Join the EcoHero Earth Day Concert – A Global Celebration of Sustainability!

Join the EcoHero Earth Day Concert – A Global Celebration of Sustainability!

We are excited to share a fun opportunity for educators and students! The EcoHero Earth Day Livestream Concert is a high-energy, interactive event that has already engaged over 1.2 million students across thousands of elementary schools worldwide. This Earth Day, April 22nd, your students can be part of this global movement—learning about sustainability through music, rap, and fun, all while contributing to real-world change!

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Visiting Arbor Ridge Elementary School in Orlando, Florida

Visiting Arbor Ridge Elementary School in Orlando, Florida

At the recent Green Schools National Conference in Orlando, Florida, we had the privilege to visit Arbor Ridge Elementary School. Arbor Ridge has received first place in the green schools recognition program, the Florida Green Apple award by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Green Ribbons Schools award by the US Department of Education.

We toured the school and the campus and a team of faculty members attended our afternoon workshop on vertical articulation of Education for Sustainability. Among many hey have composting in the cafeteria, a living garden.

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Join us on March 10-11 at Woodward’s Summit for Transformative Learning (STLinATL) 2025!

Join us on March 10-11 at Woodward’s Summit for Transformative Learning (STLinATL) 2025!

Jaimie will be leading two workshops at the Woodward’s Summit for Transformative Learning (STLinATL) hosted by Woodward Academy on March 10 and 11, 2025!

The Summit will explore the theme “Embracing the Future of Education” as a beacon lighting the path ahead for deeper learning.

Jaimie’s workshops will focus on:

  • Educating for Sustainability with the Brain in Mind

  • Effective Practices for Aligning and Integrating Education for Sustainability (EfS) into Core Curriculum

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New Microlearning Modules on the Commons are Available on the IB Exchange!

New Microlearning Modules on the Commons are Available on the IB Exchange!

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

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Workshop Opportunity for SJ4S: EfS Curriculum Mapping and Integrated Unit Design

Workshop Opportunity for SJ4S: EfS Curriculum Mapping and Integrated Unit Design

Need 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.

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The Print Book Series of the Oxford International Sustainability is Now Available!

The Print Book Series of the Oxford International Sustainability is Now Available!

We 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.

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Planting The Seeds of Sustainability Mundo Verde Public Charter School (VIDEO)

Planting The Seeds of Sustainability Mundo Verde Public Charter School (VIDEO)

Planting the seeds for a sustainable future starts early for these young students. It's at the core of one charter school's mission from how it's built, to what it serves.

We are happy to share this CBS feature about Mundo Verde Public Charter School, a PreK-5 bilingual school that serves students across two campuses in Washington D.C. The Cloud Institute has been working with Mundo Verde for several years now because they are dedicated to educating for a sustainable future. It’s working!

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Fall Newsletter | Useful Resources for Educators

Fall Newsletter | Useful Resources for Educators

Check 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.

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Chris Wyland on Place-Based Learning and Education for Sustainability

"... the other aspect in terms of educating for sustainability, is that, it just makes sense. As an educator, from seeing the impact it has on the authenticity of the student learning, but also, the impact is has on student engagement in society. Too often we expect kids to sit and receive, and not enough do we bring them in to the decision-making process. It's not fair to give them this world that has climate change and has all of these negative aspects going on around them, and to not give them the skills and the chance and the opportunity to make changes for a more sustainable future." - Chris Wyland on Place-Based Learning and Education for Sustainability

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Winter News | Education for Sustainability is Essential

Winter News | Education for Sustainability is Essential

The EfS Reservoir is a multi-media repository of exemplars aligned to the EfS Benchmarks. The exemplars include quality curriculum units, courses, assessments, performance criteria, student work samples and eventually stories, interviews, discussions, images, narration and film that will illustrate the contexts and the impact of this work in schools and communities. Register for free to access the collection.

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Merging Math and Project-Based Learning in a Virtual Environment

repost 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]

Sustainable Lessons for Schools During Covid19

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John Henry and Jaimie P. Cloud discussed why short-term, unsustainable thinking during #COVID19 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 #reopeningschools 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.

sustainable lessons

The Fish Game In Play - In Germany | A Case Story

The Fish Game In Play - In Germany | A Case Story

The workshop was part of our "Land Use and Resources" day (other parts of the program that day included workshops, discussions and presentations on food, farming methods, waste management, and circular economy). We started the workshop by playing the Fish Game simulation in eight groups with 5-9 members, each recording their results in a table. We followed up on this in reflective group discussions, talking about why groups failed, what the different scenarios represent, and how this relates to real life/ in what ways this is not a 100% accurate representation of international (over)fishing. Afterwards, we provided some more theoretical context on overfishing by going through our own presentation on causes of overfishing, consequences for the ecosystem and the human population, and proposed solutions and strategies to prevent overfishing / fix the damage already done. Additionally, we went over some specific cases of overfishing e.g. in Canada and on the West African coast.

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Exciting Update on our Partnership with NYC DOE CTE

Exciting Update on our Partnership with NYC DOE CTE

Our 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”.  

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Easier Done than Said:  Move from Fear to Action by Educating for a Sustainable Future

Easier Done than Said:  Move from Fear to Action by Educating for a Sustainable Future

In 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.

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How to Sustain Sustainability Education

I 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”.

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PNW BOCES: A Regional Approach to EfS

In 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.

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New Jersey: An Unexpected Leader Emerges in Sustainability Education

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.

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EFS in Schools: Trevor Day School

Today 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.

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Educating for Sustainability: Case Studies from the Field, PreK-12

 
 

The 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.