Learning Together

We hope that you found time to relax and recharge over the spring recess in preparation for the final few months of school.

Over part of the break, I had the opportunity to represent Gates Chili along with other district administrators by sharing our district’s journey to equity with a national audience of board members, superintendents and others at the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Conference. As we planned for the presentation, Belonging Bound, it was eye-opening to take a step back from our day-to-day work and see the progress we’ve made as a district and the commitment Gates Chili has made to equity. It was an honor to represent so many of you and the work you have contributed to our strategic plan for equity over the past few years to support our students.

Following the presentation, representatives from many districts around the country thanked us for sharing our story and the work we are doing as a district. Those comments and feedback affirmed what we already know to be true: we are doing the right work for students. It also reassured me and others that we must continue to take the time to reflect on our personal work and our work as a district to know where we have been and where we still need to go. We recognize there is a great deal of work to still be accomplished and we are glad we get to do that here in Gates Chili.

Thank you all for your ongoing commitment to each other and our students.

Ensuring that our students have equitable access to consistent and rigorous instruction begins with our curriculum units. Last month, departments and grade levels had the opportunity to look at a unit together and think about which components of rigor were evident, what needed to be clarified, and what revisions could be made to the unit.

When designing curriculum units in Gates Chili, we refer to our Rigor Framework to consider how state standards, assessments, and learning opportunities can work together to support student learning that is culturally responsive, inquiry-based and authentic.

• Based on the New York State learning standards, Stage One outlines the goals for what students need to know, understand and be able to do.
• Stage Two outlines how students' progress towards these goals will be measured, as well as how they will receive feedback on that progress.
• The learning opportunities, instructional strategies and resources that are used to develop students' understanding of the standards are outlined in Stage Three

Teacher leaders have submitted proposals for summer curriculum development based on the work that they have done throughout this year to analyze and assess the rigor in the instructional units taught within each course or grade level. If you plan to participate, remember that you will need to sign up for the required training that we will be holding in May and June.

Sessions will be held on: May 24, May 31, June 14 or June 21

Each date will have a morning and an afternoon session, 8-11 a.m. or 12-3 p.m.

You only need to attend one. Register in Frontline.

Curated by the Coaches

Click on any of the images to link to the coaches' Wakelet and find out more!

Hexagonal Thinking: A Colorful Tool for Discussion | Cult of Pedagogy

If you’ve been looking for a fresh way to get students thinking outside the box, this may be just what you need.

13 Formative Assessments That Inspire Creativity

Sometimes mixing in formative assessments that go a step beyond exit slips and low-stakes quizzes can inject some fun—and creativity—into learning.

Instructional Technology Mystery

Lailah's Lunchbox

Lailah is in a new school in a new country and missing her old friends. When Ramadan begins, she is excited that she is finally old enough to participate in the fasting but worried that her classmates won't understand why she doesn't join them in the lunchroom. AVAILABLE: eBook and at PR, WD, and NA libraries!

If you have books, bits and bytes to share, please reach out to our coaches!

Jen Christensen, K-5 Literacy Coach | @GCReadWriteGrow
Matt Harvey, K-12 Library Media Coach | @GatesChiliLibs

Mike Munski, K-12 Innovation Coach @MikeMunski

Wendy Taylor, K-12 Innovation Coach | @GC_WendyTaylor

In case you didn’t know, Gates Chili has a Professional Learning Plan Team made up of representatives from each building. This dedicated team has been hard at work this year analyzing how to make professional learning as meaningful, accessible, and as easy as possible! We continue to update the Professional Learning page on the staff intranet (must be logged in to access – click login at the bottom of the GC homepage then you will see staff intranet at the top right). We are also working to develop a vision and learning strands for professional learning here in Gates Chili, and review and approve proposed activities for our District Professional Learning Catalog in Frontline which If you haven’t checked out the recently, you really should take a look! In the next few months there are several outstanding offerings beginning this month. From book studies to learning about how to unlock our English Learners’ Potential, to developing a deeper understanding about different cultures, LGBTQAI+ learning differentiated by K-5 and 6-12, and even how to support your secondary students with Paper, a dynamic on-line platform where our students can receive editing help and live tutoring while they are at home studying or doing homework.

Our Professional Learning Plan Team will meet May 10 and again June 7, so if you are interested in planning and leading a district PL during the rest of the school year or summer, please submit a 2022-2023 In District PL Proposal Form at least a week prior to either of these dates for consideration. We will plan to meet again in late July or early August for Fall PL approvals.

Way to go, Jessica Federico, Kimberly Burgholzer, and Sara Collom for correctly answering last months riddle! The answer was Silence!

April Riddle: What place has Gates Chili ranked among Rochester Top Workplaces - large companies last year and this year?

If you know the answer to this month's riddle, click HERE to submit your answer. The first three (3) people who answer the riddle correctly will receive a special prize in their mailbox next week!

Good luck!