UAI Staff News
Volume XII
Issue 9
October 28th, 2024
Building Leaders. We had our first round of IR led beautifully by Judy & Phillan. Many thanks for all the teachers who hosted visits (Denyda, Sarah R, Mike, Marsha, Crystal, and Tom M). Many thanks to all the folks who took time away from their usual work to prioritize their own learning and growth - Roger, Noelle, Bryanna, Aurora, Brett, Camryn, Fatima, Yasmeen, Thomas C.
Our visit focused on how we are all working hard to support our students with special needs. One of the trends we pulled out of the visits and subsequent discussions was the question of how students are able to develop independence and agency if they don't know they why or where of the lesson.
Think back to the times you have sat in PD when you were unsure of the point or value of what was being discussed and what you were being asked to do. How plugged in were you to the content? How much of that PD stuck with you to today?
Think back to another time when you were in a PD when you were super inspired by the leaders. Maybe you didn't know what the purpose of the PD was, but you trusted the facilitators and followed them. Did you learn more? Probably. Can you say you own that information - like are you able to run with that new learning as if it is your own? If so, congrats! If no, that tracks....
Now think to a time where you were super clear about how each activity, lecture, presentation, and discussion clearly connected to a larger aim in a professional learning experience. Have you had that while in PD? If no, when has that happened for you? How did it feel, and most importantly, what did you learn?
Taking you back into your own experiences is aimed at promoting your ability to empathize with your students and take on their perspectives much more capably within your classroom. With all of the details and moving pieces of an individual lesson, it is unsurprising that folks get focused on the the trees. Making sure things move smoothly and that all the pieces you juggle - content, pedagogy, SEL, assessment, student behavior, lesson expectations - don't fall is A LOT! So it makes sense that the hows and whys of the lesson sometimes gets lost in the sauce.
BUT - if we are to support student agency and build the inquiry, autonomy, and independence students need, we need to share with them the hows and whys. Students who do not know the goals of the activities or how the lessons fit into the units are trapped in roll of perpetual follower. Their learning is passive, and they develop an over-dependence on the classroom staff to always be the ones to tell them where to go, what to do, and how to think.
When kids are able to ask and answer their own questions or pursue avenues of learning that pique their own interest, that's when the level of rigor is exactly where we want it. When kids are able to pop in and out of classwork despite any disruption (bathroom break, absence, etc), that is evidence that they understand where the learning is going and can pick up the threads to keep up with their peers. When we are able to successfully see actions like these in our classes, then we know rigor is at work.
SO HOW does this happen. Small moves often have the biggest impact. Elevating your practice results more often from a series of consistent and small moves in the right direction rather than a complete overhaul in what you do. As we wrap up MP1, try out these moves to bring your students into the hows and whys of your lessons and elevate the rigor in your rooms!
- Open and End Each Lesson with your learning target AND examples. Learning Targets tell students what they will be able to do and what skills/content knowledge they will need to learn in order to be able to do that learning target. During IR, Roger & Noelle talked about how their lessons run. Students are clear as to what skill (e.g. doing a lay up in Basketball or an improv move in Theater) and what content (specific vocab like layup or using "Yes, and" in improv). These are introduced and shown to kids so they have a clear idea of what is happening for the day. Similarly, other classes can strive for the same clarity. Share the learning target and provide an example to help students know what they are expected to learn for the day. For example, give an example of the types of problems they have to know how to solve in math, or the type of evidence that qualifies as high quality evidence in English class. Showing AND telling the learning can really help students "lock in!" - to quote Ms. D!
- Narrate Moves. Share with your kids why you're doing what you're doing. For example, if you're having them work in groups - tell them why. If you're circulating to look at their work, tell them what you're looking for and why. The more kids know what you're looking for and why, the more effective they will be in their work in class.
- Highlight Future Learning. Throughout the lesson (not just at the beginning and the end) highlight why today's learning - mistakes and triumphs all- connect to tomorrow's objectives.
For example, in Earth Science, kids could understand that learning about the phases of the moon today will help them better understand how the Earth & Moon & Sun move in relationship to one another, and once they understand that, they'll better understand tides. Or in social studies, students need to understand how to critically analyze primary sources to be more informed consumers of information.
- Involve the Kids. Your students are the best resources to see how well this work is going. Make time to ask them who remembers why you're working on the activities? See how many folks remember and can explain that. As you do this with more frequency, you can even try to get the kids to generate and predict the why at the start of lessons. At the very least, at the end of the lesson, ask how many kids are able to say they successfully mastered the learning target and/or how many can articulate the areas where they still have questions/confusions.
It's the small things! Not a big lesson overhaul or frame of mind shift - it's just small teacher or para moes in the class that can have the greatest impact!
Important Upcoming Dates
- MON 28OCT-MON 04OCT - 1st Benchmark (in Subject Classes - no special schedule)
- MON - 28OCT - ELA Benchmarks in ELA Classes
- TUE - 29OCT - SOC Benchmarks in SOC Classes
- THU - 31OCT - Halloween (regular classes, no tests)
- FRI - 01NOV - Diwali - NO SCHOOL
- MON - 04NOV - MAT Benchmarks in MAT Classes & SCI Benchmarks in SCI Classes
- FRI 01NOV - Diwali - NO SCHOOL
- MON 04NOV - End of Marking Period 1
- TUE 05NOV - Remote PD Day (Election Day) - No Classes
- WED 06NOV - Marking Period 2 Begins
- THU 07NOV - Grades due at 3PM
- FRI 08NOV - MP1 Report Cards Distributed in 7th Period
- MON 11NOV - Veteran's Day - NO SCHOOL
- THU 21NOV - Evening Parent Conferences 5-8PM (remote)
- FRI 22NOV - Remote PD Morning (8:30-11:00AM) - NEWLY APPROVED!!
- FRI 22NOV - Afternoon Parent Conferences 12:00-2:50PM (remote)
Announcements & To Dos
Staff Shout Outs. On Friday we had our first assembly of the year. Many, many thanks to Shan and the student activities committee for making it special! Particular shout out goes to Patricia who manages the seniors & all of their stress and drama as they led their first assembly!
More shout outs go to Tiffany, Emily, and Elena for shepherding our seniors through the CUNY apps this week. It was a swirls of stress, confusion, and anxiety about the unknown, but Tiffany, Emily, and Elena worked closely with each of our students to charter their own path through it all. Most kids have submitted as of today (we do have a few stragglers remaining), but for the most part, the first hurdle is passed for the Class of 2025! Thank you Tiffany, Emily, and Elena!
Benchmarks and End of MP1. Our first round of benchmarks begin on Monday, October 28th. For PD on Monday the 28th and on November 4th, time will be given to grade benchmarks (OR if you don't have benchmarks yet, then you need to grade everything else). MP1 ends on November 4th, and grades are due at 3PM on Thursday November 7th. MP2 begins on Wednesday, 06NOV. Benchmarks will be the same exam for each course and will be 1 period in length. Students with extra time will have shortened tests (to accommodate) and students requiring separate locations or read aloud should be pulled into an empty room by the ICT or ENL co-teacher. Paras should assist the ICT/ENL teachers as needed. If you scroll to the bottom of the UAI schedule, you can see the rooms that are open.
Benchmarks should count as a performance grade for MP1. Benchmarks for Graduation Regents classes (Algebra 1, Biology, Earth Science, ELA, Global, and US History) will be graded using Regents rules - you cannot grade your own students. All other benchmarks can be graded by the teacher. We do this to mimic regents grading and elevate inter-grader reliability (and thus the reliability of our benchmark data).
SUNY Application Week KickOff! This week in learning labs, seniors will begin their applications to college - continuing with SUNY schools. ALL UAI Seniors who are applying to SUNY schools as an option in the post-secondary plans will be pulled from Learning Labs and Small Groups. Applications may take longer than a period depending on the student, so if someone is missing from your class, please reach out to Tiffany to check (trichards5@schools.nyc.gov). HOWEVER - kids will not be held during a benchmark. So please call 14711 if you're missing a student for a benchmark!
[REPOST] Outreach. Lots of folks have not yet remembered to log their outreach so far this week. Please remember that you have until 3PM tomorrow. Folks who failed to log this week's outreach and last week's outreach will receive emails reminding them. You will receive a total of 5 warnings this year. On the 6th time you forget to log outreach, you will lose your privilege to conduct the outreach remotely. I really don't want to rescind that privilege and that's why I'm providing FIVE chances to get it right. Please make sure you are setting a reminder in your phone or calendar to log your outreach each week. You need to make sure this gets done.
| 1 | Reminder Email #1 |
| 2 | Reminder Email #2 |
| 3 | Meeting with Kiri & Counseling Memo |
| 4 | Counseling Memo |
| 5 | Letter To File |
| 6 | Mandated to remain at school for 55min on Tuesdays to complete outreach |
For these next few weeks, please make sure you are prioritizing contact to families of students who are not yet reaching our school goal of receiving >80 in your class. Please invite students to Office Hours on Monday to get extra help from you if needed.
[REPOST] Club Attendance & Per Session. Please remember to clock out for clubs that end after school, and to clock in for clubs that begin before school. Lunch clubs are prep-period coverage (not per session). Please remember to take attendance on the
Club Attendance Form. You need this completed prior to having your per session approved. We are aiming for all clubs to have at least 10 kids, so please try actively to recruit. If there is fewer than 10, don't stress for now, but clubs that end up having fewer than 3 students will likely not be continued for the spring.
[REPOST] Save the Dates to Celebrate. Celebrating our students and our staff is core to the health of our school! Our central mission at UAI is the success and achievement of our students. One pathway to that goal is through building the efficacy, sense of belonging, and pride that our staff has in your work at UAI. That sense of worth and value is built
both through achieving targeted student outcomes
and in recognition of those achievements and efforts!
Everyone at our school has a hand in the organization that is built to launch our students into bright futures. Highlighting their work and achievements is central to celebrating our folks and their efforts in pushing our entire school and our students to achieving our goals.
I was chitchatting with Paula the other day, and she was sharing some ideas she & Judy had had about raising up our colleagues. At the same time, I had already been thinking about creating our UAI calendar of the days to celebrate our people!! And since there really are no original ideas anymore - I googled and found this
handy calendar! I've plucked the days celebrating people out of this calendar to create our own for the 24-25 school year.
Here are the special days in which we plan to pause to celebrate those special folks who do their best in their role to push forward our collective goals!
- September 2024
- 17SEP24 - National IT Professional's Day (we missed this - so moved to October 17th!). This is the day to celebrate JASON's Amazing work with our school!!
- October 2024
- 02OCT24 - National Custodian Day (we missed this too - so moved to October 22nd for this year). Let's celebrate Carlos, Harry, Junior, & Mr. O!
- November 2024
- 21NOV24 - National Substitute Teacher Day. Let's celebrate Jermaine, Mahjabeen, and Sean!
- February 2025
- 03FEB-07FEB - National School Counselor's Week. WOOHOO to JJR, Tiffany, Jen, AND our Deans (who do a lot of our counseling) Jean, Alaisha and Nicole... AND to our interns, Lara, Carlene, and Emily
- 14FEB - National School Safety Office Day
- April 2025
- 03APR - Paraprofessional Appreciation Day - Time to appreciate Juelle, Bryanna, Aurora, Adelle, Nora, Ebony, Janiya, and Brenda!
- 07APR-11APR - National Assistant Principal's Week - Give it up to ANNIE!!!
- 20APR-26APR - Administrative Professionals Week - Many Thanks to Paula, Damaris, and Tracey!
- 21APR-25APR - Aterschool Professionals Week - Whooping it up for GIRLS INC!!
- May 2025
- 02MAY - School Lunch Hero Day - Give thanks for our amazing cafeteria staff
- 05MAY-09MAY - Teacher Appreciation Week - Big Ups to ALL of our amazing teachers!
- 07MAR - School Nurse Day - YAY for Nurse Cole
We're still working on the logistics of how we will celebrate folks. To start, a face-to-face thank you or note of appreciation or a short written note via email or dropped in a mailbox will be enough! For those who want to give more (for gifts like lunch or a special gift), standby for suggestion donation and collection plan!! I'm going to circle back to Judy & Paula for ideas on that one!
Fundamentally, when we all make it a point to lift each other up, our spirits are enriched, and our students benefit! When our cups are filled, we have much more to give, and our kids need our best selves in order to rise up to smash down barriers and obstacles that stand in the way of them becoming their best versions of themselves!
Per Session Postings
Restorative Justice Coordinator
POSITION:
TITLE SOUGHT: TEACHERS, SOCIAL WORKERS, SCHOOl COUNSELORS, PARA PROFESSIONALS
JOB POSITION: SCHOOL BASED Restorative Justice Action Team Member
NYCDOE OFFICE
REQUESTING THIS POSITION: OFFICE OF SAFETY AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT (OSYD)
LOCATION: In Person at UAI
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Licensed and appointed NYCDOE TEACHERS, SOCIAL WORKERS, SCHOOl COUNSELORS, PARA PROFESSIONALS. Actively working as a Restorative Practitioner in NYC DOE
SELECTION CRITERIA:
Demonstrated knowledge of or willingness to learn pedagogical best practices in Restorative Practices (RP) and RP Implementation
Demonstrated prior training/professional development in Restorative Practices, or willingness to attend this school year.
Demonstrated ability or willingness to successfully support authentic youth-adult partnership
Excellent communication skills
Preferred Successful completion of Restorative Practices Tier 1 Training
Recommended by your school’s administration to be a member of the team
DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES: (All of the below duties are to be performed with the support of your OSYD hired SB-RJC)
Approximately 4 staff member(s) per identified school will be hired under this posting to:
WORK SCHEDULE:
November 2024- June 2025 | Monday- Friday and weekends as needed, 7:00-21:00. Schedules will vary, up to approximately 80 hours. Schedules and total hours are dependent on assignment, but may not exceed 25 hours per month. WORK CANNOT START BEFORE THE APPLICATION DEADLINE. THE DEADLINE MUST BE A MINIMUM OF TWENTY (20) SCHOOL DAYS AFTER THE POST DATE. Hours up to, but not limited to the approximate number of hours listed. Additional hours may be granted upon the approval of the hiring manager.
Classroom SetUp and Planning. 12 hours total. All Classroom Staff (Teachers & Paras) are eligible. Tue 27-29Aug .
