Teaching and Learning CoLab 2024: Full Schedule

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8:30am MDT

Conference Check-in

Parking is free in Orange Lot, Blue Lot, Green Lot, or Purple Lot. Check-in at the Atrium of Hays Student Center to receive your nametag and conference swag. Reminder: the conference schedule is available on Sched.

Thursday May 30, 2024 8:30am - 9:00am MDT
Hays Student Center Atrium 721 Landrum Ln, Sterling, CO 80751

9:00am MDT

Adding Relevancy to the Classroom through Outdoor Experiences

Whether you are in the classroom our outdoors, connecting students to the work in the natural resources and environmental fields can bring relevant experiences to your classroom curriculum. Conservation and environmental education connections can bring standards to life, increase engagement and provide students with the opportunity to find personal connections to what they are learning. Join Colorado Parks and Wildlife to explore how to use outdoor experiences to add relevancy to your curriculum.

Speakers

Kellina Gilbreth

Formal Education Content Specialist, Colorado Parks & Wildlife

Heather Hubbard

Statewide Education Coordinator, CO Parks and Wildlife

Thursday May 30, 2024 9:00am - 10:30am MDT
Hays Student Center Room 230

Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

9:00am MDT

Meaningful Career Conversations - An Introduction

These trainings are designed for ANYONE in a position to provide guidance to those seeking to enter the workforce, pursue a specific career path, or change careers (now or in the future) and are centered on fostering hopeful and robust futures.

Trainers will lead participants through comprehensive content, peer-to-peer career conversation practices, reflection exercises, and demonstrations of career-focused tools that can be used across settings and career sectors. Participants will have opportunities to engage in a variety of topical resources and guides to help them to develop the skill sets, confidence, and understanding to support people in pursuing new career opportunities and pathways.

Speakers

Tracy Stegall

Carly Schwab

In a community/non-profit organization, CEI

CEI Strategy Specialist

Thursday May 30, 2024 9:00am - 10:30am MDT
ESF Room 124

Best First Instruction

Company 6 - 8, 9 -12

9:00am MDT

Meeting the Needs of Gifted and Advanced Learners

So many times gifted learners are overlooked and underchallenged because schools primary foci is on reducing achievement gaps.The lack of advanced opportunities for gifted and advanced learners can have detrimental effects on both academic and social emotional needs of these learners. This session will discuss the roots of gifted education and why these learners have specific needs both academically and social emotionally. Characteristics and profiles of gifted learners will be shared and discussed. Research on the needs of gifted learners will be embedded in this session. Gifted learners who are twice exceptional, thrice exceptional, and culturally diverse will be discussed. Participants will be provided with instructional strategies that differentiate learning for gifted and advanced learners that they can use in their classrooms tomorrow. Myths and misconceptions of gifted learners will be addressed in this session.

Speakers

Doug Alexander

Gifted Education Specialist, Boulder Valley School District

Doug Alexander, MA NBCT, is an enthusiastic advocate for equity for students who are gifted and those who identify as LGBTQ+. He works as a district gifted education specialist in Boulder Valley School District, and is the president-elect of Colorado Association for Gifted & Talented... Read More →

Michelle DuBois

Gifted Education Coordinator, Boulder Valley School District

Michelle Pacheco DuBois, Ed.D. is the Gifted Education Coordinator for the Boulder Valley School District. Dr. DuBois conducts professional learning nationally focusing on culturally linguistically diverse and twice exceptional learners. She has been recognized by the Colorado House... Read More →

Thursday May 30, 2024 9:00am - 10:30am MDT
ESF Room 126

Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

9:00am MDT

Unlocking Mathematical Success

This professional development session focuses on proven methods for success in mathematics. Explore the power of data-driven instruction, learning how to leverage data to inform and enhance your teaching practices. Discover key intervention tools and strategies that empower educators to create a supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students.

Speakers

Jason Cushner

Math Specialist, Colorado Department of Education

Jason Cushner is a PAEMST awardee who comes to us from Estes Park, where his career has included teaching, instructional coaching, and service as a school board member.

Tabitha Nickerson

CDE

Thursday May 30, 2024 9:00am - 10:30am MDT
ESF Room 125

Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

9:00am MDT

Writing Strong Literacy Goals

Setting ambitious but attainable goals for students is the starting point for a strong plan of intervention. Writing strong literacy goals based on specific skill deficits is a skill that can be developed. This training will guide participants in how to identify student’s specific skill deficits, outline the components of a well written goal, and design measurable objectives that will create a pathway for literacy success.

Speakers

Jamie Olson

Senior Literacy Consultant, Colorado Department of Education

Karen Ingalls

CDE

Thursday May 30, 2024 9:00am - 10:30am MDT
ESF Room 218

Disciplinary Literacy Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

9:00am MDT

Supporting Struggling Readers in the Secondary Classroom

As our students advance from grade level to grade level, the depth and complexity housed within the content, concepts, and skills of the standards increases. Therefore, the expectation to learn how to read, write, and communicate while simultaneously reading, writing, and communicating to learn requires students to deconstruct the parts of text to understand the whole, as well as the different techniques employed by writers. How can our students deconstruct a text without knowing and understanding the words of a text? In this session, we will honor and polish our current practices to make a difference through a disciplinary literacy approach that asks, "What things can we do universally in our classrooms that would make a difference with our Tier 1 students in terms of continuing to build, maintain, and expand their literacy proficiency?"

Speakers

Olivia Gillespie

Literacy Content Specialist, CDE

Thursday May 30, 2024 9:00am - 10:30am MDT
Hays Student Center TAG

Disciplinary Literacy Standards Implementation Best First Instruction

Company 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

9:00am MDT

An Introduction to WIDA's 2020 Edition of the ELD Standards Framework

Participants will be introduced to educator resources available in WIDA’s 2020 edition of the ELD Standards Framework and on the WIDA website. Comparisons will be made between the 2020 edition and previous editions of WIDA's ELD Standards Framework. Participants will also learn which WIDA resources have not changed and are still available for use.

Speakers

Rebekah Ottenbreit

CDE

Rebekah joined the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) in 2013. She is an English Language Development (ELD) Specialist and the Title IX State Coordinator. Her work focuses on supporting districts in developing and implementing Language Instruction Education Programs and in fulfilling... Read More →

Thursday May 30, 2024 9:00am - 10:30am MDT
Hays Student Center Room 207

Standards Implementation Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

9:00am MDT

Developing a Music Curriculum: Standards Meets Repertiore

Music educators use repertoire to build the curriculum that they teach to students across grade levels and ensembles. In this session, participants learn about organizing a scope and sequence based on the Colorado Academic Standards in Music. An example scope and sequence is applied to a few repertoire selections that can demonstrate how to apply the standards to repertoire across grade levels and ensembles. Tools that will be shared include updates to the Colorado Academic Standards in Music, music at-a-glance documents, example scope and sequence for music documents, and an example music theory-pedagogy inventory document that can be used to review and analyze music selections for teaching music. Participates experience opportunities to connect the standards to music repertoire selections.

Speakers

Carla Aguilar

Colorado Department of Education + Metropolitan State University of Denver

Thursday May 30, 2024 9:00am - 10:30am MDT
Hays Student Center Room 219

Standards Implementation Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

10:45am MDT

Instructional Routines for Word Recognition Skills

The Elementary Literacy and School Readiness office at CDE has developed a series of turnkey professional development options to support the implementation of evidence-based instructional practices. This session will focus on routines for building word recognition skills: Blending and Segmenting, Phoneme Grapheme Mapping, and Heart Words.

Speakers

Lindsey Beveridge

Senior Literacy Consultant, CDE

Thursday May 30, 2024 10:45am - 11:45am MDT
Hays Student Center TAG

Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5

10:45am MDT

Leading for ALL students-Overcoming barriers by creating buy-in and shared ownership

As leaders, it is challenging to translate a belief in inclusivity into leadership practices that make meeting the needs of all students a reality. This begins with engaging all stakeholders in a collective WHY for this work. This presentation will outline a step-by-step process that leaders can use to develop community-wide awareness, understanding and support for inclusive practices that will serve as a springboard for transforming schools. These concepts can be applied by leaders to any work where a shared understanding and buy-in is needed.

Speakers

Robbyn Fernandez

Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Boulder Valley School District

Robbyn Fernandez is a career educator who has taught internationally and in BVSD. She has been a teacher, assistant principal, principal, executive director and assistant superintendent of schools. She proudly leads BVSD schools in improvement efforts to serve all students.

Thursday May 30, 2024 10:45am - 11:45am MDT
ESF Room 124

Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

10:45am MDT

Connecting the Creative Process & the Concept of PLAY to Colorado Arts Standards

In this session participants will be encouraged to spark their creative juices while learning about a simple and fun analogy for structuring and explaining the creative process. Also included will be a discussion around research and three different perspectives of the concept of PLAY. Participants will then make connections to the creative process, the concept of playing, and the Colorado Academic Standards for Dance and Drama/Theatre Arts.

Speakers

Judi Hofmeister

Arts Consultant, CDE

Judi Hofmeister was hired at Douglas County High School in Castle Rock, Colorado in 1993 after leaving a ten-year professional performing-arts career. For twenty years Miss Hofmeister taught theatre, dance, vocal music, and sat as chair of the performing-arts department. In 2000... Read More →

Thursday May 30, 2024 10:45am - 11:45am MDT
ESF Room 125

Disciplinary Literacy Standards Implementation Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

10:45am MDT

Instructional Leadership in Literacy: READ Act and Beyond

Join current state, district and school literacy leaders for an interactive session focused on learning about READ Act leadership requirements, tools and resources designed to support districts and schools in implementing strong literacy programs.

Speakers

Karol Gates

CDE

Thursday May 30, 2024 10:45am - 11:45am MDT
ESF Room 126

Disciplinary Literacy Standards Implementation Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8

10:45am MDT

Promising pool of educators, military veterans

The CTE instructor pathway validates a veteran's occupational experience and training to provide a CTE teaching authorization in one of the 6 career-related fields. Hear how veterans with career-specific training can provide quality education for Colorado students.

Speakers

Jordan Whittington

Program Director for Health Sciences, Colorado Community College System

Thursday May 30, 2024 10:45am - 11:45am MDT
Hays Student Center Room 207

Standards Implementation

Company 6 - 8, 9 -12

10:45am MDT

Discovering the Nature and Practices of Science Outside

Join us to gain insight into the nature, practices and instruction of science outdoors. Outdoor experiences can engage students in a continuum of science practices such as making observations, asking questions and/or explaining the natural world, to planning and conducting their own investigations, developing mental models and arguing from evidence. Explore how activities that focus on scientific practices can help make outdoor experiences more engaging for students and deepen their understanding of scientific ideas. Take away several teaching routines that can support multiple grade level expectations and ideas for taking your students outdoors.

Speakers

Katie Naven

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education

The Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education supports the many types of educators who teach concepts we all need to understand: how natural systems work, what we must do to interact responsibly with the environment, and how we can protect natural resources for future generations... Read More →

Thursday May 30, 2024 10:45am - 11:45am MDT
ESF Room 218

Standards Implementation Best First Instruction

Company 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

10:45am MDT

Harnessing the Power of Generative AI: Boosting Efficiency in Your Work

Heard of Generative AI, but feel intimidated? Learn what Generative AI is and how it can revolutionize your work processes. We will delve into the fundamentals of Generative AI, exploring its applications in your everyday life and work.

Participants will learn how to identify opportunities for integrating Generative AI into their daily tasks, streamlining workflows, and enhancing productivity. Through real-world examples and hands-on exercises, you'll discover how to leverage this cutting-edge technology.

Speakers

Ashley Ferraro

Jeffco Public Schools

Thursday May 30, 2024 10:45am - 11:45am MDT
Hays Student Center Room 230

Standards Implementation Best First Instruction

Company K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 -12

1:00pm MDT

Golf Tournament

Please use this link to register:

Thursday May 30, 2024 1:00pm - 4:00pm MDT
TBA