Staff Handbook

Lesson Plans

Planning for instruction is a professional responsibility and essential to effective teaching. As such teachers are expected to have and use a lesson plan for each class, each day. School leadership can request a copy (digital or paper) of your lesson plan at any moment.

We highly encourage teachers to use our BLHS lesson plan template which is aligned to our school vision, instructional improvement strategy and strategic priorities.

Unit Plans

Teachers have a professional responsibility to prepare unit plans. Unit plans are brief plans for the use of the teacher describing a related series of lesson plans and should include the following:

• Topic/theme/duration
• Essential question(s)
• Standard(s) addressed
• Key student learning objectives
• Sequence of learning activities
• Instructional materials used
• Assessment(s)

School leadership can request a copy (digital or paper) of your unit plan at any moment.

Our school’s instructional focus is Competency Based Education (CBE). Our lesson plan and unit plan templates are aligned with this focus and are great instructional planning tools. Teachers are not required to use these templates but are strongly encouraged to as they align with our key instructional efforts

Academic Records & Gradebook
All teachers are expected to keep student academic records including performance on homework, projects, classwork, exams and quizzes for each marking period using the DOE Grades application which can be accessed on TeachHub here: https://teachhub.schools.nyc/Home/Index. Under no circumstances should teachers directly enter marking period grades directly in STARS Classroom. If there is an extenuating circumstance preventing you from entering grades using the DOE Grades application, please reach out to your direct supervisor.

Updates on Academic Progress
Students have a right to be informed of educational progress and receive periodic evaluations both informally and through formal progress reports. They also have a right to be notified in a timely manner of the possibility of failing a course. As a rule of thumb teachers should provide students with a grade and/or feedback on a graded assignment within two weeks. Grades should be reflected in the DOE Grades application within two weeks as well. Note that one of the activities teachers can participate in during their 55 minutes of weekly Parent Engagement time is preparing student progress reports.

Determining Student Grades
Teachers determine a student’s grade in accordance with our school’s grading policy shared here: https://bushwickleadershs.com/school-policies/. To this end, a student’s grade should reflect the competency demonstrated on skills and content as assessed through success criteria (e.g. rubrics, checklists) that are shared with students in advance, ideally at the beginning of each term or at a minimum, each unit.

For gradebook purposes, in the 2023-24 school year teachers should create the following categories to reflect performance on the following school-adopted competencies:

• Critical Thinking (weight: 15%)
• Argue (weight: 15%)
• Communication (weight: 15%)
• Collaboration (weight: 15%)
• Self-Management (weight: 15%)
• Other (weight: 25%)

Additionally, teachers should follow these guidelines when determining grades:

• Attendance may not count toward a student’s grade.
• Teachers should provide multiple opportunities and use multiple measures throughout the semester for students to demonstrate competency in knowledge and skills.
• Teachers should use their professional judgement to determine which assessment best reflects a student’s competency. This means that the most recent assessment can be used in lieu of earlier ones, or vice versa.
• If you are not using a spiraled or cumulative assessments, you are strongly encouraged to use, or at the very least consider the simple average of all three marking periods when determining a student’s final grade for a course.

Parent Engagement
Teachers are expected to conduct parent engagement activities for 55 minutes during the week. These activities can be conducted remotely and includes face-to face meetings (individual or group) with parents or guardians; telephone conversations with parents or guardians; written correspondence including email with parents or guardians; creating newsletters; creating content for school/class websites; preparing student report cards; preparing student progress reports; Meetings with parents of English Language Learners (as per Commissioner’s Regulations part 154); and preparing for any of the Parent Engagement activities listed herein. Teachers shall select from the activities listed above to engage in during parent engagement time unless otherwise directed by the principal.

Note that teachers are expected to log telephone conversations (or voicemails) and face-to-face meetings using the Notes features in Kinvolv. To do so please create an anecdotal for a student and then select either “left voicemail for parent”, “parent meeting”, or “phone call with parent and other” as the category. At a minimum the information captured by the anecdotal should include the date, student name, family contact and the topics/issues discussed. If you are making joint calls with co-teachers or as a grade team you should individually log these parent engagement activities. Emails and text messages shared via Kinvolv are automatically documented and do not need to be documented elsewhere.

Although emails and text messages fall under parent engagement, we believe the best means of building strong positive relationships with parents is when they have opportunities to see and/or hear your voice.

Other Professional Work
On Tuesdays, teachers are expected to partake in other professional work for 40 minutes during the week. This includes collaborative planning; Lesson Study; Inquiry and review of student work; Measures of Student Learning (“MOSL”) related work; IEP related work (excluding IEP meetings); work with or related to computer systems/data entry; preparing and grading student assessments; mentoring; as well as responsibilities related to teacher leader duties for all individuals in Teacher Leadership Positions. Teachers can choose from the listed activities over the course of the year.

The principal can direct teachers to an activity on the list “on as needed basis” to improve class instruction and meet the needs of the school as outlined by the Comprehensive Education Plan. In addition to the activities listed here, a teacher or a group of teachers may propose additional activities that may include working with a student or students for any portion of the school year, which requires approval by the principal.

Bulletin Boards
Teachers will be assigned a bulletin that should be updated periodically. Bulletin boards should be standards-based. To this end your bulletin board should include the following elements:

• Title of Standards-Based Unit/Project or Driving/Essential Question
• Standards Addressed​
• Description of Assignment
• Criteria Chart and/or Rubric
• Student work with teacher commentary

You can find more information about standards-based bulletin boards on this deck, which also includes some examples. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns you have. I am happy to support you.

Use of Multimedia for Instructional Purposes

To ensure that rigorous instruction and expectation for students are set high, the use of audio or video resources (e.g., podcast, movie, documentary, YouTube video) for more than 10 minutes of class time for instructional purposes must be approved by school leadership in advance. Teachers should be prepared to share how they will maintain a high level or instructional rigor with the extended use (more than 10 minutes) of multimedia.

Student Attendance & Class Lateness Policy

Teachers are expected to take daily and period attendance of students. Daily attendance (captured period 2) and period attendance (captured every period) should be recorded using the DOE Attendance application which can be accessed on TeachHub here: https://teachhub.schools.nyc/Home/Index. Teachers are expected to take attendance for each class, each day during the first five minutes of class.

Students are expected to be in class and in their seats by the time the second bell rings. Students who are not present when the teacher takes attendance should be marked absent. Students that arrive after attendance has been taken should have their attendance updated to late. These students should be marked late regardless of the reason or if the student has a hall pass. Students are expected to report to class first for attendance and can then be permitted to leave the class for the bathroom or other reasons at the teacher’s discretion. Note that students should not be excused from your class to attend another class (e.g., gym) without the permission of school leadership first.

Be advised that you cannot refuse a student entry into a class that they are scheduled for. All students have a right to a free public-school education as provided by law. Denying a student entry into their scheduled class for any reason that has not been approved by the admin team in advance denies a student this right.

General Student Supervision

Teachers may never leave students unattended. For this reason, it is important that once you leave a space (e.g., classroom, library) in the school building you ensure the space is locked and inaccessible to students. If you do not have the key to lock a space, you must notify the AP for Organization who can assist with securing the space. Under no circumstance should space be left accessible to students without the supervision of a staff member. This includes the use of the elevator which students are not permitted to use unless there is a medical condition that requires them to do so.

Additionally, students should never be left unattended during field trips, assemblies, or any other school sponsored activity.

Students are expected to come to school with the things they need to be successful in your class. That includes a bookbag, a fully charged and working device and other resources (e.g. bilingual dictionary, pens, pencils, notebook, water bottle). Contact families of students that consistently come to your class unprepared. This contact should be documented in Kinvolv. Take some time to ask students why they are not coming to class prepared. Communicate with our technology specialists for any tech support students need. Also note that we know that some students may prefer to complete their work on their phones, but it is important to be mindful of the optics this creates for your classroom and unintended consequences.

Students Leaving the Classroom
Teachers should ensure that students remain in their classrooms during the first ten and last ten minutes of the period. The first ten minutes of class are crucial for getting instruction started and for taking attendance while the last ten minutes are important for the lesson closing (e.g., exit tickets). Students should not be permitted to use the bathroom or leave to go to the main office, visit their guidance counselor, college counselor, social worker, dean, administrator or anyone else during this time, even if students have appointments that have been scheduled in advance. Once ten minutes have passed students can leave the classroom if they have been provided with a school issued pass (black rectangular pass for bathroom, paper pass for other purposes) and have signed out on the Student Sign-In/Sign Out Sheet.

Note that you are also responsible for the students you allow to leave your room with a pass. You must keep a written record of who those students are, along with the date and time you give students the pass. This record may be used as a legal document in a student disciplinary hearing.

A recommended best practice is to call the student’s destination (for non-bathroom visits) before they depart your room to confirm their appointment and to ask the staff member at the destination to call back if the student has not arrived after a few minutes. This ensures that students are not wandering the halls or somewhere they are not supposed to be. Teachers should always use their professional judgement in allowing a student to use the bathroom or leave the room for another purpose (e.g., student in crisis) outside of the guidelines above. Instructional time is always the priority and should be maximized.

Students Entering or Exiting Class Without Permission
Teachers should alert School Safety (extension 1000) when a student enters or exists your class without permission. Both situations pose a serious safety risk to the student and others and need to be reported by the teacher immediately. Once School Safety is alerted, they will radio the admin team who will respond. If you cannot reach the school safety agents, immediately call or text a member of the admin team. Teachers are also expected to contact the families of students who are entering or exiting class without permission.

Classroom Food Policy
At the teacher’s discretion students are permitted to eat food in class during periods 1 and 2. Students should not be allowed to eat in class past period 2 as food creates distractions, trash and attracts mice. This policy should be communicated to students in each of your classes. If students do not comply, the parent should be notified, and the parent engagement documented in Kinvolv. If the behavior continues, please alert your direct supervisor so we can support.

Teachers are permitted to host potlucks, pizza parties in their classrooms. Advanced notice (at least 1 month) should be provided to your direct supervisor. See the section on Parties and Events for more information. Once food has been consumed, trash should be properly disposed of, and student workspaces should be cleaned for use by the next class.

Creating a Safe & Supportive Learning Environment
To promote a safe and supportive school environment where all students can learn teachers are expected to implement evidence-based Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). This includes the following:

• The classroom is designed to meet the needs of all students
• Classroom routines are developed, taught and are predictable
• School norms are posted, defined, and explicitly taught
• Prompts and active supervision practices are used proactively
• Opportunities to respond are varied and are provided at high rates
• Specific praise and other strategies are used to acknowledge behavior
• Reminders are consistently given before a behavior occurs
• The responses to misbehavior in the classroom are appropriate and systematic
• Data systems are used to collect information about classroom behavior

Teachers are asked to log minor behavior incidents using the school adopted system (ie. Kinvolv). This information is used in a variety of ways including identifying students who are most in need of intervention and support.

For more information on evidenced-based classroom management strategies please see this resource.

Developing the social-emotional competencies (i.e., self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management, responsible decision making) of students is also critical in creating safe and supportive learning environments. More specifically, when students develop their social-emotional competencies they are more motivated to learn, committed to school and are less likely to act out in class, get suspended or held back. To promote the development of social-emotional competencies teachers should include the following in their daily pedagogical practice:

• Implementing restorative practices
• Using language that praises and encourages
• Allowing students to make responsible decisions about their work
• Providing students with academic and social support
• Opportunities for cooperative learning
• Opportunities for classroom discussion
• Opportunities for self-reflection and self-assessment
• Balance of active vs. direct instruction & individual vs. collaborative learning
• Implementation of meaningful and challenging work while setting high expectations
• Building competence through modeling, practicing, feedback and coaching

More information about these evidence-based instructional practices that promote development of social-emotional competencies can be found on pages 10-18 of this resource. This self-assessment tool from CASEL is also helpful with thinking about how to promote the social-emotional development of students in your classroom.

Responding to Student Misconduct
At Bushwick Leaders’ High School we are committed to providing a safe, enriching social-emotional, learning environment through the implementation of positive behavioral intervention support (PBIS) for the purpose of enhancing student resiliency, responsibility and strengths for long term success. Despite our best efforts to create a safe and supportive environment through PBIS and the development of social-emotional competencies we understand that students can engage in unwanted behavior. In these circumstances we take a restorative approach in responding to misconduct by holding students accountable for their actions and supporting them in making better decisions in the future.

Implementation of appropriate interventions and disciplinary responses must consider several factors, including the nature and severity of the misconduct. In certain cases, student support, and interventions may be used in lieu of or in tandem with in-school disciplinary responses. In some cases, a student’s misconduct may require or be most appropriately addressed by a targeted or significant disciplinary response, along with support and interventions. To learn more about responses to student misconduct review the NYCDOE Citywide Behavioral Expectations.

School Trips
Trips are an important part of the educational process and are highly encouraged. Trips give our students the opportunity to experience learning firsthand and must, therefore, be carefully planned. An important step for setting up a school trip is submitting a trip plan using this Google Form which will be reviewed by an administrator. The trip plan should be submitted 60 days in advance for domestic trips. As you begin the process of planning a trip take time to review this BLHS created FAQ as well as this NYCDOE created FAQ which share important information and considerations for planning trips.

Once a trip plan is approved students should be provided with a parent notification & consent form, available here, which should be completed, signed by the parent and returned to the teacher.

You should review behavior expectations with students prior to any trip. If you are visiting a cultural institution, please review their code of conduct with student as well. If students are not meeting behavior expectations, you have the option of returning the group back to school at any point in time. Parents should also be immediately called if there is a serious issue or concern along with an administrator.