Don is a sustainability and humanities teacher in his 19th year of teaching at Main Street Middle School in Montpelier. Don is working hard to create an innovative, integrated, and dynamic learning environment for all students. His attempts to make education relevant include the development of curriculum tied to sustainability, social justice, integrated literacy, and technology.
Meg teaches humanities to 7th and 8th grade students at Shelburne Community School in Shelburne, Vermont, where she has taught since 1994. Meg cherishes the opportunity to co-create meaningful learning experiences with students and colleagues, with a particular lens on opportunities that foster community and instill social justice and equity.
Kevin is a generalist teacher on Swift House, a 5-8 team, at Williston Central School. He is an advocate for personalized, project-based learning and values being a life-long learner. Most recently he’s integrated ways of cultivating pathways to equity and social justice to his teaching practices.
MGC Conversations is a collaboration of MGC faculty and middle grades educators who meet on a monthly basis to discuss issues related to middle level education. All of our conversations are posted to the Middle Grades Collaborative YouTube channel.
The 2024-25 Middle Grades Conversation series continues to build professional learning community with middle level educators. Middle Grades Conversations will bring educators together to discuss building supportive learning communities, engage learners and families and integrate equity-based antiracist teaching into our practices.
Episode 6 Digital Citizenship, Technology, and AI
The promise of 1 to1 technology and a device for every student has changed significantly since remote learning and the pandemic. With the onset of AI and the challenges presented by technology, what and how are practitioners doing to promote responsible digital use and citizenship? How has AI entered the classroom and your professional development?
Episode 5 SEL and Trauma Informed Teaching Practice
As we start 2025, we’ll have a conversation about social emotional learning, the structures in place to support student growth and learning and how trauma informed practices are being implemented by practitioners in order to support all students. We’ll connect this to recent events in Vermont and hear how students, teachers, families and schools are building resiliency.
Episode 4 Classroom Management and Healthy Learning Communities
This month we will focus on project and community based learning and how these types of pedagogies can help students and schools recognize and help build resilient communities. “Such curriculum should encourage and enable students to feel and act toward improving the self and the world. What is being taught and learned should be significant, meaningful and unique to our communities.” (Muhammad, p. 123)
Episode 3 Project + Community Based Learning and Service
This month we will focus on project and community based learning and how these types of pedagogies can help students and schools recognize and help build resilient communities. “Such curriculum should encourage and enable students to feel and act toward improving the self and the world. What is being taught and learned should be significant, meaningful and unique to our communities.” (Muhammad, p. 123)
Episode 2 Equity, Anti-racism and Unearthing Joy
We revisit core principles of social justice, equity and anti-racism with a focus on strategies designed to create inclusive, just and joyful learning environments. “ “We have been socialized to avoid disrupting what has been normalized …. Perhaps that is why curricula and evaluations without language related to antiracism and equity continue to survive.” (Muhammad, p. 95)
Episode 1 Starting the Year: Relationships and Identity
This month’s webinar will focus on how educators are working to engage students, connecting with families and bringing the community into the classroom to develop relationships. We will hear how equity, identity work, personalization and building relationships are implemented through advisory and classroom activities.
Season 9 Playlists