Top 10 ways to spend a snow day
…about best ways to implement personalized and proficiency-based learning. The one they’d like to spend a full year answering with their students An inquiry question forms the backbone of action…
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Search Results for: proficiency
The Teacher Leaders Hero’s Journey
…teach science at Proctor High School and were early adopters of a proficiency-based learning system. After a couple of years of implementing self-paced proficiency-based learning in their classrooms, they were…
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Hunter education in Vermont
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…certain situations they know what they’re doing, then we’re fine. In 2020 across the state of Vermont, educators and school communities have been wrestling with how, exactly, to implement proficiency-based…
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Building a blended & hybrid teaching toolkit
…by starting with educator proficiencies. Proficiencies help you build your own skillsets. Educator proficiencies for remote & hybrid teaching practices Here’s what they all look like as a rubric: Proficiency…
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#vted Reads about Equity & Cultural Responsiveness in the Middle Grades
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…pre-service teachers that I work with, that that just sort of becomes part of who they are as educators. Jeanie: It occurs to me that a proficiency-based system, done well,…
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Increasing Student Self-Direction
…one of the things that moved Vermont towards proficiency-based learning was to differentiate content skills from what the Vermont state Agency of Education calls transferable skills. Vermont decided to identify…
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#vted Reads: Start Here Start Now
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…their journey, whether it’s with equity work, or proficiencies, personalized learning. This is a disclosure: I love proficiency-based learning. That is also how Jeanie and I know each other is…
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Updated Student-Led Conferences Toolkit
…4 shifts for student-led conferences in a proficiency-based environment This post also focuses on how-to do SLCs, but specifically while in a proficiency-based environment. Video evidence & reflection for student-led…
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Sixth Graders Revamp Lyndonville
…self-direction and then provided additional detail to students based on task. For example, the task sheet for planning and project management provided indicators at each proficiency level that could be…
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Student-led conferences
…describes the process and how-to, includes sample agenda and student template. 4 shifts for student-led conferences in a proficiency-based environment This post also focuses on how-to do SLCs, but specifically…
Read morePersonalized Learning Plans (PLPs)
…students well. Flexible pathways and authentic, proficiency-based assessment bring them to life. How personal learning is working in Vermont PLPs help us know students well. Flexible pathways and authentic, proficiency-based…
Read moreEvernote with HUMS at EdTech Teacher iPad Summit!
…educators on their groundbreaking work with Evernote on the iPad for e-portfolios. Proficiency-based graduation requirements have never seemed so bewitching… Mirror, Mirror…Student Self-assessment and ePortfolios through the iPad…
Read moreAbout that NPR piece on kids’ reading habits…
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…and that’s just reading proficiency. Doesn’t really tell us anything about how much kids read. The second one is an in-school survey, and then the rest of them are online….
Read moreTesting unbound
…proficiency.” Apps like Nearpod and EdPuzzle can weave assessment directly into instructional routines, providing both learners and teachers with important and timely feedback. Chappuis & Stiggins (2008), in their article…
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Is extra credit an equity issue?
…are well-intentioned. We want our students to have opportunities to demonstrate proficiency, strengths and interests. These opportunities might look like additional class work, volunteering, attending community events, or reading and…
Read more4 ways personalized learning plans are taking off in Vermont
…PLP implementations Harwood Union Middle School principal Amy Rex has written about how her school is implementing PLPs as part of the school’s proficiency-based graduation guidelines, and with a very…
Read moreInnovative learning shared at Nashville conference
…workflow efficiencies. She shared how teachers used Edmodo to promote peer critique and used badging to create a personalized and proficiency-based math classroom. Kristi explained how she uses Schoology to…
Read moreStoring digital badges for portfolios
…on the PLP and could get school “credit” for it in a proficiency-based system. As schools start to build this system of personalized learning and multiple pathways, you can see…
Read moreV is for Voice Recordings
Why voice recordings work for young adolescents As students use technology to explore and capture projects that show both their emerging proficiency with skills and snapshots of who they have…
Read moreVermont Fest 2015
…something at school! How Proficiency-based Electronic Portfolios Bridge the Gap between Home and School. ~ Edmunds Middle School: Beth Brodie & Students 3:15 – 4:15 PLPs – The Power is…
Read moreDefining innovation in Vermont education
…personalization and proficiency based education practices over the next several years. And what is the motivation? Not accountability mandates or privatization threats. It’s the moral urgency of equity and a…
Read morePersonalize learning with Open Educational Resources
…challenges for learners to master a concept in a proficiency-based system. Interested in learning more? Intrigued? Check out OER Resource Roundup from Edutopia or follow #GoOpen and #OpenEd on Twitter….
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How does professional development affect technology integration?
…looking like? Not “I want an 80 in Math” but really good goals that have some teeth in them. And then of course, a proficiency-based system. I’m just going to…
Read moreManaging time in blended classrooms
…useful component of a larger instructional model, but it does not, in and of itself, create blended or proficiency-based pathways. Core to blended learning is the shift toward enabling teachers…
Read moreFacilitating community conversations about education
…Session 2 we saw that WWSU was already moving in these directions, as we explored district initiatives and student profiles related to personalized learning, proficiency-based education, flexible pathways, and student…
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Mathew’s Y.E.A.R. at The Compass School
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…along the way by a school that truly values student voice and choice, has embraced proficiency-based graduation requirements and has taken the concept of the student-led conference to new heights….
Read more(Re) Designing PLPs with students
…engaging infrastructure. Since the Lamoille faculty already had experience with the Design Thinking framework to explore the opportunities and challenges of adopting proficiency-based graduation requirements, it made sense to us…
Read more4 ways to partner with students around Genius Hour
…whether they are cultivating evidence of goal progress on a Personalized Learning Plan or examining their growth using a proficiency scale. Genius Hour is a great place to set aside…
Read moreGet #ready2launch your team this year
…we are asking folks to now facilitate learning through the lens of Personalization, Proficiency, Flexible Pathways and the Transferable Skills. In Vermont, those are: Clear and Effective Communication Self Direction…
Read moreRethinking school schedules
…class and demonstrates proficiency in said class. What does this look like back in school? What do we offer this student in place of their “regular” class? Solutions? I’m still…
Read moreWhy do action research?
…the journal Middle Grades Review. The article details his evolution in creating opportunities for students to practice within a proficiency-based learning environment. 5. Action research can power systems change The…
Read morePeer collaboration on PLPs
…Portfolio Presentation days. Nothing makes a lesson more real than in-person experience! What structures this work? The two schools are tapping into a district-wide Proficiency-Based Learning initiative by sharing a…
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4 ways to make math more relevant
… The federal SLOPE (STEM Learning Opportunities Provide Equity) program aims to tie increased proficiency in 8th grade algebra to improved academic outcomes. We’re all on board with that,…
Read more4 resources for fighting fake news
…reading levels: News in Levels and the Smithsonian’s Tween Tribune provide articles about current events that can be read on multiple levels of text complexity depending on students’ English proficiency….
Read moreHow to fight fake news in the field
…indicator later in the year to build proficiency. While working with our district literacy coach, Alysia Backman, she and I started to break down that indicator. We questioned what it…
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Scheduling and student choice
…maximize student choice? One thing to know about our district is our district, we are moving towards proficiency-based grading and learner-centered classrooms. In learner-centered classrooms, teachers no longer give direct…
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Take project-based learning to the next level
…those? Do I want to focus on PBL implementation? How can students demonstrate proficiency through their PBL products? How can we increase the audience for the students’ amazing work? Finally,…
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What if you could have Town Meeting Day every week?
…to proficiency based learning and reporting, teachers have used Town Meeting as a fertile ground for experimentation. They have collaboratively developed and piloted learning scales to strengthen the feedback loop…
Read moreHow making supports integrative and informed thinking
…of growth and proficiency. How do you tie making to transferable skills? All posts in the series: Making as evidence of transferable skills Making as evidence of self-direction Making as…
Read moreThe Maker Movement and transferable skills
…centered learning activities can help students reflect on and thus strengthen their learning. Furthermore, documenting maker-centered learning can create evidence of growth and proficiency that students can add to their…
Read moreChanging the who, the what, and the when
…transformation touch all three pillars of Act 77: proficiencies, personalization, and flexible pathways. And that’s a whole lot of powerful why. Pillar One: Proficiency-based learning (based on cross-curricular skills) Starting…
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A tale of two tech tools
…is a proficiency-based e-portfolio tool. We wondered how well it would work to support project management as well as process reflection. Learners enter the portfolio by creating a learning tile…
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All about service learning
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…of voice and choice. It may be outside of their regular school setting. It’s proficiency-based, right? You have to use transferable skills in order to do service learning well. In…
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Voice + choice = a better math classroom
…Elizabeth provided rubrics for each unit that spelled out the expectations for each skill. Students documented their progress by filling out a proficiency tracker to gather their evidence and show…
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The shifting role of the teacher in a blended learning classroom
…so that if feels cliche. But how does one go about making that shift in a proficiency-based and personalized learning environment? Noah Hurlburt, a science teacher at Rutland Town School,…
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#vted Reads: Troublemakers with Mike Martin
In this episode of #vted Reads, we talk with South Burlington curriculum coordinator Mike Martin,about Troublemakers, a book by Carla Shalaby. We touch on what we're really doing when we ask our students to code-switch, Black Lives Matter, and the trouble with classroom norms, and we pose the question: 'How do school systems bestow unearned privilege on some, and un-earned hardship, on others?' Oh, and we talk about Harry Potter. Naturally.
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…earlier with the brain research. In the proficiency movement, the idea is not to look at what was delivered from curriculum, but what’s being learned. Clearly, if your student is…
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Getting started with protocols
…easily have gone off track and we would have ended up having a discussion on the more general topic of Proficiency-Based Learning or Standards Based Grading, and not ended up…
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Courtney Elliott’s Bright Spots and Belly Flops
…model, where third and fourth grade share students based on need and proficiency skills, has helped to foster and create an inclusive classroom for all students. https://twitter.com/MsElliott345/status/1091832704633659392 Belly Flop: Now…
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Personalized Learning in the Middle Grades
…Learning Launching PLPs with “The Learner Profile” Designing Flexible Learning Pathways for Young Adolescents Scaffolding for Equitable, Deeper Learning PLPs and Proficiency-Based Assessment PLPs, Goal-Setting and Student-Led Conferences Sustaining Innovation…
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Equity, identity & art
…to develop Clear and Effective Communication, which was the Transferable Skill she was working on within her proficiency-based classroom. The Social Justice Standards For detailed learning targets directly related to…
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#vted Reads: Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty
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…proficiency. We have to constantly be learners. Our students are changing, but this is just another way in which we have to keep learning. Keep getting better. But we can,…
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What’s your inquiry question?
…about best ways to implement personalized and proficiency-based learning. The one they’d like to spend a full year answering with their students related to the Learning Lab’s program questions: Why…
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Using protocols for equity
So, maybe you’ve been using protocols at faculty meetings or professional learning community sessions. Perhaps you’ve found that they make space for all voices in conversations about proficiency-based education. Or…
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#vted Reads: The Benefits of Being an Octopus
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…within our district and work with the teachers to implement project-based learning, proficiency-based education, place-based learning, technology and student-centered learning. So that’s what I do now. Jeanie: Excellent. We are…
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On the cutting Edge of student-centered education
…they arrived cheerful and excited with boundless energy for the school day… And what if I told you it was grounded in the most powerful forms of pedagogy: personalization, proficiency…
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Hitting learning targets in Vermont hunter education
…shooting range as well as the learning targets; he’s actually a very good shot. But how do his teachers know about his proficiency? Does he have opportunities to inform his…
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How to use data to inform progress
Involve learners with actionable data Wondering how to use data to inform progress for users in proficiency-based education? Assessment provides both learners and educators with data. One of CAST’s Top…
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The powerful practice of documenting learning
…considering shifts in assessment required of us in proficiency-based education. Now, let’s explore how to put those shifts into practice. When we consider those shifts, a theme emerges. We…
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The student-led conference as celebration
…mom and teacher give feedback on next steps? (14:01) How does Morgan’s view of grades match with a proficiency-based learning environment? And how did reflecting on her goals help Morgan…
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On equity in the middle school movement
…much change afoot via promising personalized learning strategies like Personal Learning Plans, Flexible Pathways, and proficiency-based learning. We need to make sure that anti-oppressive education is the driving force of…
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Digging into self-direction
When states around the country shifted towards standards-based, competency-based and proficiency-based learning and reporting, that involved separating the content-specific skills and knowledge from the learner-specific habits and behaviors. The particular…
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How GRCSU is responding to remote learning
…GRCSU I consider myself part of the proficiency-based coaching team. And lately, much like everyone else, we’ve been honing our remote learning skills. Have we figured it out? No way!…
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#vted Reads: Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
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…really quick because we want to check off the box because we need to get the proficiency. When you step back you say, “I want to do another circle, let’s…
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Where are we with formative assessment for remote learning?
…Central School learning coach Allan Miller recently framed the challenging situation like this: Is it possible to successfully combine: High Engagement Proficiency Based Learning / Targets Formative Assessment Personalization (choice…
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