March 2021 PLIC Pride!

March 2021

4th Annual Fine Arts Day - Reimagined

This year the annual Fine Arts Day looked a little different. Thanks to a collaboration between BT BOCES PLIC and the Teacher Center of Broome County, 86 Music and Art Educators from around the state participated in three evenings of Fine Arts Professional Learning.

On Wednesday March 10th, the event began with a Keynote by teacher and author Jennifer Rafferty. She spoke to the group about finding their “why” and rooting in that why when they are making teaching decisions. The evening continued with two breakout opportunities that centered around Elementary and Middle School students. During the breakout opportunities participants could select from 9 different sessions to attend with topics ranging from incorporating the Blues into Orchestra, creating self portraits in Chrome Canvas and solutions to the Virtual Ensemble.

Day two of the event was focused around High School educators. This evening had three breakout opportunities and 13 different choices of sessions. Members of the BT BOCES PLIC team presented on Google Classroom, Schoology, Kami, Pear Deck and BrainPop. Other sessions included DIY Watercolors, Meditative Art, Equity and Inclusion in Programming and Vocal Health. On the final day of the event, participants had the opportunity to engage in Teacher Self Care and content specific round table discussions.

This event would not have been successful if it were not for the help from the PLIC team and The Teacher Center of Broome County. Additionally 16 local presenters from Owego-Apalachin, Union-Endicott, Maine-Endwell, Whitney Point, Chenango Valley, Susquehanna Valley, Vestal, Binghamton, Binghamton University and Greene all helped to bring valuable and authentic learning experiences to the week. We look forward to next year and the 5th Annual Fine Arts Day!

Introduction to the NYS Physical Education Learning Standards (2020)

This February, physical education teachers and administrators from around the region participated in an asynchronous professional learning opportunity introducing them to the new NYS Physical Education Learning Standards (2020). The learning kicked off with a Zoom meeting where participants were engaged in an interactive exercise about key components of the new standards. The participants' learning continued in Schoology where they had an opportunity to further explore the standards and reflect on specific outcomes that are strengths in their programs and others that they might want to focus on moving forward.

What should leaders know about the new standards?

The revised New York Physical Education Standards are an expansion of the previous NYS standards and are grounded in the development of physical literacy—”the ability to move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple environments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person (Mandigo, Francis, Lodewyk & Lopez, 2012).” The full standards document can be accessed here. Key components of the standards include:

The NYS Physical Education Standards (2020) include six (6) anchor standards (image below).
Each anchor standard includes 2-3 content strands and grade-level outcomes, aligned to a specific strand. The shift to grade-specific learning outcomes is new for the NYS PE standards.
The standards and grade-level outcomes include learning in the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains. All three domains are important in the development of physical literacy.
The standards and strands include content related to overall wellness and social emotional learning
The standards are focused and prioritized. For each grade level, there are no more than 16 grade-level outcomes.

What is the implementation plan, including timeline, for the standards?

The full implementation roadmap, including key implementation activities, timeline, and a place to identify building/district action steps can be found on the NYS Education Department’s website.

The timeline for the implementation of the NYS Physical Education Learning Standards (2020) is:

Phase 1: Raising Awareness (Fall 2020-Fall 2021)
Phase 2: Building Capacity (Fall 2021 - Fall 2023)
Phase 3: Full Implementation (Fall 2023-ongoing)

What resources are available to support the implementation of the standards?

The NYS Education Department’s physical education webpage includes the following resources to support districts with implementation of the new standards:

Physical Education Learning Standards at a glance - this document shows the progression of grade-level outcomes by standard and strand in an easy-to-view way
Introduction to the NYS PE Learning Standards (2020) presentation - this presentation provides an overview of the standards and identifies key changes from the 1996 standards
New Parent Resources were just added to the Department’s website and are available in 11 different languages. Please share this information with families in your district.
Coming soon - A curriculum alignment guide to support districts in building capacity of the standards. This resource will include guidance and examples of standards-based curricula.

If you have any professional learning requests, questions or specific physical education-related needs, please contact Kerri Bullock at kbullock@btboces.org .