Professional Learning Teams (PLTs)
Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) meet one time per month over the academic year. PLTs are small teams of teachers who meet together monthly to collaboratively learn, investigate, and implement best practices. Participating in a PLT is a deliberate process that requires attention, focus, and a willingness to move beyond sharing lessons and ideas to critically examining practice, research, and implementation.
DESCRIPTION
This PLT will be facilitated by Jean Gallo.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 5PM-7PM):
September 22
October 20
November 17
December 15
January 19
February 15 (TBD)
March 15
April 20
May 18
This PLC will work to improve teaching, ourselves, and student/community through the reading of a book each month. We will open ourselves to new ideas and perspectives as we read and discuss the books. By improving upon our knowledge we will be able to improve upon our students’ overall experiences in our classes. This PLT will be faciltated by Kathy Ellis.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 6PM-8PM):
September 17
October 15
November 12
December 17
January 14
DESCRIPTION
This PLT will be facilitated by Donna Callaghan and Ron Perry.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
September 24 @4:30PM
Working together to create hands on lessons for climate change and climate science, teaching students to “sift” through the media to find the facts, and recognizing climate change in the media. This PLT will be facilitated by Chris Johnson and Linda Morton.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (all at 4PM):
September 24
October 29
November 19
December 17
January 28
February 25
March 25
April 29
Members of this PLT will walk away with design challenges ready to implement in their classrooms. Participating Master Teachers will work on design challenges that they can use in their classrooms. Our goal of the PLT is to create working models of each design challenge along with rubrics and instructional materials so that each member can use the challenge in their classroom, regardless of the subject area or grade level. We will share curriculum integration, learning how design challenges can enhance learning in different subject areas. Also, this will be great space for teachers to gain confidence with tools they may not be familiar with. Meetings will be Google Meet - will be facilitated by Matt Saramak, Carl Koppmann and Stan Skotnicki.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings frm 6PM-8PM):
September 30
October 28
November 18
December 16
January 20
The Flipped Classroom PLT is for anyone interested in using technology to enhance the learning experience for students and teachers, especially extending the reach of instruction outside of the school day. We will share methods that are currently being used and will look into new ideas as the number of applications continues to increase. We will investigate the benefits and potential pitfalls of different applications in regards to efficiency, reliability, ease of use as well as other parameters. This is also a welcoming place for teachers who are on the fence about making the leap into digital learning. Facilitators are Mike Fabozzi and Omer Bitar.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 5-7PM):
September 24
October 22
November 19
December 10
The Middle School FAL PLT will meet monthly over the course of the school year, following an established protocol
for math teacher professional development focused on engagement in Formative Assessment Lesson (FAL)
activities, and a study of classroom video excerpts of the FAL. Meetings will center on in-depth discussion regarding implementation of formative assessment lessons from the perspective of the mathematical content; cognitive demand; equity and access; and agency, ownership and identify. The professional development materials that will be the focus of each meeting are available at https://tle.soe.umich.edu/MFA/ Teachers in this PLT include NYS Master Teachers and math teachers from the Western New York region. The PLT is facilitated by Denea Czapla. The work is supported in part by a National Science Foundation Grant titled Building a Teacher Knowledge Base for the Implementation of High-quality Instructional Resources Through the Collaborative Investigation of Video Cases. For additional information please contact David Wilson at wilsondc@buffalostate.edu.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
The High School FAL PLT will meet monthly over the course of the school year, following an established protocol for
math teacher professional development focused on engagement in Formative Assessment Lesson (FAL)
activities, and a study of classroom video excerpts of the FAL. Meetings will center on in-depth discussion regarding implementation of formative assessment lessons from the perspective of the mathematical content; cognitive demand; equity and access; and agency, ownership and identify. The professional development materials that will be the focus of each meeting are available at https://tle.soe.umich.edu/MFA/ Teachers in this PLT include NYS Master Teachers and math teachers from the Western New York region. The PLT is facilitated by Mary Plumb and Nilam Yagielski. The work is supported in part by a National Science Foundation Grant titled Building a Teacher
Knowledge Base for the Implementation of High-quality Instructional Resources Through the Collaborative
Investigation of Video Cases. For additional information please contact David Wilson at wilsondc@buffalostate.edu.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
The objective of this PLT is to collaborate on how we are developing and implementing plans in a hybrid model of instruction during the 2020 Pandemic. We aim to create lessons that are seamless between remote and in person days of instruction by discussing best practices and trying out new strategies and discussing how things could be improved. Specifically, we want to address how our normal ‘hands on’ learning in science can translate in this new teaching environment. This PLT will be facilitated by Amanda Jasper and Nancy Claxton.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
October 10
November 14
December 12
January 9
The Hybrid Mathematics Instruction PLT is for anyone who needs to adapt mathematics instruction to a hybrid or remote learning situation. We will share and explore methods to engage students at the same level as when they were in the normal classroom setting. The goal is for teachers to be able to teach the same materials in the most efficient and effective way available including assessment, discussion and "hands-on" learning. This PLT will be facilitated by Jeff Welton.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
September 29th 4pm - 6pm
DESCRIPTION
This PLT will be facilitated by Pamela Urbanek.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
The MAKE PLT provides time and resources for teachers who are interested in learning how to create demonstration models that improve student understanding of concepts. We design and build a variety of projects to use as testing apparatus, instructional aides, or for demonstrations with our students. This PLT is facilitated by Joe Bella.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 6PM-8PM):
September 21
October 19
November 9
December 14
January 11
February 8
March 8
April 19
May 10
Manifest is software that visualizes mathematics in a concrete way. It quickly visualizes many mathematical expressions, equations, and functions from Kindergarten through calculus by simply typing the expressions, equations, or functions into the software. It is also very useful for visualizing equations used in science. In this PLT, we will be developing protocols for using Manifest with students in both the in-person and virtual classroom. We will go through a process of creating protocols, using them with kids, bringing back the results, analyzing them, refining the protocols, and repeating that cycle. This PLT is facilitated by Harry O'Malley.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 5PM-7PM):
September 22, 2020
Using the Context for Learning, Mathematical Investigations, to support teachers in creating a more student driven mathematical learning community. The PLT will continue to consult with Kara Imm and use the Context for Learning Units. We will use the mathematical context units to study the math workshop model including routines, investigation and assessment. This PLT is co-facilitated by Jill Zobel and Lori Chittenden.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 4:30pm-6:30pm):
October 7
November 4
December 2
January 6
February 3
March 3
April 7
May 5
DESCRIPTION
This PLT is facilitated by Mary Dileas.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
This Professional Collaboration will provide a forum for teachers to share their mentoring experiences with each other in order to gain insight into one another’s practices and grow their mentoring knowledge and skills. Mentoring of preservice teachers in their early field experience, mid-level experience and student teaching, as well as mentoring early career teachers, and teaching virtually in unprecedented times, will be the focus. Issues including implementing co-teaching models, high-leverage practices, assessment of candidates in their field experience navigating virtual/remote learning, and other related issues will be discussed. Shelley Bochicchio will be facilitating this interest group.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 7pm-9pm):
Outdoor Description: In this PLT members will be exploring regional outdoor locations with science standards and learning in mind. Recording will happen on different platforms to be shared within classrooms and with teachers to guide outdoor learning. Time will be given in the PLT to both explore sites and technology platforms that will contribute to the groups collection of resources. Members will also share personally created outdoor resources during PLT meetings. Connecting all students and families with outdoor resources in our local community is an additional and essential priority for this group. This PLT will be facilitated by Bob O'Connor and Tessa Johnson.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
September 22nd @ 7:30pm
DESCRIPTION
This PLT will be facilitated by Erik Zobel and Brian Dena.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
Member of this PLT will be focusing on helping students learn science from wherever they are. Lessons will be standard focused with the ability to deliver them asynchronously, synchronously, or as a hybrid model. Lesson development will also have a conscious understanding that all may not have the same learning platforms or opportunities. This PLT will be offered statewide. This PLT is co-facilitated by Kirsten Provenzano and Michelle Layer.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings are from 5PM-8PM):
September 17
October 15
November 19
December 17
January 21
February 11
March 18
April 15
May 20
In this PLT we will be focusing on the social/emotional well being of our students both in person and virtually. We will develop strategies and techniques to deepen our knowledge of our students as we work to build classroom communities and foster relationships with our families. Our work will draw upon the Responsive Classroom Model which supports the integration of social emotional learning into existing curricula. Our goal is to build a classroom community while providing our students with tools and strategies to cope with their emotions in a healthy way. We will read, digest, develop, implement, and evaluate the use of best practices and discuss their effectiveness. This PLT is led by Jamie Cinelli and Kristen Shouldice.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 4:30-6:30PM):
September 30
October 28
November 18
December 16
January 27
February 24
March 24
April 28
May 12
DESCRIPTION
This PLT will be facilitated by Christina O'Malley.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates:
This PCG will allow for collaboration amongst K - 8 teachers utilizing the Amplify platform in their classrooms. Our goal is to share strategies which maximize instruction and engagement for students. We will investigate how the curriculum and skills develop from year to year. This PLT is faciliated by Nancy Claxton and Debbie Wehrlin.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 4-6PM):
October 6
November 10
December 1
January 5
February 2
March 2
April 6
May 4
To research effective instructional strategies for remote/hybrid teaching of Living Environment. From this research we plan to develop synchronous and asynchronous lessons that can be implemented in the Living Environment classroom. We will then reflect upon the effectiveness of these lessons. This PLT will be facilitated by Kim Ferguson.
2020-2021 Meeting Dates (All meetings from 4PM-6PM):
September 30th
October 28th
November 18th
December 16th
Professional Collaborations includes small teams of teachers who gather in regional discussions, collaboration, and planning, as well as Professional Interest Group Meetings, Collegial Circles, and Book Studies.
None currently listed.
Algebra Strings
Big Science Uploads
Coaching
Common Language
Computer Science
Mathematics Sharing
Calculus Sharing
International Teacher Professional Developent
Literacy
Outdoor Science
Gamification and Technology
GIS in the Classroom
Problem Posing and Problem Solving
Growth Mindset in the Math Classroom
Teacher Networking Team
