Setting the Standard

Raymond and Carla discuss the podcast series Music Blocks, a recent production of Colorado Public Radio on which Carla served as an educational advisor.

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Raymond is joined by three colleagues from the Office of Standards and Instructional Support to discuss the current round of standards revisions. Joanna Bruno (bruno_j@cde.state.co.us), director of the office, speaks to the process of standards revision while Judi Hofmeister (hofmeister_j@cde.state.co.us), specialist for the dance and the drama and theatre arts content areas, and Carla Aguilar (aguilar_c@cde.state.co.us), music specialist, provide their perspectives as facilitators of the process.

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We're back after a summer break, and for this episode, Raymond is joined by Jamie Hurley, CDE's specialist for comprehensive health and physical education. Together, they talk with Alex Kajitani, a California Teacher of the Year, who has helped arrange our presenters for this fall's Setting the Standards webinar series hosted by CDE on the first Wednesday of each month at 3:30 pm.

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Raymond and Alyssa touch on the theme of the Equity and Excellence Summer Learning Series, "Reflect, Reset, Reimagine," with their own examples of how they're thinking about the year gone past, taking some time for themselves this summer, and rethinking how aspects of education might be done differently.

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Alyssa and Raymond are back with another cross-content connection, this time between the content areas of social studies and reading, writing, and communicating. Dr. Stephanie Hartman joins us to talk about the connections from a social studies perspective, and Olivia Gillespie shares her perspectives from her perspective as CDE's reading, writing, and communicating content specialist.

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Raymond and Alyssa preview CDE's Equity and Excellence Summer Learning Series and invite educators from across Colorado to engage with CDE around issues of equity and COVID recovery. The "E&E Conference" kicks off June 16 and 17 and continues on June 23 and 24 before wrapping up August 4-6. Registration is now open and please note the following guidance from the website about who should attend:

"Due to virtual learning room capacity, the limit for each event during the series will be 1,500 participants. District, Administrative Unit, and BOCES leaders (e.g., Superintendents, Instructional Leaders, Recovery Plan leads) are invited to consider five to 10 people representing the district and school levels to attend each of the Learning Series opportunities. In particular, leaders should consider the program offerings and relevant staff that include school leaders (principals, assistant principals), federal program directors, special education directors, teachers and content specialists, and directors and coordinators working in health & wellness, social-emotional learning, and nutrition."

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Alyssa and Raymond talk again with Julie Stephens, a middle school principal in Denver Public Schools, as a follow-up to Julie's appearance on November 9 of last year. Julie is completing her first year as principal of Skinner Middle School in Denver Public Schools, a job she comes to with 20 years of experience as a high school administrator and teacher. Together, we talk about how things have changed over the year, what we've learned, and what plans Julie is putting in place for her students and staff for next year.

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This week, Alyssa and Raymond are joined by two other content specialists for another cross-content connection. This time we'll look at the intersection of computer science and visual arts and be joined by Chris Summers, CDE's computer science content specialist, and Donna Goodwin, CDE's visual arts content specialist.

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Alyssa returns to the podcast after taking some time off and she talks with Raymond about a book she read on scarcity, the theory behind it, and what it might mean for school districts and educators as they adjust to having new resources to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Raymond is joined by Dr. Carla Aguilar, CDE's music content specialist for another episode in our series of cross-content connections.

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Raymond is joined by John Scheuer, Colorado's recruiter in the Troops to Teachers program. Together, we talk about Troops to Teachers' long history, the current successes of the program, and avenues for people to get a start in teaching by participating in a Substitute Boot Camp.

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Alyssa and Raymond visit with Kristen Brown, Director of CDE's Office of Learning Supports. Kristen and the team are experts in MTSS (multi-tiered systems of supports) and PBIS (positive behavioral interventions and supports). In this episode, we get updates about OLS's speaker series and the MTSS Online Academy.

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Raymond is joined as usual by Alyssa Wooten, CDE's financial literacy specialist, as well as by Judi Hoffmeister, CDE's specialist for drama and theatre arts. Together, Alyssa and Judi talk about the intersections between financial literacy and theatre, both from the perspective of performers and as producers of theatre productions.

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Raymond and Alyssa look at some enrollment numbers and have some fun speculating about what the effects might be of a smaller-than-usual kindergarten class followed by a larger-than-usual class.

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Alyssa and Raymond think about the Colorado Essential Skills and how they not only shape the opportunities we provide for students, but how they can be used to describe our work as adults, including the work to produce this podcast.

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Raymond and Alyssa talk with Ashley Idrees, CDE's director of the Office of Student Engagement, Re-Engagement, and Dropout Prevention. We talk about engagement data, strategies, and the office hours Ashley's office hosts each Monday and Wednesday from 1:00 to 2:00 pm.

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Alyssa and Raymond stay warm and dry the day after one of the biggest snowfalls in recent Colorado history, and pontificate about snow days of past, present, and future.

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Raymond is joined by Maya M. Garcia, CDE's science specialist, and Dr. Jamie Hurley, CDE's comprehensive health specialist, for a conversation about intersections between science and health.

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Raymond and Alyssa discuss the findings from CDE's recent survey about professional development needs and preferences.

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Alyssa and Raymond are joined this week by Michelle King, an assistant professor of mathematics and mathematics education at Western Colorado University. Together, they talk about the experience of attending virtual conferences, especially the recent event hosted by NCTM, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

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Raymond and Alyssa discuss the challenge of finding resources on CDE's website, and the work that we do to make the website easier to navigate. CDE has a page for educators that highlights the most important links related to standards and teacher support.

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At some point, all teachers suffer from asking low-quality questions in the classroom. This week, Alyssa and Raymond talk about "talk moves," those questioning strategies that teachers can use to improve discourse in the classroom.

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Raymond and Alyssa visit with Kelly Mitchell about the Colorado Talent Pipeline Report, an annual product of the Colorado Workforce Develop Council. Kelly's role bridges Colorado's Department of Labor and Department of Education and she helps explain how the state's workforce needs and postsecondary and workforce readiness plans come together.

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Alyssa and Raymond talk about professional development and how the Standards and Instructional Support Office is trying to meet the PD needs of teachers across the state. Teachers and other stakeholders are encouraged to complete a short survey that will help CDE and SIS tailor their future PD offerings to peoples' needs.

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Raymond and Alyssa sit down with Dr. Darcy Hutchins, CDE's Director of Family-School-Community Partnerships. Together, they talk about how Darcy's role at CDE came to be, the kind of work she normally does with schools and districts, and how strengthening relationships between schools, families, and communities has become even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Alyssa and Raymond sit down with Dr. Floyd Cobb of CDE's Teaching and Learning Unit. As the TLU executive director, Dr. Cobb oversees the offices whose work include standards revisions, the READ Act, and multi-tiered systems of supports. Floyd talks a bit about his background, his work in carrying out CDE's mission, and looking forward to talking about the pandemic in the past tense.

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This week, Raymond and Alyssa get back into their routines after winter break and talk about the application and committee selection process for the upcoming review and revision to the Colorado Academic Standards. CDE is now accepting applications for committee members for revisions to social studies, music, visual arts, dance, and drama & theatre arts. Committee work on these standards is expected to begin in May of 2021 and finish with state board adoption ahead of the July 1, 2022 deadline.

If you are interested in applying to participate on a standards revision committee you can find more details at the link below. Applications are due January 11th, 2021.

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Raymond and Alyssa share a little story for the week before winter break. See you in 2021!

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Alyssa and Raymond discuss the Colorado School District Community Needs Inventory, which was again co-administered by CDE and the Colorado Education Initiative. The executive summary centered on four main points: technology needs, teacher concerns, student concerns, and the availability of child care.

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Raymond and Alyssa chat about the personal financial literacy standards in Colorado and share some great opportunities for scholarships and funding to support personal finance education in local communities. Learn more in the links below about how to access teacher training and the MoneyWi$er Financial Innovation Awards application. Award categories include: $1,500 Student Scholarship, $3,500 Educator Award, $10,000 School Award & $15,000 District Award.

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Alyssa, Raymond, and other people from CDE's Office of Standards and Instructional Support offer their thanks in celebration of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

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Raymond and Alyssa chat with Adam Collins from CDE's Office of Learning Supports about Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and the work that Adam and his colleagues are doing to bring professional development to teachers across Colorado.

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Alyssa and Raymond talk with two middle school principals about their experiences leading their staffs and students through the COVID-19 pandemic. Julie Stephens is in her first year as principal of Skinner Middle School in Denver Public Schools, a job she comes to with 20 years of experience as a high school administrator and teacher. Joining Julie is Jim Butterfield of Bookcliff Middle School in Grand Junction. This is Jim's 7th year as principal of Bookcliff, having previously served as an administrator and teacher in the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley school districts. Together, we talk about what their school days look like, the challenges they've faced, and advice they'd give to other principals around the state.

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Alyssa and Olivia talk with Jacqueline Smilack, the new President of the Colorado Language Arts Society (CLAS). CLAS is Colorado's affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and Denver was set to host NCTE's 110th Annual Convention. With the COVID-19 pandemic, that conference has moved online, and Jaqueline discusses the features of the convention amidst all the challenges in shifting such a large event to a new setting.

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Alyssa and Raymond talk with CDE's three arts specialists about their three-part virtual symposium "Social and Emotional Learning Through the Arts," which is currently underway. Although the current event is at capacity, we'll talk about what prompted the creation of this symposium, why it's so needed now, and plans for similar offerings in the future.

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Raymond is joined by CDE social studies specialist Dr. Stephanie Hartman, who talks about how she got into education and what's shaped her perspectives on teaching social studies.

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Raymond and Alyssa try to draw a line between "finding your groove" and "getting stuck in a rut" and provide some tips to teachers about engaging their students with some fresh strategies. They dive into a database of distance learning research studies collected by the U.S. Department of Education and, coming up somewhat empty-handed, offer three pieces of their own advice for not being boring in the classroom.

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It's unlucky Episode 13! CDE's Office of Standards and Instructional Support is trying to help teachers however they can, including hosting webinars about relevant instructional topics. In this episode, Alyssa and Raymond talk about the Setting the Standard webinar series and highlight a few of the teacher interactions from a recent webinar about building relationships with students.

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Read any good books lately? Raymond and Alyssa talk about the abundance of book studies and book clubs they're seeing right now, including the books we're reading in the Office of Standards and Instructional Support.

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Alyssa and Raymond talk about how difficult it is to summarize what's happening in schools right now except to say that teachers are working at their limits. We offer some tips for making it a little easier to get through the day, even though we admit that sometimes we struggle to follow our own advice.

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Raymond and Olivia talk about their answers to the question, "How did you know you were ready to graduate from high school?" Their answers mix academics, maturity, and co-curricular experiences, and how experience and hindsight has given them perspectives on the value of high school beyond their performance in mathematics and English.

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Alyssa and Raymond talk with Colorado Teacher of the Year, Hilary Wimmer. Hilary shares what it has been like to teach remotely for the first part of this school year and how she's making things fun for students. We also talk about her experience as Teacher of the Year, including a visit to Google headquarters and advice she'd give to TotY applicants. This year's deadline is Friday, September 11th, 2020.

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Alyssa and Raymond talk with Chris Summers, Computer Science Content Specialist, about Colorado's computer science standards and grant opportunities. Learn how the computer science educator community is growing in Colorado through partnerships among various professional development organizations and CDE.

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Raymond, Alyssa, and Stephanie talk about how the Standards and Instructional Support team approaches the vast and complex topic of teaching and then works together to develop professional development for instructional support.

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Alyssa and Raymond talk with Jamie Hurley, CDE's comprehensive health specialist about his work both in Standards and Instructional Support and the Office of Health and Wellness.

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Alyssa and Raymond talk about what happens after the Schoolhouse Rock song "I'm Just a Bill" ends and CDE's work of implementing new laws begins.

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Alyssa and Raymond try to make sense of all the school guidance that has come out over the summer and what it's going to mean as educators prepare to start the 2020-2021 school year.

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In this episode, Carla and Raymond get an overview from CDE's arts specialists about the updates to the 2020 CAS in Visual Arts, Dance, Drama and Theatre Arts, and Music.

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In this episode, Raymond and Maya talk about assessment systems and assessment literacy with guests Michael Brom of the Lewis-Palmer School District and Angela Landrum of CDE's Assessment Unit.

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