Tag: Vision Architect

It’s dangerous for a school to not have a clear vision and a coherent plan to attain it. When PDs do not align to teacher needs or when expectations for teacher practice conflict with mandated curriculum, teachers become frustrated and student learning slows.

102 will not have this problem. Our focus on student thinking is clear, and gives clarity as all of our decisions and expectations revolve around pushing thinking. On Thursday I shared with you some of our new curriculum, new expectations for teacher practice (Danielson Cheat Sheet), and new expectations for lesson planning (Thinking Generator). United by a common focus, each will support the others as teachers plan to teach for thinking, not just doing.

This is the work for next year, and it is already off to a great start. We received tons of great questions from teachers in every grade and every department, and a FAQ will be sent out in a few days to all staff. Teacher teams jumped into nuanced discussions around Thinking Generators, bringing a level of complexities to an instructional discourse that I’ve never seen at any PD. Special shout-outs to the middle school math and 3-5 STEM teams: seeing clear potential in TGs, both groups went right to work and even created TGs for the following day.

We’re thinking, and so will our students.

Things You Need to Know

June 14th is a regular school day for teachers regarding start and end time.

Optional PD will be provided in the gym for teachers who will be participating in the Staff/Student game. Bring your gear Monday and Tuesday if you’re interested.

End of year events are taking place almost every day from here on out. Please review our end of year calendar for more information.

District 24 will be honoring our Big Apple Award winner Marybeth Meenan on June 20th, 7PM at PS58. She will be recognized along with 4 other District 24 finalist, and I strongly urge all staff to go and support one of our own. Ms. Meenan is the first winner ever from our district; it’s going to be great.

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.

January 15th, 2016

“It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the ligitimate goals of his life.

Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., The Purpose of Education

Every Friday afternoon I spend a few minutes writing the 102 Review, and then many many more minutes editing out the superfluous. However, our quote this week is 3 paragraphs long because 1) I have no business editing the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and 2) I figure we, like our students, could use the opportunity to experience worthwhile text by reading it.

The “legions of half truths” Dr. King describes is particularly pronounced in the world of education. Asked to adopt one conflicting philosophy after another, it’s easy for schools to lose the focus and confidence to find and do what’s most effective. Our only defense against unsound initiatives and policies is to continually learn and think about what we do. Our work in book study is doing just that and thank you everyone for stepping up in learning as a team.

Things You Need to Know:

School Messenger: 102 is transitioning to a new alert system that allows us to send text messages to families. We will be sending out a form to homeroom teachers to send home for parents to provide us with their cell phone numbers. Thank you for your assistance and we will have more information for you once the system is fully operational.

Promotion in Doubt: Please review student progress to determine the students in your class(es) that is in jeopardy of not meeting the criteria to promote to the next grade in June. All teachers must submit the names of students who they determine to be PID by Tuesday, 1/26. A memo will be in your mailbox next week with more information.

Reminder to Turn Off Smartboards: You must turn off your smart board when it is not being used. I do not want to see the blue “Smartboard” screen in empty classrooms.

Special Education Referral Process: Do not ask parents to write letters to request special education evaluations. Parents are informing me that teachers are asking them to request evaluations and this must stop immediately. If you suspect a student who may have a learning disability, you should request a meeting with your AP to discuss your findings with support staff. We have limited resources to conduct evaluations, meetings, and paperwork for students with special needs and we must do our due diligence in this work. Additionally, it is ethically problematic to suggest to parents that their child may have a learning disability based on an assessment made by one person who lacks the qualification to do so. IEPs are legal documents that can significantly alter the trajectory of a child’s education, for better or for worst, and you should respect it as such. Please ask to speak with me or any of the APs if you have any questions.

Enjoy the long weekend and see you Tuesday!