follow-up led to, more often than not,the materials and energy quickly fadingfrom view.

At UVEI, we approach professionaleducation differently. How is it different?Through sustained coaching and inquirycycles, educators immersed in their prac-tice receive feedback and reflect with thehelp of a coach. Cycles last several weeks,months or even a full year. Instead of a“one and done” course, we spend time ineach school to observe, model, debrief,plan and facilitate peer coaching andreflection. We are currently partnering withseveral school districts, bringing coach-

ing and inquiry cycles to a team or anentire school, where teachers and admin-istrators engage in inquiry topics such asbalanced literacy, differentiated instruc-tion, and project based learning.

One of our current partnerships iswith Holland Elementary School, whichis as close to the Canadian border as youcan get without going through customs.Each week, I make the drive north towork with the teachers and students atthis tiny pre-K through sixth grade school.Through weekly observations and coach-

s in most schools, finding time to collaborate is a challenge. The

day is so jam packed, we as teachersoften forget that there is a brain trustright in our building. Furthermore,when we do collaborate, we rarelyfocus these discussions on instructionalchanges to improve student outcomes.

That is why – when we created ourAction Research project in UVGSE’sMaster of Arts in Teaching program– we decided to study the connectionbetween collaboration and sustainedchange in instructional practice. Overthe course of the year, we were ableto practice and reflect on new skillsin facilitation, coaching, data collectionand analysis. The time spent processingwith other participants in our UVGSEseminars helped us to learn from thecollective experiences of our fellowmasters colleagues. The coaching was

UVEI prepares, inspires and supports K-12 teachers and school leaders to improve the quality of education for learners in their classrooms, schools and communities.We do this by engaging reflective educators in developing their knowledge, understanding and clinical practice for the benefit of their students and colleagues.

News fromFall 2016

A supportive, but definitely challengedus to examine and grow our practiceand beliefs outside our comfort zones.

The opportunity to practice theskills we learned in class and applythem to real life situations, along withreceiving constructive feedback onwhat went well and what we coulddo next, was really helpful. Learninghow to speak with other teachers andin group meetings to move the con-versation along purposefully allowedus to establish a collaborative environ-ment in our school. We plan to con-tinue building an atmosphere tostrengthen collegial bonds and, mostimportantly, improve our studentoutcomes by collectively improvinginstructional practice.

Ann Deturk and Emily Morrison teach,respectively, 5th and 3rd grade at HartlandElementary School. This photo of Kate Underwood and her K-1 class

was taken by Becky at Holland Elementary Schoolearlier this fall.

Exploring the Connection BetweenCollaboration and Sustained

Change at UVGSEby Ann Deturk and Emily Morrison

School and District PartnershipsReinvigorate Teaching Practices

by Becky Wipfler

s a classroom teacher, one of myfavorite pastimes was participating

in professional development. I visitedother schools, attended workshops andtook online courses. I especially enjoyedworkshops, since they were a chance toconnect with professionals from all overthe country. The resources and excitement

in those days, weeks or weekends werereinvigorating, especially in the middleof the New Hampshire winter. Howeverafter returning to my classroom, theafterglow soon wore off. Although itwas better to attend with a colleague(with whom I could bounce ideas offlater), the lack of sustained focus and

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continued on page 4

This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

s the Fine Arts Teacher and Drama Director at Fall Mountain Regional

High School, Dakota Benedetto has, dur-ing her 16-year career in the classroom,sought to create opportunities for herstudents – opportunities to explore, tocreate, to think forthemselves and tolearn from failure.Dakota believesthat real learningrequires gettingout of our comfortzones, and thatschools shouldstrive to create anenvironment ofintellectual risk-taking.

This year, while Dakota completesthe Principal Intern Program at UVEI,she is working with a group of educa-tors and local community members toopen the LEAF Charter School in thefall of 2017 in Alstead, NH. They envi-sion a small charter high school with aninterdisciplinary curriculum, emphasiz-ing flexibility and hands-on experiences.

deliberate practice may make all the dif-ference.

What is deliberate practice? Deliberatepractice is a highly structured activitywith the specific goal of improving per-formance. Extended deliberate practiceis a key component for attaining expertperformance and is thought to be moreimportant than the role of innate abilityin development towards expertise.

At UVEI, our whole approach isfocused on helping educators learn fromexperience. As a main focus this year,UVEI’s faculty is asking how we canencourage teachers to engage in moredeliberate practice. Coaching, one-on-onesupport and feedback are already corecomponents of our programs. The hardquestion is: how do we encourage work-

ver wonder what makes some peoplereally good at what they do? How

did Michael Jordan become the greatestbasketball player of all time? What did ittake for Toni Morrison to write a PulitzerPrize winning novel? Although Holly-wood might have us believe that greatteachers are great because of their innatetalent (an inspired teacher stands on hisdesk and all students suddenly care aboutpoetry!), in reality, it’s likely that peoplewho are really good at things practice,practice, practice. And then they practicesome more. In fact, research indicatesthat frequent and mindful engagementin teaching techniques, prompting cyclesof teaching – evaluation – revision, is themain factor contributing to increasingexpertise as a teacher. In other words,

E

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From the Executive Director

Engaging in Deliberate Practiceby Page Tompkins

A

Dakota Benedetto

ing teachers (a busy group) to keep inten-tionally practicing and reflecting on newtechniques without loading up on tasksand busy work?

That is the question that will occupyour attention this year, and we look for-ward to sharing what we learn with theeducation community!

With best regards,

R Page Tompkins, EdD

Page Tompkins can be followed on Twitter@pagetompkins

“The opportunity to shape this newlearning community has been wonderful– a chance to help ‘change the educa-tional paradigm,’ as Ken Robinson putsit. How cool is that?” Dakota exclaims.

If you ever have the good fortune tomeet Dakota, you will discover that herinterests outside school range from act-ing to dancing to carpentry. She is pro-ficient in French, is CPR certified, stud-ied architecture at RISD, and lovessocial dancing. Dakota’s inspiration forliving a full and varied life comes fromwords by Albert Einstein: Anyone whohas never made a mistake has nevertried anything new. “I believe that it isthe challenge, the putting your hopesand heart on the line, that makes thedifference in having successes. After all,how can I ask my students to take chancesif I don’t do the same?" Dakota asks.

Dakota, who is a resident of Marlow,NH, is a graduate of Plymouth StateCollege, where she received a Bachelor ofArts degree in Art Education. She wenton to receive a Master in Education fromHarvard University.

Principal Intern ProfileThe Art of Taking Risks Stay in Touch

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upper-valley-educators-institute

On Twitter:Twitter.com/UVEIconnect

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Phone: (603) 678-4888Web: www.uvei.edu

Email: staff@uvei.edu

Teachers

Class of 1995

Steven Tucker began serving as theDirector of Curriculum in the GilfordSchool District this year. For the last fouryears, he was the academic coordinatorat Laconia High School, after serving,over the years, as a teacher, coach, sum-mer school director, advisor and depart-ment head.

Class of 2003

After 12 years as a Math teacher at theBarre Town School, Venus (Allen) Deanhas recently become the K-8 Mathe-matics Curriculum Specialist for the BarreSupervisory District.

Class of 2006

“Aloha” from Cristina Veresan, whowas honored by the US Department ofEnergy with a 2015-2016 Albert EinsteinDistinguished Educator Fellowship andserved for a year as an education policyadvisor in the Washington, DC office ofSenator Al Franken. She is now back inHawaii, where she has a new positionteaching 6th and 7th grade IB science atLe Jardin Academy (see “Alumni Profile”on page five for more about Cristina.)

Class of 2007

Nicole St. James has moved to Concord,NH, and is teaching 8th grade SocialStudies and Language Arts at KearsargeRegional Middle School. Before that, shetaught for nine years at Newport Middleand High School.

Class of 2008Liza Earle-Centers is the Acting Directorof Religious Education, Unitarian Churchof Montpelier. Before that, she taughtfor four years at the Educating ChildrenOutdoors program at the North BranchNature Center.

Class of 2010

Peter Ginsbury is at the Jackson HoleCommunity School teaching 9th and 12thgrade History.

Class of 2011

Deb Hall is working as a tutor at KeeneMiddle School. She attended the NH-NEA Conference in October.

Stephanie White-Ferland has taken a year-long leave of absence from her teachingposition at Marion Cross School to workwith GEAR UP Maine on a pilot studyproject designed to support and mentorfirst generation college students throughtheir first year of post-secondary pro-grams. The first year will focus on thecolleges in Aroostook County, Maine’snorthernmost county, with plans toinclude the entire state the following year.

Class of 2012

Willie Johnson wrote that he is teachingArt at Hanover High School and thanksUVEI for helping to realize his dream.

Class of 2014

Rachel Perry Kieffer and Sam Chapinhave moved to New Orleans to teach inJefferson Parish. Rachel is teaching ESLand Speech at West Jefferson High School;Sam is teaching English at ThomasJefferson High School. Rachel writes,“We’re enjoying the sunshine and warmweather, but miss that New Englandbreeze and sense of community.”

Tessa Johnson is “super proud” to bethe new Media Specialist at DothanBrook School in the Hartford SchoolDistrict.

3

Alumni NotesUVEI welcomes you to submit news about your career-related achievements (placements, promotions, awards and fellow-ships, special commendations). Send by email to: bmarshall@uvei.edu. Please note that your copy may be edited due tospace limitations.

Principals

Class of 2016

Lenny Badeau is the new principal atFolsom Education and Community Centerin South Hero, VT. Read more aboutLenny at: http://uvei.edu/blog/315-first-day-of-school-a-new-principals-per-spective

Mike Dreiblatt is moving to Gallup, NM,where he will join Jefferson ElementarySchool and JFK Middle School as Deanof Students.

Board and

Advisory Council,

Faculty and

Administration

Notes

Board of Directors

UVEI’s Board Chair, Jacqueline Richter-Menge, was awarded an honorary Doctor

of Science degreefrom the Universityof Alaska Fairbankson May 8, 2016 atthe university’s 94thcommencement cer-emony. We also con-gratulate Jackie onher appointment toPresident Obama’sadministration as

Member, Arctic Research Commission.Jackie is a Research Civil Engineer at theCold Regions Research and EngineeringLaboratory in Hanover.

This photo of Jackie, courtesy of Dr. AndrewRoberts, was taken while conducting researchat a temporary camp on the Arctic sea icecover.

Dr. JacquelineRichter-Menge

Recently appointed to the UVEI Boardof Directors:

Susan Jamback is the Owner/Managerat Transchool Consulting, which providesindependent consulting services for

school improvement,teacher quality andtraining, school cul-ture and climate,executive leadershipcoaching and urbanturnaround initia-tives. Sue also serves

as the Chief Schools Officer at Light-house Academies, a national non-profitnetwork of charter schools distinguishedby its arts-infused K-12 college prepara-tory programs. She lives in Elkins, NH.

Faculty andAdministration

In July, Rebecca Wipfler, MEd, joinedUVEI as Elementary Education Coor-dinator and Program Faculty. She assumesprimary responsibility for coordinatingthe pedagogical training of elementary

education interns andserves on our faculty.Becky comes to UVEIwith nine years ofteaching experiencein elementary andmiddle schools. Mostrecently, she was theLiteracy Coordinatorand Reading Special-

ist at Richmond Middle School inHanover, where, in addition to herteaching responsibilities, she coachednew and veteran teachers and facilitateda team of teachers interested in school-wide improvement. Becky graduatedfrom the State University of New York,College at Geneseo and earned a Masterof Education in Literacy from the StateUniversity of New York, Plattsburgh.She and her husband live in Lyme, NH.

Becky replaces Aimee Toth, who is nowthe principal at Roxbury Village Schoolin Vermont.

4

Board and Advisory Council, Faculty and Administration Notes

BOARD OF DIRECTORSJackie Richter-Menge, ChairJoan Holcombe, Vice-Chair

John Ziegler, TreasurerHelen Schotanus, Secretary

Jacqueline AllenPeter D. CoburnMichael Harris

Jennifer HartmanSusan Jamback

Anne SegalJennifer Thompson

John E. (Jed) Williamson

EMERITIBarbara Ragle BarnesCarolyn M. ClintonCornelius C. Rose

ADVISORY COUNCILAstrid BergerSarah GlassDavid Grant

Lorie McCloryDeborah MeierJohn Merrow IIAdam Patridge

Charles RattiganAnne Silberfarb

Nancy Faust SizerIan Smith

Tony WagnerR. Stewart Wood, Jr.

STAFF AND PROGRAM FACULTYR Page Tompkins, Executive Director

and Program FacultyKristen Downey, Associate Director

for Teacher Education and Program Faculty

Andrea Feid, Office ManagerBeverly Marshall, Associate Director

for Institutional AdvancementMarie McCormick, Program Associate

Nan Parsons, Associate Director for School Leadership and Program Faculty

Christopher Ward, Graduate StudiesCoordinator and Program Faculty

Rebecca Wipfler, ElementaryEducation Coordinator and Program Faculty

FACULTY COACHESEmily GirdwoodGregory Renner

Susan Jamback

Faculty Coaches

Emily Girdwood, MS, coaches UVEI’steacher candidates pursuing an endorse-ment in Art Education. She currentlyteaches at the Lyme School, and believesthat students should love the creativeprocess and have faith in their imagina-tions. At the Lyme School, Emily hasdesigned an open studio and her studentsare able to choose their own materialsand create their own work. She gradu-ated from Bates College in Lewiston,Maine with a BA in Studio Arts andearned a Master of Science in Teachingfrom Rochester Institute of Technology.

Becky Wipfler

continued from page 1

Great Teachers andLeaders are the Heart

of Great Schools.

Please help UVEI’s workby making a donation to our annual fund.

A donation form is provided on the back

page of this newsletter.

ing sessions, teachers aim to move theirpractice closer to “gold standard” proj-ect-based learning. Principal Kelli Dean,a UVEI Principal Intern Program alum(and current UVEI Curriculum andInstruction candidate), helped bring ourfaculty into a district-wide partnershipfocused on project-based learning. Bythe second meeting with teachers, I wasalready feeling new energy and momen-tum building as these educators brain-stormed new units and approaches. As wejourney forward together, our sharedgoal is to reinvigorate teaching practicesthat are valuable and sustainable.

Becky Wipfler is UVEI’s Elementary EducationCoordinator and a member of the faculty. Youcan follow her on Twitter @bmwipfler

5

Alumni ProfileCristina Veresan:

Science Teacher andDistinguished Educator

irst and foremost, Cristina Veresandescribes herself as a teacher of stu-

dents, not of science. Her belief – thatstudents must develop creativity, criticalthinking, collaboration, and communi-cation skills – could be applied to anysubject matter. It just so happens thatSTEM is her field and it is in those dis-ciplines that Cristina works to engageher students in experiential and project-based learning experiences.

After graduating from UVEI in 2006,it took only a few years for Cristina’stalents to be recognized. As a scienceteacher, department chair and sciencefair coordinator in Port St. Lucie, Florida,she was named St. Lucie County Teacherof the Year. As her career progressed andshe moved to Hawaii, Cristina soughtout new experiences to enhance her pro-fessional practice. In 2014, she wasselected as one of 25 nationally-selectededucators to become a National Geo-graphic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow, whichgave her the opportunity to travel to theArctic, and she was also chosen as aNational Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA) Teacher-at-Sea. Last year, Cristina was named anAlbert Einstein Distinguished EducatorFellow and moved to Washington, DC,where she worked with Senator AlFranken to advance his K-12 postsec-ondary education priorities.

Today, Cristina is back in the class-room at Le Jardin Academy in Kailua,Hawaii, teaching sixth and seventhgrade integrated science courses at theK-12 International Baccalaureate School.“In my classroom, students are doingscience; hands-on activities and experi-ments that require students to employscientific methods and use appropriatetools and technology to solve problemsor test hypotheses,” Cristina says.

In an interview with Cristina, weasked a number of questions about herteaching practice. Here, in synopsis, areher responses:

F

What principles and practices guide yourwork?

Students are not empty vessels to befilled; great teaching is not so muchespousing knowledge but exposing it. Iencourage classroom interaction tounfold organically, and am always will-ing to clarify misconceptions or invitestudent discussion. Empowering stu-dents as scientific thinkers begins andends with an inquiry-based classroomenvironment that requires students toask salient questions, to provide evi-dence, and to take responsible risks.Most importantly, I encourage an openfeedback loop with students, so I cancontinually refine my practice to meetstudent needs.

How do you motivate students?In the classroom, I try to motivate

students by presenting real-life case stud-ies and connecting concepts to students’daily lives. One of my greatest motiva-tors has been to get students outside toexplore their world. In Florida and thenin Hawaii, I have facilitated sustainedprograms of fieldwork. I believe that expe-riential learning, rooted in local ecology,engages student senses, enriches sciencecontent and encourages environmentalstewardship.

Do you see science education movingin a particular direction?

It’s an exciting time for science education.There are many initiatives for expandingaccess to computer science and givingall students the opportunity to try cod-ing. With the Next Generation ScienceStandards, there’s also more emphasison engineering and the process of design.I think these changes could have a tremen-dous impact on science education and

help diversify STEM fields. In my teach-ing practice, I encourage all my studentsto see themselves as scientists and I pro-vide experiences to build their confidence.And even if students do not pursue acareer in STEM, there’s no doubt thatscientific literacy is essential for life andcitizenship.

You can learn more about Cristinaand her work at www.veresan.com

Cristina Versean with her students at Star of the SeaSchool in Honolulu.

CURRENTLY ENROLLING

Teacher Intern Program Class of 2018

Principal Intern Program (with option for VT Director of Curriculum Specialization)

Class of 2018

UVGSE Masters ProgramsMaster of Arts in Teaching

MAT with a Concentration inInstructional Practice

MAT with a Concentration inTeacher Leadership

Master of Education in SchoolLeadership

Winter/Spring Graduate-LevelInquiries for Educators

Inquiry into Teaching for Understanding

(2 and 3 graduate options)Begins Thursday, January 5, 2017

Inquiry into Data-BasedCurricular Leadership (2, 3 and 4 graduate

credit options)Begins Saturday, January 21, 2017

Inquiry into School Change (2 graduate credits)

Begins Saturday, April 1, 2017

For more information:Phone: 603 678-4888

Email: registrar@uvei.org

194 Dartmouth College HighwayLebanon, New Hampshire 03766

FALL 2016 NEWS INSIDE

UVEI Annual FundGREAT TEACHERS AND LEADERS ARE THE HEART OF GREAT SCHOOLS

Please consider supporting our commitment to enriching the lives of children through the work we do in preparing teachers andschool leaders.

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