, manage stress, and reignite your own passion for teaching.
- Implementing Fun for All: Put your new knowledge into action by creating, testing, and refining your own “Fun Playbook” tailored to your classroom.
Why Educators Choose This Course:
- Joy-Driven Results: Learn how infusing fun directly boosts student motivation, participation, and achievement.
- Inclusive & Practical: Gain a menu of adaptable, evidence-backed strategies that work for diverse learners and grade levels.
- Wellness & Sustainability: Support both student engagement and teacher well-being with strategies that make classrooms thrive long term.
Build a Thriving Classroom Today:
This course empowers educators to make joy an intentional part of their teaching practice. By addressing burnout, fostering inclusivity, and prioritizing student engagement, you’ll transform your classroom into a space where learning feels exciting, motivating, and achievable for every student.
Enroll Now!
Start your journey toward a joyful, sustainable classroom — and create a learning environment where both you and your students can thrive.
Self-Paced, Quiz-Based, and Completely Online
Forget portfolios or lengthy written assignments — this is stress-free professional learning designed with YOU in mind. With no start dates and no due dates, you can begin and finish the course whenever it’s convenient. You don’t need to be working with students to complete it, and there are no scheduled meetings. The course is 100% self-paced and self-guided — so you can work whenever and wherever it fits your life.
To Enroll in This Course:
Start by completing the $175 registration using the enrollment link at the top of this page. This creates your For Teachers By Teachers (FTBT) account and gives you immediate access to your online classroom.
You can begin anytime, work at your own pace, and complete the course on your schedule.
Your $175 fee includes:
- ✔️ Full access to all course materials
- ✔️ 45 Act 48 Hours reported to PERMS upon completion
✶ Want to Earn 3 Graduate-Level Semester Credits from UMass Global?
After enrolling, you’ll find step-by-step instructions for UMass Global’s optional $190 graduate credit registration inside your online classroom. Choose your preferred path:
- ✔️ 90 Act 48 Hours — Replace your 45 Hours with 90 total Hours, reported to PDE
- ✔️ 45 Act 48 Hours + 3 Graduate-Level Credits — Earn your 45 Hours and 3 credits toward salary advancement
Graduate-level semester credit issued by UMass Global — a regionally accredited university partner.
* Each graduate credit equals 30 Act 48 Hours.
For Teachers By Teachers is excited to offer this graduate-level university course in partnership with the University of Massachusetts Global and FTBT Partner, Chanelle Walker.
Chanelle, the creator of this course, is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Education from Walden University, specializing in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. She holds a Master of Education as a Reading Specialist from Notre Dame and is a faculty member at Ashland University's College of Education.
Chanelle also designs professional development for the Euclid Council of the Ohio Literacy Association, and has over a decade of experience in public school teaching. As the founder and CEO of Professional Inspiration — an organization focused on teacher wellness — she delivered an acclaimed TEDx talk on burnout prevention, "The Elephant in the Classroom," which you can watch here.
"This course has truly changed both my professional and personal life. Thank you for this learning opportunity!"
— Kayleen Pieper, Teacher
"This is honestly one of the best professional development courses I’ve ever taken. I’ve learned practical and applicable content to my profession. I’ve learned so much about myself as a professional and as a person."
— Kehau Morikawa-Marzan, Teacher
"With all the classes I have taken in the past, a class has never affected me as much as this one. I would like to thank you for having this course for teachers."
— Fay Tsurumaki, Teacher
"This is the first online class that I really enjoyed and I feel as though I have so many new ideas, techniques, and tools to apply in my classroom. This course has had a major impact on me as a teacher. I'm encouraging my co-workers to take this course!"
— Kimberly Celebre, Teacher
"Thank you so much for a wonderful learning opportunity that not only made me a better educator but a better person entirely."
— Darcie Horiuchi, Teacher
"This course has empowered me to be a change agent on campus and a dream-releaser in my classroom. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
— Kamilla Maii, Teacher
"Thank you for this amazing class!
I learned so much about myself and my students."
— Abigayle Butler, Teacher
"Thank you for this very inspirational and user-friendly course."
— Katie Tanaka, Teacher
"This course has given me new tools for life and reinforced the importance of building positive relationships with my students. I am a better teacher. Thank you."
— Brandon Hanagami, Teacher
"I wanted to thank you for creating such an enlightening course. As a new teacher I couldn't have taken this course at a better time."
— Paulina Felcher, Teacher
"Thank you for your dedication to providing teachers with high-quality professional development. I loved everything about this course."
— Sherri Sai, Special Education Resource Teacher
Your Course Instructor
For Teachers By Teachers is a highly dedicated team of licensed educators with professional certifications across grades PK–12. Our areas of expertise include Special Education, Childhood Education, Art Education, and Reading Specialist certifications.
Collectively, our course authors and instructors bring more than 20 years of experience in the field of education. We are passionate about empowering teachers and have contributed meaningfully to school communities in Hawai‘i, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Colorado, Vermont, and Ohio.
Our mission is to support your professional growth with flexible, high-quality online courses designed by teachers—for teachers. If you have any questions or need support, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. We’re here to help!