Category: Principal’s Blog

Double digit gains for both Math and ELA virtually on every grade level felt almost unbelievable, and we felt it was important to share how a community of 1,500 transformed itself from one that prided on its traditions to one that was relentlessly adaptive. These are the weekly staff updates I sent out from my first week as principal. Most recent on top.

102 Review, ISSUE 43: National Coming Out Day (And Living Our Values)

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

Think for yourself; care for others. It’s easy to say, and infinitely harder to do. Good people live these values every day, but great teachers deliberately create opportunities each day to live their values as a way to teach. It’s what we try to do here at 102 and if you have an idea for an event, celebration, etc., let us know. You should know by now we’re up for anything that’s meaningful for kids.

Our amazing guidance department (Ms. Arduini, Ms. Babakitis, and Ms. Pearlman) is leading the charge to make sure everyone feels welcomed and loved when they step into 102 this Tuesday, October 11th. Please show your support by wearing the pin that will be in your mailbox ( I think that’s going to happen…) or just rock whatever you own that can show support for the cause.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Zecca is gunning for the “most shout-outs in 102 Review” record and deservedly so. Given lyrics at 2:10PM on Thursday to prepare students performing the next morning, she demonstrated that she can do what everyone except her know by now: which is anything. The snippet her students performed, “Madelene By Your Side”, was adapted from “Washington by Your Side” of the Hamilton Musical. Just wait until they’re done with the whole album.

From Ms. Mintiens: I had the pleasure of sitting in on some awesome learning this week. Mrs. Smith asked students what they might want ‘0’ of. Students answered ghosts, bears, and lizards. Students in Ms. Monteleone and Ms. Wyckoff’s class grooved to the theme from ‘ Reading Rainbow’ as they found their Readers Workshop rug spots. And Mrs. DelVecchio  and Mrs. Fales to had students outside to study clouds and weather.  My favorite student comment this week came from Ms. Averna’s class when talking about the impending presidential election. Andreas stated, ” The most important characteristic a president should have is to be just kind.” Well said Andreas!

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

102 Design Challenge: You should have received some info regarding our Design Challenge in your mailbox. The challenge is open to students from age 4 to 14, so we are leaving the details of the project up to individual teachers to plan. Idea Paint CLEARreally is an incredible product so I suggest you start “guiding” students to design what would work for you and your classroom.

Field Trips: Our school district is still negotiating with the Department of Health to see how we can best support students with special medical needs to attend field trips, and before a meaningful set of guidelines is provided to schools, make sure to discuss any students with special needs with your supervisors before submitting an application. Additionally, the students you wish to bring on field trips must be on pace regarding curriculum  in order for the trip request to be approved.

Announcements: If you would like our student council to make any announcements for you or your class, please complete this form and submit to your AP. It could be a winning student poem, details regarding after school programs, or a challenge to the principal to a proxy rap battle (you write the lyrics, students do the rapping).

New 102 Staff: If you haven’t noticed, Friday is our school gear day. You can purchase a hoodie or t-shirt from our UFT reps if interested.

102 Review, ISSUE 42: Round 2

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

“If the weather never changed, would leaves still change color and fall off of trees?”

– Ms. Patoli, THINKING GENERATOR for Kindergarten STEAM

It’s been an impressive first month for teacher growth. Many of the Thinking Generators we saw during our 2nd TG walkthrough were so strong that it was nearly impossible to suggest revisions or to give critical feedback. Whether the teacher used it as a way to build new understanding by linking it with prior knowledge (“How is retelling before you read like a runner getting ready for a race?” -Ms. Budarf), teach strategy (“How can you use the grids of a graph paper to find factors of the number 40?” -Ms. Lellis), or clarify conceptual understanding (“Lauren wrote 80.356 x 10^3 to represent 80,356 in scientific notation. Her teacher told her it wasn’t scientific notation? Why?” -Zecca), strong TGs are easy to recognize because they are always authentic to individual lessons and students.

Learning objectives can always be copied from a textbook. Effective TGs, however, can only come from intentional teacher thinking and that’s why they’re effective in generating student thinking. Can’t wait to see what our teachers have our students thinking about in our next walkthrough.

HIGHLIGHTS:

From Mr. Borelli: Ms. Anna Arsenault’s 4th graders were transported to a parallel universe where they could only work within a Base-5 system to demonstrate number sense.  Students were working both independently or with partners, their choice, to figure out how 15 ones is really 30, 4 ones is 4, but 6 ones is 11 in this alternate world.  When I walked in, students were eager to share with me their thinking, but they wouldn’t tell me the answer or a simple formula. It wasn’t about learning a quick “trick” to bring about a correct answer.  They let me see their thinking as they grouped and regrouped their math cubes.  Students across the room were having “Aha” moments as they used simple numbers and regrouping in a new way.

From Ms. Mintiens: As our youngest students get more immersed in the 102 community, it is clear the thoughtful TLC that each teacher has given them. I see reluctant Kindergarten students running to their classes, reaching for a hug or a hand from their teacher.  Ms. Foley and Ms. Khatibi were teaching parallel math groups in order to ensure multiple entry points were offered. Ms. Cohen and Ms. Gelermino have a student dance into helping with word study. Finally Ms. Monteleone and Ms Wyckoff pull a nervous student aside and let him know everyone forgets their homework. All of these small gestures help our students gain confidence and in turn make them better students, ready to succeed. Keep up the good work!

From Ms. Mulé: Monday night’s Presidential Debate was the most widely watched debate in history.  On Tuesday (and Wednesday and Thursday) students in Mrs. Gaffan’s 8th grade Social Studies class had intense class discussions on the merits or lack of merits of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.  One student pointed out Trump’s lack of knowledge on America’s policy and noted that he “just got angry and started making noises” when he didn’t know the answer to a question.  Another student noted Trump’s “hostile” nature to Clinton’s very “passive aggressive” personality.  The climate of the political world will have long lasting effects on the students and to see them so engaged in the discussion was a great way to see them measure the impact of this election on their future.

Things You Need to Know

Google Drive content in our school folders SHOULD NOT be shared with non-102 users without explicit permission from your supervisor. We are reviewing unauthorized edits to our materials by individuals not on our school staff and it’s disappointing that we have to edit ownership and file sharing rights of all our files.

Hallways must be monitored when your students transition to and from class/auditorium/cafeteria. Horseplay and excessive noise increase risks for student injuries, and members of our School Climate Team will meet with individual classes to adjust behavior.

Observations begin when we return. Informal observations are 15 minutes, and formal observations are 45 minutes with both pre and post conferences.

No school Monday and Tuesday. Enjoy!

102 Review, Issue 41: A Word on PDs

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

Like that one time in Utah when a kind gallery attendant pointed at me and asked my wife whether I needed an interpreter, teacher PDs, no matter how well-intentioned, can often come across as just a little bit condescending. You are all incredible educators because you have the rare combination of kindness, patience, intelligence, industry, and humility; and probably not because you sat through PDs teaching you how to put things students already know under the “K” column in a KWL chart.

During Thinking Generator feedback meetings, a few of you asked when the next training on TGs would be. The answer? Whenever you want. Reach out to your colleagues, APs, coaches, or myself, as you are planning and we’ll do our best to support. Our work isn’t about learning how to flip the same burger on the same stove at the same temperature on the same grill; few workplace require dynamic skill sets like a classroom does, and effective instruction isn’t learned via PDs but refined through shared experiences and guidance. We want you to be supported as you do your job, not when you’ve already finished your job of battling 30 children on a Monday afternoon.

Email me your lesson objective and I will respond with ideas on TGs within hours. If I’m of no help I can always send you to Ms. Green in room 409: her masterful TGs (“When you’re doing a close reading of a text, how do you know when you’re “close” enough?”) are literally thinking offers you can’t refuse.

HIGHLIGHTS

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

9/26 Monday afternoon: K-5 teachers will meet briefly with Personalized Learning Leader Ms. Mintiens to learn about how teachers can flag struggling students for academic intervention services. It is important that our school provide and monitor timely interventions before students are referred or recommended for special services.

Parent Coordinator: We will begin searching for a parent coordinator next week. Ms. Roridguez did a fantastic job this last year and we wish her the best. In the meantime, please seek out members of our climate and guidance team to support you with connecting with families.

Plan Ahead for Good Times: We had a long week, and we will be rewarded with an extra-long weekend next week for Rosh Hashanah. No school 10/3-4.

EXTRA READING:

Read the above mentioned article for More Insight on Teacher Professional Learning: 

“No professionals say, ‘I became great at my work by attending workshops.’ Why do we treat teaching differently?” by Kenneth Baum and David Krulwich

102 Review, ISSUE 40: TG Walkthrough, MTS Night

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

“If we change the order of directions will people still get to their destination?”

-Ms. Rodriguez, THINKING GENERATOR

The deeper we get into the work of Thinking Generators, the clearer it is to see its impact on sound instruction. The three core areas in which teacher practice evaluation hinges upon–3B Questioning/Discussion, 3C Student (Intellectual) Engagement, and 3D. Assessment–are all intricately linked to the teacher’s ability to generate thinking. A highly effective Thinking Generator:

Sparks thinking (challenge students cognitively, advance high-level thinking and discourse, and promote metacognition. -Danielson Framework descriptor for highly effective practice in 3B: questioning)

Supports Intellectual Engagement (ensure all students are intellectually engaged in challenging content through well- designed learning tasks and activities that require complex thinking by students…provides suitable scaffolding and challenges students to explain their thinking. -Danielson Framework descriptor for highly effective practice in 3C: Engagement)

Allows teacher to assess student thinking (Questions and assessments are used regularly to diagnose evidence of learning by individual students. -Danielson Framework descriptor for highly effective practice in 3D: Assessment)

Ms. Rodriguez’s excellent TG above is a great example of how this works: After reading just one question (TG), one can easily visualize students engaging in lively discussions and internal reflections as they think about the order of directions, and recognize how Ms. Rodriguez can readily assess and address individual student misconceptions as she listens in on their discussions.

Our coaches and APs will be meeting with each teacher individually to share feedback on their TGs captured during our first TG walkthrough. We saw a great deal of effective TGs, and many others needing only a few tweaks here and there. Not too shabby for our first of many walkthroughs.

And this action/reflection cycle is the only way we can get better at this work; I can’t offer you a book on creating Powerful Thinking Generators because it is still currently being written…and you’re the author.

HIGHLIGHTS

I have no idea why our networks suddenly became misconfigured over summer and how it can impact all of our printers, but I do know how it will all be resolved: Mr. Horodyski. It takes a man of great courage to tackle the myriad tech issues all over the building, and Mr. Horodyski is taking this work head-on while developing and teaching a Computer Science program on the fly. Thanks!

From Ms. Mintiens: As we entered our second week of school we ramped up the learning, including teacher learning.  Tracy Jenal and the K- 2 teachers have been working round the clock to get Readers’ and Writers’ workshop up and running.  Teachers have been working hard to establish routines and structures so that learning is the sole focus.  Ms. Cohen has her “Peanut Butter and Jelly” turn and talk partners.  Teachers are going the extra mile to make their students feel secure, successful, and special (i.e. Reading Rockstar, Mystery Person, Superhero, etc.).  Let’s keep the positive energy and enthusiasm up!

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Monday is our first Professional Learning session, and the workday ends at 4PM for most staff. We will go over expectations and appropriate practices for TechFlex/AIS and APs will be holding Initial Planning Conferences for teacher observations as well.

Collect all unwanted books in your classroom and discuss with your AP on whether it is appropriate to discard them. DO NOT move any books into the hallway. Once approved, we can bag them inside the classroom for our school custodians to pick up and toss.

Meet the Staff Night is this Thursday. Most staff will stay until 7PM and this is a great opportunity to start building the relationships you know you will be relying on the rest of the year.

Printer Issues: Mr. Horodyski is working on creating a How-To for you to reconfigure network settings. Shoot him at email and cc APs should you not feel confident in doing so and he will assist when he’s free.

Bulletin Boards: Parents should not be seeing empty bulletin boards when they visit on the 22nd. We understand we’re only several school days in, and we are not expecting the entire writing process on display. Let your AP know should you have questions or concerns with readying bulletin boards.

102 Review, ISSUE 39: Opening Week Info, Staff Handbook

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

With more than 1,350 students, 150 staff, unrelenting waves of parents wanting to register, and one heroic pupil accounting secretary, 102 took care of business and we’re off to a tremendous start. Now if only the DOE A/C repair crew can do the same next Monday…

Highlights:

Ms. Connolly, Ms. Duke, and Ms. Khatibi accepted temporary last minute changes to their programs and went off to prepare to do a great job without a hint of discontent. Everyone says they’re team players, but  few can make the sacrifices teammates make. A genuine thank you to the three of you for showing us what it means to be at 102.

Things You Need to Know:

Observation Options: APs will begin meeting with individual teachers to determine options in teacher evaluations this year. The city is still negotiating how to use student data to calculate teacher effectiveness (MOSL), but we can move forward with the teacher classroom observation (MOTP) as we did years before (1 formal + 3 informal, 4 informal, etc.)

Meet the Staff Night: The first of our Parent Conference event will take place on 9/22 from 4pm to 7pm. Mark it on your schedule and more info to follow.

New Staff Handbook: Please review the staff handbook that was delivered to your mailbox. Please return the signed acknowledgement on the last page by 9/23 to your APs mailbox.

Old Books: Please discuss with your AP and/or coach to determine whether books in your room can be removed. We will donate these items to families on Meet the Staff Night to make way for materials we currently use.

Attendance: Please let Ms. Bourquin know if you have information on whether a student on your roster has moved over the summer. I cannot overflow students to neighboring schools until we take off all no-shows from class rosters. Expect appropriate class sizes towards the end of next week.

TechFlex/AIS: Once class rosters normalize you will be able to begin implementing the TechFlex/ AIS period in grades 3-8 as designed. We will have a meeting on 9/19 to discuss and set up accounts on Khan Academy, Achieve3000, and Lexia.

TC Accounts: I have emailed all teachers who’ve requested access for TC materials. Please check your junk email folder and let me know if you did not receive it.

Thinking Generators: Thinking Generators and Learning Objectives should be posted starting next week. Our first TG walkthrough will take place Thursday.

Happy long weekend!