Proctor Elementary School

Proctor Elementary School 2016-2017 Journey

It all began in August. A group of teachers. A skit, and a song.

a skit elevator pitch about PBL!

The school spirit at PES is epic. This is an Olympic performance.

All the way back in August PES began its journey into Project Based Learning and partnering with TIIE with 3 inservice days. During those days, teachers dove into learning why PBL is so powerful as a teaching and learning tool, they developed an elevator pitch (or song, as it was), and started planning for environmentally themed projects for the upcoming school year. Each teacher at the school committed to doing (or trying to) do two projects during this school year.

Teachers planned to launch their PBL work and met regularly with Katy. Plans grew, changed, and began.

PBL blooms at PES

Courtney's class began exploring Extreme Weather in a PBL unit

Corey's class began exploring Proctor history by creating newscasts with the green screen in the Makerspace.

Paula's class began exploring the moon cycles with screencasts, posters, songs and dioramas.

See more about PBL in the primary grades with Ms. DiFeo's class

Ms. Elliott's class went to WCAX to see how a newscast really works-- and met their hero, Gary Sadowski, who wanted to see their newscasts when ready.

Mrs. Dobart's class started measuring school waste, featuring connections between math, science, and service.

They created this flipbook (an online storybook about their PBL journey, and shared it with the whole school during an assembly~

See Ms. Dobart's class Flipbook here

Ms. Fagan built a google site to support her Vermont Life: Then and Now PBL with students building webpages and comparing life in Vermont throughout history.

See Ms. Fagan's PBL website here!

Sloan Wineberg's class shared their classroom community building PBL!

This project helped students build community all around the school.

Mr. Manney's grade 6 students create websites and posters about body systems and environmental impacts to share with the school community.

At the winter Middle Grades Consortium conference in Burlington, Courtney Elliott and Katy Farber presented about their extreme weather unit.

Professional Learning: choice based, teacher led

A well attended session at MGC!

At a March inservice at West Rutland school, teachers chose their own adventure in PBL development with websites, books and in person support.

RCSU teachers watch the documentary: Most Likely to Succeed and discuss the impacts on their practice at a January Inservice

TIIE secures access to show Most Likely to Succeed, a documentary about High Tech High and personalized learning. Teachers watch and discuss the video and how it might impact their teaching and planning.

Principal Christy Colutti takes over the @thisisVTEd handle on Twitter to share the great happenings at PES for a week!

Kim Atkinson's Kindergarten do hands on PBL work all the time! Here they are doing Farm to School work in the school garden.

Makerspace grows!

Emily Jenkins applied for and was awarded a grant to create an integrated Makerspace and Library Technology center at PES. This movement ties in directly with the movement towards PBL at the school!

Video sharing of Ms. Smith's 4th grade PBL to the whole school!

Student voice, choice and agency grows: Jake Eaton's students create presentations about issues that impact their health and Kyle Wasburn's music students plan the school concert.

Innovation Grant in Action

Transitioning spaces at PES!

Trout in the classroom engages students!

Ms. Fagan's class integrating art, science, and math while raising trout in the classroom!

Teachers read this recommended book to increase student agency in the classroom!

Virtual Reality as an entry event in Project Based Learning engaged students in Corey and Courtney's classes (Google Cardboard borrowed from TIIE).

Students enjoying virtual reality (and taking a selfie)

EMMA visit! Makerspace in Motion!

Next, Emily, Christy and Katy teamed up with Lucy deLaBruere to bring EMMA, a portable Makerspace and experience, to PES. The result? A day spent with the fifth and sixth grades creating pinball machine prototypes using design thinking. Students were engaged in new ways.

The next day, at a faculty meeting, the teachers discussed what they saw during the EMMA visit, and the benefits of this type of learning. The faculty brainstormed ways to more fully use the Makerspace next year and to create opportunities for making.

Flexible learning space group forms

a cross school team forms to share ideas, look at action plans, and grant opportunities to create flexible learning spaces in classrooms at PES and PHS.

Steam Night!

a culminating community event to share and celebrate project based learning, the emerging makerspace, the arts, and more on June 1, 2017.

This school knows how to have fun! Kids leading the YMCA for the school community.

This is just a sampling of the innovative, project based, engaging practices that happened at PES this year. Thank you to the whole school community for partnering with TIIE in this incredible work!

Thank you for an incredible year, PES. It was an honor to partner with you!

Appreciate