Extreme Social Studies

This year we tried something new. It was a little daunting, considering this unit has been crafted and developed for well over a decade. But, thanks to the amazing people over at the Tarrant Institute and the ever-so-talented Lori Lisai , Lamoille Union Middle School got to test-drive the enterprise version of Schoology. With this version came the Mastery Tracker. Our goal was simple, figure out a way to track proficiencies using Schoology's mastery tracker and report out those scores. Check out the video below where I try to lay out how we managed it. Many thanks to Sam Nelson and Chittenden South Supervisory Union for the inspiration for our scales and targets!

Team Extreme: The Vermont IDU Our journey through a landscape of PBL, Transferable Skills, and Proficiency-Based Grading... While sitting at my desk today, I took a moment to just watch the activity happening in the room. Students were moving in and out of the classroom. Some grabbed glue guns, popsicle sticks, and cardboard. Others borrowed pens, books, or needed a signature to prove they met a deadline. There is no seating chart, no attendance. The entire team is buzzing with energy.  This is the IDU, and it’s awesome. The Project At the end of every year, Team Extreme comes together for one final, project-based, interdisciplinary unit (IDU). It's an exciting time, and has grown to be my favorite time of year. Each teacher on team comes together to guide a group of students (we call them our "case groups") through completion of a project of the students' design. We mix up our classes, students guide themselves through the project, and teachers b...