August 2019
33rd Annual Leaders' Academy
The 33 rd Annual Leaders’ Academy was held on August 7th and 8th at the Doubletree in Binghamton. There were approximately 95 administrators from the BT BOCES region who attended this year’s academy from 14 school districts.

The academy kicked off with a full-day presentation by Dr. Ken Ginsburg focusing on Building on the Strengths of Young People: A Trauma-Sensitive, Resilience-Building Approach . During his presentation, Ken emphasized the importance of building relationships with young people and provided the audience with specific strategies for doing so as leaders. Dr. Ginsburg presented an integrated model for working with youth - one that includes components of positive youth development, resilience building strategies, and trauma-sensitive practices. He mentioned that “at the root of all models is the primacy and power of human relationships both to build strong, successful youth and to heal those who have endured hardships,” and that we are at the “sweet spot” in education to be able to have this impact. Participants left day 1 feeling energized and inspired. One principal said that Dr. Ginsburg provided a lot of information that could be shared with her staff, and that she would be redoing her opening day message to incorporate the messages from the day.

The academy continued on August 8 th with opportunities to hear from districts in the region and how they are building a culture of resilience in their schools. There were a range of presentations available throughout the day for participants to attend (see below).
A huge thank you goes out to all of our presenters for taking the time to share your successes with others from the region! We look forward to continuing the conversations about how to best support our students with you at your division meetings this year. 
Accelerating Students' Literacy Growth
This August over 40 elementary teachers from across the region joined us for the launch of this year’s workshop series, “Accelerating Students’ Literacy Growth”. This effort is a partnership of the BT PLIC literacy and special education specialists as well as Dr. Nicole Fenty of Binghamton University’s Department of Teaching, Learning, and Educational Leadership. We are very excited to think together with this year’s incoming cohort of teachers who represent elementary core classroom instruction, literacy and special education in kindergarten through 8 th grade classrooms from a total of 12 districts. Additionally, we are thrilled to welcome Erin Smith as an instructional coach to provide on-site support for teachers involved in this series. Erin has been a valued thinking partner in this work for several years, and comes to us from Maine Memorial Elementary School. 

In this year’s summer launch we examined a variety of research regarding the brain’s processing of reading and profiles of students who struggle to develop necessary literacy skills. We discussed options for assessment tools for varied purposes, including quick literacy screeners and, most importantly, time-efficient diagnostic assessments. Teachers were introduced to some research-based assessment tools that yield useful data for targeting instruction. The outcome of the launch was an assessment toolkit that can be used in the first weeks of instruction to better identify needs of certain students. We look forward to coming back together with this group throughout the year to analyze data, decide on specific teaching points, plan instruction using evidence-based strategies, and share ideas based on what’s working in our classrooms. 
Rick Bray Named 2019 Schoology Ambassador of the Year!
The Ambassador of the Year award is given to a Schoology Ambassador who is an active, innovative, and enthusiastic advocate and Schoology resource online, within their institution, and at events. This year’s award was presented to Rick Bray at the Schoology NEXT Conference in July. Rick currently serves as an Instructional Support Specialist for Instructional Technology for Maine-Endwell and Windsor, providing ongoing professional development and support for teachers and administrators in the district. In his role, he supports the use of Schoology and other instructional technology tools that can be leveraged in the classroom to enhance student learning. Great work, Rick!
  Learn ~ Collaborate ~ Explore ~ Register Today!

Kindergarten Academy [Sept 12, Sept 25, Nov 18, Feb 20, Apr 20]

Math PLC: Grades 7-8 [Sept 24, Nov 13, Jan 28, Mar 23]

Explicit Impact on High School Readers [Sept 25, Nov 12, Jan 9, Feb 12]


Leadership Team Meetings

Looking for more Professional Learning opportunities?
Check out the PLIC catalog and calendar here !