Friday, September 28, 2018

Happy Fall Break everyone! We have earned it after a busy week full of Family Math Mornings! Great job to all the grade teams - parent feedback is already coming in - with one particular parent stating, “The Family Math Mornings were great. I didn’t really understand how the math programme worked here, but now I do and I am very happy with my son’s math class!”.

Travel safe and enjoy a much deserved break. It has been a fabulous first quarter together and we thank you for all you have done to create rigorous and differentiated programmes in the Elementary School. Thank you.

See you back Monday 8th October, ready for our next quarter together.

Thank yous…

• To ALL the teachers who prepared their classrooms and students to welcome parents on Family Math Mornings, and especially those who joined us to debrief: Kay, Kristina, Deepa, Fer, Tiffany, John, & Ross - thank you for helping tell our ES story of rigor
• Thank you to Esther for working hard to support the learning that is happening in our classrooms - Marcus, Ross and Fiona
• Thank you to Calley for helping Grade 4 get their math workshop planned and ready to launch
• Grade 4 would like to thank Hilary and Mary Kelly for their work in making our Social Studies units fun and engaging for our students
• Mona for taking on babysitting duties during the Math mornings
• Vanessa, Elliot, Salome, Linda & David Hassler for chaperoning the second Pondicherry CWW trip this week
• Tiffany and Ula for getting their narrative comments done in time to be ‘test classes’ into powerschool
• Megha for piloting a new approach to her classroom library - so engaging for students!
• Sarah Sahr for pitching in with helping with ES duties!  Thank you.
• Sherriden and Kirsten who are also helping out with gate duty while Dave is out
• Ula for her starring role in preparing for Growth Story Conferences

2nd Twitter Challenge Winner

First winner of our twitter challenge goes to @mrscotts; his tweet below got the most amount of likes for any tweet using the #aiscelementary hashtag. Keep tweeting everyone - look out for next weeks’ winner!

Student quotes after our Family Math Morning: "This was my favorite day this year!!" and "Can we have Family Math Morning every week?" I think it's safe to say the event was a success!! @AISChennai #aiscelementary

Upcoming Week at a glance

Monday 8 Oct	Comments  (google doc) due to admin for final proofing (can be shared with admin proofer over break if ready early - proof readers found here) India Month-2018 Rehearsals
Tuesday 9 Oct	G5 Family Math Morning Vision and Hearing Screening Schedule India Month-2018 Rehearsals
Wednesday 10 Oct	Full run through of India Month Opening Performances Lower Elementary- 9:05 - 9:45 a.m Upper Elementary- 10:55 - 11:35 a.m Edited comments returned to teachers, can begin entering narratives into PowerSchool Vision and Hearing Screening Schedule   India Month-2018 Rehearsals
Thursday 11 Oct	G3-5 India Month Opening Performance 2:30 - 3:15 p.m. All report information entered into PowerSchool Vision and Hearing Screening Schedule
Friday 12 Oct	EY5-G2 India Month Opening Performance 2:30 - 3:15 p.m. Reports printed by ES office, final check Vision and Hearing Screening Schedule

India Month Opening Assemblies

The Student Performance Assemblies are on these dates and times:

Grades 3-5 - Thursday, October 11th at 2:30 p.m.

EY5 - Grade 2 – Friday, October 12th at 2:30 p.m.

Both assemblies will be in the FAC theatre.  All logistical information can be found here. Please read.

Growth Story Conferences (repeat)

Coming up after the break - Monday, 15th October after school and Tuesday 16th October all day.

 
The purpose of these conferences is to share the data points that tell the growth story for each child. The one-page progress report that focuses on learning habits and personal/social/emotional growth will be given to the parents at this conference in hard copy to take home.

Great ideas and common questions from our preparation meeting can be found here.
Growth conferences will be 20 mins in duration; EY - G2 it is only parent/teacher; G3 - 5 it is parent/child/teacher. Supervision will be provided for students and sibling.

A snack on Thursday and lunch on Friday will be provided for ES Staff.  

Meet AISC - Ula Konczweska

Ula was born in Gorzow Wielkopolski (how do you pronounce that?), a medium-sized city in Poland. She left her hometown at the age of 18 and moved to the United States to pursue college education, where she received a few degrees in various subjects including Political Science and Instructional Technology, before falling in love with teaching and getting a Master's Degree in Elementary Education. Since then Ula has lived and taught in 5 countries. Somebody close to her once told her to "Always take the scenic route in life, because you never know how all your experiences might come together at some point." Ula loves learning from my students who see the world clearly and speak with truth and honesty. If she had a magic power she would I like to beam kindness into people's hearts.

Since the age of 6 Ula has been a part of various performing dance groups, traveling around the world and performing in different styles including jazz, modern, and traditional folk dance. The music and dance closest to her heart comes from the Balkan region. If you ever want to learn how to properly dance at a Greek wedding, let Ula know! If she could she would also create her own reality TV show called Dance Around the World-  travel to every country in the world and learn traditional dances of the people.

Have a recharging break! Travel safe and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 8th October.

Keryn, Dave and Calley

Friday, September 21, 2018

Dear all,

Happy Friday! One more week and we hit our first long fall break. Next week will be busy with growth conference preparation and also finishing up the first progress reports, and we thank you in advance for your attention to these important pieces of communication that tell the ES growth story.

Thank yous…

• Jack for getting the soccer league underway again - much appreciated!
• Hilary from Scott and John for all of her tremendous support during our Forces and Interactions unit. We really appreciate all of her hard work!!
• Scott and John for taking on the above mentioned and truly inquiry forces and interactions engagement
• Jane, Kay, Marea, Ula, Fer, and Sarah for celebrating their students’ learning this week in a new space - thanks for being amazing risk takers!
• Julia, Becky, Preethika, Adithya, and Jack for chaperoning the first CWW Pondicherry trip - the kids loved how engaged you all were with everything

Upcoming Week at a glance

Monday 24 Sept	Grade 1 Family Math Morning 8:45 - 10:15 a.m GTL Meeting 3:45 - 5:00 PM SHED
Tuesday 25 Sept	Grade 2 Family Math Morning 8:45 - 10:15 a.m 5EF and 5VL leave for CWW in Pondicherry - chaperones;  Elliot, Vanessa, Salome, Linda, Dave and David Hassler
Wednesday 26 Sept	Grade 4 Family Math Morning 8:45 - 10:15 a.m Faculty meeting - ES Section meeting in Madras Hall (Growth story conferences.  Please bring your data packet for one child with you.)
Thursday 27 Sept	Grade 3 Family Math Morning 8:45 - 10:15 a.m
Friday 28 Sept	5EF and 5JL return from CWW in Pondicherry

India Month Rehearsals

The FAC rehearsal timeline spans between next week (September 24th - 28th) and will be continued when we get back from our Fall Break (October 8th and 9th).

All the dance performances will have 3 rehearsals and the singing will have 2 rehearsals during this time. During this time, the students must ALWAYS be accompanied by a teacher (HR/EAL/Specialist) or by a TA.

However, on October 10th (Wednesday), we will have a final run-through of both the performances. As scheduled for the main event, we will wrap up in 45 minutes (less than 45 minutes in this case, as there will be no lighting of the diya, the slideshow, the teachers dance and the thank you's).

Lower Elementary- 9:05 - 9:45 a.m

Upper Elementary- 10:55 - 11:35 a.m

At this time, we will familiarise our students with our expectations at the FAC with their specific grade-wise entry, seating, waiting backstage, performance and exit. Our student MCs' will also get a chance to practice their respective parts with the flow of the events.   I will also communicate the specific instructions for lights, sound, curtain cues, and usage of risers for every performance to the theatre manager. So we're ready to go on the 11th and 12th of October!

*I will need the TAs to be present during this time.

Here is the spreadsheet for the both the schedules (Rehearsals and Final run-through).

Thank you, Preethi

Growth Story Conferences

Coming up after the break - Monday, 15th October after school and Tuesday 16th October all day.

 
The purpose of these conferences is to share the data points that tell the growth story for each child. The one-page progress report that focuses on learning habits and personal/social/emotional growth will be given to the parents at this conference in hard copy to take home.

Growth conferences will be 20 mins in duration; EY - G2 it is only parent/teacher; G3-5 it is parent/child/teacher.  Childcare for siblings will be provided in the CIC.

Conference Sign-up (Edmodo)

Please make a copy of this template for parents to sign up for Student Growth Conferences. Second, please send the signup sheet to parents before the end of the day on Thursday 27 September.

Upcoming Student Growth Conferences and Progress Report (repeat announcement)
All teams by now should have seen the progress report format. These report cards will communicate progress around our learning habits as well as one PSE narrative comment. This comment should focus on transitions to the new grade/class/school, relationships formed, learning habits and choices being made and as much as possible use the language from the AISC Vision of a learner.  

A reminder of deadlines for these as well as proofreaders can be found below. Here is the report card writing style guide for your easy access. If you would prefer to send a sample PSE narrative comment to your proofreader for helpful feedback, please do so well in advance of the deadline!

** Here is the video on how to enter grades and comments on progress report.

Progress Report Card Timeline

Wednesday 26 Sept	Faculty meeting focusing on growth story conferences - HR, EAL and LSS teachers Please bring data for one child to practice telling growth story;  this can include but is not limited to:  F&P, early literacy checks, writing on-demands, math pre and post assessments, unit formative assessments etc etc
By Thursday 27 September	Homeroom teachers completed narrative comments given to EAL co-teacher to proof  **vital step
F A L L    B R E A K
By Monday 8 October (end of day)	Comments  (google doc) due to admin for final proofing (can be shared with admin proofer over break if ready early)
Wednesday 9 October	Edited comments returned to teachers, can begin entering narratives into PowerSchool
By Thursday 10 October 3pm	All report information entered into PowerSchool
Friday 12 October	Reports printed by ES office, final check
Monday 15 October	Reports given to HR teachers to give to parents at growth story conference

ES Classroom Volunteering for Discovery Day on October 19th ​

The first High School Discovery Day of the year will take place on Friday, October 19th.  Discovery Day is an opportunity for students to learn something outside of the normal class schedule and structure. One Discovery Day activity that has been successful in the past involves high school students working with elementary school teachers in their classrooms.  This is a great opportunity for high school students to gain experience in a classroom setting and to learn skills that encourage empathy, confidence and compassion. For elementary students, it provides a fun opportunity to interact with older students, and for teachers, it could be a great opportunity to try something new!  Please complete this Google Form to indicate your interest in participating. Please contact Josiah Laposky at ljosiah@aischennai.org if you have any questions.  Thank you for your consideration!

Have a great weekend!

Keryn, Dave and Calley

Inspiration Station - Optional Reading

Stop reading now if you choose, or keep scrolling for something completely different.

Weekly faculty notes will now include some inspirational, fun, thought-provoking, or heart-warming bits at the end of the required reading.   Do you have an article, a link, a story or something else special to share?  Please email Calley!

Last week our students from elementary through high school shared inspiring messages of Peace.  I was touched by the messages of our human right to peace, which has sadly been so often out of reach for many.  In a recent victory for peace and reconciliation, the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments ended a violent 20 year conflict that kept families separated.  Judging from the video footage of the celebration at the border opening, the people of Ethiopia and Eritrea rejoiced at this good news and reunited with their friends and families.

Friday, September 14, 2018

Dear Faculty,

Great spirit week at AISC! Huge thank you to all of you who got into the spirit of things and dressed up - created such a fun learning atmosphere this week. Look at all these sleepy people below...

International Day

Tomorrow is international day on campus from 11:00 a.m - 3:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing many of you there to sample different nationality food and learn new things from the different country booths. Kids love seeing you there so thank you to those of you who can make it!

Twitter Challenge Winner

First winner of our twitter challenge goes to Amritha - her tweet below got the most amount of likes for any tweet using the #aiscelementary hashtag. Keep tweeting everyone - look out for next weeks’ winner!

Upcoming Week at a glance

Monday 17 Sept	MAP testing starts for Grades 2, 3 and 4 9:00 - 10:30 every day. **Specialists teaching G2-4 during this time should check in with homeroom teachers
Tuesday 18 Sept	5BT and 5JD leave for CWW in Pondicherry - chaperones;  Becky, Julia, Preetika, Jack, Keryn and Adithya
Wednesday 19 Sept	Early Release Faculty meeting - Vertical team meetings, see info from Dan and your vertical team lead
Thursday  20 Sept	-
Friday  21 Sept	EY5 - G2 Learning Celebration 2:45 pm in Madras Hall 5BT and 5JD return from CWW in Pondicherry HS Discover India trips depart

Thank yous

• Thank you to everyone in each of your indispensable roles to make our UN Day Parade run smoothly and such a celebration of all our students’ and cultures
• Thank you to Giovanni, Kay, Jack, Jen, and Mary Kelly for your great help at the BBB
• Thank you to Fifth Grade teachers for being flexible and letting their students step out for rehearsals
• Thanks for the nurses for soothing the many shoe-bites that come from wearing ill-fitting but festive Spirit Week footwear
• A huge thank you to everyone for making our first fire drill so amazing. All the students had quiet voices and exited the building quickly. A special thank you to EY 3 and 4 for helping your students exit the building in a quick and quiet manner especially since it was during their nap time.
• Becky and the 5th Grade team with getting ready for the first Pondicherry CWW next Tuesday

Family Math mornings

The week after next we have scheduled Family Math mornings as a way for parents to better understand our math programs. The structure of these will start with Calley at 8:45 am explaining some core fluencies etc for each grade in a parent-coffee style presentation and then parents will join with their children in class to explore a math engagement together. Dates for this are on the community calendar:

• Grade 1:  Sept 24 Madras Hall
• Grade 2:  Sept 25 Madras Hall
• Grade 3:  Sept 26 Madras Hall
• Grade 4:  Sept 27 Madras Hall
• Grade 5:  Oct 10 BBT
• EY5:  Nov 21

Please can all homeroom teachers post this on their Edmodo page by end of day Monday, then a reminder the day before:

Family Math Mornings

We are looking forward to seeing all parents next (insert date and time) for our Family Math Morning!  This is a wonderful opportunity for you to come in and learn more about our math programme and participate in hands on activities with your child. See you then!

Continued Learning Walks

Thank you to those of you who welcomed Dave, Calley and Keryn into your classrooms for our first round of learning walks. Over the upcoming weeks, Joelle, Jessica and Keryn will be conducting another series of learning walks. We are excited to see the alignment from EY - Grade 12. Calley will also be bringing around ES specialists on learning walks to learn more about EY3 - Grade 2 progressions. Thank you in advance for welcoming us in to your  class!

Change of Personnel

Due to an unexpected required medical procedure, Ms Seema will be absent from school for the next few weeks. Ms Radha Anand, who has been working as part of our learning support department will step into the role of EAL co-teacher for both Ms Kay and Ms Marea's first grade classes.

Upcoming Student Growth Conferences and Progress Report
All teams by now should have seen the progress report format. These report cards will communicate progress around our learning habits as well as one PSE narrative comment. This comment should focus on transitions to the new grade/class/school, relationships formed, learning habits and choices being made and as much as possible use the language from the AISC Vision of a learner.  

A reminder of deadlines for these as well as proofreaders can be found below. Here is the report card writing style guide for your easy access. If you would prefer to send a sample PSE narrative comment to your proofreader for helpful feedback, please do so well in advance of the deadline!

Wednesday 26 Sept	Faculty meeting focusing on growth story conferences - HR, EAL and LSS teachers Please bring data for one child to practice telling growth story;  this can include but is not limited to:  F&P, early literacy checks, writing on-demands, math pre and post assessments, unit formative assessments etc etc
By Thursday 27  September	Homeroom teachers completed narrative comments given to EAL co-teacher to proof  **vital step
F A L L    B R E A K
By Monday 8 October (end of day)	Comments  (google doc) due to admin for final proofing (can be shared with admin proofer over break if ready early)
Wednesday 9 October	Edited comments returned to teachers, can begin entering narratives into PowerSchool
By Thursday 10 October 3pm	All report information entered into PowerSchool
Friday 12 October	Reports printed by ES office, final check
Monday 15 October	Reports given to HR teachers to give to parents at growth story conference

Faculty Parents

Should your child have an event that happens during the school day which you would like to be part of, it is imperative you let your supervisor know well in advance. Please contact your supervisor with a suggested cover plan when you seek approval. We will endeavour to support faculty parents attending such events when it is possible for us to do so, however, if options are available to attend events outside of your teaching hours, that would be preferable.

Tutoring

For students in your class that you are recommending to receive tutoring, this form must be completed before tutoring is approved. This will also help document who and why each student is being referred for tutoring. Once the form has been submitted, Dave will review the form. If the data warrant that the student is in need of tutoring then the next step will be to connect the student with a tutor.

Have a great weekend,

Keryn, Dave & Calley