August 5th, 2016

Week 2…

Great start back this week everyone!  Thank you all for making everything go so smoothly for our first few days together.  Now the fun begins :)

Thank you’s

Thank you Kay for sharing about Operation Appreciation - a great element of our culture here at AISC

Thank you Lori for putting together the duty schedule

Thank you everyone, particularly TAs for ensuring all classrooms looked very welcoming for our students this week

Thank you Clinton for stepping up for extra soccer field duties!  :)Bi

Purchase Requests

Please provide sufficient detail when submitting a P.O to me - ideally this should have purpose and (approximate) cost!  This will help me process these as quickly as I can.

Student voice in classroom set up

A great article  “Design thinking & the Deskless classroom”, I found relating to what we unpacked in our inquiry workshop last Monday.

Edmodo Expectations

By now all teachers - homeroom and specialists - should have posted their welcome bio to the classes they teach.  If this is not done yet, please ensure it happens over the weekend ready for Monday morning.

Every time you make a future post - please organize your posts under one of the following headings:
* Action
* Important
* Update (weekly update, unit update, curricular update etc)
* Reminder
* Celebration

Homeroom Edmodo Expectations
Thank you for all sharing your ideas - for consistency across and within grades, please follow the following expectations (please note these are minimal & those wanting to post more frequently can do so!)

• Individual classroom weekly update; what has happened this week, main events, big learning ideas (include photos)
• Bi-weekly classroom celebration posts mostly photos; a few sentences only  (if you have a teacher blog already and prefer to do this here and push the link out via Edmodo, then please continue to do this)
• Grade level posts (can be copied onto all class accounts) when a new curricular unit begins

Specialist Edmodo Expectations
* Post each time a new unit begins (copied onto all classes within grade level)
* Monthly celebration update; photos with a few sentences only personalized to each class

Faculty Meeting on Wednesday 10th

All school Curriculum work with Dan.  Please meet at 3.45 in the FAC Cafeteria with a device you can work on.
The Wednesday schedule can be found here, this will continue to be completed over the next week or so.

Hall passes

Thank you for sharing all your thoughts on this so openly.  We have decided to begin the year on a ‘needs basis’ only for hall passes.  Passes are to be given if a child needs assistance with English language support, or to explain a nurse/principal office visit.  Otherwise, passes are not necessary. This will need to be unpacked with returning children.  
We will revise this again towards the end of the trimester if necessary.

Some of you also have questions regarding transitions between classes - for now, please keep as is - but know that we will revisit this topic over the coming weeks.

Student Protection Agreement Follow Up - from Nigel

Thanks for your thought provoking queries and engagement in the Student Protection discussion on Monday. Regarding the Student Protection Agreement I would like to clarify a couple of points.

• The Student Protection agreement is a pledge made by staff annually. It's purpose is to ensure that AISC staff understand the student protection policy and are aware of how they can protect students and themselves at school. It is not a legal document.
• One point on the document that created some confusion was "I will never be alone with students at school or non-school activities on weekends or evenings without another adult being notified." What is important to recognise in this item is that if students are at school on the weekend or during the evening then there are a range of activities in which we would expect those students to be involved. Within these activities, there are certainly times in which we would expect those students to be alone with a teacher. For example practicing for a performance. This is a normal school activity and any parent or colleague would not be surprised to find you doing that with students. The adult notification occurred when the student was sent to school to be engaged in the activities.
• For non-school activities it is not necessary that a parent be told you are alone with student but that another adult knows you are. For example your spouse may have gone out for dinner and is aware you are there with the student.

I still have your signed copies of the Student Protection Agreement and given that the form hasn't changed I am not going to shred them. If anyone is unsure about the document they signed, I am happy to sit down with you and discuss it. Please just get in contact with me via email.
Nigel

From the Discovery Studio

The Discovery Studios are almost open for business. We have got some new tools the kids will love and a ton of new materials to build their science and other projects with. If you are interested in having your students come to the Discovery Studios to work on a project to help them get oriented to the room and meet Dilip and I, please sign up for a time that works for you. Your students will need about an hour. I can take 2 classes at a time. Times can be booked now for sessions beginning on Wednesday August 10. If you have any questions, please let me know.

From the CIC

See here some super helpful suggestions and ideas from Jet!

Book bags, Pass Along Folders and Reading Levels

Pass along folders for returning students have been distributed and this year’s book bag colors are: 1st = red, 2nd = orange, 3rd = blue, 4th = green, 5th = purple. Extra bags for new students can be found in the back corner of the library under the stairs (for all grades except first - your extra bags have been ordered).

IT is not yet able to reconfigure returning students latest independent reading levels through Skyward, but they continue to work on a system for creating class lists with the most current results. In the meantime, the same information can be found in the Pass Along Portfolios.

Bridges and Number Racks

All Bridges materials (workbooks and home connections) have been distributed. Early next week, K-3 teachers will receive a set of 20 kits for students to make their own number racks. If you require additional kits throughout the year, the extras will be kept in Lori’s office. If you’d like to meet with Calley early in the year to discuss pacing, instruction, assessment or differentiation, feel free to invite her to an upcoming team meeting.

That’s it everyone - have a great weekend and see you all back refreshed for our first full week of school together!


Warmly,
Keryn