ReturnCO.LAB: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the High School Experience
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Colorado Convention Center, Bluebird Ballroom Lobby, Table 5
Participate and share: Poster 
Trips and ToursPresenters
Session description
Purpose & objective
The purpose of this presentation is to share a non-traditional approach to teaching and learning that is currently successful in our district outside of Chicago with ISTE attendees. Participants will hear a brief history of the program to learn about the research and development that went into the making of CO.LAB. They'll be given an overview of how the program runs in a traditional bell to bell schedule; and introduced to the Universal Standards we developed to assess all student work. Many student projects samples will be brought in to interact with; and resources will be provided to guide teachers through the project-based learning process.
Objectives:
1. Understand why an interdisciplinary program like CO.LAB was created and how it can be implemented in any school.
2. Demonstrate how universal, skills-based grading standards can be used by many disciplines, while still following a traditional A,B,C,D,F grading scale.
3. Gain access to free, teacher-created resources (including projects) that can be implemented in traditional or co-taught classes.
Outline
1. (7 min) Participants will begin with a think-pair-share answering the questions, "If you could reimagine school, how would it look? What would you change, what would you keep?"
2. (7 min) Responses will lead into the "why" of the presentation; providing historical context on the creation of CO.LAB.
3. (6 min) Watch "CO.LAB Promo Video" with student testimony
4. (5 min) Present CO.LAB schedule and discuss how the program meets graduation requirements while allowing time for more electives.
5. (5 min) Present Universal CO.LAB Standards
6. (10 min) Participants will practice using the standards by grading sample student work
7. (10 Min) Present sample projects and go through related resources that are available for teacher use.
8. (10 min) Meet with students virtually to hear about how the freshman CO.LAB program impacted their high school experience and performance.
Supporting research
How we built it: Understanding by Design
Co-taught: https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/does-coteaching-work
Co-taught: https://ctserc.org/documents/resources/benefits.pdf
Standards-Based Grading: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED590391.pdf
Session specifications
Laptop: Chromebook, Mac, PC
Tablet: Android, iOS, Windows
Collaborator
- Dedicate planning time to collaborate with colleagues to create authentic learning experiences that leverage technology.
- Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning.
- Explore and apply instructional design principles to create innovative digital learning environments that engage and support learning.