Sunday, January 3, 2016

Week of January 4th


UAI Staff News

Volume III
Issue 17
Week of January 4th, 2016


Announcements 

Happy New Year!  Welcome back from the holiday break and Happy New Year!  This has been an arduous fall and hopefully all of you had an enjoyable and rejuvenating break!  As we turn the corner into 2016, we have a semester packed with activity ahead of us!  It feels like the fall went by in a blink.  With so much to do this spring, I'm sure that before you know it, we'll all be sitting outside in the yard of Habana Outpost basking in the glow of post-graduation happiness!  So, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!



Formative Assessment.  Often when we think of assessment, we picture summative forms (quizzes, essays, projects, etc.).  One of the trends both Richie (our Deputy Superintendent) and I noticed as we walked through during the PPO last month was that we were missing a crucial form of assessment - assessment FOR learning.  In preliminary review of the student surveys we administered just before the break, students remarked on the same thing ("How do the teachers know if we understand the lesson if they don't ask us?").  The New Year is a great time for resolutions and change.  This month, I charge you all to actively think about and plan which formative assessment tools you will use in lessons to gauge student learning.  In addition, work with your subject teams to develop strategies for providing descriptive, actionable feedback to give students to deepen understanding of lesson concepts.  Val, Colleen and I will be norming observations this month and taking note of the formative assessment tools that you employ during the lesson and work time!  We look forward to seeing you ingenuity at work!  Here's some links to get you started:




Social Norms & School Rules Relaunch. Monday is the first school day of 2016 and provides us with a great opportunity to relaunch our social norms and re-establish school policies.  The 9th and 10th Grade Teams are planning on making Social Emotional Learning more visible by splitting up the responsibility of explicitly teaching into a targeted SEL skills area (e.g. Relationship Skills) and adding Skills Posters into the Classroom Environment.  The teams are using data gathered from Kiri & David's SEL classroom walkthroughs, Exit Slips, and other anecdotal data to identify targeted SEL skills.  I highly touching base with Kerry & Danielle to find out the specifics of what the teams are doing to get ideas for how to relaunch Social Norms for your grade team.

In addition to re-launching SEL skills, please plan the time to re-establish school rules and policies.  Let's make a concerted effort to be sticklers for these rules for at least the month of January.  Please make a strong effort to NOT make exceptions (or bend the rules - e.g. asking students to eat in the hallways).  If we are unified in our expectations and follow through, it will be easier for students to follow us. If you are worried about enforcing the rules, please reach out to any dean or admin and we are on call to help you!
  • Hall Pass Rules - Only one student is allowed out of the classroom at a time, and hall passes are only given during work time. Also, there are no passes during the class after lunch.
  • Locker Rules - Lockers are not to be shared and should only be accessed before and after school and before and after lunch.  
  • Electronics - Cell Phones, Head phones, etc. are NOT allowed to be seen during class time.  They must be put away in backpacks or lockers.  iPads, Computers, etc. are allowed ONLY if the teacher allows it and students have completed the Electronics Policy
  • Food - DO NOT ALLOW food in the classroom. Period...At All...


Important Dates

  • Monday, 04JAN15.  Full Staff PD, POD Theories and Grade Team Meetings
  • Monday, 11JAN15.  3rd POD Debrief and Grade Team Meetings
  • Monday, 18JAN15.  MLK Jr. Day, NO SCHOOL
  • Thursday, 21JAN15 and Friday, 22JAN15.  High School Benchmark 2 SCHEDULE
  • Monday, 25JAN15.  4th POD Debrief and Grade Team Meetings
  • Monday, 25JAN15.  End of Marking  Period 3
  • Tuesday, 26JAN15 thru Friday, 29JAN15.  Regents Week SCHEDULE.
  • Thursday, 28JAN15.  All MP3 Grades due at 3pm
  • Thurs., 28JAN15 and Fri., 29JAN15.  Middle School Benchmark 2 SCHEDULE
  • Monday, 01FEB15.  Full Staff PD See AGENDA HERE.  8:30AM-2:50PM
  • Wednesday, 03FEB15.  Black History Month Full School Assembly 1:45-2:30PM and Night (6-8PM)
  • Tuesday, 02FEB15.  First Day of Spring Term.  Start of MP4
  • Monday, 08FEB15.  Chinese Lunar New Year, NO SCHOOL
  • Monday, 15FEB15 thru Friday 19FEB15.  Midwinter Recess, NO SCHOOL
  • Monday, 22FEB15.  POD Cycle Launch and Grade Team Meetings
  • Monday, 29FEB15.  1st Pod Debrief and Grade Team Meetings
  • Monday, 07MAR15. 2nd Pod Debrief and Grade Team Meetings
  • Friday, 11MAR15.  4th Marking Period Ends
  • Monday, 14MAR15.  5th Marking Period Begins
  • Wednesday, 16MAR15. MP4 Grades are Due at 3PM
  • Monday, 14MAR15. 3rd Pod Debrief and Grade Team Meetings
  • Thursday, 17MAR15 and Friday, 18MAR15.  Benchmark 3 (This will be MS Predictive)
  • Monday, 21MAR15. 4th Pod Debrief and Grade Team Meetings
  • Thursday, 24MAR15.  Women's History Month Full School Assembly (1:45-2:30PM)
  • Friday, 25MAR15.  Good Friday, NO SCHOOL
  • Monday, 28MAR15. 5th Pod Debrief and Grade Team Meetings
  • Monday, 04APR15. 6th Pod Debrief and Grade Team Meetings
  • Tuesday, 05APR15 thru Thursday, 07APR15.  Middle School NYS ELA Exam
  • Wednesday, 13APR15 thru Friday, 15APR15.  Middle School NYS Math Exam
  • Friday, 15APR15.  5th Marking Period Ends
  • Monday, 11APR15. Pod Prep and Grade Team Meetings
  • Monday, 18APR15. Pod Share - Grade Team Meetings moved to Tuesday
  • Monday, 18APR15.  6th Marking Period Begins
  • Wednesday, 20APR15.  5th Marking Period Grades Due at 3PM
  • Friday, 22APR15.  5th MP Progress Report Distributed 8th Period
  • Friday, 22APR15.  Poetry Slam Full School Assembly 1:45-2:30PM
  • Monday, 25APR15 thru Friday 29APR15 - Spring Recess, NO SCHOOL
For All UAI School Important Dates, please add "UAI School" calendar to your google calendars.





Per Session Posting

Resilient Scholars PLC.  Jamie, Rebecca, Kerry, and Martine are doing a Teacher SEL PLC after school.  

Other PLC Ideas.  If other teachers are interested in running/participating in another PLC, please let me know and we can fund it too!

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)