Week Beginning Nov 2, 2020

 

How does your Teams view compare?

The Week Ahead

Advisory Slides Link

Monday, Nov 2

• Kids on campus 8:00 AM - 3 PM with Andrea (until 12:30 PM), Molly, and Alexis in the Library. Please see the list of students below. Clare to cover 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM.
• Chapel 2:00 PM 
• Pumpkin winners 
• SC Reps Election announcement 
• GOLD Section for Community Project 
• Grade 7 first Common Sense Media class during Make It Monday with Angela Heath (follow Make It Monday link)

Tuesday, Nov 3

• Kids on campus 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM with Andrea (until 12:30 PM), Molly, and Alexis in the Library. Devon to cover 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM.
• PM Advisory - Review Academic Honesty Policy (see notes below and pause on Character Strong this week)
• MS Leadership Team 2:30 PM - 
• NO HOMEWORK NIGHT (no homework assigned Tuesday to be due Wednesday) 

Wednesday,  Nov 4

• Kids on campus 8:00 AM - 12:30 PM with Andrea, Molly, & Alexis in the Library. Ruth to cover 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM.
• Potential Chapel 8:00 - 8:20 AM (please see notes below)
• Lunch provide on campus!
• Potential "What's Next?" Chapel 1:00 PM (please see notes below, invite to come)
• Grade Level Team Meetings  
• 2:00 - 2:30 PM Grade 8 
• 2:30 - 3:00 PM Grade 6
• 3:00 - 3:30 PM Grade 7

Thursday, Nov 5

• Kids on campus 8:00 AM - 3:00PM with Andrea (until 12:30 PM), Molly, and Alexis in the Library. Clare to cover 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM.
• PM Advisory - Review Academic Honesty Policy 
• MS Faculty Meeting 2:30-3:30 PM 
• Student Goals Review 

Friday, Nov 6  - ALL SCHOOL PD DAY

• No students on campus 
• No MS Meeting, please work on individual prep as needed, sunshine notes, end of quarter grading. There are a few meetings for certain people: 
• Forefront Training (assigned folks only) AM
• MS Math Team Meeting & Angelica 8:30 - 10:30 AM 
• DEI Working Group 1:30 - 2:30 PM 

Action Items

• New: 
• Conference Follow Up: Please add the following to the Grade Level Meeting notes: 
• No conference scheduled
• Any concerns mentioned that other teachers should be aware of
• Academic Honesty Policy: There have been a number of issues in the last week regarding violations of our Academic Honesty Policy and we need to review this with our students. Please use PM Advisory on Tuesday and Thursday to do this. While not a super exciting subject, it is important and I think the idea of doing what is right, even when no one is looking, is what needs to be stressed. 
• Tuesday - review the document. Questions? Takeways? 
• Thursday - discuss the impacts and difficulties of this online. Remind them to do the right thing even when no one is looking. Integrity is more important than a test result! Questions to ask: What can we, the teachers, do to help support students uphold this policy? 

• No Homework Night: Please do not set any new homework on Tuesday night that is due Wednesday. This could be a very late and stressful night for many families. 

• Goals: Please look at the Sunshine and Goals Update document that has your feedback and overview of the goals, ideas, and direction we are taking. Here are the next steps for folks to take individually and to discuss in subject group meetings. We will review the Universal Goals, during our PD on Thursday during our faculty meeting, leaving Friday free for you to do what you need to do in general planning and prep.

1. Please review your past subject narratives 

1. What have you been commenting on most in the past and how could these statements be morphed into more generic goal statements? Or is this feedback already given in your summative assessment rubrics and not needed?

2. Look at the Universal Goal list already started

1. What else should be added based on your review of your subject narratives and subject discussions? 

2. Draw from the ATL skills your subject selected. Can these be put into more user-friendly words and universal in terminology? 

3. Add ideas to Universal Goals list 

1. Once we have this created, we will then see if there are goals we can combine and adapt to reduce this list to a shorter and more manageable list for subject teachers to select from.

• Continuing: 
• Sunshine Notes: Please attempt to send 2 sunshine notes each day this week. Please review the list of Sunshine & PC recipients but remember that this data is not automatically updated once a note is sent. 

• MYP Summatives: Here is the link to the folder for you to submit your examples. Please contact Angelica if you have any questions regarding these.  

• Summative Assessments: As you start to assign your first summatives, we want to be able to give families a heads up about what is approaching. One way we have decided to do this is through the Grade Level Blogs. You will find a new tab on the Grade Level Meeting Doc called Units and Assessment. Please add your summatives here so that the Team Leaders can add this information to the blogs. Please see Will's Science example in there already.

• Check-in With Clare: It's extremely odd being on campus without the majority of you here and I know this year has brought any challenges for everyone. I haven't had those natural conversations we would have in the past at the lunch table, stood at the photocopying machine, or in the more formalized professional growth and goal setting meetings each fall. I do not wish to add to people's plates, but I also want to offer opportunities to connect. So I have two suggestions. 
• During the PD Days, I will be available to meet with anyone who would like to connect for 30 minutes on Teams or in person. This can be about anything or maybe something specific. If you just want to chat about puppies, workload, or the pandemic, I am here! Please simply email me and we can find a time to connect. If another date or time works better, just let me know. 
• Or, if you would rather simply use your time in other ways but you do have an idea, thought, concern, or question, please feel free to share it via this Google Form. This can be anonymous if you would prefer.

• MyMedBot: All AWS faculty and staff will be asked to complete the myMedBot app even if you do not plan on being on campus. A final question has been added to the app that asks people to state if they are planning on coming in or not. Using the app will allow us to be consistent across divisions about tracking who is on or off-campus. It will also eliminate the need for people to sign in or complete the old Google Form about your teaching locations for the week. If you have any questions, please let Sandra or I know. 

Changes to the Week Ahead, Updates, & Reminders

• Students on Campus this week: 
• Grade 6 - John Saul, Augi, Ben, Glorian, Nora, Ireland, Laila, Charlie, Rachael, Isabell, Lucia (possibly)
• Grade 7 - Joanne, Reagan, Bella, and Thomas S
• Grade 8 - Audri, Copper, Alison S, Raya, Mia S, Jaewon, Sydney R

• Potential Election Chapel: There are a lot of uncertainties with next week and the possible outcomes could bring much unrest, added anxiety, and stress to our community. Should the election result be contested or there be no result, we will hold an MS chapel at 1:00 PM on Wednesday to inform all our community what comes next. Alice has kindly offered to lead this chapel and give content as to what we may expect in the coming days and weeks. If overnight there has been massive violence or the city is under lockdown (worst case scenario) we will hold a chapel first thing on Wednesday morning. Advisory will be canceled (attendance in P1 will suffice) and P1 and P2 will be 5 minutes shorted. I will send a Teams invite out for either event should we need it.
• Adapted Schedule for a potential Wednesday AM Chapel
• 8:00 - 8:20 AM MS Chapel
• 8:20 - 9:00 AM  P1
• 9:05 - 9:45 AM  P2

• Grade 8 Grade Level Team Meeting: I try to be fair to move around the grade level team meeting times each week. However, we have a permanent clash with Grade 8 and unfortunately for the foreseeable future, we will need to keep Grade 8 at 2:00 PM. We will continue to switch 6 and 7 around. Thank you for your understanding.

Technology Help

• Opening tabs automatically in Chrome - Thank you Kyle for creating this video to help kids. 
• 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).

Sandra's PD Corner 

• Can you believe tomorrow is the last day of October? As long as 2020 has felt, here we are rounding the corner of the last 2 months. It's a bit wild, really.  For now, though, enjoy COVID Halloween - with all its full-moon, blue-moon, Daylight Savings Time-adjusting, glory (Yes, don't forget to turn back your clocks at 1 a.m. on Sunday!). Sunday is All Saints Day / Día de los Muertos, where we celebrate the memory of those who have passed. (Speaking of, Heidi Theiss and the LS students put on an absolutely delightful Día de los Muertos gathering this week!). For other upcoming dates, please see here! 

  
  

  A very special thank you to Jean Young for another 'spooktacular' Pumpkin Pixie edition. If you didn't get a chance to participate this year, I'm sure she'll be delighted to have you pre-sign up for 2021! 

  
  

  Notes:

  • Apologies for not sending this out sooner.  Here is a folder with all the handouts and articles from the NWAIS Fall Educators Conference. Those who attended will have further take-aways to share, but I did want to pass along some really thoughtful and interesting information.  Among the resources in there:  Creating Anti-Bias Antiracist Classrooms Microaggressions & Microaffirmations by Monique Vogelsang. 
    
  • Via Blackbaud, we have access to an interesting webinar on The Journey to CBE (Competency Based Education): Aligning Teaching and Learning to the School's Mission. If this link doesn't work for you, please let me know and I can get you set up to watch it!
  • I'm continuously adding new resources to the DEI Books and Resources list - among the most recent: Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias by Pragya Agarwal and a series of articles in the Atlantic called THE FIRSTS: The children who desegregated America. Thanks to the Kilngenstein Center for bringing these to my attention. 
  • A reminder to check out the PD Opportunities tab always and continuously updated!
    

  • Community Life:

  • Do check out the General, Community and All School Fun channels in the Faculty and Staff Team on Teams! 
  • This week's QOTW: What was your last song on Spotify (or your music service of choice)? 
    
  • And lastly, here is the link for the "comment box." Reminder that this is for if there's anything else you need in terms of COVID support in the classroom, COVID testing questions, concerns about things you see, etc. - whether you just want to let us know or want someone to follow up with you.

Absent Students

• Follow this link for Anticipated Absent Students

Kudos!

• Advisors 
• Pumpkin carving this last week was so much fun and the kids seemed thrilled to be on campus, with each other and you all. Thank you for your enthusiasm, creative skills, and willingness to jump into this event. Please see the photos in Vidigami if you didn't get to see the competition. Judging was tough this year and the results will be announced in chapel. 
• your Friday was filled with fielding questions and meetings with parents. Thank you for going that extra mile with your kids and being there to support them. Our advisory program is one reason why the subjects can be so successful. Your guidance and oversight for your group works wonders and I know parents appreciate your thoughtful comments and genuine concerns. 

• Thanks to Emily, Will, Shelli, Kyle, Angelica, and Linh for already having made suggestions to the Universal Goals sheet. I know this is extra work, but in the long term this will make things significantly easier for everyone and allow our students to be more successful. 

• Jen Willey and team for the great awards display that is now in the MS. Stop on by when you have a minute to see this great addition to our MS Lounge stairway. 

The Month Ahead

• Please see the MS Calendar for now.