Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Dear all,


Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you all a wonderful four day weekend. Thank you for all you do to make our section such a great place, for each other, and for our students. Enjoy this time with friends and family. See you all back on Monday for our final few weeks before winter break.

Thank you’s and shout outs…
  • Grade 4 would like to thank Babs for setting up a fascinating Skype session with a Volcanologist in New Zealand! What a great way to spark interest for our Natural Disasters unit.
  • We are THANKFUL for everyone, for all you do for our school and community.  

Upcoming Week at a Glance
Day
Events
Monday 2 December
-
Tuesday 3 December
-
Wednesday 4 December
ES Faculty Mtg (Report Card Writing)
Thursday 5 December
-
Friday 6 December
Elementary Christmas Carols from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Q12 Data
Yay! As a section we have worked hard on this since the beginning of the school year and it is truly reflected in our data below. As you can see we met 3 out of the 4 goals we set for ourselves (table below). Well done everyone - this was a team effort from everyone in our section and we are thrilled to share this new data with you all. Take some time to reflect over the next few weeks on how you helped both yourself and others to achieve these goals. Thank you!


Area:
Previous score:
Aim: 
Fall 2019 score:
Q1:  Knowing what’s expected
3.61
3.9
3.94
Q7:  My opinions count
3.38
3.6
3.72
Q3:  Opportunity to do my best
3.75
4.0
4.0
Q5:  Someone cares about me
4.0
4.8
4.23

From the Yearbook Team
The yearbook class is approaching our first external deadline. By the end of the semester, we will need to submit 42 completed pages to Jostens in order to start the printing process. In an effort to make the yearbook as inclusive and accurate as possible, we are requesting that teachers share their classroom photos with us. Any photos you have of your students in action would be greatly appreciated. You can add them to the folders here or send them directly to me (wmarion@aischennai.org). Thank you for your time and support! 
The yearbook staff.

Vision Project Feedback Summary for Teachers
Congratulations again to the Specialists and Grades 3, 4, and 5 teachers and TAs who collaborated to make Vision Week projects a big success in year one. It’s very important to our team to thoroughly analyze the feedback data that we received from you, parents, and students and to consider the major and minor trends as we move to Vision Projects 2.0 for next year. However, in order to celebrate and give you timely feedback, we have summarized a few points here.

First of all - almost everyone had fun!  See teacher results below in Blue and student responses in Green to the question “How fun was your week?”  

Forms response chart. Question title: How fun was your week?. Number of responses: 21 responses.  Forms response chart. Question title: How fun was your week?. Number of responses: 214 responses.

Teachers’ feedback from our one-on-one “say more” conversations, from the survey, and from the posters highlighted a few positive themes and a few areas for improvement. Here are our first-look takeaways.

Positives
Areas for Improvement
  • Living the Mission and Developing the Profile of an AISC Learner
  • Deepening our understanding of  PBL in Action
  • Collaborating with New Colleagues and New Students
  • Sustaining student energy through the day and the week
  • Clarifying expectations, roles and responsibilities
  • Considering structures that support teachers’ wellbeing during the intensive effort - and remember wellbeing doesn’t look the same for everyone!

Student Responses (below in green) showed a range of emotions experienced during Vision Week. Please notice how many of your students felt happy, proud, and challenged. Thank you for all you did to help students feel connected and engaged. A few students who felt bored, shy or scared might have felt that way at times, or perhaps it was an enduring feeling. We will join you to consider this minor trend as we move forward for next year.  


Forms response chart. Question title: How did you feel during the week? Please check as many as you like.. Number of responses: 214 responses.

Are you a data junkie? Want the raw numbers? Please go to these links to see the full set of comments from our teacher feedback breakfast, teacher survey, and student survey. We will revisit the data as a whole and build upon your successes and suggestions to make Vision Projects “even more awesome” next year.  

Craft Bazaar at AISC

Entering Report Cards Major Work Blurbs into Powerschool
Here is a short video on how to do an autofill for the report cards for the major work comment given by the coaches. This applies to the specialists as well. Click on this link.

Next Friday, 6 December, from 4:00 - 5:00 p.m, our Elementary Choir will be performing in the unity courtyard. Please come along to join in the sing-a-long fun and hear our wonderful choir.

December 12 Emergency Drill
As per the schedule our Second Emergency Drill for this year will be conducted on December 12th (Thursday) at 0900 hrs. It will be a LOCKDOWN situation.
Plan: Exercise the lockdown procedure as soon as we hear the "Siren Alarm" for Lockdown "emergency situation. The siren alarm will be activated by the Security Main Console.
Applicable Situation:  During an Imminent Danger or any threat situation.
Imminent threat could be a situation of an emergency incident or threat which requires steps to isolate and secure the school population from danger. It includes intruder on campus, vehicle bomb explosion or bomb threat on campus.
Please be familiar and thorough with the alarm tone and the emergency guidelines mentioned below:
Guidelines:
 Inside the classrooms:
  1. Lock classroom and office doors immediately.
  2. Take cover in classroom or nearest office room
  3. Keep all students sitting on the floor, take cover, stay away from the door and windows and close shades/blinds
  4. Prepare to take the attendance list with you along with the emergency booklet when you are directed to leave the classroom.
  5. Ignore fire alarm activation during lockdown situation.
  6. Project a calm attitude to maintain student behaviour.
  7. Laboratory or kitchen – Extinguish all burners (if possible) before taking cover. Stay clear of hot food or liquids or any hazardous chemicals that may spill.
  8. Await further instructions or until the “Back to Routine" announcement is declared.
  9. Students outside the classroom:
  10. If the students are in the restroom they should remain in the restroom if they hear the Lockdown siren alarm.
  11. Prepare to take the attendance list with you along with the emergency booklet when you are directed to leave the classroom.
Please refer to the emergency procedure booklet for additional information. During such emergency situation our security emergency action plan will be immediately activated in order to ensure safety and security of our school population by all means. Security team will be involved in emergency action plan during any emergency situation.
2020 January Jumpstart Program
AISC is piloting a January Jumpstart Program for our beginning ELLs that have enrolled at the end of 2019 and will be new to AISC at the start of 2020. This one week program will help ELLs learn foundational English words, structures, and phrases needed for academic success at AISC. January Jumpstart will run from 6-10 January 2020 and we need teachers. 

If you are interested in being a Classroom or Activities Teacher, please complete this form by Wednesday, 4 December 2019. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Ms Sarah in room 1209 or ssarah@aischennai.org.

Withdrawing Students
Parents of students list here have submitted the withdrawal notification. If you know of anyone else who is leaving and not listed here, please inform Hazel/Padma and we will contact the parents. 


Wellness Monday Dec 2 & 9

Come  join us for treats and use the laser cutter or other materials in the Discovery and Design Studio to make holiday crafts, presents or work on any other projects! 3:45 -5:00 on Dec 2 & 9.

Have a wonderful long weekend!
Calley, Dave and Keryn

Friday, November 22, 2019

Friday, November 22, 2019

Dear everyone,

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend and see you next Monday for a very short three day week before our Thanksgiving break. Who are you thankful for? Who have you given thanks to?

Thank you’s and shout outs…
  • Sending a big thank you from the third grade team to Hilary for all of her time and effort to create a provocative and fascinating museum of historical objects for our third graders.
  • Mary Kelly for shepherding us through the vision week reflection process.
  • Alex for stepping up and leading the whole group data protocol/work exemplar collection PD for those not in MSA.
  • Thank you to the Early Years team and Vigna for all your hard work and support!
  • Everyone who came out to the TGIF last Friday night - a great way to build community.
  • Thank you from the Kindergarten team for engaging in conversation around 'Braving Trust' with an open mindset.
Upcoming Week at a Glance
Day
Events
Monday 25 November
-
Tuesday 26 November
-
Wednesday 27 November
Faculty meeting: Team/department time
Grab and Go Snacks available starting at 3:30 under the stairs between the CICs
Thursday 28 November
Thanksgiving Holiday (no school)
Friday 29 November
Thanksgiving Holiday (no school)

Vision Project Survey
Thank you for the valuable feedback that was offered during the Vision Project breakfast. In addition to what was shared on Thursday, we ask that everyone involved complete this survey. Your insight and expertise is essential as we reflect and look forward to future vision project opportunities for our students. Results from student, parent, and faculty surveys will be shared soon.

Calendar Change – Make-up School Day, March 23, 2020 
To make-up for the additional Diwali Holiday we observed on Monday, October 28, the Board of Directors
approved Monday, March 23, 2020 calendared as a Staff Professional Day as a full school day. We will
continue to remind our community of this change in future Head’s Notes!

Secret Santa
This year, the Wellness Committee have decided to host an All-School Secret Santa gift exchange this year. This gives us all an opportunity to get to know each other better and connect us as an organization. 

Please use this form to sign up if you wish to play Secret Santa. Bear in mind that participation is optional. The form will also ask you for information that you can share that will help your Secret Santa prepare gifts for you.

Logistics on how Secret Santa will work:
  • Secret Santa will happen in the last week of school before Winter Break, which is December 16th–20th.
  • It will be a system-generated list and you will be assigned a person. This avoids any confusion and ensures everyone who has signed up receives a Secret Santa.
  • Surprise them! It can be anything from a simple note that would cheer up their day, a 60-rupee gift, a snack, or you can get a little creative to make your own gifts.
  • Make sure you gift two - three times. Reveal who you are with the final gift on Friday, December 20th.
  • The form needs to be completed by December 6th.
Holiday Read Aloud
As a way of showing our appreciation at this time of year, and for all that you do, please sign up for a guest reader to come in for a holiday themed read aloud! You can feel free to leave at this time, continue to work on report cards, get a coffee, whatever it is you need to do at this time! Homeroom or specialists may take advantage of this opportunity. To begin with, please only sign up for one block to make sure everyone can benefit. Several individuals on the leadership team have offered times.

2020 January Jumpstart Program
AISC is piloting a January Jumpstart Program for our beginning ELLs that have enrolled at the end of 2019 and will be new to AISC at the start of 2020. This one week program will help ELLs learn foundational English words, structures, and phrases needed for academic success at AISC. January Jumpstart will run from 6-10 January 2020 and we need teachers. 

If you are interested in being a Classroom or Activities Teacher, please complete this form by Wednesday, 4 December 2019. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Ms Sarah in room 1209 or ssarah@aischennai.org.

Support Our Elementary Student Council Girls Sports Shoes Drive (repeat announcement)
The ES student council is sponsoring the collection of girls’ sports shoes. The shoes will be donated to “Educate to Empower” which has created a school in Tamil Nadu for underprivileged girls. Educate to Empower is led by an AISC alumni. The girls need shoes so that they can participate in sports. There are 210 girls in this school that goes up to grade 5. By donating shoes we will be improving the lives of these girls and creating positive changes in their confidence and education. Please donate used or new shoes by Monday and put in boxes provided for each grade level. The student council will sponsor a pool party for the grade level that collects the most shoes on Wednesday, November 27th during lunch recess. 

Tutorials for Entering Data into Report Card Templates (repeat announcement)
Please note that no accents or semicolons can be used. Thank you!

Looking Well Ahead to Our End of Semester 1: Report Card Timeline (repeat announcement)
Please find below the timeline for writing our Semester 1 report cards. These will be printed as per other report cards this year, so proofreading remains an ongoing focus to ensure these are error-free going home. Therefore, everyone, please ensure to familiarise yourself with the style guide and proofreading process. You will also find the proofreading assignments at the bottom of the style guide.

This time around, please remember our proofing process from last year. Each homeroom teacher has been assigned a colleague proofer. This is due to the volume of reports being much higher and the challenge of making an equitable distribution. (You will find this list towards the end of the document under the heading, 2019-2020 Final Sem 1 Report Card Editor Assignments.) Secondly, we’d added to the reporting process to ask that teachers check their own character count before sending to proof reader (500-800 characters per comment). First round proofers will also check, but it will go much more smoothly if we check our own.  

One streamlining suggestion is once you’ve written the first comment and know this is between 500-800, count the number of lines in this comment and aim for near that number of lines for all others.

As you work on your comments, you may want to sign up for a free account with Grammarly. It takes only a moment to sign up and the service will automatically check your spelling and basic grammar as you write your comments. This may save you, and your proofreader, some time and energy. 

By Wednesday 04 December
Familiarise yourself again with a refresher read of the style guide
Wed 04 Dec - 3:45 - 5:00 p.m.
Faculty meeting dedicated to report card work time.  Report comments due to faculty proof reader by 5:00 p.m.
Friday 06 Dec - by 4:00 p.m
Colleague proofers finished proofing, tag admin proofreader
Mon 09 Dec  - 4:00 p.m.
Comments returned to teacher by admin.  Accept changes as indicated.
Wed 11 Dec - 2:00 p.m.
All comments entered into powerschool
Sherriden and IT team begin printing from 2:00 p.m (hard deadline)
Fri 13 Dec
All printing complete, final print corrections made
Mon 16 Dec
Reports given to homeroom teachers, final check and place in envelopes
Wed 18 Dec
Reports go home to parents

Winter Concert Rehearsal Schedule (repeat announcement)
As per a TinyPulse request to get schedule changes to teachers as early as possible, we appreciate the effort that the Winter Performance team has put into getting this rehearsal and performance schedule ready. Please add these items to your Google calendar and be sure to remember that these rehearsals take the place of the regularly scheduled dance and music lessons. If you have any questions or concerns upon reading the schedule, please reach out to Calley.  

Have a wonderful weekend!
Keryn, Dave, and Calley

Friday, November 15, 2019

Friday, November 15, 2019

Dear all,

Time to celebrate all that has been going on in the Elementary and other sections at AISC - hope you are able to join us this evening for a TGIF at the Dowling’s house. (2 Spring Ave, Akkarai - literally opposite Kipling Cafe)  Please join us from 5-8pm.

This afternoon we will be able to see the culmination of all the hard work and effort that went into vision week. Overall, it has been such an impressive launch of our first ever vision week, and excellent to see the AISC futures plan come to life. Thank you to everyone involved, and in particular, Mary Kelly, Jack and Calley and each vision team leader for shepherding the process forward.

Thank you’s and shout outs…
  • ALL involved in vision week! Thank you!
  • All lower elementary faculty who covered an extra duty for their vision week colleagues
  • Jen C wants to give a huge thank you to everyone who has helped me in the past few weeks, from sitting with me in the hospital, to sending meals, to just asking how we are - thank you so much! Alex and I have appreciated the support from you all so much!
  • Priya V and her IT team for getting everything ready for Hour of Code next week
  • Congratulations to Anita who has become a Grandmother to the adorable Carter!
 Upcoming Week at a Glance
Day
Events
Monday 18 November
Hour of Code begins
Keryn out - Elementary Principals network  in Delhi
Specialist budgets due to HoDs/ Principals
Tuesday 19 November
EY parent coffee 8:45 - 9:45 a.m BBT
R.I.S.E
Wednesday 20 November
Grade level budget overviews due
Early Release
Faculty Meetings;
  • MSA teams (various locations)
  • Those not involved in MSA will work on data protocols/student work exemplar collection in Madras Hall
Thursday 21 November

Friday 22 November
EY5 - Grade 2 Learning Celebration
Calley out (PD)

Activities & Athletics office - AISC Hoodies
If you missed out on the initial order for an AISC hooded sweatshirt it isn't too late to get one before winter break. Complete this form to customize your order. Choices include zip or pullover, black or navy, name, number, size and if you want "Raptors" down one sleeve. The orders received by the end of the day on November 21st will be sent to the manufacturer.

Support our Elementary Student Council Girls Sports Shoes Drive
The ES student council is sponsoring the collection of girls’ sports shoes next week. The shoes will be donated to “Educate to Empower” which has created a school in Tamil Nadu for underprivileged girls.  Educate to Empower is led by a AISC alumni. The girls need shoes so that they can participate in sports. There are 210 girls in this school that goes up to grade 5. By donating shoes we will be improving the lives of these girls and creating positive changes in their confidence and education. Please donate used or new shoes next week in boxes provided for each grade level. The student council will sponsor a pool party for the grade level that collects the most shoes. 

Tutorials for entering data into report card templates:
Please note that no accents or semicolons can be used. Thank you!

Looking well ahead to our end of Semester 1: Report card timeline (repeat announcement)
Please find below the timeline for writing our Semester 1 report cards. These will be printed as per other report cards this year, so proofreading remains an ongoing focus to ensure these are error-free going home. Therefore, everyone, please ensure to familiarise yourself with the style guide and proofreading process. You will also find the proofreading assignments at the bottom of the style guide.

This time around, please remember our proofing process from last year. Each homeroom teacher has been assigned a colleague proofer. This is due to the volume of reports being much higher and the challenge of making an equitable distribution. Secondly, we’d added to the reporting process to ask that teachers check their own character count before sending to proof reader (500-800 characters per comment). First round proofers will also check, but it will go much more smoothly if we check our own.  

One streamlining suggestion is once you’ve written the first comment and know this is between 500-800, count the number of lines in this comment and aim for near that number of lines for all others.

As you work on your comments, you may want to sign up for a free account with Grammarly. It takes only a moment to sign up and the service will automatically check your spelling and basic grammar as you write your comments. This may save you, and your proofreader, some time and energy. 


By Wednesday 04 December
Familiarise yourself again with a refresher read of the style guide
Wed 04 Dec - 3:45 - 5:00 p.m.
Faculty meeting dedicated to report card work time.  Report comments due to faculty proof reader by 5:00 p.m.
Friday 06 Dec - by 4:00 p.m
Colleague proofers finished proofing, tag admin proofreader
Mon 09 Dec  - 4:00 p.m.
Comments returned to teacher by admin.  Accept changes as indicated.
Wed 11 Dec - 2:00 p.m.
All comments entered into powerschool
Sherriden and IT team begin printing from 2:00 p.m (hard deadline)
Fri 13 Dec
All printing complete, final print corrections made
Mon 16 Dec
Reports given to homeroom teachers, final check and place in envelopes
Wed 18 Dec
Reports go home to parents


Please join NHS and Namma Beach, Namma Chennai.  All welcome!
Come participate in an event that has become a tradition for many AISC families. Ms. Virginie Vlaminck has built a high energy, authentic community collaboration for all

EAL Teaching Strategies - From Sarah Sahr
Several people have asked, "What more can I do to support students in the classroom?" To which I say, "Good Question!" In coordination with ES Leadership, the following google form was created to showcase 11 EAL strategies that help our english language learners stay on track. The hope is, once people complete the form, I'll create an ala carte menu of professional learning opportunities that will help you support students in your care.
Please complete this form by Friday, 22 November. Results will be shared by 6 December. 

Winter Concert Rehearsal Schedule (repeat announcement)
As per a TinyPulse request to get schedule changes to teachers as early as possible, we appreciate the effort that the Winter Performance team has put into getting this rehearsal and performance schedule ready. Please add these items to your Google calendar and be sure to remember that these rehearsals take the place of the regularly scheduled dance and music lessons. If you have any questions or concerns upon reading the schedule, please reach out to Calley.  

ES Vision of a Learner Recognitions (repeat announcement)
To continue to highlight our Vision of a Learner profile and socialise these attributes further in our section, we will be recognising students who have consistently demonstrated one of the traits from this profile.  

If you have recognised a student displaying these attributes, please click here to add names. Anyone can add to this, specialists, homeroom teachers or teacher assistants. Please complete this by next Tuesday 19th November.
**If you see a student’s name listed and you also support this nomination, please add your name too.

Have a great weekend!

Calley, Dave and Keryn