Weekly Update: April 10 – 24th
Be sure to read the SSIS Wellness Blog. Lot’s of great information.
Paragraph
Friday, April 10th
Day 2 – EFGH
Monday, April 13th
Day 3 – BCD Adv A
Advisory Schedule
Tuesday, April 14th
Day 4 – FGHE
Wednesday, April 15th
Day 5 – CDAB
Thursday, April 16th
Day 6 – GHE Adv F
Advisory Schedule
Friday, April 17th
Day 5 – DABC
Monday, April 20th
Day 8 – HEF Adv G
Advisory Schedule
Tuesday, April 21st
Day 1 – ABCD
Wednesday, April 22nd
Day 2 – EFGH
Thursday, April 23rd
Day 3 – BCD Adv A
Advisory Schedule
Friday, April 24th
Day 4 – FGHE
On the Horizon
TOK – The Map is Not the Territory Blog
Staff Action Needed
- Review Virtual School Students of Concern
- Review Virtual Learning Guidelines 2.0
- Read the all school Wellness Blog from the WELL Core Team
- Review Check important dates that impact instruction here
- Send a kudos to a colleague
TOK Moment for April 16th
The ToK of the Week blog is back. Perhaps the title might need an adjustment for accuracy, but “Bi-monthly ToK Musings” doesn’t have the same ring.
For this session, we will look at a favourite Theory of Knowledge topic – Ethics. Ethics in a ToK context is the study of how we know what are right and wrong actions. A study of Ethics is not meant to stimulate a debate about whether animal testing or abortion or eating bats or supporting Manchester United is “correct”. Instead, it asks us to examine the methods, contexts, and knowledge which influence our choices.
Our current behaviours within the social distancing guidelines offer a case study, and this article from the Guardian, written by a Philosophy professor, shows us some examples. Give it a read, and we’ll continue below.
Welcome back. The products of Philosophy are often questions instead of answers, and I expect you have some of your own questions after reading this. Here is one of mine: How might we be able to determine ourselves whether a non-essential outing is within the spirit of the rule? In other words, how can we justify breaking the rules on occasion? If we subscribe to both Kant’s and Mill’s ethical theories, can we contravene social distancing rules while still creating the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people and acting in a way that everyone else also could and should?
For example, I go to the park, see that it is empty, and slip under the barricade tape to take a 30 minute jog. I am never within 5 metres of anyone, I wear a mask, etc. If other people show up, I either adjust my route or leave. I am happier, and no one is hurt, so the happiness balance sheet is favourable. And if everyone else did it the same way I did, the spirit of the rule is intact. And yet some of you are bristling at this suggestion. Why?
What if we change contexts? I am a nurse who has been working 16 hours days for two weeks straight. A jog at the end of the day resets my mind and keeps me motivated. Is that different? Or maybe I am a photojournalist creating a story about the effects of local measures. I am collecting evidence and visual data to present an accurate story to millions of readers who depend on me for news. Or I am a teacher at SSIS who is bored with isolation and needs to get away from the kids for an hour.
How important is context in determining the ethics of a decision? How effective is absolutism, hard and fast truisms, as a guideline for human actions? To what extent do the actions of others impact our ability to make ethical choices? Do we have an ethical responsibility to contravene unjust rules or laws? If so, how do we determine the threshold of what is “unjust”?
Notice that none of these questions explicitly asks if it is ok to go to the park during a lockdown. What they do ask is that if we have a position on the park issue, we know where that position comes from.
- AP/IB Meeting Recording for your convenience.
- AP Mock Exam Schedule
- IB End of Course Exam Schedule
- Please be aware and considerate of our students taking 3 or more AP courses, as Mocks and Exams are almost here. Additionally, our Group 6 students listed below that are completing their work for submission now. Be considerate of the strain that they are under until their deadline of April 20.
- Carl Becker
- Doris Chung
- Kai Wen Kuo
- Linda Pham
- Jenny Nguyen
- Madisson Scheller
- Jeongwoo Son
- Interested in leadership opportunities next year? Start thinking about department head, dean and AP coordinator positions. I will be sharing applications for these positions starting next week.
- Don’t forget to convert your missing summative tasks to zeros AND also flag them as missing by 3pm Thursday afternoon. Also, continue to utilize the collected only designation for those formative tasks that do not impact the percentage grade of your students.
AP/IB Meeting Recording for your convenience.AP Mock Exam Schedule IB End of Course Exam Schedule Please be aware and considerate of our students taking 3 or more AP courses, as Mocks and Exams are almost here. Additionally, our Group 6 students listed below that are completing their work for submission now. Be considerate of the strain that they are under until their deadline of April 20.
- Carl Becker
- Doris Chung
- Kai Wen Kuo
- Linda Pham
- Jenny Nguyen
- Madisson Scheller
- Jeongwoo Son
Interested in leadership opportunities next year? Start thinking about department head, dean and AP coordinator positions. I will be sharing applications for these positions starting next week.Don’t forget to convert your missing summative tasks to zeros AND also flag them as missing by 3pm Thursday afternoon. Also, continue to utilize the collected only designation for those formative tasks that do not impact the percentage grade of your students.
A reminder that our AP students will be taking exams at 1:00 and 3:00am during the following times listed below in May. Your head of department will be chatting with you this week in regards to other assignments and assessments during this time frame. More than 50% of our students take AP classes and will be impacted by this decision by the College Board. Our normal policy during AP exams is that students do not have to attend classes for school-based courses the morning before an afternoon exam or the afternoon before a morning testing session. We will have to make some adjustments to this policy. Please share your insights with your HoD this week. The HSLT will make a recommendation to the admin team at our meeting on April 14.
- Don’t forget to convert your missing summative tasks to zeros AND also flag them as missing by 3pm Thursday afternoon. Also, continue to utilize the collected only designation for those formative tasks that do not impact the percentage grade of your students.
- We will share an updated D and F report with faculty sometime on Friday.
- Thanks Cassie and Monika for hosting a great faculty meeting regarding AP and IB information. I attempted to record the presentation if you missed it or would like to listen again AP/IB Meeting Recording. Additionally, here is the meeting agenda for the AP section.
- A reminder that our AP students will be taking exams at 1:00 and 3:00am during the following times listed below in May. Your head of department will be chatting with you this week in regards to other assignments and assessments during this time frame. More than 50% of our students take AP classes and will be impacted by this decision by the College Board. Our normal policy during AP exams is that students do not have to attend classes for school-based courses the morning before an afternoon exam or the afternoon before a morning testing session. We will have to make some adjustments to this policy. Please share your insights with your HoD this week. The HSLT will make a recommendation to the admin team at our meeting on April 14.
| Exam | Course Specific Question | New Date | New Time (HCMC) | Number Students |
| AP Calculus AB | 2 FRQ | Wed May 13 | 1:00 AM | 19 |
| AP Calculus BC | 2 FRQ | Wed May 13 | 1:00 AM | 6 |
| AP Human Geography | 2 FRQ | Wed May 13 | 3:00 AM | 25 |
| AP English Lit and Comp | 1 FRQ | Thu May 14 | 1:00 AM | 20 |
| AP Chemistry | 2 FRQ | Fri May 15 | 1:00 AM | 11 |
| AP Physics 1 | 2 FRQ | Fri May 15 | 3:00 AM | 7 |
| AP US History | 1 DBQ | Sat May 16 | 1:00 AM | 8 |
| AP Biology | 2 FRQ | Tue May 19 | 1:00 AM | 20 |
| AP Psychology | 2 FRQ | Wed May 20 | 1:00 AM | 54 |
| AP English Lang and Comp | 1 FRQ | Thu May 21 | 1:00 AM | 19 |
| AP MicroEconomics | 2 FRQ | Thur May 21 | 3:00 AM | 30 |
| AP World History | 1 DBQ | Fri May 22 | 1:00 AM | 27 |
| AP MacroEconomics | 2 FRQ | Fri May 22 | 3:00 AM | 31 |
| AP Statistics | 2 FRQ | Sat May 23 | 1:00 AM | 29 |
| Art | Portfolio | NA | NA | 6 |
- A couple of you have asked about follow up from Q3 progress reports. Many of you requested (in your comments) that parents schedule a meeting with you if their child significantly struggled in your class. Google Meets or a phone call would be the best platforms to conduct these check-ins with families. If you would like to call the parent using the extension of the telephone in your classroom you can do this. Read this article on SSIS Link about SIP phone capabilities.
- Please do NOT delay your summative assessments in the hopes of a quick return to school. First, we have no idea when we will be coming back. Second, we do not want to hit our students with a barrage of assessments when they first come back.
- Don’t forget to convert your missing summative tasks to zeros AND also flag them as missing by 3pm today. Also, continue to utilize the collected only designation for those formative tasks that do not impact the percentage grade of your students.
Gradebook & Missing Assignments Update
- Formative vs. Summative = Collected Only and Graded (Points, Percentile, Letter Grade)
- Making change to formative work being Score Type: Collected Only.
- The Missing Assignment Report can be filtered by Score Type to get better clarity on gravity of missing assignments.
- Use completed/incomplete as ways of communicating the importance of assessments/assignments.
- This is a change, instead of having 1 or 2 mark problems that are marked excluded from grades we should be using Completed/Incomplete/Missing.
- Making change to formative work being Score Type: Collected Only.
- Zeros
- Anything Point Value/Graded Assignment that is late MUST be entered as a zero.
- This will be a temporary placeholder and should be converted later when a student makes up the assignment/task.
- If missing assignment/task is not completed by the end of grading period then it could remain a zero.
- Teachers using alternative assessment strategies/policies can use an override grade of D or F to alert students of concern and their parents.
- Missing assignment/zero gradebook entry deadlines
- Teachers need to make sure their missing assignments are updated/accurate and flagged and changed to a zero in the gradebook by 9am on Tuesdays for all work generated/collected from Friday to Tuesday morning. The second deadline for the same information will be 3pm on Thursdays for work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays of each week.
- All marks should be updated by these two weekly deadlines.
- Grade Report and Missing Assignment Report will be run after each deadline.
We will continue to utilize our Virtual School Students of Concern document to track overall student progress. There is a lot more data than before, so we have made separate tabs by date and grade level for your convenience. The counseling/admin teams and HSLT will be looking at this data and determining new support protocols for our students on Monday.
Essential Learning Outcomes– David Chadwell has created this Essential Learning Outcomes for a Unit document to help you determine which learning outcomes are essential in a Virtual School environment for non-AP/IBDP classes. He will be attending our HSLT meeting on Monday and is available to support departments and individuals.
Missing Assignments and Consolidation Days– Look for ways to adjust your delivery of curriculum by utilizing the Missing assignments function within PowerTeacher Pro. Run the report and ask yourself the following questions. Do I have a significant number of students missing assignments? What patterns do you see within the data? Is it time for a “Consolidation” block? The further behind our students get, the more likely they are to shut down and give up. Assigning more tasks that put our students further behind can have unintended consequences.
Consolidation Blocks– You have the ability to schedule “Consolidation” blocks with your students. During these blocks no new work or activities are required of your students, but instead they have additional time to complete prior tasks/activities. During this Consolidation block, you might schedule a variety of Google Meets with an assortment of students that need additional support to complete the tasks. If you are going to do this please post as “Consolidation Day” in PSL and list the activities the students should be working on. Do NOT list in PSL as a catch-up, slow down, easy, break or time off day. These titles may send an unintended message to our parents.
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