VLD end of week 3
Dear Faculty,
Great job with week three everyone! The ‘where are you’ survey data has shown that over 83% of our student body is here in Chennai. We will therefore be continuing with our office times etc in IST. If you are noticing children in your class are in different time zones, please accommodate them as best you can, and also remember to record class meetings so the missing students can watch at a later time.
Next Tuesday is Tamil New year - so no school for that day.
There will not be any surveys this week as it was a short week, and we also recognise the need for breathing space for us all to begin to implement some of the new tweaks and enhancements. Thank you all for your attention to these. The enhanced expectations are confirmed below:
- All classes to host a live daily class meeting
- One live class session or a video of the teacher teaching/demonstrating per day
- One office hours for small group conferences with the aim that each child participates in a small group 2-3 times per week (these conferences shared between EAL/homeroom teachers)
- Enrichment tasks will be added to the planning template; next week there will be wellness and principals office challenges added daily. All teachers are welcome to add to these enrichment boxes for the following weeks.
Breakout Rooms on Zoom
Interested in using the Breakout Room option on Zoom? Check out this quick and easy introductory video to get started. For written instructions, check here. Feel free to reach out to Alex if you have any specific questions.
End of Year Report Cards
These will look different to previous years end of year report cards, and will reflect the learning we have been able to observe and assess as submitted in a virtual learning environment.
- Report cards will have reduced commenting for all core subject and specialist subjects
- No individual standard assessments.
- Templates will be shared asap.
- Homeroom/EAL teachers will write one overall PSE comment and assess learning habits as meeting/working towards as observed in a virtual learning environment. Specialists can contribute to this
- All subjects will have a 2-3 sentence narrative comment - teams/teachers can begin working to determine how they will need to structure tasks to obtain any assessment evidence to be able to write this.
- We will go over this further at our faculty meeting on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m.
Virtual Report Card Timeline
New Challenges in Time for the Long Weekend!
Collaborators work together to get things done! AISC students in elementary school have a lot of experience with teamwork and collaboration. Even apart, we can work together virtually in many ways. Choose one of the collaborator challenges and don’t forget to share photos of your work by emailing aiscesdesign@aischennai.org or post on Twitter with the hashtags #AISCESDesign. We would love to see what you do!
We are sharing the below tips with parents this week too:
Parenting Tips for Learning at Home
Across the world millions of families are engaging in learning at home. This is a new chapter for parents as they figure out how to manage their own responsibilities and their children’s learning. When setting expectations with your children about their learning, it’s critical that you have already developed clear daily routines as a family and have established clear spaces for your own work and where your child will be engaging in school activities. Below are some other strategies to consider as you support your child’s learning.
- Create a Schedule - Think about creating a schedule for yourself and your children so your children know what they need to accomplish that day and when you are available to help them.
- Prioritize Needs - Prioritizing needs is important. Knowing that each family has their own unique demands, so it may not be possible for your child to accomplish all of their activities for that day or week. That’s okay. If an activity is not completed then it could be completed the next day when you have more time to help your child. Communicating with your child about your own responsibilities is important so they don’t feel frustrated in not being able to get all of their schoolwork done.
- Family Meetings - Have a family meeting at least a couple of times a week where everyone can share their thoughts, their big priorities for the week, their concerns, anything at all! Everyone should speak their own thoughts and be able to share openly.
- Set Goals - Encourage your child to set a daily goal for what they want to accomplish with their schoolwork. Setting goals is a great way for children to own their learning and have a concrete target to achieve.
- Reinforce Children’s Engagement - While all children take pride in their work, some children are more motivated when they are working towards something. Whether your child sets and achieves their goal or still completes their schoolwork without setting a goal, consider rewarding them for their hard work. Examples of rewards include playing a family game, being read to by a parent, having a five-minute dance party, doing a puzzle together, etc.
- Stay Active - An important way to keep our brains engaged is to stay active. Schedule breaks for yourself and your children to do some movement, yoga, stretching, GoNoodle, and so on. This will ensure that when you and your children are ready to get back to work that you can remain focused on the task ahead.
- Communicate - share your needs or your concerns directly with us. Teachers are experts at this and can easily share tips or strategies for you to try at home. Also talk to your children about this unique situation; share that this is new for you too!
- Practice Patience and Flexibility - Be patient with your children and meet them where they are developmentally. Although we want to challenge our children, we also don’t foster a sense of frustration and helplessness when we ask them to do things that they are not ready to do.
Knowing that we are all in this together, it’s important to reach out to others for support. Extending your parent network can help you gather more ideas to support your family but also hear from others that are experiencing the same struggles. Self-care is also vital for each family member and the family as a whole. This is an unprecedented time in our history and it’s important to check in with each other and do positive things for ourselves.
Lastly, remember this is a work progress. We are all taking this one day at a time and each day is different. Making our routines and our family work habits sustainable will keep us healthy and happy. We are also all learning and growing and improving at what we do each day.
Have a relaxing and restful weekend.
Keryn, Dave, and Calley
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