Author: mrkobot

102 Review, Issue 25: Looking Ahead

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

5 Things You Should Know

  1. Looking Ahead: Preference Sheets 

We’ve received most preference sheets responses and an initial table of organization is already made. I will be meeting with several teachers this week to discuss their programs and then I should be able to let everyone know their intended programs for next year. All programming decisions are made for educational reasons and seniority applies only when the qualifications between two candidates are identical. Please note that any preference sheets with less than three choices will be deemed deficient, thus waiving your right to submit a preference sheet for consideration. You can address this by submitting a new preference sheet no later than 4PM, March 28th.

Once you have your intended program for next year you will be able to select your preferences for your professional periods. I will be consulting with UFT to determine the menu of choices and the number of positions for each of them.

  1. This Year: Paid Coverages

If you are interested in covering classes during your prep periods please email me immediately. You should let me know the maximum number of periods per week you are willing to cover and any other special requests (e.g. it’s is better to cover classes during Monday preps but not Wednesdays, etc.)

The following rates apply for each coverage assigned during prep periods:

Effective May 1, 2015………………………………$37.09

Effective May 1, 2016………………………………… $38.38

Effective May 1, 2017………………………………… $40.13

Effective May 1, 2018………………………………… $40.92

Effective June 16, 2018..……………………………..$42.15

 

  1. iPads and Their Use

Many of you opted to use their discretionary funds to purchase iPads and they will be an important element of our school wide intervention programs for next year. Subpar ed-tech and tech instruction run rampant in schools across the country because many schools often confuse technology with educational buzzwords such as “ STEM”, “rigor”, “innovation”, and “21st century instruction”. Our vision is to push student thinking (yes, that’s italicized, bolded, AND underlined), and to plan instruction that allows them to carry most of the cognitive load in creating meaning and knowledge from various sources of information and experiences. And having students passively watching a cartoon explaining digested and prepackaged content is not effective instruction.

In order to support our students with effective ed tech, I’ve purchased 200 iPads for teachers and students to use with programs that are proven by sound research and provide increased accessibilities. The 102 approach is to get really good at doing what works and not waste time on many the things that don’t. PDs will be scheduled later this year for the following research-backed programs:

Grades 3-8 Humanities Intervention: Achieve3000 provides leveled texts for students to engage in material that is within their zone of proximal development. After 15 years of implementation, Achieve3000 has a proven track record of dramatically increasing the literacy of struggling readers.

ENL All Grades: Lexia Reading Core5 provides explicit, systematic, personalized learning in the six areas of reading instruction, and delivers norm-referenced performance data and analysis. Designed specifically to meet the Common Core and the most rigorous state standards, this research-proven, technology-based approach accelerates reading skills development, predicts students’ year-end performance and provides teachers data-driven action plans to help differentiate instruction. To learn more about Lexia, click here.

All Classes: OpenEBook is an incredible new resource made available to all Title I schools from the White House  It makes available to students  most of the most popular titles both present and past and you can sign up now. Please let me know if you have trouble getting access.

Everyone: Use Google Translate by pointing your phone/iPad camera to any document to translate it to other languages in real time. If you’re not using it already with our families, you should. Install it for both Android and iOS devices.

Teachers should also look into using Apple Classroom to implement iPad use in the classroom.

  1. A/C Installation: A technician will be coming around this week to take some measurements for the upcoming air conditioning installation. It’ll take a few minutes and we appreciate your understanding if they come in during instruction. 102 is about to enjoy its best—or at least most comfy—summer yet.
  2. ELA Scoring Cancelled for 4/19. Due to the upcoming primary elections, scoring has been cancelled for 4/19 and teachers previously assigned to score must report to 102 as usual. You will report to the scoring site from 4/20-4/22.

BONUS: We’re excited to have Ms. Rosenberger join our team as a F-Status interventionist for struggling readers in K-1. She brings incredible experience, expertise, and energy to our school and I’m sure our students will make incredible gains. She will be working from room 342—make sure to drop by and say hi!

102 Review, Issue 24: Clear Expectations

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

March 18th, 2016

“What is the criteria for my child to become a student of the month??”

-Dolphinblue33, commenting on Instagram

 

Clear expectations are vital for success;  all the will and skills in the world wouldn’t matter unless we know exactly what we should be doing with them. My priority this first year is to seek out the expectations we must continue to maintain, and then identify new expectations that should be put in place for next year.

Adhering to the concept of “Power of Simplicity” as laid out by Schmoker in Focus, all of 102’s expectations—old and new—will be framed by the following three questions:

1. What are we teaching? (Curriculum, expectation for students)

2. How are we teaching? (Instructional practices, expectation for teachers)

3. How will we monitor student learning? (Accountability for results, expectation for school)

We need to organize ourselves for maximum impact before we can answer these questions. I will meet with each grade team to discuss our vision for next year, and teachers will be receiving next year’s preference sheets soon after.

Weekly Highlights (Materials Edition): 

$500 Discretionary Funds for All Teachers: All teachers will be allocated $500 of discretionary funds to purchase supplies for their classrooms. This is made possible by the money we received as a Title I school (we serve low-income families), and you should consider purchasing items that can make an impact for our families. More information will be given later this week.

All Technology Requests Approved: All technology requests from last week’s survey have been approved and will be purchased shortly. You should not use the $500 discretionary funds for these items.

 Air Conditioning for All: A/C units will be installed in all classrooms in 102’s historic wing. We are pushing to have them installed before it gets warm, and I’ll make an announcement once a date is set. For those of you who’ve taught for years without air conditioning in a NYC room with 32 students, I thank (and salute) you. It won’t happen again as long as both you and I are at 102.

 

New Interactive Flat Panel TVs: 13 rooms will soon be equipped with new interactive flat panel touchscreen TVs. Speech and SETSS rooms will receive re-purposed Smartboards. Install date TBD. (Note: Smartboard’s predatory business model is no longer viable for our school, and we will continue to replace them with better and cheaper alternatives.)

Things You Should Know:

 Please complete the Learning Environment Survey tomorrow during the afternoon before meeting with your grade/ department teams at 3:20PM. Receipts for completing the surveys should be submitted to Ms. Delvecchio mailbox by 4pm.

The following two Mondays, 3/28/16 and 4/4/16,  will both be self-directed PD days; please plan accordingly.

Supervisor for Grades 3-5. Effective Monday teachers in grade 3 will report to Mr. Borelli and 4 and 5 to Ms. Mulé. They will address issues in these grades until we have a new AP.

102 Review, Issue 23: Thank You, Ms. Atkins

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

Sunday March 13th, 2016

Meeting with me last summer to discuss all things 102, Mr. Pisacano paused often to remind me, “You are truly blessed.” He was especially grateful for a loyal and dedicated staff, anchored by veterans who have each made incredible contributions over many years. I specifically recall him speaking glowingly of Ms. Atkins, highlighting each of her many strengths and accomplishments. Her work has been instrumental in building a sound foundation for 102, and we will continue to benefit from her work for years to come. With sincere gratitude we wish her good luck as she continues her career as an education administrator at the Queens North Borough Field Support office. Her last day at 102 is Friday, March 18th, and we look forward to working with her again soon. Thank you, Ms. Atkins!

Weekly Highlights: Unfazed by swarms of crazed children sprinting and yelling all around her, Ms. Diana Mcauley calmly assisted a student whose foot was trapped under the playground horror device also known as the “Standing Spinner”. Sitting next to a crying 3rd grade student until help arrived, Diana provided some much needed comfort and calm, preventing any further injuries. Thank you, Diana! (Everyone is ok, by the way.)

Things You Should Know:

NYCDOE Family Surveys: Surveys will be sent home to families this week. Specific instructions will be provided along with the surveys and you should make sure to both distribute and discuss the information relating to this process during PM homeroom. More information will be given over the PA.

Keep Window on Classroom Doors Clear: Classroom door windows must remain free of decorations, and you should remove any items blocking them by COB Tuesday, March 15th. In addition to creating a serious safety hazard, obstructing classroom windows can communicate unintended and unwelcome massages about our work. Exceptions can be made in special circumstances such as holidays and small decorations away from sight lines on a case-by-case basis.

Student Profile is now available. Using your NYCDOE login, you may securely access Student Profile information from an internet-enabled device in order to view students’ report card grades, Regents and/or grades 3–8 state test scores, daily attendance, scheduling information (for middle and high school students), enrollment history, student indicators from ATS, and parent/guardian contact information; additional features, including historical assessments, will be added to Student Profile in future releases.

Please note that Student Profile data is intended to mirror features in parents’ NYC Schools Accounts; therefore, you are encouraged to use Student Profile as you discuss students’ academic progress with parents during parent-teacher meetings.

102 Review, Issue 22: Focus

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

Friday, March 4th, 2016

(Fine, Sunday, March 6th…)

We completed the first 3 rounds of our book study on Focus, sharing insightful comments, strategies, and concerns with one another. Collaborative thinking must precede collaborative doing, and we took an important step in preparing for the work we have to do next year and beyond. Here are some of the thoughts we heard in the discussion groups:

“Are we teaching effectively with ineffective standards?”
“We have to start calling out our students, we can’t let them be passive anymore.”
“We have to make students more independent – can I (the student) read this page in a text book and understand what is being taught?”
“We have to make decisions about how/what we teach. But when do we have time to do this? What control do we have?”

The blueprint for everything we do moving forward depends on a common 102 definition of: 1) what we teach, 2) how we teach, and 3) how we assess learning, and rest assure sufficient resources will be allocated for this work once grade/subject area/department teams are configured for next year. Per-session curriculum work will begin in May and continue throughout summer; stay tuned.

Highlights

 Expertly navigating the high school admissions process once again, Guidance Counselor Ms. Babakitis supported our 8th grade students throughout the year to maximize their chances of matching to the appropriate high schools. 14 students were accepted into specialized high schools this year, and I’m sure we’ll have even more next year as Ms. Babakitis is already working to bring Kaplan tutoring services to 102 for current 7th graders interested in taking the SHSAT next year.

Things You Need to Know (and Do)

 Meeting with Parents who are Upset: It has come to my attention that some parents may have used abrasive and accusatory language during parent-teacher meetings.  If you ever feel uncomfortable in how a parent is speaking to you, you should immediately call your AP or me for support and/or guidance. It’s not your job to be yelled at by parents; that’s my job.

Teacher-Use Laptops and Other Technology Requests: Please complete this 1-minute survey by Friday, March 11th regarding any laptops that was assigned to you for teacher-use. You can also request other technology items such as document cameras, projectors, etc.

Review the 102+ roster and attendance and communicate with your students’ 102+ teachers. It’s difficult to plan for effective interventions for unfamiliar students, and it’s important classroom teachers collaborate with after school teachers to best support struggling students. You should also monitor your students’ attendance in the 102+ program.

Monday PD: Teachers will briefly meet with their grade band APs at 2:45PM prior to breaking out in grade teams to review/reflect on the progress made regarding the target CCLS standards selected in September. A template will be provided for each grade team to guide and document the process.

102 Review, Issue 21: 100th Day Edition

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

Friday, February 26th, 2016

Happy 100th Day! And now, time for some not so happy stats:

  • Nine out of 10 girls want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance
  • Six out of 10 girls are so concerned with the way they look that they are holding back from participating in important life activities
  • 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful
  • 48% of girls strong agree with the statement: “When I feel less beautiful, I feel worse about myself in general.”

-“The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report” Findings of the Global Study on Women, Beauty and Well-Being, 2004

We will meet Monday afternoon as a full faculty to learn about a fantastic program, Beautiful Me. In honor of their three daughters who lost their lives in an accident, the Hance family created the Beautiful Me program to help young women across the country develop positive self-esteem. This work is absolutely vital for young people’s success in schools; students who don’t like themselves simply aren’t motivated to better themselves. A Beautiful Me facilitator will conduct a training for us at 2:45PM Monday in the auditorium, and I’m very excited to start learning about how we can help make sure all of our girls graduate 102 with all the confidence and self-esteem they will need.

Highlights: A while ago Ms. Martin attended a Beautiful Me workshop as a parent, and took the initiative to bring the program to 102. Thank you for recognizing and then addressing what so many of our students need. We all benefit for your efforts in coordinating and planning these past few months. Awesome work.

Things You Need To Know

Parent Teacher Conferences will take place this Thursday, March 3rd. Please be ready to share information with parents that is both meaningful and purposeful in sparking action. “Russell needs to do his homework” and “Klay is a bit shy but would do well to practice more” is far less effective than if their teachers share with parents exemplary work next to their child’s work, and/or give specific next steps such as, “this is a list of sight words Steph needs to learn by March. Please practice with him nightly.”

All supervisors will be available to meet with you this week if you have any questions or concerns about PTC. Suggestions are welcome too!

Promotion in Doubt Information Sessions will be held for parents at the next PA meeting. Information sheets about the PID process will also be made available for you to distribute during PTC.