Week of December 5th

UAI Staff News

Volume V

Issue 14

December 5th, 2017

[School Days 59-63]

Announcements

National Press for Girls Inc. and UAI Students.  On Giving Tuesday, Girls Inc. CEO, Pamela Maraldo, was interviewed on the Today show by Stephanie Ruhle!  Pamela brought attention to what we do at UAI with Girls Inc to impact the financial futures of those who participate in our programming. In the Girls Inc. social media #givingtuesday campaign, our UAI girls shared what Girls Inc of NYC inspires them to become. These characteristics included being bold, creative, loyal, and honest. Girls Inc. raised over $16,000 through the generosity of supporters who invested in the girls of NYC becoming strong, smart, and bold! Watch the full interview with Pamela!

A Shout Out for the College Office and the Class of 2018.  With the diligent support of Danielle and Martine, 51 out of 69 seniors have submitted applications to college, and 59 of 63 eligible seniors have completed and submitted their FAFSAs and TAPs submitted already – 96% of eligible students!! --  which is completely unheard of at this time of the year.  Their goal is to have 100% of Financial Aid applications completed before the break and for all students to have submitted applications to at least CUNY schools before the break.  With these numbers, they are well on their way!

The Class of 2019 is going to see Hamilton!  This past summer, Ms. Annie worked with the Gilda Lehrman Institute of American History to get 60 tickets to Hamilton for our 11th graders.  The experience couldn't come at a more perfect time!  Juniors just completed an intense study of the creation of the Constitution, including a rich study of Hamilton's role and his writings in the Federalist Papers.  Chaperones have already been assigned for this trip.  We are hoping to make this an annual event for each class studying US History! 

Holiday Cheer.  As Sursattie reminded us in her email, our Secret Santa Potluck will be next Monday on 11DEC17 starting at 3PM.  If you haven't done so yet, please take a moment to complete this spreadsheet.   Our UAI Staff Holiday Party will be that following Friday, 15DEC17 from 4-6PM at Commonwealth Bar.  The party will cost $20 and it will be an open bar from 4-6PM for staff, and family and friends are welcome to join us after.  There will be food (I'm still doing the research and taking suggestions!).  Please take a quick moment and go back to the spreadsheet to indicate your response.  I need to get an accurate headcount for food ordering, so please fill that out now, thanks! 

This Week's To Dos

Monday PDs in December.  Here's the updated PD schedule for December making room for PLOPs and the Staff Potluck:

• 04DEC17 - First Monday - PLOP Writing (complete Dec AND Jan PLOPs)
• 11DEC17 - Staff Potluck in the Library at 3PM
• 18DEC17 - Effectively Gathering Assessment Data with Turn & Talks OR 
                      Using Writing to Assess Student Thinking & Learning  OR
                      Strategic Feedback - Figuring out what to say, why say it, & how.

Prepare for Upcoming Midyear Reviews.  Reviews will begin next week!  As a reminder, please reflect on the following.  Please bring the blue items with you for the review.

• Focus School Goal.  Our main priority goal this year is to increase instructional rigor and student intellectual engagement [Rigorous Instruction & Collaborative Teachers].  To achieve this, we have focused on through improved planning & assessment.  Between now, and your midyear review, reflect on  your progress with the following:

• Improvement in Planning (e.g. UAI Pacing Calendar, Narrative Lesson Plans, Backwards-Designed Unit Plans)
• Impact on Student Learning (e.g. samples of Student Work with your feedback, Student achievement (analysis of student grades in course or performance on tests/benchmarks), Student Academic Growth)
• Growth in Co-planning with Peer Teachers/Coaches (e.g. quality of planning, quality of lesson execution (Advance Observations) impact on student learning, outcomes of co-planning survey - please click the link to take it now) 

• Second School Goal.  The second goal that we will discuss during midyears is our school goal around increasing Strong Family Ties.  Our goal is to increase strong family community ties by increasing both quantity and quality of in-person and phone interactions between teachers and families.  This year, each student in your advisory should have had at least 4 interactions and at least 1 in person, all documented in Skedula:  1 welcome to UAI phone call in September; at least 1 in-person visit during MP1, MP2, or SLCs; and at least 2 10-15 minute phone calls for MP1, MP2, or SLC.   Specifically, review and reflect on the following data points:
• Number of successful contacts (in person and phone) per advisee (as evidenced by Skedula anecdotals) 
• Growth Advisee attendance rates from September (you can see this in Skedula)
• Academic Performance of Advisees from MP1 to MP2 (again Skedula)

• Midyear Reflection and Refocus. The Midyear is your opportunity to stop, review your various data points, and reflect on your growth and development.  As teachers, we often get too wrapped up in keeping students doing and busy and we don't make the time to step back and evaluate longer-term progress as shown through student thinking and achievement.  This is one of the big times in the year to take stock of our work thus far.  Where we are strong, we will continue. Where we struggle, we will analyze and refocus spring goals for growth.  Here are some logistical things to keep in mind
• First Year at UAI?  Teachers who are in their first year at UAI or are up for tenure can expect to be scheduled first for their reviews (schedule will be released next week).   More explicit details on the Midyear will come in next week's blog.  For this week, look back at your planning documents and reflect on your student outcomes (Do your lesson plans result in positive student outcomes? How do you know? Why or why not?)
• Are you up for Tenure this year?  Teachers who are coming up for tenure are required to submit a formal portfolio of any of the documents or data points listed above.  These will become part of their final portfolio of work to be submitted for tenure recommendation.  The portfolio consists of three parts (1) a letter explaining why you merit tenure and how the documents you submit are illustrative of your growth and achievement (THIS YEAR - we will add more later); (2) samples of student work (with feedback that shows how students used your feedback to improve performance; (3) complete UAI Pacing Calendar with linked samples of Narrative Lesson Plans and all Units are Linked.
• Everyone else?  You will have the same reflection question:  Do your lesson plans result in positive student outcomes? How do you know? Why or why not? - most importantly, how do you plan to show Kiri/Annie your progress through planning documents and student work? 

NOTE:  Please do not wait to prepare.  Begin gathering your planning documents and reviewing your student work, exam achievements, & growth.  Review and think about what these all say about your growth as an educator and pedagogue.  Jot your thoughts down as you reflect.  Talk to your planning partners to hash it out! 

SEL Update

6th and 9th grade students wrapped up their unit on responsible decision making in the face of internal and external pressures last week.  Lauren will be coming by the PD on Monday to give an update on the strategies they learned.

This month, SEL students will be focused on bullying and drama. They'll begin the unit this week by examining their own experiences with bullying and drama, and how these experiences made them feel. Then, they'll take a look a real-life case of bullying and drama and think about how the case relates to what students might go through at UAI.