- Agency of Education, State of Vermont and Federal Updates
- Vermont Public: November Resources to Celebrate Native American Heritage Month
- Student-Centered Mathematics Networked Improvement Community: Teachers Leading Innovation, Spread and Scale of Equitable, Evidence-based, Effective Instructional Practices
- What if Wednesday, Volume 4
- Special Education Monitoring – Office Hours by Appointment
- Special Education Monitoring – General Questions and Answers
- Agency of Education Open Positions
- Courtesy Posts
Agency of Education, State of Vermont and Federal Updates
This section of the Weekly Field Memo contains posts from the Agency of Education, other State of Vermont agencies, federal agencies or Vermont's congressional delegation.
Vermont Public: November Resources to Celebrate Native American Heritage Month
Audience: Curriculum Directors, Principals, PreK-12 Teachers
The Vermont Agency of Education and Vermont Public continue our partnership to meet the anywhere, anytime, educational, social and emotional needs of Vermont students. Visit the Vermont Public Kids and Education page to find recommendations for high-quality media and resource collections. Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with Molly of Denali by Incorporating Molly of Denali into Your Classroom – access resources and episode-specific activities along with indigenous cultural and informational text resources. For PreK/K students, use these conversation starters during family celebrations or watch as Mister Chris and Friends celebrate friends and tradition. For grades K-5, enjoy playful learning with Gratitude BINGO or listen to But Why Podcast and learn about dictionaries. For older students, check out Vermont Public and MusicComp’s Student Composer Showcase or learn about Sports and Protest and why it matters. Also, don’t forget to visit the Education Ambassadors page to learn more about how Vermont educators are involved in our partnership.
Contacts: Emily Leute at emily.leute@vermont.gov or Heather Duhamel at hduhamel@vermontpbs.org
Student-Centered Mathematics Networked Improvement Community: Teachers Leading Innovation, Spread and Scale of Equitable, Evidence-based, Effective Instructional Practices
Audience: Educators, Principals and Systems-level Leaders
This opportunity is available to support Continuous Improvement and Recovery work. To empower educators in accelerated learning and recovery, the AOE is inviting educator teams to join a unique professional learning opportunity. In the Networked Improvement Community (NIC), participants use a collaborative model for improvement in which participants partner with subject matter experts/researchers to improve instruction using formative data and cycles of learning. The goal of this network is to improve student-centered instruction and formative assessment practices in mathematics using evidence-based practices. Participation in this NIC will help your team routinize equitable, quality practices to improve student learning and build efficacy and capacity for continuous improvement. Participants will also receive a certificate for professional learning credit hours. View the Networked Improvement Communities: Leading Innovation, Spread, and Scale of Equitable, Evidence-based, Effective Instructional Practices document for more information. If you are interested in taking advantage of this unique, rigorous professional learning opportunity, please register to participate.
Contact: Lori Dolezal at aoe.mhshubgroup@vermont.gov
What if Wednesday, Volume 4
Audience: Superintendents, Principals and School Safety Stakeholders
The Vermont School Safety Center is pleased to announce the What if Wednesday - Volume 4, 2022, school safety training initiative. The “What if Wednesday” training program is designed to be shared with all school safety stakeholders and should be used to stimulate a conversation about school emergency preparedness.
Contact: Robert L. Evans at revans@margolishealy.com or (802) 839-0448
Special Education Monitoring – Office Hours by Appointment
Audience: Special Ed Administrators, Superintendents, Designees and any members of the special education field seeking support with monitoring activities
The Special Education team at the AOE is making it easier for members of the field to schedule individual meetings to meet with special education program monitoring for support around various monitoring activities through private meetings between the LEA and the monitoring team. You can schedule to meet with the monitoring team by making an appointment through our office hours appointment scheduling system.
Contact: Tristan McNamara at AOE.SpecialEdMonitoringGroup@vermont.gov
Special Education Monitoring – General Questions and Answers
Audience: Special Ed Administrators, Superintendents, Designees and any members of the special education field seeking support with monitoring activities
The Special Education team at the AOE is offering an opportunity for members of the field to join an optional group discussion for questions and answers about cyclic and selective monitoring activities. Please see the Special Education Program Monitoring System Guide for more details about monitoring activities. This weekly session will occur every Friday from Sept. 9, 2022 – May 26, 2023, from 9-10 a.m. View the calendar event for meeting details.
Contact: Tristan McNamara at AOE.SpecialEdMonitoringGroup@vermont.gov
Agency of Education Open Positions
Audience: All
The Vermont Agency of Education has open positions that are available to both state employees and external applicants. Open positions are: Programs Coordinator I -Science Specialist - Contact: Pat Fitzsimmons at pat.fitzsimmons@vermont.gov; Safe Schools Project Manager - Contact: Courtney O'Brien at courtney.obrien@vermont.gov and Education Quality Assurance Coordinator - Contact: Josh Souliere at josh.souliere@vermont.gov.
Contact: AOE Info at aoe.edinfo@vermont.gov
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. Please refer to the Weekly Field Memo submission guidelines for additional information.
Vermont Comprehensive School Counseling Framework
The Vermont School Counselor Association, through a formal ad hoc committee of school counselors representative of K-12 schools across the state, with the support of the Vermont Agency of Education, are pleased to release the Vermont Comprehensive School Counselor Framework. This document provides a statewide framework using the American School Counseling Association Mindsets & Behaviors National Standards as a springboard defining the roles and responsibilities of school counselors in order to address the specific needs of Vermont students. This framework ensures equitable access to high-quality evidence and standards-based school counseling curriculum for all Vermont students and families.
Contact: Patricia Tomashot at patricia.tomashot@lsuu.org
Chill Out with Cold Milk Cooler Giveaway
Ensure your students have the best-tasting milk possible by submitting New England Dairy’s Chill Out with Cold Milk Temperature Survey for a chance to win a free refrigerated milk cooler. Surveys can be submitted online or emailed to info@newenglanddairy.com. Learn more on New England Dairy’s School Meals webpage. Deadline to submit is Feb. 28, 2023.
Contact: Jill Hussels at jhussels@newenglanddairy.com
Transformative Language Learning
Klett World Languages (KWL) provides the highest quality language materials in Spanish, French, German and Italian. KWL creates content that helps students build authentic communicative competence and become global citizens. All materials are authentic, accessible and user-friendly. Materials follow a communicative approach with project-based learning that is student-centered and American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages aligned. For a free demo/sample of any of our materials, please reach out to or schedule a meeting with our Northeast Program Consultant, Kristi O’Connor.
Contact: Kristi O’Connor at koconnor@klettwl.com
Partnerships for Literacy and Learning Professional Development Survey
These past few years have been EXTRAordinary and professional learning has had to take a back seat to simply managing everyday zigs and zags. Ready for professional development? Interested in bringing back the summer Vermont Literacy Conference? In-person? Hybrid? Please take a few minutes to complete (and/or share) the short Professional Learning survey so Partnerships for Literacy and Learning can best support teachers/administrators this year.
Contact: Mary Grace at info@pllvt.org or (802) 828-0521
Scholarship Booklets Now Available for Shipping
The Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) administers more than 120 scholarships available to Vermont residents. VSAC's scholarships booklet for students planning to attend college in 2023–2024 is available online and the Unified Scholarship Application (USA) can be completed by logging into MyVSAC. To order a supply of printed booklets, please visit the VSAC publications website.
Contact: Serena Peck at scholarships@vsac.org at (888) 253-4819
All Learners Network Math Professional Development
Launch/Number Sense Routines Workshop is a six-hour workshop offered on Nov. 15, 2022, from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., at the All Learners Network Learning Center in Burlington. The purpose of this workshop is to inspire participants to reimagine how they use the first five to fifteen minutes of their math block for purposeful, discussion-rich number sense routines in their classroom. Launch is the vehicle for powerful instructional routines which are amplified through consistent exposure over time. Through intentional problem selection teachers encourage students to own the conversation and their learning.
Contact: TJ Jemison at communicationsdirector@alllearnersnetwork.com
Vermont Destination Imagination Events
On Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., please join Vermont Destination Imagination at ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain where it's Vermont Destination Imagination STEAM Day. We will have a variety of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities free with ECHO admission or membership. Also, on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, from 1-3 p.m. at Studio Place Arts (SPA) in Barre. SPA is hosting a free hands-on Destination Imagination workshop with creative activities for kids and families, recommended for ages 6-11. Please pre-register on the SPA webpage.
Contact: Jane Youngbaer at vtdicreativity@gmail.com or (802) 272-2766
Workshop: Understanding Dyslexia with Dr. Melissa Farrall
Join the Stern Center for Language and Learning for our November 15, 2022 literacy workshop, which focuses on dyslexia—the most common cause of difficulty with reading, spelling and written expression. In the webinar, Dr. Farrall will review the defining features of dyslexia, early signs of risk, how it is assessed and what educators can do to ensure that all children learn to read. You will leave this workshop with an understanding of how reading develops, as well as the root cause of most reading problems and how to increase student literacy in the classroom and society at large. Sign up on the Stern Center's events webpage.
Contact: Peter McDonald at pmcdonald@sterncenter.org
Umatter Training of Trainers
Join the Center for Health and Learning for a Umatter Training of Trainers on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, from 9 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. at the Capital Plaza in Montpelier. Participants engage in a full day of training to develop their skills and confidence to bring Umatter Suicide Prevention Awareness workshops to one's community or workplace. Register online on the training registration page.
Contact: Karen Carreira at karen@healthandlearning.org
Professional Learning: Culturally-Sensitive Classrooms
Join the Champlain Valley Educator Development Center for the workshop Classroom Design Supporting Students' Cultural Backgrounds: Co-Planning for K-12 Classrooms. This two-day workshop will now be held this summer on June 27-28, 2023, at The Hampton Conference Center in Colchester. The focus is on co-planning instruction while accommodating the needs of English language learning (ELL) students, considering their cultural backgrounds and other important factors for creating culturally-sensitive classroom environments. Facilitated by Kayla Johnson, Marina Brzostoski and Christine Sealey, ELL Trainers. More info online on the Champlain Valley Educator Development webpage.
Contact: Lauren Wooden at lauren@cvedcvt.org or (802) 497-1642
Castleton University Center for Schools Spring Registration Opens Monday, Nov. 7, 2022
Registration for Spring 2023 continuing education courses opens on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. These courses have been specifically designed for practicing PreK-12 educators. The majority are fully online and include a wide variety of topics such as classroom culture, equity, Spanish and more. The list can be viewed on Castleton's Continuing Education and Graduate Courses webpage.
Contact: Tara Lidstone at cfs@castleton.edu or (802) 345-0092