Friday, August 30, 2019

Dear Faculty,

Happy long weekend! Enjoy your Monday off and see you all again next Tuesday. Snapshot conferences were so well coordinated and we thank you all for your time and support of these. Parents appreciate this valuable one on one time!

Thank yous and shout outs

• Thanks to everyone who came to Twitter Breakfast! Here is the link for the slideshow if you weren't able to make it. Thanks to Hazel for organizing our delicious food!
• Thanks Jen C for organising the twitter breakfast!
• All teachers who were involved in snapshots, thank you for giving up your time for these important listening conferences.
• A big thank you to Marshall for these past two years supporting the Elementary Office.
• All Specialist teachers involved in the MSA vertical team meeting
• Mary Kelly for her work leading the MSA process
• Amy, Tara, Mary Kelly, Jack and Melissa for giving further time into the ES Principal candidates interview this week.
• Jen C for her overall organisation for the upcoming ES principal finalist visit
• Alex, Amritha, Fer, Kristina and Vanessa Kim for coordinating and collating the questions for the different interview panels
• Fletch, Vanessa, Lucy, Amritha, Melissa and Jayashree for observing students as part of their admissions process.
• Thank you to Ross for covering kickball this week!

Upcoming Week at a Glance

Monday 2 September	Ganesh Chaturthi - No school.  Campus is closed.
Tuesday 3 September	ES MAP testing begins
Wednesday 4 September	ES MAP All Faculty Meeting
Thursday 5 September	ES MAP Indian National Teachers Day - Appreciation breakfast 7:45 a.m in the FAC
Friday 6 September	ES MAP Community Planning Team - 3:00 - 5:00 p.m Keryn, Vigna, Bindu and Morgen out  Grade 3-5 Learning Celebration Newbie Twobie (Jessica’s house)
Saturday 7 September	Big Bad Blue Swim Meet SIOP Teacher Training

MAP Schedule & Charging Devices
MAP testing begins next Tuesday - click here to find the schedule. Please note that if MAP testing is scheduled during a specialist lesson, the specialist teacher needs to proctor the test in the homeroom class for that period. For Grades 3-5, please ask students to have their devices charged each day before they begin testing. Also, for Grades 2-5, please ensure that all of your classroom devices are charged daily while testing is occurring. 

PGE Conversations
These will be coming up in September - please start thinking about your goals. A reminder that you will need to draft two goals. One could be a team goal. We  encourage that one of these goals linked to our overall ES goal of documenting student learning through the Seesaw platform.

Upcoming Spirit Week
Please encourage your students to take part!

ES Principal Finalist Visit - Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th September

Mark your calendars for two opportunities to interact with the finalists for the ES Principal position during their visit in September. 

• First, there will be a Meet and Greet in the Unity Courtyard on the morning of Monday, September 16 for faculty.
• Second, Monday after school in the Madras Hall, you are invited to please come meet the candidates, listen to their responses to questions and provide feedback at the end digitally.  
• In addition, candidates may be walking around during recess or lunch as well as visiting classrooms during the two days. 
• We look forward to welcoming the candidates to our school and learning more about them during their visit. 

Seesaw 

Posting Reminder

Seesaw posts are made to a specific grade level or class. If a post needs to be made about an ES event or is pertinent for many grades then that post does not go on Seesaw and instead goes out to parents on the ES Principal’s blog.  

Approving Posts in Seesaw

Please be mindful of only approving your posts and not posts from another teacher.  

To avoid flooding inboxes we ask that you approve your own posts in a timely manner by the end of the day the post is made. 

Please make sure you have added the Seesaw filter to your Gmail inbox to avoid being bombarded with emails.  If you still need help with any of this, please reach out to Priya.

Seesaw Resources

A lot of teachers use Seesaw as an online journal, an e-portfolio, or a combination of both. This post should help those that want some tips on maximizing this excellent edtech tool. The other link will walk you through the steps of creating personalized activities for your students. Please schedule a time with Priya if you need assistance.

5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Seesaw

Create a new activity in Seesaw

Congrats Twitter Award Winners - Grade 2

If you didn’t join for our Twitter Breakfast this morning, but you’re interested in getting started with Twitter (and aspire to win the award!), please check out this presentation that Jen shared. Congratulations to Grade 2, who were the first recipients of this week’s award for “Most Tweets by a Grade Level.”  

Q12 

Our Second Faculty Community Forum - Thursday, 12 September

As per the “you” request that we offer opportunities for faculty to offer input, our second faculty community forum we will be hosted on September 12, 7:50 a.m. n the Principal’s Office. Please remember that this is totally optional. Please respond to the calendar invite either way, as this will help us with location and space.

Our second  topic is: “Implementing Seesaw in the elementary school”

As is one of our building blocks for engagement, faculty are invited to identify areas of Seesaw implementation that they feel may require further unpacking. Giving as much detail around these specifics would be helpful.

Others can respond digitally in advance of the forum by offering thoughts, advice or answers. Please be sure to leave your name with any comment you make. Leadership team will prioritise points to be discussed at the forum if need be.  

A reminder that engaging with this is purely optional.

Have a wonderful three day weekend!

Keryn, Dave, and Calley

Friday, August 23, 2019

Dear Faculty,

In our first five-day week in school, there’s been a lot of community building and learning happening. We have enjoyed our first visits to your classroom to see Number Talks, language workshop, classroom setup inquiry, reading and writing units in full swing. Thanks for all your thoughtful work at this week’s faculty meeting. We have appreciated the feedback that you provided (see below) and will look for more opportunities to feature the same types of engaging professional learning.  

Thank yous and shout outs

• Marcus & Mary Kelly for the live coaching. Way to put yourselves out there!
• Alex, Hilary and Priya for presenting coaching and seesaw at our faculty meeting
• All the members of the ESP search team for all the time and effort going into that process - Jack, Mary Kelly, Alex, Amritha, Amy, Kristina, Tara, Vanessa K, Vigna, Melissa, Jen and Fer.
• Becky, Anita and Hilary for demonstrating engagement in our first faculty forum - decisions made below.
• Dan Love for picking up a kickball recess opportunity!  

Upcoming Week at a Glance

Monday 26th August	First Full Day of Early Years Snapshot conferences (all week) Yearbook Photos (all week)
Tuesday 27th August	-
Wednesday 28th August	Faculty meeting for specialists - vertical team time (look for more information from Dan) No meeting for homeroom/EAL teachers due to Snapshots
Thursday 29th August	Titles and Treats 8:00 - 8:30 in the Library
Friday 30st August	Twitter Breakfast 7:45 - 8:15 in the Design Studio
Saturday 31st August	Maker Saturday

Q12 

Faculty Community Forum - DECISIONS

Honoring the “you” request that we offer opportunities for faculty to offer input, our first faculty community forum was held yesterday! Thank you so much to Becky, Anita and Hilary who attended our first forum! We had dialogues to gain clarity around two points, and reached decisions that are final.

1. Transition; all classes START on time. It is the responsibility of the teacher of the period before to ensure students arriving on time, no longer than 1 minute before the start of the period.
2. Cell phone - ES students can only use their phone after school in the direct presence of a teacher, or in the ES reception (e.g to call a driver).  
3. During before/after school and during recess (including indoor recess) students may NOT be using their devices. 

** Common sense media is coming out with new guidelines about why reduction of screen time is important. Read more here! 

What New Research on Young Kids’ Media Use Means for Teachers

Common Sense media has also created a new topic in their curriculum: 

Media Balance and Well-Being. They have created lessons to teach students in grades KG-12 how to balance media. I love the question for KG to explore: How do you say goodbye to technology when you don’t want to? In addition, there are family resources that accompany all the topics in all grades. The resources include take home activities and contracts for families. 

Explore the Media Balance and Well-Being Family Resources

Back to School Morning Feedback

Due to GTL unanimous decision, we changed this year to having our back to school event in the morning. This change had benefits and compromises. If you would like to give feedback, please do so here before by noon next Thursday 29th

MAP Software Check - all Grade 2-5 classes

Since students only completed their tech configuration, we are confident that students devices are ready to go for MAP tests. Please have students check this week by Thursday end of day, and send (the hopefully) one or two students to the CIC next Friday.

Twitter Breakfast - Friday 30th Aug

Please join Jen and Clinton in the STEM Lab next Friday morning at 7:45 AM for our first Twitter Breakfast! Jen will give us a tutorial on how to use Twitter, showcase #aiscelementary tweets, and share a special surprise from our 3D printer … join us! For Twitter newbies and veterans alike.  

  

Yearbook Photo Schedule next week 

Please post your class photo date on Seesaw to parents. 

Yearbook Photoshoot and Ordering Process

The info below is being communicated to parents in the Principal’s notes, the same ordering process applies to staff also. You can collect an envelope from our office. 

Our Yearbook Photoshoot is taking place August 26–30. Please look for specific information on Seesaw about date and time for your child’s class.

This year there are two ways to order your prints.

Option 1: Order photos the week of the photoshoot

• Students will receive an order envelope from their homeroom teacher by Friday, August 23.
• Indicate which package you would like to order.
• Place the exact amount of the cost in the envelope.
• Return the order envelope to the homeroom teacher.

Option 2: Order photos after reviewing the photo

• Photos will be uploaded to SmugMug a couple of weeks after the photoshoot week.
• Review your child’s photo.
• Contact the vendor directly via email or phone to order your prints. Vendor information will be provided with the SmugMug link.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact Sherene Williams at wsherene@aischennai.org.

Faculty Meeting next Wednesday

• Homeroom/EAL teachers; snapshot conferences
• Specialists - vertical team time; look for further communication from Dan regarding this.

Seesaw presentation

Click here to review any of the Q & A answered about the seesaw platform during our last faculty meeting.

Protocols for Absences - this was sent to parents

As per previous years - please continue to send a direct email to your child’s class teacher AND copy Ms Hazel (bhazel@aischennai.org) if your child will be absent on a given day. It is important to stick to this protocol and not notify the teacher through Seesaw as the ES office will not get that notification and will then call you to find out why your child is absent from school.

**Should a parent message you via Seesaw with absence information, please re-direct them to the correct protocol (and also, on that day fwd the email to Hazel / Padma so they have the information). Please enter attendance on PowerSchool by 8:45 am.

India Month 2019 🇮🇳

The India Month Opening Assemblies are coming up in September, our students have begun learning different traditional and contemporary styles of Indian dancing and singing. We will continue to follow our fun tradition with yet another Teachers Dance. This year, we’re excited to be extending this opportunity to faculty and admin across all school! 

Interested? Please click here to sign up.

Questions? Write to ipreethi@aischennai.org

Seesaw/Coaching/LSS Notes

Thank you so much for your attention and meaningful feedback. In the spirit of ongoing feedback loops, here’s a summary of our faculty meeting feedback, as well as some more info where we could provide it.

Seesaw

What helped

• Clarity on tagging/folders 
• Time to hash out and clarify expectations
• Learn from the questions of others

What would help (going forward)

• 1:1 time with Priya V (please email her to schedule this!)
• See examples of effective use/practices by other teachers (coming)
• Specific help for specialists to use in their unique classrooms (reach out to Priya or a coach)

Coaching

What helped

• Seeing the models shows us what’s possible with coaching
• Knowing we are supported

What would help (going forward)

• Knowing how to “sign up” for Cognitive Coaching (Reach out to someone trained in CC via email or in person. Here’s a list of people who have done the training: Alex, Hilary, Keryn, Mary Kelly, Calley, Nigel)
• Knowing the best way to reach out to coaches, via email or in person? (either!)

LSS referrals and short term intervention

What helped

• Much appreciated clarity about the process

What would help (going forward)

• Communication to specialists about TCMs and protocols for communicating through HR teacher 
• The Team Meeting idea sounds great and we are looking forward to it (will be coming soon)

IPad Booking Policy

·         Ipads booked in the morning will not be delivered. Kindly bear in mind that the iPads need to be booked at least a day before in advance. 

·         Beginning 26th of August iPads will only be delivered to your class if they exceed above 5 in numbers.

·         If the numbers are below 5 please pick them up before the designated time. 

·         If you require any apps to be installed or downloaded to the CIC iPads please ask the IT team at least one week in advance. If an app needs to be purchased kindly consult Priya.

Room Parents Update

The PCA has now reached out to parents for solicitation in interest in being either a room parent and or a grade level PCA rep. We will keep you posted as names come in and parents volunteer. Should you have any direct questions pertaining this, or would like to suggest name(s), please let Sossity know at: ssossitypca@aischennai.org

Week 3 - Logical Consequences and Time Out

Dear RC Team,

It has been great hearing from different people about how goal and rule/agreement creation! If your class has agreements that support their goals for the year, then it's time to introduce logical consequences and time out. The timing here is different for different grade levels as K-2 may take a bit more time for rules/agreements than 3-5. As you prepare to roll out consequences and time out, take a second and watch some experts in the attached PPT and slides. In the PPT check out slides 12 and 16. In the Introducing and Using Logical Consequences PPT the videos are on slide 16. Happy watching! Please reach out with any questions or wonderings. 

Socially, emotionally and academically yours,

Alex and Elliot

Adaptive Schools Opportunity from the Office of Teaching and Learning

If you are interested in attending Adaptive Schools Foundation Training in Chennai, November 4-7, click the LINK HERE for more information and to indicate your interest.  

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Keryn, Dave, and Calley

Friday, August 16, 2019

Dear Faculty,

Great week with a mid-week day off. We hope everyone enjoyed celebrating Indian Independence Day!

As usual, a lot of important information here so please read carefully!

Thank yous and shout outs

• Vigna for covering for Angie in kindergarten.
• Amritha, Melissa, Mary Kelly, Linda, and Vanessa for supporting Early Years and Kindergarten.
• Thank you to Keeley, Tara, Scott, Fiona, Amy, Tiffany, Sarah, Kay, Salome, Hilary, Preetika, Leontheen, Becky, Jen, and Julia for responding to the AFO survey.  We appreciate your feedback and will use the input!
• To Becky for populating our first FCF document. It will close next Tuesday before Thursday’s meeting. 

Back to school

As you are aware, these will be happening next Monday and Tuesday mornings. Please put the following reminder to parents on SeeSaw:

Back to School Mornings (BTSM)

Please join us next (pick one date from below)

·         Monday 19 August - Grades 3-5

·         Tuesday 20 August - Early Years - Grade 2

BTSM begins at 8:45 a.m in the Madras Hall. Following this curricular orientation of all core areas and specialist areas, you will be invited to our grade level presentations for specific information pertinent to your child’s learning this year. Please join us in ……(insert location)

 

Room Parents

The PCA will again be reaching out to parents for solicitation in interest in being either a room parent and or a grade level PCA rep. Should you have any direct questions pertaining this, or would like to suggest name(s), please let Sossity know at: ssossitypca@aischennai.org

Summary of AFO Survey Feedback

Overwhelming, the feedback was incredibly positive with comments appreciating the increase in protected class time. Thank you to the 14 people who took the time to provide input; this will definitely be used in future planning.

Below are some comments from each of the specific sessions:

Documenting student learning:

• It was nice to hear that because it is a trial year, there will be a range of what people feel comfortable with and how much/little people use. Moving forward as a school to make it more consistent and streamlined will be great, but giving us permission to try and find our comfort level was a nice message to hear.
• It was useful to be reminded that documenting student learning can be used as a tool for reflection and to drive instruction.

• Documentation for learning and as learning benefits students and my learning as a teacher too.

• Clarifying the why of using digital portfolios was an important discussion for us to have as a staff.

Suggestions for further work on this goal:

• Analyzing the documentation: What standards does the document demonstrate? Is it an assessment of, for, or as learning? Looking at the documentation from different perspectives and interpreting its information from those perspectives.

• Teachers who have diligently begun collecting and documenting student portfolios could share their best practices and enlighten colleagues on the pros and cons of documentation.

Hands on Seesaw session:

• These sessions were AWESOME! Very well orchestrated and FUN.
• I liked hearing the parent perspective from Sherriden. It was also really powerful to hear personal stories from teachers that used it last year.Just having the opportunity to have some hands-on exploratory time was super beneficial.

• The introduction to Seesaw in quick rotations made the afternoon pass quickly in addition to being very informative!

Suggestions for further work on this goal:

• ES section time could be earmarked for exploring the repertoire of activities that Seesaw offers.
•  Maybe looking at more examples / exemplars of high quality student posts / reflections across grade levels?

Overall ES AFO Feedback:

• Every year, I’m impressed by the organization of our school’s AFO.  I am so appreciative of the breakfasts and lunches that the school provides for us to reconnect with our colleagues after the summer break. I really appreciate working with this supportive, professional and friendly community. Thank you!
  No suggestions. I really enjoyed the session and appreciate everyone's hard work in preparing.  I felt the class time was adequate and the sessions worthwhile. Great pacing!
• I appreciated the balance of meeting and classroom time. I think focusing the meetings on ES initiatives was really helpful.
• I liked having many of the meetings on the first days and time in the room or with our teams on the last days. This way, I could use all of the information I had gained and use it for and during my personal planning time. I appreciated the initial meetings with coaches and would have liked one to talk about science or social studies to start thinking and planning ahead.

Q12 

Faculty Community Forum - Thursday, August 22nd

As per the “you” request that we offer opportunities for faculty to offer input, our first faculty community forum we will be talking about clarity of expectations related to transitioning to specials and expectations regarding cell phone use for students. If you are interested in dialoguing about these two topics, please join us at 7:50 a.m. August 22nd in the Principal’s Office. Please remember that this is totally optional.

Faculty Meeting next Wednesday - Early release section time (2:30p.m Madras Hall - bring a device)

The focus will be:

• Continuing  on work documenting student learning, and in particular confirming agreements for this
• Using Seesaw as a platform - for specific questions you may have/support you would like, please give input for the IT team here:
• Understanding support mechanisms and systems for teaching and learning in the ES

Dismissal Reminder

Please be sure to have your class downstairs ready for pick up by 3:30 p.m. Classes can begin transitioning for dismissal after 3:26 p.m. 

Snapshot Conferences - August 26th - 30th

Snapshot Conferences will soon be underway, and this is a great opportunity to learn from parents about their child, including their needs, strengths and interests. Homeroom teachers - here is a link to a template for parents to sign up for snapshot conferences.

Student Records on Documentation

A few teachers have been asking about how to find last year’s records on PS. If you want to include this in your blog please do.

Link to Finding previous years WIDA and Running Records Score.

ES/MS Twitter

Please follow the ES/MS Library on Twitter. We will post information about events and happenings that you will want to keep up with! 

The handle is: @biblio_babs 

Titles and Treats

The ES/MS Library invites all faculty members to our annual Titles and Treats celebration! During this time, you are welcome to browse our new books, let library staff know which ones interest you, and have a coffee and a treat on your way back to class. 

When: Thursday, August 29th 8:00-8:30 am

Where: ES/MS Library @ CIC

What: Come browse new books and have a treat!

ASA’s Season 1 Information for HR Teachers

Here is the list of students in your classes that are enrolled in ASA programs for Season 1. This will not be emailed separately.

ES ASA Season 1 Class Lists 

Throughout the first week of ASA’s, please bring students to the ES Cafeteria. On the list of students and locations sheet provided, a Table Color is provided for student drop-offs. These tables will be located in the ES Cafeteria.  

After the first week of ASA’s, please allow grade 3-5 students to travel to their ASA areas more independently. The locations are also listed on the sheet with the list of students. If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

Pre-Budget Priority Thinking

As you know, each year we follow a budget cycle to plan for the following year. This year we are adding a generative thinking step so individual faculty members have input on the budgeting process. This is especially important in terms of new programs, resources or facility ideas. Kindly take a few moments to think about new ideas for your programme or subject area.

Specialist Pre-Thinking

We will ask specialists to complete this form with broad strokes estimates of your individual needs/ideas and give them to your HOD no later than August 30th. HODs will then meet with the administration to preview budget needs shortly there after. Please note that this form is non-binding and the same budget process as before will still continue. That process, along with the ordering forms, will begin in October.

Homeroom teachers, your GTL will be meeting about this next Monday, and so more information to come for you all then.

Here is our next Responsive Classroom blog post with resources for moving ahead for the first 6 weeks. 

Responsive Classroom (Week 2)

Dear RC Teammates,

Hopefully, you are feeling really good about the first few days of school! Next week, we are essentially entering week 2.  Last week, this space was dedicated to creating goals for the year. Once goals are chosen, the next step is to focus on Creating Rules/Agreements. Be sure you have a clear connection to goals.  This process will set the foundation for the year. Check out slides 10, 11 and 16 for more information. For the videos on slide 16, there are examples from K, 1st and 3rd-grade classrooms. Each video is an excellent example of rolling out the rules creation process. For additional information on the process, here are additional resources from the RC book- Rules in School. Thank you for continuing to take steps together towards making our school a Responsive Classroom school!   

Socially, Emotionally and Academically yours,

Alex and Elliot

Have a wonderful weekend!

Keryn, Dave, and Calley