Friday, October 8, 2021

Friday, October 8, 2021

Upcoming Week at a Glance:

Day

Event

October 11


October 12


October 13

Growth Conferences Preparation

3:00 - 4:00 TAs: Conferring with Students workshop with Alex (calendar invite will be sent)

October 14

No School

October 15



Return to Campus Additional Details

Parent Coffees

As mentioned in the email yesterday, we will hold two parent coffees with return to school details. They will be Wednesday, October 20th at 2:00 p.m. and Thursday, October 21st at 9:00 a.m. (this session will be simultaneously translated into Korean). 


Growth Conferences - afternoon of Oct. 18th and all day Oct. 19th

For growth conferences, it is best to work from home in order to conduct conferences unmasked. This will help with communication to families.


Classroom Maintenance

If anything needs to be done in your room (painting, cleaning, furniture removal, taking down something that you can’t reach, etc…), please add it to this maintenance spreadsheet. You may also contact Hazel or Padma if something is needed urgently while you are on campus. 

 

Zoom Security - REMINDER

Any non Zoom hosts participants who plan to join students in a breakout room should press record immediately upon entering the breakout room. The Zoom host will need to make any other adults in attendance a cohost before sending them off to breakout rooms. Please remember to press record! 

Class Names

If you haven’t already added your class name to this document, please add it by the end of today. 

India Week - October 25th - 29th 

Bindu and Liza have been busy planning engaging experiences for students for India Week. Please look at the two timely sign-ups below and click here to find out what else is going on that week. 

Invitation for Guest Readers:

Want to be the special guest reader? Want to read to our Elementary students? Here is what you need to do:

  • Choose a class you would like to read to. 

  • Pick one of the two options you see for that class and highlight it in yellow.

  • Add the title of the book you would like to read to them.

Reach out to Bindu, Liza, Babs or Teena if you need help finding a book!

Teacher Dance

Calling all our Bhangra Bollywood stars to sign up for the Teachers’ Dance by Tuesday, October 12th, 4.00 pm. Practice sessions will be for an hour on Thursday, Oct 14th and Saturday, Oct 16th with our very own Dancing Queen ‘Valar’. If you are looking for inspiration, listen to this soundtrack. We dare you to not GET UP & DANCE! 

Professional Learning Update

A few quick hits from the OTL regarding professional learning this week:

  • Looking for an affordable online deeper dive into an area of professional learning? Check out Solution Tree's Portable Events Packages. Courses cost just under 300 USD and include keynotes, learning activities and loads of resources. Once purchased the courses are on-demand for 60 days. For example, the Best Practices for Classroom Assessment in a Virtual or Blended Environment course includes videos, lessons and written materials by assessment guru Tom Schimmer and Cassandra Erkens who have authored many books AISC references regarding sound assessment practices.

  • Recently the Senior Leadership Team approved a Professional Development Philosophy Statement that has now been added to the OTL page in Schoology. This statement reflects our updated thinking regarding PD in keeping with what we know about deep professional learning, post-COVID (?) approaches in the virtual space and endeavoring to act with environmental responsibility. 

  • Finally, please complete this brief form if you are interested in taking Cognitive Coaching (Days 1- 4). Cognitive Coaching℠ is a model that supports people in becoming self-directed (which includes becoming self-managing, self-monitoring and self-modifying).  Cognitive Coaching represents a deep dive into the skills paraphrase and posing questions while equipping individuals with mental models and maps that support mediating thinking in one-on-one and small group dialogue - in the classroom, in teams and beyond.  You can learn more about the training on the Thinking Collaborative website. This professional learning opportunity is free of charge and will take place face-to-face. 

Book Club Announcement - Making Thinking Visible (Repeat Announcement)

Interested in fostering and developing student thinking in your classroom? Consider joining us for a Making Thinking Visible Book club which will begin Tuesday, October 26th. The book and our four book club sessions will provide educators with practical knowledge and tools to create a positive and lifelong impact on student learning. The book offers classroom-tested and research-based teaching resources for a variety of grade levels and subject areas. In our four book club sessions, we will not only consider the text but also share our ongoing application of the routines discussed in the book. If interested then please complete this Google form and we will get a copy of the book to you around October 18 or 19. Let us know if you have any questions. Thanks! Mary Kelly Bello and Walter Basnight


 ‘Making Thinking Visible’ - 4 Sessions

  • Session #1  Chapters 1,2,3  Tuesday, October 26th,  5pm - 6pm

  • Session #2  Chapters 4,5,6  Tuesday, November 9th, 5pm - 6pm

  • Session #3  Chapters 7 & Sharing of Routines Used  Tuesday, November 23rd, 5pm - 6pm

  • Session # 4 Sharing of Routines Used Tuesday, December 7th, 5pm - 6pm

Wellbeing Oasis is now open for Faculty

Need a change of scenery, a space to have a mindful moment to bring you back to the present, or maybe you just like delicious organic tea? Then the Wellbeing Oasis is for you. The room is open from 8-5pm and there is no locking key. Because of covid safety measures, only two people should be in the room at one time. 

 

Note: The massage chairs will return to the space soon. They are just getting some much needed love.

SAVE THE DATE: Inspiration Conversation (Tuesday, October 12)

Join Storyteller and Performer Vikram Sridhar as he takes us on an engaging journey through the cultural significance and folklore behind water storage systems across India. With his signature style of storytelling, Vikram is an engaging performer based in Chennai and Bangalore. You can watch his TedX talk on "The Power of Stories in Our World of Reality" here.

When: Tuesday, October 12, 4:15–5:00 p.m. IST

Where: Join us on Zoom here (Passcode: AISC).

Meeting ID: 971 8034 3916

Passcode: AISC

Whom: Open to students, faculty/staff, and parents!


Wellbeing Blog


Have a wonderful weekend.

Lynn and Dave


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