February 12th, 2016
“Don’t try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed.”
-Marva Collins, Educator
No matter the school—rich, poor, rural, urban, in Upper West Side, East New York or Elmhurst, there will be those who lament about everything that’s wrong with their students. “They don’t give enough effort…they don’t even read the rubric…they can’t even read the rubric…their parents don’t care about school…they don’t even have the foundational skills…” The list goes on and on. And they’re probably right.
None of us would have jobs if students came to us with everything they need to be successful. Teaching is so fulfilling because it requires us to do so much with so little, with the world’s most precious commodity—children—at stakes. Our every action and decision carry incredible impact for our students; our work matters. It matters when we decide to plan awesome lessons instead of just getting through a chapter in a workbook; it matters when we actively seek out and do what students need instead of just doing what we’re told; it matters when we make sure to come in and to come in on time; and it matters whether we commit to doing the contractual minimum or to doing whatever it takes. 102 and the people who work here choose to do the the latter.
Planning for Student Thinking: A Math Example
Effective lessons begin with the end in mind. Always ask “What should the students to think about?” and then plan activities to make sure nothing but this could be the end result. The rigor of a lesson is largely dependent on the quality of its “thinking goal”. Consider the following example in a math classroom:
To prepare his students for the state exam, Mr. Wallace wants to help his students draw connections between decimal rules and word problems. A common practice he picked up from a PD, he asks students to each create a word problem using decimal numbers as an exit ticket. At the end of the lesson, students submitted slips of paper with questions such as “Each unicorn is $45.32. How much is 195 unicorns?”
Next door, Mr. Shakur sets the goal to have students think critically about the process of solving word problems with decimals and to reflect deeply on some of the ways they could make mistakes. He asks students to each come up with 3 word problems at varying difficulty levels: easy, moderate, and expert. Students then pair up to discuss and rank their combined 6 questions from easiest to most challenging before sharing their most challenging question to the whole class. As Mr. Shakur circulated the classroom, he hears students talking about how “dividing decimals with decimals is more confusing because you need to remember to move the dot at the end…” and “not lining up the decimals is such as simple mistake. It’s too easy…” He takes notes on items he wants to clarify later during whole group share out.
It’s possible that both Mr. Wallace and Mr. Shakur’s lessons have the same learning objective aligned to the same CCLS standard. But students from one of their classes will be far more prepared in April then their counterpart. Thinking goals matter!
Weekly Highlight:
Ms. Joyce and Ms. Kim are working smart and hard and they have the results to show for it. Using a range of assessments such as F&P, spelling quizzes and writing samples to track and respond to individual student progress, they are purposeful in both planning and delivering high-impact instruction for some of our neediest ENL students. As a result, struggling students are rapidly closing the gap and (hopefully) not developing the poor academic self-image that often plagues immigrant students. Great job rising to the occasion!
Ms. Yeznach and Ms. Khatibi teamed up to have their students make and sell crafts to fundraise for a local animal rescue that does incredible work. Our teachers’ efforts raised hundreds of dollars for animals in desperate need and gave students special meaning this Valentine’s Day. Amazing job! (Even though the nose on my elephant magnet fell off and a piece of hair is found stuck in the double-side tape holding it…)
Speaking from experience and from observation, I am convinced APs have one of the most exhausting and under-appreciated jobs in education. Facing pressure from everyone—students, teachers, parents, the principal, and Jeanene Fremgen—to solve all problems expertly and immediately, APs expend incredible and often invisible effort to do whatever it is the school needs. The transition between principals can be jarring for any school, and 102’s relatively smooth operation these past few months is testament to the extraordinary efforts of Ms. Atkins, Mr. Borelli, and Ms. Mulé. A special shout-out to Mr. Borelli who leads by example day in and day out. Often the first to arrive and the last to leave, we all have a story about his contributions to 102. Your efforts are much appreciated and we’re all very fortunate to have you.
A special V-Day shout out to Mrs. Ko! Nothing less than a saint could do what she does—and you know I’m not exaggerating. I promised life would be less hectic once I become a principal. I might not have been completely honest…
Things You Need to Know:
Marking Period 2 Ends 2/23/16: School will resume February 22nd, and marking period 2 will end on the 22nd. As noted in this memo sent out to all staff from Ms. Mulé, grades must be entered into STARS Classroom by 2/29 to ensure students receiving report cards by 3/2. Please note that Parent Teacher Conference is on 3/3/16.
Schedule Meetings with Me w/ Theresa: If you have a question, idea, or concern you’d like to share with me, please reach out to Theresa in the main office to confirm a specific time in my calendar for a meeting. She has control of my entire workday and it’ll only take a minute or so. My door will always be open and you are welcome to drop by anytime, but it’s a priority for me to speak with you and I’d hate for you to take time coming down and find out that I’m away or busy.
Check Homework Daily: I have been receiving messages from concerned parents regarding teachers not checking homework and I will be looking into the matter soon. I get it, the struggle is real: it is a challenge to go through all assignments for all students every night but I’m certain there’s a way to efficiently check homework to help students learn. A strategy I use is to select several “anchor questions” for each assignment that I will check and re-teach as necessary. Students are not informed beforehand which questions are anchor questions, and I select questions based on what student learning I want to measure each day. If you have ideas relating to checking homework efficiently and wouldn’t mind sharing, drop me a line.
Address Student Behavior in the Hallways: It has come to my attention that students—especially those in the 5th grade—are exceedingly noisy and disruptive going to and from lunch. This is unacceptable. If you are not managing their behavior in the hallway, do so. If you are unable to manage their behavior in the hallway, let me know and I’ll be glad to support you. Ignoring the problem is not option. Not only is misbehavior in the hallway detrimental to our overall school culture, it also show a lack of respect for those who are trying to learn in the classroom.
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