Weaving the
Fabric of
Belonging
Project Design Lab / June 23-27
Burlington, Vermont
How can everyday creative practices foster a thriving classroom of healthy relationships, high engagement, and deeper learning?
This course is for K-12 educators who want to use creative engagement to explore, understand, and strengthen the key components of belonging that support a healthy and thriving classroom and school community.
Through hands-on workshops with master teaching artists you will explore how creative engagement—making things we care about—can weave together the threads of relationships, resources, and support in your classroom and school so every student can feel they belong.
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You will leave with a toolkit of everyday creative activities and a project plan to integrate into your curriculum that will strengthen the social fabric of your classroom to support healthy relationships, high engagement, and deeper learning.
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Who Should Attend?
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PreK-12 educators in all content areas, staff, and adminstrators
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Individuals or teams
Guiding Questions
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What do we mean by a “thriving community” and how can creative engagement—making things we care about—strengthen the key components that make a classroom and school community thrive?
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How can we integrate creative experiences throughout the day to sustain a foundation of healthy relationships that support high engagement in learning.
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How can a creative project and culminating event amplify and celebrate the unique gifts of every student to strengthen your classroom and school culture of respect, empathy, and belonging?
What To Expect
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EXPLORE, ADAPT, and APPLY practices of creative engagement to sustain a foundation of healthy relationships and belonging in your classroom and school community.
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BUILD a toolkit of everyday creative engagement activities that weave together the social fabric of your classroom to create a sense of belonging for every student.
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FEEL CONFIDENT in using creative engagement to foster a culture of respect, empathy, and collaboration in your classroom and school community.
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RE-IMAGINE your practice to be steeped in creativity.
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LEARN alongside colleagues and master teaching artists in hands-on workshops.
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DESIGN a creative project that integrates into your curriculum and is ready to launch.
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HANDS-ON, highly interactive, and fun – guaranteed!
Workshop Themes
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Everyday creative tools and activities that guide students to be learning-ready, respectful, and supportive of each other.
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Exploring the key components of belonging—relationships, support, and community—and why they are foundational to a healthy and highly-engaged classroom.
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From the Classroom to the Community: How creative projects help us understand ourselves, each other, and our greater community to nurture the relationships and resources that allow everyone to thrive.
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Leveraging the power of student voice and choice to strengthen individual and classroom well-being.
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A Culture of Creative Work: Support students to create authentic and personalized products that strengthen their skills of collaboration, empathy, and respect.
Faculty
Erin Maile O'Keefe (she/her)
Course Co-Leader
Erin is an educator, trainer, and community artist/activator who develops kinesthetic, multigenerational curriculums that facilitate group inclusion, connection, co-authorship, and empathy.
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Amber Paris (she/her)
Course Co-Leader​​​​
Amber is a Southern Vermont-based visual and social practice teaching artist. Discovering and asking the elegant questions in life and then expressing those answers in beautiful ways is central to her practice.
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Tuition
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$2,000 - Three graduate credits (syllabus)
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$1,790 - Certificate of Participation for 40 hours relicensing credits
$100 later registration fee after May 1.
Tuition includes a private air-conditioned dorm room with a centrally located private bath at the University of Vermont, plus breakfast and lunch. Everyone is on their own for dinner in Burlington. Lodging is optional.
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Attend Solo or as a Team
You can attend solo or with a team from your school or district.
Teams can be composed of any educator – classroom teachers, councilors, paras, special educators, staff, administrators – and can be from the same grades and content areas, or mixed.
Teams may include educators from different schools in the district if you want to design a multi-school project.
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Teaching Artist Residency - OPTIONAL
If you would like information on how to schedule a teaching artist residency to support implementing your project, complete the PDL Questions Form and we'll get right back to you.
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FAQ
Visit the PDL FAQ page for answers to questions about team participation, tuition & fees, lodging & meals, daily schedule, teaching artist selection (optional), and more.
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Project Snapshots
See examples of previous projects created at the Project Design Lab here.
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Questions?
Complete the PDL Questions Form and we'll be back in touch soon.
We invite you to let us know about specific accommodations you may need to participate in the Project Design Lab when completing your Registration Form, and we will make every effort to honor your request.
Accrediting Institution
