“I am a teacher at heart, and there are moments in the classroom when I can hardly hold the joy. When my students and I discover unchartered territory to explore, when the pathway out of a thicket opens up before us, when the experience is illuminated by the lighting-life of the mind -- then teaching is the finest work I know.” Parker J. Palmer
Palmer, P. (2007) The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life,
Jose-Bass, San Francisco.
Early Release Professional Learning Strands for 2018-19
Developed by Learning Coaches and the Teaching and Learning Leadership, the purpose of the Professional Development Strands is to create personalized and relevant professional learning during dedicated time. The Strands were created as a partnership with AISC Leadership and Learning Coaches for teaching faculty to have time for deep understanding of an educational topic with a consistent group of colleagues.
2018-2019 Strands
AISC Culture: Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose
SBAR
Inquiry Through UbD
Making Data Useful for You
Sheltered Instruction
Enhancing Instructional Strategies (for teacher assistants)
Project Based Learning
cNet: WLD
cNet: PE/Health
cNet: Early Years 3 and 4
September 5: Strand Rollout Early Release Professional Learning Day
October 10: Strand Session 1
November 14: Strand Session 2
2:30-5:00
Agendas will come from Strand Leaders. Meeting locations LINKED HERE
February 20: Strand Session 3
March 20: Strand Session 4
April 3: Strand Session 5
May 15: Strand Session 6 w/ Internal Strand Celebration / Culminating Project
NESA Winter Training Institute is coming to AISC!
We would like to invite you to attend. TALL has approved programmatic funds for those teachers that have professional development interests or goals aligned with the trainings offered. In other words, tell us what you are interested in and why does it connect to a school strategic goal, a personal PG&E goal, or a sectional goal. Learn more about the trainings available at NESA WTI
Final approval of attendance will be handled by your respective supervisor. This survey is to indicate interest to attend. If you have already arranged with your supervisor to attend, you STILL NEED TO FILL OUT THE SURVEY. Survey LINK HERE
Timeline of Interest to Attendance:
Survey to indicate interest opens: Oct. 26
Survey closes: Nov. 12
Participants vetted by TALL: Nov 15
Participants notified by Director of Teaching and Learning: before Nov. 22
Registered by Dec. 1--early bird registration deadline
PLEASE NOTE: January 25 there is no school to accommodate the NESA WTI @AISC. Republic Day 2019 is Saturday, January 26.
NESA Winter Training Institute Volunteers
Winter Training Institute will be in Chennai! NESA and AISC are looking for volunteers for the following:
- Buses on Friday and Saturday (morning & afternoon)
- Registration on Friday morning
- School ambassadors to welcome, direct and help speakers set-up on Friday morning (preferably teachers attending the workshops)
- After the plenary session on Friday, the same people can lead their session’s delegates to their meeting room
- Lunch Time/Coffee Break Patrol
If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up LINK HERE
Wellbeing Update - Nigel Holdsworth and Jen Gold, Wellbeing Committee Leaders
This Thursday we hosted a Wellbeing Parent Coffee and spent some time exploring the definition of wellbeing, its importance as a topic in schools, the AISC Wellbeing Framework and the path we are taking to create a culture of wellbeing here at AISC.
One of the key ways to embed wellbeing in our school culture is to have parents, students and school staff work together to envision and plan for the future of wellbeing. We will soon be embarking on this pathway through our Community Summit.
Community Summit: Exploring the Horizons of Wellbeing
One of the key ways to embed wellbeing in our school culture is to have parents, students and school staff work together to envision and plan for the future of wellbeing. We will soon be embarking on this pathway through our Community Summit.
Community Summit: Exploring the Horizons of Wellbeing
Over the course of three early release days, we will be holding a Community Summit to explore the horizons of wellbeing. Parents and students are being invited to join faculty and administrative staff to envision the future of wellbeing at AISC. During the three sessions, we will collectively:
- Discover what we are doing best to nurture wellbeing at AISC - November 28
- Envision bold new possibilities for the future - December 12
- Design for excellence and construct the future of wellbeing at AISC - January 23
The sessions will run from 2:30-5:00 pm in the Gym.
Wellbeing Profiler
Students in grades 4 - 12 will complete a wellbeing survey during the week of Nov 26th.
The survey will be completed in the following classes:
ES (Grades 4&5) - During PE class on Nov 26th and 27th
MS - Advisory on Nov 27th
HS - Discovery on Nov 27th
January 16, 2019
In order to provide some breathing space in the schedule, Vertical Team time on January 16 will be dedicated to individual work time for faculty 3:45-5:00. January 16 is the first day back from break and it did not seem like we would be setting faculty up for success to have an afterschool meeting.
I will be communicating to faculty on Friday via the Raptor Way Blog, but I wanted you to know first.
We will not be looking for a new meeting time to replace the January 16 meeting.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and flexibility.
Dates to Remember
Carol Simoneau & Doreen Miori-Merola, Advanced Adaptive Schools Training--Nov. 12-15
A Few Interesting Topics at WTI in CHENNAI:
- Literacy Coaching Cohort LINK HERE for more information
- Math Instruction in Elementary School with Sherry Parrish
- Designing Quality Assessment for Physical Education
- Building Networked Communities of Practice with Joelle Killion
- Student Achievement with Ken O’Connor
- Early Childhood: Emergent Curriculum
Suzie Boss, Project Based Learning--Jan. 21-24 & Jan. 28 - Feb. 1
Erin Kent, TCWRP, Focus on Reading--Feb. 4-8
Erma Anderson Math Specialist in International Schools Training--March 19-21---Institute #3
NESA Spring Educators Conference, March 29-31, 2019 | Bangkok
Interested in presenting at NESA’s SEC during the Teachers Workshops? Do you have something to share on the following topics? LINK HERE
Dr. Ochan Kusuma-Powell, Cognitive Coaching Foundations Part 1 (Days 1-4)--April 13-16
Professional Growth and Evaluation Deadlines
Professional Growth Plan Paperwork and Meeting---completed between September 15-30
SAP-X Quad Blogging Meeting---September 27
SAP-S Summative Paperwork---completed by September 28
Professional Growth New Teacher Plan--completed by September 28
Professional Learning Opportunities
Knowledge Source Upcoming Workshops
Workshops on Inquiry, Project Based Learning and Socratic Seminars for Classroom Teachers. Many more options. LINK HERE
Performance towards Proficiency – Assessing Authenticity of Oral Communication UNIS Hanoi, October 20, 21 2018 LINK HERE for more information.
Teaching and Learning Through Inquiry By Trevor MacKenzie 18th – 19th March 2019, Hong Kong 22nd - 23rd March 2019, Munich 25th - 26th March 2019, Dubai LINK HERE
Endicott International School Advanced Degrees LINK HERE
EAL Shout-out!
Hurray! We finally have it. As promised, here is the first draft of the co-teaching infographic, based on 2018-19 Guidelines for Co-teaching. This infographic is the 35,000 foot overview of co-teaching at AISC. You'll notice in this infographic the definition of academic language development, the primary foci for Content/HR & EAL teachers, and the 4 parts of the collaborative teaching cycle.
Now is the time for your help. To make sure documents such as these are not made in isolation, please take a moment to review this co-teaching document and give us your feedback. In this survey, you'll be asked these three questions:
- How might this resource help you in your teaching practice?
- What suggestions can you make to help visualize these concepts?
- How does this reflect (or not reflect) what you are currently doing?
In order to keep the ball rolling, it would be great if you could provide your feedback by Monday, 19 November.
As we continue to bring the 2018-19 Guidelines for Co-teaching to life, two additional infographics will be developed in the coming months: 1) the 7 EAL Co-teaching Models, and 2) a Checklist for Developing Workshop Agreements. If you'd like to help develop those, please let me know. I'm always just an email away.
peace-
Sarah
Room 1209
ssarah@aischennai.org
Wellness at AISC
Interested to read more about wellness activities at AISC and in Chennai? If so, click HERE for AISC WELLNESS MATTERS BLOG to stay updated. We have lots of exciting events planned so be sure to check in!
With a huge thank you to Beth Rappe, we are looking for our next Wellness Coordinator starting the 2018-2019 Academic Year. LINK HERE for the job description. Letters of interests can be sent to Dan Love by November 27. Decision by the beginning of December
Worthwhile Reading
School engagement is more than just talk, read the Gallup article LINK HERE
How to start a kindness contagion by Jim Knight LINK HERE
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