Friday, February 15, 2019

Dear Faculty,

Thank you all for your participation in family literacy mornings this week - they were a huge success and so well participated by all our families. Should you hear any great feedback, please make sure you share it with us too.

Thank yous

·         Clinton - Thank you for your help in setting up all the artworks for the Lower Elementary Art Exhibition.  Joseph & Priya.

• Students of 5BT - thanks again for flower arrangements - we learned that the ‘Calotropis’ is a mosquito repellent.
• A big thank you to Alex for leading the Family LIteracy Mornings. They were a huge success!
• Thank you to Mary Kelly for covering for Alex in Grade 3.
• Thank you to Jet for helping coordinate visiting teachers from the American School of London, and for the teachers who they visited for opening up their classrooms
• EY5, Grade 1 and Grade 2 for the wonderful preparation and presentations at the learning celebration today
• Thank you to Amanda, Ula, Barbara, Janna and Jyotsna for letting me join your classes as a guest math teacher! I loved sharing Number Talks with your students. And the offer is open to all other classes - next up, Morgen, Kristina, and Deepa’s classes! Calley
• Grade 2 would like to thank Ms. Sarah and Mr. Finny for getting our whole grade ready to sing at the Learning Celebration.  

Monday 18 Feb	EY - G2 Art Exhibition Mon - Thur Student - Teacher Feedback Author Visit Mon - Thur ASA Season 2 Showcases 3:45 - 4:45 pm
Tuesday 19 February	Student - Teacher Feedback ASA Season 2 Showcases 3:45 - 4:45 pm
Wednesday 20 Feb	Early Release Student - Teacher Feedback Field Trip - Gr 3 TG & MR 8:45 - 11:30
Thursday 21 Feb	Student - Teacher Feedback Field Trip Gr 5 (all) -  8:45 - 12:15 Field Trip - Gr 3 SS & JM 8:45 - 11:30
Friday 22 Feb	Holiday - Feb Long Weekend
Monday 25 Feb	Season 3 ASA Begins

 

Vision Inspiration Projects Launch meeting for all teachers of 3-5 students

Monday 25 February at 8:10 a.m in the Design lab. Join us for coffee and breakfast and learn about our Vision Projects. All teachers who teach Grade 3-5 should be present, and if other teachers would like to learn you are welcome to join too!

Wild and Wacky Science (from Hilary)

Fingernail Sun Sensors, An animal that can regenerate parts of its heart, Want to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes?, Wild Vacation Spots, Sand Sculptors and their 40-foot creations.

If any of these topics interest you or might interest your students, let me know. Scholastic's Science magazines have arrived in India. I have a few copies in the coaching room. All articles are NGSS aligned and utilize the practices and cross-cutting concepts in our standards. They are also aligned to common core standards. It is an engaging way to introduce current science topics and develop reading and research skills.

Student - Teacher Feedback (repeat)

During the week of 18-21 February Grade 3-5 students will be completing their student teacher feedback survey. This survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. Homeroom and EAL teachers will work together in triads to cover each other so these surveys can be completed without the teacher receiving feedback in the room. Students should carry their device to specialist lessons that week. (Once surveys are done, no devices are needed to go to these classes).

TAs please plan to spend the first 5-10 minutes in one Art, Music, PE, and IS lesson for each of your two classes.

WL feedback will only be given from Grade 4 & 5 students who spend all year with one WL teacher. This will happen on Monday, and also only be in Spanish and French; a teacher assistant will be present for the first 5-10 minutes of these classes on Monday.

Links will be emailed directly to each student on Monday morning the 18th.

Report Card Timeline for upcoming Progress Reports (repeat)

It is time to start thinking about the upcoming progress report cards that will go home with the students after their Student Led Conference. These are the one-page report cards that assess progress within the learning habits, and also the one PSE paragraph narrative.

Proofreading is going to be a big focus going forward with report cards. We feel it is important to clearly clarify the role and expectations of your colleague proof readers. We are hoping that many undetected errors will be avoided this way.

Monday 11 - Wednesday 27 February	Begin writing PSE narrative progress report comments. Please ensure to familiarise yourself with the style guide and proofreading process
Wednesday 27 February	Faculty meeting dedicated to student led conferences Focus on SLC will be ‘preparing students to show and tell their own growth story’ Progress report cards due to colleague proof reader by 5pm
Friday 1 March	Progress report comments signed off by proof reader and given to admin proof reader - 5pm Should numerous errors be detected, admin will return to proof reader to correct over the weekend (deadline will be given)
Tuesday 5 March	Report comments returned to teacher by 8am - begin entering in powerschool
Thursday 7 March	All comments entered into powerschool by 8:30 am                Sherriden and team will run reports and printing will begin at                8:30 a.m
Monday 11 March	Admin will do final check of printed reports, and begin delivering to homerooms
Mon 11 – Thurs 14 March	Teachers prepare students to use progress reports as part of their growth and progress data in SLC
Thursday 14 March	Student Led Conferences Students will share their report cards with their parents, explaining strength and growth areas (as developmentally appropriate)

Visiting Author (repeat)

Here is a message from the library! This year's visiting author is Morris Gleitzman; author of over 40 books and Australia's Children's Laureate for 2018 and 2019. Please find the author schedule so that you know when your students will get to work with Morris. Any questions? Please email Jet.

Have a nice weekend!

Keryn, Dave and Calley