Teaching and Learning CoLab 2024

This workshop delves into the extensive collection of digital primary sources accessible via the Library of Congress website. Housing over 70 million digital resources available for free and out-of-copyright, our nation's library offers an unfettered look into the history of the United States. No matter the age or subject area, primary sources inspire critical thinking through the use of inquiry and analysis. Join us to discover teacher-created, ready-to-use materials suitable for enhancing lessons in literacy, social studies, STEM and beyond.

Have you been wondering what DEI is, how to implement it, and what it has to do with science? In this presentation teachers will learn what DEI is and how we as science educators can use it in our classrooms. You will also learn how to use scientifically accurate inclusive language and how that supports your students. A curriculum audit tool specific to DEI created by myself in conjunction with, UCCS and CU Denver's SHED department graduate school faculty will also be available for you to take back to your schools and use.

This session will provide elementary teachers with strategies for integrating social studies and reading, writing, and communicating in the classroom. Research shows that students who receive instruction in social studies have improved literacy scores. Learn more about the importance of social studies instruction in the elementary classroom!

Participants will be able to take one of their lessons and create four levels for students to choose which one they will complete. The four levels include: Emerging, Progressing, Meets, and Exemplary. No matter where is student is on the learning progression, they will be able to feel successful for choosing one assignment to do... no opt outs.

The OERColorado Project is a statewide initiative to provide digital collections of free openly licensed curriculum resources for PK-12+ educators to use in their teaching and classrooms. Open Education is a movement to increase access to educational resources across all disciplines and subject areas. The resources in the OERColorado digital library include free lessons, classes, textbooks, simulations, games, rubrics, icebreakers, and many other tools for teachers to use in face-to-face, online and blended learning environments. OERColorado as a searchable repository of free resources supports teachers in customizing their classroom experience to their learner demographic and context. Educators attending the session will create an OER adoption plan for their classroom, school or district context with the support of the OERColorado professional development coordinator. Learn more about adopting OER textbooks, complete curricula or just locating support materials. All at no cost to you or your district. Think “Teacher’s pay teachers,” but Free!

Come join us for a collaborative hands-on session, where we will learn and practice some practical evidence-based strategies that will allow you to better weave the Science and Engineering Practices of Modeling into your current lessons and labs, in ways that replicate the way that real scientists and engineers use models. Expect something that you can use in your classroom tomorrow to get your students using and developing Models.

I don’t teach literacy; I need to keep students moving. This session will explore how physical education teachers can use disciplinary literacy strategies to engage students and support schoolwide literacy efforts. Participants will explore the use of alternative text, literacy strategies, aligned with PE standards, while keeping students moving.

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.

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?"

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.

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.