Vermont Fest 2024

What if we told you there was a way to empower students to become leaders in their school community while also saving you time and work? Creating and leading a group of student tech experts is the answer!

At Cambridge Elementary School, we've been building our team of fifth and sixth grade "Technology Ambassadors" for over eight years. Students meet weekly to practice various technology skills, and then apply what they've learned by helping in our school community. The Technology Ambassadors assist around the school with tech issues, become our school photographers, produce a school newscast, assist younger students with using new tools, and more!

In this session we'll share successes, failures, and tips to help you build a group like this at your school! Although our experience is with fifth and sixth graders, the ideas could be easily applied to middle and high school as well.

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.

Slide Show


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?"

Come see how to customize ChatGPT Plus using plain English (no programming) to make your own chatbots.

***If you want to make a chatbot in this session, you'll need to have or upgrade to the $20 Month ChatGPT Plus here.***

Teaching AI to make chatbots is a great way to learn about AI and you could end up with something you could use in class. For example, you could make a chatbot that is focused on Vermont history and speaks in the tone and manner of a historical character.

I'll demo an educational chatbot I made called DumbBot! (try it here) and show you how to edit GPT Plus chatbots that can be private or public to users with a free GPT account.

Creating a chatbot is a great way to learn about AI because you can ask GPT for all kinds of help and pointers along the way. You also get to see first hand how your bot hallucinates as you try to control it.

Do you have a maker space and you don't know how to organize it or get students to use it? At U-32 we've designed our maker space to be user friendly and user independent. After visiting Generator in Burlington, VT we modeled a badge system that they use to ensure that our students could access the space after receiving training. They earn badges for completed trainings and can use those tools/materials independent of supervision. It is still a work in progress, but we've seen major growth in the usage of the tools. I will share what we've done, templates for creating your own badge and accountability system and open the floor to discussion and recommendations of tools.

Link to Presentation

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.

Join for a storytime! A panel of librarians will each read a story just like we do with a class. Then we’ll facilitate a discussion about favorite storytime books, storytime practices, and storytime tips!
Click here for the book list from this session