This is Who We Are:

High School of Language and Innovation [HSLI]

There it is. The name is now out there.

And now, finally, for part II of the interview with Principal Julie Nariman. Yes, her name is out there now, too.

What is HSLI's major goal for the 2012-2013 school year?

"Making every student twice as independent as they were when they started."
For teachers, "Every teacher would be a competent teacher of another teacher learning Learning Cultures."

[Editor's Note: Learning Cultures is the guide our school employs in structuring its foundational formats, such as Unison Reading time, independent work time, and student share time each period of every school day.]

How will HSLI implement the new federal Common Core learning standards?

A New York State visitor said last year: "He'd never seen Common Core implemented to such a degree as here...I think we're doing the Common Core, 3-5 elements per Unison Reading session. We need to improve alignment more between writing standards and practices."

"Being a Learning Cultures principal is fun and delightful. It's the most fun job I've ever had in my life."

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In today's daily Common Planning period for teachers, Principal Nariman stated succinctly how for "millennia teachers have been the holders of knowledge. Now, little HSLI" is upending that entire history.
The base--students--are becoming the new holders of knowledge at least to the degree that teachers are.

"It Smells Like...

...mad shredded cheese in here."

----student in hallway a minute ago (from another high school in the building)

Here are some more quotes, from Mrs. W., a math teacher. This should provide more insight into what teachers do during Unison Reading time. Statements were made on Wednesday, Nov. 21st. Three boys were in this Unison group:  B., from Kosovo; R., from the Dominican Republic; M., from Bangladesh.

"That's okay. You can explain by pointing."

>>M. points to paper.
He soon asks, "Do you understand?"

"If you understand something, you need to share. Right?"

"Wait, wait, wait. When you asked, 'Do you understand?' I'll always say, 'I understand.' How can you rephrase your question?"

>>B. asks, "Can I give a suggestion?"

"Wait, wait. If you are answering this question, you want to ask him (R.) this question, right?"

"You asked, 'Do you understand?' Who did you ask that question to?"

"He (B.) just rephrased and you (R.) were about to say because..."

>>Students go back and forth discussing strategies for solving linear equation: y= mx +b

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Mr. S. just now to one of our students in the hallway:
"I'll let you in on a little secret: Your teacher's not going to like you buying Dorritos during class. Put those away, all right?"

High Tension

My first period class today was stacked. During the mini-lesson, Principal N. asked if it was okay that C.M. and two teachers came in to help coach my Unison Reading groups. I was happy about the prospect of getting extra coaching. Students in groups A & B, on the other hand, may not have been so excited.

Instead of just me in their faces during Unison Reading, they had the originator of the theory herself there with them. Rather than speaking with the students directly, however, the professor communicated with a teacher coach who then communicated with me who then communicated with the students. It was an interesting process of "active coaching."

Personally, I wouldn't have been stopping the students as much as the coaches do, nor for as long.
But the coaching is teaching me a lot about how to better check for understanding and the social processes therein. As it turns out, the processes are more critical to the Unison format than the reading itself.

Meanwhile, consternation exists among teachers regarding Writing CBM's. These assessments are not fun to grade, to say the least, and debates are in motion relating to how important these assessments are. I was just told the next round are to be graded by next Monday, which seems like a very tall order indeed.



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Something new I learned today:
Nearly 80% of people in upstate New York live within 25 miles of the Erie Canal.

We Are Back...Hurricane Sandy has passed

Well, that's that.
Not for everyone, of course. A lot of suffering continues.
But our school campus escaped the wrath of Sandy.

I should have probably updated readers during the storm and its immediate aftermath.
But we are okay. The vast majority of our students and staff were not impacted directly. Three teachers lost power, one of whom was evacuated from her place on the Lower East Side. One student I know of lost power for several days.

These past few weeks have been really crazy with Parent-Teacher Conferences (I met with the parents of 28 students), the hurricane, and then grades due. But a certain sense of normalcy is returning as we head into Thanksgiving.

My primary goal now as it relates to this blog is to get anecdotals weekly from fellow teachers. I want to share their stories with the wider world.

Stay tuned and get ready for a ton of great stories--as well as part II of the principal interview and an upcoming interview with the mastermind behind this entire operation of a school...

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Principal N., Part I

On October 11th, Principal N. was interviewed. This is the first ever posting of her responses.

What are 3 things setting our high school apart from others in New York City?

"We give students responsibility for their own learning and I think that's super unique. I think teenagers are treated like (older people in our school)...but I think our society turns them into useless people...and they're not responsible for their own selves. We actually hold them responsible for learning, for creating a safe school environment, for the behavior of their peers."

"I think teacher evaluation is a really big thing...an important thing..but I think we've lost focus from the point of how much learning is happening, who is responsible, and how well they are doing it. Teacher evaluation has something to do with that. But our rubrics put responsibility on students and teachers for quality of learning. Students have a huge responsibility for carrying out their own intentions and creating an atmosphere where people can speak freely and feel safe and learn."

"I think we have genuine distributed leadership. Our SLT (School Leadership Team) is a real leadership team. We have a system where people are empowered, where every adult is a leader in some way and it's not a top-down school. And kids take leadership in school structure--such as the Uniform Committee (student-led enforcement of uniform policy, class by class)."

"We didn't create a system where we hired more people to boss others around (for example, no Assistant Principal is to be found). Summer school is led by students. Their jobs are to teach each other. It's super fun to see all this and a majority of people seem happy. In general, people are very happy here."

What is 1 major thing that sets our school apart from other high schools nationwide?

"We believe in students' capacities to take responsibility for themselves. And we believe students can solve their own problems, with coaching and help with how to. Solutions nationwide are to have more adults solving students' problems."

FOR NEXT TIME: School goal for 2012-2013 school year & how school will implement the new national Common Core standards...

What Will it Take...

...to engage a student brand new to the United States, who speaks no English and understands very little about what is going on in school?

A new girl from the Congo, D., broke down during my Global class yesterday. She was in tears and a fellow French speaker in class, K., asked if she could go out. I thought she was ill but it turns out she was very distraught about not understanding English, missing her home country, and being lost in her assignments. K was very promotive--talking with her, telling her how things were the same for her just one year ago. K now understands what I say to her though this time last year she says she spoke no English and could not understand.
Remarkable.

A Bengali-Indian boy in class, not known for always being especially promotive of others, also stepped in and told D. she needs to keep trying and not worry. He also knew no English when he arrive in New York.

D was back in class and on time, as usual, this morning. She answered questions on paper--although I know that must have been a struggle. But she made an attempt.

So many of our kids here really want to learn.
Today I posted up the new group leaders for next week. D will lead. She chose a reading today and folks signed up for their Unison Reading groups. I hope this experience will help engage her more in our "formats" and mission.

Next up: posting an exclusive interview conducted last week with Principal N.! Please stay tuned...

"Furthering..."

3 beautiful, large, new signs when up in school today. In purple, white, & gray (our school colors). We designed them as a staff a few weeks ago. The middle sign reads: "pro.mo.tive adj.: tending to promote. Contributing to the progress or growth of; furthering."
On the left: "Helpful," translated into eleven languages.
On the right: "Supportive," also translated.

Evidently, three boys were not so promotive earlier when they got to reading class late. Each boy was spoken with at the door and reprimanded. Although the reasons for their tardiness were innocuous by the standards of my old school, they missed several minutes of classtime--a cardinal sin here.
Leaving a binder in the bathroom is not a good excuse. Coming to class late requires a student to apologize to others.

The class was asked, what should be done about these boys?

Several students in class responded, they need to be there on time to be ready to work--for the teacher's mini-lesson and with the students around them.

Meanwhile, the principal's barren office space now has a lamp. A fairly nice one, at that. I've told her I'm getting worried. She may get too comfortable.
Alas, she responded, one of the (now) two filing cabinets in her office belongs to the secretary. The principal does not even have the keys.
Maybe I'll take the table and chairs out of the room at some point, she said, and just sit on a yoga mat.

After all, a dozen of our students have such mats available for a chosen enrichment class on Fridays.