Professional Development

The PL Team is committed to coordinating efforts to provide daily opportunities for training and support for our SCSD Staff that would help them to maintain continuity in communication and learning for our SCSD Students & Families during the Covid19 Pandemic. The following is a summary report of that work for the past calendar month.

The following offerings were available to staff on November 3, 4 and/or 18, 2020:

• Weekly Demo Lessons by Content/Grade Level

• AVID Strategies
• Canvas LMS
• CBM Testing
• ENL Instruction
• Special Education Topics
• MSRC
• Nearpod/Flocabulary
• Self-Paced PL Playlist
• SCSD PL Coach Office Hours

Positive Feedback Quotes - November 2020

• I enjoy our meetings especially our opportunities to work independently to plan and our discussions about equity and inclusion.
• I think that the demo teachers have hit their stride, everything is well explained and very helpful!
• So many resources, so much prep, has really supported the planning process and learning of new platform (CANVAS). Engaging for students!
• The Presenters asked us specifically what kind of PD we were looking for, which I thought was good for a change.
• Was given information for upcoming assignments that need to be modified for IEP students.
• I think this was an awesome conference, because we were actually asked what our needs were. That was a Nice Change of Scenery, I thought.
• This time is so amazing each week! The amount of planning and support that we are able to get within these three hours has been my saving grace this year! Thank you for setting this time aside for us!
• PowerPoints were culturally relevant and engaging.

Constructive Feedback Quotes - November 2020

• Very challenging to get questions answered when representative isn't there for each department. Presenter did her best though!
• Math would be easier to access if it was in one place and complete to plan ahead.
• Everything shared is so helpful and very appreciated, I do wish we would take more time to look at the demo stuff together. Feels too fast.
• Pacing guides would be helpful. I'm finding it hard to do high flex learning and having not enough or too much work each day.
• It would be great to have all the links presented in the demo lessons further in advance. Having to wait for the demo lesson to post recommended lessons to start my plans for the upcoming week is frustrating. Not to mention, the content is being forced to match grade standards instead of addressing the actually standards we need to grade.
• Very frustrating session. Again, trying to find what we need weekly is all not in one place. Not on one platform. Extremely time consuming.
• I am almost wondering if the academic office can ask more input from the teachers on what would be helpful for demo lessons now that we have gotten in the swing of things and how to deliver lessons on WCNY and in person.

"As the 4th grade ELA/Humanities demo teacher, I spend most of my time creating lessons to air on WCNY, putting together resources to support teachers, and working on revising and updating curriculum for this school year. In addition to that, I am available to support teachers with anything they need to organize and strengthen their ELA and Humanities instruction.

My favorite things about this job are talking to teachers on Wednesdays about their needs and ways I can support them and I also love working on the 4th grade ELA/Humanities curriculum to create the unit resources for students and teachers. The biggest challenge for me is that I truly miss having students. Even when I teach lessons, I miss having live students respond and participate in my lessons. I miss having and building relationships with kids to talk about what is happening in their lives and having the ability to watch them learn and grow.

This work supports teaching and learning because it includes critical lessons that students need throughout each unit while supporting teachers to deliver those lessons in a remote setting. In addition, we are able to look at curriculum and make revisions based on remote/hybrid learning needs, culturally responsive practices, and social and emotional learning needs. The feedback we receive is critical in helping us see what works well and what needs to be adjusted to best support student learning."

Related Resources:

4th Grade Demo Padlet

4th Grade ELA/Humanities Curriculum Padlet

"I am currently the Demonstration Teacher for Early World History and Global History 10. This role has given me the opportunity to help build a set of digital resources for teachers to use for Regents prep and remote learning. My hope is that this bank of resources will be useful for our department even when we are no longer distance learning. This role has allowed me to collaborate with other teachers throughout the district and I have had the opportunity to learn from my colleagues and adapt my demonstration lessons to work for everyone. It has been challenging in the sense that it added extra work to my plate, but my hope is that it will lessen the load in the future for us all."

Related Resources:

Canvas Course Resources

Positive Feedback Quotes - November 2020

• We are learning how to break through the cultural lifestyles and beliefs that may reflex in our teaching. We are being given the tools and resource to reach our scholars on a cultural level. We are connecting.
• I am learning how to apply Nearpod/Talking points to engage students and improve attendance.
• Collaboration with colleagues is beneficial.
• Very informative and cleared up confusions I had from previous week.
• The playlist helped me to able to gain a better gauge to make my instruction informative and precise.
• I was able to create a Nearpod to try with my students next SEL.

Constructive Feedback Quotes - November 2020

• Nearpod and Flocabulary are still challenging for our students to use. I wish Flocabulary had more ability to edit assignments.
• Still trying to learn the differences between STAR CBM and DIBELS so I can administer correctly.

This report includes professional development offerings provided at the district-level by demonstration teachers, the Personalized Learning Team, and volunteer teachers, leaders, and SyraFuse Fellows from November 1-30, 2020.

Each week, the feedback provided by participants is reviewed by session facilitators to monitor and adjust what is offered and how it is delivered, and to plan forward. Participants are encouraged to submit a new feedback entry for each session they attend: bit.ly/scsdvirtualfeedback

PL Coach Office Hours: Need a bit of extra help to think through a plan for hybrid or remote instruction? Seeking support with a digital tool? Sign up for a 25 minute PL support session with a PL Coach: Monday-Thursday 8AM-6PM and Friday 8AM-3PM. By the time your session ends, you will have a plan and/or a completed task!

Fuse Syracuse (SyraFuse) strives to implement and scale personalized and blended learning across the Syracuse City School District by creating and training teacher leaders as change agents. The Fuse Syracuse initiative recruits a group of educators called Fuse Fellows for a 1-year fellowship. Fellows will be trained on personalized learning models and best practices, blended learning tools and strategies, coached on classroom implementation, and supported to establish their own “Lighthouse Classroom” to serve as a model of personalized and blended instruction in their building and district.

Fuse Fellows are passionate, curious innovators in their schools who model a growth mindset, and are open to trying new things and taking their practice to the next level. They are natural change agents for their schools, and welcome the opportunity to advance the field through their own leadership and instructional innovation. We are now working with cohort 5 of the fellowship!

Elementary Math Teacher & SyraFuse Cohort 5 Fellow

"Applying to SyraFuse was something I set my mind on last year after seeing what it did for my teammate. Around this time a year ago, I didn’t know I’d be in a pandemic during the fellowship, however I’m even more grateful now that I followed through with my decision to apply. ‘Fuse has provided me with access to strategies, resources and a closer look at some of the software being used in our district, which has made me feel more prepared! Additionally, my confidence in my teaching style grew. ‘Fuse helped me understand that how I conduct myself with all students is nurturing, yet comically genuine. When I’m truly myself and transparent with my students, the relationships tend to build themselves and many go the extra mile because of it. I’m thankful for everything I’ve learned in SyraFuse, but I’m even more excited to witness my growth at the end."

ELA Teacher & SyraFuse Cohort 5 Fellow

"Fuse has been a wonderful experience so far. When I applied at the end of last year, or during the summer, though who can be sure of time right now, didn’t know how but I knew I wanted to grow in my practice. I wanted to be able to give to my students the wonderful lessons and ideas I was sure I was capable of sharing, so I applied.

Fuse has not changed my practice, but it has instead honed it. I am more of the teacher I have always been. I have grown in my strengths of connection and flexibility and worked to overcome my weaknesses. Currently, in my classroom, we are working on building student ownership and ideas around not just leadership but alliance and partnership between students and teachers. I have seen growth in my students when we sit down at conferences. I have seen confidence build in their writing and I know that is not solely because of me, but because of the power of ownership. There is still work to be done, but one should not underestimate the power of ownership, one should not underestimate the power of education.

I will leave you with this quote by Toni Morrison that resonates with me “I tell my students, 'When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else," It is not my job to leave my students with recitable ideas about literature, history, or even math (though no one would ever let me teach math). It is my job to impart to them the idea of empowerment in education. If I can do that, for even a few, I have done what I set out to do."

ELA Teacher & SyraFuse Cohort 5 Fellow

"Each day is a new opportunity to build confidence in our hybrid/virtual teaching model. Our approach to success in this model can greatly depend on our willingness to take risk and step out of comfort zones we may not even realize existed, until now. Beyond supports made available to us in the district, FUSE has presented culturally relevant teaching strategies that have strengthened our ability to engage students in a genuine way, even from the other side of a computer screen. Building our confidence may require us to test out new platforms and show our students how much we really don’t know. Although so much can seem out of our control, we can continue to show our students how committed we are to their learning and the unique qualities they bring to our classroom each day."

Prekindergarten – Grade 12 Library Media Specialists in the SCSD provide helpdesk support to students and families in the SCSD. They are available between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday – Friday each week. Families are able to sign up for virtual help directly on the Syracuse City Schools Website.

"On Tuesday, as I contemplated the upcoming break and missing my family at Thanksgiving, I was given two reminders of why what we do for our students is so important.

My art teacher gave me a drawing sent to him by one of our 3rd graders. The image is of me in the parking lot at school last summer, where I was giving away books and craft supplies. She identified me as someone who was helping the community. On my way home I stopped to see an all-virtual 2nd grader who had been sending me messages on Seesaw. The genuine joy on her face when she saw me at the door may be the greatest gift I'll receive this holiday season.

While the last eight months have been the most stressful of my 22-year career at SCSD, I am proud to part of a group of exceptional librarians who have worked together to provide support for our students and staff. The thanks from staff and parents and the love from my students have kept me going on the difficult days. When the pandemic is over we will welcome all our students back to school with open arms and grateful hearts."

"Being an LMS during hybrid learning has been an interesting, as well as an amazing experience. Coming into the role of an LMS, my technological background has been my strong suit, even before I was in the classroom as an educator. Now, with literally everyone relying on technology to get through the day, teachers, students, administrators, and parents are relying on me and many others to help guide them through this unusual time.

It has been an absolutely fascinating experience to watch teachers grow from claiming that they know nothing about technology, to asking questions on how I might do things, and then watch their skills develop while working with collaboratively with me or independently. I have witnessed parents have a sigh of relief when they understand basics of getting on a computer and logging into the various apps their children are using. Even though a large part of my day has become a type of “tech support,” the lessons that have been learned by the entire Clary community have been amazing to watch.

Now that the majority of our community has learned many of the basics they need, I genuinely look forward to finding new, interactive, and engaging ways to help everyone in our community take full advantage of these lessons."