Off you go!

Happy Spring Break

As you all head into a much deserved Spring Break, I have a few updates and announcements for you.  Safe travels for those of you going outside of Chennai and a wish for some rest, relaxation and fun to all of you.

Plans for March 28th 

PL&D Day

The day we return from Spring Break (March 28th), we have a professional learning and development day planned.  Here is the schedule for the day:

• Staff Breakfast (optional) - 7:15 - 8:00 - FAC Cafeteria
• Unit planning and Atlas updates - 8:00 am - 10:45 am
• Wellness Snack - 10:45 - 11:00 - Outside between the HS and ES CIC
• Wellness Oasis - 11:00 am - 2:00 pm - See your registration
• Lunch Window - 11:30 - 1:00 (your Wellness Instructor will release you for lunch)
• Afternoon Tea/Coffee Break - 2:00 - 2:15 Outside between the HS and ES CIC
• “Post-it Note Time”/Atlas updates/PGE Reflection -2:15 - 4:45

And...if you are interested, we have a rare opportunity to be led in a 10 minute Laughter Yoga session at 4:50 by a visiting yoga master.  This is completely optional, but if it sounds fun to you, please meet in the gym at 4:50. 

Continuing Early Release Wednesdays

We are proposing to increase the number of Early Release Wednesdays next year and I am interested in your thoughts.  Want to talk more about it?  I will have a table setup in the FAC Cafeteria during lunch on Tuesday, March 29th (from 12:00 - 1:30). Please stop by and see me if you have supportive ideas, suggestions or concerns.

Dr. Gini Rojas' Visit - Take Two

In May 2012, International EAL Consultant, Dr. Gini Rojas conducted an EAL program review at AISC. We are very excited to welcome Dr. Rojas back to our campus from April 5th - April 8th. Please see her schedule below - if she will be working with you directly, you have received a calendar invite.

Schedule for Dr. Gini Rojas

April 5th - 8th

Tuesday - April 5th

Time	Topic	Location	Audience
7:30 – 8:20	Welcome Reception (coffee and tea)	Main Courtyard	All staff
8:30 – 9:15	Final preparations for audit review	DTL Office	DTL and Dr. Rojas
9:15 - 10:00	Leadership Team/TALL Meeting	SHED	Leadership Team and Associate Principals
10:15 – 11:00	Beginning the audit/Purpose of the visit	DTL Office	DTL and EAL Coordinators
11:00 - 12:00	Elementary Classroom Visits	PK - 5 Classrooms*	Dr. Rojas, Principal, AP and/or EAL Coordinators
12:00 – 12:45	Lunch	FAC Cafeteria	Dr. Rojas, Coaches, APs and EAL Coordinators
12:50 – 1:30	Reviewing existing documents	DTL Office	DTL and EAL Coordinators
1:30 - 2:05	7th and 8th Grade Classroom Visits	Classrooms*	Dr. Rojas, Principal, AP and/or EAL Coordinator
2:15 - 3:30	Middle and High School Specialists Workshop (Required) - Tips for Developing Language Across the Specialist Areas	FAC Cafeteria	MS & HS Specialist Teachers (required) Coaches (optional)
3:30 - 3:45	Prepping for Workshops	DTL Office	Dr. Rojas
3:45 – 5:00	Developing Language in the Content Area - When no EAL teacher is available.	FAC Cafeteria	All teachers invited

*Dr. Rojas will be visiting as many classrooms as possible during these three days to get a glimpse into the teaching and learning practices that are in place for our learners.  PLEASE do not plan for this visit or change anything that you typically do.  This is simply an opportunity for Dr. Rojas to get a “bird's-eye view” of things here at AISC.

Wednesday - April 6th

Time	Topic	Location	Audience
8:15 – 9:20	Elementary School Specialists Workshop - Tips for Developing Language Across the Specialist Areas	BBT	All Specialists and Coaches - required for Specialists
9:30 -10:15	Elementary Classroom Visits	PK – 5 Classroom Visits *	Dr. Rojas, Principal, AP and/or EAL Coordinator
10:15 – 10:45	Reviewing our current EAL documents and tools	DTL Office	EAL Coordinators
10:45 – 11:45	How Can Instructional Coaches Support our Co-Teaching Model?	BBT	Coaching Collaborative Team, Current and future APs and Principals
11:45 – 12:30	Lunch	FAC Cafeteria	Teachers who have recently attended a professional learning with Dr. Rojas
12:50 - 1:20	Middle/High School Classroom Visits	Middle/High School Classrooms*	Dr. Rojas, Principal, AP and/or EAL Coordinator
1:30 - 2:45	Elementary School Classroom Visits	Elementary Classrooms*	Dr. Rojas, Principal, AP and/or EAL Coordinator
3:00 - 3:30	High School Classroom Visits	High School Classrooms*	Dr. Rojas, Principal, AP and/or EAL Coordinator
3:45 – 5:00	Content/Language /Assessment: How we Design and Deliver Lessons?	FAC Cafeteria	Required for all ES Co-Teachers.  Optional for all other teachers.

*Dr. Rojas will be visiting as many classrooms as possible during these three days to get a glimpse into the teaching and learning practices that are in place for our learners.  PLEASE do not plan for this visit or change anything that you typically do.  This is simply an opportunity for Dr. Rojas to get a “bird's-eye view” of things here at AISC.

Thursday - April 7th

Time	Topic	Location	Audience
7:45 - 8:25	Translanguaging Article	SHED	Lauren and Megha
8:30 - 9:15	HS: Academic Language Workshop with Math, Science, LRC, and PE	HOL	HS Math, Science, LRC and PE teachers
9:30 -10:15	Evolving our Co-Planning Process	2132	All 3rd Grade Teachers
10:20 - 11:10	High School Classroom Visits	High School	Dr. Rojas, Principal, AP and/or EAL Coordinator
11:15 - 12:00	Evolving our Co-Planning Process	SHED	All 2nd and 5th Grade Teachers
12:00 - 12:45	Lunch	Breezeway Conference Room	MS/HS Students
1:00 - 1:45	HS: Academic Language Workshop with Language Arts, Social Studies	HOL	HS Language Arts. EAL and Social Studies teachers
2:15 - 3:30	Evolving our Co-Planning Process	HOL	Required for all MS Co-Teachers.
3:45 - 5:00	Linguistic Scaffolding: Meeting the needs of a wide-range of learners.	FAC Cafeteria	Optional for all teachers

*Dr. Rojas will be visiting as many classrooms as possible during these three days to get a glimpse into the teaching and learning practices that are in place for our learners.  PLEASE do not plan for this visit or change anything that you typically do.  This is simply an opportunity for Dr. Rojas to get a “bird's-eye view” of things here at AISC.

Friday - April 8th

Time	Topic	Location	Audience
8:30 – 9:50	Parent Coffee	Hall of Light	All AISC Parents
10:15 – 11:00	Evolving our Co-Planning Process	HOL	All 1st and 4th Grade Teachers
11:15 – 12:00	Co-Teaching at the Elementary School	ES Principal Office	Principal, AP, DTL, EAL Coordinators
12:00 – 12:45	Lunch	DTL Office	Rebekah and Gregg Evolving our Co-Planning Process
12:45 – 1:30	Debrief week with Leadership Team and TALL	BBT	Leadership Team and APs
1:35 - 2:40	Language Development - 3rd Level of Support	HOL	All EAL and LRC Teachers
2:50 - 4:00	Debrief with EAL Coordinators	DTL Office	DTL and EAL Coordinators
5:30 - 7:00	Happy Hours	Joelle and Kevin’s Houses