Skip to content

Innovative Education in VT

A blog exploring innovative, personalized, student-centered school change

  • ABOUT US
    • We stand against systemic racism.
    • Our Communications Diversity Policy
    • The Tarrant Institute
    • Our staff
      • John Downes
      • Emily Hoyler
      • Life LeGeros
      • Rachel Mark
    • Our schools
  • Our book
    • How to use this Educator’s Guide
    • Ch 1: Defining Personalized Learning
      • 1.1 The Three Pillars of Personalized Learning
      • 1.2 The Definition of a PLP
      • 1.3 New Student & Teacher Roles
    • Ch 2: PLPs Aren’t Just For The Teacher
      • 2.1 Knowing Students Well
      • 2.2 Avoid the Pitfalls!
    • Ch 3: Laying The Groundwork for PLPs
      • 3.1 What Are Your Pedagogical Priorities?
      • 3.2 Structures to Support Personalized Learning
    • Ch 4: Starting with the Learner Profile
    • Ch 5: Flexing Your Pathways
      • 5.1 Engaging Pedagogies for All
    • Ch. 6: Scaffolding for Equitable, Deeper Learning
    • Ch 7: PLPs & Proficiency-Based Assessment
    • Ch 8: Student-led PLP conferences
    • Ch 9: Sustaining Innovation
    • Chapter References
  • TOOLKITS
    • Action research
    • Adult Culture
    • Advisory
    • Digital citizenship
    • Community & Culture
    • Essential Skills & Dispositions Toolkit
    • Family & Community Involvement
    • Flexible classrooms
    • Genius Hour
    • Identity
    • Makerspaces
    • Negotiated curriculum
    • Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs)
    • Proficiency-Based Education
      • Learning Goals
      • Formative Assessment
      • Summative Assessment
    • Project-Based Learning
    • Reflection
    • Remote Learning
    • Scheduling
    • Service learning
    • Student-led conferences
  • VIDEOS
    • Middle Grades Conference (MGC)
    • PLP videos
    • Proficiency-Based Learning Videos
    • Student-Led Conference Videos
    • Tech Tips
  • PODCAST
    • #vted Reads Episode List
    • #vted Reads Videos
  • ARCHIVES
  • EVENTS & COURSES
  • CONTACT

The Dorset School

Pandemic Year of Learning
Remote Learning 

What I Learned from my Pandemic Year of Learning

April 5, 2021April 6, 2021 Madelyn Robillard 3 Comments The Dorset School

Remote learning. Before COVID’s pandemic year, I did not even know that was a thing. It wasn’t, really. Now, I

Read more
Battle Physics League
News 

Nevermind the physics: it’s all about collaboration

April 22, 2019April 29, 2022 Jeanie Phillips 0 Comments Green Mountain Union High School, Leland & Gray Union Middle & High School, math, physics, proficiency-based learning, projectile launchers, The Dorset School, transferable skills, trigonometry

Battle Physics hosts first multi-school tournament That is just what Allan Garvin and Becky Bushey did to raise the stakes

Read more
Dorset students at Dismas House
Community-based learning 

(re)Building community

February 13, 2019February 13, 2019 Jeanie Phillips 3 Comments cooking, Dismas House, empathy, restorative justice, social justice, The Dorset School

Breaking bread & stereotypes with formerly incarcerated Vermonters Food and community are inextricably linked. Birthdays, funerals, weddings, holidays: a meal

Read more
Dorset School chicken coop
Stories from VT Students 

Building a chicken coop at The Dorset School

September 28, 2018January 5, 2019 Audrey Homan 0 Comments The Dorset School

  How do you get fresh eggs on a school menu? Students at The Dorset School, in Dorset VT, did

Read more
Dorset School chicken coop
Project-Based Learning Real World PBL 

Evolving student roles in a big (BIG) PBL project

June 15, 2018October 1, 2018 Jeanie Phillips 1 Comment The Dorset School

As Dorset’s coop dreams became a reality, students gathered new skills What does it look like to break one enormous project

Read more
student-made chicken coops
Project-Based Learning Real World PBL 

How to build a better (student-made) chicken coop

March 6, 2018October 2, 2018 Jeanie Phillips 4 Comments Planner 5D, The Dorset School

Applying NGSS to… chickens? At the Dorset School, in Dorset VT, the 8th graders know that fresh, farm-raised eggs taste

Read more
Refuse to Use
Community-based learning The 21st Century Classroom 

Having the hard conversations in Southern Vermont

January 17, 2018April 29, 2022 Audrey Homan 1 Comment The Dorset School
Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Email | RSS

It takes a village to talk about substance abuse with students Londonderry, VT-based non-profit The Collaborative is in its 14th

Read more
PLPs 

How can students reflect on their PLPs?

November 8, 2016April 29, 2022 Audrey Homan 0 Comments Fayston Elementary School, Main Street Middle School, Peoples Academy Middle Level, Randolph Union High School, The Dorset School

Students themselves tell the best stories of their learning We wish we could hand you the one right way for

Read more
Dorset School
Self-directed learning 

Looking to try more student-directed learning?

October 17, 2016November 30, 2018 Rachel Mark 0 Comments genius hour, student-directed learning, The Dorset School

Test the waters with “Genius Groups” Start by turning your class over to students. You heard me. Set aside classroom

Read more
Student-Led Conferences The 21st Century Classroom 

Screencasting for a student-led conference

February 20, 2016February 14, 2020 Audrey Homan 4 Comments Google Slides, Screencast-o-matic, The Dorset School
Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Email | RSS

This week on the podcast: Rachel Mark traveled to The Dorset School, in Southern Vermont, to talk with educator Mandy

Read more
Student-Led Conferences Videos 

Screencasting as PLP reflection

December 17, 2015August 7, 2019 Rachel Mark 6 Comments Screencast-o-matic, screencasting, The Dorset School

Students create screencasts for student-led conferences Sixth graders at The Dorset School in southern Vermont are in their second year

Read more

Subscribe via email

APPLY ONLINE

UVM Tarrant Institute Learning Lab

Recent posts

  • Prioritizing daily movement and experiential learning in Newark
  • Introducing our new Project Based Learning toolkit
  • Winter Break Reading & Listening: 2022 Edition
  • Introducing our new Advisory toolkit
  • Introducing our NEW Community & Culture Toolkit!

POST ARCHIVES

We aim to create a website that’s accessible to all visitors, including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. If there’s additional functionality we could be providing, please get in touch.

 

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

 

Copyright © 2023 Innovative Education in VT. All rights reserved.
Theme: ColorMag by ThemeGrill. Powered by WordPress.
 

Loading Comments...