Week of March 6th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 24

Week of March 6th, 2017

This Week's Memories

College Acceptances are beginning to flow in!  Dreams are becoming real! Janiah Williams (Class of 2017) was recently accepted into SUNY Stonybrook via their educational opportunity program.  This means that she will be fully funded for college at one the state's premier universities.   Many seniors like Janiah are rapidly receiving their acceptances.  Take some time to check in with them this week to see what great news they have to share, and/or check out the rapidly forming college wall outside the college office! 

Finally, it is pride, love, and a heavy heart that I announce that Mara, the architect of our college office and the person responsible for the successful matches of so many of our alumna, is leaving UAI for an amazing job opportunity. Beginning April 1st, she will be the senior development officer for the I Have a Dream Foundation.  It is an undeniable opportunity for her and her family. Please join me in giving her a huge congratulations for a much earned title.  Also, please join in giving her big hugs and many, many thanks for her hard work.  Ms. Mara will always be a part of our UAI family.  We will always appreciate her work and look forward to having her return often for visits and advice!  Also - save the date for a Mara celebration on Friday, March 31st.

I am excited to announce that Ms. Martine will be spending March learning from Mara (with the support of Cassie from Urban Assembly) to take over the leadership of our college office.  Ms. Doris, and Ms. Jennifer will also be working with Ms. Martine to support the continued excellence and growth in a department that has been a jewel in the UAI crown for so many years.  Please join me in welcoming in the new team, and shower them with encouragement and excitement for this new role in their careers at UAI.

To Do's for this Week

[MONDAY, 06MAR17] Full Staff PD - Lesson Rehearsals & Student-Student Discourse. We will continue to use our Monday PD time to focus on lesson planning.  Please continue to use THIS FOLDER by PD time on Mondays so that your peers have access to what you've planned.  This week's focus will be on planning for student-to-student discourse.  Please bring your texts & plans for Collaborative Reasoning Groups.  If you are planning other formats this week for student-to-student discourse (e.g. turn and talks, think pair shares, etc.) please be prepared to discuss and plan for these with your partner.

[MONDAY, 06MAR17] Lady Eagles are in the Quarter Finals!  After a decisive victory (59-43) over #13 seeded Julia Richman, our Lady Eagles are on fire and ready to take on #5 seeded John Jay. Staff are encouraged to head to Park Slope after PD on Monday for the 5PM game.  As the #29 seed in the playoffs, our amazing young woman are overcoming great odds to shine!  Let's show our support by being there to cheer them on!

[MARCH 2017] Attendance Calls and Skedula Attendance.  As a reminder, attendance is a professional responsibility for classroom teachers.  You must take accurate class attendance within the first 10 minutes of class (e.g. right after the lesson, during transition to work time).  You must also complete your phone calls home (to those advisees who do not make it to 2nd period on time) by the end of the day (you have 8 min scheduled to the end of your day to complete this).  Make this a priority because it has real impact for your students' achievement.  I've created a google calendar reminder to help you remember Advisory calls, and Val has met with each of you.  Follow through on this responsibility and help our students excel!! Make contact with home and accurately document in Skedula!  

SEL Updates

This past week, the 6th grade reviewed strategies for coping with strong emotions and began discussing identity development. Students described challenges they will face in adolescence and how having a strong sense of self can help them navigate these challenges. Students explored parts of their identity with their classmates, sharing out some of their talents and skills, and sharing objects from home that had personal meaning to them. 

The HS SEL classes explored Envisioning your future and Planning for College. They explored what is needed to get into college and the important steps they should take each school year.  S. They also learned about the 5 Phases of Achievement (Dream, Wish, Goal, Mission and Expectation).

SEL classes for 6th, 9th, and 10th graders next week will begin addressing some of the needs that arose out of the DESSA survey. As goal-directed behavior was an area for growth across grades, classes will remind students how to set SMART goals to reach academic and behavioral success. Students in all 3 grades will also begin the unit on Building Relationships and Mediating Conflicts, starting with the importance of developing positive relationships. Students will also dive deeper into skills they need to develop to overcome obstacles in relationships.

Add this calendar to your own!  See that little "+" sign in the bottom right hand corner?  Click on it to have it show up in your personal google calendar!

Per Session Posting

Progressive Dinner on 13MAR17.  I am looking for teachers to plan with Ms. Carol and Mr. McLean for a progressive dinner next Monday.  Specifically, we're looking for at least 1 teacher from each discipline to run a short 10min collaborative reasoning group (or other brief format) and give an overview of the discipline at UAI.  Please see Ms. Carol for details.  The first meeting of the committee will be on Monday in Carol's office from 3-4:20PM.