Friday, 30th September, 2016

Dear all,

I hope you are reading this from the other side of a large beverage of your choice :)  It has been a full on first block of school!  Thank you for all your humour, smiles and flexibility with the myriad of events and consultants we have experienced so far!

Enjoy this break - rest, relax, recharge and refresh - we look forward to seeing you all after the October break.

Lots of upcoming information below...

Thank you!

Thanks to teachers for all of your preparation and conversation to guide students through their goal setting conferences. Thanks, as well, to the TAs for keeping children safe and supervised.

Thanks to all the bakers for Operation Appreciation.

Welcome to Roshna Sultan, who is filling in as 5th grade TA while Nichelle takes over Nancy’s role in Learning Support.

Optional Feedback on UN Day or Conferences
2 short surveys linked here - only 2 questions in each - but please feel free to provide feedback if you have any!
Goal Setting Conference feedback
UN Day Feedback

ES Report Guideline
Below is the ES reporting timeline for Trimester report cards - this is a guide, however, and anyone who has their comments written and proofed early can turn them into to admin whenever they can!  (This is highly encouraged if you can :) )

Finally, a style guide will be coming your way during the first week back to ensure consistency in narrative comments about the learning of our students.  Please read this carefully after it is sent to you.

Final proof readers

PK	Lori
KG	Lori
Grade 1	Rachael
Grade 2 A B	Rachael
Grade 2 C D	Karen
Grade 3	Karen
Grade 4	Keryn
Grade 5	Keryn

Report Timeline

By Tuesday 25 Oct 4pm	Narratives written on google doc and given to proofing buddy
Weds 26 Oct	faculty meeting dedicated to reports; time could be used for entering proficiency levels (B, D, A, E) or for proofing a colleague’s narratives
Thursday 27 Oct 4pm	report card narratives (google doc) due to admin for final proofing
Friday 28 - Tues 1 Oct	Admin proof reports  (will return as completed)
By Tuesday 1 Nov 4pm -	Reports returned to teachers, can begin entering narratives into skyward
By Thursday 3 Nov 8am	All report information entered into Skyward
Friday 4th 3pm	Reports go live to parents

PGE
Thanks to those of you who have already completed your PG&E meetings.
For those of you still to come, please turn in your PG template or Self Assessment cover letter at least 24 hours before your meeting with your supervisor.
If you are on the self assessment pathway, please note that Moodle contains two links to the Professional Growth and Evaluation Handbook. The second link (here) is the most recent version and clearly delineates the difference between SAP-S and SAP-X.

Upcoming Visiting Artists

Bernajean Porter, November 7-11

Ira Glass once said that "Great stories happen to those who can tell them." There are many ways to tell stories, and we are excited to share with you an inspiring visiting artist in residence who will help us explore the art of Digital Storytelling.  Her name is Bernajean Porter, and she will be here from November 7-11 to learn with students in your classrooms. For more about her visit and how you might integrate her into your classroom that week, please click HERE.  If you are interested in learning with Bernajean, please email Kevin Crouch with a cc: to Dan Love. We will prioritize teams and departments with shared interest or goals around learner voice and choice and assessment for learning through digital storytelling.

TeeKay, November 8-15

TeeKay is a German Activist, Performance Artist, Think-Tanker, Coach, Enabler. TeeKay combines his careers in the performing arts - onstage as an actor, singer and comedian, backstage as choreographer and opera director – with his studies of psychology at the Technical University in Berlin. He and his team of “Refugee Academy” have started with theatre workshops in a couple of Berlin refugee shelters combining improv-theatre techniques with language exercises. They developed language tandems to improve language skills and have opened a free academy for refugees where they are being taught in their mother tongues. He brings an interesting perspective about the world we live in today. His schedule is here. Please email Ilona to find out more about it and reserve a time to have him work with your class.

Missoula Children's Theater, November 14-18

This year Missoula Children's Theater will be creating a magical performance of Blackbeard the Pirate with our Elementary school students. More information will be coming from Keryn regarding the procedure. For those new to AISC, there will be auditions and 60 ES students will be selected to perform. The rehearsals take place during the school day, and we are finalizing the time for the final performance, which will be on November 18. ES faculty parents, watch Keryn's blog for the link to sign up your child.

Upcoming Dates For Your Calendar
Tuesday 11 October ES Parent Coffee on ‘Supporting Early Readers’ (KG - Grade 2)
Wednesday 12 October ES India Month Opening Assembly (8.45am - 9.30am)
Wednesday 19 October Early Release Wednesday (2.00pm pick up)
Tuesday 25 October Reports to proof reading buddy
Thursday 27 October Reports due to admin for final proofing
Friday 28 October ES Halloween Parade (1.30pm - 3.00pm)
Monday October 31 Diwali Holiday
Wednesday 2 November Early Release Wednesday (2.00pm pick up)
Thursday 3 November Grade PK - 2 India Month Assembly (8.45am - 9.30am)
Friday 4 November Grade 3 - 5 India Month Assembly (*Time changed 2:15 pm - 3:15pm)
Friday 4 November Indian Month Lunch
Friday 4 November Report cards going home
Friday 8 November ES Parent Coffee
Mon 14 - Fri 18 Nov Missoula Children’s Theater

Have a wonderful week & safe travels wherever you may be going.

Warmly,
Keryn and Lori

Friday September 23, 2016

Dear all,

We made it through this week of multiple consultants, UN Day, BBB, and so I hope to see many of you at the TGIF tonight!

A note on communication - after hearing from John Mikton at the Leadership Academy about the email ‘witching hour’ (Friday after 5pm) where emails should NOT be sent, we would like to share the rationale of sending this blog out on a Friday!  Not only is this Hazel, Lori and my last agenda point before we finish the working week, please know that this is intentionally pushed out on a Friday to allow for everyone to read before Monday at a time that suits them best.  Please do not feel you need to read it Friday - in fact, often it’s better to wait until you are relaxed with a beverage of your choosing :)
We strongly believe in ‘balance’ and try really hard not to email you all on the weekend!
If anyone has any specific feedback on this, please don’t hesitate to share with me.

Grade Team Leader agendas/minutes are linked here if you wish to read them.

Math PD
Having worked with Steve Leinwand before, I can guarantee you’ll be challenged by this PD opportunity. If you have math instruction as your goal, this is worth checking out!

Thank you!

Thanks to Karen, Seema, Deepa, Megha and Salome for hosting the parent coffee.

Thank you to Widi and Jet for their fabulous ignites at the Leadership Academy.

Thank you to Lori for facilitating a great session on ‘Critical Conversations’ also at the Leadership Academy.

Thank you everyone who gave up their Saturday to attend the Leadership Academy.

Thanks to 2nd Grade for the invite to their field trip on Tuesday!

Thank you to Ilona & Kay for working with our swimmers during BBB this weekend.

Thanks to everybody who lead a Wellness Session this week.

Thanks to everyone who made working with Jodi O’Meara  and Christy Curran this week a priority!

Thank you for signing up for your PGE conference  - we look forward to meeting with you all.
Thanks to everyone for making it through UN Day today!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Lorna for publishing her chapter (P77) on split screen teaching.

Congratulations to Nichelle, who has accepted the position of Learning Support Teacher to cover Nancy whilst on maternity leave.

Link to TA supervision sign up for 9/29 & 9/30.

A reminder to TA’s to please plan to be here until 6:30 pm on Thursday. TAs will be providing supervision for families with multiple children- the idea being that only the child leading the conference is present in the room. The TA supervision schedule can be found here. Please sign up prior to next Friday.

Conference days

Thursday

Grab-n-go counter - ready sandwich & fruit packs at the ES office. (3:00 - 6:30 p.m.)

Live Sandwich counter - in the ES Staff Lounge. (3:00 - 6:30 p.m.)

Friday

Lunch - ES Cafeteria  (12:00 - 1:30 p.m.) - Thai menu

Wednesday Faculty Meeting - Venue Music Room
Follow up on TCRWP - please bring a notebook & pen, as well as a device per grade.  This is for homeroom and EAL KG-5 only.  
Specialists, please continue to work on the curriculum guide unit descriptions, and PK please continue to work on Creative Curriculum.

Upcoming Dates For Your Calendar
Thursday 29 September ES Goal Setting Conferences (3.45 - 6.30pm)
Friday 30 September ES Goal Setting Conferences (8.30am - 3.30pm) No classes this day
Tuesday 11 October ES Parent Coffee on ‘Supporting Early Readers’ (KG - Grade 2)
Wednesday 12 October ES India Month Opening Assembly (8.45am - 9.30am)
Wednesday 19 October Early Release Wednesday (2.00pm pick up)
Friday 28 October ES Halloween Parade (1.30pm - 3.00pm)
Wednesday 2 November Early Release Wednesday (2.00pm pick up)
Thursday 3 November Grade PK - 2 India Month Assembly (8.45am - 9.30am)
Friday 4 November Grade 3 - 5 India Month Assembly (*Time changed 2:15 pm - 3:15pm)

Yay - made it!  Have a super weekend.

Warmly,
Keryn & Lori

Friday 16th September 2016

Dear everyone,

Only two weeks left until our October break - the year is off to a flying start and we thank you for all your commitment and energy you are bringing in every day.  This week’s faculty notes are FULL and require careful reading and responding!

Thank you

To everyone who contributed to our great United Nations Day Preparation Assembly this morning, especially our music team with several items.

To Meg, Ron, Karen and our Learning Support team with being flexible with their schedule to meet Jodi O’Meera.

To the KG team for being flexible with new ideas for UN Day itself.

To Carl for the donuts!

To all the teachers who hosted HS students for their Discovery Day.

TCRWP

Christy Curran will be heading out from NYC to work briefly with us on Thursday and Friday.  The purpose of her visit is to really see our strengths and areas of growth within the workshop model and give us feedback to move forward.  

As you’ll see on her schedule (to be shared by Dan), most of her time with the ES will be observing workshop in action - so please keep to the time stated to teach workshop!  Ideally, she would be able to observe part of your ML and/or or conferring with students. Her schedule reflects an attempt to see a wide cross section of grade levels, though not every teacher was able to be scheduled for a visit.

She will be offering two PD workshops -

Friday 23 - 1.30 - 2.30 ‘Workshop 101’

• for new teachers or teachers who feel they need more of the basics.  Sign up here if you would like to take part.

Thursday 22 - 3.45 - 4.45 - Co-teaching the Workshop

- for all KG -5 Homeroom and EAL Teachers

- Although a Thursday required PD is unusual, these are the dates Christy is with us.  Please talk to Keryn directly if you are really unable to attend.

Goal Setting Conferences

Thank you to so many of you who have shared ideas or sought clarity around these conferences.  It appears the purpose of these has become a little muddied and therefore, for clarity, please read and discuss the below points in teams.

*Grade 2-5 students attend with parents

*KG - 1 - optional student attendance (moving towards not attending in following years)

*PK students will not attend due to age and developmental appropriateness

Regardless of the make-up of the conference, this is a teacher facilitated conference with the purpose of sharing student learning goals.  Older students who are present need a role in also sharing their goals, but the teacher remains the facilitator of this meeting.

This differs from the student-led conference which happens in April where students will be the main facilitators.

Personnel Update

High school PE teacher Ryan McFarland has accepted the position of Activities and Athletics Director starting in 2017-2018. He will be working closely with Ron Thomson this year to assure a smooth transition. Congratulations Ryan!

PGE Goals Due Date and New Pathway

While you might be familiar with it from previous years. Please take a few moments to note your supervisor & review & confirm the different pathway options for you.

Here are some other guidelines:

• Professional Growth Pathway & New Teachers - create your goals in Google Doc by making a copy of this template  
• Please note that if you are in your third year (or any multiples of three), you must select one of the Self-Assessment Pathways.
• Anyone in their 4th or 5th year can choose the Professional Growth Pathway or stay in a Self-Assessment Pathway.
• If you need more details, take a look at the PGE Handbook on Moodle. Below are the due due dates for confirming goals and meeting with your supervisor:

Professional Growth Pathway 30 September

New Teachers: 19 October
Self-Assessment Pathway - Standards (SAP S): 19 October
Self-Assessment Pathway - Educator Profile (SAP X): 19 October

Here are the links to the spreadsheets to sign up for a meeting with your supervisor.

        Lori      Keryn

Edmodo PD

We would like to offer some PD around Edmodo - and would like to canvas interest in this opportunity.  Please read the below blurb from Hilary and fill out the survey if you would like to learn more!

Edmodo empowers you to build relationships with your students in an environment they know and love, collaborate with other teachers to improve learning outcomes, and discover new resources that unlock the full potential of your classroom and your own professional development. Come learn to connect, assess, personalize, and explore with Edmodo. Please fill out this short interest survey.

Personal Leave

Thank you to all those who have applied for leave in a timely manner.  Thank you!  This really helps with planning for sub cover and ensuring our students’ learning is not too disrupted.

A reminder that personal leave is exactly that; ‘personal’ needs that need to be attended to.  This can include, but is not limited to:

1. Required religious holidays
2. Immigration and customs department appointments
3. Personal business that cannot be scheduled after school hours
4. Legal court appointments
5. For other reasons at the Head of School’s discretion.

TGIF

Yay - we will kick the year off with our first TGIF at the Park Hyatt on Friday September 23rd.  Save the date!  The exciting addition is that this year all TGIF’s will be whole school so we can continue to make greater connections school wide.

WELLNESS

Are you interested in seeing what is happening with wellness at AISC and in Chennai? If so, click here to stay updated. We have lots of exciting events planned so be sure to check in!

Celebrate India Month - from Bindu and Anu

As published in the calendar, October will be ‘Celebrate India Month’. Major events include:

• Opening Assembly by a group of professionals on Wednesday, 10th of October
• Student performances on the 3rd and 4th of November
• Glass blowing, music demo, storytelling, yoga, and more (in specialist classes)

Everyone will have the opportunity to decorate their palms with Mehendi and students and faculty will be served an Indian meal on Friday, 4th of November.
Please discuss in teams on how you could possibly integrate India in your classes within the framework of your curriculum.

Student performances are a highlight of the month so we request UE teachers to give us time for practice sessions. This is usually between 3.00 and 3.30 in the afternoon. We will share the schedule shortly.

To better organise purchases from the glass blower this year, Bindu and Anu have added sign up sheets to each class edmodo page.  The glass blower will have 10 days to make the orders and deliver it when we return after fall break. Students can bring money to IS classes.

Before we close for fall break, Bindu and Anu will send more information regarding different activities that happen during this month. You may contact us if you have any questions.

Reminders

• Jodi O’Meara is with us until Wednesday of this week.
• Wednesday is an early release day; sign ups and information has come directly from Lauren.
• Check UN Day information from Todd.
• UN Country station schedule is here.
• Big Bad Blue Swim Meet is happening next Friday afternoon and all day Saturday - good luck to all our 5th Grade swimmers!

Thanks for making it to the very end!

Warmly,
Keryn & Lori