Tag: purpose driver

HIGHLIGHTS: You, You, and You.

It was never fair: some of us grow up with so much and some with so little. Sure, it matters which neighborhoods we grew up in and it matters how much money we had for summer vacation, but the real metric separating the haves and the have-nots isn’t monetary; it’s parenting. Our beliefs and our lives were shaped by the standards set by our parents’ words and actions, and often its our memories of them and their love that continue to inspire us to keep pushing when things gets tough. Everything good in me I got from my mother, and I shudder at the thought of what I would’ve become if I, like many of the children we teach, never had a saint at home.

It’s absolutely not fair that many teachers today have to also be parents for their students, but it’s even more unfair for some children to have to grow up without one. 

Thank you all for doing whatever necessary for children who deserve nothing less. You are all incredible people and I’m certain that the work you do as teachers and as parents to your own children will inspire everyone around you to do better and to do more.

Happy Mother’s Day! It makes perfect sense that we celebrate mothers on the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week. Love is the most important lesson we can ever learn and no one can teach that better than a mother. 

Things You Need to Know:

Parent Night is this Thursday evening and Mr. Borelli will be sending out a memo Monday with more information. I will be creating a brief slide-show presentations for teachers to use to introduce our new programs next year, and please check in with the APs should you anticipate questions from parents you do not have clear answers to.

Promotion decisions will have to be made soon and I will send out a memo later this week to give clearer guidelines on promotion requirements for each grade. Non-promotion should never be a surprise for parents: please speak with your AP if this is a concern.

5/21 Carnival is coming together and our teachers are creating awesome games for students to enjoy. Please remember to log daily whether each of your students have earned a carnival game ticket. Submit your completed log to the main office by 5/19 and we will give you the carnival game tickets to distribute the following day.

Career Day is on schedule for this Friday. Thank you guidance for leading this work and it’s going to be a fun way to close a busy week.

Dogs: The two starving pups we picked up some time ago have now been adopted together. Thank you to everyone who contributed, whether it’s just asking around or doing a bake sale. The lives of these dogs went from 0 to 100 real quick–love wins again.

“I still remember him wearing his glasses around his neck with a chain…he didn’t speak any English AT ALL.”

-A fellow classmate describing Hao Dong Deng’s first year at 102

When he graduates from 102 to attend Stuyvesant High School next fall, Hao will leave a familiar low-income, immigrant community to study alongside some of the most privileged children in the world, and able to access the same exclusive opportunities. (1 in 20 Harvard freshman comes from Stuyvesant and six other elite high schools.)  In Hao’s case, education did its job as the great equalizer: it evened out the odds for someone from one of the most marginalized groups in our country.

No, 102 cannot change the world, no matter how much I pretend we can. But make no mistake that the many 102  teachers who refused to dumb down curriculum for ESL students, who never thought less of students who are poor or are recent immigrants, who pushed themselves to push Hao everyday to achieve, they absolutely succeeded in changing Hao’s world.

And that’s something incredible. On behalf of Hao and undoubtedly many more like him over the years, thank you, teachers!

Weekly Highlights:

From Ms. Mulé: As we approach the New York State exams, teachers have stepped away from traditional test prep and are embedding test taking skills in their lessons.  Ms. Green had her 8-409 students choosing the best multiple choice answer by analyzing the passage and the meaning of wrong choices.  Ms. Arlequin and Ms. Fischetti were working on short responses by teaching their 6-401 students what made a good claim when answering a question.

From Mr. Borelli: This week, Mrs. Pera and her 1st grade class infused their math lesson with literacy instruction.  When we think back to Focus, literacy is the foundation to all learning.  Mrs. Pera’s 1st grade class was tackling the oft-confusing concept of “greater than, less than, and equal to.”  During this lesson, many Shared Reading practices were used, specifically reading a poem about a hungry alligator that preferred bigger numbers that tasted great as opposed to the lesser ones that left his “tummy sore.” With the help of Mr. Gator, students compared numbers and reasoned why the tens place is a better starting point than the ones place.  These 6- and 7-year-old students, for this lesson, put concept building above rote practice and that made for an engaged classroom.

Things You Need to Know:

1. You should continue your work in self-guided professional learning tomorrow afternoon. Please report to the auditorium at 3:40PMfor a brief information session regarding the ELA exam on April 5th-7th.
2. ELA scorers will report to the scoring site on the 18th, and the 20th-22nd. Only the 4/19 date is cancelled.
3. We will hold our first ever carnival on Saturday, May 21st, 2016.It will be open to all families in PreK through 4th grade. All staff and their families welcomed! This is a great opportunity for us to continue building trust and rapport with our families in a neutral context, and I’ll look into whether I’m able to pay staff per-session.

January 29th, 2016

“Every feedback is a gift.”

I am so excited to announce my appointment as 102’s principal. Like many of you, 102 is my home and I am as committed as ever to its long-term success.  I’m not interested in quick-fixes and short-sighted decisions: we will continue investing in people and not just programs, and we will work to foster a culture of trust instead of one driven by compliance. Trust—a necessary ingredient in school excellence—takes time and effort, and we’ll not look for shortcuts to greatness because there are none.

As we work alongside one another, I ask all of us to take advantage of the opportunity to provide one another with feedback that can rapidly improve the outcomes of our work. When given with good intent and graciously received, the give-and-take of the feedback cycle builds trust and allows for greater collaboration. And feedback must travel in all direction, not just from the top down or side-to-side; your supervisors need your feedback too. If you disagree with me or think I could’ve done something better, talk to me. How else would I be able to learn and get better?

Weekly Highlights: It couldn’t be more tempting for all of us to not come in to work Monday. But we’re better than that. Many of you braved terrible road conditions to come in and support one another, and incredibly we were able to deliver regular instruction hours after a historic snowstorm before the streets have been proud. The selflessness on display Monday is not something I’ll forget.

 

Things You Need to Know:

Book study is on Monday. Please meet with your group in the same location and we’ll make up last week’s session. You do not have to each complete a form. One person should be taking notes and everyone else should focus on sharing and listening to one another. I apologize if we were unclear in communicating this expectation.

Our First Paint Night is On. Thank you so much Ms. O’Donnell and Ms. Holden for hosting 102’s first ever paint night  We’re expecting a full house Wednesday and it’s going to be a blast. Special thanks to Yanil for coordinating the event and getting fancy with the online registration.

Science Fair has been rescheduled for 2/2-2/4. Thank you science team for your cooperation and we’re looking forward to seeing some great work.

Respect for All Week. A memo has been sent out with guidance on how you and your students can participate in RFA activities the week of 9th. It is much more efficient to proactively prevent behavioral issues than to deal with their aftermath, and RFA week is a great step in the right direction.

Staff Spotlight: Ms, Vega. Thank you Ms. Gaffan for quarterbacking another installment of staff spotlight. Thank you Ms. Vega for sharing.

December 18th, 2015

“This is a happy school.”

–a district 24 principal

 Of the many glows and grows we received today from some of the best principals in New York City, perhaps none struck me as much as the one above. Yes, assessment matters, instruction matters, and rigor matters. We know that and we’ll discuss them soon. But teaching is far more than just a series of skills that can be learned and mastered simply through repetition. Teaching is like trying to solve a rubik’s cube with infinite squares that change color as you go—it’s as complex a task as can be. Good teachers are great because they are able to find the motivation to fall short and try again and again, day after day. And it’s almost impossible to try when unhappy.

The joy in our work shone through in our collective response today to a significant challenge. We brought it and we should all head into the holidays with our heads held high. It was a good day—more info to follow.

Weekly Highlights: Our 8th graders enjoyed a night to remember at the winter ball. My only request to Ms. Eliades and Ms. Zecca was to make it bigger and better than last year. Done and done. Also thank you to all the teachers who chipped in to help set up and chaperone. Mr. McManus: extra thanks to you for being the ultimate team player in assisting any way you can. It’s no accident our basketball players develop such great character year after year.

Even though she kept saying she was nervous, Ms. Henriquez showed our visitors some of the best qualities of 102. Her students were deeply engaged and took great pride in their efforts during a math lesson. By unpacking the thinking necessary in solving a word problem as a series of steps, Ms. Henriquez prepared her students for success during work time. Their confidence is a testament to your continual thoughtfulness, and you have much to be proud of.

Ms. Green and Mr. Gebhardt made magic in their collaboration on the posters you see hanging in our hallway. Game for any task and ready to meet deadlines at a moment’s notice, the duo elevated what achieving at 102 can and should be in one fell swoop. Incredible job.

This is the last issue of 102 Review in 2015. I wish you all a great week next week and a wonderful holiday. See you in 2016!

December 4th, 2015

“For some people, the term strategic planning brings to mind a disciplined and thoughtful process that links the values, mission, and goals of a school system with a set of coherent strategies and tasks designed to achieve those goals. For others, the term induces a cringe brought about by memories of endless meetings, fact-free debates, three-ring binders, and dozens of objectives, tasks, strategies, plans, and goals—all left undone after the plan was completed. As one frustrated administrator said to me, “When do we get to stop planning and start doing?”

-Douglas Reeves, In Leading to Change/ Making Strategic Planning Work

It took a great deal of collaboration and effort, but our 102’s inaugural celebration of the International Day for People with Disabilities on December 3rd was a massive success by any measure. Initially pitched as a information booth during parent teacher conference, the event morphed over the months into a full day extravaganza completed with levitating students, balloons that turn into doves that turn into bunnies, a school community united in wearing blue, a dance performance, free iPads, fresh popcorn, and even a movie-worthy-against-all-odds-come-from-behind-overtime win by our first ever girls basketball team. It was a truly magical day for the students in Ms. Meenan’s ASD class, and I am fiercely proud of our school community in coming together for a great cause.

However, when compared with the challenge of planning and implementing instruction to support high-need students, sawing a principal in half no longer seems so impossible. Impactful inquiry work involves attending to endless variables and thinking about the unknown, and as a result can be a frustrating process for the very same reasons that give it potential to be transformative. Your feedback from November 23rd tells us as much. You tell us that you are supportive, sees potential, but that you need more structure and guidance. Out Professional Learning Committee is already making the necessary adjustments to better support this work, and we will briefly meet next Monday, December 7th to clarify expectations. All teachers please report to the auditorium after dismissal and you will be released to engage in inquiry work with your respective teams.

Weekly Highlights: 

Ms. DeVito lead her students in the 2nd grade ASD class to perform a dance number in front of a packed house, and they captured the hearts of everyone in just a few hip shakes. The dance—no longer than maybe 3 minutes—must’ve involved months of practice, patience, and most importantly, compassion from their teachers. Thank you Ms. DeVito for exemplifying the qualities all our students should aspire to develop.

Things You Need to Know:

 Discipline: Please inform your direct supervisor immediately–cc’ me if via email—to report student misbehavior outside of the classroom. We need all staff to be alert in protecting the orderly climate here at 102 and our assistant principals would appreciate your help in identifying target students and their behavior.

We are also working on a referral form for misbehaviors that take place in the classroom, and we hope it will clarify to the community how teachers and administrators are to respond to different types of incidents. This work is grounded in the recently revised discipline code, and you should review it if you haven’t already done so.

After School Program: We will be offering after school programs for ELA and math and you should email me ASAP if you are interested in teaching. All teachers are welcome to apply.

Smartboards: I will be reaching out to the teachers who have expressed interest in piloting new technology. Some existing Smartboards will be removed from these classrooms and can be repurposed for another classroom. If your Smartboard has any issues please let me know immediately.