Week of March 26th

UAI Staff News

Volume V

Issue 27

March 26th, 2018

[School Days 126-129]

[19 Days Remaining in MP5]      [48 Days Remaining in HS School Year]      [58 Days Remaining in MS School Year]

Announcements

More Footage of the Student Walkout.  Many thanks go to our friends from Project Occupy, in particular, Tom Griffin, for sharing his footage from the Student Walkout.  This weekend's continued activism, like that of Naomi Wilder and her amazing speech, continues to invigorate our work as educators and shapers of the future.  As we enter this last week before the vacation, take inspiration from our students' efforts, passion, and voice!

Staff Spotlights

Tom Wilson.  Last spring, Professor Andrea Silverman stopped by my office to pitch an idea to work with her on developing curriculum modules on Environment Engineering.   Immediately, I thought of Tom and quickly introduced the pair.  Tom took it from there and has created an amazing curriculum from scratch for our students.  Tom created a series of units and activities that not only hooked our students into the course, but they are also taking what they learned in Tom's class and effecting changes in their own lives.  The connection between his classroom and our girls' lives is electric and what distinguishes Tom this year!  If you have a chance, drop down to B49 to visit Tom's Environmental Science class.

Phillan Greaves.  Last Monday, Phillan & Sarah's 6th-grade humanities class was filmed to be featured in the training and promotion footage the Literacy Design Collaborative uses nationwide to advertise their work and to train new teachers to the program (many thanks to all the LDC teachers who helped, too!).  In her own words, Phillan would be the first to admit her own reticence in adopting the practices of LDC, but now in year two of her planning, her students are thriving with units and lessons that are thoroughly planned, collegially vetted, and crafted to leverage the most thinking from her students.  Phillan, along with Marsha and Rebecca, is spreading the success of our LDC work beyond just the video share. They are all part of the Urban Assembly's Literacy Leadership series and have hosted several UA schools this year to view their practices.  If you find yourself having similar questions about the investment in planning, make time to see Phillan in Room 311.  Her perspective and experience will provide you with invaluable insight!

To Dos This Week

Monday PD Grade Team Meetings.  With the snow day last week, all field trips were put into a kerfluffle.  I want to give time over to grade teams on Monday to finalize logistics for trips that have been rescheduled for this week.  

School Survey Final Push.  The DOE extended the deadline for parent surveys!  Please make another push to get those surveys back from your advisee's parents.  Nancy is still updating THIS DOCUMENT to let you know which of your advisors have brought them back from that distribution.  Please make sure that you call all homes on Tuesday of those students who still have outstanding surveys.  If any of your parents lost their survey (or didn't receive it), please see Nancy. She can provide you with the student code.  Our goal is to reach 80% of our parent surveys returned.  That means we need each advisor to get at least FOUR more surveys back by Thursday, 29MAR18

SEL Update

The girls have been working so hard researching the women they’ve chosen to highlight in their sheroe projects. They will be presenting them to their class on Monday & Tuesday using a rubric to review their peers work. They are really going to learn a lot about lesser known amazing females and which SEL skills they excelled in to make such an impact!

Per Session Opportunities

None this week

Week of March 19th

UAI Staff News

Volume V

Issue 27

March 19th, 2018

[School Days 121-125]

[24 Days Remaining in MP5]      [53 Days Remaining in HS School Year]      [63 Days Remaining in MS School Year]

Announcements

#Less Guns...More Funds!  Last Wednesday, our seniors coordinated their first civil action project by leading our student body on a Nationwide School Walkout.  Seeing our young women come together to unify our student-body in a singular message, was amazing.  Tiara, Nande, and Ana all spoke beautifully (I'm going to play their speeches for you on Monday during PD) and inspired the throngs of young people gathered before them on the steps of Borough Hall.  While each of our girls is wonderful, they did not magically end up that way.  It is through the support and love of their families/friends combined with the inspiration and challenge of your teaching and support that brought them to this point today.  As a secondary school, we spend much of our energy getting our student onto their paths.  We rarely get to see them thrive and blossom while on their journey.  Wednesday was a special exception.  Days like that one gave us a tangible reminder of why what we do each and everyday matters, and why it's so important that we come to each day with our best.  Thank you all for your support and commitment.  It showed brilliantly in the voices of our young ladies on Wednesday, and it will continue to show in the young ones still to come!

Staff Spotlights

Nina Granberry.  A big shout out goes to Ms. Nina who joined our staff in February.  Walking into a position midyear is challenging alone.  Doing so with 10th-grade Geometry is even more of a hurdle.  However, Nina has already had an amazing impact on the classroom culture and subsequently the quality of learning in math.  Last week, her students were all working collaboratively to solve a variety of problems using geometric properties to prove whether or not shapes congruent, similar, or neither.  The structure of the activity had a wide variety in the complexity of problems, giving students multiple entry points, and she leveraged student-student discourse to scaffold their thinking and problem-solving.  As a result, her classroom environment was alive with questions and student thinking.  Visit Nina's class to see more!

Kristina Coriarty.  A big shout out goes to the 7th-grade team and in particular Ms. Kristina for having the highest completion rate (85%) for Student Led Conferences.  Families are our partners in learning.  Without a strong connection to the home, we have a weak foundation with our students.  Regardless of their age, the families of our students play a huge role in the success of our students.  Constant, clear, and significant communication is key to maintaining those relationships.  Many thanks to Kristina for her hard work in making those connections. If you want to understand her method for successful outreach, reach out to her.  You'll find Ms. Kristina in room 307!

To Dos This Week

School Survey.  During Monday's PD, staff will be completing the school survey.  Please bring a laptop with you!  Nancy distributed all remaining parent surveys to students last week.  They were directed to bring those surveys back to her the next day.  Nancy will update THIS DOCUMENT to let you know which of your advisors have brought them back from that distribution.  Please make sure that you call all homes on Tuesday of those students who still have outstanding surveys.  If any of your parents lost their survey (or didn't receive it), please see Nancy. She can provide you with the student code.  Our goal is to reach 80% of our parent surveys returned.  That means we need each advisor to get at least FOUR more surveys back by Friday, 23MAR18

SEL Update

March is all about SHEroes and helping the girls to not only learn from famous historical female role models but to also discover and do a project about  the lesser known girls and women who may not be as famous but equally as important and give them the recognition they deserve.  We are encouraging them to think about the grit and perseverance required to make changes to injustices and debunk the different myths about what a girl's role "should" be.  We will connect how we can use our SEL skills to become sheroes just like the females they will choose to highlight in their poster project.  This week they will begin research for their projects so feel free to ask them who they have been inspired by and why! 

Per Session Opportunities

Summer School.  Thanks to everyone who volunteered for summer school.  I need to coordinate with the other SS principals this week and will get back to you with formal offers.  If you didn't get a chance to express interest, there's still time.  Please email me!

Week of March 12th

UAI Staff News

Volume V

Issue 26

March 12th, 2018

[School Days 116-120]
[29 Days Remaining in MP5]      [58 Days Remaining in HS School Year]      [68 Days Remaining in MS School Year]

Announcements

Lady Eagles Face End Their Season with Passion and Heart.  A huge cheer goes to our Lady Eagles who played their hearts out last Monday night.  With two key players down for this big game, our team was facing an uphill battle.  For three out of the four quarters, the Lady Eagles kept their foes within a point or two.  Finally, they succumbed to the litany of fouls that kept coming from the other team, really challenging our girls' free throw capacity.  It was a heart-breaking loss, but it was also a heartwarming game to see the passion, commitment, and teamwork that our girls demonstrated throughout!  Many shout outs go to Ms. Elana for coaching our girls through another fantastic season!

Girls Inc This Week.  This week even a North Eastern Blizzard couldn’t keep a smile off these strong, smart, and bold girls! On Tuesday, they attended Paul Taylor’s Dance Company performance in Lincoln Center.  On Wednesday, they braved the weather, enjoying a snow fight on the way to see Come From Away and participate in a talkback with the writer, producer, stage manager, cast member, and lighting crew! It’s always a great week to be a part of Girls Inc!

Staff Spotlights

Marsha Derice.  This week in their 8th grade ELA classes, Marsha & Christina's planned a Book Tasting Event for students.  To hook students into their next book, Marsha and Christina planned an ingenious activity to help students make informed selections for the upcoming lit circles.  Literature Circles provide students with voice and choice in their reading.  The Book Tasting event allowed students to peruse a wide variety of genres for their next extended read.  Check in with Marsha to learn more about how to get kids hooked on reading!

Matthew Turner.  Matthew has really developed his ability to use student discourse to support thinking and reasoning.  Just this past week, Matthew's 6th graders were working together to figure out a word problem.  At one point, Matthew posed a question to the group and received back a variety of puzzled looks.  Rather than continue with a whole class discussion, Matthew seamlessly rephrased his question and asked his students to talk about their ideas with their partner.  Matthew then circulated to listen to a variety of pairs, and then used what he heard to facilitate the whole class towards a deeper and more cohesive understanding.  If you're interested in improving the quality of your own turn and talks, drop by to visit Matthew!

To Dos This Week

Student Walk Out.  As you heard from our Seniors on Monday, the students are organizing a walkout on Wednesday, 14MAR18.  This will occur at the end of 2nd period.  The announcement will come at 9:50AM.  Seniors will be visiting each classroom at 9:40 to help coordinate.  We will be reviewing the specific logistics on Monday during PD.  In the meantime, here's the rough outline

• 9:40-9:50AM Walk Out Prep.  Seniors will visit each classroom to give the overview of the walkout, where they're going, why they're walking out, and how to behave when we are out there.  Please help the seniors by managing the classroom behavior and focusing student attention.

• 9:50AM Walk Out. At 9:50, there will be a schoolwide announcement (Elana, we'll radio and text you in the gym).  Teachers will escort student out the front of the building, turn right, cross Adams street, and walk straight up Johnson street to the statue of Henry Ward Beecher. Note:  Those teachers and/or student who do not wish to participate will exit classrooms with their class.  Instead of leaving the building, students and staff who are opting out will report to the cafeteria.  

• 10:00AM Student Speeches.  Seniors will be giving speeches regarding the walkout and/or leading the school in chants [these details are still being developed and we'll have more for you at Monday's PD]

• 10:20AM Return to School.  All* students return to UAI and to regular classes. *Some students may wish to stay.  I will speak more about this on Monday.

Per Session Opportunities

Summer School.  Many of you are submitting inquiries about summer school.  We are still finalizing the details (in terms of course offerings and hours).  Preference will go to those who can work the entire period of summer school.

• Middle School Summer School.  MS Summer school will consist of English, Math, and/or Girls Inc.  Students who do not pass state exams and/or courses will be enrolled in summer school.  MS Summer School runs from Monday, 09JUL18 through Thursday, 09AUG18 - Mondays through Thursdays only.  
• 1st Period:  8:30-10:00
• 2nd Period:  10:00-11:30
• 3rd Period:  11:30-12:00 [Lunch]
• 4th period:  12:00-2:30 [PM Girls Inc.]

• High School Summer School.  HS Summer school will consist of a short credit recovery course session followed by Regents Prep. Students who fail courses or exams will be registered for summer school.  Course offerings will be Core Classes (English, Math, Science, and Social Studies) and PE only.  Course Credit Recovery runs Monday, 09JUL18 through 26JUL18 - Mondays through Thursdays only.  Regents Prep runs Monday, 30JUL18 through 15AUG18 (Mon-Thurs).
• 1st Period:  8:30-9:30
• 2nd Period:  9:30-10:30
• 3rd Period:  10:30-11:30
• 4th Period:  11:30-12:00
• 5th Period:  12:00-2:30 [PM Girls Inc.]

• High School Regents Exams.  High School Regents Exams are on Thursday, 16AUG18 and Friday, 17AUG18.  Summer Exam Grading Day is Monday, 20AUG18.  We'll need proctors and graders.  If you are available for all or part of this session please let me know!

Week of March 5th

UAI Staff News

Volume V

Issue 25

March 5th, 2018

[School Days 111-115]
[34 Days Remaining in MP5]      [63 Days Remaining in HS School Year]      [73 Days Remaining in MS School Year]

Announcements

Lady Eagles Face Off against John Jay.  For our final game at our campus this season, the Lady Eagles face the John Jay Jayhawks one more time.  If you recall, the only game we lost this season was to John Jay, and we defeated them the last time we played, resulting in our first place divisional finish.  Now, only John Jay stands between the Adams Campus Lady Eagles and the citywide semi-finals.  It's exciting times for our young athletes. Come out and support them in our gym on Monday, 05MAR18 at 5PM.  

Black History Month Winterfest. Last Wednesday, Ms. Vanessa and the fabulous staff of Girls Inc. put together an amazing show with our young women.  From dancing to yoga to basketball to entrepreneurship - all of our after-school programs got their chance to shine, and they were brilliant.  Check out some of their videos:  Girl's Anthem & Girls' News Network (GNN)

Christina Choi.  Christina co-teaches English and Social Studies with our Middle School teachers, Kristina, Marsha, and Natalie.  One of Christina's many strengths and talents is her ability to plan for and target students for specific supports.  For example, during independent work time, in place of randomly circulating to check on students, Christina targets her most struggling students and plans accordingly.  During my observation of her practice last week, I was particularly impressed with an on-the-spot reading intervention that Christina did with a student.  Together they read the primary source document and Christina used questions around genre and understanding the author's purpose to help the student build comprehension and understanding.  If you're looking for ways to build reading support into your lesson, check out Christina this week!

Rebecca Candela.  Those of you who are working with our current class of seniors truly understand the complexities of senioritis. Now that the application process is complete and the acceptances are rolling in, our seniors (like so many in the city), are operating under the mistaken belief that they can now check out.  Rebecca is using high-interest topics coupled with accountability (meaningful use of student work) to keep students engaged.  It isn't always easy, and they do present challenges often!  In class the other day, Rebecca taught her AP English students how to improve the quality and complexity of their arguments through using student discourse to scaffold thinking and writing strategies to manipulate and improve their writing.  If you're working on ways to improve student analysis and argument writing in your class, reach out to Rebecca!

To Do This Week

Monday PD.  This is the first Monday of the month.  In place of PLOPs for the rest of the year, we'll be giving time over to teams to have grade team meetings (I forgot this when I wrote last week's blog).  In correction, we'll be continuing our work on planning an instruction next week.  This week, we'll be giving the time to grade teams to analyze student behavior and academic data.  In addition, we'll be submitting to teams the completion of the SLC schedule for review.  Here's the agenda

• 2:50PM - All teams report to the following rooms
• Middle School Teams:  6th - Room 309   and   7th & 8th - Room 303
• High School Teams: 9th/12th, rm 405;  10th/12th, rm 509;  11th/12th, rm B57 
• Teachers who teach multiple grades should go to the teams of their choice

• 3:00-3:45 Behavior Data Dive
• Using the Data Protocol examine the grade data provided to by our Dean Team
  (Admin team members will facilitate)
• The goal of this data dive is to examine the impact of the Social Norms Reset at the start of February and to reflect on practices and commit to next steps.
• 3:45-4:10 SLCs Appointment Completion and Attendance 
• Grade teams will review the percent of grade who have been scheduled for SLCs.  For those advisors having struggles completing their schedule, the team will collaboratively problem solve to support.  The goal is to have 100% scheduled by the end of the day on Tuesday 06MAR18.
• Grade team advisors will receive individual student attendance data by advisory so each advisor can review attendance with families and set attendance goals with advisees for the Spring term. The goal is to have all students with 90% or better attendance for the remainder of the year.  That is, from now through June, we want students to be in school and on time at least 90% of the time.

Tuesday Family Outreach.  Here are the hot topics for this week's family outreach time

• Complete scheduling for your SLCs.  If you could not reach parents on your own last week, this week you need to pull the student and have her call home with you.
• UAI Spring Family Dinner. If you forgot, please make sure you invite families to our UAI Spring Family Dinner on Tuesday, 13MAR18 at 5:30PM.
• SLC Appointment and Family Dinner RSVP.  Both the SLC Appointment sheet and the Dinner RSVP list can be found by CLICKING HERE.

Per Session Opportunities

• UAI Spring Family Dinner.  We're looking for teachers from each grade team to join us for the Spring Family Dinner.  Please respond directly to Kiri by the end of the day on Wednesday, 07MAR18. 
• Middle School ELA Test Prep.  We will be running after-school test prep for middle school students.  For now, we are focusing on ELA (math prep will begin after the April break).  Please respond to Kiri for approval and next steps.

Week of February 26th

UAI Staff News

Volume V

Issue 24

February 26th, 2018

[School Days 106-110]

Announcements

Welcome Back.   Welcome back from the midwinter recess!  I do hope that you all found time to recharge and are ready to take on the rest of the spring term!  With Spring just around the corner, now is the time where we need to double down and increase our focus and commitment.  We have 22 instructional days between now and Spring Break, and our number one goal is to make sure each of these 22 lessons is crafted to maximize students learning. 

To support you in this, Monday PDs in March will be targeted at lesson planning and preparation.  In particular, each Monday, you will be working with your planning partners to (1) Lesson Plan and Link to Pacing Calendars and/or (2) Lesson Rehearse and practice delivery.  Quality preparation and planning is the key to strong classrooms and even stronger management. 

• 26FEB18 - Using Narrative Lesson Plans to improve Co-planning and Co-teaching
• 05MAR18 - Using High-Quality Look-Fors to Improve Lesson and Assessment Quality
• 12MAR18 - Leveraging Student Reading, Writing, and Speaking to Scaffold Learning
• 19MAR18 - NYC School Survey for Teachers
• 26MAR18 - Looking at Student Work to Evaluate Lesson Efficacy

Lady Eagles Soar!.  After an amazing victory just before the break, ur Lady Eagles are advancing to the next round in the playoffs and have their next game vs. Jamaica (14) on Tuesday 27FEB18 at 5PM in the UAI Gym.  Our young women get a lot of support and play better when we support them. Please announce the game in your classes and please try to join and cheer them on to another victory!

Girls Inc Winterfest Black History Month.  Our annual Winterfest has been rescheduled for Wednesday, 28FEB18 at 6PM.  While you schedule SLCs during family outreach time this week (see below) please also invite families to attend our Black History Month Winterfest sponsored by Girls Inc.

Benchmarks and SLCs.  Next Thursday and Friday are Benchmarks and Student Led Conferences.  Please use your outreach time tomorrow to schedule Student Led Conferences and record the date and time of the conference IN THIS SHEET.  These are the lists from the fall, so it's likely that your lists may be inaccurate.  Please correct them if you find an error.  If you are unable to successfully schedule parents, pull your advisees during your professional periods this week to have them call home to schedule the conference with you.  All SLCs must be scheduled by the end of the day on Thursday, 01MAR18. 



Parent Outreach This Month.  As we lead up to Student-Led Conferences and the end of the 4th marking period, parent outreach is particularly critical for this month.  This is the key point of the year where kids with family and teacher support can really push themselves to grow more and/or make the turn to overcome any failures that they may have encountered in the past.  Our new Tuesday Call Log tracker will help us track our success this month.  The goal for March is to reach 100% of our advisees.  In addition to scheduling SLCs, please reach out to invite parents to the following upcoming events

• Family Fridays - We are relaunching our Family Fridays program.  The 2nd Friday of each month, families are invited to join their child in class for first period!  This is chance for parents to connect with the school and learn more about our classroom instruction.  There will also be coffee and donuts!  Parents who are interested in attending should contact Mr. Brodie.  The first Family Friday is Friday, March 9th.  The next one will be on Friday, April 13th.  If parents can't make the Family Fridays, they are welcome to come visit classes anytime.  Just have them reach out to Mr. Brodie to schedule.
  
• UAI Spring Family Dinner - It's time for the NYC School Survey.  Last year, we had 47% of our parents respond to the survey.  This year, we are aiming to double that and reach 84%! We need your help to get us there.  As you schedule parents for SLCs and do family outreach this month, please invite parents to a dinner we are hosting for parents to join us, learn more about how our school is doing (school performance and data), get more exposure to how their children are performing (sample lessons and activities), and honor our young scholars (students of the month, honor roll, attendance).   Dinner will be provided for our students and families (RSVPs are required).  Please record your advisee's RSVPs in this document (click on the tab "UAI Spring Family Dinner").  The UAI Spring Family Dinner will be on our next PTA meeting date, Tuesday 13MAR18 at 5:30PM.  Please tell families that in order to reserve a meal, we need to have an RSVP.

Week of February 12th

UAI Staff News

Volume V

Issue 23

February 12th, 2018

[School Days 102-105]

Highlights and Spotlights

Suzannah Tartin masterfully integrates SEL instruction in Global History. Annie and I had the pleasure of watching Ms. Suzannah prep students for a class discussion.  On each table, students had a laminated resource with sentence starters to help them model positive strategies for Disagreeing without Being Disagreeable and students volunteered connections to Accountable Talk.  Students also reviewed active listening prior to beginning their discourse.  Suzannah attended to preparing students for discourse.  With this kind of preparation, students have a much more clear sense of how to engage classroom tasks and activities (like discussion) and thus do so at a higher level of quality and intellectual rigor.  Check in with Suzannah in room 509 to learn more!

Diana Vlavianos creatively elevates learning vocabulary to a new level.  Seniors in Diana's 12th grade English class approached vocabulary from a new and deeper persepective.   Seniors are reading Elie Wiesel's Night and exploring his use of language.  In place of traditional definitions of words, Diana's class took a deep dive into more common words, used in uncommon ways. Students defined words like "Never", "Hearded", and "Fire" with the standard definition.  In addition, students created their own connections through their own prior knowledge, and took those connections to analyze Wiesel's use of the same words and how the use impacts various aspects of his writing.  Writing down definitions is simply the start.  It is the first step and level 1 thinking.  Having students apply and interpret those facts in a context (in this case, Wiesel's Night) elevates both rigor and student intellectual engagement.

PPO Feedback.  Many thanks to everyone for working hard to prepare for Fred's visit last Thursday.  Special shout outs go to Natalie, Cherry, Tom, Rebecca, Jamie, and Kelly for hosting wonderful classroom visits.  Many thanks also to Jake, Natalie, and Kelly for modelling our co-planning structures and sharing their thoughts with Fred during their meeting.  Six of nine rated indicators were rated Effective or Highly Effective.  We are still developing in our instructional core, but Fred noted the tremendous growth we've had over the last three years.  He said, "Climate and Culture come from heavy investment in curriculum [and Teacher] development and it is paying off!"  He said the improvement in our classrooms is palpable, and that our work and focus in "Spot On!"

Lady Eagles Victory!  Many, many thanks to all of you who came out to the game last week for the love Lady Eagles. They really were pumped that we were able to make it and the game was a fabulous one!  We are now into the Playoffs!  The next home game will be on Tuesday, 13FEB18 at 5PM.  Please come out and help cheer our girls on to victory once more and in advancing in the Playoffs!

To Do this Week

Observations and Evaluations.  Annie and I are deep into our observations for this last two weeks.  Some teachers have mentioned being surprised at seeing us because of who was listed on the calendar.  Those notes on my calendar are just that - notes.  They are not commitments.  Frequently, we will switch up who we are going to see based on a variety of different factors.  After the break, we will be combining formal evaluative classroom visits (observations) with informal non-evaluative feedback and coaching visits.  These coaching visits will have a very different feel than evaluation.  During these visits, Annie or I may pull you aside to give you feedback, and/or model various teacher moves during your class.  These actions are aimed at developing more rigorous and disciplined teacher habits during instruction that are aimed at constantly pushing student thinking and engagement.  We will not be able to get to everyone at once.  However, you are more than welcome to reach out to request a coaching visit from us at any time.

Monday PD.  The next window for the DESSA is here.  We will be completing the next round of DESSA surveys for our students this week during PD and parent outreach time. This will provide us with crucial information about the success of our SEL classes and pullout groups, as well as which students we need to provide with extra support. You will not need to complete a rating for your advisory in this round; we'll only be rating that same half of one of the groups that you teach.


To complete your ratings:

1. Log on to the DESSA system here: https://sel.datalinkevo.com/#/login
2. Upon logging in, you'll see a green bar with your group assignment (e.g., "Group A1- Tracy.") Click the green bar.
3. "Winter rating period (optional)" will appear below the green bar. Look to the right and select "Start rating."
4. Complete the ratings for your first student and continue clicking "complete and rate next student" after you have finished rating each of your girls. If you need to stop after one of your ratings, click "complete and return to ratings list." 
5. To see your progress on roster of students you need to rate, click the arrow that appears at the top of the gray column on the left.

On another note, Lauren will be on maternity leave for the remainder of the year after the February break. Please continue to reach out to the counseling team as needed:

• Jen- JenC@uainstitute.org; ext. 30111
• Jennifer- JenniferJR@uainstitute.org; ext. 30421
• Marni- MarniB@uainstitute.org; ext. 30431
• Julia, SW intern- JuliaA@uainstitute.org (or reach out to Jen)
• Eliana, SW intern- ElianaA@uainstitute.org (or reach out to Marni)

Black History Month Assembly.  With the Playoff game scheduled for Tuesday, we need to reschedule our evening Winterfest Black History Month. Jen & Vanessa will give you updates on that soon!  However, we will continue to have our Winterfest Black History Month Assembly on Thursday during 8th period.  All students should report to 8th period and wait until they are called to the gym.  At the close of the assembly, we will do a rapid dismissal, so all students should have all their belongings with them prior to going up to the assembly.

Per Session Postings 

After School Teachers.  Girls Inc After School will be starting up again soon. This is the call out to teachers to work in our after school program.  Teachers should teach a passion project for after school.  Priority given to course ideas linked to STEM.  Please see Ms. Vanessa if interested in the Girls Inc Offices in Room 205 (offices inside the library).  There are limited spots so go quickly.

After School Test Prep.  We will be offering after school Test Prep for the MS ELA test beginning the week after the break.  Students who scored a level 1 or 2 on last year's exams will be slated for after school.  To maximize attendance and retention throughout the exam prep process, priority will go to teachers who already have strong positive relationships with these students.

Middle School Interviews.  Middle School interviews are this Saturday. Jen emailed about this event a few weeks ago.  If you are still interested, please see Jen.

Week of February 5th

UAI Staff News

Volume V

Issue 22

February 5th, 2018

[School Days 97-101]

Highlights and Spotlights

Elana Green coaches a room of badminton.  Annie and I had the pleasure of observing Ms. Elana with her class of 10th graders this week.  The 10th grade presents some of the most challenging behaviors for this week's social norms reset, but in Ms. Elana's class they (~40 of them) worked together productively, respectfully, and actively trying to figure out the best moves to improve their game.  Ms. Elana artfully provided clear directions and was very explicit about her expectations for performance and behavior.  Elana's direction, clarity of performance expectations, and follow through with feedback created a wonderful learning environment.  Visit her in the gym this week to get some ideas for your own classroom!

Judy Cappuccio preps juniors for the SAT.  Ms. Judy and the juniors launched their SAT prep unit this week.  Ms. Judy took the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development and adapted it in kid-friendly language to help students understand their own capacity and master the source of their anxiety when it comes to testing.  Visit Judy in room B45 this week to learn more & grow ideas for your own practice! 

Lady Eagles Home Game. The final game of the Lady Eagles regular basketball season in on Wednesday 07FEB18 at 4:30PM.  This is a very important game for our Lady Eagles as they face off against the John Jay Campus. John Jay is the only team that our Lady Eagles have lost to this season and this their chance to turn that loss into victory!  Adams Campus policy is such that we do not allow external spectators, so often our home games lack strong fan support.  This is the game to see and this is the game for which our team needs the most support.  Please encourage our students to come by announcing it in your classes this week.  Make a point to show your school spirit by coming to the game yourself!

To Do This Week

Superintendent Visit.  This Thursday is our next PPO visit.  This time around our superintendent, Fred Walsh will be visiting.  For the visit, I want to highlight our work in planning, particularly around student discourse.  For Thursday, please complete a narrative lesson plan that clearly articulates your "Look Fors" in red.  The "Look Fors" should represent your best thinking in response to the questions/tasks you put to the students and represent a clear picture of your assessment criteria.  For Thursday, please make sure to plan multiple opportunities for student-student discourse (e.g. Turn and Talk) and use the Rigorometer to review your lesson for rigor.  Use planning time this week to rehearse Thursdays' lessons to further improve quality and performance.


PPO Visit Schedule.  Below is the proposed schedule I am submitting to Fred.  However, depending on what Fred decides, we may end up in other classrooms. So even if your name is not on the list, please be prepared.

• 8:00-8:50AM:  Initial Meeting with Kiri, Annie, and Fred

• 8:30-9:25AM:  1st Period Classroom Visits
• 8:50-9:05AM: 8th Grade Math (H), Ms. Cherry 
• 9:05-9:20AM: 7th Grade History (E), Ms. Natalie
• 9:20-9:30AM:  Debrief 1st Period Visits

• 9:35-10:00AM:  2nd Period Classroom Visits
• 9:30-9:45AM:  12th Grade AP English Language, Ms. Rebecca
• 9:45-10:00AM:  11th Grade Environmental Science (U), Mr. Tom

• 10:00-10:30:  Debrief Classroom Visits and Discuss Progress Towards CEP Goals
• 10:30-11:15AM: 3rd Period Classroom Visits
• 10:30-10:45AM:  9th Grade CC Algebra I, Ms. Jamie
• 10:45-11:00AM:  9th Grade US History, Ms. Kelly

• 11:00-11:30AM:  US History Lesson Rehearsal
• 11:00-11:15AM:  Meet with Annie & Kiri 
• 11:15-11:30AM:  Observe first part of the meeting

Monday PD - Final PLOP Monday.  This Monday's PD we will finish our final PLOPs for the year.  Please come to room 409 with your computer to finish these.  CLICK HERE and select the tab called "05FEB18 Final PLOPs" to see who is on your docket for Monday.

Parent Outreach Tuesday.  By now, you should have called all your advisees who failed two or more classes and/or who have less than 90% attendance for the year.  Those calls should be logged into Skedula, and you should have made contact with a family member (in person conversation).  We'll be going into Skedula this week to check that you were able to make contact.  If you were unable to do so, please see Brodie and he will help you!  This Tuesday, please make time to call home to celebrate advisees!  Call the ones who passed all their classes or have >90% attendance.  OR call the ones who had the biggest improvement - either socially or academically!  Whichever it is, it will make them feel great, make their families feel awesome, and it will warm your heart!  Don't forget to log these calls in Skedula too! Click Here to read a short article on the power of positive phone calls

Per Session Postings

After School Teachers.  Girls Inc After School will be starting up again soon. This is the call out to teachers to work in our after school program.  Teachers should teach a passion project for after school.  Priority given to course ideas linked to STEM.  Please see Ms. Vanessa if interested in the Girls Inc Offices in Room 205 (offices inside the library).  There are limited spots so go quickly.

After School Test Prep.  We will be offering after school Test Prep for the MS ELA test beginning the week after the break.  Students who scored a level 1 or 2 on last year's exams will be slated for after school.  To maximize attendance and retention throughout the exam prep process, priority will go to teachers who already have strong positive relationships with these students.

Middle School Interviews.  Middle School interviews are this Saturday. Jen emailed about this event a few weeks ago.  If you are still interested, please see Jen.