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Professional Development Opportunities
December Workshops
Read it like you mean it: Building Fluent Readers. Accuracy matters.
Empowering educators with evidence-based practices to accelerate literacy growth focusing on instructional practices listed in NYS’s Literacy Attestation.
December 4, 2025
Costello Center
Join a supportive community of educators who are passionate about helping students thrive. Together, we’ll share strategies, celebrate successes, and collaborate across districts to strengthen our practices.
Who Should Attend?
Special education teachers, paraprofessionals, psychologists, social workers, counselors, administrators – anyone committed to supporting students.
What to Expect
- Welcoming inclusion activities and team building
- Technical updates (goals, progress monitoring, transition, BIPs, etc.)
- Classroom environment & management strategies
- Problem- and success-sharing protocols
- Active student engagement & technology tools
- Dedicated collaboration time
Why Join?
- Connect with colleagues from across Central New York
- Gain practical strategies you can use right away
- Collaborate in a positive, welcoming environment
December 8, 2025 – 8:30-3:00
Campus Conference Room: Madison-Oneida BOCES, Verona
Math Manipulatives – Place Value
Math manipulatives can make learning so much more accessible for many of our students, from Kindergarten through high school! These trainings will focus on how manipulatives can be used to support all students in your classroom instruction. Attention will also be given to how these tools can be referenced on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students who are identified through special education.
December 9, 2025 – 8:30-3:00
Costello Center
Science PLG (K-12)
Join a collaborative community of science educators as we dive into the adventure, challenge, and creativity of teaching with three-dimensional science learning! Together, teachers will design, share, and refine engaging resources that support students in exploring science concepts as they think and work like scientists! The group is a space to exchange fresh ideas, experiment with strategies, and build a supportive community dedicated to keeping science learning exciting and accessible. Whether you’re new to 3 dimensional teaching or looking to refine your practice, this group is a space to experiment, reflect, and grow!
December 17, 2025 – 4:00-5:30
TriPlexus Room 105 (T8 Entrance) – Madison-Oneida BOCES Verona Campus
January Workshops
Dive into the Not So Simple View of Writing
In this workshop participants will learn about the necessity of transcription instruction for our primary students to lead to the composition skills needed for intermediate students. Resources will be shared and time for implementation planning will be worked into the day. All work aligned to New York State ELA Learning Standards and NYSED's Best Instructional Practices in writing.
January 6, 2026 – 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Costello Center
Science Phrases and PLDS: Building up the Instruction
How often have we heard that science exams are also “reading exams”? How often have we seen students struggle to decode a phrase or idea, to the point where it gets in the way of the learning? How often have we thought, “How did they miss this question? They know this!”
All of these ideas point back to one simple action that we can take to help students along: Reducing the cognitive load. In the simplest terms, if we can make the ancillary skills commonplace, we free up student brain power for the things we want them to focus on.
How do we do this?
Great question! Participants in Science Phrases and PLDs will work together in a structured format to comb through state assessments and performance level descriptions (PLDs) to identify important and common phrases used in the secondary sciences. Once we know them, we can use them on a regular basis within our classrooms. These phrases become comfortable for our students, reducing their cognitive load, reducing frustration and making room for the good stuff!
January 12, 2026 – 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Costello Center
HEART First: SEL in the Elementary Classroom
A Google Classroom and podcast series for nurturing emotional intelligence, resilience, and connection in the classroom.
Kick off event – January 12, 2026 – Virtual – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Wrap up event – February 24, 2026 – Virtual – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
NYS Portrait of a Graduate & Inquiry-Based Learning in PreK-Grade 5
This event, which will be a hybrid webinar with in-person discussion and presentations, will provide New York State administrators and school leaders with an opportunity to engage in regional discussions about what the NYS Portrait of a Graduate means in PreK to Grade 5, as well as how this connects to inquiry-based learning. Please note that to attend this event, you must attend in person at a BOCES or Big 5 designated site.
January 14, 2026 - 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Costello Center
This workshop will dig into all things Vocabulary. Learn and Practice the most effective strategies for learning vocabulary. AS one of the big six (6) components of learning to read, Vocabulary is being offered this year for Tier 2 & 3 words. Join us to learn which instructional best practices build vocabulary and try them out!
January 26, 2026 – 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Costello Conference Center
Numeracy Unboxed: Making Sense of the NYS Briefs
Join us for a dynamic full-day professional development experience designed to deepen understanding and spark collaboration around the New York State Numeracy Briefs. These sessions will bring together administrators, teachers, and support staff to explore how these timely and research-backed briefs can inform and elevate math instruction across all grade levels.
Brief 3: High Leverage Mathematical Content
Brief 4: High-Leverage Instructional Practices
January 30, 2026 – 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Costello Center
February Workshops
Literate History: Read.Write.Inquire.
Social Studies teachers! Are you interested in helping your students become better critical thinkers and writers? Then this is the offering for you! It is asynchronous so you can take it at your own pace. It comes with materials that you can use with little additional prep. It was developed by the University of Michigan (sorry State and O-H-I-O fans!) and has been used successfully in schools.
Drag an ELA friend into this if you want… they may also find this useful! You COULD go check it out by yourself, but why not let us save you some time and guide you through it? We promise; you won’t be disappointed.
In addition to the 6 CTLE hours that you will receive for the class, you can earn an additional 6 CTLE hours for trying out your learning in the classroom!
We hope that you join us!
February 2, 2026 through April 30, 2026
Asynchronous
Using AI to Save You Time – A Work Session
This interactive workshop is designed to meet you where you are in your AI journey. Whether you’re brand new and curious, have only dabbled with AI for emails or letters, or already feel comfortable and want to push into lesson design or student feedback, this is your space. You’ll receive personalized guidance as you explore how AI can streamline your planning, instruction, and professional tasks. The session will be free-flowing and hands-on, with plenty of time to try tools, ask questions, and test ideas. Most importantly, bring something you want to accomplish—a unit you’d like to rework, lessons you need to plan, or student work you want to analyze—and leave with real progress made. All levels of comfort are welcome, and you’ll walk away with practical skills you can immediately apply to save time and elevate your work!
February 3rd, 2026 – 8:30-3:00am
Costello Center
This session is based on the books Mentoring Matters (Lipton & Wellman) and Tell Me So I Can Hear You (Drago Severson & Blum-DeStefano). These sessions will highlight the mentor’s role in building a supportive school culture through their expertise in: understanding new teachers, generational differences, and offering support. Participants will explore: the process of brainstorming ideas, increasing professional knowledge, and examining the four “Ways of Knowing” (how adults receive and give feedback).
February 4th, 2026 – 8:30-11:30am
Costello Center
Join us to chat, collaborate, and get inspired for your next choir class.
February 6th, 2026 – 1:00-3:00 pm
Costello Center
Join Algebra teachers from around the region for our Algebra PLG. The goal of the Algebra PLG is to improve the skills and knowledge of educators through collaborative study, best-practice exchange, and professional dialogue. This group will meet three times this year to share expertise and work collaboratively to improve teaching skills and the academic performance of students through the Next Generation Mathematics Learning Standards.
February 13th, 2026 – 8:30-3:00 pm
Costello Center
Join special education teachers, paraprofessionals, psychologists, counselors and administrators who work in special education from around the Central New York Region to engage in meaningful professional development, collaborate with colleagues from different districts and share best practices.
February 25th, 2026 – 8:00-3:00 pm
Cayuga Room at OCM BOCES