Weekly Update: August 16 – 24th

What a smooth start to the year!!! I’m so appreciative of the efforts each of you are making to ensure quality experiences for our students. There is an amazing amount of energy and momentum that we have established in our division. Our students are so lucky to have you. Please pay careful attention to this edition of the Dragon’s Lair, as there are many critical details for the upcoming weeks.

Have a great weekend!

Jacob

Friday, August 16
Day 7 – DABC

Sunday, August 18
Pest Control (Inside and Outside of Building) 1-5pm

Monday, August 19
Day 8 – Special schedule: HEFG – No Advisory

Tuesday, August 20
Day 1 – ABCD

Wednesday, August 21
Day 2 – EFGH
Full Faculty Meeting, 3:15-4:30 (Auditorium)

Thursday, August 22
Day 3 – Special Schedule: BCDA – No Advisory
HS StuCo Election Bell Schedule August 22 2019
MS Curriculum Night 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Friday, August 23
Day 4 – FGHE

On the Horizon

• Saigon International Teacher Social, 3pm August 24 (Saigon Outcast D2)
• HS Curriculum Night, 6-8pm on August 29
• WWW Parent Meetings 5:00 – 6:00pm on Thursday, August 29th
• Vietnamese National Day, September 2 (Holiday)

Staff Action Needed

• Recognize a colleague for kudos
• PBL/Inquiry Survey, complete by August 30
• RSVP for Saigon International Teacher Social
• Review the AP/IB Info Section
• RSVP for Sunshine Committee’s Plastic Chair Event by August 30
• Pay your 500k Sunshine dues to Evan, William, Amy or Huyen

Sunshine Committee Dues– The Sunshine committee organizes a number of great events and celebrates and supports those staff members in need over the course of the year.   In addition to monthly birthday celebrations and organization of departmental breakfasts, Sunshine shows random acts of kindness, flowers and other items to celebrate milestone events in our lives.  Sunshine will organize a whole staff event each quarter.   Sunshine Committee members this year are: Amy, Evan, Jacob, and William.  Looking for more members too. We will be asking for a 500,000 VND contribution to be paid to Evan or William by our August 14th meeting (we will be collecting money at our Aug 14 faculty meeting).

HS Curriculum Night– Our HS Curriculum Night  will on Thursday, August 29th.  Our grade 9, 10 and 11 parents arrive starting at 5pm in the auditorium (9), HS gym (10), MPR (11) for information on the WWW program and Junior Retreat.  Only grade level deans (9/10) and trip leaders need attend this session.  Curriculum Night officially starts at 6pm in the auditorium.  After a 10 minute opening, parents will start coming to your classes according to the bell schedule at 6:20pm for A block.  You can see our schedule on this link.  Some of you will not be able to return home after school, but stay here for the evening.  We have ordered a few pizzas to be in the HS faculty room at 4:15pm.  Be in your classrooms by 6pm.

You only have 10 minutes with each class, so highlight at least:

• Introduction of yourself and background
• Share an overview of the course curriculum
• Share grading/marking guidelines
• Share the sylabus
• Let them know the best ways to contact you about their child’s progress

If you have any questions about your 10 minutes of fame, please talk to your department head, Jacob or Tim.

PBL/Inquiry– Please complete the PBL/Inquiry Survey so we can better support and connect you with other teachers that might be looking for interdisciplinary connections. We have a great team of Thomas G, Evan, Amy, Justin and Kari to support you along the way. You can review the longer PBL/Inquiry slide show from May of 2019 or the abridged version that was shared at the August 14th meeting.

Observations and Learning Walks– Administrator presence in classrooms continues to be a major priority for us. In addition to timely and important feedback to teachers, we want to ensure that you and our students know that the magic you create in the classroom is a huge priority to us. We have begun our informal Learning Walks (5-10 minute drop-ins) to your classrooms. We will drop a note off to you on the way out. There is no need to follow up, but you are also welcome to send us an email or stop us in the hallways to discuss the LW further.

Observations are Coming: What You Need to Know–  We are starting our staff evaluations this coming week.  During the week of observation we will have a pre conference, a full block observation, and a post conference.  Huyen and Tram have scheduled these and will invite you the week before.  There are two observation tracks: returning teachers and new staff.  We use the Charlotte Danielson Professional Practice Framework for all teachers.

Returning Teachers (Focused Evaluation)

• Will choose 2-3 total components from domains 1-3 (Planning & Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction) i.e. 1b, 2d, and 3a for a focused evaluation.
• Meet for a pre-conference to determine the 2-3 components together with administrator
• Full block observation
• Post-conference meeting

New Teachers to SSIS (Full Danielson Framework)

• Meet for a pre-conference and determine main growth goals for the year
• Full block observation
• Post-conference meeting

Saigon International Teacher’s Social, August 24– Come out and meet your international school teaching colleagues from around HCMC.  We connected D2 and D7 faculty last spring and now we are connecting you all.  This takes place at Saigon Outcast in D2 on Saturday, August 24 from 3-6pm.  Please RSVP here so we can get an idea for numbers and transportation.

HS Sunshine Plastic Chair Event Returns, September 6– Please save the the September 6 date for our annual and much loved Plastic Chair event.  It will start after school around 4pm and end around 8pm.  The location will be shared next week.  Your Sunshine dues help pay for this.  All you need to do is show up to have some great food, beverages and conversation with an amazing HS staff.  This is an adult only event and we encourage you to bring your significant other employed or not at SSIS.  Please RSVP by Friday, August 30 so we can organize food and seating.

Friday Dress Options:

1. Wear your normal professional dress
2. Wear your SSIS shirt with pants/skirt 
3. Wear your university polo with pants/skirt