Traverse Boulder: June 3-5, 2019
Imagine a workshop where you head off campus in a bus. Imagine a conference where you're one of the experts speaking from the stage. Imagine learning new ways to teach by doing them, hands-on, like a student would. Imagine brainstorming with Post-Its and a local microbrew as you sit on a patio with a view of the Rockies. Imagine an experience where you not only leave with new ideas, but leave with new collaborators.
Traverse is a different kind of professional experience for educators. It's hands-on, real-world, and built on the expertise of the people in the room. It's a small group of innovative educators learning together and caring about each other beyond the event itself. At Traverse, you'll be challenged to try things, take risks, make connections with other educators, and leave inspired to lead your school toward the future of learning.
Traverse is focused on real-world learning as the future of education. "Real-world learning" isn't about one method: it refers to any learning experience that challenges students with real problems, situations, and opportunities. Real-world learning can happen in any and all disciplines. Different educators might call pieces of it project-based learning (PBL), inquiry-based learning, expeditionary learning, service learning, experiential learning, and/or design thinking.
But we're not about jargon at Traverse. We're about trying things, making school more inspiring, getting kids ready to do what's real, and supporting each other along the way.
If you are interested in presenting at Traverse Boulder, please fill out the following proposal form or contact Hannah Nelson
Traverse is a different kind of professional experience for educators. It's hands-on, real-world, and built on the expertise of the people in the room. It's a small group of innovative educators learning together and caring about each other beyond the event itself. At Traverse, you'll be challenged to try things, take risks, make connections with other educators, and leave inspired to lead your school toward the future of learning.
Traverse is focused on real-world learning as the future of education. "Real-world learning" isn't about one method: it refers to any learning experience that challenges students with real problems, situations, and opportunities. Real-world learning can happen in any and all disciplines. Different educators might call pieces of it project-based learning (PBL), inquiry-based learning, expeditionary learning, service learning, experiential learning, and/or design thinking.
But we're not about jargon at Traverse. We're about trying things, making school more inspiring, getting kids ready to do what's real, and supporting each other along the way.
If you are interested in presenting at Traverse Boulder, please fill out the following proposal form or contact Hannah Nelson
Traverse Boulder 2019 Expeditions
(More expeditions will be added on a rolling basis)
Power and Purpose: Developing a STEAM-Based, Outdoor Classroom Experience
By: Shannon Lukz; Emily Felderman; Heather Havre
---
This session will emphasize leadership, community, and connection with students, places, and colleagues within the parameters of designated curriculum standards. Participants will discover an outdoor learning experience where students record and collect data in an authentic field notebook to test water quality, measure features of the land, and engage in a stewardship project to build a bridge! Expedition participants will engage in 3 field rotations emphasizing scientific research, topography, and engineering, design and construction. Regardless of student age or campus location, colleagues will leave with an experience that inspires and energizes them to collaborate and create an authentic field experience!
By: Shannon Lukz; Emily Felderman; Heather Havre
---
This session will emphasize leadership, community, and connection with students, places, and colleagues within the parameters of designated curriculum standards. Participants will discover an outdoor learning experience where students record and collect data in an authentic field notebook to test water quality, measure features of the land, and engage in a stewardship project to build a bridge! Expedition participants will engage in 3 field rotations emphasizing scientific research, topography, and engineering, design and construction. Regardless of student age or campus location, colleagues will leave with an experience that inspires and energizes them to collaborate and create an authentic field experience!
Expanding the Pie: What we have to gain from examining White Dominant Culture in the workplace
By: Lindsay Babbitt
White Dominant Culture negatively impacts us all, regardless of race. Let’s expand the pie by learning to identify this culture in our schools and programs, then create an action plan to shift this culture. Together, we’ll venture into Boulder to notice and reflect on white culture, a culture that can be unnoticed when it’s the norm. People of all races will benefit from a more inclusive school culture. We have nothing to lose from “expanding the pie.”
Farm to Table: An Exploration of Food Justice in Denver
By: Eva Ramey; Jeff Osgood
---
How do we feed 9.5 billion people? What is the future of food? In this expedition we will investigate our food system, from source to distribution and from cooking to eating. We will explore the environmental, historical, biological, economic, and social fabric of the global food system. We will examine our own values and customs involving food and attempt to understand how our food is produced and distributed and to see the connection between our food choices and the environment, economy, and our culture. This will be a six hour expedition, involving fieldwork at the Growhaus in downtown Denver. In addition to the content of this expedition, participants will learn about how to incorporate fieldwork and service into interdisciplinary courses that address big picture guiding questions.
Designing Experiences as Targeted Learning Tools.
By: Michael Giamellaro
---
As experiential educators most of us would prefer to deeply immerse students into authentic contexts where content knowledge comes alive. Constraints of time and resources mean we need to choose when to lead our classes by learning IN context, others where students learn WITH context and still others where the context is simply the skills of doing school. In this expedition we will explore how to make targeted choices about how much to contextualize the learning to meet the sets of learning goals your class is working toward. We will participate in and evaluate some learning sequences around the power of water at varying degrees of contextualization, visiting Boulder Creek as part of that. We will also take a dip into current research on contextualized learning and spend some time workshopping on laying out a unit that aligns goals to contextualization levels. Participants are encouraged to bring their own curriculum ideas for the workshop time.
iGen
By: Chris Carithers
---
Who are today's learners? What defines this new generation, the one coming on the heels of the millennials. What are their strengths and challenges, and how can we work best with them as educators. The session will end with a design challenge - Given the challenges that this generation is facing what is the most important change for educators to make to support their success?
From The Back Of The Napkin To The First Day Of School:
We Started Our Own School And Probably You Should Too.
By: Mike Simpson; Abby Kirchner
---
In this expedition we’ll give a warts-and-all account of the complexities inherent to opening a school of your own: we’ll share our biggest successes and our hundreds of failures, and give you an inside-look at the process we went through in order to ideate and open a private high school. Then, we’ll get hands-on and invite all participants to design their dream school -- we’ll grapple with what your “why” is, we’ll cover the five things all schools need in order to open, we’ll talk about marketing a school that doesn’t exist, we’ll use a little design-thinking and a whole lot of practicality to propel everyone on this expedition toward “opening day” of their own Dream School.
Arts Integration in the Classroom: Using Theatre to Spark Creativity.
By: Emily Norman
---
In this workshop you’ll learn how use theatre as a tool to create memorable, kinesthetic experiences for your students. You’ll experience an arts integration workshop as a participant and then as an educator, allowing you to leave with tools to bring subjects to life in your own classroom.
Purpose Learning -- Deep Dive
By: Ross Wehner
"No vulnerability, no learning" -- Brené Brown. This 3-hour intellectual spa will help you get back in touch with the real you, that teacher who first showed up years ago to teach. The grind of our profession can cover our stories with dust. We teachers have a deep sense of purpose, but few of us can describe it in a way that makes our classrooms come alive with vulnerability and innovation. In this expedition, we will overview the theory and science behind youth purpose and examine cutting edge models of "head, heart, hands" learning; we will engage in a storytelling activity to clarify our own sense of purpose; and we will build a purpose map to help us set goals for bringing purpose learning alive in our schools.
Chemistry, Color and Curriculum Design
By: Robbin Dilley; Cinder Trout
This workshop focuses on how expeditionary learning can be applied in any school context. We will begin with a group investigation of the art, chemistry and real world impacts of textile dyes. We will debrief the impact of various elements of this experience before working in small groups to problem-solve ways of bringing these components into any class you teach. Our goal is to leave with at least one actionable plan for a class, unit or lesson that you are genuinely excited about!
By: Lindsay Babbitt
White Dominant Culture negatively impacts us all, regardless of race. Let’s expand the pie by learning to identify this culture in our schools and programs, then create an action plan to shift this culture. Together, we’ll venture into Boulder to notice and reflect on white culture, a culture that can be unnoticed when it’s the norm. People of all races will benefit from a more inclusive school culture. We have nothing to lose from “expanding the pie.”
Farm to Table: An Exploration of Food Justice in Denver
By: Eva Ramey; Jeff Osgood
---
How do we feed 9.5 billion people? What is the future of food? In this expedition we will investigate our food system, from source to distribution and from cooking to eating. We will explore the environmental, historical, biological, economic, and social fabric of the global food system. We will examine our own values and customs involving food and attempt to understand how our food is produced and distributed and to see the connection between our food choices and the environment, economy, and our culture. This will be a six hour expedition, involving fieldwork at the Growhaus in downtown Denver. In addition to the content of this expedition, participants will learn about how to incorporate fieldwork and service into interdisciplinary courses that address big picture guiding questions.
Designing Experiences as Targeted Learning Tools.
By: Michael Giamellaro
---
As experiential educators most of us would prefer to deeply immerse students into authentic contexts where content knowledge comes alive. Constraints of time and resources mean we need to choose when to lead our classes by learning IN context, others where students learn WITH context and still others where the context is simply the skills of doing school. In this expedition we will explore how to make targeted choices about how much to contextualize the learning to meet the sets of learning goals your class is working toward. We will participate in and evaluate some learning sequences around the power of water at varying degrees of contextualization, visiting Boulder Creek as part of that. We will also take a dip into current research on contextualized learning and spend some time workshopping on laying out a unit that aligns goals to contextualization levels. Participants are encouraged to bring their own curriculum ideas for the workshop time.
iGen
By: Chris Carithers
---
Who are today's learners? What defines this new generation, the one coming on the heels of the millennials. What are their strengths and challenges, and how can we work best with them as educators. The session will end with a design challenge - Given the challenges that this generation is facing what is the most important change for educators to make to support their success?
From The Back Of The Napkin To The First Day Of School:
We Started Our Own School And Probably You Should Too.
By: Mike Simpson; Abby Kirchner
---
In this expedition we’ll give a warts-and-all account of the complexities inherent to opening a school of your own: we’ll share our biggest successes and our hundreds of failures, and give you an inside-look at the process we went through in order to ideate and open a private high school. Then, we’ll get hands-on and invite all participants to design their dream school -- we’ll grapple with what your “why” is, we’ll cover the five things all schools need in order to open, we’ll talk about marketing a school that doesn’t exist, we’ll use a little design-thinking and a whole lot of practicality to propel everyone on this expedition toward “opening day” of their own Dream School.
Arts Integration in the Classroom: Using Theatre to Spark Creativity.
By: Emily Norman
---
In this workshop you’ll learn how use theatre as a tool to create memorable, kinesthetic experiences for your students. You’ll experience an arts integration workshop as a participant and then as an educator, allowing you to leave with tools to bring subjects to life in your own classroom.
Purpose Learning -- Deep Dive
By: Ross Wehner
"No vulnerability, no learning" -- Brené Brown. This 3-hour intellectual spa will help you get back in touch with the real you, that teacher who first showed up years ago to teach. The grind of our profession can cover our stories with dust. We teachers have a deep sense of purpose, but few of us can describe it in a way that makes our classrooms come alive with vulnerability and innovation. In this expedition, we will overview the theory and science behind youth purpose and examine cutting edge models of "head, heart, hands" learning; we will engage in a storytelling activity to clarify our own sense of purpose; and we will build a purpose map to help us set goals for bringing purpose learning alive in our schools.
Chemistry, Color and Curriculum Design
By: Robbin Dilley; Cinder Trout
This workshop focuses on how expeditionary learning can be applied in any school context. We will begin with a group investigation of the art, chemistry and real world impacts of textile dyes. We will debrief the impact of various elements of this experience before working in small groups to problem-solve ways of bringing these components into any class you teach. Our goal is to leave with at least one actionable plan for a class, unit or lesson that you are genuinely excited about!
Sample Schedule for Traverse Boulder (from 2018)
Monday
2:00pm Registration Opens
3:00pm Traverse '19 Kicks Off! led by Tim Breen, Watershed's Head of School
3:45pm Opening session on your past, present, and future as an educator: led by Watershed educators Jeff Osgood and Emily Graf
6:00pm Salon dinner on the Future of Education facilitated by author Grant Lichtman at Rayback Collective
3:00pm Traverse '19 Kicks Off! led by Tim Breen, Watershed's Head of School
3:45pm Opening session on your past, present, and future as an educator: led by Watershed educators Jeff Osgood and Emily Graf
6:00pm Salon dinner on the Future of Education facilitated by author Grant Lichtman at Rayback Collective
Tuesday
7:30am Morning yoga with the Traverse community (optional)
8:30am Breakfast and mixing with the Traverse community
9:00am Gathering in Home Groups
9:30am Expedition 1: Choose from many three-hour, hands-on workshops both on and off campus (many will repeat)
OR Choose a six-hour workshop that will take you off campus for an in-depth experience
12:30pm Lunch from Tacos del Norte food truck and mixing with the Traverse community on the patio and lawn
1:30pm Expedition 2: Choose from many three-hour, hands-on workshops both on and off campus (many will repeat)
4:45pm Reflection in Home Groups
5:15pm Happy Hour with local microbrews, wine, and nonalcoholic drinks in the Watershed School art studio and patio. Live music with Watershed alumna Cara Keyser '15!
8:30am Breakfast and mixing with the Traverse community
9:00am Gathering in Home Groups
9:30am Expedition 1: Choose from many three-hour, hands-on workshops both on and off campus (many will repeat)
OR Choose a six-hour workshop that will take you off campus for an in-depth experience
12:30pm Lunch from Tacos del Norte food truck and mixing with the Traverse community on the patio and lawn
1:30pm Expedition 2: Choose from many three-hour, hands-on workshops both on and off campus (many will repeat)
4:45pm Reflection in Home Groups
5:15pm Happy Hour with local microbrews, wine, and nonalcoholic drinks in the Watershed School art studio and patio. Live music with Watershed alumna Cara Keyser '15!
Wednesday
7:00am Short hike at Chautauqua Park, led by a Watershed educator (optional)
8:30am Breakfast burritos from Blackbelly and mixing with the Traverse community
9:00am Gathering in Home Groups
9:30am Expedition 3: Choose from the three-hour, hands-on workshops both on and off campus (many will repeat)
12:30pm Lunch and reflection in Home Groups
1:30pm Reflections on learning - Transferring your learning from Traverse to your own school environment
2:45pm Closing circle
3:00pm Traverse concludes
8:30am Breakfast burritos from Blackbelly and mixing with the Traverse community
9:00am Gathering in Home Groups
9:30am Expedition 3: Choose from the three-hour, hands-on workshops both on and off campus (many will repeat)
12:30pm Lunch and reflection in Home Groups
1:30pm Reflections on learning - Transferring your learning from Traverse to your own school environment
2:45pm Closing circle
3:00pm Traverse concludes
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What Participants Say
"Traverse is a conference with 100 people who care the most about education and how to transform their instruction to meet the needs of all kids.
I would most definitely recommend this conference to any other educators who want to grow themselves and push themselves to be the best they can be. This conference is full of forward thinkers, and any and all educators could benefit from this experience."
- 2016 Participant
