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St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Weekly e-Blast 03.03.17
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March 17 Staff Development Day
  1. Please click here to indicate the plans of your district for the March 17 Staff Day.
  2. Access the full staff day flyer here. If you are releasing staff to attend regional offerings please share accordingly.
Keynote: We Are Not In Kansas Anymore:  Why Student Engagement Is Absolutely Essential

Lunch Information: Lunch will not provided at any of the sessions. There will be an opportunity to purchase lunch at Potsdam High School (This is a fundraiser for the Model UN Group), Brasher Falls, and SUNY Potsdam. You may also bring a lunch. You are not prohibited from going out for lunch but you have at most 60 minutes.

Parking: Teachers are recommended to carpool as parking may be limited.

Student teachers may attend at no cost any session with their sponsor teacher. It is encouraged that they register through the SLLBOCES website  →  I want to … → Register

Specific information for each Professional Development Opportunity will be sent to all registered participants early during the week of 3/13. Additionally the final matrix of events will be available by time slot will be available by 3/10 and attendees will be asked to complete a survey of the sessions they anticipate attending. 
Topics in Education: Student Engagement

Week 1:
"Establishing a Student-Centered Learning Culture” Chapter 5 from book Culture Re-Boot:  Reinvigoration School Culture to Improve Student Outcomes

Rather than focus on a book, this week we will start to suggest chapters on specific topics. Our Cognitively Engaged Student Conference will serve as the launching point on a series of chapters focusing on Student Engagement. Student Centered Learning is a key indicator of a Cognitively Engaging Classroom. 

Culture Re-Boot: Reinvigorating School Culture to Improve Student Outcomes. Leslie S. Kaplan and William A. Owings. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2013. p137-174. 

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Please contact your librarian or Kelly Wilson (kelly.wilson@sllboces.org) for the password, and find more useful online books at INFOTRAC.

View the complete catalog of e-books here.

Are you looking to find information from multiple books? Download our guide to making your search more efficient.

NY State Education News You Can Use:

Transgender Students' Rights

  • Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and New York State Education Department Commissioner MaryEllen Elia vehemently objected to the decision by President Trump and the federal Departments of Education and Justice to rescind guidance that clarified federal legal protections for transgender students.  
  • The Attorney General and Commissioner reminded school districts across New York State that - irrespective of the federal government's decision - they have independent duties under state and local law to protect transgender students from discrimination and harassment in their schools and at all school functions.
    • Read the official press release here.


CTLE Professional Development

  • National Board Certification may be included in the BOCES or district Professional Development Plan for CTLE hours. When a teacher completes National Board Certification in any five-year cycle, this rigorous, research-based teacher quality initiative and professional learning meets the required 100 hours of CTLE provided the required CTLE in language acquisition is met.
    • More information is available here.
  • Districts will be eligible to apply for a one time reimbursement of up to $500  for candidate support services for each teacher in the district awarded the Albert Shanker Grant during the  2016-2017 school year.
  •  The District can apply for reimbursement during the period from April 1, 2017 – June 30, 2017. Additional information regarding this reimbursement and necessary forms may be found here
Graduation Requirements

Changes in Superintendent Determination of Graduation with Local Diploma
  • Changes have been made in requirements for superintendents to make a local determination as to the academic proficiency for eligible students with disabilities to graduate with a local diploma. 
  • This document supersedes the guidance issued in June 2016 entitled Superintendent Determination of Graduation with a Local Diploma, including any previous questions and answers on this topic and the prescribed “Superintendent Determination of Graduation Form.”
  • Effective immediately, a superintendent may only make a determination whether an eligible student has met the requirements for graduation through the superintendent determination pathway option upon receipt of a written request from an eligible student’s parent or guardian.
  • Additionally, for transition age students, the CSE must discuss with the student’s parents the student’s progress toward receiving a diploma. Parents must also be provided with information explaining graduation requirements, including the eligibility criteria and process for requesting the superintendent determination.
Current Pathways to Graduation
  • This PowerPoint includes  detailed information about the current paths to Graduation and the types of diplomas available to students.

Special Education
Extended School Year 
  • The application process for Extended School Year (ESY) Special Education Programs, including new ESY programs and modifications to existing ESY programs is available here.
  • This memorandum includes the application to operate an ESY program, information regarding the application process and frequently asked questions and answers.
  • Applications to operate a new ESY program or to modify a currently approved program are due no later than Thursday, June 1, 2017. 
Changes to Alternate Assessment in Social Studies
  • In February 2017 changes were made to the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA) program for the 2017-18 school year.  
  • The changes to the 2017-18 NYSAA include the elimination of the Social Studies component, as well as the change to the Science component being assessed with the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) computer-adaptive testing program.  
  • Science will be aligned with the administration window for ELA and Mathematics, which will be from March 14, 2018 to June 8, 2018.
  • The purpose of these changes is to require the least amount of testing necessary to provide accurate information about student achievement.
  • This information is available here
Accessibility for Students with Severe Cognitive Disabilities on the NYSAA in ELA/Math
  • Student’s individualized education program (IEP) must clearly document all testing accommodations, including accessibility supports that will be provided to a student when participating in the NYSAA.  
  • This memorandum also includes a list of accessibility supports available to students participating in the NYSAA.
    • This information is available here and here.

Instructional Technology Update 
  • NYSED’s Office of Educational Design and Technology (ED&T) is forming a volunteer advisory group, the Educational Technology Advisory Committee (ETAC).  
  • The goal is to obtain feedback and recommendations from the educational community regarding matters related to educational technology.  
  • P-20 educators, administrators, educational leaders, and members of educational organizations with an interest in Educational Technology are encouraged to apply.
  • More information can be found here.
  • The membership application can be found here.


NYS Assessments

Transition Timeline for Braille NYS Assessments
  • NYSED has released information regarding the timeline for transition for English Braille American Edition (EBAE) to Unified English Braille (UEB) format for New York State assessments.
    • More information is available here.
  • This memorandum also includes information on how to order instructional materials in UEB. Schools must order instructional materials and provide instruction in UEB to ensure students who are blind and visually impaired receive instruction in reading UEB and can practice and refine this skill prior to their participation in State assessments in the UEB format.
Administering NYS Assessments to Students with Disabilities 
  • NYSED recently released revised procedures for administering state assessments over multiple days to students with disabilities.
  • Effective immediately, schools are no longer required to submit written narratives signed by a school official, copies of a student’s IEP or 504 plan, and evaluation materials for each student recommended for multiple day administration of State assessments. Instead, schools must submit an Assurance of Multiple Day Administration of State Assessments (Attachment A).
  • Previously-issued authorizations for a school to administer State assessments over multiple days to individual students will continue to apply to the administration of future State assessments for such students in accordance with their IEPs/504 plans.
Update on Allowable Testing Accommodations on ESL Test
  • New York State Education Department (NYSED) recently updated the procedures on the permissibility of the testing accommodation “tests read” for students with disabilities on the NYSESLAT Reading Session for Kindergarten and Reading sections of the Listening/Reading/Writing Sessions 1, 2, and 3 for Grades 1 – 12.
  • The NYSESLAT is used to annually assess the English language proficiency of English Language Learners (ELL’s).
  • This memorandum supersedes guidance on testing accommodations for students with disabilities provided in the 2016 NYSESLAT School Administrator’s Manual.
    • This information is available here

Spring 2017 Elementary and Intermediate Field Tests
  •  NYSED has just released the Field Test assignments for Spring 2017 Elementary and Intermediate Field Tests as well as the Spring 2017 Regents Examination Field Tests.
  • Click here to find the spreadsheets and identify your school’s information.
  • If you have any questions, contact the NERIC Testing Team at testing@neric.org.
 
 

 


What Does the Research Say?

 “The correlation between student engagement and achievement is consistently strong and significant; research shows that for every 2 percent disengagement rises, pass rates on high-stakes tests drop by 1 percent (Valentine & Collins, 2011).”

This research summary addresses one of the basic questions important to the study of student engagement.
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Professional Development:

Upcoming PD Sessions:


March
  • Google Classroom and Symbaloo; Your One Stop Shop(3/6)
    • How can you share your digital tools and websites you use in your classroom and bring them into Google Classroom? Discover how to tie a Symbaloo page to Google Classroom so your students have access to everything you want. Incorporate what they create on those sites with assignments in Classroom.
  • Mindfulness for Teachers(3/7)
    • Feeling overwhelmed from external pressures and a seemingly constant stream of educational changes beyond our control? Are your students experiencing increased stress and lacking self-awareness within the context of learning and the productive struggle? Mindfulness for Teachers can transform your classroom and ability to embrace the challenges we face as educators.
      • Webinar dates: April 6- 4:30-5:30 
        May 11- 4:30-5:30
        June 8- 4:30-5:30
  • Strategies of Mindfulness for Support Leaders (3/7)
    • Learn and incorporate strategies of mindfulness
  • The Interactive Read Aloud: How to Support Oral Language Development and Critical Reading Skills- TEACHERS ONLY (3/9)
    • The read aloud is a time-honored tradition in most elementary and middle school classrooms, but do we really maximize its full potential? Teachers will learn what makes the interactive read aloud different from other types of read alouds and why it is considered the cornerstone of any balanced literacy framework. 
  • Principal's Academy Follow-Up Session 5 (3/10)
    • The topic of this session will continue the work of the summer Principal's Academy Retreat.
  • Implementing Digital Transformation in Your School (3/10)
    • SLL BOCES is proud to bring Dr. Jeremiah Okal-Frink, Educational Strategist with the Dell Educational Team, to the region to work with district leaders. Transformation of teaching and learning sounds perfect. However, implementation of this level of change can be overwhelming and difficult. This exciting event will focus on three major areas of digital transformation leadership.
      1. Setting or resetting purposeful direction.
      2. Planning for and evaluating Digital Transformation.
      3. Structures and plans for support and accountability.
  • Socratic Seminar: "Where questions not the answers are the driving force"(3/10)
    • This session will share Socratic seminar basics and offers practical methods for applying the approach in your classroom to help students investigate multiple perspectives in a text. Participants will engage in Socratic Seminars bringing this instructional strategy to life. Socratic seminars are named for their embodiment of Socrates' belief in the power of asking questions, prize inquiry over information and discussion over debate. 
  • SLS Mentoring Program Day  (3/16)
    • The School Library System Mentoring Program Day for the 2016-2017 school year gives mentoring partners the opportunity to get together with SLS staff during the morning to explore issues of concern to new and nearly new School Librarians. You are invited to attend the afternoon SLS Council meeting.
  • Cognitively Engaging All Students Conference (3/17)
    • Keynote: Michael Ford Our Student's Future: We Are Not In Kansas Anymore: Why Student Engagement Is Absolutely Essential- It has been said if Rip Van Winkle awoke tomorrow, the place in which he would be most comfortable would be a school. Our world has already dramatically changed, yet our schools have changed very little. This session will explore the changes that have occurred in our world, while also peering into the future so that we might gain insights into what our children will need. The session will also explore what true engagement is and what we must do in our classrooms and schools to better meet the needs of those we serve.
  • Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies that Engage the Brain (3/17)
    • Have you ever wondered why some students cannot understand or recall important content after a 24-hour period? If your students are not learning the way you are teaching them, then you must teach them the way they learn! Experience 20 instructional strategies (based on brain research and learning style theory) that maximize memory and minimize forgetting.
  • Executive Functioning and the Classroom - Staff Day, am session (3/17)
    • This training will provide a comprehensive look at brain development and skills associated with Executive Functioning. Executive Functioning are skills that allow individuals to plan, organize, focus attention, memory, and cognitive flexibility. Providing greater understanding as to how it both directly and indirectly influences our youth, as it relates to immature brain development, social and cognitive vulnerabilities, and behavioral interventions.
  • MANAGING STUDENT BEHAVIOR - AM session (3/17)
    • This seminar provides effective strategies for communicating expectations to students, creating an environment in which inappropriate behaviors are less likely to occur, and helping students learn to make appropriate choices.
  • Northern New York Physical Education and Health Teacher Regional Staff day (3/17)
    • The Northern Zone will be hosting a regional professional development conference for physical educators on March 17th from 8:00 am-2:15 pm. The keynote will be "The Billion Mike Race" with speaker Sarah Lange. Other session topics will include Mighty Milers, instant activities, games for large classes and teaching cricket. Participants are asked to bring one game to share that aligns with the session topics.
  • SLC Music educators Staff Day (3/17)
    • Registration Begins at 7:45 am. Co-Sponsored by: The St. Lawrence Valley Teachers' Learning Center and St. Lawrence Lewis BOCES 
  • UPK-Module 3a: Individualized Intensive Interventions: Determining the Meaning of Challenging Behavior (3/17)
    • Children's challenging behaviors most often serve to express some feeling, need, or meaning that they are unable to communicate in a more appropriate manner. This suggests the need for identifying the meaning and the skills that the child needs to communicate that meaning more effectively. This module focuses on effective strategies for observing children and identifying the meaning of their behavior as a means of identifying skills that could be targeted for instruction. 
  • WE ARE ALL INTELLIGENT: WE JUST LEARN DIFFERENTLY- AM Session (3/17)
    • This seminar is based upon Howard Gardner's "Theory of Multiple Intelligences." Participants will examine intelligence facts and myths; understand the characteristics of each of Gardner's eight intelligences; and identify and create multiple strategies for use in the classroom as well as other work settings.
  • APL Effective Teaching refresher (3/17)
    • FOR COLTON PIERREPONT AND PARISHVILLE HOPKINTON TEACHERS ONLY! 
  • Counselor's Toolbox Program: School Improvement Dates (3/17)
  • Executive Functioning and the Classroom - PM session (3/17)
    • This training will provide a comprehensive look at brain development and skills associated with Executive Functioning. Executive Functioning are skills that allow individuals to plan, organize, focus attention, memory, and cognitive flexibility. Providing greater understanding as to how it both directly and indirectly influences our youth, as it relates to immature brain development, social and cognitive vulnerabilities, and behavioral interventions.
  • Managing Student Behaviors - pm session(3/17)
    • This seminar provides effective strategies for communicating expectations to students, creating an environment in which inappropriate behaviors are less likely to occur, and helping students learn to make appropriate choices.
  • WE ARE ALL INTELLIGENT: WE JUST LEARN DIFFERENTLY - PM session (3/17)
    • This seminar is based upon Howard Gardner's "Theory of Multiple Intelligences." Participants will examine intelligence facts and myths; understand the characteristics of each of Gardner's eight intelligences; and identify and create multiple strategies for use in the classroom as well as other work settings.
 
Save the Date:

 Administrators’ Leadership Conference 
July 12 - 14, 2017
"Cognitive Student Engagement" With Dr. Todd Whitaker

Looking Ahead

Effective Teaching
DATE: 5/17/2017
PRESENTER: APL Associates

Effective Teaching Refresher
 After attending the Effective Teaching session teachers return their classrooms and implement a number of strategies but as time passes we often forget about some strategies we learned. Effective Teaching strategies strive to:
  • Increase student time on task.
  • Improve student behavior.
  • Improve student performance.
  • Provide insights Into and options for classroom organization.
  • Motivate students.
  • Improve classroom management through techniques that work.
Effective Teaching refreshers are aimed at teachers who attended the Days 1-5 session previously.  It is highly recommended that teachers complete the ET refresher every 7-10 years.

Effective Teaching refreshers are scheduled for January 12 and May 17.  Be sure to register your teachers while seats are still available!

PD in Other Areas:

STEM/STEAM

The North Country Cohort of the New York State Master Teachers is hosting a FREE conference for all area educators, PK - 12, with an emphasis on integrating the arts and humanities with science and math. 

We invite all K-12 educators and North Country Master Teachers to attend a full day of Professional Development that will focus on engaging our students at all grade levels and across a wide variety of disciplines. 

SLL BOCES Instructional Resources is here to meet your needs.

Not sure who to contact? The attached chart identifies who to contact for your specific needs.

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The St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The BOCES is an equal opportunity employer. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:

Rafael A. Olazagasti III
Director of Human Resources and General Counsel
40 West Main Street, Canton, NY 13617
315 386-4504
rolazagasti@sllboces.org.
 
Inquiries concerning the application of the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES non-discrimination policies may also be referred to the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), 32 Old Slip, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10005, telephone (646) 428-3800 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (TTY).
Copyright © 2017 St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES, All rights reserved.


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