Saturday, October 28, 2017

Week of October 30

UAI Staff News



Volume V
Issue 10
October 30th, 2017
[School Days 37-41]

Announcements and To Dos

Quality Review.   Our School Quality Review will take place on Wednesday, November 1st and Thursday, November 2nd.  Our reviewer will be AJ Hepworth.  He is currently a Director at the Office of School Quality. He is responsible for conducting Quality Reviews, supporting the Quality Review process, and facilitating professional development for a broad range of educators throughout the city.  AJ Hepworth’s career in public education spans more than two decades as a building
principal, assistant principal, K-12 STEM instructional leader, and instructor at the elementary, secondary, and graduate level. He supports instruction while empowering students and staff through the inclusion of novel pedagogy using relevant data. His experience includes a depth of understanding in curriculum, staff development, NYS testing, budget, technology, and communication. He holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Biology from the University at Albany, a Masters in Earth Science from C.W. Post, and a Doctorate in Educational Administration, Leadership and Technology from Dowling College.  AJ is a certified School Administrator & Supervisor and School District Administrator.  Here is the tentative schedule for Wednesday and Thursday.  Classroom Visits are indicated by "CV"


Formative Feedback Visits.  Annie and I will be visiting all classrooms on Monday and Tuesday to provide you some feedback prior to the visit.  For all teachers who have already been observed and evaluated, this will be purely formative, non-evaluative feedback.  If you have not yet received an official evaluation from Val, Annie, or me, then you can expect an official observation on Monday or Tuesday.  In particular, we will be looking for three things during our visit.  So, if you see us walk in, make them happen when we are there!

Clarity of Objective.  Do the kids know what they are supposed to learn for the day and why? We'll be asking kids, but also, make an opportunity to pause the class and connect their current activity to the days' learning objective and why/how it connects to the larger unit plan.  This should not be belabored ... make it no longer than a 30sec check-in.





Student Thinking.  Are students thinking or simply doing?  Use Webb's Depth of Knowledge to assess your lessons to see what level of thinking you're demanding.  It should never be the case that for the 10-15min that we are in a class, there is only Level I or II thinking.   Make sure you are planning for thinking and not just planning for management or participation.  That said, not every struggle is equal.  Select the 1-2 places where you really want to go deep and get kids to use their brains. Create appropriate challenge (not too hard, not too easy), place in appropriate scaffolds that help strugglers overcome unproductive struggles and support all students in pushing their thinking to the next level.  This is the productive struggle that we've been talking about in PD and in observation debriefs.

Also, make sure your narrative lesson plan includes your "Look Fors".  Everything you do has a rhyme and reason.  You are trying to evoke something from your students.  What is it?  Be clear and articulate in your planning about what thinking you want them to show you.  


Check for Understanding.  After you've planned and articulated your "Look Fors", make sure you're actually looking for them from everyone!  To get a quick sense of this from your students and to improve student discourse, plan to have several quick Turn and Talks.  Ask a question or leverage a misunderstanding.  For example, "Ooh, as I was walking around, Kiri was saying <insert interestingly wrong idea> and Annie was saying <correct concept>.  I want you guys to turn to your partner and discuss who's idea is more on-target and why."  Then, go around and listen to the kids.  Try to find your look-fors or interesting misunderstandings.  Use what the kids said to start your full class conversations.

When Annie and I walk into a room, doing a quick turn and talk is the fastest, easiest way to demonstrate student thinking and demonstrate student questioning and discussion.  I'm encouraging you to do one (even if not originally planned) during the time that we are in your class!


Using your assessments.  The assessment data you get from collaborative learning groups (e.g. small groups or Turn and Talks) either written or verbal is valuable intel.  You need to use this information to further your lesson and/or make in-lesson adjustments.  If kids are not getting it, pause and say that! Don't just barrel on.  Connect to your teacher soul.  You're only teaching if your students are learning!  If your kids aren't learning, then make it your responsibility to stop the lesson and try a reboot or redirect. What really helps you do this is if you can identify the part(s) of the lesson that you're willing to sacrifice and the parts that are essential and if missed will be given more time.  The essential parts are...you guessed it...the productive struggle!



Monday PD and Student Work.   Please bring at least 5 samples of student work to Monday PD. Use this protocol on your own to help you select and think about the work before Monday.  Along with the student work, please bring the task description and grading rubric.  Be prepared to articulate to a partner what you learned about student thinking from work and using the rubric.  You'll be sharing your feedback for the student with a partner and you'll be describing how you expect your students to use this feedback to improve learning.  Finally, be prepared to share how and when you plan to communicate with the student about your feedback and her next learning steps.  


Tuesday Outreach.  For Tuesday, please remind all Advisees that we will not have school next Tuesday (November 7th - Election Day PD).  Also, please remind them that our first benchmark assessments will be on Thursday 08NOV and Friday 09NOV.  On Tuesday, you should schedule parents for Student Led Conferences.  Please make sure to schedule all of your advisees by the end of the day on Friday, 03NOV18.
If you are having trouble connecting with a family member, please reach out to our counselors (Jennifer JR, Marni, Lauren, Haelinn in room 304, Martine or Danielle in B35, or Jen in 301) for assistance.  They frequently are able to connect with homes when teachers cannot.  All SLCs appointments must be scheduled in THIS DOCUMENT.  This year, conferences can ONLY be scheduled between 5-8PM on Thursday and from dismissal on Friday through 2:50PM.  If you need to schedule outside of these times, please see Mr. Brodie.  When scheduling SLCs, please address the following

  • Welcome!  Make parents feel welcome and necessary partners in their child's learning.  We need them there to help us help their children!
  • Email.  Get parent email addresses.  We'll be sending out email invites to remind parents of the appointments.
  • Skedula. Check to see if they have access to Skedula.  If no, make a point to set them up during your SLC.

Grades.  Remember, Grades are due on November 6th.  Please remind students about our schoolwide grading policy.  From our Staff Handbook:


Grading Policy
At UAI, grades are numeric and based on a scale of 50-100.  For all course work and assessments, the lowest grade students can receive is a 50 and the highest grade is 100.  The 50-100 scale is a mathematically aligned scale to the traditional letter grades of A, B, C, D and F. Marking Period Grades are cumulative.

For Progress Report and final Report Card Grading in particular:
  • The ONLY failing grade we use on report cards and transcripts is 55. If a student has another actual grade (e.g. 57, 63, 51), only 55 may be entered for failing. There is ONE exception to this rule. If the grades being entered are for marking periods two or four, then teachers may elect to use the grade of 60. This grade indicates that the student is currently failing, but will likely pass for the semester. Administratively, we differentiate failing grades of 60 and 55 for Promotion In Doubt letters and Summer School programming.
  • All Passing Grades are integers > 65 but < 99. We do not use the final grade of 100. The minimum passing grade is 65. The maximum passing grade is 99.
  • A student's overall course grade is 50% Performance activities, 30% Progress, and 20% Participation. In the units, teachers must specify which activities and assessments fall into each category so that students have a clear understanding of how they are being graded.
  • All courses are annualized (except for NYU Poly courses). Students officially receive their final grade and credit in June of the school year. Students will receive a progress report for 5 marking periods, and the final (6th) report card will issue the grade for the course. If passing at the 3rd marking period (end of the fall term), at least 1 credit is guaranteed. If passing at the end of the 6th marking period (end of the spring term), then the students will earn both credit.


SEL Update

In SEL this week, students are wrapping up October's unit on friendship and conflict resolution by practicing true active listening. To be able to demonstrate good listening when talking to a friend, the acronym we teach the girls is EARS:

Eye contact
Ask and answer questions
Reflect feelings
Say it in your own words

For the month of November, students are shifting into a unit on responsible decision making in the face of pressure. We'll begin the unit by delving into a discussion on our personal core values and our future goals.



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Per Session Posting

High School Dance on Friday, 27OCT17.  Chaperones are needed for the dance this Friday.  Please email Jen to volunteer.  Per Session is offered from 5:45PM-10PM.  Chaperones need to meet Jen in the main office at 5:45PM for an orientation.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Week of October 23rd

UAI Staff News



Volume V
Issue 9
October 23rd, 2017
[School Days 32-36]

Announcements

Principal Instructional Rounds and our School Quality Review.  Our Quality Review has been moved to November 1st and 2nd. My push-back worked!  This review will an evaluation of our work as a school.  Your work every day is at the very heart of what we do and how we do it.  It is the caliber of your lesson plans that push student thinking and learning.  This review is our opportunity to showcase the work that you do to get our girls to grow.   The push on lesson planning and preparation has been intense this year.  It is the next step in our evolution from Learning Cultures.  As we move away from a format-driven learning system, we move into deepening our understanding of how to create lessons and activities that drive students into a productive struggle - one that is challenging (rigorous) and results in student thinking (engagement).  Work Time, Collaborative Learning Groups (like Turn and Talks or Small Groups) and Student Conferences are still key formats that support student thinking.  Our goal this year is to really improve and perfect the tasks that we ask students to do during these formats. In so doing, we are creating truly productive struggles and improving the quality of student learning in our classrooms.  On Monday, a group of principals from CUNY and Urban Assembly will be visiting classrooms to help prepare us for our review.


Impact.  Already we are seeing great impact with our focus on lesson planning.  Our attendance rate is up 3% from last year (to 90% from 87%).  Our classroom removal rates are down across the board, with particular strong decreases in 6th grade (91% decrease) and 9th Grade (88% decrease).  Lesson planning combined with our Deans' coaching work and the stronger implementation of SEL instruction has already had major impact.  Our continued work and effort around planning and lesson execution will only lead to further positive growth!


College Awareness Week.  This week kicks off our College Awareness week.  This week seniors are applying to college and we want to take the opportunity to celebrate this milestone by taking college awareness school-wide!

  • Monday 23OCT17:  RA Advice.  Seniors will visit classes to discuss the college application process and the importance of the high school years. Please excuse Jade Nijia McLean, Stephanie Crespo, Tiara Coleman, Q-Tiye Clarke, Fatou Gaye, Dionne Johnson, Uneeka Washington, Ruby Williams, and Annia Samuel.  Also, please save the last 20 minutes of 2nd period (Middle School) or 3rd period (High School) to allow seniors to speak to your class. Students will also get bingo cards to complete throughout the week.
  • Tuesday 24OCT17:  Door Decoration.  Please decorate your doors based on the college that you went to.Please use your family outreach time on Tuesday after school to do this.  Seniors are available to assist in the Door Decoration.  Val is out sick this week, so please contact Jen or Brodie for assistance.
  • Wednesday 25OCT17: Career Day.  Students are encouraged to dress up in the major or career that they see themselves pursuing.

  • Thursday 26OCT17:  College Rep Day.  Staff and seniors wear college colors, pins, or gear.  Encourage students throughout the day to ask why they chose their college.
  • Friday 27OCT17:  Graduation Day.  Students submit Bingo cards during lunch.  Student winners are announced at the end of the day!


To Do This Week


October PD.   Monday's PD work will be slightly shifted to give you time to better prepare for the Quality Review.  Please use Monday's PD time as independent work time to complete and submit your lessons for November 1st and 2nd.   For these two days in particular, I'm want your absolute best! Here are two lesson examples that illustrate the level of quality your lessons should have:

NOTE: For LDC planners.  If you are still finding it hard to work in the LDC format, please feel free to use the UAI lesson template to plan our your lessons for the review days.

By the end of PD on Monday, please make sure this weeks' aims are listed on your Pacing Guide and that you have also linked at least one lesson for November 1st or November 2nd.


SEL Update

SEL this week is shifting to the theme of conflict resolution. Students will first practice how to find "win-win" solutions, or solutions that work for both parties, when conflict arises. Once students can identify win-win solutions, students will put this basic skill into a 4-step conflict resolution framework:
  1. Wait until you are calm.
  2. Say how you feel, starting with "I." (Example: "I felt hurt when you chose her to be your partner instead of me.")
  3. Suggest some possible win-win solutions.
  4. Decide which solution you're going to go with together.
Students will practice these skills in skits using scenarios, and will use circle time to discuss how they can be applying these skills in real life.



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Per Session Posting

High School Dance on Friday, 27OCT17.  Chaperones are needed for the dance this Friday.  Please email Jen to volunteer.  Per Session is offered from 5:45PM-10PM.  Chaperones need to meet Jen in the main office at 5:45PM for an orientation.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Week of October 16

UAI Staff News



Volume V
Issue 8
October 16th, 2017
[School Days 27-31]

Announcements


This week in Girls Inc.  The second week of October was such an exciting week at Girls Inc! We kicked it off on Sunday with #MovingTogether and Free People clothing line coming together to fundraise and celebrate Girls Inc on Governors Island! Twenty six of our amazing girls showed up despite the rain, enjoying yoga and dance with a live DJ, while moving their bodies and loving themselves! Wednesday we celebrated International Day of the Girl. Starting with a concert/conference sponsored by Glamour's The Girl Project, that addressed the social, cultural, and political issues that young girls face every day in school. Celebrities and special guest speakers were in attendance.  Yara Shahidi, star of Blackish, made her way over and took a selfie with our UAI girls! Check out a part of their day  here! Later in the day, a second group of girls spent the afternoon at the United Nations hearing powerful and provocative speakers who used poetry, performance, and multimedia to challenge and inspire our beliefs of girls' roles around the world. It was a great week, full of inspiration to be strong, smart and bold! 

To Do This Week


October PD.   As a reminder, we are dedicating October PD to planning!
  • 16OCT17 - Pacing Guide, Course Syllabus & Daily Aims.  The goal is to list all Daily Aims of their Units on the Pacing Guide.  You can look at either the CC Algebra Pacing Guide or the USH Pacing Guide for examples of this on the September and October tabs.
  • 25OCT17 - Pacing Guide & Links.  All teachers will link their unit plans and lessons (both past, current, and future) to their pacing guide.   Again, reference the links above for examples. Click on the links inside the calendar (on the USH guide) or next to the aims (for Algebra).
  • 30OCT17 - November/December Unit and Lesson Prep.  We'll use this last day of October to future plan for November and December Units.  The week after will be our monthly PLOP meeting, and November Election Day will continue this planning work.


SEL Update

This week, SEL classes continued developing the core SEL skill of relationship building by delving into the traits and characteristics that make a good friend. 6th grade SEL classes created advertisements detailing what they are looking for in a true friend- be on the lookout for these to be posted on the 3rd floor shortly!
Students are also learning to identify the following friend vs. "frenemy" behaviors:
  • A true friend:
    • Cares about your well being
    • Is happy when you succeed in something
    • Listens to you and is there for you
    • Doesn’t criticize you or expect you to change
    • Doesn’t discourage you from having other friends
  • A “frenemy”:
    • Looks like a true friend on the outside, but actually brings you down
    • Tries to control you
    • Discourages you from having your own opinions or disagreeing with her
    • Focuses on herself more than you
    • Makes you feel you have to act a certain way in order to stay her friend.
This week, students will begin discussing how to manage problems with "frenemies," and will begin a deeper exploration into the problem of gossip. On Friday 10/20, a few students will accompany Lauren to UA Media to meet with the Israeli Ministry and explain how SEL programming works at UAI.




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Monday, October 9, 2017

Week of October 10th

UAI Staff News



Volume V
Issue 7
October 10th, 2017
[School Days 23-26]

Announcements

This Week At Girls Inc.  We are so incredibly proud of Mary Rose Alejo, Kalila Calame, Tiffany Doris, Chevanique Johnson, and Breanna Wright for their acceptance into the HSBC Mentorship Program. HSBC and Girls Inc. launched a robust mentoring program that seeks to prepare young girls from New York City high schools for college, careers, and strong, smart and bold futures. The pilot program will span the 2017-18 academic year, and will offer an intensive mentoring experience to ten high-school students from New York City schools. On Thursday they attended, with their mentors, the American Banker’s Most Powerful Women in Banking awards, after having prepared for the gala dinner at a special event last week.  They were able to choose a business formal outfit, made possible through a generous contribution of distinctive designs by Michael Kors. They were taken to his flagship store and allowed to choose all they would need for this special and inspiring event for free!  Please Click here to watch a great video of them having fun shopping for their special event! 




To Do This Week

Observations.  We are continuing through our first round of observations and hope to get to everyone by October 20th.  After the first round, we'll be looking at Domain 1 (planning and prep) each time.  October PD time will be aimed at providing teachers with dedicated planning time.


October PD.   As a reminder, please begin preparing to spend October PD time to organize instructional materials.  Ultimately, the Pacing Guide document will be the resource that we use to access and evaluate lesson and unit plans during observations.  To make sure that you are well-prepared, we will be dedicating PD time this month to bringing these documents online.

Our ELA teachers already have a leg up in this work because they are working with LDC and they have already been creating digital modules and units since last year.  So, LDC teachers will continue their work with LDC and their coach, Christine Del Negro.   

For the rest of us, October will be dedicated PD time to bring everyone onboard with their digital curriculum.  We began this work in August, and we will use October to bring pieces of this work to completion.  Please bring a computer to each of the October PD sessions.  At the end of each Monday, our goal is to complete the following:
  • 16OCT17 - Pacing Guide, Course Syllabus & Daily Aims.  The goal is to list all Daily Aims of their Units on the Pacing Guide.  You can look at either the CC Algebra Pacing Guide or the USH Pacing Guide for examples of this on the September and October tabs.
  • 25OCT17 - Pacing Guide & Links.  All teachers will link their unit plans and lessons (both past, current, and future) to their pacing guide.   Again, reference the links above for examples. Click on the links inside the calendar (on the USH guide) or next to the aims (for Algebra).
  • 30OCT17 - November/December Unit and Lesson Prep.  We'll use this last day of October to future plan for November and December Units.  The week after will be our monthly PLOP meeting, and November Election Day will continue this planning work.


SEL Update

Thanks to everyone who has been supporting the girls with their collaboration skills! As a reminder, you can help the girls work together in partners/groups by encouraging them to:
  1. Provide equal opportunities to speak
  2. Assume their group member(s) mean well
  3. Be open-minded to others' opinions
  4. Disagree without being disagreeable (with sentence stems such as "That could work! We can also try..." or "I see where you're coming from, but I was thinking...")
In October, we are shifting into the theme of Building True Friendships, where we'll help the girls develop their ability to grow lasting, meaningful friendships that can withstand conflict. This week, we'll be delving into the concept of choosing your friends wisely with a discussion on what makes a good friend, as well as the difference between "friends" and "frenemies."



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Sunday, October 1, 2017

Week of October 2nd

UAI Staff News

Volume V
Issue 6
October 1st, 2017
[School Days 18-22]

Announcements

Progressive Dinner.  Many thanks and congrats go to Ms. Carol and Mr. McLean for all of their hard work in organizing our open school evening last Tuesday.  Many thanks also to all of the teachers and staff for putting together curriculum materials and activities that help our families understand course demands for the year.  This dinner was the first in a series of experiences that will build the ties that help our students thrive!  Continue the momentum through advisory outreach this week!

First Assembly.  A big shout out goes to Ms. Val, Ms. Vanessa and the Class of 2018 for organizing our first assembly of the year.  Each month these assemblies give us the opportunity to come together as a school to celebrate student talents and achievements and to connect with one another as a larger community.  Coming together as a full school really brings to life the work we do as a staff.  We have the future lives of nearly 500 young women in our hands, and it is definitely something worth celebrating!

First Senior BBQ.  Ms. Danielle kicked off the year to an amazing start with the Class of 2018.   The girls enjoyed a beautiful day in the fall sunshine to celebrate the start of their final year together.  It was a wonderful event with good times had by all!  Many thanks to all the staff who helped Danielle put this together for our girls!

First Volleyball Game.  Congrats to Coach Elana and the Adams Campus Volleyball team.  They had their first game last week and are looking at another home game this Friday.  Please come out to join them and cheer them on!



To Do This Week

Monday PD.  It's October!  The first Monday PD time of each month will be used to give grade teams work time to complete PLOPs.  All PLOPs for October must be completed by the end of PD on Monday.  All grade teams should be discussing any students who they are considering for initial recommendations and review the PLOPs for:
    • 8th Grade - Amanda Smith
    • 9th Grade - Ashley Cruz, Taerica Grant, Shaunji Herring
    • 10th Grade - Samantha Woods, Chinaza Hayes, 
    • 11th Grade - Destiney Wroten Shepherd
    • 12th Grade - Tarheeb Gadelrab
In addition to the PLOPs, we will also be having a brief SEL presentation by Lauren, and a brief review of emergency lockdown procedures by Brodie.

October PD.   As I helped Carol pull together all the curriculum materials for the Progressive Dinner, I noticed that we are still somewhat confused on planning expectations.  This year, as we prepare for our School Quality Review, it is particularly important that our curriculum and lessons be readily accessible.

Our ELA teachers have a leg up in this work because they are working with LDC and they have already been creating digital modules and units since last year.  So, LDC teachers will resume their work with LDC and Christine.  

For the rest of us, October will be dedicated PD time to bring everyone onboard with their digital curriculum.  We began this work in August, and we will use October to bring pieces of this work to completion.  At the end of each Monday, our goal is to complete the following:
  • 09OCT17 - Pacing Guide & Course Syllabus.  All teachers will create (and save into the correct folder) a Pacing Guide for their course and estimated dates for the units for the year.  For an example,  the 1st tab (School Calendar) of the USH Pacing Guide.  You will use your Curriculum Map that you created to help you here.

  • 16OCT17 - Pacing Guide & Daily Aims.  All teachers will list Daily Aims of their Units on the Pacing Calendar.  You can look at either the CC Algebra Pacing Guide or the USH Pacing Guide for examples of this on the September and October tabs.
  • 25OCT17 - Pacing Guide & Links.  All teachers will link their unit plans and lessons (both past, current, and future) to their pacing guide.   Again, reference the links above for examples. Click on the links inside the calendar (on the USH guide) or next to the aims (for Algebra).

Lockdown Drill.  We will be having a lockdown drill on Wednesday 04OCT at 10AM.  We will be reviewing procedures and steps on Monday.  The primary goal of drills like these is to practice maintaining calm in the face of danger and to practice creating silent and secure classrooms to preserve safety.



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Per Session Posting

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