Vermont Fest 2024

FHTMS SOAR Students plan an interactive session geared for participants who are in various parts of their journey toward active antiracism work. S. O. A. R. students will briefly describe their work before launching into practical "hands-on" activities designed to allow participants to
• reflect on their identities and the need for this work
• improve on “Speak up” strategies guided by the work of Teaching Tolerance
• explore both individual and collective aspects of antiracism work
• create tools that can immediately be taken back to your school setting to unapologetically interrupt and disrupt racism within our school systems.

FHTMS SOAR Students plan an interactive session geared for participants who are in various parts of their journey toward active antiracism work. S. O. A. R. students will briefly describe their work before launching into practical "hands-on" activities designed to allow participants to
• reflect on their identities and the need for this work
• improve on “Speak up” strategies guided by the work of Teaching Tolerance
• explore both individual and collective aspects of antiracism work
• create tools that can immediately be taken back to your school setting to unapologetically interrupt and disrupt racism within our school systems.

This presentation will give you all the resources to create this program in your community. For our biography unit last year, instead of students researching a famous person online; we connected with our local seniors citizens. Though digital storytelling, Students used countless skills in this process including creating questions, conducting interviews, embedding technology skills, and developing research skills. Students expand their writing, executive functions, and interpersonal relationships.

Teachers will learn how to effectively use tools like Gemini, ChatGPT, Bing AI, and Magic Schools AI to enhance lesson planning, curriculum development, and classroom instruction. Discover how these tools can work for you to create differentiated lessons, generate lesson summaries that meet IEP accommodations or provide summaries for students who miss class due to illness, adjust reading assignments to appropriate Lexile levels, create newsletters for families, brainstorm project ideas of various DOK levels, and even provide feedback on simple formative assessments.

These tools can also be valuable for generating and proofreading email responses to challenging interactions. Beyond being a search engine or a tool for asking questions, AI can serve as a collaborative partner, helping teachers continually evolve their lessons to be more engaging.

By the end of the session, participants will gain valuable insights into how to make these tools work effectively in their specific educational areas. They will also have a better understanding of why these tools should not be blindly banned and how to incorporate them into lessons to demonstrate appropriate AI usage.

While most students may not have direct access to these tools at school, the reality is that they are likely using them on their personal devices and accounts. As educators, we can teach and model appropriate use of these tools to help students understand how they can be used to assist learning. For example, we can demonstrate how to ask effective questions to AI to get started on a large research project, such as "Gemini, can you provide me with a list of 10 resources to help me understand the use of electromagnetism in MRI machines?"

Do you want to give your students an authentic opportunity to develop their information literacy knowledge and skills? Empower them by making them the teachers at a school-based Media Mentorship event. In this session, you’ll see examples of past events where students have engaged audiences like their families and local senior citizens around how to recognize confirmation bias, consider the impact of social media algorithms, and investigate questionable claims and sources. Leave with the lessons used to prepare students for these teaching moments and event materials you can adapt to fit your community’s needs.

Explore strategies to bring invention design into your learning space (both in and out-of-school) with an introduction to the Young Inventors' Program and Vermont Invention Convention. This K-8 project-based curriculum is divided into grade level units, meets core standards, including the NGSS, and provides hands-on STEM activities to take students on an invention journey through the design process, culminating in a showcase of original inventions that may lead to local and national competitions, including the Vemront Invention Fair on February 8, 2025. Learners will have an opportunity for expression and creativity as they develop and practice higher-order thinking skills. This workshop will provide you with all the resources you need to bring the Young Inventors’ Program to your classroom, after school progrmak, library or other learning enviroment – all for FREE!

Middle school teachers hear it all the time: “You teach middle school? Wow, how do you do it?” Yes, middle schoolers are hormonal, immature, wacky, awkward, and kind of all over the place. But, they are also hilarious, creative, and enthusiastic learners, if you can just tap into their energy and engagement! Join a panel of seasoned middle school librarians to discuss the unique issues facing those of us who teach this age level. We will discuss library collection development, events and activities, and developing engaging lessons.

This interactive workshop aims to equip participants with essential principles of design for effective visual communication using Canva for Schools (a free for schools). Attendees will learn to create visually appealing materials that demonstrate and model effective communication skills. While Canva also offers tools to create slide decks, videos, websites and more, we'll focus on using the Canva toolbox to design effective posters/flyers/infographics to print or share digitally. Presenter will also share experience acquiring and managing a wide-format printer in the school library setting.