Sunday, June 13, 2021

LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!!!!!!

 


IT'S THE LAST WEEK!!!!
Just because this photo is priceless! More on Vidiagami if you want a giggle.


The Week Ahead

 Monday, June 14 - ADVISOR REPORTS DUE TODAY!

  • Faculty Out 
    • None
  • Grade 8 Spanish Final 
  • Grade 6 Field Day 1:30 - 3:00 pm



  • No Chapel - Advisory instead for 7th and 8th 2:25 - 3:10 pm 
    • 7th Grade Advisors - Please give your advisees the summer work packet and tell them as well that their summer reading novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, will be mailed to them as soon as it comes in.
    • 8th - Gather in the Kemper. Final Practice & give out t-shirts for Chapel tomorrow (need to wear uniform on the bottom, but they can bring a change of clothes for the retreat).

Tuesday, June 15 - Please see the special schedule for today
  • Faculty Out
    • Molly to cover for Heidi so she can attend the 8th grade events
  • Last day for 6th and 7th grade on campus
    • Please check that all supplies are taken home 
    • Yearbook pages (yearbooks won't be available until end of the summer)
  • 8th Grade Chapel 9:00 - 10:15 am 
  • Grade 8 Retreat off campus at Titlow 
  • Grade 7 Field Day 1:30 - 3:00 pm 
  • PM Advisory 2:25 - 3:10 pm 
    • Grade 6 only - give our summer work packet 



Wednesday, June 16 - MYP GRADES CHECKED BY THE END OF THE DAY 




Thursday, June 17 - Inservice Day 
  • This day is very much yours to work through the end of year check list. Please check in with me at any point if you need anything. 
  • 1:00 - 2:00 pm Grade 5 to 6 Transition meeting in the 5th Grade room
  • 2:45 - 3:30 pm MS Faculty Closing Gathering (outside if nice weather) 
  • 3:30 pm All School Closing meeting on Bamford Commons


Action Items
  • New:
    • Criterion Exemption: If you have a student who should be exempt from a criterion, please add a note to the student on the document and email Ruth and me. Thank you!
  • Continuing:

Changes to the Week Ahead, Updates, & Reminders

  • Teacher Speeches: These will occur for Grade 6 and 7 at the Field Days this week. 8th Grade will be live during Closing. Thank you all!

NOTES ON REPORTS FROM RUTH: 

  • Just a reminder, PLEASE DO NOT ADD/ALTER RESPONSIBILITY GRADES IN myAW AFTER THIS POINT. If you have updates to Responsibility Grades, please update the Letter Grades in the docs linked below:

     

    Please be sure you are double-checking to make sure these responsibility grades are as you want them to be AND that you are adding explanations for any responsibility grades lower than a B-.

     

     

    Report of summative scores for the year (for reference only to help determine Final Individual Criterion Grades to be entered in the Grades docs)

    • In the link above, please find reports for each subject/grade on individual tabs (except for 7-8 Math which is by Course)
    • Columns A-H list students’ summative scores for the year by criterion 
    • Columns J-N list students’ summative scores as an average and a maximum score given this year
    • If a student did not receive a score for a summative, it will not show up on this report (they will just have fewer summative scores shown)
    • You do not HAVE to use this report. It is here if you find it helpful when determining individual criterion scores.
    • If you are still grading summative assessments, that is COMPLETELY okay. You can use the report above as a reference for your OTHER summative scores when you are determining your individual criterion scores.

Sandra's PD Corner 

I want to kick off this PD corner with a massive thank you to all of you who have engaged PD work this year in ways big and small.  Professional Development - in both formal and informal ways - helps us model inquiry, reflection, risk-taking, open-mindedness, thinking, balance, communication, care, and knowledge for our students. You have all this year engaged in conversations about pedagogy, about care for students, about improving your craft and making students feel seen, heard, and valued. Thank you.  

As we head into the summer, I hope those of you who are able to 'switch-off' school do so and focus on your personal wellbeing!  I wish you personal joys, relaxation, and re-centering. For those of you who are still 'on' (pre-school teachers - I'm looking at you!), or those of you who find your summers filled with other gigs (and even summer PD!!) - I hope you, too, can find moments of self-care, moments of deep breaths and joy, and moments of rest and relaxation.  In short, I hope for each of you a summer to your personal liking, and (though I know this is the last thing you want to hear!) I can't wait to see you all in August, rested and ready for a new (less COVID-y!) year.  

Should you want to some summer PD, let me know! I still have some funds we can consider for workshops, conferences, webinars, courses, etc. 

The RWL contingent will be sharing some suggestions for reading/watching/listening next Thursday for those of you who wish to read a new and interesting book, watch some documentaries / movies, or listen to some music/podcasts that might make you think, grow, learn, laugh, or cry.  And we hope as we head into August in-service and next year, there will be opportunities to chat, informally, about your thoughts/take-aways, etc. 

Lastly, I wanted to pass along some thoughts that Lucy Iwamoto, Lower School Learning Support Specialist, shared about her own experience and perspective here at AWS. There are so many identities represented in our faculty and staff, and many of us have personal stories that inform how we teach and how we show up each day to work.  In fact, this was central to the faculty conversations with Kisha this year. 

Lucy shared this in honor of Pride Month with Lower School Faculty last week and with her permission, I thought it important to share her resources and some of her thoughts with all of you, as well.

It’s that time of year again and the rainbows are out!

 

Lots of our students know that my wife (Ms. Ruth) works in the Middle School, and that our kid Teagan has two moms. This isn’t usually something that usually comes up in conversation, but every now and then it does.

 

I’m proud (and, more importantly, feel safe enough) to bring my whole self to work, so I will talk about my family in age-appropriate language if questions arise, to colleagues, parents and students. A couple of students had a eureka moment recently about this, and they were quite surprised that they actually know someone in their life who is gay. They suddenly had a LOT of questions. It made me realize that, although plenty of students do have family friends or relatives who identify as LGBTQ+, this isn’t the case for all students.

 

There’s sometimes a perception that homophobia is something that happened a long time ago, or that only happens in a faraway state or country, but kids who have two moms/two dads have told me that they do feel different, and can be scared about what others will think of their families.

 

There’s also sometimes a perception that kids are too young to understand about gender and sexuality diversity, but students sometimes do have questions about their own gender, or have feelings for those of the same gender, and they can be worried about what their peers and/or families will think. Not talking about it can grow shame, even if that isn’t the intention.

 

We don’t live in a post-homophobic society yet, and there are some good books and educational resources out there, especially about different family structures and LGBTQ+ history. I’m always happy to lend books/make recommendations/be a resource to talk about different family structures, gender inclusion and what being gay means (and also why it isn’t an insult).

 

Some books:

https://welcomingschools.org/resources/childrens-books-lgbtq-inclusive

 

Some lessons:

https://welcomingschools.org/resources

https://www.adl.org/education/resources/tools-and-strategies/lgbtq-pride-month-and-education-resources

https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/celebrate-lgbt-pride-month-with-perspectives

 

Happy Pride!


Some of this may resonate with many of you, it may lead you to some reading and more questions, and it may also answer some questions.  I've added the resources to the DEI Resource board, as well.  I am thankful to Lucy and others who have shared resources that speak to THEIR own experiences that I've been able to add to that board. Please send any resources you might have my way. That resource board is only made stronger by adding voices and perspectives to the mix. And of course, it serves as a great complement to the RWL list!

So again, to all of you THANK YOU for a year not soon forgotten. To those of you leaving Annie Wright - thank you for all you've given us and good luck in your next adventure. 
To all, it is a pleasure and an honor working with all of you.  And I have LOVED starting to see the bottoms of some of your faces as the moments have presented themselves this last week!


Kudos

  • To the Milk Boat crew! John, Kyle, Niki, Heidi, and all the others that helped - Ruth, Erik, Eric, and Alex. This event went off without a hitch, thanks to you all! Great work on keeping a tradition alive in a pandemic. 
  • To the Grade 8 Advisors for being such great sports. Stuart, Heidi, Nate, Angelica, and Alice for dressing up as dinosaurs in the sweltering heat and STILL smiling about it! Thank you, the smiles on your students was evidence enough that they LOVED it!
  • A big thank you to all who got their Responsibility grades in on time. This was MUCH appreciated by Ruth and I. 
  • A MASSIVE thank you to Ruth for making all the behind-the-scenes technology pieces work for the reports and slide show for the 8th-grade chapel. I'm not sure how she does it all AND keeps her cool!
  • To those folks who are grading finals - Amanda, Linh, Emily, Gretchen, and Angelica. Thank you for the extra hard work at this already very stressful end of the year. 

Absent Students

The Month Ahead 
  • Monday, June 14 - 8th Spanish Final & 6th Field Day; Advisory reports due.  
  • Tuesday, June 15 - 7th Field Day, 8th Chapel, 8th Retreat
  • Wednesday, June 16 - Closing 
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