LI News Blast #1: Logistics and Reminders

Hello LIs!!  Congratulations on your first week of facilitating Skill Building Sessions for your PTS!  I'm sure they had many questions for you, and you for us!  Please don't hesitate to reach out to us for support.

Please also accept my deepest apologies for not being with you the first two days of SBS!  I've been very ill and was so disappointed to miss you all on Wednesday and Thursday!

Going forward, this blog will be your first stop shop for questions and reminders.  You'll be able to search by "label" to find the specific information you're looking for.  For example, this blog post contains information about our substitute policy, so searching for the key term "sub" or "substitute" will pull up this post for quick access in the future.

Additionally, each Friday post will contain tips for facilitating the following week's SBS. Read on for important updates and information!

LI Absence and Substitute Policy

Steps for Full Time Staff: If you know you will be absent, you should follow the below procedures AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to secure a substitute. More than 24 hours notice is ideal, but we understand that last minute emergencies happen on rare occasions.

1. Email all of the subs listed in the chart below (CC myself at lmorel@nyctcp.org and Angela Wineland at awineland@nyctcp.org).
2. When you have heard back from an available sub, email the other subs again to inform them that you have someone in place.
3. Then, email your sub the SBS materials from Google Drive.  Also let them know any tech information they need to have (ex: bring a laptop and a dongle) as well as the WiFi password.
4. Give them the location and room number, and any information they need about the site (no A/C, loud construction outside the window, etc.).
5. Lastly, send your sub a roster of your PTs (you can download this from TT2).  Subs will take attendance and email it to you directly after the session so that you can input attendance on time (9:00 p.m.).  Note that subs cannot take attendance for you because they are not tied to a specific group in TT2.

Steps for Support Staff: 

1. Ensure your nyctcp.org email is connected to the device(s) you check most often!  t is most likely that a request for a substitute will be sent to your nyctcp.org email. 
2. Once a request is put out for a substitute LI, if you are able and interested in subbing, answer the request as soon as possible, as the opportunity is offered and confirmed with the first person to respond
3. The LI will send you the materials you need, a roster, tech information about the room, and any other relevant information.
4. Immediately after the session, email the attendance to the LI so they can enter it into TT2 by 9:00 p.m.

Contact List

A full contact list with all LIs AND all subs lives here.  I recommend that you save this file for easy access.

Logistics at Life Sciences

Supplies

• Supplies are in the locker in room 210. Stephanie will ensure the room and the locker are open as soon as she gets there. If someone else gets there first and room 210 is open, the locker combination is 9-15-25.
• Please note that there are extra supplies in the locker as well should you find you are running low. If the extra supplies start to run low, please be sure to let me know so we can have more shipped to the school.  If no one tells us, we won't know to support you by sending more!
• Rachael will be in room 210 until 6:50 both days next week to ensure that all supplies are returned and locked up. Please respect her time and ensure you return your supplies no later than 6:50 p.m. so everyone can get home on time.
• Next week, we will nominate someone else who has a 4:45-6:45 SBS to stay the extra five minutes to make sure we leave the space neat, tidy, locked up, and secure!

Room updates

Due to group sizes and space needs, we have had to switch a few groups into different rooms. PTs should have already be informed of these changes. Please let us know if these changes have created any new tech or supply needs for you.

• ENL (Williams) will meet in room 207.
• Math - Lehman (Francis) will meet in room 206.
• D75 Elementary (Reyes) will meet in room 413.
• SpEd 7-12 - SJU (Biello) will meet in room 404.

Attendance

• Ensure attendance is submitted by 9:00 p.m. each night.
• Substitutes will take use a paper roster to take attendance and then email attendance to the LI for whom they were covering. Substitutes do not have the ability to input attendance directly into TT2, so the permanent LIs still must enter attendance, even when they are absent.

Upcoming Blackboard Deadlines and Assignments

• The first PT submission was due at midnight Thursday.  It is critical we reinforce timeliness and professional communication expectations now! Review the our policies and procedures for documenting late and missing assignments. Ensure you are having conversations with PTs, following up with an email (cc'ing myself and Angela), and entering FYIs as necessary. 
• If any PT does not have Blackboard access or is in the wrong course, email Angela ASAP so she can fix it! Same for issues TT2!  That should not be a continuing reason why a PT submits anything late.

Exit Tickets

• Please take a few minutes following each session to ensure that your PTs are completing and submitting Exit Tickets with fidelity.  Currently, responses from PTs are low.  You can find the responses to the Exit Tickets in the excel spreadsheet in the same folder as the session materials.

PT Questions:

Many of the questions I have already seen from PTs can be answered in their Syllabus.  Always reinforce PT independence by referring them to their Syllabus and the Welcome Center for questions you cannot answer because it is outside your specialized field as an LI. 

Upcoming SBS:

2.06: Elements of a Lesson Plan

• You will be facilitating for part of the session from an exemplar lesson plan.  Practice this delivery before your session.
• If you are not already, you should have some familiarity with the NY State Next Generations Standards. They are very similar to Common Core and are linked in the facilitator's guide for this lesson (non-D75 only).
• The Do Now for this session is intended to model an ideal Do Now for the classroom. Set the tone by greeting your PTs at the door, shaking each hand (or use another personal greeting such as a high five, fist bump, or non-physical acknowledgement), and thanking students for getting to work.  Circulate as they complete their Do Nows and reiterate expectations for silent, independent work.
• After the Do Now, frame your intent and explain that this was a model DN as scripted in a lesson plan.
• PTs have been introduced to GAP planning (slide 7 - D75; slide 9 - non D75) in Orientation. Tap on their prior knowledge for this.
• Pre-plan your operational model (Slides 10-18 - D75; Slides 10-25 non D75) so the expectations for "participating like a student" and "thinking like a teacher" are clear and normed.
• Slide 19: Clearly explain to PTs the difference between "modifications" and "differentiation."
• Pre-plan the groups and be prepared to share with the PTs your grouping strategy for practice (slides 21-22 - D75; Slides 27-29 - non D75).
• D75: This session in particular requires 10 minutes for the Exit Ticket!  Leave enough time.

2.07: Objectives and Assessments

• Weave into this session your own best practices and experiences around developing purposeful objectives and Exit Tickets.
• If you are not familiar with Karin Hess's Cognitive Rigor Matrix, preview it before the session.
• D75: Share your own experiences developing rigorous objectives and assessments in a D75 classroom that may not resemble a "traditional" classroom."

Have a great weekend, everyone!!