Participants will join a Google Classroom for the full student experience. Over the course of five weeks, a variety of assignments and tasks will be assigned, incorporating different components of G Suite. This program will provide a solid introduction for first-time Google Classroom users and highlight this year's major improvements and updates in Google Classroom for veteran users. Participants should expect to participate for 5 hours per week, over 3 weeks.

In this 15-hour course, participants will learn how to and gain confidence in using Adobe Photoshop for their secondary classroom. Participants will learn the fundamentals and perform tasks, practical examples, and complete projects. The participants will also create a lesson during the course, following the new state standards for Media Arts, which they will implement in their classroom in the fall, culminating with students providing a reflection about the new lesson.

EDIT: This course will be held completely online through synchronous and asynchronous instruction and activities using Zoom. Participants will need to secure their own copy of Adobe Photoshop, but 7-day trials are available. More details will be released soon.

Location: Synchronous and asynchronous online
Dates: 8/17, 8/19, 8/20
Time: 9am-2:30pm (30 minute break for lunch)
Fee: None. However, registration is required.
Facilitator: Marielle Martin, Bethlehem CSD
CTLE Credit: 15 hours

Get a head start on the school year and have some NYSSLS lessons ready to go with this teacher work session. In this two part, 8 hour session, you will have the time to work together or independently on developing lessons, units, or assessments. Options will be available to start at various stages in the process to best suit teacher needs and get the most out of your time. Whether you are just starting out and need to "unpack" the standards or have already developed lessons, you will be provided with tips and tools to help move you further through the process of implementation in your classroom. All levels, from Elementary to High School will benefit. A working lunch will be provided.

Discussion topics will address how educators can foster equitable classrooms that support our students' well-being while transitioning from remote, home-based learning back to school-based learning. The central means of instruction will be restorative circle process. GCRTC registrants have first priority.

Each week will focus on meaningful issues related to:

>educator wellness and emotion regulation;
>building relationships that heal and support students;
>addressing the broad definition of grief and loss - supporting students in moving forward;
>repairing harm, bullying and mediation of behaviors that cause concern;
>establishing a long-term plan of action that supports the social-emotional needs of both students and educators.

The success of beginning educators is often directly related to a trusting mentor - mentee relationship. During these uncertain times, the quality of this relationship is more important than ever. Mentors must be cognizant of the importance of: support & praise, really listening, understanding feelings behind words, being honest yet sensitive, empathizing with diverse challenges and helping new teachers develop a healthy sense of confidence, security and self-sufficiency. This course provides a regional forum for both new and seasoned mentors to share and build essential mentoring skills over the course of the school year, so that support is available through all phases of the process. For each session, participating mentors will read and reflect on a timely mentoring topic for about an hour and then meet collaboratively for one and one half hours, via Zoom, to discuss that topic and learn from both research and one another. Participating mentors will also have an opportunity to ask questions in a collegial environment and support one another in honing their practice under the guidance of an experienced mentoring facilitator.

With so much uncertainty surrounding what school will be like come September 2020, it is essential for World Language teachers to work together to provide students the best learning possible. The possibility of continued distance learning, as well as the expected roll-out of the new NYS World Language Standards, require teachers to collaborate, explore new ways of learning and support disconnected students more than ever. We welcome all new and returning members to the 2020-21 PLC.

Topics:
- New NYS World Language Standards
- Differentiated Instruction in the Comprehensible Input 1:1 classroom
- Assisting students with chronic illness/absences,
- Improving students' ability to learn a new language by increasing access to teacher-created and authentic materials
- Best Practices in a 1:1 environment
- Speaking in a 1:1 environment
- Collaboration on meaningful activities to increase speaking comprehension and fluency

The PLC will meet for 15 hours total from July 2020-April 2021. Five of those hours will be over the summer, with 10 scheduled throughout the school year. All meetings will be in Clifton Park, with the understanding we will move to synchronous online meetings if needed.

Fall (Thursdays):
October 8, 4:30-6:30pm
November 12, 4:30-6:30pm
30 min of outside work will be provided to prepare for each meeting, evidence of work will be required to document the hour of CTLE credit

Please also sign up for our Summer and Spring sessions!

How does your own writing make you feel? Do you want to share it with others or your students? How might you feel when you confer? Let's demystify writing conferences, writing processes, and writing conventions as we encourage one another and engage in uncovering writing for ourselves and our students. Come join us as we take an in-depth study of process writing, noticing and naming patterns within conventions and skills, and learn to nudge students towards the next "right' step based upon their writing approximations and strengths. We'll examine these methods in a three part process. Part one includes: finding new ways to deepen teacher and student relationships; choosing topics; understanding the what and why of conferring; why writing matters; student entry points into writing conferences; learning to reread & rewrite our own writing; and conferences with students and colleagues. In part two, we'll explore: bringing teacher writing into the classroom; quick writes in different genres; learning to be an audience; invitations for conferring and getting behind a student's writing plan; conference strategies for reluctant students; and studying our own conferring. We'll wrap up, in part three by analyzing writing process patterns and convention patterns to build our knowledge of, and response to, writing. We'll also use our own writing as exemplars to illuminate skills, strategies, and procedures, and to share what we grapple with within our own writing. Finally, we'll consider possible next steps to improve our conferring practices. We'll engage as writers, learners and coaches in this 45 hour professional learning journey. Required texts: Children Want to Write by Donald Graves (2013) edited by Thomas Newkirk and Penny Kittle; Inside Writing: how to teach the details of craft by Donald Graves and Penny Kittle (2005); and The Teachers Guide to Writing Conferences Grades K-8 by Carl Anderson (2018).

With so much uncertainty surrounding what school will be like come September 2020, it is essential for World Language teachers to work together to provide students the best learning possible. The possibility of continued distance learning, as well as the expected roll-out of the new NYS World Language Standards, require teachers to collaborate, explore new ways of learning and support disconnected students more than ever. We welcome all new and returning members to the 2020-21 PLC.

Topics:
- New NYS World Language Standards
- Differentiated Instruction in the Comprehensible Input 1:1 classroom
- Assisting students with chronic illness/absences,
- Improving students' ability to learn a new language by increasing access to teacher-created and authentic materials
- Best Practices in a 1:1 environment
- Speaking in a 1:1 environment
- Collaboration on meaningful activities to increase speaking comprehension and fluency

The PLC will meet for 15 hours total from July 2020-April 2021. Five of those hours will be over the summer, with 10 scheduled throughout the school year. All meetings will be in Clifton Park, with the understanding we will move to synchronous online meetings if needed.

Spring (Thursdays):
March 11, 4:30-6:30pm
April 15, 4:30-6:30pm

30 min of outside work will be provided to prepare for each meeting, evidence of work will be required to document the hour of CTLE credit Please also sign up for our Summer and Winter sessions!