week of 11Mar

UAI Staff News

Volume XI

Issue 26

March 4th, 2024

Building Balance in Competency & Correction.   As a society (and species), we are naturally inclined to point out problems and issues.  This is ingrained in our instinct.  We have evolved to be hyper aware of danger (ergo - we survived the dinosaurs), and in our modern era, this manifests as also being hyper aware of things that are wrong.

That's a good thing.  In our profession, helping our students and our colleagues identify areas of growth are key to our constant improvement.  However, if we don't balance that with competency feedback - honoring and celebrating specifically what folks do well, all of that corrective feedback can be overwhelming and inadvertently, doing exactly the opposite of growth.  Too much corrective feedback can result in turning off and disengaging.

That said - too much good stuff or NOT pointing out growth areas creates a culture of nice.  In the culture of nice, everyone hurts.  In the short term, our egos are satisfied, but we never get better in our jobs or in our performance, and our kid and families suffer from our mediocrity & underperformance.

Balance - We need BOTH competency and corrective feedback and BOTH need to be of equal quality and depth.  We can't simultaneously articulate an exhaustive list of the thousand ways our students or colleagues need to improve while at the same time saying only "good job" or "nicely done."  We need to have balanced depth and impact for competency feedback - and that muscle is not nearly as developed as we need it to be.

March Madness continues with school leadership and ILT visiting folks to provide competency and nudging corrective feedback this month to create a month of feedback!!  Additionally, you should VIDEO yourselves and CLASS Rubrics to find your areas of strength and use the indicators to provide a detailed understanding of those strengths - to rival the detail you likely naturally arrived at with your own corrective & critical feedback from your own video.

Another way to amp up the feedback - visit your friends.  With a trusted colleague, pop in to visit one another and make a pact to freely share the details on growth (use the rubrics), and challenge yourself to create comprehensive feedback around competency!

Feedback is rarely easy (either giving or receiving) but none of us get better unless we have lots of it!  Feedback from trusted colleagues, peers, and yourself is some of the most powerful feedback.  Take advantage of it this week!

Important Upcoming dates

• Mon 11MAR - PD - Staff Circle #1, PPO Visit from Supt. Fred Walsh
• Mon 11MAR - Progress Reports due at EOD
• Wed 13MAR - Affinity Principals Visit UAI
• Thu 21-Fri 22MAR - MS Mock Math & ELA Exams
• Thu 21MAR - Evening Family Conferences (Remote - 5-8PM)
• Fri 22MAR - Afternoon Family Conferences (Remote 12:50-2:50)
• Lunch for ALL will be 4th Period (MS will have Learning Lab 3rd Period)
• Early Dismissal at 12:08 for all
• Fri 29MAR - Good Friday - NO SCHOOL
  
  
  
• Mon 01APR - Easter Monday - NO SCHOOL
  
  
• Wed 03APR - 08APR - Mock Regents & Benchmark Exams (1st-3rd - testing; 4th-7th normal)
• Wednesday 03APR - ENGLISH testing (1st -3rd period testing)
• Into Lit - Mock ELA Regents (will be provided)
• AP classes - Mock AP Exams (Teacher Made)
• Thursday 04APR - SOCIAL STUDIES Testing(1st -3rd period testing)
• GLO 2 - Mock GLO Regents  (will be provided)
• USH - Mock USH Regents  (will be provided)
• All other SS - Final MP3 Assessment (Teacher Made)
• Friday 05APR - SCIENCE Testing(1st -3rd period testing)
• LIV - Mock Living Environment Regents  (will be provided)
• EARTH - Mock Earth Science Regents  (will be provided)
• All other SS - Final MP3 Assessment (Teacher Made)
  
• Monday 08APR - MATH Testing(1st -3rd period testing)
• Alg 1 - Mock Algebra 1Regents  (will be provided)
• Geo - Mock Geo Regents  (will be provided)
• Alg 2 - Mock Algebra 2 Regents (will be provided)
• BMCC & AP Math - Final MP3 Assessment (Teacher Made)
  
  
• NOTES:
• The Benchmark AM schedule will be the same, starting 1st period instead of 2nd
• The PM schedule will be regular programming (and NO MAP testing)
  
• All breadth classes (Spanish, PE, Theater) should do MP3 final in PM or before these testing days)
  
  
• Tue 09APR - P/SAT Day - No Classes for grades 8-12 (8/9/12trips and 10/11 testing only)
• Wed 10APR - Eid al Fitr - NO SCHOOL
• Thu 11APR-Fri 12APR - MS ELA Exams (Grades 6-8)
• 6th/7th - Paper administration
• 8th - online administration - students pulled from classes in AM
• FRI 12APR - MP3 Ends
• MON 15APR - MP4 Begins and School Wide Teach In
• Mon 22APR -Tue 30APR - Spring Recess - NO School

Announcements & To Dos

Time to Make Appointments.  Please use OPW and Outreach time to make your parent conference appointments for next Thursday night and Friday afternoon.  By EOD Sunday (17MAR24), please make sure you have scheduled all "Mandatory" conferences (which are for any student with <75 and any new students or students who got a P for MP2).  

New Time Clock.  It's right next to your timecards now.  Please make sure that you are clocking IN and OUT of your per session activities.  For the next pay period and moving foward, Annie will be the only person to sign off on your time card.  You must see Annie within 24 hours if your forget to clock in or out of your per session activity.  Clocking in and out of per session activities is REQUIRED.

Middle School Shout Out!!!  Many of our most experienced and MOST talented teachers work in our middle school.  TOO many folks working in 8-12 never visit them in the basement - because it is like another world.  Some of the best teaching at UAI is happening there right now.  If you haven't seen what they're doing, drop down to visit!  Here's some key awesome points on the MS:

• We're OFF the CSI List.  The MS team has been working since last year to think about how best to help our most struggling learners and push our kids to continually grow - no matter where their skills land.  Their interventions and rigorous lessons, and their commitment to providing our students the support they need - wherever they need it - has put us OFF the CSI list.  Thank you MS to your amazing work and for being such an amazing team!!
  
  
• Everyone Has a Hand In.  The team is in and out of each others' classes to share practices (e.g. literacy strategies across all disciplines) and support one another (e.g sweeping kids into classrooms during passing period or limited passes to limit traffic in the hall).  Stephen Marositz, my NYS principal coach remarked that the "vibe" on the floor was so different because you could see how much they all cared about each others' success and the kids' growth.
  
  
• They hold high expectations.  They routinely hold their 10 and 11 year olds to high rigorous demands.  Dru, Alison and Matthew had them working with algebraic equations on Tuesday. Mike had them working in groups to learn and apply new vocabulary efficiently and effectively in prep to read an excerpt of I am Malala.  Sarah challenged kids to explain what it means to reproduce - on a cellular and organismal level.  Fatima is planning to have her students interrogate a primary source document to understand the origin and impact of residential schools on Native Americans.  Many of these little ones were out-talking and out-thinking some of our seniors!!  Their kids achieve because their teachers believe that they can!
  
  
• It's not perfect but it IS awesome. There are a lot of things that still need to be refined - like all of UAI, they are still wrestling with the puzzle of how to best support students with IEPs and/or who are ENL.  They are also still working with having authentic student-driven discourse in classes (e.g. instead of parroting student responses and/or having the teacher mediate student responses), and like everyone at UAI, they are trying new methods to try to figure this out - looking for something that works for their kids and our school.   
  
  THANK YOU to the MS team for being amazing, persistence, patient, loving, and demanding!
   

Surveys.  This week we are aiming to launch the NYS Learning Environment Survey in Advisories and with families.  We do need help with families.  As you do outreach for the rest of March, please help parents remember to complete the survey.  Let Tracey and Jen know if a parent confirms completing the survey with you!

March Madness Continues!  We're aiming to get everyone visited at least once by the EOD on Tuesday, and now that the ILT is back, we want to have everyone visited at least twice by the end of THIS week!  

• Feedback Frenzy.  I am pushing our ILT and Admin team to get into classrooms everyday.  The goal is to pop in and highlight for staff & students what is going well and what tweaks can be made to take it to the next level.  You can expect to have your ILT folks and Jen & Annie visiting classrooms (at least everyone once a week) to provide some celebratory feedback to bolster your motivation, and to help support where a little change can go a long way to helping you reach the best version of your teaching selves!!  These are all purely supportive and non-evaluative visits.  They are designed to help you also see the awesome things you do on a daily basis and to leverage those daily pieces of awesome to level up other pieces of your game!
  
  
• Here's a crazy thought...What if EVERYONE used the CLASS rubrics to reflect on their own Videos?  The best method of feedback, however, is watching yourself teach.  For myself as a teacher, the most impactful feedback that I ever received was from my colleagues and from watching myself on video.  Watching yourself teach is ... not easy.  Our brains are trained to pick up on bad stuff (hence - we survived dinosaurs), but we all need to develop our mental muscles for competency feedback.  So here's the March Madness Challenge.
  
  
• Record yourself teaching.  Sometime starting Monday 04MAR24 through Monday 02APR24, record yourself teaching.  I have extra iPods to use if you need them OR you can just record yourself on your phone.  
  
  
• Use the CLASS Rubrics.  Use the rubrics to find at least ONE thing from the Emotional Support Domain or in Quality of Feedback that you are doing really well.  Start with the Dimensions Guide to select a particular rubric.  Then, use the rubric to help you find something you are doing spectacularly (or at least you're doing pretty good). 
  
  To learn more about the research supporting CLASS:  international research, improves outcomes K-12, more studies
  
  
• Bolster your rating.  Send that clip to me so I can include it in your observation and strengthen your rating! (see next bullet).  I firmly believe in the strength of video so much so that I know if you simply watch and send me your strongest bit, I know that experience will resonate for you - leading to long term impact on your practice.  Send me the clip and your reflection (aligned to CLASS) and you can earn a "Highly Effective" in 4E!
  
  
• Obligatory Observations.  I have to complete a LOT of observations this month because April is cray and May & June rapidly turn to assessment.  So, I will be coming into classrooms a lot this month to evaluate.  Don't stress - it's just a confluence of calendar and observation requirements.  My goal is to complete 2-4 observations per day - so a total of 30 by the end of March.  If you video yourself after I visit, that's ok.  Still send it to me.  I'll go back into your observation and adjust!!  

SEL and Student Support.  As we develop our own SEL skills to take on the Equity work that is to come, it's also important to see how these same skills can support our work with students and families.  Clearly the data above shows that we have some areas in which to grow.  The March Madness (Feedback Frenzy + Obligatory Observations) will help, and another key strategy will be applying and elevating our own SEL capacities.

• Empathy & Perspective Taking.  Use an  Empathy Map to better see from your students' perspectives.  This will give you new power in your lesson planning and your work with students & families.  
  
  
• Presuming Positive Intent.  It is definitely true that sometimes people are trying to get the better of us, and it is natural to assume a defensive behavior (again - that's our dinosaur gift).  It takes intention and self awareness to realize that as the adults in the building, we possess 99% of the power.  We have the privilege of being able to assume positive intent.  Through modeling that, we teach our young ones how to do that for others, and if we ever do develop a world where can assume the best in others - yes we will have instances of being taking for granted (or taken advantaged of)...but in most instances where the risk is not to our material or physical health - that risk is always worth taking because it leads to a much stronger, more secure, and more supportive community.
  
  
• Goal-Directed Behaviors.  Our students need goals, and we need to help them learn how to make and achieve them.  As you are working with students who need the most help, set a LOT of short & achievable goals to build the expectations of success.  For example, struggling with attendance and lateness - make a goal to be on time tomorrow (then celebrate). Grow that one day into two or three, then five per week.  When bumps and backsteps occur, recognize and name them, and re-encourage to achieve the goals anew.  

Progress Reports.  Please remember to turn off your Google Classroom grade notification, and direct students to log into SyncGrades.  

• March 11th will be the next Progress Report, with MP3 ending on April 12th
• May 6th will be the 1st Progress Report for MP4, and June 3rd will be the last one for the year 
  
  

Monday PD.  We will be meeting in the farm to launch our first of 5 staff circles (see calendar below)

<<Repost>>. RPET Work.  The RPET is planning three major experiences for our community this spring.  They will be (1) A schoolwide teach in, (2) A series of PDs for staff around SEL, and (3) A series of staff equity circles.  The RPET is planning a more detailed workshop for our January 29th PD to review each of these in detail and to get staff feedback on each.  Here's the draft PD calendar for the rest of the year.

• March
• 4th:  SEL PD for All Staff (#3 of 4) - with UA!
• 11th:  Staff Equity Circles - Exploring Self Awareness and Building Community Trust
• 18th: STAFF SURVEY DAY for NYC LES Survey  - Admin Meeting
• 25th:  SEL PD for All staff (#4 of 4) - with UA!
  
  
• April
• 1st:  Easter Monday - NO SCHOOL
• 8th:  All Staff Prep for School Wide Teach In
  (Educating ourselves about Antisemitism & Islamophobia)
• 15th:  All Staff Prep for School Wide Teach In. (TEACH IN on April 16th)
• 22nd:  Spring Break - WOOHOO
• 29th:  STILL Spring Break - DOUBLE WOOHOO
  
  
• May
• 5th:  Staff Equity Circles - TBD
• 13th:  Staff Equity Circles - TBD
• 20th:  CEP - Revisiting our Goals & Planning for Next Year - Planned by ILT
• 27th:  Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
  
  
• June
• 3rd:  Staff Equity Circles - TBD
• 10th:  Staff Equity Circles - TBD
• 17th:  Regents Week Proctor Prep - Planned by Admin

<<Repost>>. Gearing Up for Summer School.  We still need more teachers to teach summer school!  Please think about signing up!  If you can't commit to the whole summer, which part can you do? Please sign up soon as posting for summer will need to go up soon!

Each summer, we have two separate programs:  Summer Splash and Summer Regents Prep.  In Summer Splash, we recruit teachers to teach their passion!  We look for folks who are excited about something - anything really - that will engage students and get them to learn in non-traditional ways.  Alongside completing required work for credit recovery, we offer explorations in art, music, history, and activism have peppered the program over the last few years.  Here are some examples that we've had in the past:

• Partner Run Programs:  Girls Inc Summer Camp, Occupy Summer School  & The Octavia Project
• UAI Teacher Courses:  USH and Comic Books, Digital Design, The Science of Beauty, Job Club, Ceramics, Visual Art, STEM in Dance, and many more

At the end of the summer, we pivot back to traditional studying for the August Regents exams.  

We are looking for

• Summer School Coordinator (2 Positions):  These two people would work collaboratively to recruit teachers and create, plan, and monitor summer programming for Summer Splash and Regents Prep (and Regents).  These two roles would be responsible for the day-to-day operations of summer school and would liaise with other summer programs to make sure all programs being hosted at UAI receive what they need and all programs run smoothly. Summer School Coordinators report to AP Annie or Principal Kiri (or building Admin if they are on vacation).
  
  
• 20 flex hours per person (now) for program planning and staff/student recruitment
• 10 hours 02JUL & 03JUL for summer school orientation and prep for summer launch
• 96 School Hours 8AM-1PM Mon-Thu 08JUL-15AUG (24 days *4 hrs/day)
• 8:30-900 -Breakfast Coord. (Dean will supervise - you'll be point person)
• 9:00-12:00 - Classrm Coord. (support teachers where needed)
• 12:00-12:30 - Lunch Coord. (Dean will supervise - you'll be point person)
• 27 Regents Day Hours 8AM-5PM (3 Regents Testing/Grading Days)

• Summer Splash Teachers (5 Positions) - 16 days * 4hrs/day = 64 hrs
  
  
• Mon 08JUL - Thu 01AUG
• 8:30AM - on site Prep time
• 9AM-12PM - 3 1hr sections of class
• 12:00-12:30 - remote prep time
  
  
• Summer Regents Prep Teacher (5 Positions) - Up to 59 hrs (depending on Regent Exam needs)
  8 days * 4hrs per day = 64 hours PLUS 3 Regents days (8AM-5PM  - estimated)
• Mon 05AUG-Thu 15AUG
• 8:30AM - on site Prep time
• 9AM-12PM - 2 1.5hr sections of class
• 12:00-12:30 - remote prep time

*(note - hours may be less if fewer sections needed due to low enrollment - min 15-25 per section)

Per Session Postings

For ALL per session activities, please complete Per Session Application Form"

Summer School Posting (closes 30MAR or until all positions filled).  It's that time again!  We are starting to launch our plans for Summer School.  If you are interested in working summer school, please email Kiri and be specific about what you're interested in doing and how long you are interested in working (and yes, you can work in multiple roles and in both Summer Splash and Summer Regents prep!  

Each summer, we have two separate programs:  Summer Splash and Summer Regents Prep.  In Summer Splash, we recruit teachers to teach their passion!  We look for folks who are excited about something - anything really - that will engage students and get them to learn in non-traditional ways.  Alongside completing required work for credit recovery, we offer explorations in art, music, history, and activism have peppered the program over the last few years.  Here are some examples that we've had in the past:

• Partner Run Programs:  Girls Inc Summer Camp, Occupy Summer School  & The Octavia Project
• UAI Teacher Courses:  USH and Comic Books, Digital Design, The Science of Beauty, Job Club, Ceramics, Visual Art, STEM in Dance, and many more

At the end of the summer, we pivot back to traditional studying for the August Regents exams.  

We are looking for

• Summer School Coordinator (2 Positions):  These two people would work collaboratively to recruit teachers and create, plan, and monitor summer programming for Summer Splash and Regents Prep (and Regents).  These two roles would be responsible for the day-to-day operations of summer school and would liaise with other summer programs to make sure all programs being hosted at UAI receive what they need and all programs run smoothly. Summer School Coordinators report to AP Annie or Principal Kiri (or building Admin if they are on vacation).
  
  
• 20 flex hours per person (now) for program planning and staff/student recruitment
• 10 hours 02JUL & 03JUL for summer school orientation and prep for summer launch
• 96 School Hours 8AM-1PM Mon-Thu 08JUL-15AUG (24 days *4 hrs/day)
• 8:30-900 -Breakfast Coord. (Dean will supervise - you'll be point person)
• 9:00-12:00 - Classrm Coord. (support teachers where needed)
• 12:00-12:30 - Lunch Coord. (Dean will supervise - you'll be point person)
• 27 Regents Day Hours 8AM-5PM (3 Regents Testing/Grading Days)

• Summer Splash Teachers (5 Positions) - 16 days * 4hrs/day = 64 hrs
  
  
• Mon 08JUL - Thu 01AUG
• 8:30AM - on site Prep time
• 9AM-12PM - 3 1hr sections of class
• 12:00-12:30 - remote prep time
  
  
• Summer Regents Prep Teacher (5 Positions) - Up to 59 hrs (depending on Regent Exam needs)
  8 days * 4hrs per day = 64 hours PLUS 3 Regents days (8AM-5PM  - estimated)
• Mon 05AUG-Thu 15AUG
• 8:30AM - on site Prep time
• 9AM-12PM - 2 1.5hr sections of class
• 12:00-12:30 - remote prep time

*(note - hours may be less if fewer sections needed due to low enrollment - min 15-25 per section)

After School Clubs.   If you are interested in running an after school club, please complete THIS form by EOD TUESDAY 26SEP23  AND submit the Per Session Application Form.  Clubs are slated to start next week.  Clubs must have a steady roster of at least 8-10 students per week in order to NOT be cancelled.  Rosters & Attendance lists MUST be submitted with per session time cards.  If your club goes three consecutive weeks with less than 8 students, your club will need to be cancelled (so that we can optimize funds for other uses - so sorry...wish we could fund everything all the time, but unfortunately, we don't have endless sums of funds).  After school sessions can be 3-4PM or 3-4:30PM or 3-5:30PM (teacher's choice)up to three days per week.  So per session hours can range from 1-7.5hrs per week).  Posting Expires 10OCT23.

Please continue to help promote your after school clubs.  Please make sure you are getting a reliable group of at least 10 students.  Help our after school classes get off the ground! - I will be collecting final rosters on 30NOV - you have additional time to recruit!!

• Black Student Union - Joanna & Pauline (Rm 411) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-4:30
• Arts & Crafts Club - Tiffany & Jennifer (Rm 311) - Mon/Tue/Weds - 3-4:15PM
• Theater Production Club - Noelle (Rm 315) - Tues/Thurs/Fri - 3-5:30PM
• Student Government - Sue, Marsha, Phillan, and Girls' Inc's Kassi (Rm 309) - Tuesdays - 3-4PM
• Youth Leadership Council - Kelly  (Rm 307) - Tuesdays 3-4PM
• Photo Club - Tom(Rm 205F) - Wednesdays 3-4:30
• Cheer - Mary & Lia - Various days depending on Game Days
• Anime & Art Club - Adelle & Francis (Rm 409) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-5PM
• Running Club with Camryn (starts after the marathon is over)
• Dance Club - Girls Inc - Room 503
• Students Against Racism & Bias Club - Jelissa (Rm 305) Tuesdays & Thursday 3-4PM
• Muslim Student Association - Laura (Rm 404) TBD
• GSA Club - Amanda - Rm 407

PSAL Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. PSAL Games are starting up soon. Please submit the Per Session Application Form if you are interested in supervising student spectators.  Hours vary depending on games.  Each game (basketball or volleyball) is usually 4-6pm (is) so each supervision session is about 2hours.  Staff are welcome to sign up for as many games as they'd like.  Please see UAI calendar or PSAL website for game dates. Duties include making sure

• students remain safe and orderly during games
• only eligible students are admitted to games
• all students fully dismiss from the building at the conclusion of the games

CSI Planning & Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. This posting if for supervision per session to plan, supervise, monitor and coordinate extra improvement efforts to address UAI achievement gaps and improve student performance in target metrics.  Activities include analyzing and reviewing data, planning and executing professional development experiences to improve staff performance, analyzing and editing video footage to improve teacher lesson execution and lesson implementation, and supervising out of school activities - including recruitment, staff planning, and after school activities.  Hours vary per week depending on task and work completed.  Hours range 1-7.5 hours per week.

Classroom SetUp.  All classroom staff are invited to come in to set up and plan for up to 10 hours all together any day this week Monday-Friday 9AM-2PM.  Staff must clock in AND out each day, and cannot be in the building after 2PM.  Please adhere to guidelines set out in the blog post above.  All Staff MUST also apply to this position by completing the "Per Session Application From" - see link above.  [Posted 27AUG23] - Posting CLOSED and JOB is over.