Week of September 30th

UAI Staff News

Volume XII

Issue 5

September 30th,  2024

Getting Ready for the First Round of Observations.  I began the first round of observations on Friday!  It was a real joy to visit classrooms and see the kids in their elements on Friday!!

I do know observation evaluation can be stressful, but there are many supports available to you to be at your best for my visit.   Judy's CLASS PD is also a good reference for how to think about video in supporting your growing practice.   The CLASS Menu of Options goes into depth on this support, but here's some highlights:

• One avenue of support is self-video!  Watching your own teaching videos with the CLASS Dimension Guide is the first method you can use to observe how the Emotional Support Domain is developing in your practice and then to experiment with different strategies to grow your practice.  
  
  
• Another way is to ask a colleague (ILT lead or peer) to observe you (or if you don't have schedules that allow for this, you can ask them to watch a video of your class).  Sometimes someone else's eyes are better at seeing where growth works best.  
  
  
• One of the most impactful ways of assessing your practice is really looking at student work.  Instead of focusing on what students DIDN'T get (which is what we all naturally do), look for what the students DID do well.  Then ask yourself - why did those things go right?  What did you do to make that piece of learning impactful?

As we wrap up the first month of school, it's important to take stock of the wins and to note and interrogate the places where we can be stronger.  Fully understanding what went well and how will help us close the gaps in other places.  So make time in your prep and planning to reflect and tweak practice to end the first MP strongly!

Important Upcoming Dates

• THU 03OCT - FRI 04OCT - Rosh Hashanah - NO SCHOOL
• MON/TUE 30SEP-01OCT - MAP ELA and Math Testing (in Math & ELA Classes)
• MON - 14OCT - Indigenous Peoples/Italian American Heritage Day
• MON 28OCT-MON 04OCT - 1st Benchmark (in Subject Classes - no special schedule)
• FRI 01NOV - Diwali - NO SCHOOL
• MON 04NOV - End of Marking Period 1
• TUE 05NOV - Remote PD Day (Election Day) - No Classes

Announcements & To Dos

Staff Shout Outs.  I had such a wonderful time connecting with everyone in our IPCs and beginning my first cycle of observations!  I got to see some wonderful practices in classes.  In math classes, both Amanda and Denyda & Freida were exploring rigid transformations with their students.  For the high schoolers in Amanda's class, students were manipulating shapes on a coordinate plane, making note of what changed, what didn't in the particular transformation.  For Denyda & Freida's students, they were exploring how transformations worked, figuring out how to translate a set of parallel lines.

Denyda, Amanda, & Freida all have done great work to establish strong Positive Learning Climates.  Kids in both classes were smiling, and actively working to help one another move through the activities.  Their peer interactions were meaningful!  For example,  Amanda's class, students asked one another about they types of symmetry various shapes had and what that mean for a reflection vs. a rotation.  In both classes, Teacher Sensitivity was excellent!  For example, in Freida & Denyda's 7th grade math, they both circulated frequently, often bee-lining to students who were new ENL learners (like Rihanna) and others who need a little boost in just getting started (like lovely Meena!)

As a result, students engagement in both classrooms was high and because kids' mental activity was largely focused on the task, learning was optimal in their rooms that day!  Nicely done!!!

Monday PD.  Monday staff PD will be dedicated time for folks to get their Pacing Guides up to date.  All lessons should be linked in the pacing guide, and all guides should be shared with your ILT lead and/or with Kiri.  Your Pacing Guides should be up to date when I come visit your classrooms.  I will go into the Pacing Guides to find the lesson plans as I move through classroom observations.

Tech Requests for Support:  In order to streamline support for the full building and ensure all staff receive what they need, Jason will no longer fulfill tech requests that are not uploaded into this form. Jason will post the QR code to the form on all doors, on all floors to make sure you have easy access. Please do not text, call, or email Jason with requests - this makes the tracking of his work very challenging; he has been directed to only use form submissions when prioritizing his work. 

Per Session Postings

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

Classroom SetUp and Planning.  12 hours total.  All Classroom Staff (Teachers & Paras) are eligible.  Tue 27-29Aug .