Reflections

A "shoutout" from Dr. Gini Rojas

Thanks to Megha for sharing an email that Dr. Rojas sent to her SP 16 Curriculum and Assessment for ELLs Class (of which Megha is a member). Dr. Rojas echoed what she wrote to her class with the Leadership Team, when we debriefed with her on Friday. Simply put, she was amazed, proud and inspired by the teaching and learning transformation that has happened at AISC since her last visit. You each have played an important role in that journey, so please, take a minute and celebrate your  contributions to creating a learning environment for students that is inclusive and inspiring.  

Reflections on Dr. Rojas' Visit

As a learning organization, we know how important reflection and feedback is in the learning cycle.  When Dr. Gini Rojas visited us 4 years ago, she provided valuable insights on our EAL programming.  Since that time, we have worked together to implement those recommendations from her review that made the most sense to us, our mission and our context.  In our efforts to continuously improve our work with students, we invited Dr. Rojas back to have her review our progress on our journey of EAL inclusive practices.  As mentioned above, she was overwhelmed and stunned by the amount of progress we have made as a school.  Without question, she will also make some recommendations for us to consider as we move ahead on our journey.  Perhaps, her visit has left you with more questions than you had before her visit?  I think that is usually the mark of a thought-provoking professional learning experience.  Once we receive Dr. Rojas' report from her visit (she estimates May 9th), we will spend some time processing it as a leadership team, share her specific commendations with all of you, and carefully consider the recommendations.  Her feedback will be valuable to us as we continue our work on developing our teaching and learning practices.  Speaking of the importance or feedback, I would like to collect yours on Dr. Rojas' visit.  I expect this survey would take you less than five minutes to complete and appreciate you taking that time to share helpful information with us.

Welcome Dan Love!

It was great to have Dan on campus this week.  I hope you had time to interact with him during his visit. He is a great addition to the AISC family and his new ideas will bring positive energy and momentum to the Office of Teaching and Learning.  In my last conversation with Dan on Friday,  I asked him to sum up his week here.  He described it as a continuum of experiences and emotions ranging from anxious, helpful, overwhelming, clarifying and inspiring. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with Dan over the next few months as he tranisitions into the Director of Teaching and Learning role.

Math Specialist International Schools

Over the past two years, 12 AISC faculty members have participated in the MSIS (Math Specialist in International Schools) Math Specialist Certificate Program.  They are are currently in Delhi for the weekend, where they are working with Erma Anderson and the teachers from AES.  Thanks to the MSIS team for their commitment to this program.

Are you interested in opening your home to a student teacher next year?

In August, we will have a student teacher joining us in the high school.  I am looking for someone to host him during his semester here.  If you are interested, please let me know and I will go over the details with you.