If you are an International Baccalaureate (IB) teacher with an IB Exchange account, check out the new Commons microlearning modules co-developed with the Cloud Institute.
These microlearning modules are available to educators who want to understand more about the Commons and those who want to undertake the micro-credential Recognizing and Protecting the Commons.
Read MoreNeed help with Education for Sustainability action submissions? Join our professional development workshop on March 7, 2025, to gain the knowledge and tools to integrate sustainability into your teaching and strengthen your Sustainable Jersey action submissions.
Read MoreWe are proud to announce that the print book series of the Oxford International Sustainability is now available! Developed in collaboration with The Cloud Institute, this comprehensive series includes 9 Project Books, 9 Teacher’s Guides, and professional development support for primary and secondary education. Designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills to navigate the challenges and opportunities of sustainable living, this series empowers the next generation to lead the shift toward a sustainable future.
Read MoreThe Cloud Institute is proud to announce the new Oxford International Curriculum for Sustainability! Now more than ever, teachers are increasingly looking for ways to bring the attributes of Education for Sustainability into the classroom, and today’s young people are counting on all of us to learn how to work together to make the shift toward a sustainable future.
The Cloud Institute is working closely with the Oxford International Curriculum team at Oxford University Press to build the vertically articulated series of project- based learning experiences from 1st year to 9th year (K-8 in the U.S.).
We wrote the Learning Outcomes and Assessment Framework for the series and are working closely with the lesson authors to make them come alive for students and teachers in classrooms all over the world.
Read MoreCheck out the Climate Change Education Resource Guide for Schools produced by the team at the Center for Sustainability and Climate Education at the Dutchess County BOCES. Find ideas, resources and activities to start the conversation about our climate and the actions that we, our students and colleagues can take as global citizens.
Read Morerepost from: greenschoolsnetwork.org By: Sanch Lawrence, Sep 29, 2020
I vividly remember my last in-person class before COVID-19 upended school as we know it. It was March 13, 2020, the day before Pi day.
I was teaching a lesson on simplifying a rational expression to my eleventh-grade Algebra 2 students at Clara Barton High School in New York City.
Students were casually discussing a Facebook post about COVID-19 as they worked in groups practicing problems in preparation for the upcoming Algebra 2 regents exam. Meanwhile, my coworkers and I were discussing the possibility of school being canceled for a few weeks or possibly the rest of the school year.
No one fully understood the health implications of COVID-19 and the impact it would have on in-person learning. And no one could’ve anticipated how the shift to remote learning would change the landscape of education, specifically how educational technology (ed-tech) would become essential to learning. Like water shapes itself to a vessel, educators had to transition from the traditional “chalk and talk” way of instruction to become smart-board, tech-savvy teachers. While challenging, this transition provided an opportunity for educators like myself to experiment with synchronous and asynchronous methods of teaching, as well as test out a host of ed-tech tools. For example, Zoom became a favorite among educators because of its breakout rooms, polling, and security features. Ed-tech tools quickly transformed the laptop screen into a classroom, where teachers, students, and parents could co-create a productive and collaborative online learning community.
I faced a couple of key challenges in transitioning my math classroom to a remote learning environment. My top priority was establishing a virtual classroom that accommodated multiple learning styles to ensure all my students had access to and could complete their assignments. Then came the challenge of covering what remained of the eleventh-grade math content for that year. I was personally challenged to find a way to deliver that content so it connected students to current events. The death of George Floyd, coupled with COVID-19, touched a nerve in students and stirred up strong feelings that needed to be expressed. Many of my students are aware of police violence in their neighborhoods and have experienced it themselves. How could I give my students an opportunity and an outlet to explore these issues while teaching math and meeting their multiple learning styles? The answer was project-based learning (PBL). PBL was a natural way to address these challenges; however, I had never used PBL in a virtual environment before.
I became a PBL Practitioner after attending hours of training offered by the New York City Department of Education’s Academic Integration Network and the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education. I turned to these organizations again as I began to think more deeply about how I could facilitate authentic learning experiences in a virtual classroom that were personalized, interest-based, student-designed, and self-directed, all components of good PBL. Together, we designed interdisciplinary projects with themes that were designed to offer student choice. My class ultimately… [continued at: greenschoolsnationalnetwork.org/merging-math-and-project-based-learning-in-a-virtual-classroom]
What to Preserve and What to Transform
Over time, life on Earth has experienced times of relative stability and has seen great disruptions like earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and global pandemics. Evolution, devolution, five near extinctions and yet some form of life has prevailed, so far. In fact, it is those very disruptions that make life possible on “Spaceship Earth”. Life organizes towards life. We can learn from both our social and physical history to invent our future as we build the capability to thrive over time. Appropriate disturbances create the next cycle of life. So how do we disrupt systemic racism, inequities and injustices?
Here you can find our Starter Unit Planner to respond to the unacceptable things people have been saying and doing in the U.S. because of racism, sexism and xenophobia.
Webinar: Moving Forward Together - What to Preserve & What to Transform
This special, single-day offering is designed to increase participants’ awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the core concepts, content, and habits of mind that characterize Sustainability and Education for Sustainability (EfS).
Cost: $149
In this curriculum design studio, we use backwards design, or Understanding by Design, to reorient, innovate, build, and map curricula designed to meet academic standards and EfS standards, performance indicators, and enduring understandings.
Cost: $495
July 22nd 10am est.
NJSBA I-Steam and Sustainable Lessons John Henry and Jaimie P. Cloud will discuss why short-term, unsustainable thinking during COVID-19 could lead to long-term unsustainable schools. Einstein once said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved with the same level of thinking we used to create them”. Now, more than ever, is the time to think about reopening schools with the long term health of our school communities and every system and function of the school in mind. We know that sustainable actions create healthier schools at lower operational costs. Taking courageous steps now and solving problems by thinking differently, instead of taking actions driven by fear, could make a big difference in the health and well-being of our students and schools.
The Cloud Commons EfS Digital Library houses Cloud Institute units and lessons, templates, assessment protocols, enduring workshop materials, videos, podcasts, and tools aligned to EfS Standards and Performance Indicators.
Purchase a 1 year pass and get access to all of our digital downloads, plus exclusive access to videos and podcasts by Jaimie Cloud.
Remote Leadership Consulting and Curriculum Coaching
Leadership Consulting: We provide consulting and leadership development to help administrators develop, implement and monitor a strategic plan for Education for Sustainability.
Curriculum Coaching: We offer faculty coaching for curriculum design to support the development of lesson plans and units that are mapped and documented in a curriculum database, aligned to EfS and Common Core Standards, and that include assessments that measure meaningful learning.
Employment Opportunity | Director of Youth Education Are you passionate about working towards a healthy planet that will sustain humans in harmony with the complex ecosystems we depend on? Do you like working with remote teams of impassioned individuals and partner organizations to achieve world-changing goals? Join the team! Apply by July 17, 2020
What perspectives are needed to weather our current social climate? What knowledge, skills, attitudes and habits of mind do we need to instill in young people to prepare them for tomorrow? How do successful leaders manage remote teams and achieve goals during times of change and uncertainty? What role will vision, imagination, and intention play in creating a future that is vibrant, resilient and thriving? We will explore these ideas and more in this free webinar series.
Read MoreOur work with the NYC Department of Education’s High School Career Technical Education continues and has now been merged into the CTE Academic Integration Blueprint. This document aims to bridge the gap between graduation rate and low college readiness by facilitating the integration of CTE and academic coursework, training teachers to develop integrated curriculum and promoting high quality project-based learning (PBL) practices in academic classes. One of the plan’s five objectives is to “Infuse sustainability principles throughout CTE and academic content curricula”.
Read MoreIn my experience, it is harder for people to think about what it will take to educate for sustainability, than it is to actually educate for sustainability. This makes sense, given that change of any kind is threatening to our reptilian brains. We have a biological fear of change. Add to this the fact that most educators think of “sustainablizing” as an add on to an already packed life, curriculum and to do list. Given the flavor of the month way that schools often operate, it seems like just one more thing to do. It isn’t. It can’t be. It is the thing we all must do if we want to thrive over time.
Read MoreI have been working with Kapalama Middle School at the Oahu campus of Kamehameha Schools for the past seven years. We would like to continue our work together, but for now, the contract has been completed. How can we know if the work we have done together to educate students for a sustainable future will last and will be improved over time? We can’t. What we can do is create favorable conditions for it to flourish over time—just like everything else we want to sustain. As I always say, there is no such thing as “sustain-guaranteed” but there is such a thing as “sustain-able”.
Read MoreThere are many options when it comes to designing curriculum that educates for sustainability. Some educators prefer to "sustainablize" their curriculum by working with the commencement edition of The Cloud Institute’s EfS Standards and Performance Indicators and cross walking and embedding them where and when appropriate. This also involves determining which ones are developmentally appropriate at each grade level. Others prefer we do that for them. If you would like to see how we would "sustainablize" our K-12 curriculum from the first quarter of Kindergarten to the last quarter of 12th grade, check out our new EfS Scope and Sequence.
Educating for a Sustainable Future: Benchmarks for Individual and Social Learning will be released by The Journal of Sustainability Education on Earth Day, April 22, 2017. This 70-page account is authored by, and represents the current and best thinking of forty-two of the major scholars and practitioners of the field of Education for Sustainability (EfS). The Benchmarks include the Big Ideas, Thinking Skills, Applied Knowledge, Dispositions, Actions, and Community Connections that define Education for Sustainability. They embody the essential elements that administrators, curriculum professionals, faculty, board and community members need to adopt Education for Sustainability; to align with it; to self-assess their own performance, and to intentionally and effectively educate for the future we want by design. In addition, The Benchmarks embody the consensus that the field needs to demonstrate the impact of EfS and to catalyze wide spread implementation.
Read MoreIn previous blog posts, we’ve featured stories about schools or districts across the country that have integrated EfS into their curriculum. Today, we’d like to tell you about Putnam and Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services (PNW BOCES), a regional education agency whose innovative approach to EfS is worth exploring.
New York State’s PNW BOCES is a regional collaborative serving approximately 60,000 pre-K through 12th graders in 18 school districts. In 2008, the PNW BOCES Curriculum Center undertook the development of a K-12 web-based Education for Sustainability curriculum to address the question, “How are we all going to live well within the means of nature?” The curriculum development project was a multi-year undertaking that included capacity building for administrators to lead in this area as well as support for teams of teachers to develop the cutting edge sustainability education curriculum. To implement the project, PNW BOCES assembled a diverse group of sustainability, curriculum design, and instructional technology experts to work with the educators in involved in the project.
As the new administration in Washington questions the role of the federal government in protecting the environment, there is a growing sense of urgency for all parts of society to step up to the plate, and they are. As Einstein said, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved with the same thinking we used to create them.” We need new ways of thinking, not just to solve today’s problems, but to lead us to a healthy and regenerative future. Now imagine that schools could prepare young people to think about the world in this entirely new way. Here’s the good news—it’s happening. Right now, all over the state of New Jersey.
Read MoreToday we’d like to introduce you to Trevor Day School, a Pre-K through Grade 12 independent day school located in New York City. Trevor’s commitment to sustainability is evident inside and outside the classroom. Jaimie Cloud has been working with the school since 2009, providing training and resources to help the school integrate Education for Sustainability across grade levels and academic disciplines.
Read MoreThe Cloud Institute and The Derryfield School contributed to the newly released Educating for Sustainability: Case Studies from the Field, PreK-12. Jaimie Cloud and Brentnall M. Powell were two of the authors selected for the e-book, which showcases inspiring stories of Education for Sustainability (EFS) in action across the country. The case study, Inventing the Future: The Teaching of Environmental Studies, features Jaimie's work with Powell, the course instructor and Dean of Faculty and Academic Programs at The Derryfield School in Manchester NH. The two worked together to "sustainablize" Derryfield's year long, humanities based environmental studies course.
“When we were first growing the field of Education for Sustainability, all we had were aspirations,” states Jaimie. “Now we have case studies, research and student work as evidence. It is joyful work and it improves lives. Not bad.”
Educating for Sustainability: Case Studies from the Field, PreK-12 is a publication of Shelburne Farms, Shelburne, Vermont. Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit organization educating for a sustainable future. The Farm collaborates with educators, schools, and other partners to advance education for sustainability in Vermont, nationally, and internationally. Shelburne Farms’ campus for learning is a 1,400-acre working landscape and National Historic Landmark. Shelburne Farms serves over 150,000 program participants and visitors annually on-site alone.
To access the FREE e-book, Educating for Sustainability: Case Studies from the Field, PreK-12 please visit Shelburne Farms website.
Photo Credit: The Derryfield School: A digital poster made by a student as part of the Consumption/Waste/Design Unit.
This post, written by James Gast, was originally published on The Willow School website, 9/9/16.
“What kind of future do we want?” That’s the central question that Jaimie Cloud poses to educators and students.
As president of The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education, Cloud has since 1993 worked with schools to “sustainable-ize” their curricula. It’s her contribution to the kind of future she wants – one where human beings thrive all over planet Earth, without undermining the fundamental support systems of Nature and Society.
On August 30 – 31, 2016, Cloud worked with Willow’s teachers to align elements of their curriculum with the “enduring understandings” associated with educating for sustainability and its nine core content standards: Cultural Preservation & Transformation; Responsible Local & Global Leadership; The Dynamics of Systems & Change; Sustainable Economics; Healthy Commons; Natural Laws & Ecological Principles; Inventing & Affecting the Future; Multiple Perspectives; and Strong Sense of Place.
Over the coming school year, Cloud will continue to consult with Willow and to coach faculty to deepen our understanding and delivery of sustainable education, and to more effectively document and map the curriculum as a whole.
“We had two goals in bringing Jaimie in this summer,” said Willow’s Head of School, Jerry Loewen. “One was to become more focused and more effective in our delivery of sustainability education. The other was to provide the entire faculty with a totally shared experience and totally shared definitions and expectations.”
The workshop marks Cloud’s third round of work with Willow in the last decade. Over that time, she has noticed a maturing of the school and a deepening sense of grounded-ness.
“I am glad to be back,” said Cloud, who collaborated closely with Loewen and Assistant Head of School Amy Swenson to customize her two 2-day workshop for Willow’s needs. “I look forward to working with Jerry, Amy and the faculty to build a regenerative curriculum to match the buildings!”
For Willow’s veteran teachers, the workshop offered a chance to more fully map their courses in relationship to one another, and to document what’s been working. For new hires, it was a chance to learn more about the Willow brand of education.
“Jaimie Cloud’s work on developing the whole child through a lens that appreciates the interconnectedness of all things is incredibly inspiring,” enthused Willow’s new third grade teacher Amy Arnold. “The EfS curriculum is just one more reason I am thrilled to be part of Willow. I cannot wait to see our students in action—working together toward their greatest purpose!”
Throughout the coming school year, teachers will document and map aspects of their curricula online. Cloud will serve as a coach, visiting Willow monthly to work with teacher-leaders as they embed appropriate knowledge, skills and dispositions of Education for Sustainability into exemplary curriculum units to share with their colleagues.
“The habits of mind we are developing for our students through these efforts are vital not only for them and their future, but for the broader community,” explained Loewen, “so we are examining ways to spread this work much more widely this year.”
The end goal of all this effort is to truly teach our students in ways that make them agents of effective and sustainable change for themselves, and ultimately for the world.
Photo Credit: CCS Website
Today, we’d like to introduce you to Compass Charter School, a new progressive elementary school located in Brooklyn, NY. The school, which opened in 2014, currently offers kindergarten through second grade, but plans to serve children in grades K-5 at full capacity. Compass Charter School is the result of a 2012-13 journey by three Brooklyn teachers who traveled the nation in search of what is working well in the American education system. Brooke Peters, Michelle Healy, and Todd Sutler called their expedition The Odyssey Initiative (OI) and returned home to establish a school using lessons learned along the road. “ From our experience on the trip, we decided to start a new school that was progressive, inquiry based and one that connected with authentic experiences in the real world,” explains Healy. It soon became clear that a charter school was the best fit for the trio’s innovative philosophy, which required a departure from the traditional public school structure of leadership and budgeting.
A Mission is Born
Upon their return, the travelers noticedthat a number of the schools encountered on their journey were using Education for Sustainability (EfS) as a unifying framework and ultimately connected with The Cloud Institute. “It turned out that some of the schools we visited were partners with The Cloud Institute so we got to see the program firsthand and how they worked with Jaimie,” describes Healy. EfS seemed to connect many of the ideas the trio wanted to focus on for their new school. “We found that it brought everything together for us. We wanted it to be natural and have a social justice and economic side,” says Peters. “EfS helped us get the vocabulary and the framework. It lead us to Jaimie and the mission was born.”
The Road Map Emerges
Intrigued by the EfS standards, Healy and Peters first attended The Cloud Institute’s Summer Design Studio (SDS) in 2014. They immediately noticed the SDS was not a typical Professional Development (PD). “It really was a design studio,” says Healy. “Jaimie was there and flexible when we needed it, but she was also able to step out if we wanted to do some work designing.” The two spent the week exploring how to vertically align the EfS standards with K-5 curriculum and integrate Science and Social Studies standards in a meaningful way. “ Even though our school wasn’t approved yet, we just paid for the studio to help us develop what we wanted and where we wanted to go,” explains Healy. “We added very special foundational things, like overnight camping, a trip to see civil rights things and more, all depending on the units and years. That was the road map.” Another benefit of participating in the SDS was the opportunity to connect with others doing this work. “We also met some other people while we were there and we got to visit and learn from educators in NJ and other places. So it was a nice networking event as well, “ describes Peters. Once the school opened, the two returned to the SDS to work on unit design, this time accompanied by the school’s new Sustainability Coordinator, Kristen Beneke and a few founding faculty. Jaimie began monthly on-site coaching to support school leadership and faculty to help build the school, refine the units and focus on content skills and assessment. The team is planning to return to SDS this summer to continue to document and map their curriculum.
An Integrated EfS Curriculum
The Compass Charter School created a curriculum that aims to connect children with the natural world and the systems that sustain communities. Located in one of the most racially and culturally diverse places in New York City, the school takes advantage oflocal resources, such as people, green spaces, architecture and history. Sustainability is woven throughout the entire curriculum, including a twice weekly Sustainability Studio and ongoing classroom units at least three times a week. Teachers and staff meet every week to plan the integrated sustainability lessons. All curriculum is aligned with EfS standards as well as Common Core and Next Generation Science standards. In grades K-2, students immerse themselves in the natural world and begin scientific inquiry through play, exploration, and hands-on activities. Once grades 3-5 are added, students will participate in civic engagement by researching natural and built environments, and designing and implementing service projects within their own community.
Walking the Talk
At Compass Charter School, sustainability education doesn’t end at the classroom door. Green practices are implemented throughout the school such as vermiculture, composting, recycling and even CSA (community supported agriculture) shares distributed at the student-run farmer’s market in the schoolyard. Community members help to provide healthy snacks, cleaning products, and water bottles for the students. The classrooms at Compass offer natural environments that contain wood furniture, plants, and signs made by the students and teachers. Students transfer what they learn in the studio throughout their day at school and at home. Families donate recycled materials for arts and crafts projects and students recycle and reuse materials by transforming them into new objects. Everyday a student comes into school with a new object from nature that they must share or use as inspiration for a piece of writing about the Earth.
The Odyssey Continues
Creating a school from the ground up is as energizing as it is daunting. “We are riding the bicycle and building the bicycle at the same time,” explains Beneke. “It’s a challenge, but from it we will create something beautiful.” And they are not doing it alone. The Cloud Institute’s partnership has been vital to Compass Charter School’s early progress. “I don’t know where we would be without the dedicated assistance from The Cloud Institute. It’s the centerpiece.“ says Peters. ”EfS brings it all together.”
For more on Compass Charter School, visit their website.
