Sunday, March 19, 2023

Week of March 20th

UAI Staff News

Volume X
Issue 24
March 20th, 2023


Beginning of the End.  This week we have our first of lasts for the 2022-2023 school year.  On Thursday and Friday, we have our final family conferences for the school year, and next Friday marks the end of MP3 and the start of the final marking period of the year.

This is the time where we move up the intensity of learning and achievement as we near the end of the school year.  As teams prepare for the big games, or performance groups prepare for the big show, they all step up the focus and effort as they prepare for the final event.

That is exactly the mode we want to push on now.  Within the strength and support that we have cultivated with our students throughout the entire year, we have invested the required time & effort into building up our learning communities and relationships with our students.  We have the social capitol we need to lean in and push them to excel at their highest levels.

We have some of the brightest, most creative, determined, and innately funny & beautiful kids ever!  Without fail, folks who visit our school are always impressed by them.  Just this last week, one of the folks who did a demo lesson remarked on how smart and determined they were - AND I totally surprised them with that demo during their learning lab.  

We know how great they are because we can see it in them.  They often do not know how great they can be in our classes.  So, as we wrap up the end of the year, now is the time to help them see the strengths that they've cultivated in their skills over the year.  Remind them of where they began the year with you, and make them reflect on how much their efforts have led to growth in your classes!

This will spark the flame of confidence and belief in themselves that they will need to enter into this final marking period and end it with the strongest performances they've done all year!


Important dates. 

  • Monday, 20MAR23.  LES Survey & Progress Report Updates
  • Wednesday, 22MAR23.  
    • P/SAT in school day for all 10th & 11th Graders
    • Mock Regents for 8/9
    • Mock MS Exams for 6/7
    • 12th Grade TBD (trip or special schedule - TBD)
    • Ramadan begins in the evening 
  • Thursday, 23MAR23.  Evening Parent Conferences 5-8PM (Remote)
  • Friday, 24MAR23.  Afternoon Parent Conferences 12:20PM-2:50PM (Remote)
  • Friday, 31MAR23.  End of MP3
  • Wednesday, 05APR23.  Rapid Dismissal
  • Thursday 06APR23 - 16APR23 - Spring Recess
  • Friday, 21APR23 - Eid al-Fitr - No School




Announcements & To Dos

Family & Student Surveys to Kick Off This Week.  Today my son said, "Hey mom, did you do your survey?" I said, "Of course!" He said, "Well you need to show proof otherwise I lose 20 points on my grade in gym class!!!"

What the heck?!?!? - I thought and promptly sent him this screen shot:

  

Well- we're not going to be quite so draconian at UAI.  We definitely want families to complete the survey, but we don't want to punish kids if they don't!!!

Instead, please encourage your families to complete the survey.  Please ask for confirmation from families so that we can enter them into a raffle for a $50 Amazon Gift Card (multiple options) and one lucky family will receive a non DOE iPad!!  

Families simply need to take the same screen shot that I did (above) to show that they've submitted.  To get to that screen, they just need to go here and type "f" followed by their child's OSIS number, and hit enter.  If they completed it, then that message will pop up at the top of the top of their screen.

Please let Tracey and Jen know when families complete the survey so we can enter them into the raffle!

Advisors - please offer extra credit points in advisory for all students who successfully encourage their parents to complete the survey!  Also -Please use advisory time this week to complete the student surveys. 

Please use THIS SLIDE DECK.  To walk students through the survey process.   Some of the questions are ambiguously worded, plus many of our students are still developing their literacy skills.  They will need support in interpreting what some of these questions mean.  Please make it a priority to take the time to explain the survey to them, and if need be, use all the advisory time this week to help students complete successfully.

Our goal is to have 100% of our students and at least 70% of our families complete the survey by the end of conferences on Friday, 24MAR23




CLASS Rubrics and Danielson.  Building students confidence lies in how well you give feedback.  Take a look at the attributes of the CLASS rubric on Quality of Feedback.  In particular, think about how you provide hints or scaffolds coupled with encouragement. How often are you providing hints or scaffolds that require students to reference their own prior knowledge or resources to move forward in the current task?  How often do you use encouragement to prompt them to do so?  How often are you validating their self-guided work that results in quality completion of tasks - beyond just "Good Job".  If it is a good job, explain why it is a good job and highlight exactly what they did to make it a good job.

It's completely natural for students to look to their teachers for approval and guidance.  Our goal at this time of the year is to build their intrinsic recognition and self-reliance to independently (of you - not necessarily of their peers) verify their own understandings and learnings.






Progress Reports & PID Letters.   Progress reports should go out in Advisory this week.  They'll be printed tomorrow AM and ready for pick up by 8:30AM.  You can also reference the Progress Report doc. to see student grades.  Grades are sorted by advisor and then student.  



Parent Conference Prep and Contact Information Updates.   Please use Monday PD time to schedule your conferences into THIS DOCUMENT by Tuesday, 21MAR23.  Here are some things that need to happen
  • ADVISORS - Please input the correct email and contact number(s) for each of your advisees.  Then, please take a look at your Advisees grades.  If you have an Advisee who is currently failing and/or has been consistently failing a course all year, please make sure to connect that Advisee with that teacher and help make sure that conference happens next week.  Any Student that has <90% attendance is required to have a conference with you.  The goal of the conference needs to be how to get students to sustain at least a 90% attendance average for the remainder of the year.  Give concrete numbers...
    • Be present everyday from family conference to Spring Break
    • Be present everyday from after Spring Break to May 1st!
    • Don't miss more than 2 days in May!
    • Be present everyday in June
  • CLASS TEACHERS - Any student who has a grade <70 (or no grade from the last progress report) are required to have a conference with you.   
    • Students who have <70 in your class are either failing or just barely passing.  The goal is to make sure students are securely passing by the end of Marking Period 4.  
    • In Particular - Please make it a priority to contact the homes of kids who had a failing progress report grade for the first time in MP3.  It is super confusing for families to suddenly see a failing grade when we've been communicating via the progress reports that their child has been passing the entire fall.  So those instances will require a conference to help families and students understand why this is happening.
    • Focus this conference on the things that the student IS doing well and find ways to maximize that/those strength/s to improve performance in class.
    • Help families problem solve around hurdles that are getting in the way of the student achieving in your class.  
    • Make a concrete and realistic goal for the next progress report which will be grades thru April 18th - which students will receive on April 25th or 26th (depending on when they have advisory)

    • NOTE:  Conferences should be about 10 -15minutes.  This will give you time for 20-30 conferences.  Please prioritize and schedule accordingly.  If you are unable to schedule or connect with families, please schedule another time during Tuesday outreach time on 28MAR or 04APR.  Please email any families that you are not able to connect with during family conference time.
All conferences MUST be schedule by EOD Friday, 21MAR23.








Per Session Postings

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

Grade Program Research Committee.  Well it's time to start looking for a permanent Skedula replacement for next year.  I'm looking for a committee of 3-5 folks to work collaboratively together to research grading programs (which do more than just grading btw) and do a cost-benefit analysis to figure out which one would be the best fit for UAI.  The objective of this committee is to get enough information to understand what the platform provides and how it might interface with our school culture, digest it into a presentable format (e.g. a PD) where staff can explore, and then we will make a community decision about what we want to do for next year.  If you are interested, please email me ASAP.  This committee will be 3-5 people for about 10-15 hours per person (including research and PD prep). Posting Closes Monday 20MAR23.

Summer School.  If you are interested in working summer school, please complete THIS FORM.


Posted by at 1 comment:

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Week of March 13th

UAI Staff News

Volume X
Issue 23
March 13th, 2023




Upping the Rigor.  Last week we received the results of the Student Perception Survey.   There were some definite bright spots.  We had growth in how our students felt about teachers making them feel welcome, holding high expectations of them, and teachers being sensitive to student's emotional needs.   These are all indicators of the good work folks are doing in developing caring and supportive relationships with our kids.  It is landing well, and as a result, we are moving the needle on our goal of building student-teacher trust!  

Now we have the necessary trust capital to begin to lean in and push our students to achieve and excel.  When students know that you want only the best for them, and that you will always have their back when they take those intellectual risks, that is precisely when they are the most ready to thrive and grow.  It is time to put our collective foot on the rigor pedal and challenge our kids to meet the level of achievement they need to succeed.  It is 

The secret sauce to high student engagement is high academic expectations matched with strong relationships and trust.  When students are in this zone in your class, their responses to the questions around Classroom Engagement are overwhelming positive.  

Challenge yourself to grow your classroom engagement over the next few weeks.  Measure your progress with a focus group of your students.  Choose five kids.  Select a sample of kids that best represent the full spectrum of kids in your classes (the ones who are totally into everything all the time to the most recalcitrant and reluctant participant).  Take a look at your Classroom Engagement survey data as the baseline, and ask those five kids what they think needs to change to improve student responses to these questions: 

        1. How much do you look forward to learning in this class?
        2. In this class, how eager are you to participate?
        3. How often do you get so focused on learning during class activities that you lose track of time?
        4. When you are not in class, how often do you talk about ideas from class?
        5. How often do you use ideas from this class in your daily life?
It's a simple method to track your own progress.  The added plus is that kids absolutely LOVE being part of the answer to improving their own learning.  So, first, check in with them.  Then, find one small change that you can do to improve their learning experience.  Then, check in with them in about two weeks to see how it went - asking the same five questions each time!


Important dates. 

  • Tuesday, 14MAR23.  Progress Report #2 Grade Entry
  • Monday, 13MAR23.  LES Survey & Progress Report Updates
  • Wednesday, 22MAR23.  
    • P/SAT in school day for all 10th & 11th Graders
    • Mock Regents for 8/9
    • Mock MS Exams for 6/7
    • 12th Grade TBD (trip or special schedule - TBD)
    • Ramadan begins in the evening 
  • Thursday, 23MAR23.  Evening Parent Conferences 5-8PM (Remote)
  • Friday, 24MAR23.  Afternoon Parent Conferences 12:20PM-2:50PM (Remote)
  • Friday, 31MAR23.  End of MP3
  • Wednesday, 05APR23.  Rapid Dismissal
  • Thursday 06APR23 - 16APR23 - Spring Recess
  • Friday, 21APR23 - Eid al-Fitr - No School




Announcements & To Dos

CLASS Rubrics and Danielson.  This week's post takes a bit of a deeper dive into the CLASS Rubric on Analysis and Inquiry.   This week, first reflect on your own practice to observe how many of the following behavioral markers that indicate student engagement in analysis and inquiry.

Analysis & Inquiry

So.. how might you continue to develop the quality and frequency of student analysis & inquiry in your classes?
  • Start with examining what you're asking kids to do (your tasks)
    • Do they offer extended opportunities for students to examine and analyze information
      • How often are students asked to read and analyze a text, table, chart, or graphic?
      • How often do they generate inferences, make hypotheses, compare & contrast, find patterns or relationships?  How often do they do these things without your prompting vs. how well do they do them with your questioning (asked on paper or in person)?
    • How many of the lesson's tasks open-ended?  
    • Prompt student predictions and Inspire them to develop arguments.
      • Students need to be challenged to figure out their own answers and justify those responses.  In classes, how often are students expected to find AND evaluate their own answers? 
      • Do students know what good analytical thinking looks like?  How clearly do they understand the types of behaviors that lead to developing their capacity to ask, answers, and justify solutions to things they are being asked to do or figure out?  Modeling Thinking (e.g. a Think Aloud) or highlight students thinking (e.g. Talk us through what you did, coupled with teacher commentary on how that thinking was strong) are good tools for getting the models out there.  Don't forget to create visuals for those models, too (e.g. scribing on the board or making a poster).  Visuals provide long-term references for the thinking crtieria you're expecting to see.
    • Include student reflection on learning
      • Finally - go meta.  Make create structures or protocols that allow students to reflect on their learning.  Depending on your focus for the day, this might take the form of a simply completing sentence stems like "I used to think...but now I think.."   or "Today, I was confused about...and now I understand that...".  Finally, feedback on exit tickets is also crucial for students to develop this ability to reflect and grow from their learning.  In order to develop the skill of how to learn, that needs to be taught alongside the content they learn.  So, feedback that centers on moves students can make to develop their ability to analyze (predict, hypothesize, compare, contrast, find patterns, etc) and feedback on how to ask useful questions will go a long way to helping students develop the independence we want to see in their analysis & inquiry.


Progress Reports & PID Letters.   I know this seems fast - but that's because of the last mess up.  We need to do these progress report updates so that we can have progress report grades for our family conferences next Thursday & Friday (23MAR & 24MAR).    This week's Monday PD will have time for Progress Report Updates to the Progress Report doc.  New students have not yet been added, so, please do add them at the bottom of the document.


Parent Conference Prep and Contact Information Updates.   Please use Monday PD time to schedule your conferences into THIS DOCUMENT by Friday, 21MAR23.  Here are some things that need to happen
  • ADVISORS - Please input the correct email and contact number(s) for each of your advisees.  Then, please take a look at your Advisees grades.  If you have an Advisee who is currently failing and/or has been consistently failing a course all year, please make sure to connect that Advisee with that teacher and help make sure that conference happens next week.  Any Student that has <90% attendance is required to have a conference with you.  The goal of the conference needs to be how to get students to sustain at least a 90% attendance average for the remainder of the year.  Give concrete numbers...
    • Be present everyday from family conference to Spring Break
    • Be present everyday from after Spring Break to May 1st!
    • Don't miss more than 2 days in May!
    • Be present everyday in June
  • CLASS TEACHERS - Any student who has a grade <70 (or no grade from the last progress report) are required to have a conference with you.   
    • Students who have <70 in your class are either failing or just barely passing.  The goal is to make sure students are securely passing by the end of Marking Period 4.  
    • In Particular - Please make it a priority to contact the homes of kids who had a failing progress report grade for the first time in MP3.  It is super confusing for families to suddenly see a failing grade when we've been communicating via the progress reports that their child has been passing the entire fall.  So those instances will require a conference to help families and students understand why this is happening.
    • Focus this conference on the things that the student IS doing well and find ways to maximize that/those strength/s to improve performance in class.
    • Help families problem solve around hurdles that are getting in the way of the student achieving in your class.  
    • Make a concrete and realistic goal for the next progress report which will be grades thru April 18th - which students will receive on April 25th or 26th (depending on when they have advisory)

    • NOTE:  Conferences should be about 10 -15minutes.  This will give you time for 20-30 conferences.  Please prioritize and schedule accordingly.  If you are unable to schedule or connect with families, please schedule another time during Tuesday outreach time on 28MAR or 04APR.  Please email any families that you are not able to connect with during family conference time.
All conferences MUST be schedule by EOD Friday, 21MAR23.








Per Session Postings

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

Grade Program Research Committee.  Well it's time to start looking for a permanent Skedula replacement for next year.  I'm looking for a committee of 3-5 folks to work collaboratively together to research grading programs (which do more than just grading btw) and do a cost-benefit analysis to figure out which one would be the best fit for UAI.  The objective of this committee is to get enough information to understand what the platform provides and how it might interface with our school culture, digest it into a presentable format (e.g. a PD) where staff can explore, and then we will make a community decision about what we want to do for next year.  If you are interested, please email me ASAP.  This committee will be 3-5 people for about 10-15 hours per person (including research and PD prep). Posting Closes Monday 20MAR23.

Summer School.  If you are interested in working summer school, please complete THIS FORM.


Posted by at 2 comments:

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Week of March 6th

UAI Staff News

Volume X
Issue 22
March 6, 2023



Women's History Month.  Monday marks the first full week of Women's History Month.  UAI was founded in 2006 to explicitly work against social norms that left women, particularly women of color, excluded or extremely underrepresented in STEM careers.  17 years later, we are still on that road and we are still committed to that mission.  Today, the need is just as strong as it was almost two decades ago.  Today, there are still structures and social pressures that discourage young women from believing in themselves and their power to pursue & persist through STEM studies still exist today.


We may not have the influence to bring massive change to our country, but we do have the power and the responsibility to make change within our community and within our own zone of influence - UAI.   Mostly, it's the small moves we make that have the greatest impact.
  • WE are ALL Math and Science People.  Imagine if I went around and said, "Hey you know.. I'm really not a literate person."  Being illiterate is an embarrassment in our culture.  Yet, saying "I'm not a math person" is just the opposite.  

    When students see and hear the adults they love and respect say things like "I'm not a math person" or "I can't do science", they receive a message that sanctions innumeracy.  

    We are all math and science people. Our brains are hardwired for language and logic.  We are naturally inquisitive beings with a well-evolved capacity to problem solve.  Anyone who has spent substantial time with babies can readily recognize this.  Throughout the first few years, babies do not have the mastery of language, but they are continually driven by curiosity to learn about their environment.  Before we even know language - we see patterns and figure out to use those patterns to solve problems.  

    So, the next time you feel intimidated by math or science - remember that is a product of how you were schooled - not how you were born.  The next time that thought arises, think about the time you appreciated the beat of a song, the beauty of a flower, or wondered about the vastness of space.  That was your innate scientist and mathematician peeking out.  You have been and always will be a math person and a science person.

    The small thing....NEVER again say to anyone that you are not a math/science person.  Not only is it not true, it's incredibly damaging to the self-concept of our young black and brown girls.  The world is set up to make them believe they do not belong and cannot thrive in the lucrative world of STEM.  We cannot be the ones that build the framework upon which those lies rely.  

    Celebrate Women's History Month by doing this one small thing, and we will begin to lay the groundwork for the BIG changes our mission drives to make.



Important dates. 

  • Tuesday, 14MAR23.  Progress Report #2 Grade Entry
  • Wednesday, 22MAR23.  
    • P/SAT in school day for all 10th & 11th Graders
    • Mock Regents for 8/9
    • Regular Classes for 6/7
    • 12th Grade TBD (trip or special schedule - TBD)
    • Ramadan begins in the evening 
  • Thursday, 23MAR23.  Evening Parent Conferences 5-8PM (Remote)
  • Friday, 24MAR23.  Afternoon Parent Conferences 11:50AM-2:50PM (Remote)
  • Friday, 31MAR23.  End of MP3
  • Wednesday, 05APR23.  Rapid Dismissal
  • Thursday 06APR23 - 16APR23 - Spring Recess
  • Friday, 21APR23 - Eid al-Fitr - No School




Announcements & To Dos

CLASS Rubrics and Danielson.  The CLassroom Assessment and Scoring System (CLASS) is a system of rubrics that help teachers measure the impact of both the social and academic interactions that best foster student growth and development and develop teacher efficacy.  Danielson is a great tool, but it is too vague about the very important social interactions and teacher-student moves that are key to building the relationships and trust required for students to thrive and academically excel.  

When I first looked at the Positive Climate Rubric, one of my first thoughts was..."For reals?? We're looking for smiles?"....and then...we did several mock assessments with various training videos and I realized - wow - when you start paying attention to something, you really notice what happens and how things are feeling when kids aren't smiling.  What's that quote - things that are measured...things that are valued??

Essentially, what makes the CLASS Rubrics useful in developing teacher practice is their specificity around the behaviors (in teachers & kids) that lead to high quality instruction.  For example, Danielson 3C talks a lot about student intellectual engagement - but what does that look like?  The indicators from the CLASS Analysis and Inquiry can help you identify the behavioral markers that indicate evidence high quality intellectual engagement.

Analysis & Inquiry



DO OVER Progress Reports & PID Letters.   The Progress Reports will be ready for you in the main office by 8:15AM tomorrow again.  The PID letters were accurate.  Only the Progress Reports had the snafu.   Students are considered to be promotion in doubt if
  • They have <90% average daily attendance for the year.  They need to get closer to a 90% attendance rate for the remainder of the year.
  • They failed 2 or more core classes OR
  • They are a senior or 8th grader and failed any class.

Summer School Staffing.   Hard to believe but we are gearing up for summer school.  Summer Programming at UAI is an opportunity for student to extend their learning through enriching activities as well as catching up on some learning they may have missed during the year.  We're looking to staff the programs listed below this summer.   You are welcome to apply to as many as you wish:
  • MS Summer FUN [05JUL-27JUL]- Elective MS programming.  Teachers are invited to create their own highly engaging fun courses for students this summer.  It could be anything as long as both you and the kids are having fun and learning about new things!

  • HS Summer FUN [05JUL-27JUL]- Elective HS Programming.  Again, teacher's choice!

  • MS Summer Portfolio Work [31JUL-10AU]- Mandatory Math & ELA summer prep for promotional portfolios for all students scoring <3 in NYS Math or ELA classes.  MS Summer FUN programming will also be mandated for those students.  At the end of these two weeks students will complete their final updates the MS Math and/or ELA portfolios.

  • HS Regents Prep [31JUL-15AUG]- Mandatory Test Prep for students retaking regent exams in August. All students planning to test or retest in August MUST attend Summer Regents Prep

  • Girls Inc Paraprofessional Support [05JUL-27JUL]- We're looking to support our Girls Inc Summer programs with paraprofessional support for those students who need extra support in summer.
If you are interested in working summer school, please complete THIS FORM.


Lighthouse Collaborative Visits.   The Lighthouse Collaborative is a DOE central program designed to have schools share and spread innovative ideas and methods.  In the next few months, there will be many, many visits!  We are a Lighthouse Collaborative School and will be hosting our citywide visit on the best day ever (May the 4th - May the 4th be with you!!!!!).    There's a lot of really interesting schools out there.  School visits are some of the best PD experiences there are.  If you are interested in attending a Lighthouse visit, please check out the ones below.  The ones that are "already booked" means that we're already sending someone to those workshops.  The ones that are recommended are ones open and I recommend folks to attend.  You are also welcome to keep looking.  More dates are being posted for April and May, so please keep looking.  Because I need to coordinate coverages, please do NOT register for the workshop before getting confirmation from me.  Priority will go to folks who haven't been able to have an out-of-the building PD this year yet and to folks who have the fewest amount of days out of their classes.   








Per Session Postings

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

Grade Program Research Committee.  Well it's time to start looking for a permanent Skedula replacement for next year.  I'm looking for a committee of 3-5 folks to work collaboratively together to research grading programs (which do more than just grading btw) and do a cost-benefit analysis to figure out which one would be the best fit for UAI.  The objective of this committee is to get enough information to understand what the platform provides and how it might interface with our school culture, digest it into a presentable format (e.g. a PD) where staff can explore, and then we will make a community decision about what we want to do for next year.  If you are interested, please email me ASAP.  This committee will be 3-5 people for about 10-15 hours per person (including research and PD prep)

Posted by at 1 comment:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)