Week of January 9th

UAI Staff News

Volume X

Issue 17

January 9th, 2023

Wrapping Up the Fall Term.  Next week is our benchmark period and following that is Regents Week.  For our HS students, this is the last week of instruction for the fall.  

One of our biggest learnings from the Fall Instructional Rounds was that across subjects, grades, and classrooms, we all are super committed to ensuring the success of our students - maybe a little too committed at times.  There are a number of scaffolds and supports to encourage and uphold students learning, but these scaffolds are so prevalent that they are actually getting in the way of students being prepared to independently demonstrate their learning.

The benchmarks are a low-stakes way of seeing how students would fair on high stakes state testing and will be extraordinarily important information for us to see how well we have taken the learnings from IR (Instructional Rounds) and applied it to our practice.  Inevitably, there will be more things we need to do (there always are), but this is the first pass at seeing how well we have done.  

Students freak out about these big tests.  It's another indication that we are not giving them enough experiences of independent, unscaffolded performance in our classes.  They are also worried about failing and doing poorly.  This is natural.  Our job is to recognize that fear and stress, and then to remind them of all the great things they have done this fall to prepare for next week.  They will feel confident if they have the tools and have your confidence.

So, encourage practice and studying in Learning Labs this week for next week's exams.  Give them lots of practice questions with the answers so that they have the opportunity to see how they will do on the actual exam.  These shouldn't be done for grades.  These practice assignments should be done for studying.  Use the analogy of sports again.  Then need to run the shorter races to make sure they do great in the real one.  Or performance - You need to rehearse and rehearse in order to make sure that the final performance is great!  Athletes and artists put in a LOT of hours to make sure they are ready for the big event (a game, a show, a performance, a race).  Our kids need to get into the same mindset for next week's exams.  Help them get there!

Important dates. 

• Monday, 09JAN23. Lady Eagles Home Game @4:30PM
• Tuesday, 10JAN23.  Final MP2 Progress Report Update during Tuesday Outreach Time
• Wednesday, 11JAN23. Lady Eagles Home Game @4:30PM
• Monday, 16JAN23.  MLK Jr Day, No School
• Tuesday, 17JAN23.  January Benchmark week Begins
• Wednesday, 18JAN23. Lady Eagles Home Game @4:30PM
• Monday, 23JAN23.  
• Last Day of January Benchmark week  Ends
• 6/7/12th Grader Tubing Trip
• Tuesday, 24JAN23.  HS Regents Week Begins (See Announcements below)
• Monday, 30JAN23.  Chancellors's PD day - no students in school - Final Agenda coming out this week
• Tuesday, 31JAN23.  First day of the Spring Term

Announcements & To Dos

Regents Week.  ELA, Math, & Science teachers should submit the names of any student who wants to retake a regent to Kiri by the EOD on Friday 13JAN23.  Students can also email Kiri directly at kiris@uainstitute.org.  All students MUST sign up by EOD on Friday, 13JAN23.

Curriculum Organization and Maintenance.  We are finalizing Regents Week schedules this week and are making sure folks have independent work time to catalog their fall curricula and plan for the launch of the Spring term.  For the spring folks will be compensated up to 2 hrs per week to make sure that their lessons, activities, and assessments are uploaded into the UAI Pacing Guide.  Additionally, folks should also keep their Google Classrooms up to date.

Folks who keep their pacing guides and google classrooms up to date will be eligible to receive 2hrs of per session each pay period.  You must submit a link to your pacing guide to Dai along with the time card to get approval for this work.  

Student Perception Survey.  As a reminder, the Tripod Student Perception Survey must be completed by Friday 20JAN23.  Thank you to all who updated the document with your survey administration plans.  I inserted a default plan for all pairs who weren't able to update the form by Friday (EOD). The goal is to administer a minimum of 40 surveys.  Please CLICK HERE to see who your partner is and the directions for administering the survey.   Please remember the only rules for the survey: 

• You cannot administer your own survey (so you have to open your partner's access codes and use those codes with your partner's students).
• You need to use up all of your survey codes (can all be in 1-2 sections, or 3 if need be.  You can choose the sections).
• You will need to complete the survey no later than 20JAN23.

Thank you all!  I know this can feel like an extra load, but getting feedback from our students is critical for improving our practice. So, I definitely appreciate the time and effort you are all doing to make space in your calendars to give this survey!

Period Start and Stop.  So, we're running into a few hallway and cafeteria problems.  One key problem was brought up by our Middle School team.  The problem is that the MS kids are leaving the cafe and heading to their classes too early (11:05) and 4th period doesn't actually start until 11:15.  The reason this is happening is because High Schoolers are showing up in the cafeteria too early (like between 11:05 and 11:10). 

We're having the same problem at dismissal time.  Kids are beating our deans down to 2PM and 2:50PM dismissal because they are being let out too early.

When we're in our classrooms day in and day out, it's easy to lose site of how a seemingly innocuous decision like letting the kids go to lunch or dismissal a few minutes early can have larger reaching ramifications.

For this week, try to reset your class periods to strictly adhere to starting and stopping classes on time.  

This is true for all periods, bu please be extra aware to 3rd, 6th, and 7th periods.  Please make sure to follow these periods and to start and stop these classes on time.

1. 8:30-9:23
2. 9:25-10:18
3. 10:20-11:13
4. 11:15-12:08
5. 12:10-1:03
6. 1:05-1:58
7. 2:00-2:50

Getting to Class on Time.  We are working on getting some programs up and running to help minimize student straggling between periods.  What we need from teachers is to put in place practices that both require and excite students getting to class on time.  For example, students are going on a Tubing Trip in two weeks.  It leaves promptly at 9:30, and guaranteed, almost all students will be on time.  Even when we have trips that leave at 7AM, students show.  This is hard evidence that when students WANT to be somewhere - they can be there.

The attendance team is planning an incentive program to lean into this.

What we need from teachers is your creativity and brilliance in developing instructional incentives that urge students to get to your classes on time.  Grade-based incentives are the natural go-to solution, but learning-based incentives are the best.  Think about how you can teach into why being on time to your class is important for success (not just in your class but also in life).  What kind of messages do kids send when they are late and how does that impact academic achievement and future plans?  

It's an assumption to think that students should know that lateness is a problem.  There is a LOT of things missed during the pandemic.  Social norms like this one need to be taught, and if kids are habitually late, then that's clear evidence that they have yet to truly comprehend why being on time matters in all sorts of social situations. 

The answer won't be easy, but we need to start trying in order to attend to the issue!
(Lol - see what I did there...attend! That wasn't even intentional!)

Bathroom Tracker and Hall Duty.  In the vein of hallway tightening up, we're going to try to better track bathroom use.  There are a handful of kids who are abusing their bathroom uses.  It's too difficult to track in the sign-in book. It's just not efficient to flip through all the pages.  So we're going to use this Bathroom Log to track usage, and deans will then be able to address overuse with students and families.

Additionally, we're going to be reorganizing our hallway duties, putting staff on the 5th floor and 3rd floors.  Staff with Hall Duty should have received a detailed email from Annie about opening up the 5th floor. In case you missed it, here's the duties for 5th floor hall duty that will start on Monday.

• You'll be positioned on the 5th floor consistently.
• Please unlock those bathrooms starting 10 minutes into the period and re-lock them 10 minutes from the end of the period, but stay present monitoring the hall for the full period.
• Please also sweep the stairwells and ensure kids move to class.
• This includes the stairwell that our students use to get to the gym - this is a major hiding spot for students since it's off-camera.

<REPOST> Benchmarks.  Our first school-wide benchmark assessment will be taking place during the week of January 23.  In addition, we will be giving the NYCDOE Tripod Survey during that week for students (stay tuned for schedule).  For the benchmarks...

• All Regents ending classes will be provided with a regents-based exam designed by your ILT lead, based on the regent exam and the units that your classes have completed thus far.  

• All other 8-12th grade classes (breadth classes and AP classes) will need to develop their own class assessment and give it on the assigned day, during regular class time.
  
  
• All exams will take place during your regular class time on the assigned days below.  Please note the DATE CHANGES.  These were made because I realized I hadn't considered that you might not see your classes on the day I picked!  I changed some things around to accommodate for that as much as possible.
  
  
• Tuesday, 17JAN23.  All Science Classes give the Science Benchmark
• Wednesday, 18JAN23.  All Social Studies classes
       (except sections PUZ - they don't meet on Wednesdays)
• Thursday, 19JAN23.  PUZ Social Studies & All Math classes
• Friday, 20JAN23. All ELA classes
• Monday, 23JAN23.  All breadth classes.  If you don't meet with a section on Monday, please choose any day from the prior week to give your benchmark.
• Tuesday, 24JAN23.  NYS Middle School Math Benchmark
• Wednesday, 25JAN23.  NYS Middle School ELA Benchmark

• All make-ups should be completed during learning labs or teachers should use prep/professional time to pull students from learning labs to complete make ups. 

Progress Reports.   The final progress reporting for MP2 will be next week.  Please make sure you are up-to-date with your grading and can input grades that will be largely reflecting of what student can expect to see on their final MP2 report card.  We'll meet in circle rooms next Tuesday to update the Progress Report document, and this will count as family outreach for the week.

Regents Exam Sign Up.   For the January Regents administration, students will have to opt in to taking the exams.  In June, all students in regents-ending classes will be automatically signed up for the exam.  Students who are ready to retake the Regents exams need complete THIS Form.  For this January testing period, only students who have been studying and are prepared to retake an exam should sign up.  For students who are looking for just practice, this is where they can find practice exams and answer keys

Per Session Postings

For ALL per session activities (view all 2022-23 postings here),
please complete Per Session Application For

Hiring Committee.  It's hiring season again!   Each year we open up our hiring process in February to meet candidates.  We run our hiring process independent of known vacancies.  We do this because we need to start early to catch the most folks, and that early start is too soon for many folks to know next year's plans.  We also are part of a larger network of schools with whom we share candidates.  So our hiring process serves to first staff UAI, but secondarily support the larger UA network.  We are looking for folks to join!  If you are interested, please complete the per session application (link above) and email Kiri no later than 23JAN23.

If you are interested in the hiring committee, here's what happens

• The Process 
• First Cast a Very Wide Net.  To find the best teachers, we cast the widest net to get the most applicants.  From this pool interview and select candidates for demo lessons & debrief interviews.  We post for all positions and all grade levels each year.  We then interview all the candidates at multiple interview fairs that happen on several times (after school & Saturdays) throughout the Spring.  The hiring committee is charged with interviewing panels of candidates and selecting the best of these candidates to perform a demo lesson and debrief the interview.
• The Demo Lesson.  ILT leads, Annie and Kiri observe all demo lessons, and where possible, hiring committee members join (volunteering their prep, lunch and/or professional period).
• The Debrief Interview.  After the demo lesson, ILT Leads, Annie & Kiri lead the interview to listen to the candidate reflect on the demo and see how well the candidate is at taking in and using feedback.  As with the demo lesson, hiring committee member join in on the debrief interviews.
• Goals
• Diversify Staff Hires. We will increase the diversity of our UAI instructional staff
• By actively recruiting and promoting hiring events to members of groups have been historically denied access and opportunity, we aim to increase folks identifying as POC and/or LGBTQ+ applying to work at UAI.
• By intentionally reaching out to organizations for educators self-identifying as POC, the Hiring Committee will increase the number of folks identifying as POC and/or LGBTQ+ in Round 1 panel interviews.
• The committee will report the diversity results of each Hiring Fair and Demo Lessons in the subsequent Blogs and will provide an in-depth report of processes in April and in June.
• Inclusive and Interrogated Decision Making. The committee will implement structures, policies and practices that maximize inclusive decision making.
• By collaboratively interrogating decisions and actively raising up possible member biases around POC and/or LGBTQ+ or conditions that may put folks identifying as a POC and/or LGBTQ+ in Round 1 and in the Demo Lessons, the Hiring Committee will increase the percentage of POC being offered a position at UAI by Sept 23.

SHSAT & SAT Prep.  Students have been asking for SHSAT and SAT Prep.  If you are interested, please complete the per session application (link above) and email Kir no later than 23JAN23

Per Session Postings Now Closed