Week beginning August 31 (week 2)

 The Week Ahead

Advisory Slides Link

Monday, August 31 - Advisory Day 

• Advisory Day - please find all the resources and links you will need here. Please join the meeting tomorrow at 8:00am for the start of the events. PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY! There is a lot, but it should explain everything. 

Tuesday, September 1 - First Day of Online Classes

• IAP kids on campus 8:00 am - 12:30 pm with Andrea and Clare in the Library.
• Athletics starts today - all MS students were sent the link invites and they should appear on their calendar. 
• ED starts today - Alicia should be sending invites to the whole MS, similar to Athletics
• Character Strong - During this Advisory PM time and Thursday, feel free to connect in positive ways with your advisory. This may involve playing more games suggested by Character Strong, or maybe it's just a simple get to know you chit-chat! 

Wednesday,  September 2

• IAP kids on campus 8:00 am - 12:30 pm with Andrea and Clare in the Library.
• Grade Level Team Meetings begin 
• 6th 2:00-2:30 pm 
• 7th 2:30-3:00 pm
• 8th 3:00-3:30 pm 

Thursday, September 3

• IAP kids on campus 8:00 am - 12:30 pm with Andrea and Clare in the Library.
• MS Faculty Meeting 2:30-3:00 pm. Please review this document for the items we will be covering. 

Friday, September 4

• IAP kids on campus 8:00 am - 12:30 pm with Andrea and Clare in the Library.
• Affinity Groups don't start until October
• No Friday Movie due to the long weekend

Action Items

• Advisors Introductions - Please introduce yourself to your advisee's family. The standard emails that we send are a great way to initially connect, but if you have time to connect via phone too, I know our families would appreciate this. 
• Your Teams classes - Please add Shelli and Clare to each of your classes as a teacher NOT a student. This will enable us to stop in and see how things are going in each class. 
• Subject Overviews - Some people are having a hard time sticking to the one-page for the subject overview. Please don't worry! If you need to go over, feel free. Working with your subject team, please complete the Subject Overviews by Monday, September 7. 
• Who's on campus? If you need to find someone, here is a link to the results of the Google Survey I asked folks to complete on Friday. MS Faculty Teaching Locations.

Changes to the Week Ahead, Updates, & Reminders

• Moving rooms - People are on the move, especially with the announcement that we are below the 75/100k and we could very likely be back on campus in a hybrid model. Mark, Ruth, or I will be looping you in when this might occur for those involved. 
• IAP kids begin on Tuesday 8:00 am - 12:25 pm 
• Attendance: A reminder that in myAW you cannot select the ALL PRESENT option, as this would mean all students are present on campus. Instead, please select the following:
• PRESENT - LIVE STREAM (from home)
• PRESENT - US & MS ONLY (IAP student on campus)

Technology Help

• Teams reminders
• A short video reminder of how to mute students directly through the chat or through settings.
• To stop the use of GIFS, stickers and memes, please follow these directions:
• For each of your teams, click on the three dots 
• Then, click MANAGE TEAM
• Then, select SETTINGS
• Then, in FUN STUFF, de-check the boxes that allow for GIFS, stickers, memes, and custom memes
• How to Set Up Break-Out Rooms in Teams Video This is a great short video to watch to help you with 
• How-To Technology Resources This is the Google document that has links to how-to written guides about Teams, Google Classroom, Microsoft Office, etc. 
• Having a tech issue or need support from Erik or Eric? Please don't email, but submit and helpdesk ticket at helpdesk.aw.org. Please pick Online Academic Continuity Plan as the request type (it's the first choice on the list).

Faculty Dare

• Coming next week. (And I mean it this time!)

Absent Students

• Follow this link for Anticipated Absent Students

Kudos!

• A big kudos to Shelli and the Grade Level Team Leaders for pulling of Orientation Camp. I think we hit all three of the objectives and it felt as though the kids sincerely appreciated having the opportunity to be on campus together. 
• To Ruth and Gretchen for putting together all of the bags of supplies for our new students. This was quite the undertaking but essential - thank you!

The Month Ahead

• Please see the MS Calendar for now. 

Week Beginning August 24, 2020 (wk1)

 The Week Ahead

Advisory Slides

Monday, August 24 - In-Service Day

• IAP Training
• Grade 6 teachers  8:45-9:15am 
• Grade 7 teachers 9:15-9:45am 
• Grade 8 teachers 9:45-10:15am
• DEI follow up conversation 10:15-11:00am
• MS Math teachers and grading conversation 1:00-1:30pm 
• Student Overviews
•  Grade 6 2:00-2:30pm 
• Grade 7 2:30-3:00pm 
• Grade 8 3:00-3:30pm 
• MS Parent Welcome Meeting (faculty do not need to attend) 7:00-8:00pm 

Tuesday, August 25 - In-Service Day

• New Family Technology Orientation 11:00-12:00noon (only Clare and Shelli attend)
• Orientation Week (Camp & Advisory Monday) Review 1:00-2:00pm 
• MS Leadership Team Meeting 2:00-2:45pm 
• New Family Technology Orientation 5:30-6:30pm (only Clare and Shelli attend)
• ACTIVATE YOUR BLUE AND GOLD TEAMS CLASSES BEFORE YOU LOG OFF FOR THE DAY

Wednesday, August 26 - Grade 6 Orientation Camp

• Attendance on paper at arrival, not myAW
• Individual bagel lunches will be provided by an AWS family. So no need to bring a bagged lunch today!
• Mentor and Mentee Lunch 11:45-12:15pm (your mentor will contact you to decide on a location)
• 6 Gold 8:30-10:30am 
• 6 Blue 12:30-2:30pm 

Thursday, August 27 - Grade 7 Orientation Camp

• Attendance on paper at arrival, not myAW
• New Faculty Gradebook Setup meeting 11:00-11:30am 
• 7 Gold 8:30-10:30am 
• 7 Blue 12:30-2:30pm 
• Advisory Happy Hour: while we cannot meet as a large group, we are hoping that folks will join together between 4:00-5:30pm in advisory teams to connect and welcome our new folks. All of the locations are no more than 7 minutes from school and the team leaders will loop you in regarding addresses. We also understand if you don't feel comfortable or already have plans. However, all are welcome and we hope to see you in person if possible. Anyone who is NOT an advisor is also welcome to join. Simply pick a grade and house :-)
• Grade 6 at Wagstaff's house (Wilde's house is too far!)
• Grade 7 at Price's house
• Grade 8 at Brown's house

Friday, August 28 - Grade 8 Orientation Camp

• Attendance on paper at arrival, not myAW
• Teams Training for all MS Faculty 11:00-11:30am 
• Advisor Team Lunch (if on campus) 11:45-12:15pm (the team leader will let you know the location)
• 8 Gold 8:30-10:30am 
• 8 Blue 12:30-2:30pm 

Monday, August 31 - Advisory Day ONLINE

• More details to come on this later this week. Please do not plan on regular classes this day. Instead, we will focus on building community as advisories. 

Action Items

• Please let Ruth know by noon on Monday if you have supplies or documents that we need to distribute at Orientation Camp.b
• By the end of the day Tuesday, please activate each of your BLUE AND GOLD classes on Teams (when you click on each, at the top, you'll see the option to activate)
• Working with your subject team, please complete the Subject Overviews by Monday, September 7. 
• Review the Orientation Camp Guide and Welcome to AWS Virtual MS Q&A prior to Wednesday
• Review the August In-Service Guide as needed
• Create your Bitmoji Locker and add to the Team Drive > Teachers > 2020-21 > Faculty Virtual Lockers before Monday, August 31. 

Changes to the Week Ahead, Updates, & Reminders

• Those folks who know they are moving rooms, thanks for your patience. Mark is prioritizing setting up LS. As soon as I know more, I will let you know. 
• Jake will have a final answer regarding our IAP students being on campus for additional support by Wednesday. The plan, if approved by the Board, will allow those students with an IAP to be on campus for their MYP classes (8:00am-12:35pm). They will be in two 5-person pods: Grade 6  in the Campfire; Grade 7 and 8 together on the main floor of the library. Andrea and I will be supervising these groups. 
• More specific directions about Orientation Camp and the Technology Training for kiddos, will be given early next week. This includes how the Bitmoji Locker activity will work for the students.
• New students added this week: Veronica Bray to 6th, Hamilton Bray to 7th, and Jonathan Yu to 8th

Technology Help

• How to Set Up Break-Out Rooms in Teams Video This is a great short video to watch to help you with 
• How-To Technology Resources This is the Google document that has links to how-to written guides about Teams, Google Classroom, Microsoft Office, etc. 

Faculty Dare

• Coming next week!

Absent Students

• Follow this link for Anticipated Absent Students

Kudos!

• A sincere thank you to you all for jumping and, as usual, being flexible and willing to do what is best for our community. This has been a juggling act all summer and you have been missed! Seeing most of you on campus has been a delight. I know that all the changes and still some uncertainty make this not the most ideal way to start the year. Thank you advance for a great 10 months ahead!
• To our new MS folk, especially Amanda and Dimpy, for jumping in with such enthusiasm and keeping their heads above water. Those of us returning know how difficult things can be, so please reach out at any time.
• To the entire Technology Team (Eric, Erik, and Angela) and Shelli for working exceptionally long hours to set up the new grading system, create how-to videos for the kids, and formating all the new laptops on top of everything else that makes the usual start to the year manic. 
• If you see Sandra Bush, please give her a high five! She has been working hard all summer to create PD opportunities that can be accessed at the drop of the hat. If you haven't taken a look at the plethora of short video tutorials, please do so. They are linked to the myAW Resource Board > PD.  
• To Shelli for reworking the entire Orientation week. Orientation is never an easy task, but having to literally start from scratch and navigate all the limitations and needs this summer has been a mammoth task. She is a superstar!
• To Gretchen and Emily for staying on the ball with our Math kiddos all summer. Gretchen has been monitoring the Khan Academy work and sending summer updates to parents throughout the summer. And, as you have probably noticed, our enrollment has continued to grow and so then has our need for math placement testing in Grades 7 and 8. Emily has led point on this and I am grateful for her thorough and thoughtful work with the placement assessments and communication to the parents.
• To Alice and Will for really being open and willing to take on more leadership and responsibility at AWS in their second year. Welcome to the MS Leadership Team and one more weekly meeting!
• And finally, Mark Burton sent me this lovely photo of him and his beautiful bride. I am sure you all join me in sending them both lots of love :-)
  

The Month Ahead

• Please see the MS Calendar for now.