Phase III - Creating 21st Century Classrooms: Connecting the DOTS

Creating 21st Century Classrooms: Connecting the Dots

The third phase of the Title II D funding created a professional development program entitled Creating 21st Century Classrooms: Connecting the DOTS. This professional development program is made possible through a competitive application process sponsored by the Burlington School District.

As of October 2009, three institutes have been offered:

DOTS I - Summer 2008 and held at Champlain College in Burlington
DOTS II North - Summer 2009 and held at Champlain College in Burlington
DOTS II South - Summer 2009 and held at Southern Vermont College in Bennington

These institutes have engaged 111 Vermont educators in a collaborative learning experience.

The Project Director for this VTcite/DOTS initiative is Ed Barry, of the Milton Town School District.

Sandy Lathem (of Academic Research and Consulting Services and an adjunct professor at the University of Vermont) is co-facilitator of the program.

Paul Irish of the Burlington School District oversees project management and finances.

All of our work is supported by content area experts from the Vermont Department of Education (Peter Drescher, Arlyn Bruccoli, Sigrid Lumbra, Gail Hall, Lindy Johnson, Kathy Renfrew), and well-known Vermont consultants (Kathy Barwin, Sue Monmaney, Katie Reen, Shannon Leslie, Marny Frantz, and others).

The map (above) indicates the areas of the state from which educators have been drawn.

Click on the map to learn more about the schools that have been involved to date.

DOTS III -- Applications Due November 30

The third phase (2010-2011) of 21st Century Classrooms: Connecting the DOTS is currently underway. Applications are being sought from teams of three-educators from both the North and South regions of Vermont.

To learn more, click here .

What are the DOTS?

21st century classrooms are ones that incorporate the best practices and research about how students learn best. These practices are often facilitated and supported by effective and intentional technology integration. The DOTS institutes combine these practices with an introduction to Web 2.0 tools and applications. To see what we mean by "connecting the dots," please review this short slide show.

The Transformation of Education in Vermont

This professional development program serves to support the Vermont Board of Education's Transformation of Education in Vermont Initiative. To learn more about this initiative and its critical importance to Vermont's future, please click here .

To Learn More

Additional information concerning each of the DOTS - 21st Century Classroom institutes may be found by clicking on the links below for each institute.

For more information, contact Ed Barry, Sandy Lathem, or Paul Irish.

DOTS I -- Summer Institute 2008

DOTS I - Summer Institute 2008

The first offering of 21st Century Classrooms: Connecting the DOTS was held during the summer and fall of 2008. Thirteen teams (of three people each) were invited to attend. The organization of this institute depended heavily on a full week institute that was held at Champlain College. The teams involved in this institute created units of study with primary focus on either social studies or science.

We extended the deadlines for this initial group to allow more time to complete the units of study that eventually were uploaded to the Learning Village data base.

Associated files, such as the course syllabus, are attached.

Highlights from DOTS 1

Core Beliefs Podcasts -- http://vtcite.org/forum/204

The educators from DOTS I created a wonderful series of podcasts that describe 21st century skills. Each of these may be found in the VTcite forum entitled Core Beliefs Podcasts. These podcasts are as entertaining as informative and Vermont educators are urged to use them to spark discussion about these vital skills in your schools.

VTcite Resources - Web 2.0 Tools

DOTS I teams created creative and practical descriptions/tutorials of many web 2.0 tools. All these resources are available to anyone on VTcite.org.

Units of Study

The content teachers from each team created standards-based units of study which are accessible via the Vermont Learning Village Portal. To obtain an account to Learning Village, please contact Arlyn Bruccoli.

DOTS I - Teams and Participants

The VTcite Summer 2008 Institute involves over 40 educators across Vermont. They are:

Course Planners/Facilitators

Ed Barry

Sandy Lathem

Paul Irish

Vermont Department of Education

Peter Drescher: Educational Technologist	Gail Hall: Science Content Specialist	Arlyn Bruccoli: Riverdeep Learning Village
...	Sigrid Lumbra: Social Studies Content Specialist	...

Participant Teams

Nova Stars: Carol Renca, Laura Botte, Janelle Gendimencio Burlington School District	Localvores: Leslie Striebe, Jonah Ibson, Bob Sargent Waits Rivers and Orange East SU	Capitol Clickers: Donald Taylor, Melissa Pierce, Lauren ChabotMain Street Elementary, Union School, Montpelier
Barre Rocks: Linda McSweeney, Tom McSweeney, Jody EmersonBarre SU	Rutland High School: Pam O'Neil, Deb Jiloty, Ron EisenmanRutland High School	Glover: Jeff Coburn, Jerry Piette, Bob TownsendGlover
EMS Terrific Trip: Brent Truchon, Kathy Gallagher, Daryl KuhnBurlington SD	Milton Matters: Colleen O'Brien, Erica Goodrich, Catherine ReenMilton SD	Xstream Portal: Joanne Finnegan, Maria Germano, Bryant PlessBrowns River, CESU
Limping Along: Jeff Guilmette, Kurt Sherman, Dave DavidsonEssex Junction	Randolph Wizards: Tina Scheindel, David Roller, Lindsay MeterRandolph Elementary, Orange Southwest	Essex Eagles: Lisa Fernald, Susan Miyomoto, Joseph WhiteEssex Town School District
..	Irasburg: Gerry Whitaker, Karen Hamelin-Britch, Sean WallaceOrleans Central SU	..

Photo Gallery - Summer Institute

DOTS I memories from our week together at Champlain College, Summer 2008

Morning Session: We begin August 4th	Morning Session: Our Work Begins
Joyce Morris and Inquiry-based Learning	Podcasts Presentations
Don Taylor	Lauren and Melissa
Ed and Student-Centered Learning	Wikis to Go	Edmunds Team Presents
Google Earth and Much More!	Sandy and Dave	Kathy Barwin and Joe
Teams at Work!	Talking Together	Di and UbD
Getting Units into Learning Village	Hard at Work!	Team Work is Hard Work
Sandy Carriker Evaluates Progress	Thanks Craig For Helping	Ever Hear of YouTube?

DOTS II North -- Summer Institute 2009

The second offering of Creating 21st Century Classrooms II: Connecting the Dots was held in 2009. A competitive application process was initiated in the fall of 2008 and twelve teams of three educators were once again selected to participate.

The format of DOTS II North in this second rendition shifted a large portion of the graduate course work to an online format (see syllabus). This online course began in January, 2009 and continued through May, 2009. During this time, participants were asked to participate in four of five online modules. The modules covered:

Backward design (from Understanding by Design)
Assessment (from Understanding by Design)
Differentiated Instruction
Student-centered Learning
Project and inquiry-based Learning
National Educational Standards and 21st Century Skills

Following this online portion, all teams convened at Champlain College for a five-day institute. During the institute, teams presented new web 2.0 tools and worked to complete their units of study to be stored in the Learning Village portal.

In addition, participants from DOTS I were invited to attend a five day short course on using Moodle to support their units of study. Eight participants from DOTS I attended the Moodle workshop.

Web 2.0 Highlights from DOTS II North

Units of Study

Teams and Participants

DOTS II North Participants (Names are listed left to right.)

Team U32.0: April Peet, Christopher Grantz, Jane Tolassi, U32 Montpelier	Team Uplift: Kim Ransom, Beth Carini, Linda McCuen, Fair Haven Union
Team PDF: Deborah Rossell, Kathy Hevey, Kim Chase, Hunt Middle School	Team Blink: Nicole Pfister, Michael Eppolito, Lauren Baker
Team Sutton House: Robert Metz, Ellen Matthews, Eric Brunvand, Shelburne	Team Rebels: Kris Larson (far left; other members not visible), Central School, South Burlington with Sigrid Lumbra (in front of room), DOE
Team Humanities University: John Mitchell, Joe Guarino, John Minelli, Hartford School District	Team Thunder Cats: Alexa Hart, Dante Napolitano, Jerry Bowers, Missisquoi
Team Deep Thought: Bob Dunn, Richard Szymanski, Meagan Normand, North Country Career Center and High School	Team Kali: Dave Miceli, Meg Kenny, Kendra Larson, Burr & Burton
Team Team Pride: Erica Goodrich, Kendra Gorton, Jen Cummings	Team Northeast Hornets: Christina Boissoneault, Stephanie Stecklare, Thad Gembczynski, Enosburg
Peter and Ed at Lunch: Peter Drescher, Ed Barry	Paul Irish: Paul Irish, Burlington School District
Sandy: Sandy Lathem, University of Vermont	Arlyn: Arlyn Bruccoli, DOE
Gail and Lindy: Gail Hall, Lindy Johnson, DOE	Kathy, Paul, Sigrid: Kathy Barwin, Paul Irish, Sigrid Lumbra
Sue: Sue Monmaney, Montpelier	Sue and Sandy: Sue Monmaney and Sandy Lathem

DOTS II South -- Summer Institute 2009

To increase participation from educators located in the southern regions of Vermont, another competitive application process was conducted. Participation in this case was restricted to teams of educators from Southern Vermont, defined as south of Route 4. The application process was conducted in early 2009 and participating teams were selected by early May 2009. The first meeting of the DOTS II South cohort was held in May at Southern Vermont College in Bennington.

The format of this institute did not include an online component and was compressed into face to face meetings held in July and August, 2009. The syllabus and course packet reflects this organization, although the expectations of the graduate course work remained fairly consistent. This cohort is still at work creating their standards based units of study which will be completed by January 15, 2010.

Web 2.0 Highlights of DOTS II South

Units of Study

The content teachers from each team will create standards-based units of study accessible via the Vermont Learning Village Portal. These units will not be available until after January 15, 2010. To obtain an account to Learning Village, please contact Arlyn Bruccoli.

Teams and Participants

DOTS South 2009 Teams - Southern Vermont College

Jeremy Kelloway, Jeanie Phillips, Patricia Gutierrez Chester Andover	Christina Smith, Russell Williams, Sean Gould Bellows Falls
Kevin Coen, Kirsten Aiello Monday, Angelo Jardina Springfield High School	Emily Biolsi, Michele Ricci, Deb Burrell Stockbridge Central
Jeff Vandivere, Nathan McNaughton, Lisa Mobus Springfield/Riverside	Kristeen Chambers, Caitlin Reck, Cynthia Hughes Springfield
Sally Hayes, Shannon Walters, Dale Pecor CP Smith	Pam Hunter, Kathryn Byrne Grossarth, Jason Grote Wells Village
Kelly Ahlfeld, Cindi Roberts, Jennifer Bloomingdale Mettawee	Sally Bisaccio, Amy Thivierge, Mike DiMaio Mount Antony
Michelle Mazzola, Dan Sherman, Jennifer Parker Bennington Elementary	Amanda Bickford, Dinna Ivey, Lexi Rella Manchester Elementary