How to use Google Keep for video note-taking
A recent study from Common Sense Media confirms what those of us who spend time with young adults already believe
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Innovative Edtech Classrooms
Student-centered, technology-rich classroom projects
What Orleans students want you to know about student voice
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On this episode of The 21st Century Classroom: It makes me happy to come to school every day, because
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Connecting Vermont students with dairy farms
There’s more math, biology, and chemistry than you’d think. It’s a wintry morning in one of the coldest Februarys in
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Can Minecraft save the world?
These 4th graders say yes. With a little help from the UN’s Global Goals. Students at Ottauquechee Elementary School took
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What do curiosity projects look like?
“I think every school should do it!” Soup to nuts, curiosity projects — Genius Hour, 20% time or passion projects
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How to make real, sustainable change in the Northeast Kingdom
Think Global Goals, make local change The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals are ambitious goals that countries, organizations, and
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Equity and the in-school business
Mettawee Community School, in West Pawlet VT, loves tradition. They’re a small, tight-knit school in a rural area, and home
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Who are the keepers of your town’s history?
Reviving Manchester’s past through oral histories & 3D printing With support from the local historical society, 7th graders in Manchester
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How does your district hear from — and listen to — students?
Burke students share their learning with district leaders How many school board meetings have you sat through where the only
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Student-led conferences come to Leland & Gray
Change is hard! And changing a school procedure that has been the same forever is even harder! Leland and Gray
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The athlete, the artist & the PLP
How Passion Projects can fire up a student-led conference Julia is a student at Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School, in
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What does service learning look like in Vermont?
Leland & Gray students take on a school community makeover At Leland & Gray Union Middle High School, students decided
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The shifting role of the teacher in a blended learning classroom
Adding playlists into the mix We often hear about the need to move from the sage on the stage to
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Building a chicken coop at The Dorset School
How do you get fresh eggs on a school menu? Students at The Dorset School, in Dorset VT, did
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How to get students to communicate with families
Welcome to the Best Part of My Week And yours, likely. Peoples Academy Middle Level educator Joe Speers shares how
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How to create empathy with your community
Meet the Compassionate Faces of the Shires How do your students recognize compassion? Do they recognize it in the faces
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How to build up STEAM
Making time for making at Ottauquechee STEAM — Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics — gives students the opportunity to
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One mural, multiple legacies
Beyond the Passion Project: Clara wanted to do something amazing for her final Brainado project. She wanted to push herself
Read moreStudents blogging for an authentic audience
Getting connected: online & with community members What if there was a way to spend less time grading your students’
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Battle Physics at Green Mountain Union High School
Come for the math, stay for the slingshots! Green Mountain 7th graders and HS physics students apply math and science to
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Developing empathy for your community
Meet the Humans of Burke So many schools operate in isolation from the very communities they are situated in. Do
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Why host a whole-school exhibition?
Providing an arena for powerful family feedback School exhibitions take work. They take work to organize, schedule, promote and pull
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Using student TED Talks to showcase learning
TED Talks are short, personal powerful storytelling. Now: how can students use this medium as motivation to learn, to explore
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Should Vermont host the next Olympics?
Manchester’s 6th graders weigh in… to their Selectboard. Teams of 6th-grade students from Manchester Elementary Middle School researched this question
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What if you could have Town Meeting Day every week?
A Vermont tradition comes to the classroom Town Meeting Day is a Vermont tradition: once a year, everyone in towns
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Green Mountain’s Wilderness Semester
Take student learning outside Students at Green Mountain Union High School demonstrate learning in Science, Social Studies, Health, and Language
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How can students teach educators about social identity?
A trio of Tuttle 6th graders led educators from around Vermont through activities in bias-awareness and social identity at the
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Sharing your school’s Passion Projects
Does your community know you as a learner? Flood Brook School buzzed with excitement. Students brought in their projects on
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The value of a community mentor
How did an 8th grader turn his passion project into a summer job? I found Connor in the tech ed
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Race Against Racism VT
It all starts with an idea. Races Against Racism have taken place around the country, and last spring, a community
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The student architects of Shelburne VT
Making math real-world relevant Would you tell the school board how to redesign your school? Students at Shelburne Community School,
Read more5 online resources for teaching current events
When things get tough, the tough use tools. Whether you’re actively trying to embed current events in your curriculum or
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The #everydaycourage of trying again
Seeing failure as iteration A trio of students at Crossett Brook Middle School, in Duxbury VT, have spent the past
Read more4 ways Vermont educators are sharing their practice
The #everydaycourage of being seen Take the iconic back-to-school prompt for students — what I did on my summer vacation — and
Read more4 resources for fighting fake news
Standard 3-part story-driven post: 1) what it is, 2) what it looks like in a school, 3) how to do it in your school
Read moreIdle-Free Vermont in Shelburne
8th grade scientists tackle carbon emissions at a busy traffic circle This past year, Shelburne Community School middle grades students
Read moreNegotiated curriculum at the unit level
Set boundaries, then let students drive the conversation Negotiated curriculum is the idea that you can assemble a curriculum for
Read moreWant end-of-year family involvement?
Try Passage Presentations. The end of every school year is tough. Teachers and administrators struggle to keep students in line,
Read moreRevolutionize student research with Padlet
Organize research materials digitally and collaboratively Tiffany Michael, from Crossett Brook Middle School in Waterbury, Vermont, describes how her use
Read moreHow ubiquitous learning spaces can spur reflection
Ubiquitous learning at the Sycamore School (Ed Note: Susan Hennessey recently traveled to Malibu, California to check out some innovative
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Study National Parks with digital tools
Student-created virtual park tours With access to online and tablet-based tools for digital curation and content creation, students can research
Read moreWhat are some good tools for studying hurricanes?
Science app-smashing in a 1:1 environment Brendan Nerney, a middle grades educator at Mill River Union High School in Clarendon,
Read moreRethinking the traditional school schedule
Keep students centered in the conversation When it becomes time to talk about scheduling you can often feel the tension rise
Read moreAugmented reality and student identity
Students explore the geography of self(ies) An innovative way for students to explore who they are happens in Lori Lisai’s
Read moreMultiple platforms, multiple voices: scenes from a 1:1 rollout
Collaborative blogging puts students’ voices out front Hazen Union School 8th grade student Elijah Lew-Smith shared the first student post of the
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Creating a self-paced Spanish class
Experiment with flexibility: tech + assessment At Edmunds Middle School, in Burlington Vermont, Sarah Wright is rethinking assessment to create a
Read moreMaking a difference with watershed science data
Students partner with local scientists in collecting, analyzing & disseminating water data A group of 7th and 8th grade students took
Read moreStudent-made geology games
Putting a human face on science storytelling Lava flows down the halls of Main Street Middle School, in Montpelier, Vermont,
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4 amazing things afoot at The Cabot School
So many schools in Vermont are engaged in innovative, student-centered, tech-rich education work.We’re proud to partner with The Cabot School
Read moreCelebrating learning at Richmond Elementary School
4th grade researchers share Capstone Projects with community This past Wednesday, 4th grade scholars at Richmond Elementary School, in Richmond, Vermont,
Read moreWhat does Minecraft look like in a school?
Crafting Pickaxes, swords and social skills Since its release in 2009, Minecraft has made its way into 60 million homes
Read moreSugaring, STEM, and community connections
Early spring is sugaring season in Vermont. We produce the lion’s share of the domestic output of maple syrup, and
Read moreMaking Civil War videos like Ken Burns
Narrating WW Isaac Robbins’ letters home Ken Burns’ epic nine-part documentary on The U.S. Civil War ranks among the most
Read moreDigital Learning Day 2015: Edmunds Middle School
What does a green screen, solar paneling, Spanish, wood engraving, and 3D printing have in common? These were just some
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Global storytelling with a green screen and iPads
Send your students around the world to tell their stories These 6th graders found a way to do some digital
Read moreProject-based learning and creative writing
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The play’s the (learning) thing Also the musical film and the series of novels. Stay with us on this. In
Read moreUsing edmodo as an LMS for reading
Students provide evidence of increased engagement with social reading platform (Editor’s Note: we asked 5th grade educator Hannah Lindsey to share
Read moreUsing Schoology for differentiated learning
Addressing student mastery and learning targets in an LMS Kristi McKnight, a 9th grade teacher at Harwood Union High School in
Read moreInnovative learning shared at Nashville conference
Music City learns a thing or two about Vermont ed tech Half of the Tarrant Institute staff and a special guest headed
Read moreLeveraging Google Calendar in the Classroom
Inspiring collaboration between teachers, students and families The free suite of tools through Google Apps for Education have certainly inspired
Read morePersonalizing Vermont’s education system
Move to implement PLPs reflected at two local conferences for educators Fall in Vermont features two amazing local conferences for
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Make maglev cars with Google SketchUp
Concept to reality with Edmunds Middle School makerspace Hear from a group of 6th grade engineers who got to use
Read more4 ways personalized learning plans are taking off in Vermont
Educators are embracing digital tools for planning and sharing Personalized learning plans, or PLPs, are non-traditional pathways by which students
Read moreThe power of transmedia storytelling
aka The Bear Trap Story When was the last time you saw your district superintendent leap over a bear trap?
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