Weekly Update August 10 – 17

Tim Chute | August 9, 2018 | Weekly Update | No Comments

We are off to a fantastic start for this school year. Student schedules are being finalized thanks to the hard work of Jamison, Kelly and Elizabeth. Jacob and I visited a lot of classes on Wednesday and it was great to see our students doing some hands-on learning.

Let’s have a great year together.

Tim

Friday, August 10th
Day 5 CDAB
AS Staff Social 2nd Floor HS Building at 3:10pm

Monday, August 13th
Day 6 GHE Adv F
Advisory Calendar

Tuesday, August 14th
Day 7 DABC
HS LT Meeting 3:15pm
Senior (Grade 12) University Night 6:00pm

Wednesday, August 15th
Day 8 HEFG
HS Staff Meeting

Thursday, August 16th
Day 9 ABC Adv D
Advisory Calendar

Friday, August 17th
Day 10 FGHE
PTA Welcome Coffee 8:00am

Saturday, August 18th
Ben Tre Trip House Handover Ceremony

2018 – 19 Duty Roster

2018 – 19 Chaperone Sign-Up

On the Horizon

Saigon International Teacher Social: August 25, 3-6pm (Saigon Outcast, D2)
HS Curriculum Night: August 30
StuCo Event: Friday, September 7
Grades 9 and 10 WWW September 16 – 22, 2018
Grade 11 Retreat September 20 – 22, 2018

Staff Action Needed

All Student Presentations– Tim, Lara, Shelley, Amy and Thomas are meeting with every block of study hall students today (Thursday, August 9) and tomorrow. Here is the info they shared (Tim and Amy) with every student during study halls. Additionally, here is the presentation that Tim and I gave to the 9/10 (Tim) and 11/12 (Jacob) on Orientation Day for your reference. We are trying to solidify some foundational knowledge in our division. This info is here to review, so we are all on the same page.

HS Reader Boards– Most of you have probably noticed the LED message boards that have been placed around campus. There are two in the HS now (at the ground floor entrance and HS Kiosk). We will be using these to publicize upcoming events (clubs, sports, service, deadlines, etc) in the HS. If you have anything that you wish to put on the message boards please email Jacob and Tim the information by Wednesday each week. We will need the name of the event, date, time and location. You can also send us a picture if you have one. This is brand new, so we are still developing the procedure for staff to best share this info with Jacob and Tim now. Something more formalized will come in the near future.

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: Evan, Jaco, William and Cassie. We will be asking for a 500,000 VND contribution to be paid to Evan or William by our August 22nd meeting (we will be collecting money at our Aug 22 faculty meeting).

Staff Action Needed:

Ben Tre House Handover – Date: 18 August 2018
ITINERARY:
6.30 Depart for Ben Tre by bus.
8.30 Arrive in Ben Tre ( drop off in front of Nhon Thanh government committee).
9.00 Tuktuk tour around the village:

1. visit the house built in 2017 with SSIS students help.
2. Inspect 2 houses for 2019 Summer project.
3. Visit Mr. Hoa’s house ( June 2018 project)

11.30 Attend the opening ceremony of Mr. Hoa’s house. Have lunch with local host and local authorities.
13.00 End of ceremony, transfer back to Nhon Thanh government committee by tuktuk.
Go back Saigon by bus. 15.00-15:30 Arrive in Saigon.

The fee for the tour and lunch is 300,000 VND for any interested teacher.

Dragon’s Lair Kudos– We have heard from a few staff members that it would be great to include more teacher voice in the kudos section of the Dragon‘s Lair. We will send out a Kudos reminder each week and also link it in the Dragon‘s Lair to get more voice from a larger variety of people. We appreciate the suggestion from teachers in regards to this. Please complete the following form to give a quick shout out to a colleague that you would like to recognize for doing something special.

HS Curriculum Night– Our HS Curriculum Night will on Thursday, August 3oth. Our grade 9, 10 and 11 parents arrive starting at 5pm in the auditorium (9) and HS gym (10) for information on the WWW program. 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.

Observations are Coming: What You Need to Know– Tim and I 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 has 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)