You’re doing a ridiculously good job. And I mean it.
The pressure for schools is real, and we need to keep that in mind as we keep chugging along to being the best ever. All schools face incredible challenges and educators step up accordingly, and yet it’s pointed criticism and threats they hear year after year. “Get better at THIS, you MUST do that, reflect on what you’re not doing, or else.”
Give us “else” because I’m not doing that. We’re going to reflect on what we have done and achieved, and recognize our work and to celebrate it. Scroll through our Instagram account and look at what we are doing compared to past years; You might scoff at me saying our goal is to be the best in the country, but like it or not you can’t deny we’re well on our way.
My top 10 102-proud moments after our first round of observations this school year:
- First ever 8th grade Pep Rally (And the least chaotic one in the history of pep rallies…)
- Attending Climate Team meeting that was more genuine and more productive than just about any school staff meeting could ever be.
- Seeing kids use Khan Academy and attacking content and skills they didn’t pick up the first time the learned it in class.
- Seeing kids debate about Tiger Rising.
- Seeing kids truly read. (Note: You’re not reading if you’re doing it to find responses for a prompt. You’re taking a test.)
- Seeing Ms. Mills and Ms. Tasca assessing their students on the water cycle not with a multiple choice test but by letting them decide how to explain the topic whether by drawings or song. And they did so brilliantly.
- Seeing Ms. McCabe and Ms. Fishcetti give a 5th grade math problem with more steps than I can remember and then the students respond by nailing it, with pairs discussion every step as they go.
- The middle school doing what they do, punctuated by the 7th grade team leaving no doubt who’s top dog in Queens as well as New York State.
- The early grades not missing a beat in creating a lovely climate for their students while transitioning to much more rigorous curricula.
1 Hearing kids call me Ashe(y) on Halloween, which also happens to be the name of my dog.
So in light of the recently released State Report Card for 102 and as we prepare for our first round of inquiry, I have nothing to say except “thank you!”
HIGHLIGHTS
From Mr. Borelli: This week, Mrs. Brucia and Ms. La Manna opened their door to our Literacy Coach Mrs. Duke to develop effective guided reading groups. One of the quickest ways to meet the needs of our students is to truly work in a collaborative, student-first environment. Our 3rd grade students are a lively bunch and a key to minimizing undesired behaviors is to have a fully planned program. Small group strategies and guided reading lessons not only impact student growth, but they allow students to know what skills they need to improve upon. It’s a mini version of RtI within the literacy block. When up and running, the students in 3-221 and 3-232 will look forward to their carved out time with their teachers, making learning purposeful and impactful.
From Ms. Mintiens: Ms. Hughes has been performing interesting, exciting, and interactive experiments with all of her classes. She had 2-209 exploring oobleck. They had to decide if oobleck was a solid or a liquid. They were given water and food coloring and had to decide how much to add to their mix.
In 2-224 the students worked in teams to create the highest, free standing tower. Some used longer sticks with marshmallows and others used shorter tooth picks. The students used the experimental process and were surprised with the results versus their hypothesis. Ms. Hughes successfully uses science centers to encourage team work, engagement, and the inquiry process.
From Ms. Mulé: Back in September, the 8th grade teachers took over the organization of Spirit Week. We delayed it by almost a month because the planning was more intense than ever. This week began with Pajama Day and culminated with Color Wars and the first ever Spirit Week Pep Rally. The students planned and practiced all week and displayed their talents Friday afternoon in the gym, where 8-411 was declared victorious. The banners were creative, the skits unique, the songs original and the trivia fun. Thank you to Mr. McManus for your DJ skills and Mr. Gebhardt for photographing the event. Thank you to all of the 8th grade teachers – Ms. Eliades, Ms. Green, Mr. Bai, Ms. Zecca, Ms. Gaffan and Ms.Chuang for all of your planning in making Spirit Week a success. It’s events like this that make 102 such a special place!
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Inquiry, ROUND 1: The first round of inquiry begins this Monday. Please see this list for your assigned group this round. We assigned non-1st or 2nd choices for some teachers; please see me should you have any concerns.
Field Trips: Due to the changes in how school nurses deal with field trips, you should note any students in your class that cannot self-administer medicine and discuss with your AP to plan in advance. We’re not going to discriminate against students.
AiS: To better provide services for at risk students, ICT Special Education teachers will service a few periods a week to at-risk students on the grades that they teach. Rosters are being finalized and will be distributed tomorrow.
Traci Kaplan: The latest Staff Spotlight is Up. Thank you Ms. Gaffan for a job well done with teaching students how to publish real content.
mrkobot.com 