Week Beginning, April 12, 2021

 The Week Ahead

Advisory Slides Link

 Monday, April 12

• Faculty Out
• None
• Lunch: Ruth to cover for Andrew for 6th Grade on JMF
• Chapel 2:25 - 2:45pm followed by Advisory Study Hall time 

Tuesday, April 13

• Faculty Out
• Nate early at 2:30 pm - James to cover advisory 
• PM Advisory 2:25 - 3:10 pm (Grade 7 will already have had a SH today)
• Preparation for Conference Day
• MSG Soccer early dismissal at 2:50 pm 
• MS Leadership Team Meeting 3:15 - 4:15 pm 

Wednesday, April 14

• Faculty Out
• James out from 11:40 am - Ruth to cover lunch for James
• Athletics or early dismissal at 2:25 pm 
• Grade Level Team Meetings - 
• 2:30 - 3:00 pm Grade 6 
• 3:00 - 3:30 pm Grade 7 
• 3:30 - 4:00 pm Grade 8 

Thursday, April 15 - Class Photo Day 

• Faculty Out:
• None
• Teaching MYP videos due today
• Class (followed by individual) photos - Schedule is HERE
• 8:15 am Grade 6 and advisors
• 9:00 am Grade 7 and advisors
• 9:45 am Grade 8 and advisors
• PM Advisory 2:25 - 3:10 pm (all Grade 7 & 8 will have had a SH already today)
• Affinity Day Chapel - link to be sent 
• MS Faculty Meeting 3:15 - 4:15 pm - CANCELLED  Please use this time to prep for conferences

Friday, April 16 - Conference Day 

Action Items

• New:
• MYP Videos: A reminder that these are due by the end of Thursday. The directions can be found here and please reach out to Angelica or me if you need any assistance. 

• Grades: Please do your best to have your gradebooks up to date for conferences on Friday. While the conference is to focus on the semester 1 set goals, this is a time that parents naturally look at the grades. A reminder to please also make sure to have at least 2 practice MYP formative grades added into the gradebook prior to giving a summative. If you need help with this, please connect with Angelica for tips and support. 

• Summer Work: As I mentioned at the MS Faculty meeting, please start to reflect on if you wish to give summer work. Traditionally, this has only been given in Math, LL and LA. At this point, I assume that these subjects will continue to do so. Here is the link to the template for this summer. Math, LL and LA, please add or delete as necessary. If you would like your subject to also assign work, please consider the following and then set up a time for us to connect: 
• The purpose of this work
• How this will be monitored and graded
• The consequences of students NOT completing this work

• Continuing:
• MYP To-Do List: Please continue to review these and check them off! The expectation will be that these are all complete by the end of our next PD Day on April 23, in order for us to be ready for the MYP visit the first week in May. 

• MYP Rubrics & Samples of Student Work: If you have not yet submitted your rubrics for your semester 2 units you are currently working on, please connect with Angelica ASAP. You can submit your rubric copies here. As you finish a summative, please select 3 - 4 samples to add to the folder too.

• 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. 

Changes to the Week Ahead, Updates, & Reminders

• Class Photos: It's photos time! Please see the notes in the Flash about this and also the timings above. An updated email will be sent on Wedneday about coverage needed and to confirm the timings. Because of the photos, Grade 8 will need to have snack and lunch NOT in the tent, but on the grass and Bamford Commons. 

• Conference Day: A reminder to please let me know if you need support at any of your conferences. Please also send a quick reminder email to any families who have not yet signed up and add to the GLTM document any notes that others should be aware off from the conferences. If you have families who don't meet at all, please add that to the GLTM notes too. 

• Sports and Early Dismissal: As sports is taking off again, so is the need for early dismissal on certain game days. Any change in schedule will be communicated through the morning slides, so please check these. Don't necessarily take the word of our lovely kiddos. 

• Affinity Day: As we announced at the MS Faculty meeting, we will have a full Affinity Day on Wednesday, April 28. More details to come on this. If you are interested in being involved in this planning, please let me know. 

• Community Project Days: Monday, April 19, and Tuesday, April 20, our 8th Grade may not be on campus and will instead be completing their Community Projects. More information to come when we have confirmed who will be present on campus. All regular 8th Grade classes will be suspended these two days. 

• Future PD: 
• Thursday, April 22, 2:30 - 3:30 pm MYP Subject Action Plan reviewed 
• Friday, April 23 - No DEI MYP To-Do List to be complete by the end of day & Affinity Day training. 
• Friday, May 14 - TBD & DEI 10:30-12:30 pm 

 

Sandra's PD Corner 

• Just before break, I was turned on to a series of excellent resources on the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community including K-12 curriculum resources, a series of children's books, and this PBS series on the Asian American experience. I have updated the DEI Resources page and have added a new series of filters under the heading "Main Subject." You can now filter, not only by the type of resource (curriculum, podcast, book, resource list, etc.) and audience (all, educators, LS Educators, etc.), but also by the topic (Math, Assessment, Religion, Black/African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Gender and Sexuality, Race & Ethnicity.... you get my drift).  I hope this additional filter will make it easier for you to find what you need to help enhance the student experience.

  
  

  Because I missed a PD corner before / during break, we missed commemorating several really important dates. I'm sorry about that. Next week, Monday, our Muslim colleagues and families begin the Holy month of Ramadan. If you have students who are Muslim, do remember that fasting, deeply meaningful and important, is still fasting.  And if you have Muslim colleagues, did you know dates are a great way to break the fast?  Also next week, Tuesday is the first day of Chaitra Navatri, the Hindu New Year, and Wednesday is Vaisakhi, the Sikh New Year.  Happy New Year!

  
  

  As always, if ​​you have a suggestion for PD that you think might be interesting or you are looking for a particular TYPE of PD and wish for some targeted outreach, let me know here! (And I owe a couple of you an email, promise to reach out soon!) Link is also in the Idea Box in the F&S Teams. As always, the PD and DEI Resources pages continue to be updated. 

  
  

  Have Kudos to give for a colleague? Please let us know here, we'd love to shower some praise. I wonder which QOTW will finally catch YOUR attention? 🙂 This week's: QOTW: What is one interest of yours that others in the group might not know about? The admiration word cloud keeps growing. I've added the latest updated here. Thank you, for kicking butt and inspiring students every day, and for these next 10 weeks. Did you see we'll hit 70 degrees next week?!

Kudos

• Kudos to our wonderful team who supported all of us getting our final vaccinations over the last two weekends. A BIG thank you to Paula, Ann, Jake, and Jeremy who ran the show when I was there and to anyone else who helped this weekend. Thank you for providing such care and for being so efficient. While I think many of us ended up feeling terrible for 24 hours after, I think we can all agree, that there is a real sense of relief even when we were all feeling cruddy!

• Last week was busy for interviews as MS was involved in interviewing for LS & MS Counselor, Science Teacher, and new HR Manager. A big thanks to Shelli, Kyle, Will, Devon, Angelica, and Nate for their extra time in carrying these interviews out. 

Absent Students

• Follow this link for Anticipated Absent Students

The Month Ahead

• Thursday, April 15 - Class photos (no tent for 8th grade)
• Friday, April 16 - Conference Day 
• Monday, April 19, and Tuesday, April 20 - Grade 8 Community Project Action 
• Friday, April 23 - PD Day 
• Friday, April 30 - Civvies Day 
• Wednesday, May 5 - Friday, May 7 - MYP Virtual Visit 
• Friday, May 14 - PD Day 
• Friday, May 28 - Civvies Day