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Check out this month's Advancing STEM Challenge!
Catapulting Candy Corn Advancing STEM Challenges are designed to bring engineering and design to your classroom in a simple, easy-to-implement, challenge-based way. Modify our Advancing STEM Challenges for your classroom. A new challenge will be posted monthly.
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Welcoming West Valley students into the school library this year is a new space designated for S.T.E.A.M. activities. Jody Thiel, SLMS, is offering students the opportunity to explore coding, collaboration, and creativity with $500 raised through Donors Choose. Mrs. Thiel purchased over ten interactive resources to engage student learning and encourage a growth mindset (See photo). A struggling middle school student recently demonstrated growth mindset as he was putting together circuits. When a bulb failed to light, he blamed it on dead batteries – several times. Mrs. Thiel did not offer correction on his design but simply told him the batteries were new and encouraged him to try again. The student figured it out and was so proud of himself! Taking risks in a safe environment allowed for experiencing success. For younger students, Mrs. Thiel purchased the FisherPrice Code-a-Pillar. This is a colorful robotic whose pre-coded segments are put together by the student. Once segments are connected the Code-a-Pillar crawls across the floor to find a predetermined target. Quick feedback allows for student correction. Additional segments can be purchased for increased challenges.
Elementary and middle school students enjoy the Code & Go Robot Mouse and no doubt high school students and adults will too. Similar to the design of a BeeBot, Robot Mouse can be programmed to find a block of 'cheese' within a maze. The maze offers a variety of design challenges to engage “steamers” of all ages. and provides small groups with collaborative opportunities to problem solve.
Displayed among the LittleBits, Magformers, and Snap Circuits was the Osmo. This product utilizes an iPad, stand, mirror, and apps to teach coding, letters, words, numbers, and drawings. I tried the drawing app which uses a mirror to project an image onto a piece of paper that can be traced. Lettering is also available to make attractive thank you notes or sayings. (See photo). The tools available to use with the Osmo clearly makes an interactive tool for students K-12. By: Cece Fuoco, CA BOCES Learning Resources All students in CA BOCES, but especially those in grades PreK – 8th will enjoy the premium version of Tumble Books. Offered in a French, Spanish, or Mobile interface, over 1400 eBooks are available with Wi-Fi connection.
By: Cece Fuoco, CA BOCES Learning Resources
This summer, Cuba Rushford Elementary School incorporated a STEAM camp into their summer school curriculum. Students were hand-picked to participate in this innovative twist on learning and spent time working with coding, robotics, research projects, and solar ovens.
All of the projects were interesting to the students. But the solar ovens had a prize at the end! I will give you s’more information on that later! As part of this experiment, a great deal of work was spent digging deeper into the Engineering Design Process, wherein students are encouraged to ask, imagine, plan, design, and then improve. Students researched to discover the mathematical relationship between reflection, transmission and absorption. They didn’t stop there, though! Students then applied their knowledge to building and testing a solar oven based on the supplies provided through CABOCES. In an extension, students investigated how these principles can be used as sustainable energy sources for our area through passive solar heating. After the testing phase was completed and all the kinks were worked out, the students put their solar ovens in the sun and let the cooking begin! Chocolate and marshmallows were placed on a graham cracker. After about an hour and a half: voilà! Success. It was so good, some kids wanted s’more! Interested! Order solar ovens from our SNAP page and get cooking! By: Alex Freer, CA BOCES Learning Resources Check out this month's Advancing STEM Challenge!
Sliding Down a Slippery Slope Advancing STEM Challenges are designed to bring engineering and design to your classroom in a simple, easy-to-implement, challenge-based way. Modify our Advancing STEM Challenges for your classroom. A new challenge will be posted monthly.  Over 300 school librarians converged in Buffalo May 4-6, 2017 to attend the state’s annual school librarians conference. Thirty-nine vendors were available to discuss databases, continuing education programs, cataloging systems, and books that support learning standards as well as popular fiction. Co-chaired by Pioneer school librarians Maria Muhlbauer and Tina Pierce, this year’s theme Make. Learn. Inspire. was a hit!
Make. Learn. Inspire. offered professional development workshops specific to the needs of the school librarian. Keynote speaker Gene Luen Yang, a former high school teacher, has been a recipient of several national book awards. Yang’s engaging style, peppered with humor, brought attention to using comics in education and the importance of representing diversity through the comics medium. Yang’s message was fitting in that it supports the current initiative by CA BOCES’ Brendan Keiser and Cece Fuoco in building graphic novel kits for classroom use next school year. Thirty-six workshops were made available including“Fostering Civic Engagement Through Archival Research”, “The Differentiated Makerspace”, “Sensory Storytime”, “Game Design”, and “Genrefying Your Library”. One workshop held by Scio librarian, Mary Zdrojewski, had a packed room of 75 attendees who came to learn about using a Breakout Box to teach library skills. Bolivar-Richburg librarian, Karen Fox, (see photo) presented to over 50 attendees on “21st Century Toolbox for the School Librarian”. Fox capitalized on skills she learned as an employee of Apple and Starbucks to streamline the process for managing her library resources and tracking students. Librarians also enjoyed hearing CA BOCES’ S.T.E.M. coordinator, Clay Nolan discuss using common fiction stories to create S.T.E.M. activities to support ELA standards. After introducing the book Timing Races: Measuring Time by Dianne Irving, Nolan challenged participants with Zometools to create an object that could spin and outlast others (see photo). It was a fun activity and participants’ phones were busy capturing the learning and competition taking place. Returning to their schools across the state, librarians left inspired to make new learning opportunities for students. By: Cece Fuoco, CA BOCES Learning Resources  Digital Learning Day, hosted by Betsy Hardy, Distance Learning Coordinator for Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES (CA BOCES), was held mid-March this year at the Main Center in Olean. There was a record turnout from neighboring districts, with more than 55 educators from across the region including attendees from six regional BOCES, traveling to learn about implementing online learning in their districts or how to enhance current programs.
The day was split into rotating sessions with vendors that CA BOCES currently has partnerships with or with vendors that may be of future interest to any district hoping to broaden depth of transcripts, assist struggling students with unit, quarterly or full credit recovery, or generally provide multiple pathway of learning for their students. The day’s focus was on credit accrual or electives through Edgenuity, world languages, CTE courses, and electives through EdOptions Academy, unit and credit recovery through APEX Learning, homebound tutoring with iTutor, middle school content through Spider Learning, and K-12 collaborative and customizable digital content aligned to standards through Buzz at OHM BOCES. Overall, the day was a huge success. At the beginning of the day, two rotating sessions with 25 minute overviews of the various kinds of curriculum and implementation methods were held. Lunch and breaks provided time to meet up individually with vendors to ask more district specific questions. The day was rounded out with presentations from Andover, Franklinville, and Allegany-Limestone sharing successful implementation stories of language programs, electives, and credit recovery programs respectively. Fortified with information from the day, many districts are developing a plan for digital learning and reaching out to CA BOCES as they bring new curriculum to students across the region. For more information on online learning, please contact Learning Resources at 716-376-8281. By: Christina McGee, CA BOCES Learning Resources  If it not there already, coding will be coming to a school near you really soon! But why is there so much of a push for this?
Coding has many education implications: it is a way for students to design, create, and express themselves while solving problems, creating games, and having fun. Additionally, there are many opportunities in the area of computer science that students can consider when looking at careers. Website design, app creation, business management and many other fields have jobs that require some understanding of computer code. Learning to code prepares kids for the world we live in today. There are tons of jobs and occupations that use code directly, like web designers, software developers and robotics engineers, and even more where knowing how to code is a huge asset—jobs in manufacturing, nanotechnology or information sciences. However, career prep is just one facet. The skills that come with computer programming/coding help kids develop new ways of thinking and foster problem-solving techniques that can have big repercussions in other areas. Computational thinking allows students to grasp concepts like order of operations and cause and effect. Much like following a recipe, coding is systematic and students can see that attention to detail and sequential thinking are necessary to create a workable code. And then there’s the simple fact that coding is fun! Most kids play games already, so learning the code behind the games takes engagement to a whole new level. So get ready! Coding isn’t the future….it is the present! By: Alexandra L. Freer, CABOCES Learning Resources Check out this month's Advancing STEM Challenge! Keeping Afloat - Oh Buoy!
Advancing STEM Challenges are designed to bring engineering and design to your classroom in a simple, easy-to-implement, challenge-based way. Modify our Advancing STEM Challenges for your classroom. A new challenge will be posted monthly. What is blended learning? Are we truly blending learning in our region? Yes we are! Below are examples of Michael B. Horn - The Christensen Institute’s blended learning models that are taking place across our region, and quite successfully!
While blended learning began in simple applications to serve students in situations where there was no other alternative, it has grown exponentially over the past ten years in the Cattaraugus Allegany region, where our region is recognized as the leader in online learning in New York State BOCES regions!
Michael B Horn’s and Heather Staker’s book, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, lays out the process in a useful level of detail making it a must read for educators that want to take full advantage of tech-enabled learning. Staker shared, "I feel deeply sad when I see how many children do not have equal opportunities to high-quality schools. It's wrong that in a rich country with universal public education, zip code determines quality." But she feels fortunate to be living through the learning revolution where internet connectivity and personalized learning is “decimating old constructs about who gets what and introducing a new paradigm of shared access to the best learning experiences, regardless of geography.” (Education Week article - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/on_innovation/2014/09/blended_a_conversation_with_michael _horn_heather_staker.html) What educational “trend” do you think is helping students? Is there a trend that is getting in the way of learning? Michael B. Horn adds, “Online learning, particularly in blended learning schools, gives students more and more ownership of their learning, this is a big deal as it can allow schools to individualize for each student’s unique learning needs.” (http://dailyedventures.com/index.php/2012/11/08/michael-horn/) How do these online learning opportunities benefit students? Danielle, from Allegany- Limestone, replied, “I wish that I could have studied this way from the beginning of the year. When I’m in a classroom with people, I get distracted, but using APEX is great. The program is really straightforward. It tells me exactly what I need to know. Some days I let it read to me and sometimes I read myself. I came from Pennsylvania and the work was harder and my Biology class was in a different place and the online class is helping me.” To learn more about successful blended learning models in schools, join CA BOCES in an Online/Digital Learning Showcase, where you can ask questions and view demos of 7 different online solutions for:
For more information about Digital Learning Day on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, from 8:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. at CABOCES Olean Center Conference Rooms, go to: http://dev.caboces.org/iss/calendar/2017-04. By: Betsy Hardy, CA BOCES Distance Learning Library makerspaces are becoming more popular in schools and using technology is often part of the experience. Some school librarians in CA BOCES are becoming familiar with coding, programming, and open source software. As a result, makerspaces are frequently the place where students can explore, create, and learn. eTextiling is one method of using technology to engage students with varied interests. eTextiles use circuitry to create interaction between the wearer and his or her environment. As a way to introduce fashion and technology to teachers, an eTextiling workshop was offered through the 510 Coser. Facilitated by S.T.E.M. Coordinator Clay Nolan, and School Library System Coordinator, Cece Fuoco, participants learned the basics of circuitry through the use of copper tape, a battery and an LED light.  Participants then used conductive thread to sew a circuit.
Open source technology allows for programming a component to make an LED light respond to sound or movement. The opportunity exists for students to work together, especially when a student’s interest is stronger than his or her ability.
An eTextiling workshop will be available again next year with the anticipation that this year’s participants will share what their students have created. If you would like more information about eTextiling, please contact Clay at Clay_Nolan@caboces.org or Cece at Cece_Fuoco@caboces.org. By: Cece Fuoco, CA BOCES School Library Coordinator In December the Board of Regents approved new Science Standards that will take effect in July of 2017. This means schools will need to coordinate their transition away from 1996 Science Standards into new standards so that students are prepared for assessments that will likely be implemented in three years. It is predicted that new Science assessments will begin in 2020, three school years away. With this in mind, CA BOCES will begin transitioning Science Curriculum Kit titles so that students reach their assessment prepared. Title transition will take place over a three year period. The chart below outlines the planned transition. All curriculum kit titles can be explored at our new website: www.advancingSTEM.com Explore the new New York State Science Learning Standards: www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/sci/nyssls.html In an effort to continue CABOCES’ progressive advances with coding, we have been offering CodeMonkey as a way to teach computational thinking and core computer science concepts that will prepare our students for the careers of tomorrow. CodeMonkey is an engaging online game that teaches real computer programming to children as young as nine. Through fun challenges, teachers can introduce basic computer science knowledge to students and better prepare them for the 21st century.  Computer programming might seem hopelessly complicated, but it is actually a lot like walking—you just have to take it one step at a time! Programming is just like giving instructions, and when using CodeMonkey, adults and students alike discover how people write commands in computer languages called code, and how code is broken down into step-by-step procedures called algorithms. Patience, attention to detail, and the ability to foresee different circumstances and outcomes can turn lines of text into useful programs and activities! The CodeMonkey curriculum is built as a self-paced online game, where students advance through a progression of challenges. In each level, students write real code to program a monkey to catch all the bananas on the screen. Each solution is checked and graded automatically, and the students receive personalized instructions and hints that help them advance at a pace right for them.  Recently, the 5th and 6th grade students at Genesee Valley decided to help that monkey find those bananas! Class time was spent going through the program and teaching the nuances of CodeMonkey and then having the students begin their coding adventure at their own pace. Laughter, shouts of, “This is so fun!”, problem-solving, and even a bit of frustration were on display…all of which are part of learning.
As the students progress, they will being to understand computer programming language, covering topics such as objects, function calls, arguments, loops, variables, arrays, with 300 levels available total. To assist with this, CodeMonkey provides a unique curriculum that accompanies the teaching process step-by-step. Additionally, CodeMonkey provides a teacher’s dashboard where instructors can keep track of their students' progress in real time, as well as see the actual code they wrote. CodeMonkey also provides a cheatsheet so teachers will have the solutions to all challenges. So what are you waiting for? Contact us and give CodeMonkey a try! By: Alexandra L. Freer, CABOCES Learning Resources Advancing STEM Challenges are designed to bring engineering and design to your classroom in a simple, easy-to-implement, challenge-based way. Modify our Advancing STEM Challenges for your classroom.
Check out this month's STEM Challenge.  This past November was an exciting month where teachers from Cuba-Rushford and CABOCES, Linda Botens and Justine Lombardi respectively, alongside Betsy Hardy, Staff Specialist for Distance Learning at CABOCES and this year’s presenter at iNACOL, delivered a gripping presentation about developing digital portfolios in the classroom. The room was filled to capacity and the audience was spilling out into the hallway to hear about the possibilities for using digital portfolios in the classroom.
In their presentation, “The Paper Extinction and the Rise of the ePortfolio,” Linda, Justine, and Betsy showed multiple examples of students’ work throughout the years that allowed students to show off their talents to prospective colleges and employers and explore new talents that some students might have otherwise been too shy to share. Linda Botens shared one of her public speaking student’s forays into product endorsement and advertising. Normally, this student is shy, but when given the option to express herself on video, her dramatic personality had the opportunity to be shared with her teacher and peers. Justine shared her uses of e-portfolios in her online Mythology and Folklore class and World Religions class that she teaches every year as elective options. In her classes, students share papers and projects, alongside art and presentations and have a way to group them all together and share with both teachers and peers. Justine also shared the uses of e-portfolios in the CTE classroom where students working on welding projects can photograph their talents and share them along with pictures of their earned certifications and share with their future employers. By: Christina McGee, CA BOCES Learning Resources Advancing STEM Challenges are designed to bring engineering and design to your classroom in a simple, easy-to-implement, challenge-based way. Modify our Advancing STEM Challenges for your classroom.
Challenge Did you know snowflakes generally are hexagonal structures because of the chemical bonding that occurs within the water as it freezes? or that each snowflake is unique? Do you know what kind of snowflake falls the fastest or slowest through the air? Your job is to find out this last question! The task is to design a prototype snowflake using paper and scissors. Once you've built your snowflake prototype, you can test it out by dropping it from different heights and using a stopwatch to time which design falls the fastest or slowest. Your snowflake design does have some criteria and constraints. Every snowflake created has to be from the same origami template (see step-by-step instructions with pictures here: http://www.origamiway.com/how-to-make-paper-snowflakes.shtml). There has to be a 1cm border on the top and bottom that cannot be cut. At least three areas have to be cut out from the template. The snowflake should be dropped from the same height every time, held open with two hands, and held horizontal (flat) to the floor for fair trials. You and your group should try to design a snowflake following these guidelines that falls the fastest or slowest. Materials
Hints and Tips for Success
"Breakout EDU games teach critical thinking, teamwork, complex problem solving, and can be used in all content areas."
Working on a team of about 15 people, students work to find clues and solve puzzles in an effort to “breakout” of a locked box during the 45-minute challenge. The clues came in many forms: digitally with QR codes and email, entangled in art, knotted ropes, videos, and some even hidden under black light. One clue leads to another and the excitement in the room is tangible as participants try to make sense of what information they uncover. And then, they beak out. Along the way, students learn about the history of communication.
Inspired by this though-provoking approach to teaching and learning, regional educators were introduced to the game-based learning approach at the second session of New Teacher Academy on December 1st. Considering the application of BreakoutEDU in the classroom, teachers were excited about how well it promotes cooperative learning and students working together towards a common goal. Within the challenges, students can take roles that suit their learning styles. The most exciting part is that through the studying of clues and trying to figure out the puzzle, learning happens organically, without teacher led discussion. BreakoutEDU is an excellent way to generate student interest and knowledge about a topic or to demonstrate and apply skills they’ve just learned in the classroom. There are hundreds of game options available across every content area. Video on BreakoutEDU For more information about BreakoutEDU, please visit their website. Want to see if your students can breakout? Contact Learning Resources today! CA BOCES has 5 BreakoutEDU kits available. By: Sarah Wittmeyer and Shannon Dodson, CA BOCES Professional Development Cattaraugus and Allegany County classrooms have reached an all-time high traveling virtually across the globe. Since the start of school 2,592 students have experienced opportunities to gain real world knowledge of various cultures from around the world. Historically, December Virtual Field Trips average 20 connections, but this year, Santa came to our region and brought our total to 103 trips in 3 weeks! CA BOCES sends monthly trip highlights out to your Curriculum Coordinators, Tech Integrators, and Principals, so keep an eye out for these exciting opportunities. Some of these opportunities included National Distance Learning Week that was held November 7-11 in conjunction with the NYS Distance Learning Consortium. National DL Week allowed districts across the region to experience fee-based trips for free so that districts who had never seen a virtual field trip before could take part in this event. We expanded on these meaningful experiences at the NYS Middle School Association by showing districts how easy it was to connect to Ghana, Africa.  Genesee Valley’s Pre-K class of 100 students visited with Santa at the North Pole  Melody Klotz’s students at Cuba Rushford exchanged Christmas traditions with Ghana, Africa What better way to develop communication skills with students helping them to express their ideas culturally and academically through media sources. Students have opportunities to engage in collaborative discussions on curriculum topics, contrast cultural differences, and build language and logic to address details in directions. Below are some examples of content based trips:
Let CABOCES help you and your students take your next field trip virtually. All you need to do is click on the link below to see what’s on the calendar for upcoming trips: http://www.caboces.org/iss/distance-learning/virtual-field-trips Or to search for your own classroom topic, you can do a keyword search and see the hundreds of trips available by clicking on this link: https://projects.twice.cc/vcpd/searchprogram.php Or, to let us search for a trip for you! All you have to do is click on this link, and we will take of the rest. You will just need to fill out the request form and we will arrange to take your students around the world, into space, or even back in time! http://www.caboces.org/iss/distance-learning/virtual-field-tripcollaboration-request-form If you would like to learn more about virtual learning experiences, please contact Carrie Oliver at 716-376-8270 or Betsy Hardy at 716-376-8281 for more information. The opportunities are endless. By: Betsy Hardy, CA BOCES Learning Resources 3,853 Overdrive eBooks checked out
1657 resources shared through interlibrary loan 22 workshops to support professional development for school librarians 405 Library System deliveries each month 229 databases purchased managed Filled 33 requests for 1 Foundation (American Museum of Natural History), 1 State Library (New Jersey), 2 major academic research libraries, 6 academic libraries, and 15 public libraries Requests from 16 states to borrow library resources 2,592 miles of postal service to lend 1 book National Distance Learning Week is just around the corner (November 7-11). The attached flyer highlights the offerings being brought to you by CA BOCES in partnership with the providers. This is a great opportunity for districts and teachers to give a virtual field trip a try at no charge to the district during DL week only. This event is supported in conjunction with the New York Distance Learning Consortium for Cattaraugus Allegany BOCES that participate in the Distance Learning CoSer. For additional information about Distance Learning Week call or email: Carrie Oliver—carrie_oliver@caboces.org /716-376-8270 2:00 p.m. November 7, 2016 (3rd - 5th grade): Make and Take with Polymers Take an inside look at the properties surrounding polymers. What are they? What do they do? Where do we find them? Who uses them? This approach will feature a discussion of chemistry base properties of solids, liquids and gases, and then compare polymers to these chemical concepts. Do polymers defy the rules of chemistry? We will also look into why they are important and what careers are involved. We will also demonstrate labs that can be easily conducted at home. For more information on about the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, click this link h p://www.perotmuseum.org/events-and-programs/school-programs/sciencecast-distance/learning/ index.html 10:00 a.m. November 8, 2016 (4th-7th): Bodyworks What does a real heart look like? How does its function relate to our brain, muscles, bones and lungs? This pro- gram uses preserved human specimens, anatomical modes, and physical exam techniques to impress your students with their own insides. From cells to issues to organs, we overview human skeletal, muscular, nervous, pulmonary and cardiovascular systems, relating their functions to healthy behavioral and nutritional choices. For more information on about the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, click this link h ps://www.cmnh.org/ivc 1:30 pm November 9, 2016 (PreK - 2): Cobwebs for Christmas Are you ready to add some "bling" to your Christmas? This fun and interactive lesson will explore the tradition of adding tinsel to Christmas trees. The charming folktale Cobweb Christmas by Shirly Climo is set in Germany and focuses on some curious spiders paying a visit to Tante's tree. Incorporating Science, Language Arts, and Technology standards, students will discuss characteristics of arachnids using observation, compare and contrast different arachnids, and identify key elements of our story. For more information on about the Muskingham Valley Educational Service Center, click this link https://www.mvesc.org/ 9:00 am November 10, 2016 (K - 3): How to Make An Artist Students are introduced to artists and their work through picture-book biographies. During this program which makes strong connections between language arts and visual art, students create art in the style of Frederic Reming- ton and Georgia O'Keeffe. The program is a great intro to a fine arts museum. For more information about the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, click this link h p://www.cartermuseum.org/learn/distance-learning 1:00 pm November 10, 2016 (K - 8): All About Matter Bubbles, eyedroppers, dry ice and liquid nitrogen are a part of an incredibly interactive program focusing on states and properties of matter. For more information about the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, click this link h p://www.fwmuseum.org/distance-learning 
Are you looking for resources and don’t know where to turn? Maybe you have some idea of what you are looking for and don’t have the time to cull through the myriad options available. At the CABOCES Learning Resources center in Allegany, we will have a training in January for the teachers in our two county area, highlighting all that our Staff Specialists here can do for you and your students. Learning Resources has recently had an increase in the amount of resources being used by our component schools, but there are still so many things being underutilized. So as part of this training, the Staff Specialists went through each branch of Learning Resources and how they can assist with curriculum and content, utilization of online and digital support, as well as providing tangible resources to use in the physical classroom. The teachers who have gone through the training before have been amazed at the hundreds of thousands of resources available and how each department can either assist with or provide instruction on the various aspects of digital resources and technology, STEM, Library services, and distance learning.  Both STEM and the Digital Media program provide kits that can be used in the classroom to aid instruction and provide hands-on activities. Online resources accompany those kits, as well as accessing the SNAP system to find additional support. The Distance Learning branch has many components, including Moodle and Mahara, credit recovery, virtual field trips, collaborative classrooms, online learning, and Adobe Connect. Additionally, our Library Resources offers support to all 22 school libraries in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, implementation of the inter-library loan system, and provides online usage of Britannica and World Book.
If you are not utilizing any of these resources, only using some of them, or need to know more, come join us on January 12 at our Learning Resources center in Allegany, NY. By: Alexandra L. Freer, CA BOCES The November STEM Challenge: Turkey Cooker.
Advancing STEM Challenges are designed to bring engineering and design to your classroom in a simple, easy-to-implement, challenge-based way. Modify our Advancing STEM Challenges for your classroom. A new challenge will be posted monthly. Post a photo of your students in action in our comment section or post a comment on how you modified the Challenge to work in your classroom.  Betsy Hardy, Distance Learning Coordinator for CA BOCES, was invited to present on a panel at a national conference last week alongside renowned author, Michael B. Horn. Michael B. Horn is the Co-Founder of Clayton Christensen Institute and author of Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools. Betsy was asked to attend 2016 iNACOL Blended and Online Learning Symposium as an expert on implementing blended learning programs. During the panel, Betsy was asked a number of questions on strategies for introducing online and credit recovery programs, utilizing online portfolios in the classroom, and cited many real life examples of ways that districts have been successful in the Cattaraugus-Allegany region, as well as how program implementation has to be based on district individuality and specific needs. Some of the recommendations she gave included having a team set up the program, having a specific teacher or aide with students at all times while students work on their classes, and setting up multiple in-depth professional development opportunities for teachers.
One of the many remarkable insights that Betsy brought to the panel discussion, was her unique understanding of how rural districts utilize online and distance learning programs to help broaden the scope of student transcripts and give students unique opportunities to experience courses that otherwise would not be offered, as well as how online programs broaden student skillsets and exposure to a plethora of ideas and prospects. Betsy also noted the important role that credit recovery has played in the region, sometimes increasing graduation rates by as much as 10% in well-established programs with a dedicated aide for students working on their classes. Betsy, alongside a renowned author, shared the noteworthy achievements and best practices that districts in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties have made as they move toward a blended environment, helping students obtain important 21st century skills. School districts should be proud that their implementation of blended practices has garnered national attention. If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about blended learning opportunities and professional development, please reach out to Betsy Hardy, Justine Lombardi, or Christina McGee at (716) 376-8281. By: Christina McGee, CA BOCES  For a full week in July, area teachers gathered at Houghton College to be a part of an up and coming program aimed at working in the field of digital literacy. We are blessed in this area to have so many great content area teachers. Throughout our workshops, we see interested, talented, and dedicated professionals striving to give of their best to their students. To that end, CABOCES has partnered with Houghton College to provide professional development for teachers who wish to increase their knowledge of technology and digital literacy that will propel their learners through the 21st century. Led by Dr. David Bruce, Associate Professor of Learning and Instruction at UB and Dr. Sunshine Sullivan, Associate Professor of Education at Houghton College, Rural Voices, Rural Visions closely resembles City Voices, City Visions. This is a program based out of Buffalo State University that provides educators and students with digital video resources to augment classroom learning. In this area, though, the focus is on those in rural communities.  Rural Voices, Rural Visions stresses not simply the use of technology, but the transformational power of technology. We cannot simply use technology for technology’s sake; we need to use it in ways that impact learning and give students another tool in their toolbox. Dr. Sullivan is hopeful that Rural Voices, Rural Visions will “provide a peek into the world of professional learning communities around digital literacies in a rural context, a gap in educational research and practice”.
Through Rural Voices, Rural Visions, the goal is to have teachers teach composition using varied modalities, not simply using essays or papers to reflect knowledge of content. For example, how can we use film to supplement classroom learning? According to Dr. Bruce, “When we discuss compositional issues such as audience, point of view, transitions, specific details, etc., the video theme provides a useful framework for discussion. This is especially crucial if the coursework involves print compositions. For those students who struggle to get their ideas on paper, I have found it to be helpful to refer back to their videos as a reference point.” What a great opportunity we have in our region to work with such dedicated educators! Please contact me if you are interested in finding out more about Rural Voices, Rural Visions. We’d love to have your expertise! By: Alexandra L. Freer, CA BOCES |
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