Week of October 7th

UAI Staff News

Volume XII

Issue 6

October 7th,  2024

Settling into STEM.  Curiosity, Problem Solving, and Innovation - these are the key mindsets that we need to settle into as we dig deeper into October.  First, let's celebrate what HAS been going well!

From my observations & classroom visits thus far, I can easily see that each of you are working hard to establish a strong emotionally supportive learning environment.

• Across classrooms, I see and hear students smiling and laughing, and actively asking questions and helping peers.  Many thanks to all of our teachers & paraprofessionals for setting the tone with strong Positive Climates in our classrooms. 
  
  
• Classroom staff are also working hard to cultivate their skills around Teacher Sensitivity andB checking in with students to pick up on cues as their needs & interests throughout the classroom period.  I seen multiple teachers and paras move intention to help specific students get into tasks and check in frequently to support their progress as they worked through activities.
  
  
• Particularly impressive is the consistency with which all classroom staff create opportunities for students to meaningfully discuss their learnings and questions.  Discourse is a crucial strategy for girls to build their confidence and deepen understanding, particularly in STEM.  Providing these opportunities and being responsive to student voices shows an amazing strides in our collective efforts to cultivate Regard for Adolescent Perspectives.
  
  

And still, there are still kids with struggles.  There are still those students who persist in struggling through the activities and lessons.  They are kids who are new English learners, kids who learn differently and have individualized education plans, and kids who may be struggling with attendance due to issues outside of the classroom.  There may be kids who struggle in your class who don't fit any of these!  

Now is the time to dive into your own STEM thinking.  

• Be curious about the kids who puzzle you the most.  Talk with them, look at their work.  Make sure you are getting the entire picture.  Along side the list of the things they are not currently doing well, make sure you are illustrating an equally long list of the things in which they are showing competency.  None of us are only a list of failures.  Be disciplined and curious to push your perspective and uncover an equally robust list of your students' successes.  Curiosity leads to JOY!
  
  
• From there, dive into problem solving.  Use the tools, knowledge and skills you have.  You have many!!  Think about the hurdles that are getting in the way for your students, and lean into your experience, skills, and pedagogical education to come up with some ideas to try.  Cultivate these ideas with your planning partners and teams, and develop an array of strategies and approaches to try with your students to lower/remove those hurdles and to grow their independence and access to lessons and activities.  Be rigorous in your thinking.  Remember that you're not removing the challenge.  You want students to productively struggle.  
  
  
• Then, try it!  Innovation & application are the key pieces of STEM thinking.  You need to try out your ideas in classes.  Include the students in your efforts.  Talk with them about your observations and what you're thinking about trying to help them be successful.  Including them as collaborators is powerful and equitable.
  
  

The greatest thing about STEM thinking is that every success is a party and every failure is simply an invitation to try again.  You may not come up with strategies or approaches that succeed right away.  However, that's simply a sign that you haven't found the right strategy YET.  

So, this month - step into the shoes of the kids who struggle the most in your classes, and look back at your lessons & activities through their eyes.  Reach into your rich toolbox and dray on your experience to find ideas that can increase access to the challenge and help them overcome the hurdles that are in the way of learning. 

Remember - the only way our students with the biggest challenges can reach the goal of >80 in your class is if we find and use interventions that help them succeed, and ultimately succeed on their own!

Important Upcoming Dates

• MON- 07OCT - 1st PTA Dinner at UAI 6PM - Farm
  
• TUE - 08OCT - UA Visit from Centerbridge
• WED- 09OCT - Suffs Musical on Broadway
• WED- 09OCT - Bridge The Gap Event @3PM - Tillary Park
• THU- 10OCT - Latin Dance Party @3PM - Cafeteria
  
  
• 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.  If you haven't yet taken a good look at the Behavior Log, you need to do so now!  In the last 20 days of school, the students support team (our Deans and Counselors) have conducted over 225 counseling and behavior interventions with our students.  As a result of their proactive and responsive efforts in combination with the work of our classroom staff, we've had one of the smoothest starts to the year, ever AND their team has decreased by two this year.  Many, many thanks to Tiffany, Jennifer, Jen, Jean, and Nicole (and Alaisha for the couple of days she was here before her bambino appeared!).  Your work often occurs in long talks with kids and families in offices, and the nature is just less public.  However, it doesn't mean that the work doesn't have equally big impact for our students and families.  THANK YOU!!!

Also a special shout out to Tom W & Jordan (AMNH Resident).  I had the lovely opportunity to watch them working together in Earth Science last week.  Most impressive was their circulation around the classroom as students engaged in a computer-simulation of how elements are created with the gravity present in stars.   Their circulation was intentional - moving to kids who needed the most help first, and specific - asking enough questions to assess student thinking but not giving away too much so students had to work out what was happening on their own.  Nicely done!

Monday PD.  Monday staff PD will be aimed at supporting our work in finding ways to intervene and support our learners with the biggest learning hurdles.  Judy & Phillan will be leading us in launching our case study work around Students with IEPs and finding ways to move them from stuck to productively struggling!

Support Brooklyn PTAs.  This is a special post from Mike (6/7th Grade ELA) - 

Want to support Brooklyn public school PTAs? Want to enjoy the beautiful fall weather with a fun run / walk around Prospect Park? Sign up for this year's Brooklyn PTA Fun Run for Schools, and join team UAI when you do! The race will take place on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 10 AM. Bib pickup and pre-race activities will begin at 9:00 AM. The race is a ~5k (3.3 mile) lap of Prospect Park, and is very family friendly, with lots of kids participating. Use this link to join UAI's team, and check out the race page for more info. I'll be running, and hope I can see lots of you there! - Mike

Bridging the Gap 2.   This is a post from Kelly

The Adams Street Youth Leadership Council (YLC) started a Bridging the Gap Initiative last spring to build relationships between youth and police in order to decreased biased-based violence in downtown Brooklyn. They noted a 54% increase in student feelings of safety around law enforcement after the event last year so are hosting it again.

PLEASE promote this in your classes - there will be free bbq food, a DJ, field day games, and prizes for participation. The students have worked SO HARD on this initiative and spent all of their prize money to host it again. PLEASE help us get a strong student turnout by encouraging your students to attend.  Bring your Wednesday CLUBS to the event!

If you have connects at other schools in downtown BK - feel free to share this or send me their contact info. The more the merrier! I attached the flyer AND a promotional video the kids made last year.The Youth Leadership Council is holding their second Bridging the Gap event in Tillary Park this Wednesday.  

Clubs Launch.  UAI Clubs launch officially on Monday, 07OCT24.  Some may have already started an that's OK!   Please take a look at the UAI Clubs and please help us promote them with your students.  Announce them in class, push kids to get involved - emphasize the importance of extracurriculars and activities OUTSIDE of the classroom.  Colleges & jobs look to see what activities kids are in to evaluate them as potential candidates for their university or business.  Yes, they get this info from the counselors AND yes, we all need to put this on repeat so that it sinks in to their brains!  Here's what you can do

• Print this out and hang it on your classroom door:   UAI Clubs 
• Please let Jen know if your club is missing
• Make an announcement at the start of each class this week to promote the launch of clubs.
• Clubs are great resume builders for jobs and college - remind kids of that!
• Highlight how awesome the club teachers are and that this is a great chance to learn more about them in a new way!
  
  

Club Attendance & Per Session.  Please remember to clock out for clubs that end after school, and to clock in for clubs that begin before school.   Lunch clubs are prep-period coverage (not per session).  Please remember to take attendance on the Club Attendance Form.  You need this completed prior to having your per session approved.  We are aiming for all clubs to have at least 10 kids, so please try actively to recruit.  If there is fewer than 10, don't stress for now, but clubs that end up having fewer than 3 students will likely not be continued for the spring.

Outreach.   This week, please make sure you are fulfilling your contractual obligation around the weekly 55min of family engagements.  All activities for remote outreach must be recorded in the outreach log, and these activities include:

• Meetings (individual or group) with parents or guardians (this can also be IEP meetings)
• Telephone conversations with parents/guardians
• Written correspondence with parents or guardians (emails, texts, newsletters)
• Creating Newsletters
• Creating content for school/class websites (e.g. google classrooms)
• Preparing student report cards
• Preparing student progress reports
• Meetings with parents of English language learners
• Preparing for parent engagement activities (e.g. curriculum night, conferences, etc)
• Other mutually agreed-upon items  

THIS WEEK - Please outreach to homes of kids who are meeting or exceeding the goal!  For kids who have >80 in your class thus far, call, email, or text home a note of congratulations.  Make sure to include 1-2 concrete things that the kids are doing well (e.g. their understanding of the content, ability to freely ask questions, actively seeks support, helps peers - which deepens their understanding, etc).  Families love to be proud of their kids and kids love making their families proud.  Sharing the good news spreads joy for both you and the families AND signals to the kids that it is WORTH it to work hard and keep trying!

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 .