Week of December 19th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 16

Week of December 19th, 2016

This Week's Memories

Generation Citizen!  Last week, Ms. Suzannah and Mr. Brodie took two groups of seniors to participate in the final project of Generation Citizen.  In their civics classes, Mr. Brodie and Ms. Suzannah worked with the seniors to develop civics oriented projects.  Because of her work and efforts in class, Noor Khan, Class of 2017, was one of two Changemaker award winners who got to give a 3min speech and meet with Chancellor Farina during the event.  Thank you Mr. Brodie, Ms. Suzannah for your work with the Class of 2017 on their Civics work. Congrats to Noor!

Holiday Cheer!  After a long week of visitors and evaluators, it was such a treat to celebrate all of the hard work that everyone at UAI has done this fall to create such an amazing and positive transformation.  On Tuesday, Ken visited to push and support Colleen & me in our development of staff and leaders. On Wednesday, Richie (Deputy Superintendent) visited to evaluate our progress.  Finally, on Thursday, a group of UA Principals visited to give feedback on our work thus far.  All three said the same thing this week.  While we have work to do, what we have done thus far is pretty amazing, and we are definitely on the right track and making all the right moves! Excellent work everyone!  Cheers to you!!!

To Do's for this Week

[MONDAY, 19DEC16] Advisory Calls Home and Family Craft Night. Please make sure to reach out to all of your advisee's parents to make sure they received the report cards that were distributed on Friday.  At the same time, please also personally invite families to Wednesday's Family Craft and Caro-oke evening.  Dinner and Desserts will be provided, so please RSVP with a total head count from your advisory to Carol by Tuesday at noon. 

[THIS WEEK] Structure and Vigilance. This last week leading up to a holiday break is particularly stressful.  To ease the stress, please make sure you work with your grade team to not schedule major assessments on the same day.  In addition, please keep up your regular routines to create a predictable and comforting pattern of behavior in your classes this week.  Ritual and routine can be very soothing to the anxiety that some of our students are facing as they approach the holiday break.  In addition, please make it a point to be in the hallways during transition, particularly before and after lunch. With your help, students will more rapidly move from one class to another.

[FRIDAY, 23DEC16] Rapid Dismissal.  We will be dismissing at the end of 7th period at 1:50PM.  SLJ is dismissing at 2PM and to make sure we're not stepping over each other outside, I'm moving us up 10minutes for dismissal.  To make this an effective dismissal, all staff must make sure all students are ready to rapidly dismiss, and all staff must escort their classes out of the building.  Staff should plan to rapidly dismiss with students on Friday.  The building will not be open over the holiday break. Take the time to get some well-earned rest!

SEL Updates

Over the past week, students discussed how to recognize emotions in themselves and others, and learned about the power of thought loop. 

This week, students will continue discussing how they can change their thinking to better manage their emotions. We will also dive into other emotion regulation strategies, including belly breathing, positive self talk, and eliminating "triggers" from their environment.

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Week of December 12th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 15

Week of December 12th, 2016

This Week's Memories

I Define Me!  Last month, our juniors who take a college-level engineering class at NYU Poly were subject to racial slurs the day after the election.  The media reported a spate of these occurrences. However, unfortunately, this was not the first nor will it likely be the last time our young women will be subjected to acts like this.  It seems like lately, the news only reports on racist incidents when someone is shot or beat.  These young women want to turn the tide on this type of messaging.  They created a social media campaign to stop the world from telling them who and what to be.  Instead they want the world to know that they define themselves.  Please help them spread their campaign, by sharing the post from the UAI facebook page or searching for #Idefineme and sharing their post. Yes, we're working on other social media venues (but we first have to set up accounts).

To Do's for this Week

[WEDNESDAY, 14DEC16] Superintendent's Visit. Deputy Superintendent, Richie Cintron will be visiting UAI on Wednesday to evaluate our progress for the year.  He will be her for most of the day, and we will be visiting classrooms and meeting with me and Colleen.  In particular, Richie has requested to see a PE class and tenuring teachers.  Here's the schedule. For this visit, it is very important that we all put our best foot forward and make sure we have our best and most inspiring lessons on display for Wednesday.  Richie will also be reviewing lesson and unit plans that day.  So, I am requesting that all current units be uploaded to this folder by the end of the day Monday and that all lessons for Wednesday be uploaded to this folder by the end of the day Monday as well.  Here's the tentative agenda for the day.

• 8:30-8:55 Intro Meeting with Kiri & Colleen
• 8:55-9:10 Matthew & Alison
• 9:10-9:25 Kristin & Tom
• 9:25-9:35 Debrief with Kiri & Colleen
• 9:35-9:50 Cherry
• 9:50-10:30 Debrief & Meet with Kiri & Colleen
• 10:30-10:45 Michael
• 10:45-11:00 Michelle
• 11:00-11:20 Meeting with Danielle & Tiffany - we will discuss the Artisan Lesson for Weds.
• 11:20-12:30 Debrief and Meeting with Kiri & Colleen
• 12:30-12:45 Anna
• 12:45-1:00 Kerry & Tiffany
• 1:00-1:15 Elana
• 1:00-2:00 Meeting with Kiri & Colleen
• 2:00-2:30 Debrief with Kiri & Colleen

[FRIDAY, 09DEC16] Grades Due @ 3PM.  Marking Period 2 ended last Friday.  Grades are due this Wednesday by 3PM and Report Cards will be distributed during last period class next Friday, 16DEC16.   Please make sure grades are entered into Skedula and your gradebooks are downloaded.  By the end of the day on Wednesday, please upload your grade books to this shared folder.  Please use the following nomenclature to identify your files:  YOURNAME_COURSE NAME_GROUP_MP2_2016-17

SEL Updates

MS SEL

Over the past week, 6th graders in SEL finished discussing how to resolve big problems using the SOLVE strategy (Stop and think, Objectively state the problem, List possible solutions and outcomes, Voice your choice and act on it, and Evaluate & adjust if needed). They also reviewed strategies they have learned so far this year through a "family feud" style game. In this upcoming week, 6th graders will develop their skills in recognizing their own emotions as well as reframing negative thinking that may be bringing them down.  Please challenge students to use more advanced vocabulary when describing feelings in themselves and others as they develop their emotional awareness over the next few weeks.

HS SEL

This week we began work on Improving Memory Skills, which will be a two part lesson continued next week. The students across both grades seemed to enjoy the memory activities. It is their task to use the knowledge of their strongest type of learning (auditory, visual or Kinesthetic) when studying and learning in school. The 9th grade additionally received an introductory FLSE lesson from our 11th grade peer educators and their incredible FLSE educators. January will be used to reinforce and review what was learned, what has been effective out of the SEL room and how to continue to understand SEL in school, at home and in our personal lives. They will receive a packet that will play a large part on their pass or fail grade come the end of the semester.

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Week of December 5th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 14

Week of December 5th, 2016

This Week's Memories

Our College Office is a Model Practice!  The NYCDOE's Office of Post-Secondary Readiness bragged about us in their monthly newsletter.  With the new shift in federal deadlines, this is the first year that our seniors have had to complete their college and their financial aid applications at the same time!  At only three months into their senior year, 85% have completed their CUNY applications and 70% have already completed their FAFSA!  We're off to an amazing start!

SEL Team Visits with CASEL Chair.  Tim Shriver, who amongst other things is chair of CASEL and Co-chair of Aspen’s National Commission on Social Emotional and Academic Development , was in NYC on Friday and met with Urban Assembly schools to discuss our work around Resilient Scholars.  Jen, Lauren (along with several students) spoke about communication, inclusion, and what it means to go a school that prioritizes the social and emotional development of its community. Later, Tim shared with David (from the UA) that our work is the most consistent implementation of Social Emotional Learning across schools he has ever seen, and that the proof was in our kids.

First Lady Eagles Home Game.  Our Lady Eagles fought hard in their first game against John Jay High School.  They are a young team this year and showed amazing potential in their first game.  We look forward to an amazing season with them!  Their next home game is Monday, 05DEC16 at 4:30. If you can stay, please do come show your support for the girls at 4:30PM!

To Do's for this Week

[WEEK OF, 05DEC16] Positive Post-It Project. A la the positive notes left in the subways, UAI will be launching our own Positive Post-It campaign.  Details and logistics will arrive in emails this week. The goal is to have all of our students and staff share positive messages of peace, kindness and inspiration to our community. We will display the post-its in a mural in our lobby.

[WEDNESDAY, 07DEC16 and THURSDAY 08DEC16]  DRP Round 2 is this week.  CLICK HERE for the DRP Schedule.  Laptops will be taken to your classroom by George and Val.  Val will provide you all with your students username and passwords. Makeups will begin Friday, December 9th.  Due to the high volume of students not taking the exam or not completing we will be pulling the students from class.  Please help us in ensuring the students are sent to the proper room when needed.   ELA teachers please reiterate to the students the importance of data and how it is used in our school to assess their progress, supports and needs. Also,we will collect all chromebook laptop carts.  Please charge all laptops.  George will be collecting laptops at 2:50, Tuesday, December 6th, beginning with the 5th floor, if you are not in your room please leave the key in the keyhole of the laptop cart.   Feel free to contact Joanna and Michael if you have any questions or concerns. 

• Wednesday, December 7th: 
• Morning Administration (2nd and 3rd Period):   8th and 9th Grade 
• Afternoon Administration (7th and 8th Period):  7th and 11th Grade
• Thursday, December 8th:
• Morning Administration (2nd and 3rd Period): 6th and 10th Grade

[FRIDAY, 09DEC16] MP2 Ends.  Marking Period 2 ends this Friday.  Grades will be due next Wednesday by 3PM and Report Cards will be distributed during last period class next Friday, 16DEC16.   Please make sure grades are entered into Skedula and your gradebooks are downloaded 

Announcements

Take Attendance in Skedula.  Many people use Skedula attendance to check up on students. Parents, administrators, and main office staff rely on teachers to take timely, accurate attendance. Please take period attendance within the first 10 - 20 min of class.  Create things like a 2min Do Now or a 2 min Exit ticket to provide you time to take attendance at the start or at the end of the lesson. Taking attendance is part of a classroom teacher's professional responsibility.  Please make it a priority to complete this responsibility effectively.

Marking Period 2 Ends on Friday.  Marking Period 2 ends on Friday.  As a reminder, UAI grades are cumulative (and should build on the grades students receive from the prior marking period(s)). Marking period three begins on Monday and is particularly significant for high school students. Progress reports with MP 2 grades will be distributed on Friday 16DEC16.  As you make calls home this week, please make sure to communicate this to parents and families. 

Hallway Presence.  At any given passing period, there are upwards of 150 students in each hallway. Particularly during 4th and 5th period (the lunch periods) admin and dean support is very thin because they are in the cafeteria.  Please make it a point, particularly during these periods, to be at your doors and moving students into the rooms.   

SEL Updates

6th graders this week began learning concrete steps for solving big problems, using:

• Stop and think
• Objectively state the problem
• List possible options to resolve it
• Voice your choice & act on it
• Evaluate and adjust if needed

Students applied these problem solving steps to hypothetical problem situations. Next week, students will discuss the evaluation & adjustment step, and will then conduct a review of concepts we have learned so far, including:

• Fixed and Growth Mindset (shout out to Ms. Alison who also wove this into science class!)
• Empathy
• Grit
• How to reflect how someone is feeling
• Active listening (EARS and SLANT)
• Strategies for effective collaboration
• Building rapport with teachers
• The value of an education

Focus, Priority, and Efficiency! This week in SEL the girls worked on strategies to help focus, prioritize and get things done efficiently. They also worked on how to take notes for different uses in more effective ways. The next two weeks we will work on Improving Memory Skills, which will be a two part lesson. The 9th grade will also receive a much needed FLSE lesson from our 11th grade students and their incredible FLSE educators.  December we are using to introduce a few more lessons before we start to slow down and reinforce some of the skills introduced this semester so far. January will be used for review of what was learned, what has been effective out of the SEL room and how to continue to understand SEL in school, at home and in our personal lives.. 

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Week of November 28th

Save the Date for the Staff Holiday Party

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 13

Week of November 28th, 2016

This Week's Memories

Marsha, Phillan, Alison, Michael, and Martine
Belt It Out With the Back Street Boys
at Staff Karaoke

Save the Date: Friday, 16DEC16 

For our Annual Staff Holiday Party!

To Do's for this Week

• [THURSDAY, 01DEC16] World AIDs Day.  In an effort to help inform our school commnity, Alyssa and Wazina, along with the GSA, have worked on putting together different fact-based posters to be displayed throughout the building.  In addition, we will have a table set-up in the cafeteria during lunch to help educate our students around HIV/AIDs prevention.  Please drop by the cafeteria during lunch periods to show support!

• [FRIDAY, 02DEC16] First Lady Eagles Home Game.  Our first home game of our girls' basketball team will be this Friday at 4PM.  Come show Coach Elana and the Lady Eagles your support by coming to the game!

• [WEEK OF, 05DEC16] Positive Post-It Project. A la the positive notes left in the subways, UAI will be launching our own Positive Post-It campaign.  Details and logistics will arrive in emails this week. The goal is to have all of our students and staff share positive messages of peace, kindness and inspiration to our community. We will display the post-its in a mural in our lobby.

• [FRIDAY, 09DEC16] MP2 Ends.  Both MP2 and MP3 are short marking periods.  Marking Period 2 is only 18 days and Marking Period 3 is 24 days.  Marking Period 3 ends on January 24th for both Middle and High School.  It's important to make sure students understand the importance of these next few weeks of school with respect to their grades and performance.  Remember, marking periods are cumulative.  We will finally have 4 weeks of uninterrupted instruction.  Use this time to solidify your routines and create safe, predictable, and productive learning environments!

Announcements

Final SLC Report.  As of today, we fell a little bit short of our goal in completing at least 80% of our SLCs.  However, we did have 69% of our students complete SLCs with family members!  Many shout outs to all our staff who did make the goal.  Your efforts in reaching out to family members means so much to the success of our girls and our school!  Thank you! Next semester, we will be making adjustments to increase our family attendance!  Stay tuned for updates.

Consistency and Continuity.   For the first time since school started, we have four solid weeks of uninterrupted instruction.  This is the perfect time to reinforce social emotional learning strategies like SLANT and Accountable Talk Stems to develop them into internalized, routinized behaviors that fuel positive learning environments.  Additionally, the 2nd and 3rd marking periods are very short, so it is doubly important to keep updating Skedula at least weekly (as per the Staff Handbook) so that students can have means of tracking their performance in your classes.  When students are able to see the results of their efforts, we help them secure the growth mindsets that are essential for suceess. 

SEL Updates

The weeks leading up to the holiday season can be very stressful for students.  To maintain order and safety in the classroom, teachers need to be vigilant in upholding routines and classroom expectations.  When we, as the adults in the room, fairly follow through on classroom expectations and school rules, we create a predictable, rule-governed environment.  At the same time, we need to be sensitive to the stresses our students experience.  We need them to follow rules AND we want them to know we care.  Use empathetic speech when redirecting.  For example, "I know you must be hungry, but the school rules don't allow for food.  Please put that away."  Or, "You look upset right now.  Will you be able to try to focus on the lesson. After, I will check in with you during work time."

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Week of November 21

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 12

Week of November 21st, 2016

This Week's Memories

Last week was packed full of activities.

Matthew works with Cheyenne, Kristal
& Amiinah (Class of 2023)

Alison has a blast working with
Reema & Donna (Class of 2023)

On Tuesday - Artisan Teaching Wow!  Alison and Matthew put together an amazing lesson on unit conversion and measurement. It was a true artisan lesson and all of their 6th graders were thoroughly and intellectually engaged for both their math and science periods.  Over 100 minutes of focus time for 10/11 year-olds is amazing and worth the celebration!

Erica (Class of 2017)
get a little help 

Ashanti, Niya, & Shaniah
(Class of 2017)
are hard at work with their families

Tuesday - Family Fafsa Night.  We had record breaking attendance at our annual FAFSA night. With the new earlier deadlines this year, it was extra important to get our families in early! Mara coordinated a robust crew of volunteers and partners to support our girls and their families, and now the Class of 2017 is well on their way to college!

Thursday & Friday - Our First Round of SLCs and Benchmarks went smoothly.  While we are still trying to reach our goal, I was happy to welcome 279 families into UAI.  Great work everyone!

Starlet (Class of 2017)
Ran Dance Security

Janna, Cijae, Samajae & shy Sahi
(Class of 2019) enjoy the Dance

Friday - First High School Dance.  Many thanks to Doris and Jen for weathering the storm that is dance organization, and many more thanks to the wealth of chaperones who stepped up to provide a fun evening for our girls.

Ruby, Mary, Kalila, & Uneeka (2018)
Give prospective parents & students
an overview of the school

Saturday - Open House for New Students.  Many thanks to Ms. Val for working all hours to put together and amazing event.  Big shout outs to all our open house volunteers (particularly the ones who pulled back-to-back shifts with the dance on Friday and the Open House on Saturday morning).  It was a well-attended event, and the interest in UAI is brewing!

To Do's for this Week

• [MONDAY, 21NOV16] Gradebook Upload.  Only three teachers have uploaded their gradebooks to the shared folder.  Please do this now.   Download your MP grades from Skedula.  CLICK HERE for directions on how to download your gradebook.   CLICK HERE to upload those gradebooks to our UAI google space.  Please make sure that you name your gradebooks as follows:  YOUR NAME_CLASS_GROUP_MP1_2016_17

• [WEDNESDAY, 30NOV16] Schedule all Advisor SLCs.  As a school, 60% of student-led conferences were completed as of today, 20NOV16.  Our goal is to complete at least 80% of our SLCs.  Many teachers held SLCs during allotted grading time and left early for parent teacher night.  This resulted in grading conflicts and low SLC completion.  Please try to complete as many SLCs as you can between now and next Wednesday.  Please do not schedule any SLCs after 5, and on Wednesday 22NOV, do not schedule any SLCs after 1:30.  Here are the results of our SLCs as of today:

• [WEDNESDAY 23NOV16] Benchmark Grades.  We weren't able to complete as much grading as originally planned because the SLC/grading conflict.  We'll fix that for next time.  For this round, please work on completing the grading during your professional periods this week.  You can suspend usual professional activities to do this.  If you need assistance, please reach out to Val or Joanna for help.  Grades should be uploaded to this document (CLICK HERE) by the end of the day on Wednesday.

Announcements

Snack Karaoke -  We will be doing our Karaoke Snacking on Monday, in lieu of Monday PD.  I changed my mind from Tuesday because these short weeks made it difficult to actually complete observations.  So, it seemed that Monday was the better choice for our Karaoke.  Don't go crazy on cooking (unless you want to).  Just bring your favorite snacks!  Stay tuned for the email on location.  We're trying to see if the cafeteria is available. 

SEL Updates

This is another short week, so no new updates from the SEL team.  However, the holidays can be particularly stressful times for our students (and us!).  Please keep your eyes open and reach out to students who are feeling stress.  Make sure that they know you care, and that you understand that holiday celebrations aren't always celebrations for all!

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Week of November 14th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 11

Week of November 14th, 2016

This Week's Memories

Last week was definitely one for the history books... and yes, I mean that literally!  On Monday, we all stood hopeful and inspired by the almost assured prospect of having our first female president. Being a school aimed at empowering young women, this was a big deal for UAI!  By Thursday, the world flipped on it's head and I was working with our best and brightest students to help them navigate being called the n-word while returning to UAI from the advanced college courses.

Racism is not new.  Sexism is not new.   The future for our young girls is even more complicated, now.  So, last Thursday, I sat down with Ms. Mara and Ms. Vanessa from Girls Inc. and discussed the event.  In the end, their grace, reflection, and spirit came up with the idea of a social media campaign. Tired of having everyone else tell them who they, the ladies of Group X are putting together their own pictures and blurbs to tell the world who they are.  Here's a sneak peak at Fatima's blurb:

I Define Me

Fatima Ejaz, Class of 2018

Who am I? Who are you? You are somebody to me, but I am nobody to you. I ask these questions everytime my soul touches the burning fire of hatred. Then I throw myself into an even more dangerous chasm of questions: Do the answers to these questions change me more or less? I am Fatima, which means a lot to me but is my name just more than just a name tag? 

"I am me" is way beyond banal to describe me! Yes, I am a  beautiful person, but beauty is obviously not comprehensive enough! As a human being, I inherit the very normal and common qualities of other normal human beings. However to myself, I am much more than just a normal human being: I am the like the waves of the ocean, serene, the Sun everyone must revolve around, the flaming curiosity of the universe.

Well as a 16 year old, I believe I can not define me, but I know the raw inside me. Honestly, I don't want to be defined. But if I go about defining me, I can definitely say that I am a girl, a tall and insecure girl, a tall and insecure, Muslim Pakistani girl, and the list goes on girl! 

To Do's for this Week

• [WEDNESDAY, 16NOV16] Schedule all Advisor SLCs.  All SLCs must be scheduled by Wednesday at 3PM.  If you do not have a working number, please see Nancy in the main office for the blue card. If no working number exists on the blue card, please note that in the comments section on the SLC Appointment sheet.  CLICK HERE to access the appointment sheet.

• [WEDNESDAY, 16NOV16] Grades are Due.  All grades must be submitted no later than 3PM on Wednesday, 16NOV16.  Do not be late.  Turn around for report cards is tight.  Ms. Jennifer already emailed you all directions for PADs and grades.  Ms. Jennifer will email you all the final report cards when she is complete.  Advisors should print report cards for their advises and distribute during SLCs.  

• [THIS WEEK and all weeks] Attendance Phone Calls.   Many of you are doing a wonderful job in making sure you get your calls complete.  Some are still not consistently making calls. It's been nearly 10 weeks since school started.  All teachers should have routines in place that enable them to complete calls, and enter them in Skedula before the days' end.  If your advisees do not make it to 2nd period on time, you must call home and enter the call into Skedula. Please make your calls to avoid getting a letter to file.  More importantly, please make your calls so that our families can see that we care.

• [THIS WEEK] Benchmark I.   CLICK HERE for resources (including schedule and groups) for Benchmarks.  Please review schedule with classes prior to Thursday.

Announcements

Gradebook Reminder -  To comply with DOE academic policies, we must archive our gradebooks. Please download your MP grades from Skedula.  CLICK HERE for directions on how to download your gradebook.   CLICK HERE to upload those gradebooks to our UAI google space.  Please make sure that you name your gradebooks as follows:  YOUR NAME_CLASS_GROUP_MP1_2016_17

Attendance -  Soon, you will be receiving an email regarding attendance.   Our attendance is slipping, and we need to stay on top of those calls to kids.  The attendance committee met if you have students who are severely absent (e.g. <85% attendance), you will no longer have to make calls home.  These cases will be handled at the school level. You'll be receiving an email shortly as to who those kids are.

In place, we're asking you to double down on your students who are at risk of becoming chronic (90-94% attendance) or who are chronic absentees (80-89%).  Please make sure that you not only call home when an advisee doesn't make it to 2nd period on time.  Also, make it a point to check in with her when she does return to school.  If kids know we care, they find ways of coming!

SEL Updates

No new SEL updates this week.  So, I'm going to use this space to pay homage to one of the greats. As if last week could get any worse, Leonard Cohen died.  Here's one of my favorite from him.

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