Tag: purpose driver

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 37: STATE TEST RESULTS

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

Welcome to the first issue of 102 Review for the 2016-2017 school year!

Your job this month is to relax and spend time with loved ones so I’ll keep this brief.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

The 2016 state test results went public yesterday, and I’m proud to share with you some of our results. No matter how you look at it, our scores increased in both Math and ELA, and the results are reflective of the hard work of you and our families. The table above illustrates the growth our students gained when compared to themselves a year earlier. (e.g. grade 6 students in 2016 this year are compared to grade 5 students in 2015)

We saw double-digits growth in 6 out of 12 categories, with 8th grade ELA leading the pack at a whopping 17.3% gain.

Thank you everyone for your hard work; now go do the exact opposite before we meet again in a few weeks.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Summer planning is available for 3 days this month: August 4th, 9th, and 11th. You must confirm with Ms. Mulé before you come in.

The school will be open to teachers to come in and set up on August 30th and 31st. Some staff members will be relocating to new spaces to accommodate our vision for next year and beyond, and you will be receiving an email from your AP by the end of this week.

All staff are to officially report on September 6th. Please also review the NYCDOE 2016-2017 Calendar.

102 Review, ISSUE 36: Stepping Up

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

End of year is for celebrations (and vacation planning, for the lucky ones), and this week we had one just about everyday. Ms. Smith gave out amazing and creative-sounding awards for her pre-k students during their stepping up, and the kindergarten team coordinated two amazing graduations with Ms. McClain and Ms. Landaas leading the way. And then there’s the staff domination of the students in the basketball game, followed by an 8th grade graduation that was just about perfect.

One upping perhaps only herself at this point, Ms. Zecca provided the highlight of the graduation with a slideshow that hits just about every emotional note. We saw our graduates grow into the mini-adults they are now through a series of photos taken in the last decade, going all the way back to when they were kindergarteners. And it was something else to see a decade old photo showing them at their stepping up in 2007,  dressed in the very same colorful t-shirts I saw their 2016 counterparts wore a day earlier at Thursday’s stepping up.

This week leaves little doubt that 102 achieves, and a key to our success has always been consistency; we find out what works and we don’t deviate from it. However, as everything around us change at an unprecedented pace, it is important that we are vigilant in self-reflection so that our many traditions can continue to serve as a foundation for excellence rather than a hindrance. We can’t afford to walk the same path as the likes of AOL, Blockbuster, and Sear’s; our students deserve better.  Institutions with long-term success often struggle with distinguishing What is and what has been with what ought to be, and it’s something we need to tackle not just next year but every year thereafter. This work isn’t for everyone, but it’s work that’s intrinsic to a school that truly prioritizes student needs above adult wants.

Be ready come September: it’s 102’s turn to step up.

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Weekly Highlights:

In record turnaround time, Mr. Gebhardt has already served up incredible photos for the Stepping Ups, student/staff basketball game, and the 8th grade graduation. Go here to see them all.

Things You Need to Know:

Monday PD: We will meeting in grade teams Monday afternoon to discuss end-of-year procedures before we break up to learn more about Thinking Generators.

CEC Meeting: If you can, please attend the CEC meeting at 7PM to support Ms. Meenan as she is recognized for her work. It’s going to be amazing.

Review, ISSUE 34: The Ms. Meenan Edition

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

There couldn’t have been a better reason for the Chancellor to visit 102 Friday. Notifying us only a day prior and subsequently double and triple checking to make sure her visit–and the news she’s bringing–would be a surprise, it’s good to know that amidst all the political ruckus she still cares enough about people to put in all this leg work.

The Big Apple Award isn’t just a certificate declaring its recipient as one of the cities top 17 teachers. Big Apple Award winners–selected through a long, rigorous process that involves families, principals, superintendents, the chancellor, and seemingly everyone in between–will also be able to serve as advisers to the chancellor on policies and new initiatives. Lacking any of the cynicism and bicker that finds their way into far too many people who work with children in schools, I’m confident that Ms. Meenan will elevate any discourse as the voice of compassion and quiet fortitude. We’re all so proud of you, Ms. Meenan, and we’re honored to have you as our voice and colleague.

Things You Need to Know:

June 9th is the Chancellor’s Conference Day, and teachers will follow the regular Thursday start and end time. Before lunch we will all learn about how we can better drive student thinking, and how next year’s observations protocols as well as lesson expectations align with this push. Curriculum team members will be sharing their work with you, and I’m sure they’d welcome any feedback or comments. Department/grade teams will be able to gather/move/organize materials after lunch. Western Queens will be providing our entire staff with lunch at 12PM so please be sure to thank them.

Throughout the day APs and I will be meeting with individual teachers for End-of-Year conferences. We will discuss setting your professional learning goals for next year and we ask you to please share with us any feedback or concerns. Feedback is always bilateral!

June 14th is the Clerical Day, and teachers will meet in grade teams to organize class rosters for next year. More information to follow in a staff memo and you will have your teaching assignment by this day.

The latest edition of Staff Spotlight features our new assistant principal Ms. Mintiens. I think the middle school teachers crafted some of the questions–thank you!

Lastly, thank you to everyone for emailing me and the admin team regarding absences. It’s been very helpful and please continue to cc all APs and myself when you can’t come in. Additionally, morning line up has been much more effective, and I appreciate your efforts in holding students accountable.

One more thing: This is my first opportunity to work on the many end of year items as a school principal, and it’s been quite a challenge to learn as you go. I’ll get there this time next year but for now it’s taking up far too much of my time during the day. Please reach out to Teresa should you want to speak with me–I’d love to chat and I want to do so when I am able to fully attend to you.

102 Review, ISSUE 31: Summer Opportunities

Posted on by mrkobot in Principal's Blog

“The only way to achieve our full potential is to channel the talents, ideas and contributions of every person in the world.”

–Mark Zuckerberg

There’s nothing groundbreaking about people working together. We each have our strengths and weaknesses and the need for us to rely on one another is obvious. When team members share a common vision and trust one another, magic happens. Case in point: 102.

Exhibit A: In just two months, many of our at-risk K and 1 students in the lowest third for literacy saw incredible gains working with Ms. Rosenberger (see photo below) and will most likely move to the next grade reading at grade level. The significance of their growth cannot be overstated–it’s potentially life-changing for these kids to not fall behind early and this is a team win that we should all celebrate. Although it’s Ms. Rosenberger who carried the baton to the finish line, none of this would’ve been possible if others didn’t also win their respective legs. From the classroom teachers who patiently chisel day in and day out to sculpt readers out of any students sitting in front of them, to Ms. Jenal who took on the added responsibility in analyzing data to identify target groups on top of supporting an unprecedented number of new teachers, we all have to do our jobs before students can succeed at theirs. (See image above)

Exhibit B. Washington D.C. Trip: Was it just last weekend that 1/9 of our school went to Washington D.C.? That I never doubted things would go exactly as planned for a project with this many moving parts speaks to the trust I have in the entire middle school team. It’s fitting that Ms. Mulé is the middle school supervisor: they’re all flow charts up there.

Exhibit C. Earth Day: Thank you Mr. Weiss, Ms. O’Donnell, and everyone else who contributed to make this year’s Earth Day possible even when nature itself wouldn’t cooperate. It’s not easy to reschedule so many times due to rain but I’m glad we did it.

Exhibit D. Field Day Extravaganza for 3rd and 4th grade: Thank you Mr. Mac, Ms. Devito, and Mr. Bianculli for doing such an amazing job bringing field day to our 3rd and 4th grade. And to all the teachers who covered classes last Monday without even a hint of complaint, thank you.

Exhibit E. Art Expo: The talent on display at the Art Expo can only be overshadowed by the confidence also on display. Our students are fearless by the time they graduate and our art department has a great deal to do with it. You can’t achieve unless you first believe you can, and it’s delightful to see how our art and music teachers tease out confidence from our students each day.

Exhibit F. This all happened in a week.

Things You Need to Know

Buy Your Tickets to Lion King: You won’t regret it.

Non-Promotion List: Please electronically complete the final non-promotion list and submit to me by Tuesday. APs will conference with you next week to consider all factors in determining the best decision for the child.

Title III ENL Summer Program: In addition to hosting summer school for students who did not promote in June, 102 has been awarded a new summer program where our ENL students can receive additional support. We should be passing out flyers next week to ENL students and you should strongly encourage parents to have their children enroll. Students will be engaging in learning in ELA, STEM, and even stop-motion animation learning.

Apply for Summer School: Traditional summer school offers retention rights for teachers, and it may be difficult for you to secure a position for the first time. With the new ENL program, we will be able to hire more teachers who will teach summer for the first time and to help them receive retention rights. For more information shoot me an email and I can go over the dates and programs with you. STEM teachers in grade 3-5 especially should consider teaching summer as you can try out the STEM curriculum we will be using next year, Engineering is Elementary.

Algebra For All Middle School Training: Middle school math teachers should consider joining a special program to engage in summer training (1 week) as well as additional support throughout next year. Let me know by this Friday if you are interested and you can find more info here.

5/16 Professional Learning: 3-5 STEM teachers should head over to room 405 for professional learning to learn more about next year’s STEM curriculum. F&P will be a key component for our literacy program next year and all K-5 ENL/ Classroom/Humanities teachers should meet in room 305 for a refresher. Volunteers for the carnival will meet in the art room to discuss and plan for Saturday.

Adjust Morning Line-Up Behavior: Students should not be having difficulties lining up straight and remaining quiet during morning line up. With Ms. Mintiens on board, we will be diverting more resources on culture and discipline and we need everyone to tighten up on following school rules. Teachers: please refrain from engaging students in conversation during line up as it severely undermines our school expectation.

P.S. I should be receiving my observation this week from the superintendent, so don’t be alarmed if you see Ms. Chan and me at your door.