Professional Development
Syracuse City School District Volume 21-22 Issue #1
The Professional Development Department 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 & beyond. The following is a summary report of that work for the past calendar month.
September PD Session Topics
The following professional learning offerings were available to staff:
- AVID Kick-Off
- Canvas Basics
- Content Area PD by Grade Level
- Culturally Responsive Education
- Digital Content/Tool Training
- Microsoft Teams Basics
- Nearpod Basics
- Self-Based Choice Board
Overall Rating: 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent) Stars
Opening Days
- I learned it is important to try to put ourselves in the shoes of our students and listen carefully to them and imagine what life is from their perspective
- Learned a lot about the building and expectations. Great day! The admin team did a fabulous job
- This is going to be a good year
- This year is going to be challenging but I know I have the support of our director and fellow members of my department
- Very informative and data driven
- Engaging and immediate feedback
- I appreciate the time put in to show us exactly how to administer and score as well as how it relates to the progression of reading skills
Thursday PDs
- The focus areas for the year were discussed, and I appreciated the progress monitoring resources and templates shown
- Informative Professional Development
- Our district level administrators and training staff are a wonderful resource and supportive of our needs
- Support is available
- Provided time to analyze benchmarks
- This was a good mix of whole group and working time
- Given time to input and sort data
- Teamwork, we've got this
- Time to collaborate and connect with other teachers in my content and grade level
- Provided really great resources for progress monitoring
- I like that we actually have time to plan since that is rare
- Great discussion within our content area
- This is exactly what I have been looking for to support my struggling students
Constructive Feedback Quotes - September 2021
Opening Days
- I wish the information and pacing had been given prior to the start of the school since we have been working to start the school year
- I would have demonstrated Dibbles/ORF from the start and allowed my attendees to get settled before moving forward. I would also have slowed down, especially if this is expected to be given the first week properly
- 8am-9am: took 20 minutes of trying to get to the correct place- links did not work multiple times, audio did not work for the first 10 minutes
- Technology is daunting
- PD was too fast and too much
- The technology was terrible. I couldn't see or hear what was happening
- As someone who has not taught in the district before, I wasn't 100% sure if I understood everything being discussed but think it will start to come together when I meet with my mentor teacher and students
- That was a lot of info. I am going to need more training on this
- Very overwhelming
- Not really sure I had a take-away
- Building Specific PD would have been more beneficial as we need time for our own program planning
Thursday PDs
- I could use more time at the end just to go back through lessons and modify the pacing
- It is sometimes difficult to plan with that many voices
Re-Opening PD Sessions: September 1, 2 & 7
Feedback Responses by Building/Program (2165)
Middle School Thursday PD Sessions
Feedback Responses by Building (219)
School Spotlight
Each month we will be highlighting the Disciplinary Literacy Coach and Lead Teachers in one or more buildings doing amazing things in the District. The spotlight school for September is:
Clary Middle School
Katelyn Hines, Clary Middle School
Professional Superpower: Modeling
Most rewarding part of the job: Working one on one with teachers and providing them the tools and strategies they need to meet specific goals they set for themselves and their students.
Positive impact my work has on staff and students: Staff gain more strategies, tools, and activities they can use when creating lesson plans that will engage students. Students' engagement levels will increase which impacts their learning across content levels.
Something special about my school community: We treat each other as family where we support each other in trying new things or co-teaching or stepping up when there is a need. Collaboration is something we strive to do in grade levels, content levels, and cross curricular.
Brittany Brigandi, Clary Middle School
Professional Superpower: Flexibility
Most rewarding part of the job: Working with our students and staff in the SCSD overall is rewarding. When students or staff have the "aha" moment it is so powerful. Most importantly, when I form the close relationships with the students and families, there is nothing better than that!
Positive impact my work has on staff and students: This role will lead to students enjoying being in math class and build a strong foundation of the mathematical concepts across the board. The goal in this role is to provide a support for the staff no matter the subject area and help each staff member reach their goals as a teacher.
Something special about my school community: I am blown away by this school community! The recognition of the staff and students is incredible. The support that each person provides each other from the top down makes the environment a great place to work and go to school. Each member of the community is looking for ways to grow as a teacher, student, staff member, and person.
Jess Cannizarro, Clary Middle School
Professional Superpower: Behavior Management
Most rewarding part of the job: Seeing growth through multiple lenses.
Positive impact my work has on staff and students: Offer support, time and resources when needed.
Something special about my school community: We operate like a family through communicate and support.
Jennifer Fiello, Clary Middle School
Professional Superpower: Patience and understanding
Most rewarding part of the job: Helping others become better teachers.
Positive impact my work has on staff and students: I have been doing this a long time and have learned so much - I think my knowledge helps both staff and students create a positive learning environment.
Something special about my school community: Young and fresh and willing to learn and try new things.
Grant "Gilly" Gilbreath
Professional Superpower: Super Organization
Most rewarding part of the job: Supporting other teachers within their classrooms. Also, I enjoy seeing other classrooms and learning from different educators.
Positive impact my work has on staff and students: This role positively impacts staff because I have a good understanding what new educators need to be successful within our building. Overall, this will positively impact that students and what they learn.
Something special about my school community: Our school community is filled with educators from different backgrounds. We have educators who are new to the teaching profession, as well as veterans. While teaching through a global pandemic, we have really learned a lot from each other.
SyraFuse Fellowship Highlights
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 6 of the fellowship!
Marissa Moore, Clary Middle School
AIS ELA/Math Teacher & SyraFuse Cohort 6 Fellow
Professional Superpower: Organization
Most rewarding part of the job: Building relationships with students and co-workers.
Positive impact my work has on staff and students: Making sure that everyone feels welcome, comfortable, and supported.
Something special about my school community: The diversity.
Jessica Acevedo, Clary Middle School
Spanish Teacher & SyraFuse Cohort 6 Fellow
Professional Superpower: Creativity
Most rewarding part of the job: Being able to provide support.
Positive impact my work has on staff and students: I teach Spanish, so I represent globalization in the school. I support, in my language, parents and students.
Something special about my school community: We learn from each other.
Patrick Scully, Clary Middle School
CT Special Education Teacher & SyraFuse Cohort 6 Fellow
Professional Superpower: Patience and Empathy
Most rewarding part of the job: Seeing my students find a passion that motivated them to learn.
Positive impact my work has on staff and students: I try everyday to motivate my students to achieve the excellence I know they are capable of.
Something special about my school community: I have watched the students at Clary consistently improve over the last three years, despite incredible challenges. We are resilient, strong, and motivated for greatness.
Meet the Impact Team!
The Impact Team uses a Dialogical Coaching model. This model of coaching balances advocacy with inquiry to foster improvement. Both the coach and teachers are experts and learners. The dialogical coach uses both powerful questions and shares strategies within the Impact Cycle to help the teacher reach a personally set goal based on the classroom’s current reality. The metaphor is the coach and teacher as equal partners. This confidential partnership is entirely focused on making it easier for teachers to meet the needs of their students. If coaching isn’t a valuable and worthwhile activity for the teacher, the coach hasn’t done his or her job well!
Impact Team Office Hours
PD Newsletter Archive 2020-2021
Manami Tezuka
Syracuse City School District
Email: mtezuka@scsd.us
Website: http://www.syracusecityschools.com/districtpage.cfm?pageid=585
Location: 1005 West Fayette Street, Syracuse, New York 13204, USA
Phone: (315) 435-6358
Twitter: @SCSDPL
