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Contextual Learning Portal

Connect with others who are creating contextual learning experiences in classrooms and out-of-school settings. Browse projects and resources and submit your own. Be inspired by others; get insights into ways of planning and organizing projects; find resources; and share your results!

The Contextual Learning Portal provides a template to support teachers and program leaders in developing and sharing curriculum. The portal has been used for curriculum projects from a variety of initiatives, including community service learning, academic support, creativity-building, community learning center programs and more. Since Summer 2019, the portal has been providing space for curriculum development and sharing for teachers participating in teacher externships, focusing on development of curriculum inspired by these worksite experiences.

What is Contextual Learning?

Contextual learning projects engage students in academic work applied to a context related to their lives, communities, workplaces or the wider world. Projects may range in length from a single class period to a semester-long exploration. Projects may take place in after-school or summer programs or in work-based learning programs as well as in a regular classroom. Read More...

Secondary Transition

What is Secondary Transition? How can classroom, community and career development opportunities help students with disabilities build skills and shape a vision for next steps after high school? Read More ....

Ideas & Insights

Gather ideas and insights from online forums and from viewing cross sections of Contextual Learning projects focused on topics of interest. What are the elements that foster student creativity and innovation? Family engagement?? Student reflection?

Teacher Externship Curriculum Projects

Tips for developing curriculum inspired by teacher externship experiences.

Photo 1 ~ click to view the projectPhoto 2 ~ click to view the projectPhoto 3 ~ click to view the projectPhoto 4 ~ click to view the projectPhoto 5 ~ click to view the projectPhoto 6 ~ click to view the projectPhoto 7 ~ click to view the projectPhoto 8 ~ click to view the projectPhoto 9 ~ click to view the project

What are the Projects About? A Tag Cloud

-Select- adaptive-technology agile development methodolo animals animation anti-bullying Antibiotic Production aquaponics architecture Arduino/Snapino art arts Aviation Big Data biography biology biotechnology books build-it Business organization Business Technology - Finan CAD career-pathways careers carpentry chemistry children civic-literacy coding Collaboration/Project Manag College and Career communicating community community-garden community-needs composting Computer Networking Computer Science Conduct on the Job-site conflict-resolution construction-design Content Management Systems cooking Covid-19 creativity creativity/innovation CSL culinary arts cultural-exchange culture cybersecurity dance Data and Decision Making data-visualization diesel services distance learning ecology ecosystems ELA Electricity-and-Circuits electronics employability endangered-species engineering English-language entrepreneurship environment erosion-control Event Planning excel exponential functions fashion-design Financial Literacy fitness food-security forensics found poetry friendship Future Quest game development game-boards gardening genetics geometry government grade-wide Graphic Communication GREEN-BUILDING-RATINGS green-in-middle greenhouse health healthcare high-school-transition Hip Hop/ US History history homework honey-bees horticulture hunger identity Infection Control Infection Control and Respi insurance interdiciplinary intergenerational international-pen-pals Interviewing invasive-species investment ISO kitchen-science Labor leadership life-planning life-skills/vocational literacy literature about women local history Manufacturing marine marketing math media mentoring Mill-Workers museum music nature-trail nutrition OSHA parks-and-greenspace Payroll peer-education percentage percents physical-computing physics physics/sound poetry Processing Professional Arts Learning professional-development programming project managment Projectiles in Physics public-service-announcement quality random random-chance ratio reading reading-strategies recycling remote learning research restaurant service rivers robotics safety salt-marsh science Science-Wednesdays self Semi-Permanent Eyelash Exte sensors service service-learning sewing Shakespeare soft skills Spanish-language spectrophotometer sports SQL statistics steps of service Stock Analysis storm-water-management Strike suffixes-and-prefixes sundials surveys sustainability table service tax-preparation Teacher Externship Team Norms technological-systems technology timeline tree-planting universal-design Unlocking Opportunity..Bank urban-design vegan veterans video-production water weather web-design wetlands women-history women-science women-sports woodworking world-issues writing

Purpose of the Contextual Learning Portal

The intent of this web resource is to provide a place for the sharing of curriculum and instruction techniques in a virtual professional learning community. It seeks innovative, contextual based solutions to gaps in student learning. Reference in this web site to any specific products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public, and does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

August 18, 2021