​As the winter snows melt and sunshine begins to extend and warm up each day, you know Spring is in the air.  At Gail N. Chapman elementary school in Randolph, 2nd grade students ‘Catapulted into Spring’ with a STEM activity that consisted of two parts.  Each student was given a bag of various materials that could be used for each part.  In part one, students could use pieces of wood, rubber bands, tape, and a spoon to create a catapult that would fly a plastic egg into the air. In part two, students needed to create a nest type structure to catch the egg.   The structure could be made out of toothpicks, lollipop sticks, jelly beans, gumdrops, marshmallows, and grass clippings.  

​The first part of the STEM challenge focused on leverage and force, as students needed to be sure their catapults could take an egg at least 6” into the air.  They experimented with various lengths for their catapult, and how much force would be needed to get the proper height and distance they were looking for.  

​The second part of their STEM challenge required their catapulted eggs to be caught in a nest type structure and they were not to touch the ground.  Students discussed various creative ways to accomplish this and were left to explore their own engineering and design.  Conversations about what design to use, and what materials worked best were taking place all over the classroom.  Once time had elapsed for their construction and building, it was time for each student to attempt to catapult their egg into their created nest.  No matter how many students were able to launch their eggs into the nest, all students succeeded in having fun and experimenting with leverage and engineering.   

By: Rob Griffith, CA BOCES Professional Development

Math teacher Mrs. Mansfield’s recently gave her 7th grade students a Breakout challenge, and then added a twist.  After having students work in two separate groups to complete the ‘Linear Equations vs. The Avengers’ Breakout game, she assigned a new task for her class.  Working in small groups, each set of students was asked to create their own Breakout style activity for their classmates.  Creativity was welcomed as students would create puzzling activities and mathematical challenges that their classmates would attempt to solve. Complete with an assessment checklist and rubric, each group received direction and instruction, and will conduct and share their activities in a few weeks.

By: Rob Griffith, CA BOCES Professional Development

Teachers at Randolph Central School learned to build equal partnerships in any co-teaching scenario. They learned the answers to the following questions:

• What is co-teaching?
• Why co-teaching?
• How does it work?
• What are the different co-teaching models?
• Are we doing it right?
• How do we start?

Integrated co-teaching, as defined by Anne Beninghof, is a coordinated instructional practice in which two or more educators simultaneously work with a heterogeneous group of students in a general education classroom. (2012 Beninghof) She describes co-teaching partnerships as a marriage.  A successful partnership requires good communication, planning, and is an equal responsibility partnership. “Effective co-teaching can be compared to synchronized swimming- teammates must carefully coordinate, not only to win, but to avoid drowning.”

Although there is more to learn, there is research that demonstrates the benefits of the co-taught classroom. For instance, children with speech and language impairments made stronger gains in a co-taught classroom than in a pull-out or classroom support model. In New York, an elementary school found that literacy achievement increased for students with disabilities from 20% at or above level to 40% in just two years. Pugach and Wesson interviewed nine, 5th grade students in co-taught classrooms and concluded, “The students we interviewed felt as if their academic and social needs were being met better than they had been in classes instructed by a single teacher.”

Educators report positive outcomes from co-taught settings such as professional growth, improved instruction, the ability to differentiate, better teacher access, and improved behavior management. Educators also claim that student engagement improved because two adults can share multiple perspectives, multiple voices, and generate creative connections to the content easier. Co-teaching provides a sense of belonging, acceptance for all students, while upholding high expectations for their students.

Whether you are already co-teaching or are thinking about developing co-teaching partnerships, this workshop provides the knowledge and tools to be successful.  We will work to develop effective partnerships and amazing learning environments for teachers and students. To Learn more about how to build effective integrated co-teaching teams contact CA BOCES (Laurie Sledge at 716-376-8357).

By:  Deanna Wilkinson and Marguerite Andrews, CA BOCES Professional Development

A relatively new education innovation that has come to the CABOCES region is called Breakout EDU.  This concept takes the idea of an escape room, a recreational activity where teams work together to get out of a locked room, and turns it into a learning activity for students where they work together to open a locked box.  The idea behind this activity is that students will use their brains to solve various puzzles to get inside the tightly locked box which has several various types locks connected to it.  These locks can be 3 or 4 digit combinations locks, directional locks, key locks, or even word locks requiring students to spell the correct word to open the lock.  Various simulations and games are available on the BreakutEDU website, but teachers are also encouraged to build their own games for their students.

The end of the school year brought with it opportunities for students at Gail N. Chapman Elementary to participate in Breakout EDU and work together to open the box.  The 2nd grade and 4th grade classes worked to find missing birthday presents and solve a chocolate mystery in the Breakout games they participated in at the end of the year.  The challenge of breaking into the box was a mix of frustration, cheers, and ultimately success.  The added difficulty of getting into the box in a limited amount of time brought motivation and challenge that pushed the students to use math strategies, geography, and chronological reasoning and thinking to accomplish the task.  Congratulations to the students who didn’t give up, and who were able to proudly say “We Broke OUT!”.   
 
Teachers appreciated the new experience that Breakout EDU was able to provide for their students, and are already discussing ways to incorporate the games into instruction for next year. 

By: Rob Griffith, CA BOCES Professional Development

The Scholastic Challenge Competition will be held on Saturday, February 4 at Portville Central School.  This annual event, sponsored by Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES (Student Programs CoSer #506) will host 36 teams who will compete in a Junior Division and Senior Division, for grades 6-12.
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Scholastic Challenge is a fast paced contest that tests knowledge of academic trivia and current events.  Teams of four students measure their ability to recall details from a wide variety of topics.

Fourteen school districts will be participating in the double-elimination contest this year.  This translates to about 200 students and coaches.  Throughout the day, several thousand questions will be read aloud to these ambitious teams.  Spectators are encouraged to watch the competitions. It’s exciting to see the students combine an impressive display of intelligence with camaraderie, graciousness and good sportsmanship.
 
The final matches will be held on stage in the Portville auditorium around 1:15-2:15. The first and second place teams in each division will be presented with plaques to recognize their achievements, as well as an invitation to attend the 2017 National Academic Championship.

This event requires about 40 volunteers to make the day run smoothly.  CABOCES  Student Programs is grateful to everyone who donates their time and experience to provide a fun and educational day for the students in our area.  Scholastic Challenge could not happen without their help!

Congratulations to all the teams participating this year.  Thank you to all coaches for mentoring and encouraging your students.  The following school districts will be attending on Saturday, February 4:

•       Cuba-Rushford – 4 teams coached by John Butler
•       Ellicottville Central- 3 teams coached by Ann Chamberlain
•       Fillmore Central – 3 teams coached by Bill Kelley & Mary Kay Kelley
•       Franklinville Central – 3 teams coached by Shannon Wood
•       Friendship Central – 1 team coached by Wade Pearsall
•       Genesee Valley – 4 teams coached by Sara Donlon & Kim Douglas
•       Hinsdale Central – 1 team coached by Sara Centanni & Charanna Swartwout
•       Pioneer Central – 3 teams coached by Sarah Wood
•       Portville Central – 7 teams coached by Margaret Seib & Gene Rogers
•       Randolph Central – 1 team coached by Jennifer Bieniek
•       Scio Central – 2 teams coached by Mary Zdrojewski
•       Wellsville Central – 2 teams coached by Diane Willard & Hope Gilfert
•       West Valley Central – 1 team coached by Bryan Hansen
•       Whitesville Central – 1 team coached by Laurie Sanders & Renee McNeely

Was it “Chutes and Ladders”?  “Battleship”, perhaps?   How about “Chess” or “Uno”?  Everyone had a favorite game growing up.  What was yours?  Maybe “Super Mario Brothers”?  Go ahead, take a minute and think about it.  Name that game you spent hours on, strategizing about, and maybe even cajoling others to play with you.  Got it?  Great!  I knew you had one.

For many children, adolescents, and even teachers, playing a game, especially a videogame, is a preferred pastime.  Something about a game keeps players engaged as they try over and over again to accomplish a skill, complete a task, or advance to a next level.  The challenge can be all-consuming as players spend considerable amounts of time gaming, even seeming to lose consciousness of the world outside the game.  Why do games merit such attention?  It may be because games meet students in Lev Vygotsky's (1978) Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).  The difference between what a learner can do without help and what he/she can do with help, the ZPD exists between what is known and unknown, where classroom teachers attempt to meet their students with new knowledge, and new learning occurs. It is the instructional sweet spot.
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Games intuitively capture a player’s attention at his/her ZPD, as initial rounds capitalize on a player’s prior abilities and skills, and each additional level forces him/her to learn a new skill or acquire new knowledge to be successful.  Despite the glazed-over eyes and tears of frustration that can accompany a string of losses, the player returns again and again, each time with a little more understanding of the key to mastery.  

But how is it that games feed a player’s engagement despite multiple unsuccessful attempts?  Bruner Wood (1976) expanded on Vygotsky's work to suggest that supports, or scaffolding, within the ZPD can be removed as soon as skills become automatic.  Wood referred to scaffolds as, “Those elements of the task that are initially beyond the learner’s capacity, thus permitting him to concentrate upon and complete only those elements that are within his range of competence” (1976, p.90). One element of successful learning is the ability of the teacher to engage students in the content long enough to provide the scaffolds and supports needed for students to succeed in the ZPD.  

To achieve engagement, games captivate players emotionally, enticing them with the quest to be played.  Game designers hone in on a player’s desire to succeed or win by building the sense the player can triumph through fair play.  This embedded emotional element mesmerizes players and leads to deep engagement and the acquisition of skills and content, and tickles the player’s intrinsic desire to succeed.   The strong emotional connections of games further enhance a sense of engagement with their task.  Fear, surprise, disgust, pride, triumph, and wonder all act as engagement keys for game play (Farber, 2015).  “Designers can customise an experience best suited to unlock certain feelings” (Farber, 2015, p.60), making even stronger connections to the game and creating a commitment by the player to continue.  

Both Vygotsky and Wood describe recognizable parallels to players that self-select games in their ZPD.  Gamers learn rules using peers as supports, play, and soon--without help--experience gratification as they play, and even lose.  As players develop, they select games requiring a variety of skills or, as skills become automatic, games that are more challenging.  Games players find too easy or too hard lie outside the ZPD and lack the keys to engagement, causing players to become passive or give up.  Ralph Koster, author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design, points out, “The definition of a good game is therefore one that teaches everything it has to offer before the player stops playing” (2013, p.46).  Koster asserts both the educational and entertainment value of games by writing, “Basically, all games are edutainment” (2013, p.47).

Games, almost in any form, are so good at engagement, maintaining attention, and advancing a skill that they also make terrific teaching tools and have led to the game-based learning philosophy.  “Game based learning describes an approach to teaching, where students explore relevant aspects of games in a learning context designed by teachers. Teachers and students collaborate in order to add depth and perspective to the experience of playing the game” (EdTech Team, 2013).

Through game-based learning, teachers pair the benefits of games with learning in their classrooms. Andrew Garvery, a middle-level English teacher at Randolph Central School and professed “gamer”, is one teacher using the blended game design curriculum Zulama to bring the engagement of game design to his students.  Andrew’s students are answering the questions, “What is a game?  Why do we play them?  Is a game a representation of society? How is society represented in a game?” (Garvey, 2016).  His students are not using a traditional educational games approach to master vocabulary or key components of content, rather games are the engaging content in his class.  Students in Andrew’s classroom are, by design, becoming game designers.    

Games, through many of the strategies highlighted below and built within Zulama’s curriculum, become everyday pedagogical tools in the learning process.

• Games allow students to explore the history of games, their impact on society, society’s impact on games, and various games played throughout history.  They are rich with history and have been impacted by the cultures in which they were created and played.  Students might benefit from learning the components of games (Fig. 1) from the past.  Students can then make predictions about the cultures while they are playing the game.  Those predictions can be used throughout units of study of geographical places and world cultures.  Students playing Monopoly may predict something largely financial happened during the early part of the twentieth century. Nine Man Morris, played during the early Roman Empire, or the Royal Game of Ur, one of the oldest known games, might provide windows into a time unknown to students and may be helpful in helping students connect to an unknown culture and time.
• Encourage students to dissect core components of games, game principles, and emotional design elements with students (Fig. 1).  Dissection of games may help students understand the engaging elements of games and how they can be applied to games of their own design.  Students might compare and contrast game elements  from various games and discuss why some games are more engaging than others. Students can also make connections between game elements and how they might begin to engage others through the use of games.
• Allow students to create their own games using a design process that includes player feedback and iteration of their games.  Implementing a design process that includes playtesting allows students to react to player feedback and iterate their design (Farber, 2015).  Authentic play of student created games also creates an environment of high quality student output as students build their games, and it also creates an environment of giving and receiving peer feedback.  Teachers may also ask students to use an existing game and ask students to recreate, through iteration, its design.  The process of iteration allows students to “level-up” their game and make it more appealing to future players.
• Assign students to design abstract games within content areas.  Try asking students to design a Math game using a deck of cards, a board game paralleling World War I or A Farewell to Arms, or a word game related to William Shakespeare's “King Lear”.  Crossing content and concepts from the classroom with game creation can serve as needed application and attempts to automatize information through game play.  
• Work with students to explore story elements of games as related to context, plot, and character development.  Have students write a script for a current game or use a script as the basis for creating a game.  It might also be interesting for students to write reviews of existing “storyline heavy” video games they play at home.    
• Finally, apply game design to add context to coding experiences in web and app design.  Programs like Zulama offer a rich gaming context to digitally designed games.  Using software like GameMaker to create original video games or creating 3D worlds with Unity allow students to put coding and programming skills to use in an authentic way in the classroom.  Involving students in feedback discussions and the iteration process using their original created video games yields high engagement.  Curriculum programs provide classroom teachers with instructional tools related to programming that might not be native to most educators, yet provide context for coding and programming tools used by many students.  

As these examples show, game-based learning is not simply a matter of “game-ifying” the curriculum by playing content heavy Jeopardy games, but rather challenging students to become game designers through exposure to game elements; Andrew’s students know this firsthand.   The Entertainment Software Association estimates that there were 140 million video gamers in the United States as of 2015, and many more worldwide playing video and analog games.  With this statistic in mind, schools like Randolph Central School and teachers like Andrew Garvey are searching for ways to engage with their students in ways that are relevant to their students.  And using an everyday game based learning approach, Andrew and his students do not intend to only consume games, their graphics, and their storylines, but also to create them.  
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Whether your favorite game is Monopoly, Minecraft or Mancala, when you are gaming, you are a student and learning is happening.  Almost magically, the game has placed you in your Zone of Proximal Development and, chances are, you can’t get enough, even when you’re losing.  Incorporating game-based learning strategies to instructional design can bring the magic of the game to the heart of learning in any classroom.  

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​The Scholastic Challenge Competition will be held this Saturday, February 6 at Portville Central School.  This annual event, sponsored by Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES, will host a total of 41 teams who will compete in a Junior Division and Senior Division, for grades 6-12.
Scholastic Challenge is a fast paced contest that tests knowledge of academic trivia.  Teams of four students will measure their ability to recall details from a wide variety of topics.  
Fourteen school districts will be participating in the double-elimination contest this year.  This translates to about 250 students and coaches.  Throughout the day, several thousand questions will be read aloud to these ambitious teams.  Spectators are encouraged to watch the competitions. It’s exciting to see the students combine an impressive display of intelligence with camaraderie, graciousness and good sportsmanship.

The final matches will be held on stage in the Portville auditorium around 2:15-3:15 (these are approximate times). The first and second place teams in each division will be presented with plaques to recognize their achievements.  
​
This event requires about 40 volunteers to make the day run smoothly.  CABOCES  Student Programs is grateful to everyone who donates their time and experience to provide a fun and educational day for the students in our area.  Scholastic Challenge could not happen without their help! 

The following school districts will be attending:
    Hinsdale Central-2 teams coached by Kate Jedrosko 
    Cuba-Rushford - 4 teams coached by John Butler 
    Ellicottville Central - 3 teams coached by Ann Chamberlain
    Fillmore Central – 2 teams coached by Deb Woltag & Bill Kelley
    Franklinville Central - 3 teams coached by Shannon Wood
    Friendship Central - 1 team coached by Wade Pearsall 
    Genesee Valley - 4 teams coached by Rollie Duttweiler & Sara Donlon
    Olean High- 1 teams coached by Carolyn Shields
    Pioneer Central -4 teams coached by Sarah Wood
    Portville Central - 8 teams coached by Margaret Seib & Gene Rogers 
    Randolph Central-1 team coached by Jennifer Bieniek
    Scio Central - 3 teams coached by Mary Zdrojewski
    Wellsville Central - 2 teams coached by Diane Willard
    West Valley Central - 3 teams coached by Ryan Keem

​Online learning has had a twenty-one percent increase in enrollment numbers since 2014 alone.  The distance learning team at CA BOCES has been busy traveling to many districts helping students with their online classes.  The most popular courses this year are Computer Science, Psychology, Sociology, Veterinary Science, Criminology, Game Design, German, Creative Writing, Engineering Design, Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Law and Order, and Personal Finance. Although these are the most popular, students are also learning about astronomy, sports marketing, digital art, 3D Modeling and animation, world religions, mythology and folklore, social problems facing the world, and many other diverse and remarkable things.

Every year the online enrollment numbers seem to increase due to students’ curiosity shifting and job markets broadening the skills required for employment. Students say that online courses give them a chance to try out many things that aren’t offered in their districts. As juniors try to determine where their enthusiasm lies for future college degrees, they use online courses to test out content areas and to deepen their skills in areas they are already passionate about.

​By:  Christina McGee, CA BOCES Learning Resources

The largest Scholastic Challenge Competition was held on Saturday, February 7 at Portville Central School.  This annual event, sponsored by Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES, hosted a record total of 49 teams who competed in a Junior Division and Senior Division, for grades 6-12.

Scholastic Challenge is a fast-paced contest that tests knowledge of academic trivia.  Teams of three students measure their ability to recall details from a wide variety of topics. 

Thirteen school districts participated in the double-elimination contest this year.  This translates to more than 200 students and coaches.  Throughout the day, several thousand questions were read aloud to these ambitious teams.  All the teams represented their schools well, combining an impressive display of intelligence with camaraderie, graciousness and good sportsmanship that was admirable.

Competitors and coaches represented the following school districts:
      Allegany-Limestone-1 team coached by Kathy Schaeper
      Hinsdale Central-4 teams coached by Kate Jedrosko
      Cuba-Rushford - 6 teams coached by John Butler
      Ellicottville Central - 4 teams coached by Ann Chamberlain
      Fillmore Central – 2 teams coached by Deb Woltag & Bill Kelley
      Friendship Central - 1 team coached by Wade Pearsall
      Genesee Valley - 6 teams coached by Rollie Duttweiler & Sara Donlon
      Olean High- 2 teams coached by Carolyn Shields
      Pioneer Central -5 teams coached by Sarah Wood & Jimmy Wood
      Portville Central - 9 teams coached by Margaret Seib & Gene Rogers
      Randolph Central- 1 team coached by Jennifer Bieniek
      Wellsville Central - 3 teams coached by Diane Willard & Hope Gilfert
      West Valley Central - 5 teams coached by Ryan Keem

There were two impressive teams who were undefeated going into the Finals in the auditorium.  Congratulations to the Fillmore Green Junior team and the Pioneer Starfleet Academy Senior team!           

The final matches were held on stage in the Portville auditorium.  As usual, the finalists were challenged to answer questions on current events and local facts.  The first and second place teams in each division were presented with plaques to recognize their achievements.  All four of the Finalist teams have earned the honor of being invited to the 2015 National Academic Championship.

This event requires about 50 volunteers to make the day run smoothly.  CABOCES Student Programs is grateful to everyone who donated their time and experience to provide a fun and educational day for the students in our area.  Scholastic Challenge could not happen without their help! 

Congratulations to all the teams and their proud coaches on a job well done.  We look forward to seeing everyone back next year!


By: Jean Oliverio, CA BOCES

Students and teachers (of COSER 501 member districts) can access hundreds of thousands of digital resources using CABOCES Digital Kids.  

www.cabocesdigitalkids.org

Users may login to CABOCES DIGITAL KIDS to search clips and images or pass through to:
Brain Pop (Jr., ESL, Espanol),Discovery, Learn 360, Sylvan Dell eBooks, Teaching Books, Tumblebooks, Soundszabound, Gale Cengage, Regents Review

Cattaraugus Allegany BOCES has been awarded a grant for $218,787 from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The grant, called the Rural Utility Service (RUS) grant will be used by Cattaraugus Allegany BOCES and six area school districts to upgrade video conferencing equipment.  The upgrades to video conferencing equipment will provide Allegany Limestone, Bolivar Richburg, Hinsdale, Randolph, Salamanca and West Valley with new high definition video conference capabilities that the schools will use to have students and teachers take part in distance learning opportunities.    

This school year, teachers and students in Randolph Central School worked hard to educate each other on the negative effects bullying can have on students today. Teachers Carrie Shaw (grades 7-8) and Heather Brock (grades 9-12) were named Randolph Central School’s Bullying Prevention Specialists. Both advisors and their clubs worked hard this year to get to the bottom of bullying and brought great perspective of this issue to their district through different events and activities.