- CTE Perception Survey
- Early MTSS Professional Learning Opportunities
- Microsoft Product Demo Day
- Arts Professional Learning Day
- Vermont Food, Farm and Nutrition Data Harvest
- National School Nurse Day
- Vermont MTSS/BEST Summer Institute
- Courtesy Postings
CTE Perception Survey
Audience: Everyone
As part of a process for developing a strategic vision and goals for career technical education (CTE) in the state, the Agency of Education is asking for participation from you and your school community. The CTE Perception Survey will be available until April 9, 2018.
Contact: Jay Ramsey, State CTE Director at jay.ramsey@vermont.gov
PreK-Kindergarten Early MTSS Tier I, II, & III Professional Learning Opportunities
Audience: Administrators, PreK & Kindergarten Teachers
The collaboration between the Kindergarten Conference and the Pyramid Model Consortium has created an opportunity for workshop sessions focused on Early MTSS Tier I: Universal Strategies for Promoting Success, Tier II: Teaching Strategies for Support Social and Emotional Development, and Tier III: Effective Strategies for Addressing Challenging Behavior. Register soon since sessions are filling up. Registration for PreK - Kindergarten Early MTSS closes on March 29, 2018.
Contacts: Pat Fitzsimmons at (802) 479-1425 or pat.fitzsimmons@vermont.gov or Kate Rogers at (802) 479-1454 or kate.rogers@vermont.gov
Microsoft Product Demo Day
Audience: School Administrators and Teachers
The Microsoft’s Education Team is pleased to showcase their latest Educational Technology Solutions that assist in the Personalization and Proficiency-Based Learning for all students. In addition, the latest in device management and deployment will also be showcased. Date: April 9, 2018 at the Agency of Education Office, 219 North Main Street, Barre, from 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. in room 304. Refreshments will be provided by SHI, a Vermont reseller of Microsoft Products. Registration is open and available to all schools. Register for Microsoft Product Demo Day.
Contact: Peter Drescher, State Director of Education Technology, (802) 479-1169 or peter.drescher@vermont.gov
What does an art class look like in a personalized, proficiency-based system that allows for flexible pathways?
Audience: PreK-12 Visual Art Educators
The Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Brattleboro, Vermont will be hosting a professional learning opportunity for art teachers on April 24, 2018 from 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. This workshop will begin with a resource sharing session. Five or more participating visual art educators will share materials that they have developed or a resource they use in their classrooms. The Agency of Education’s Arts specialist, Emily Titterton will also share resources created in collaborative work sessions that assist in implementing the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) and transitioning to personalized and proficiency-based systems. This portion of the day will be completely participant driven. Resources shared should be aligned to the National Core Arts. Bonus points for resources that facilitate personalized and proficiency-based learning. The second portion of the day will be spent engaging in a collaborative work session. Using NCAS as a guide, participants will discuss and draft materials that could include a scope & sequence and/or a bank of learning targets.
Contact: Emily Titterton at (802) 479-1378 or emily.titterton@vermont.gov
Vermont Food, Farm and Nutrition Data Harvest
Audience: Principals
School principals are invited to participate in the Vermont Food, Farm and Nutrition Integration Data Harvest, a project to support the Vermont Farm to School Network, and expand and deepen Farm to School programs across Vermont. Your school’s participation in the Data Harvest is an integral part of gathering the program data necessary to inform our ability to better serve Vermonters. Participants will be entered into a raffle for chance to plant a school garden with Governor Scott. Survey information was emailed to all Vermont principals, and are due early April.
Contact: Ali Zipparo, Vermont Farm to School Program Manager at Agency of Agriculture alexandra.zipparo@vermont.gov
National School Nurse Day: Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Audience: School Superintendents and Principals
Over 300 school nurses work full or part-time in Vermont schools making a difference in the lives of children every day. The theme this year is School Nurses: Advocates for 21st Century Student Health. School nurses lead the way to advance health and support education by ensuring that students are safe, healthy, and ready to learn. Please consider how you and your school community might honor the work of these hard-working people who identify and address the seven health barriers to learning and barriers to safety, every day. More information is available on the National School Nurse Day Website.
Contact: Sharonlee Trefry, State School Nurse Consultant, Vermont Department of Health at sharonlee.trefry@vermont.gov or (802) 863-7348
Vermont MTSS/BEST Summer Institute
Audience: SU/SD Leadership Teams or School Teams
There’s still time for your school team to register for the VT MTSS/BEST Summer Institute being held on June 25, 2018 to June 28, 2018 at the Killington Grand Hotel. The Summer Institute provides opportunities for school teams of educators, family members, and community stakeholders to share and learn strategies for improving and strengthening the systems, data, and practices within a multi-tiered system of supports. This year’s theme is All Hands on Deck: Working Together to Chart a Course for Social and Academic Success.
Contact: Sherry Schoenberg at sherry.schoenberg@uvm.edu
Courtesy Postings
The views, opinions, and resources shared in this section of the WFM are solely those of the original contributors. The Agency of Education does not endorse the views expressed by these contributors and reserves the right to refuse submissions. Questions related to any of these resources should be directed to the organizations, people, and opportunities as shared.
Virtual Forum on ACES and Opiates
On Wednesday, April 4th, 2018, from 9.a.m. to 10 a.m., join Snowy Owl Tutoring for an online discussion on adverse childhood experience and its’ relationship to Vermont’s opioid epidemic. The panel will consist of Vermont students, Policy Makers, and other stake holders. The format for this online panel discussion will include an introduction, followed by a moderated debate, and concluding with a Q and A with the audience. A segment of their most recent virtual forum, on gun control and school safety, can be found on their website.
Contact: Thomas D. Loudon, M.A, Founder, at customerservice@snowyowltutoring.com, (802) 299-9642.
“Different Does Not Equal Disorder: The Case for Embracing Neurodiversity,” a talk by John Elder Robison
Audience: Teachers, Parents, College-Bound Students with Autism, Special Education and Learning Disability Coordinators
Landmark College in Putney, Vermont, will host a talk by John Elder Robison, a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, and advocate for people with autism. He is the author of several books on autism spectrum disorder, including "Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening," and "Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s". During his talk, Robison will address the increasing body of evidence suggesting that a degree of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other neurological difference is part of the normal range of human variation. Differences may be disabling, but they also confer degrees of exceptionality, which may be why they persist in the human genome.
Contact: Mark DiPietro at marketing@landmark.edu
Save the Date: 2018 Flynn Center Summer Arts Literacy Institute
The Flynn Center will present its annual Summer Arts Literacy Institute at the beautiful, and historic Clemmons Family Farm—a Vermont African-American Heritage Trail landmark and recent ArtPlace America National Placemaking Fund grant recipient—in Charlotte, Vermont from August 14-16, 2018. This innovative institute is designed to support individual professional development plans and teaching artists' professional learning through the hands-on presentation of model arts integration sessions. Led by nationally recognized leaders in arts and education, sessions will advance K-12 students' development of cross-curricula transferrable skills such as inquiry, creativity, and collaboration.
Contact: Lauren at lgenta@flynncenter.org
OGAP Additive Reasoning Course
The Ongoing Assessment Project for Additive Reasoning course (optional 3 grad credits) uses OGAP Additive Framework/Learning Progression and other OGAP processes, together with knowledge related to the teaching and learning of additive concepts and skills to implement a continuous and intentional system of instruction, probing with instructionally embedded questions, and analysis of evidence in student work to make timely instructional modifications. Facilitators are Karen Reinhardt and Christian Courtemanche - Dates: August 7-9, 2018 and follow up 3 to 7 p.m. in September, November, January, February. Location: CVEDC classroom.
Contact: The Champlain Valley Educator Development Center at info@cvedcvt.org
Collaboration: Family, Community and NEAR Science With Laura Porter
Audience: caregivers, clinicians, educators, special educators, medical professionals, SPL’s, lawyers, judges, GALs, child welfare workers
Vermont Foster/Adoptive Family Association invites you to join us and become part of the social movement in Vermont that is strengthening the well-being of youth, family and community. Laura Porter will guide us through a new bundle of research to understand our own important roles in the lives of the youth we know. This day will provide an overview of “NEAR” Science: Neuroscience, Epigenetics, Adverse Childhood Experience and Resilience. With this information in mind, join in discussions with members of Building Flourishing Communities and Promise Communities to determine what we can do to build resilience that supports youth and families in Vermont. The event will take place on Friday, April 13, 2018. Starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m., at the Hilton Burlington at 60 Battery Street in Burlington, Vermont.
Contact: My-Lanh Graves at (802) 279-5953 or mylanh.graves@gmail.com
UVM Summer Professional Development Courses
Registration is open for summer professional development courses by UVM’s College of Education and Social Services. Online, hybrid, and on-campus options are available in Educational Technology, Library Media Studies, Language and Literacy, Special Education, Leadership and Policy Studies, Physical Education and more.
Contact: learn@uvm.edu
Flow of History Summer Institute: Courageous Conversations about Race and Identity
The Flow of History Summer Institute will take place June 26 - 29, 2018 in Grafton, Vermont. This institute will explore ways we can use history to prompt meaningful discussions about race and identity with students. Alec Turner, born as a slave on a Virginia plantation, escaped and made his way to Grafton after the Civil War. We will use inquiry methods to explore primary sources, songs, and stories from his family as part of the institute. We will also work carefully with reading and discussion protocols to illuminate approaches to building an anti-bias classroom. Residential and commuter options; graduate credit available.
Contact: Sarah Rooker at flowofhistory@gmail.com
Social Cognition I
Audience: Classroom teachers, special education teachers, reading specialists and content area teachers
This graduate-level course is designed to provide participants with a conceptual understanding of the theoretical frameworks underlying social cognition assessment and intervention for individuals presenting with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and related socio-cognitive deficits. This course is an introduction to functional and everyday application of interventions, strategies and supports for improving social understanding and implementing social cognition groups.
Contact: Caitlin Niland, Intake Coordinator for Professional Learning, (802) 878-2332 ext 320, cniland@sterncenter.org