Many of you probably haven’t been counting the days since the last day of physical school, but it’s been 202 days since school closed in March. Wow! Your resilience through this time is amazing. I can’t thank you enough for your dedication to your students.
Here is Lynn’s new India phone number: 739 736 7666
The survey results are back from the faculty wellness survey. There were many positive responses and areas to celebrate. We’ve also noted a few areas for us to work on such as the balance between work and home.
The VLP schedule allows sufficient time for me to:
Upcoming Week at a Glance:
Date | Time | Event | Details |
October 12 |
| Growth conferences all week |
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October 13 |
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October 14 |
| No Faculty Meeting - time for growth conferences |
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October 15 |
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October 16 |
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Conferences
If you anticipate a difficult conference, feel free to invite Linda, Michele, Dave or me to the conference depending on the need of the student. Also, there should be no surprises to parents in December. Please make sure to be open and honest about how their child is currently doing. Dave and I are happy to talk through situations with you before any conference if that will help.
Keep Us Updated
We are keeping track of COVID cases in our school community. If a parent contacts you regarding positive COVID cases in their household (or if a student tells you), please let me know.
Location Update
Please keep Padma / Hazel informed if there is a change in location for any of your students during/after the break.
Student Absence Due to Illness
Please use the absence code HE (Health) when you mark attendance in Powerschool for students who miss class due to an illness. You could also add more details in the comments box or pass on the information to Hazel / Padma. They are reporting this information to the Health office everyday.
India Week
India week will be celebrated in the elementary school the week of November 2nd. Bindu is working hard at planning lots of engaging and interesting activities for the students and Babs has organized a virtual book fair for the week. More details will come as we get closer to the week of November 2nd.
India Week Teacher Dance
Interested in joining the teacher dance to celebrate India Week this year? The two live Zoom classes will be Monday, October 19th 4:00 - 5:00 pm and Friday, October 23rd 7:00 - 8:00 am. You will need an AISC shirt and also Indian dress for the choreography. After that, the video will be edited and shared by Friday, October 30th. Sign up here!
Research Skills Needs Assessment - From Babs
Please take a look at this Needs Assessment and tick the boxes that correspond with the research skills that are being explicitly taught and/or assessed in your class. We are aware that some classes won't have taught any of these skills. The point of this needs assessment is to identify gaps and the overall purpose is to assist in the creation of a school-wide library/research skills scope and sequence. Please complete this by Friday, October 23rd.
From Our Counselors
Trauma informed teaching practices can be really valuable during these times when we are challenged to recognize and respond to students’ social, emotional, and mental health needs in a virtual learning environment and within a pandemic. The brief Strategies for Trauma Informed Distance Learning reminds us that supporting students in emotional regulation is very important for engagement and focus. Here are some simple but meaningful activities which can be recorded, spoken, and written in with a Seesaw activity and/or read aloud as you begin lessons or small groups or meetings.
Say, “Before beginning this lesson, close your eyes or turn your gaze down to the floor, and take three deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.”
Ask students to look around their environments, name one thing that makes them happy (or calm, or relaxed), and explain why.
Ask students to scan their bodies for where they feel tense and where they feel relaxed and have them silently tell the tense parts to relax, so that the tense parts will feel the same way the calm parts do.
These grounding and centering exercises help students focus on what is happening in their mind, body, and/or surroundings so that they can be more engaged.
Math PD Opportunity with Erma Anderson
If you missed Erma’s math session this week or if you attended and wanted to view her session again, here is the recording. The first 3 or so minutes are cut off (I forgot to press record at the start, oops). There are two more sessions this semester. Feel free to join even if you missed the first session.
Dates:
Oct. 27th
Nov 24th
Time:
3:30-4:30 p.m.
Coaches Corner
There are SO many ways that we help students during these times. Today’s coaches corner is targeted at our parents. We want to keep our parent community well informed about the amazing work that is happening in the classroom. As we have done in years past, we will be sending home the Math Family Letter before we launch into each unit. Please ensure that the Unit 2 letter goes home in a separate Seesaw post as soon as possible if it has not yet gone out. Wondering where to find the letter? Follow these steps to find the letters for all units in the Bridges website.
1) Go to the Bridges Site and Click on the Resources Tab
2) Scroll down and find the Family Letters Tab in the right margin
3) Find the Unit 2 Family Letter Overview and download to add to your Seesaw Post
We’ll end with a bit of humor. Check out this 3 minute video that most of you can probably relate to.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Lynn, Dave, and Elliot
