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
• SEE ROOM LISTS and PROCTORS
• 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.

• Richer Picture
  
• Jupiter
• GAMA
• Something Else?

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

Per Session Postings Now Closed