October 29, 2010

FORMAL OBSERVATIONS
Your supervisor should tell you in advance that she will be formally observing you on a particular day. Ask for both pre- and post-observation conferences, in writing if necessary. Use the pre-observation conference to clarify what your supervisor expects to see during the visit. Take notes. You may be asked for a lesson plan. Following the observation, you should write down your recollections of the lesson, which will help you at the post-observation conference with your supervisor.

At the post-observation conference, your supervisor will discuss what she has seen and give you a written report of the observation. If you believe the report is inaccurate or unfair, you should speak to me so that I can help you formulate a written response and advise you of the other options open to you. Your response must be attached to the original report and placed with the original in your file.

LESSON PLANS
As the educator responsible for providing classroom instruction to your students, you are responsible for developing lesson plans and can determine their format, organization, notation and content. Your supervisor may suggest, but cannot require or insist upon, a particular format unless you have received a “U” rating. Your supervisor may enter your classroom and ask to see your lesson plan, at any time, but cannot collect them on a regular basis or cumulatively.

MICROMANAGEMENT
The contract expressly forbids supervisors to discipline you for the appearance and format of your bulletin boards, the arrangement of your room, or the length of segments of your lesson.
You have the right to place your desks and chairs as you deem fit. This includes your own desk, and the placement of items on it, as well as placement of books, binders, etc.

TEACHER DATA REPORTS (Gr. 4-8)
In order for the UFT to be successful in court on the TDI case, we need specific information on incorrect Teacher Data Reports. If yours contains errors, tell me immediately so that UFT Central can be notified.

We have set up a hotline (212-598-6860) and email address (tdrreports@uft.org) for members who may have errors in their reports. One-to-one support will be available.

SAFETY
Be sure to secure your handbags, purses, etc., and always lock the door whenever you leave the classroom. This will also prevent students from entering an empty classroom where they can either take things and/or injure themselves.

If you are threatened, assaulted or injured in any way by a student, parent, intruder, etc. be sure to fill out a UFT Safety Report in addition to the DOE reports.

PREPS AND LUNCH
You are entitled to five unassigned preps per week. You cannot be compelled to attend any meetings other than the monthly staff conference during one lunch period per month, and the monthly grade conference during one common prep per month. You may not be forced to attend meetings, demo lessons, etc. during your prep and/or lunch.

CHANCELLOR’S CONFERENCE DAY
November 2, 2010, Election Day, has been designated as a Chancellor’s Conference Day. All staff must be in by 8:00 AM and may leave at 2:50 PM.

NEW PARKING PERMITS
We have only been provided 18 permits. I will appeal for more. You MUST sign for the permit in the morning and return it at the end of the day. Those caught abusing the privilege will be barred from using permits. No excuses.

TDA
Help prepare for your retirement now by enrolling in the Tax-Deferred Annuity Program (TDA) of the City of New York. Just a small percentage of your paycheck can be worth thousands down the road. Call 1(888) 8-NYC-TRS, or go to www.trsnyc.org

THANK YOU
I will be accepting the UFT’s Ely Trachtenberg Award at this year’s Teacher Union Day Awards Ceremony on November 7. I wish to thank all of my colleagues who in the past several years:
• Accompanied me to Albany to meet with our local state legislators;
• Telephoned these same state legislators in Albany to stop budget cuts;
• Sent postcards to Albany fighting education cuts;
• Fought to defend IEPs and for the rights of Special Education students;
• Attended rallies to fight to prevent layoffs of our colleagues and education cuts which hurt our students;
• Attended the OneNation rally in Washington, DC;
• Donated to the UFT Haiti Relief Fund;
• Passed out leaflets;
• Contributed to COPE;
• And who continue to exercise their rights as educators and work their best even in the face of relentless attacks against our union, our dignity as professionals, our pensions and benefits from politicians, the media, charter school advocates and even our own mayor and schools chancellor.


Barring any urgent situations, our next chapter meeting will be on November 24 with our district representative, Kathy Sharko.