The Beyond Textbooks Podcast: Recent Episodes
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Beyond Textbooks, part of the Vail School District in Arizona, partners with school districts, charters, and organizations around the US. Providing an instructional framework and professional development, the goal is Coming Together to Improve Education.
BT Director Justin Chesebrough and Troy School District Principal Brad Malm discuss how HPA has been so successful!
Topics discussed include:
Tell us about your school and community.
What does implementation of BT look like on your campus?
To what do you attribute your success?
What advice do you give other organizations in terms of BT implementation?
What comments do you have related to the four attributes of great schools?
Enjoy!
BT Director Justin Chesebrough and Havasu Prep Academy Principal Dana Mills discuss how HPA has been so successful!
Topics discussed include:
Tell us about your school and community.
What does implementation of BT look like on your campus?
To what do you attribute your success?
What advice do you give other organizations in terms of BT implementation?
What comments do you have related to the four attributes of great schools?
Enjoy!
BT Director Justin Chesebrough and Snowflake USD Superintendent Hollis Merrell discuss how Snowflake has been so successful!
Topics discussed include:
Tell us about Snowflake USD.
What does implementation of BT look like in Snowflake?
to what do you attribute your success?
What advice do you give other organizations in terms of BT implementation?
What comments do you have related to the four attributes of great schools?
Enjoy!
Summer is here!
BT Director Justin Chesebrough shares some important updates regarding the BT Website and the upcoming June BT Webinar. Enjoy!
Spend 2 minutes with Justin Chesebrough, Director of Beyond Textbooks, as he walks through information and updates shared in the May BT newsletter!
Today, Brent Edwards takes over the BT podcast! Brent is the Assistant Director of Beyond Textbooks, and has some fun information to share.
Recently, Brent hosted our BT Roundtable where the topic was "Covid Silver Linings" with a focus on changes that educators have made in repose to Covid that they plan on continuing to implement moving forward.
Here, Brent shares some highlights and takeaways from that Roundtable. Enjoy!
If you're a high school teacher or administrator in Arizona, you are likely aware that AzM2 will no longer be administered in the 2021-2022 school year.
What is the new requirement? What does this mean for Beyond Textbooks? Should we align standards to the ACT or SAT? Tune into our monthly webinar as we address these questions, as well as many others.
Today, BT Director Justin Chesebrough sits down with Vail's Director of College and Career Readiness Ethan Hurley and Empire High School Principal Matt Donaldson and ask the following questions:
- What is the new assessment requirement?
- What high school assessment does Vail administer? Why?
- How long has Vail been administering the ACT and who takes it?
- What does our ACT data look like?
- What changes will occur next year?
- Will Vail/BT align standards to ACT? If not, why not?
- Why stay with BT if the high school assessment is changing?
BT Director Justin Chesebrough shares the "5, 5, 5" of the conversation around Learning Gaps!
As we look towards filling in learning gaps created during the Covid-19 pandemic, Beyond Textbooks brought together educators from 25 organizations to discuss this topic during our latest BT Roundtable. Today, Justin shares:
- 5 takeaways from these conversations
- 5 things we are doing here in the Vail School District
- 5 ways Beyond Textbooks is supporting partners in regards to learning gaps.
Enjoy!
Need some tips and tricks for how to best plan for the end of the school year, as calendars run dry?
BT Director Justin Chesebrough shares the tips and tricks from the March Webinar!
BT Director Justin Chesebrough shares March updates in a 2-minute update!
BT Roundtables... Free Monthly Webinar... New EL Section on BT Website... Enjoy!
Today, BT Director Justin Chesebrough shares 5 tools on the BT Website that are useful for both remote and in-person learning.
For more information, check out the Archived Webinar section on BT as well. https://www.beyondtextbooks.org/Stay_Engaged/Webinars/Archived_Webinars
BT Director Justin Chesebrough spends 2 minutes providing some BT updates!
-New Additions to the Remote Learning container on BT -New Website "look" and efficiency coming in 21/22 school year -Live BT Webinar next week - 5 BT Tools for Remote or In-Person Learning
BT Director Justin Chesebrough spends 2 minutes providing some BT updates!
- New ELP standards update
- February webinar
- New BT Website platform "look" in 21/22
- Benchmark Review are ok BT
Director of BT Justin Chesebrough shares an exciting addition to the BT Website: A Remote Learning section.
BT Assistant Director Brent Edwards interviews Vail's Director of Assessment and Innovative Learning on what we have learned during the implementation of Performance Matters.
Performance Matters is NOT required for BT Partners. But, since a number of BT Partners do use Performance Matters as their assessment platform, we hope this information is useful.
Topics include:
The benefits of using Performance Matters. How to access formatives and benchmarks. The most useful reports to use. How to integrate Performance Matters into PLCs. Lessons learned with Performance Matters.
BT Director Justin Chesebrough shares 5 new or improved features on the BT Website for the 20/21 school year.
8/12/20
BT Director Justin Chesebrough sits down with Vail's Director of Technology Mark Breen as they discuss remote instruction during COVID.
- What does remote instruction look like in Vail?
- When we eventually return to school buildings, what options will families have?
- How do we keep students accountable?
- What are the learning expectations of students?
- What advice do you have for BT partners?
"We are here to meet your needs as a Beyond Textbooks partner."
Justin Chesebrough and Megan Folkers discuss BT Calendars for the 20-21 school year, specifically in regards to addressing instructional gaps caused by Covid 19 school closures.
-What are the advantages of having BT Curriculum Calendars?
-Are adjustments being made to BT Curriculum Calendars for the 20-21 school year?
-How can partners make calendar changes for their own organizations?
-What are some possible times during the school day for teachers to respond to learning gaps?
-Where to start in terms of identifying learning gaps?
www.beyondtextbooks.org
April 9, 2020
"Our kids are looking for us to provide support and guidance."
In the midst of school closures during Covid19, BT Director Justin Chesebrough interviews high school principal Matt Donaldson. Justin and Matt discuss common questions and ideas surrounding how he and the Vail School District as a whole are handing school closures.
Topics include: How educational opportunities are being provided for students. How students and families are being engaged during this time. Thoughts on grading, accountability, and issues specific to high school. How teachers and support staff are communicating and engaging. General advice to school leaders during this challenging time.
April 8, 2020
"Remaining connected, in some manner, to your colleagues and kids is critical."
In the midst of school closures during Covid19, BT Director Justin Chesebrough interviews middle school principal Mike Fester. Justin and Mike discuss common questions and ideas surrounding how he and the Vail School District as a whole are handing school closures.
Topics include: How educational opportunities are being provided for students. How students and families are being engaged during this time. Thoughts on grading and accountability. How teachers and support staff are communicating and engaging. General advice to school leaders during this challenging time.
April 8, 2020
"Really be intentional about connecting with your people."
In the midst of school closures during Covid19, BT Director Justin Chesebrough interviews middle school principal Katie Dabney. Justin and Katie discuss common questions and ideas surrounding how she and the Vail School District as a whole are handing school closures.
Topics include: How educational opportunities are being provided for students. How students and families are being engaged during this time. Thoughts on grading and accountability. How teachers and support staff are communicating and engaging. General advice to school leaders during this challenging time.
April 8, 2020
"Making progress on a very bumpy road."
In the midst of school closures during Covid19, BT Director Justin Chesebrough interviews elementary school principal Sarah Bates. Justin and Sarah discuss common questions and ideas surrounding how she and the Vail School District as a whole are handing school closures.
Topics include: How educational opportunities are being provided for students. How students and families are being engaged during this time. Thoughts on grading and accountability. How teachers and support staff are communicating and engaging. General advice to school leaders during this challenging time.