VT-NH Educator Conversations (January 25 - February 10 '21)
Below are recordings of all of the virtual conversations we hosted January 25-February 10, 2021, hosted by and for educators throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.
Feel free to view by clicking on any of the videos below or on YouTube by clicking on "YouTube" bottom-right of video screen.
You can also expand the video by clicking on the full screen icon far bottom-right..
If you should be interested in contacting any of the presenters/conveners, feel free to do so as well. All said they would be happy to connect.
Feel free to view by clicking on any of the videos below or on YouTube by clicking on "YouTube" bottom-right of video screen.
You can also expand the video by clicking on the full screen icon far bottom-right..
If you should be interested in contacting any of the presenters/conveners, feel free to do so as well. All said they would be happy to connect.
Monday, January 25. Stories of Teacher Identity during COVID.
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COVID has hit our communities, schools, and classrooms hard, including families, students, and educators themselves. In this session, educators were given the opportunity to connect on how COVID has impacted them over the last year.
Hosted by Lydia Young and Kelly Conn of Northeastern University's Graduate School of Education and NExT (Network of Experiential Learning Educators). |
Tuesday, January 26. Pandemic Silver Lining: Place-Based Learning.
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How Slate Valley educators employed place-based learning as a means to engage students and community during a global pandemic is presented in this session. Teachers developed and promoted outdoor classrooms and coaching support systems that were responsive to immediate needs during an ever-evolving school year. Several place-based learning teachers share their experiences. Hosted by Kristen Whitman, Slate Valley (VT) Unified School District Learning Coach., Slate Valley (VT) Unified School District Learning Coach.
Here is the link for the Digital Office! To see more of what Slate Valley has been up to, see here: https://www.smore.com/8pn5w |
Wednesday, January 27. Finding Joy and Learning in a time of Crisis: The Joy Project.
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Learn about the The Joy Project (an initiative of the Tarrant Institute of the University of Vermont (VT)) where Katy Farber and others:
Here is the link to Katy's presentation. To the Joy Project blog. And, finally, the portrait of a Vermont graduate referenced. (Also see the slideshow.*) * Original slide show created by Michele Waggoner |
Monday, February 1. Deeper Learning for Educators Through Networked Improvement.
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While schools are increasingly being called on to transform opportunities for students to experience “deeper learning” – learning that is meaningful, equitable, transferable, purposeful, and collaborative – we turn our gaze toward educator learning with the same lens. We ask, how can we design for educator professional learning as “deeper learning” in order to promote an equity-focused and antiracist pedagogy?
Deeper learning opportunities for educators tend to:
Hosted by Kristen Downey and Chris Ward of the Upper Valley Educators Institute (NH) and Gerlissa Garrett, Stowe Middle School teacher, MEd candidate, and recipient of the Rising Star Award from the Vermont Association for Middle Level Education. Link to the presentation here. Link to Equity Literacy Resources mentioned here & here. |
Tuesday, February 2. Getting REAL during C-19.
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Slate Valley educators created REAL (Relevant, Equitable, Authentic Learning @ Fair Haven Union High School using student interest Notebooks. Educator Deborah Ehler-Hansen presents their work and Kaylo Stevenson, a student, shares his experiences with REAL.
To learn more about Ms. Ehler-Hansen’s support of student learning please review this publication. Hosted by Deborah Ehler-Hansen, Slate Valley (VT) Unified School District Library/Media Specialist Here is the link to the padlet that Deborah refers to To see more of what Slate Valley has been up to, see here: https://www.smore.com/8pn5w |
Wednesday, February 3. Civil Discourse amongst Students and Community.
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Sara Flynn of the Lyndon Institute (VT) presents a variety of Civil Discourse activities she employed to engage junior and senior level students in civil discourse along with administrators, faculty, staff, and local community members for meaningful discussions on current issues. Her class tends to be comprised of students who do not experience academic life in a positive or fulfilling way. Perhaps they have literacy issues, anxiety, or other, and therefore are less likely to have had opportunity to converse with many adults about issues that they feel are important.
Adults and "local experts" found the experience of engaging with these students who they may not have known well to be enjoyable and enriching. It's a simple process and activity, and immensely rewarding.. Hosted by Sara Flynn of the Lyndon Institute (VT). Gretchen Boswell offered this resource. Sam Nelson offered this resource, this resource, and this resource. |
Monday, February 8. Early Childhood Education in the time of COVID: Sharing what works for our PK-2 students.
Kristin Lizotte, a 1st grade teacher at the Kearsarge (NH) Regional Elementary School and 2019 Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical award winner from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, created a space for early elementary teachers in VT and NH to share their challenges and practices in support of their students during COVID. Much of the professional learning related to teaching in this pandemic has focused on older students, and not been relevant for early childhood educators. Early childhood educators teaching remotely, in-person, or some combination of the two joined in a discussion regarding their challenges and successes.
Hosted by Kristin Lizotte, Kearsarge (NH) Regional Elementary School. Kristin's website on PBL for NH educators can also be found here.
Hosted by Kristin Lizotte, Kearsarge (NH) Regional Elementary School. Kristin's website on PBL for NH educators can also be found here.
Because there was such a rich conversation regarding particular district's responses to COVID in this arena and specific were shared that could be attributed to specific systems, we have decided not to publicly publish the recording. However, some of the highlights identified by educators were as follows:
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Tuesday, February 9. Brave Conversations about Race and Equity.
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Despite a long history of calls for more equitable practices in schools, inequitable outcomes for students persist. There’s no greater evidence of this stagnation than in 2020, when a disease has disproportionately killed Black and indigenous people, closed schools across the country, and negatively impacted far more poor students and students of color than white students. Yet in the NH/VT region and across the country, racist, biased, inequitable systems in schools continue to dominate and inequitable outcomes for students persist.
Kristen Downey of the Upper Valley Educators Institute shares a protocol developed by UVEI in collaboration with Groundswell Change designed to develop educators' capacity to see and describe equity-centered dilemmas, think about how identities, including race, influence our interactions with equity issues, practice the habits of equity consciousness, and take action in schools. The protocol is being piloted this year and Kristen shared how the protocol has been of value to the educators they are working with. Hosted by Kristen Downey of the Upper Valley Educators Institute (NH). |
Wednesday, February 10. Advocacy and Validation of Arts Programming.
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Rebecca McGregor of the Lyndon Institute shared how she has advocated for nurturing her students' learning and development (physically, emotionally, cognitively, and socially) through providing choice to meet different learners learning styles as well as adapting her classroom space and environment for learning. She provides several examples of student impact and shares her perspective on the need for arts programming, which often is cut for more "core" academic program.
Come hear her story and the discussion amongst others on this important topic. Hosted by Rebecca McGregor of the Lyndon Institute (VT). |