Professional Development
Syracuse City School District - June 2021
Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, the PD Department and PL Team have been committed to coordinating efforts to provide daily opportunities for training and support for our SCSD Staff to help them maintain continuity in communication and learning for our SCSD Students & Families. The following is a summary report of that work for the 2020-2021 school year.
Average Overall 2020-2021 Rating: 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent)
4.56 Stars (September - May Average)
May 4.51 - April 4.42 - March 4.63 - February 4.57 - January 4.53
December 4.63 - November 4.65 - October 4.59 - September 4.53
Summary of Positive Feedback 2020-2021
Summary of Constructive Feedback 2020-2021
The larger the word, the more often it was included in a feedback comment.
For detailed feedback scroll to bottom to view archived monthly newsletters.
Teacher Highlights
Marisa Licari, First Grade Demo Teacher, Franklin
Jennifer Fiello, HS Science Demo Teacher, PSLA
Self-Paced Action Research Playlist
Based on feedback received from Choice PD Participants on Wednesdays, we created a self-paced action research playlist option to help teachers collaborate to define and solve every day instructional challenges. This playlist also includes recorded sessions provided by our Cohort 5 SyraFuse Fellows in March and May. Below is a link to the weekly Action Research Playlist.
Take some time to explore this summer when you have more flexible time!
SCSD Personalized Learning Office Hours
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!
SyraFuse Fellowship Cohort 6 Launch
Congratulations to our NEWEST SyraFuse Fellows!
Cohort 6 includes 35 teachers from 17 SCSD Schools:
Delaware Elementary
Dr. Weeks Elementary
Franklin Elementary
Meachem Elementary
Porter Elementary
STEAM @Dr. King Elementary
Webster Elementary
Frazer PK-8
Brighton Academy Middle
Clary Middle
Grant Middle
Lincoln Middle
STEM @Blodgett Middle
Corcoran High
Henninger High
Nottingham High
PSLA High
Annual PL Showcase Led by Cohort 5 Fuse Fellows
Cohort 5: 2020-2021 School Year
During the months of March and May the Cohort 5 SyraFuse Fellows led professional development sessions to share best practices for personalizing in-person, hybrid, and/or virtual learning. Find recordings and resources for these sessions linked via the button below.
SyraFuse Fellowship Highlights
Kym Jones, Webster Elementary School
Grade 5 Teacher & SyraFuse Cohort 5 Fellow
I applied for Fuse because I knew the upcoming school year was going to be challenging for students and I wanted to be as prepared as possible to help them. I didn’t realize how much I would grow personally and professionally. I feel that the coaches and the other fellowship participants have been the most valuable take away from the fellowship. Yes, I learned new strategies, techniques and ideas to take back to my classroom. I feel this would truly benefit my learners, but having a supportive community of other teachers and coaches, whose primary focus was helping me achieve my goals and become better at my craft, will stay with me the most throughout this process.
During this school year, I was involved in every learning situation; virtual, hybrid, and in person. Virtual engagement was by far the most challenging because I was so used to having in person contact with my students. I learned that building those strong virtual bonds made in person teaching easier. Since I spent so much time making connections with my students, they just got stronger.
Building relationships and SEL is important when engaging your students but I think it is even more important in a virtual/hybrid setting. It’s so easy to feel disconnected when you are interacting over a computer, so playing SEL ice braker games and finding ways to share stories with my students really helped develop a strong sense of community, even in a virtual setting.
One major take-away from Fuse has been my ability to focus more on students’ individual wants and needs. Allowing students to have more input in their learning has increased student engagement and ownership which is an area I have always strived to improve on. I am glad that my students are learning to advocate for their academic needs and work towards completing self-set goals.
I am unsure what my next step will be as a teacher-leader/Fuse Fellow. I have learned so much and completed so much more than I thought I would be able to do. I think the knowledge, confidence, and support I received during this Fuse experience have taught me that I am more than capable to handle any challenge that may come my way. I feel the possibilities are endless.
Cynthia Thomas, Lincoln Middle School
CTE Teacher & SyraFuse Cohort 5 Fellow
I applied for the Cohort 5 SyraFuse fellowship because my building leader thought I would be a great candidate for this program. Upon further research I was excited to know that SyraFuse was established to provide a deeper level to my pedagogical approach. I was excited to know that I could leave this program with skills to deepen my engagement with students, broaden my personalized learning options, and be a liaison for teachers who want to apply these strategies.
During this unconventional school year, we all have been challenged to find and use meaningful content to keep our students thriving and engaged in a hybrid setting. SyraFuse gave me firsthand connections with amazing teachers in our district. Together we worked to share innovative concepts and support that aided in the success of this school year.
As I reflect on my time as a fellow, the biggest takeaways I've had from this program include a more in-depth focus on learner profiles and unearthing my hidden leadership potential. Learning how to identify a student's learner profile and apply it throughout my CTE content has presented a direct connection between their success and the content delivered. As a SyraFuse alum, I plan to continue to build upon the quality pedagogical techniques Fuse has provided while harvesting leadership qualities that can be applied within our district.
Student & Family Support provided by SCSD School Librarians
Prekindergarten – Grade 12 Library Media Specialists in the SCSD provided helpdesk support to students and families in the SCSD between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday – Friday each week throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Families were able to sign up for virtual help as needed directly on the Syracuse City Schools Website.
Elementary LMS Highlight
Cathy Louer, Frazer PK-8
Being an LMS, like every other teacher, has been a real challenge this last year and four months. When school first closed, I was trying to navigate teaching K-3 library classes, on-line, encouraging all Frazer students to keep reading at home, supporting teachers who were trying out new on-line platforms, and just trying to keep my spirits up. I designed my library lessons and activities around some different themes - Make It Monday, Tootle Tuesday, What Are You Reading Wednesday, Thinking Thursday, and Fun Friday. Kids listened to a story either read by me or from a recording and completed an activity that matched the theme and the story. All my activities were posted on Seesaw and many students had never used Seesaw before. I was so impressed with their willingness to jump in a figure it out and their genuine interest and creative thinking with the activities. I also hosted a weekly story time/read aloud for each grade level using Zoom. It wasn't possible for me to check out library books to students while we were shut down, so I organized a book drive by calling on community members and Facebook friends. The books I was able to gather along with books donated by a Frazer community partner insured that there were at least two books available to all Frazer students. We invited students to pick up books when they came for meal pick up. Using Talking Points, I asked families if they needed books. Teacher volunteers delivered books to homes based on family needs.
When we started back in September, I took on the role of technology expert......which I am far from. By asking lots of questions, Googling lots of information, and trial and error I was able to support our student's technology issues. These first three quarters of the school year were a challenge. I have taught in Syracuse City Schools since 2000, first teaching middle and high school Social Studies before coming to the Frazer library five year ago. My favorite part of my job has always been the kids. The hybrid school schedule kept kids out of the library and me tending to technology. I very much missed engaging with students. As we got into the school year and met everyone's technology needs, I was determined to reach my readers. I started loaning out books from the library by creating a survey for younger students and surprising them with a special "Louer Pick" based on their survey. The older students were taught to access SORA and reserve books using the SCSD catalog via a Nearpod lesson. I was so pleased with the excitement students had for reserving books!
To kick off Read Across America week we started a Frazer Battle of the Books. I recorded myself reading 32 different books and then created Nearpod activities where two books at a time would battle it out. Based on the students feedback some books advanced in our bracket to battle other advancing books. After three weeks of battles, Frazer students chose Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus as their favorite book and winner of the first Frazer Battle of the Books. Since students had so much fun with Battle of the Books, I knew we needed another creative way to encourage reading to end the school year. For the months of April, May, and June we participated in Monday Mystery Readers. Volunteer teachers from all different grades and subjects helped me by recording their voice reading a story from SORA. On Monday's we broadcast the story and asked students to guess using a ballot I created who the Monday Mystery Reader was. Students who guessed correctly received a library prize of a giveaway book, sticker, and bookmark. Seeing the excitement and enthusiasm students had about the Monday Mystery readers is one of the best moments in my career.
So, we've gotten through this crazy year. I am going into next school year hopeful that working and learning with students in the library will look more normal. I am going into next year energized to build on the new technology skills that students and teachers and myself were forced to learn. And I am going into next school year proud that the Frazer library was able to bring some fun and excitement to the Frazer Frontier during such a difficult time.
Secondary LMS Highlight
Kate Taddeo, ELMS
This year in the library has been completely different than any other year. In some ways it feels like there have been multiple different school years all packed into one- we started the year with everything online and my job mostly consisted of helping students with tech support and making sure they were all able to get online and to classes. As we moved back to students being in person and being able to visit the library again we got back to something resembling business as usual. At ELMS that means helping with expedition research, doing initiatives and games with students and talking up all the great books in the library.
One big thing we did this year was have at least one giveaway book each month starting in December. Through a GoFundMe we were able to give away 30+ books by Black Authors purchased from Mahogany Books. I also worked with several authors online to highlight and giveaway titles by a diverse groups of authors, and we ended the year with a Starbooks Café book giveaway featuring 20 books from diverse authors that were provided by SCSD. By far the highlight of the year was getting new and exciting books into kids hands!
Learning Technology Grant (LTG) 2018-2021
The purpose of the LTG is to develop, implement, and share innovative programs that utilize learning technologies to personalize learning and/or increase access to high-quality, rigorous learning experiences (such as through online, distance, or blended learning), as well as professional development programs to assist teachers and educational leaders in effectively utilizing learning technology to enhance teaching and learning. These programs (and component activities, materials, courses, etc.) will focus on improving culturally- and linguistically-responsive learning environments, and will support the mission of the NYS Board of Regents, which is to ensure that every child has equitable access to the highest quality educational opportunities, services and supports in schools that provide effective instruction aligned to the state’s standards, as well as positive learning environments so that each child is prepared for success in college, career, and citizenship.
4 Goals of the SCSD Grant:
- Create and revise and strengthen the SCSD Instructional Technology Plan to meet the evolving needs of students.
- Create new and revise existing educational technology focused professional development sessions and expand and strengthen the current Professional Development Personalized Learning Resource Hub (PL PD Hub).
- Create and revise online credit recovery courses.
- Create a plan for ePortfolios for all SCSD students.
Learn more below:
Summer 2021 Professional Development
Over the course of the summer, the SCSD Professional Development Department will be offering over 100 unique professional development topics often with offerings and sessions. Don't miss out on your opportunity to grow forward with us! Explore the catalog linked below. Then, register in Performance Matters! (Maximum Hours per staff member: 30)
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