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Uncertainty can be paralyzing, provoke fear and anxiety and result in many unanswered questions. Despite the overwhelming amount of uncertainty that abruptly entered the lives of educators (and so many others) due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, opportunities were seized, risks were taken, creativity and innovation arose and problems were solved. However, as soon as one challenge was tended to, a handful of new, complex challenges were waiting to be addressed. One of the overarching themes of uncertainty that continued to come up in conversation amongst educators, was what returning to school would be like; the “when,” the “how,” the “if,” and the “what” were often discussed. From early on, most recognized that whatever the answer to the former questions, for better or worse, it would simply not be the same. Many educators also agreed that securing a sense of physical and psychological safety for all staff and students, would be critical, yet, would not be an easy task and could take several weeks or months to achieve. The conversation around “re-entry” became a frequent, recurring one within the weekly remote PD session for school counselors, social workers and psychologists. The collective passion and emotion present in each conversation led the group to take action and create a guidance entitled “Social and Emotional Recommendations for a Healthy Re-Entry,” for school districts to reference as they navigate re-entry planning. Although there were a number of unanswered questions and remaining uncertainties, the group agreed upon critical considerations for a healthy re-entry. Margaret Wheatley once said, “It is possible to prepare for the future without knowing what it will be. The primary way to prepare for the unknown is to attend to the quality of our relationships, to how well we know and trust one another.”  If you are interested in learning more about actionable recommendations for meeting the SEL needs of staff and students and supporting a healthy re-entry, please consider joining us on August 3rd, for one of our summer PD opportunities, “Back to School: SEL Transition Conversation.”
By: Katie Mendell, CA BOCES Community Schools
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 Field Day at Portville, like many schools, is a fun, engaging day not only to help close out the year but to give students ideas to stay active in the summer with their families. Obviously, due to the school shutdown, I had to modify Field Day, but I was not going to cancel it. Throughout the shutdown, I was able to collaborate and share ideas with physical education teachers with whom I networked from around the country and around the world. I took advantage of the many CABOCES PE webinars and forums afforded to us, especially with learning the use of technology, which is a smooth segue to our Portville Virtual Field Day. Before the shutdown, I had limited knowledge of Google slides, publishing to YouTube, or Facebook Live. But, I learned these skills to combine with my prior knowledge of physical education to create a Google slide with 23 Field Day events as well as 36 clickable images. The links led the students to YouTube videos of me and my family doing the various Field Day activities. I was also able to attach a scoresheet and a certificate to the Field Day slide post. Some of the activities were my own, while some were shared with me with other PE teachers from as far away as California and Australia. One of the many challenges was how to come up with physical education activities to do without the aid of traditional equipment. To overcome this, I looked around our home for common household items present in most homes. For example, I used rolled-up socks and pillowcases, ladders, and spatulas. To help hype it up, I asked for elementary teachers and staff to send pictures of themselves with an encouraging sign for our students. Using a video editor, I put together a collage set to music for the students to enjoy. The community response was overwhelming. On my PE Rockstar Facebook page, I asked for families to share pictures and/or videos of their children doing the activities. I had so many responses, it was hard to keep up with them all! During the shutdown, community support and involvement is even more important than normal times and this was a great way to inspire passion and excitement for physical education. So why did I do this? I did it to continue to interact with students but also to bring families together with physical activities designed for students, which the whole family could engage in. The passion I have for physical education is something I will always have but staying positive and learning new skills during our time at home will only enrich my teaching in the future. I would not have been able to do this without the support of our Portville school and community, especially our elementary principal Lynn Corder, who is always supportive of my ideas for our Portville elementary PE program. By: Christina Matz, Portville Elementary
Coordinated by: Anne Mitchell, CA BOCES Professional Development Environmental Education is all about using the resources around us to understand how our world works. Beyond the in-classroom programs, the Environmental Education CoSer offers programs where students can use those resources to do many hands-on immersive educational experiences. Students can be expected to be surrounded by fresh sounding streams, cool thick forests, and calming lakes. Science on Seneca and our Ecology Camp have been long standing, successful programs. We are excited to expand our outdoor learning experiences to offer the Audubon Community Nature Center (Jamestown), Buffalo Audubon (North Java), Reinstein Woods (Buffalo), and Allegany State Park. Here are some programs that will get your students out of the classroom:       These programs, plus the in-classroom experiences, are offered through our Environmental Science CoSer! For more information on these programs or others available to you through Environmental Science please feel free to contact Lance Feuchter at (716) 376-8379 or lance_feuchter@caboces.org.
By: Lance Feuchter, CA BOCES Learning Resources |
