Getting something off the ground is always the hardest and scariest part of any innovation, and rightly so. We’re making something from nothing, and there are always problems we didn’t anticipate. And we’re seeing that with our Personalized Learning as Intervention initiative.
Testing, identifying need, recruiting, planning, advertising, every step took a ton of effort. Thanks to curriculum designers who willed an intervention curriculum to existence by recruiting help, staying late, and even rescuing animals, students now get to enjoy some top-notch targeted remedial instruction they would’ve otherwise missed. Next week 102+ begins for grades 3-8, and I can’t wait to see all the results from the follow-up support we are now giving students who are struggling. Thank you.
WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS
Ms. Brucia has been absolutely stellar this first month and, thanks to her efforts, her students haven’t missed a beat from not having Ms. O’Connor. Not only has she set up powerful structures and norms, she is attending both Humanities and STEM meetings as the ICT teacher, in addition to the rigorous learning we have planned for all ICT teachers to better diagnose learning hurdles. Thank you for being the kind of leader that leads through action.
Weinstein: During Math with Ms. Eliades, 8-409 was adding and subtracting exponents. Ms. Eliades led them from one part of the problem to the next by asking the students to use their prior knowledge. I sat with a group who walked, step by step, through their process before answering the question. Our TGs are designed to include the thinking process as much as the outcome of the student learning and Ms. Eliades effortlessly did this with her class during the lesson.
Sheerin: Class 5-334 engaged in a lesson on dividing 3- and 4-digit dividends by 1-digit divisors, Ms. Luden used a mnemonic phrase to help students recall order of operations when dividing – Dirty Monkeys Smell Bad, Really bad (divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, repeat). By Using this tool to both solve problems as well as to check their work, students were able to productively engage with the task independently while Ms. Luden worked with a small group needing additional support.
Borelli: A new student could not identify a single one, but on Friday he breezed through words such as “like, the, go, its, is” among many others. With each word that he read, you could see his face light up with confidence. Ms. Monteleone, Mrs. Wyckoff, and this student did not do anything complex-it was time, patience, effort, tenacity, and having a clear plan and goal for this student.
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Personalized learning is underway and we are working on releasing a report that will inform teachers which students are receiving what interventions by which teacher. Please collaborate with one another as necessary. Stay tuned.
102+ (ENL) Once we conclude 102+ for reading in a few weeks, 102+ ENL will begin to seamlessly deliver support services to ENL students. This will continue for the full year, and teachers who are interested should apply to by emailing Ms. Mills. (smills@ps102q.org)
Announcements: You can request having a morning announcement made on your behalf by submitting this form to Ms. Weinstein’s mailbox.
Field Trips are great. However, field trips can also cause a host of issues should there by any miscommunication between students, families, staff, and administration, so a memo will be in your mailboxes regarding the proper procedures to plan and request field trips. Dates must be on the school’s public calendar and you can do so by speaking with Ms. Belfiore.
Monday PL: We are pushing back our TG workshops to sort out some curricular and operational items; therefore, PL will be structured as follows:
102+ Teams will continue planning and preparing lessons and resources.
K-2 – Room 209
3-4 – Room 329
5-8 – Room 403
All other teams will work on curriculum planning.
K – Room 109
1-2 – Room 213 (Focus: Intervention Planning)
3-5 HUM – Room 327 (Focus: TC Units)
3-5 STEM – Room 323 (Focus: Intervention Planning)
6-8 MATH – Room 405
6-8 ELA/SS – Room 409
6-8 SCIENCE – Room 424
*Staff not listed above will engage in self-directed preparations and planning.
3-8 102+: Here is a brief overview of 102+ Cycle 1 for Grades 3-8:
Wednesday, October 18th Thursday, October 19th
Wednesday, October 25th Thursday, October 26th
Wednesday, November 1st Thursday, November 2nd
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