Dear Colleagues,
Congratulations on a wonderfully
successful year! We did it! 2018-19 academic year, check! Thank you to each and
every one of you for the role you have played in providing a superb elementary
education for the children in your care, and thank you for all the extra miles
you have gone to do so with grace, courage, patience, wonder and all the time
with a smile :)
Now that we’ve made it to the summer break and we
invite you to use this time to take a break, relax and reflect on the wonderful
year. The questions below were brought to the Leadership team this week and it
was agreed that summer is a great time for all teachers to set aside an hour to
reflect on the questions below. Going forward, they may be very useful for next
year’s professional growth conversations.
Five Questions to
Ask Yourself Near the Year's End
The month of May sometimes feels like a stumbling
stagger toward the finish line. It can also be a time to reflect. Before the
rush of the school year recedes into a hazy memory, give yourself 15 minutes to
ponder these five questions. Grab your computer, or scrounge up a pen and
notebook, and jot down your responses. Talk about them with a friend, family
member, or colleague you trust. Or take a long walk, some evening when you’re
not too worn out, and give yourself a little time to ponder.
1. What have you taught? This
means a lot more than the bulleted content outlined in the standards. What have
you taught the children in your care this year, by your words or example, about
how to be a human being in the world?
2. What have you learned? What
do you know now that you didn't in August about children, teaching, and
yourself?
3. What have you done well? Teachers
tend to be hard on ourselves. Don't gloss over your strengths and successes,
large or small.
4. What do you need to work on?
Not a single teacher in the entire world has had a flawless school year, so
don't beat yourself up for the ways you may have fallen short. But think about
what you can change or learn to better meet your students' many needs. Seek out
resources on teaching English-language learners. Resolve to speak more kindly
to the children in your class, even when you're frustrated. We still have a
little time left to make those changes.
5. What impact did you have beyond your own
classroom? Teacher leadership doesn't have to happen on a
grand scale to be significant. If you led a professional development session at
your school, gave your grade-level team an idea for a project, or gave a new
teacher a little reassurance and wisdom right when she needed it most, your
influence extended beyond your own students.
This comes from an article from a second grade
teacher - full article, read here
Thank yous and acknowledgements…
- Thank you for everything over
these last few weeks! We appreciate being part of a community that is
willing to help so much during difficult times. We appreciated and enjoyed
all the kind words, prayers, check-ins, sweet treats and overall well
wishes from everyone! Have a wonderful summer and we will see you back
next year - The Fijmans
- To Jen Cypra - We can't thank
you enough for coordinating our last Math Unit 8 into a STEM project. We
really appreciated how you took the time to plan and organize all the
different lesson leading up to the final Marble Challenge project. The
kids learned so much about the variables (ramp height, marble mass, and
length of the ramp) that are important when building their own Marble
roller coaster. It was a fabulous way to end the year! Thanks so much for
coordinating this with Grade 2.
- The students and teachers of
4JH and 4JN would like to give a big thanks to Mr. Joseph and Ms. Priya K.
for all the help in making our Memory T-shirts.
- A big thanks to Ms. Hilary
and Ms. Priya V. from 4JN and 4JH for the exciting scavenger hunt
challenge!
- Thank you to the EY through
Grade 1 teachers and Mr Finny and Mr Vasanth as well as Mr Joseph for a
lovely EY-Grade 1 Celebration. Parents have given us lots of positive
feedback and we appreciate all your efforts.
- Thank you to the Grade 2
through Grade 4 teachers and Mr Finny and Ms Sarah for their musical
celebrations. We loved to see how the children’s musical abilities and
knowledge are progressing year to year. What a visible learning event!
- Thank you, finally, to the
Grade 5 teachers and Ms Sarah and Ms Vanessa for all that you shared at
this lovely and meaningful ceremony. It was a truly a warm send-off for
our departing fifth graders … and they are ALL departing AISC elementary!
- Congratulations to everyone - we made it through another year. Give yourself a pat on the back today! Woo hoo!
Saturday 1st June
|
ES Staff Photo 9:30 am - ES Plaza (please gather
in the Covered area directly after leaving ceremony)
Wear a touch of green for sectional pride!
|
Sunday 2 June - Monday 31 June
|
Rest, relax, rejuvenate, rejoice, recharge and revive yourself!
|
Wednesday 31 July
|
See you back for our first day of AFO!
|
Elementary Returning Faculty Summer Reading
Please find here some short
articles that we would like you to read before we begin AFO together next
August. In total, we estimate this to be under 2 hours of reading and thinking
- although some of you will complete this much quicker, and some may want to
invest more time with. Please do try to read these and make notes using the
framing question/takeaway suggestions as this will make the AFO PD sessions far
more engaging and beneficial for all.
Here’s a joyful pic from the last week of the upper ES Art room before
renovations!
Ms Anita suggests that her room is a great place for an end-of-year
selfie!
End of Year Checkout
Every teacher needs to have the items of this form
checked off and signed by the appropriate person before leaving for the end of
year. On Saturday 2nd June, the final step, the physical room sign off will
also happen. This will happen in your physical space with the check out
supervisor looking to see the room is packed and ready for summer cleaning.
This will look different in different spaces!
- If you are
moving spaces, or having your classroom renovated, EVERYTHING needs to be
in boxes, labelled with your (new) room number, name, and
grade/department.
- In all
rooms, EVERYTHING must be removed from bulletin boards, walls
- All
classroom resources remaining in the classrooms should be neatly stored in
a manner that allows the shelves and classroom to be thoroughly cleaned.
- Remember we
have Saturday 1st June as a working day to complete any packing, as well
as check out
- Sign out sheet can start to be filled out as items are completed (except room sign off which can only happen Saturday 1st June)
Dave - Vigna, Daphne, Sharon, Jayasri,
Jayshree, Jenny, Bindu, Amy, Melissa, Amanda, Amritha,
Chaitanya
Dan - Julia, Becky, Preethika, Angie,
Ula, Fer, Barbara, Karen, Kristina, Morgen, Uma
Keryn - Marcus, Fiona, Ross, Seema, Janna,
Jyotsna, Elliot, Vanessa, Salome, Dee, Keeley, Anita,
Joseph,
Calley - Jen,
Jack, Sobha, Jane, Priya, Preethi, Sarah, Finny, Vasanth, Jet, Teena
Sherriden - Tara, Megha, Scott, John, Leontheen, Kay,
Marea, Radha, Vanessa K, Linda,
A reminder - Please, no thrift shopping (repeat)
This summer will be our last round of renovations - in 2019-20, we will
have a fully renovated AISC Elementary! This means that none of the old
furniture or supplies should be put into circulation, since it does not match
the look of the renovated spaces. If you have a need for some furniture for
your classroom, please contact your supervisor.
Have a wonderful summer break!
Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly
Keryn Dowling, Dave Allen, and Calley Connelly
