Our Interconnected Work

This week's post is all about keeping you "in the know" on the different roles teacher leaders play at AISC and how those roles are interconnected.  Refer back to this post whenever you have questions about the various teacher leadership roles at AISC.


SEVAI - Service Learning:
Balajee Ginjapalle is the SEVAI Program Manager for AISC. SEVAI ('Service' in Tamil, ) is the service learning program at AISC and Balajee's role is to help facilitate teachers (K-12) as they design developmentally appropriate SEVAI (service learning) projects for students.  He can be involved by reaching out to the local NGOs and other suitable community partners. If you have an idea for a service learning project, he is your contact.  He will also work with grade level teams as they explore ways to incorporate service learning opportunities into the curriculum.

EAL Coordinators:

Our EAL Coordinators, Paula Peters-Frampton and Karen Sumaryono, work with administrators to ensure that our practices for admissions, instruction and assessment align with our inclusion model. In addition to the roles of instructional coaches and HODs, EAL coordinators are also responsible for a number of other items including:

• Coordinating testing, recommending placement of new EAL students and providing regular reports to Director of Admissions
• Working with teachers to deepen their understanding of how to shelter instruction for English Language Learners (i.e., SIOP)
• Conducting co-planning and classroom walkthroughs for the purpose of observing current practices, giving feedback, and providing support
• Coaching teams in the use of data to inform instructional decisions and programming for ELLs

Instructional Coaches:

This year, Clayton Filter is working as a full-time Literacy and Inquiry Coach, Calley Connelly is working as a .6 math coach and Andrea Morris is working as a .5 ES literacy coach. A coach is an instructional leader who assists in the ongoing development of pedagogy and curriculum and works to build the professional capabilities of teachers.  Coaches are key players in the implementation phase of the curriculum review process and ensuring vertical alignment within the content area (having a school-wide understanding of scope and sequence).  While instructional coaches will work with all teachers on a grade level team (ES) or within a specific department, coaches will also work with individual teachers on specific PG&E goals, by the request of the teacher or the teacher’s administrator.  
Coaches are responsible for:

• Planning and leading professional development
• Modelling effective instructional practices
• Working with teachers to deepen their understanding of content standards
• Facilitating and collaborating in the design and development of units (and lessons when needed)
• Conducting walkthroughs for the purpose of observing current practices and providing feedback

Head of Departments (HODs):

The Head of Department is a teacher who manages the yearly work that needs to be done within a content area department.  These teachers are responsible for:

• Ensuring the ongoing development of the curriculum review cycle phases 2 - 4 (specifically vertical alignment)

• Facilitating data-based conversations centered on student work
• Cultivating a professional culture of shared ownership for student learning
• Coordinating and managing department level activities and assisting in managing resources (both physical and human)
• Serving as a liaison between the department and administration
• The full job description of a Head of Department can be found here.  

Our HODs for the year are:

Department Heads	Teacher	Room number
MS Science	Rebekah Lopata	3124
HS Science	Jayanthi Ramakrishna	3303
PE	Ryan McFarland	Gym
Performing Arts	Deborah Lee	2723
Visual Arts	Ed Doherty	1720
Math	Kala Ganeshan	3309
World Languages	Monica Sandifer	3125
Social Studies	Andrew Ranson	2120
English/ Language Arts	Pepper McFarland	3113
LRC	Brian Hirsch	3116
Library	Jeremy Willette	1124

Elementary School Team Leader:

The Elementary School Team Leader is a teacher who manages the yearly work that needs to be done within a grade level.  These teachers are responsible for:

• Guiding a specific grade-level team’s work and ensuring that this work is coordinated with the school goals

• Collaborating with colleagues to ensure effective curricular and instructional decisions are made
• Facilitating data-based conversations centered on student work
• Cultivating a professional culture of shared ownership for student learning
• Coordinating and managing grade level activities and assisting in managing resources (both physical and human)
• Serving as a liaison between the grade-level teachers and ES administration
• The full job description of the ES Team Leader can be found here.

Our Elementary School Team Leaders are:

Kindergarten	Lily Clarke
First Grade	Morgen Wettergren
Second Grade	Anna Van Horn
Third Grade	Kristie Nguyen
Fourth Grade	Brian Blanck
Fifth Grade	Becky Thomas

TLC Innovation Team Leaders:

A TLC Innovation Team Leader is a teacher who leads an innovation team that is charged with either a) completing the work of an end result from the strategic plan (generally a Learning Strategic Objective), b) leading a content area that is in phase 1 of the curriculum review cycle or  c) researching other promising practices or ideas that are new or potentially disruptive and require more planning for possible future addition to our teaching and learning repertoire.  These teachers are responsible for:

• Attending monthly TLC meetings
• Planning and leading regular Innovation Team meetings
• Being committed to expanding their leadership and facilitation skills
• Using their skills to lead a group of teachers through the design thinking  process, including the development of a philosophy/belief statement regarding the topic, researching best practices and engaging in action research to create an action plan that will be presented to the Leadership Team for consideration of future implementation.

Design Thinking	Ryan McFarland
Inquiry	Clayton Filter
Personalized Learning	Shari Abbott
Online Learning	Mike Malone
Social Studies	Walter Basnight
Wellness	Lauren Schneider

WHERE THE WORK INTERSECTS

Innovation Team Leaders and Head of Department/ES Team Leaders:

The Head of Department can be the Innovation Team Leader for a specific department’s curriculum review, but that is not always the case.  When another member of the department is selected to serve as the Innovation Team Leader, the HOD becomes an important part of the department’s collaboration process by serving on the Innovation Team, but does not sit on the TLC and hence, is not the leader of that Innovation Team.

Instructional Coaches and Head of Department/ES Team Leaders:

While HODs are both leaders and managers, coaches exist mostly in the realm of leadership. Coaches are not responsible for the budgeting process, the planning and executing of department meetings and other tasks delegated to HODs. They may, however, collaborate to plan curriculum-focused team or department meetings.  Both groups will work with the Director of Teaching and Learning to plan two PK-12 early release sessions. The focus of those ninety minute sessions will be ensuring vertical alignment/articulation of content and skills.

*Subject-Specific Grade level leaders for ES*

Instructional Coaches and Innovation Team Leaders:

Much like the Innovation Team Leaders and Head of Departments, a coach could be invited to join the TLC and lead the ideation portion of the curriculum review cycle.  Regardless of whether or not a coach is an Innovation Team Leader, their understanding of curriculum and instruction serves as a rich resource for a departmental or grade level team.

For a quick "At-A-Glance" view of most of these roles, refer back to this document.