- What-if Wednesday: School Emergency Preparedness
- De-escalation and Violence Prevention Training Webinar
- 802 Phones Down! Heads Up! PSA Contest
- Understanding Trauma within a PBIS Framework Webinar
- Courtesy Posts
What-if Wednesday: School Emergency Preparedness
Audience: Superintendents, Principals and School Crisis Planning Team Members
The What if Wednesday for February 6, 2019, is designed for Superintendents, Principals and School Crisis Planning Team Members to facilitate a conversation about school emergency preparedness. Please complete the exercise and share with your faculty and staff as appropriate.
Contact: Robert L. Evans, VT School Safety Liaison Officer, revans@margolishealy.com or (802) 839-0448
De-escalation and Violence Prevention Training Webinar
Audience: Superintendents, Principals and School Crisis Planning Team Members
The ability to verbally de-escalate tense situations is an essential skill for security professionals, and the skills apply to anyone who works in the public sphere. Resolving situations using only words prevents physical altercations and potential harm for all sides involved. The skills to verbally de-escalate a situation may not be innate, and as such, participants need opportunities to practice them before applying them in a live situation. The National Center for Campus Public Safety is providing this free de-escalation and prevention of violence training webinar. See link for details and registration information.
Contact: Robert L. Evans, VT School Safety Liaison Officer, revans@margolishealy.com or (802) 839-0448
#802 Phones Down! Heads Up! PSA Contest
The Vermont Highway Safety Alliance is sponsoring the second annual Public Safety Announcement (PSA) award contest designed to change driving habits for Vermont high school students. The contest is open from January 15 to April 1, 2019, and the award ceremony is May 10, 2019, at the Vermont State House, where $2,000 in cash awards will be distributed. This is a chance for students to use their creativity to engage their peers on the dangers of distracted driving by producing a 25-second video on the topic using their phones. The PSAs will be distributed to media outlets.
Contact: Evelyn McFarlane at evelyn.mcfarlane@vermont.gov
Webinar: Understanding Trauma within a PBIS Framework
Audience: Teachers, Administrators, Specialists, Behavior Interventions, School/Mental Health Clinicians, Others
The webinar Understanding Trauma within a PBIS Framework will be held March 11, 2019, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. will provide an overview of the impact developmental trauma has on childhood development across multiple domains, including learning and cognition. Strategies for identifying and supporting children who have experienced developmental trauma at all three tiers of support will be presented. Participants will improve their understanding of how to create a learning environment that is trauma-informed.
Contact: Sherry Schoenberg at sherry.schoenberg@uvm.edu or (802) 656-9656
Courtesy Posts
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.
Professional Learning on Building Assessments to Ensure Proficiency Alignment
Join VT-HEC for a one-day workshop on Transforming Teaching through Proficiency-based Learning. This workshop focuses on how to align both formative and summative assessments with specific learning targets and performance indicators to better understand student strengths and weaknesses. Using an “Assessment Audit Tool,” participants will revise one of their current classroom assessments. A wide variety of exemplars will be provided. This workshop will be held on March 28, 2019, at the Killington Grand Hotel.
Contact: Julie Medose at julie.medose@vthec.org or (802)-498-3350
Professional Learning: Cannabis and Mental Health Online Graduate Course
The Center for Health and Learning is offering a 1-graduate credit online course Cannabis and Mental Health: Debunking Myths About Cannabis beginning February 17, 2019. Attendees will learn to teach or provide other services required in a school’s alcohol and drug abuse prevention education program specific to cannabis.
Contact: Catherine Diduk at info@healthandlearning.org or (802) 254-6590
Spread the Word: College and Career Pathways 2019 Events
VSAC’s College & Career Pathways for 2019 has a new evening program. Join us for free workshops and a resource fair to help plan for future college or training. Get your questions answered, talk to Vermont experts about apprenticeships and job programs, and learn about applying to and paying for college or career training Feb. 27, 2019, in Castleton; March 7, 2019, in Bennington; March 21, 2019, in Colchester; or April 10, 2019 in Johnson. Register for one of the free evening events at www.vsac.org/ccp. Come hungry - free hearty snacks served from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Contact: Anna Telensky at events@vsac.org or 888-943-7301
John Dewey Kitchen Institute
The University of Vermont offers a 3-day, on-campus workshop—the John Dewey Kitchen Institute—applying John Dewey’s philosophy into our kitchen lab as a way to emphasize experiential education as an important pedagogical approach for teaching any subject. The in-kitchen workshop includes hands-on cooking, enjoying three meals together, and beer and wine tasting.
Contact: Katie Albee at learn@uvm.edu or 802-656-2085
Professional Development: Dyslexia Workshop with Nancy Mather
Dr. Nancy Mather, preeminent expert on dyslexia and learning disabilities, presents Students with Dyslexia: We DO Know Who They Are! a half-day workshop with the Stern Center for Language and Learning. Participants will learn more about what dyslexia is, how to diagnose it, and effective teaching strategies. Educators and parents of individuals with dyslexia are encouraged to register by March 8, 2019 for only $35 per person.
Contact: SJ White at swhite@sterncenter.org or (802)-878-2332 ext. 320
Professional Learning: Restorative Practices
Registration is open for Restorative Communication. During this day-long workshop with Annie O'Shaughnessy, we will look at a model for restorative communication, share experiences and practice what we've learned in real-life scenarios. You will reflect on your own effective and ineffective default communication styles and explore and practice a mindfulness and trauma-informed approach to restorative communication. May 14, 2019 at the Hampton Event Center in Colchester, VT and participants will receive an included resource binder.
Contact: Lauren Wooden at lauren@cvedcvt.org or (802) 497-1642
Applications Now Open: Governor’s Institutes of Vermont Summer Learning Residencies
Summer Applications for the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont are now open. Young motivated artists and students in grades 11 are encouraged to apply. Students will explore a topic of their choice, all while having fun meeting like-minded peers from across the state, and experiencing life on a college campus. GIV’s eleven Institutes cover everything from the Arts and Humanities to STEM and Business. Tuition is based on a sliding-scale model that enables families to pay only what they can afford. Please visit the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont website for more information and to begin the application process.
Contact: Kelsey Parenteau at info@giv.org or 802-865-4448
Principals: Nominate Teachers to Attend ECET2 Conference
The theme of this year’s ECET2 – Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching – is ConnectEd Stories. ConnectEd Stories will be a day of storytelling, listening and sharing. It is guaranteed to breathe life and joy into the practice of inspiring and aspiring teacher leaders. Use the online nomination form to connect your teachers with this valuable professional development opportunity.
Contact: Katie Sullivan at ksullivan@huusd.org