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Pioneer Central School District, along with many other school districts in this region are familiar with Canva. Canva allows educators to sign up with free accounts, and by using your school email, you also have access to the educator “pro” tools and templates. Pioneer Middle School 7th Grade ELA Classes with Mrs. Irizarry have been using Canva alongside their research projects. Students were able to use the CABOCES resources such as the Gale and World Book databases to conduct research, Noodle Tools to save and cite their resources, and Canva to make their presentations come to life. Students first created presentation slides, then incorporated sounds and music, animation, and their own personal touches within their research presentations. Mrs. Irizarry commented that the overall student engagement, and student interest in all the Canva features was one of the best parts of the projects. Here is an example of a research project that a pair of students completed. Ready to try it yourself? To create your own presentation, create your school Canva account. Then, once logged in, click presentations.  Next, choose one template to begin your presentation with! The template will automatically load into your new project.  While Canva has several different presentation templates to choose from, you may want to use Slides Carnival to embed a presentation into Canva for your own educational or teaching use. Simply login to your Canva account. In a new tab, visit Slides Carnival, and choose a Free Template that has the Canva Logo.  Click the blue C, and then Use Template to create your next Science lesson!
Canva allows creativity and engagement for educators and students alike! We can’t wait to see your next Canva creation! By: Jenna Tost, CA BOCES Professional Development
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This June a brand-new Regents exam, the USHG exam, is set to be offered for the first time. It has been years of preparation for teachers who anticipated this exam coming for over five years after being told it would arrive. Set to debut last June, but canceled because of unforeseen circumstances, the 2023 United States History & Government exam will be administered for the first time ever this June. Over the past few years, the New York State Education Department has been developing new exams for High School Social Studies in both Grade 10 Global History and Geography and Grade 11 U.S. History and Government. These new exams reflect the shifts in instruction that were identified in the 2014 released Field Guide for Social Studies and assess students according to the practices identified in the Social Studies Framework for K-12 instruction. The US History exam was supposed to be offered for the first time in June 2020. As a result of shutdowns and cancellations this exam was never given. However, come June this brand-new assessment will be administered for the first time.  This new exam design has 28 MC questions that are attached to a stimulus, a Part II Stimulus Based Short Essay task where students will write 2 responses to 4 documents, and Part 3 will be a 6 document Civic Literacy DBQ Essay. The purpose of this new Regents exam is to align assessment to the content, skills, and practices of the Framework.  One of the most noticeable changes in the exam will be regarding Part II. Replacing the Part II Thematic essay, the Framework exam Part II has two stimulus-based essay responses. These will require students to both analyze and make connections between sets of provided documents and discuss the context surrounding these documents.  Teachers across the region have been participating in professional development offered through CABOCES around the exam structure and the assessment style. In these workshops, they have participated in identifying skills students will need to be successful with this exam, have created learning experiences to prepare students, and developed assessment tasks that reflect the same criteria the new exam will address. They have been working hard to prepare students for a relatively unknown aspect of High Stakes Assessment and are to be commended as we approach the roll out of this much anticipated assessment.
By: Rob Griffith, CA BOCES Professional Development Many theories have pinpointed advantages and disadvantages surrounding the use of technology as a means of instruction. Among the theorists is Alfred Bork who wrote a series titled interactive learning; a revision was written 20 years after the oroginal. Through the study of his writings, I have gained knowledge as to how computer usage may impact my pedagogical approach and delivery of instruction. In this reflection I will discuss the theory and indicate how my use of the computer intersects with Bork’s principals and how they have affected my use of computers in the classroom.
Alfred Bork predicted that by the year 2000 the interactive use of computers would be the major way of learning at all levels, and in almost all subject areas (Bork, 1980). In his article, he contends that the “new student” (older, poorer, and blacker) and the pressure for reduced cost of education will combine with the rise of computers as an inexpensive and effective teaching device, to bring about tremendous changes in our instructional institutions. He points out that there are eleven modes in which computers can be used; each having its own unique advantages. They are:
Although Bork’s prediction has not become a reality for every district in America, his modes of computer usage have molded my perceptions of integrating technology into my classroom. For the past several months I have been using the online Learning Management System “Moodle”. Moodle is the most famous software application (Learning Management Systems, LMS) to administer and deliver online teaching and support face-to-face teaching with online education. It is designed for users who do not have server or coding skills, and it is a flexible software that easily adapts to most different educational situations. Moreover, it is open-source, that is, completely free. Hence, it can be adopted by a whole school, but also by a single teacher for just one course. I have learned to incorporate gaming within my Moodle course to attract interest and encourage engagement. I have experimented and become familiar with different LMS and web applications such as “Quizlet”, “Word wall”, “Powtoon”, “Animaker”, “Renderforest”, “Moovly”, “Canva”, and “Teams”, to name a few. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to look at my teaching style; to analyze it and to experiment with it. It is not often that one critically self-evaluates, especially in a field such as education. It is difficult to study the conditions and situations in the classroom when you are part of that environment. One needs to step back away from it and look at it from the outside. It has been a pleasure to work and study kids at the high school level; students for the most part behaved as young adults and had respect for authority. I don’t believe I would have had the successes with experimentation if I were in a large urban school district. The difference between teaching here at CABOCES and teaching in a large urban district is enormous, like night and day. I am not saying that this endeavor did not have its frustrations and challenges, but I must wonder if doing this with 150 chaotic students, in five different classrooms, at various times of the day would have deterred me from continuing such an endeavor. Fortunately, within the last few months I was able to obtain good sources, collect data, and develop a good sense of what happened. I guess what I am trying to say is that even though I have only scratched the surface, I have come to the conclusion, that technology is an excellent instructional resource. Let me not fail to mention that I have also been able to differentiate instruction, so that students who are learning disabled or who do not grasp content as quickly as others, can use the computer for learning and remediation – drill and practice, so that they can keep up with curriculum demands and their peers. I am not the same teacher I was before experimenting with technology. I have a developed a new passion for teaching. I was somewhat bored with the old traditional ways and now I am excited and reenergized. I have many new tools in my bag of tricks. By: Ed Cruz, CA BOCES Learning Resources  “Exploration”, “STEM literacy advancement”, “Love of Nature”, “Exploration”, “Inclusivity/Diversity/Equity” …
These are some of the values that are associated with a newly offered resources called JASON Learning. JASON Learning provides curriculum and learning experiences in STEM for K-12 learners through formal or informal education environments. Connected with STEM professionals, students are challenged in real-world situations. Each experience features print and digital materials, hands-on activities, videos, and online games for students. Lesson plans and implementation tips are provided for guidance. Live, interactive events held throughout the year connect students with STEM role models, including renowned scientists and other experts pursuing STEM careers. Interested in learning more about this great JASON Learning resource? We are offering two professional development opportunities. One for elementary, with a focus on PK-5, and one for MS/HS, with a focus on 6-12. Feel free to join us: November 28th, 2023- Elementary March 14th, 2024- MS/HS This is just one of the many resources that the Environmental Science program at CA BOCES has to offer! For more information on these programs, please feel free to visit CABOCES Environmental Science or contact Lance Feuchter at (716) 376-8379 or lance_feuchter@caboces.org. By: Lance Feuchter, CA BOCES Learning Resources |
