July 2019
From PDRC to PLIC: What’s in a Name?
The Professional Development and Resource Center (PD&RC) team recently participated in a strategic planning process where they defined their mission, vision, and priority areas for the next few years. All twenty-one team members collaborated in the process and agreed on the mission of “building expertise together to advance learning for all”. Although most of the team’s work is focused on providing learning opportunities and resources for teachers and leaders, their ultimate goal is to impact student learning which is reflected in “learning for all.” To keep in alignment with the team’s vision and mission, the team has undergone a rebranding process where they updated their name to the Professional Learning & Innovation Center (PLIC) .

Through the planning process and a needs assessment with administrators from the component school districts, the team identified five priority areas for their work:
1. Standards and Curriculum
2. Instructional Practices/ Pedagogy
3. Social Emotional Learning
4. Leadership and Systems
5. Instructional Technology and Resources
The regional and district-based professional learning opportunities scheduled throughout the 19-20 school year will be focused on these priority areas.

The PLIC’s vision is “to be the educational partner of choice that inspires lifelong learning”. To strive towards this vision, the team has committed to behaviors that will provide quality services and good communication with the component school districts. These commitments include how professional learning is designed, delivered, and evaluated, as well as methods for regular communication with the region. In following through with these behaviors, the PLIC hopes to maintain and expand upon the educational partnerships that have been established with districts in the region.

If you have any questions about the PLIC priorities, services, or want to further discuss your district or building’s professional learning needs, please contact Kerri Bullock at kbullock@btboces.org or 766-3766.
Due to expanding partnerships and services, the PLIC team has welcomed three new team members over the last couple of months.
Dodie Ainslie was hired as an Instructional Support Specialist for Instructional Technology to support two school districts (Binghamton and Union-Endicott) who added services to support one-to-one technology initiatives.
Erin Smith was hired as an Instructional Support Specialist for ELA and Literacy to support the regional work and in-district coaching related to the Accelerating Student Literacy Achievement service.
Stacy Smith was hired as an Instructional Support Specialist for Professional Development and will be supporting districts who will be participating in the Supporting School Climate, Academics, and Behavior service. 
Curriculum Camp
Broome-Tioga BOCES Professional Learning & Innovation Center facilitated the region’s 1st annual Curriculum Camp July 22-25 at Chenango Forks Elementary School. Approximately sixty teachers from six districts (Chenango Valley, Sidney, Union-Endicott, Whitney Point, Owego-Apalachin, Susquehanna Valley) participated in this year’s camp.

Participating teachers were guided through a design cycle where they prioritized standards, developed a rationale, identified learning targets, developed formative and summative assessments, identified success criteria, and developed a pacing guide or road map for an instructional unit. The design process can be challenging and messy, but the participants endured and walked away feeling very successful and accomplished. They also had some fun along the way by enjoying energizers, ice cream, and bonding with their teams.

The end task for all participants was to present their final product to administrators from their district. It was clear the administrators enjoyed hearing more about the work of their teachers, and were happy to participate in the final hour of the camp. The PLIC team also enjoyed walking alongside each of the teams as they completed this important work and is looking forward to hearing about the impact on their students in the upcoming year! 
Four Districts Launch Restorative Practices Implementation Plans
On July 11th and 12th administrators, counselors, teachers and social workers began the Restorative Practices implementation journey with Pat Walsh. Teams from Whitney Point, Chenango Valley, Greene and Union Endicott came together with a common goal of using the basic principles of Restorative Practices to create a school- wide Culture of Care. 

Three words that capture the basic principles of the work are: respect, responsibility and relationships. Three tiers of support live under the Restorative Practices umbrella. Tier one is about community building and has as its foundation strong relationships between adults in the community and between adults and students. Tiers two and three , “Restorative Justice” focus on the repairing of any harm that has been done and the reintegration of students into the school community. This focus on repairing harm rather than punishing the offender is a fundamental mindset shift in this work.

Talking circles are a significant structure and begin with the use of community circles to build relationships and honor shared values. Teams participated in a whole group community circle and practiced their circle keeping skills throughout the two day workshop. Teams also used Restorative Conversation prompts to focus on solution focused dialogue with students. Teams worked on a draft action plan to bring the work to their respective buildings and intentionally map out a three year process of education and support for the work. They left highly energized and optimistic about their roll out of this in their “pilot” year of 2019-2020. Two other districts, Owego and Deposit, will be participating in team training in early August.
  Learn ~ Collaborate ~ Explore ~ Register Today!
Looking for more Professional Learning opportunities?
Check out the PLIC catalog and calendar here !