Weekly Update: December 3 – 7

I have finished my observations of all faculty in the first semester.  Tim is right behind me and is slated to have completed all of his as well before winter break.  While it is a challenge to get all of these completed in the first semester, it is a gift to see the artful display of pedagogy in action.  Our students are truly lucky to have you as educators.  The level of skill, expertise coupled with a caring approach support our work of delivering our mission of intellectual AND personal development.  Thank you for all of the amazing work you do for our students.  We are in the home stretch of the semester.  Hang on tight, the end is in sight.

Have a great weekend,

Jacob

Friday, November 30
Day 10- FGHE

Saturday, December 1
Transport from SSIS to Holiday Party, 5pm (SSIS)
SSIS Holiday Party, 6-10pm (Sheriton)

Monday, December 3
Day 1- ABCD
Advisory Schedule

Tuesday, December 4
Day 2- EFGH
HSLT Meeting, 3:15-4:45 (HS Conference Room) Agenda Here

Wednesday, December 5
Day 3- BCDA
Jacob and Tim gone 8am-12, Saigon International School Admin Job-alike (Australian IS)
Full Faculty Meeting, Alignment Groups, 3:15-4:30 (Various Locations in ES)

Thursday, December 6
Day 4- FGHE
Advisory Schedule

Friday, December 7
Day 5- CDAB

On the Horizon

• End of Semester Assessments, November 30-December 14 (See below)
• Share comments with a colleague by Thursday, December 6
• Review comments of colleague by Tuesday, December 11
• December 13 Quarter 2 Ends (Grades & Comments due by 3pm)
• December 14 Quarter 2 Grades and Comment Verification Reports due 2pm
• December 14 Quarter 2 and Semester 1 Grades sent electronically by 4pm

Staff Action Needed

• Begin writing comments for semester 1

End of Semester Response to Student/Parent Emails–  As mentioned at our faculty meeting this week, we are trying to minimize students interactions about their grades in the last two weeks of school, so that you are able to focus on assessing student work and inputting them into PS in a timely fashion before winter break.   Additionally, you can review the email Jacob has sent to all HS students and parents about this issue here.  Please feel free to copy and paste the text below into any email you may receive from a student or parent in the next two weeks.

“Thank you for reaching out to me.  It is the end of the semester and an extremely busy time as I finalize grades and comments for semester one.  I will not be able to respond to any concerns about assignments or course grades in PowerSchool in person or via email until report cards are finalized and sent to parents on December 14.  Any significant issues that may warrant a change will be handled after winter break and upon my return on January 7, 2019. Rest assured that if there are any issues that warrant a change these can be done starting in January.”

Report Card Comments and Peer Review– We formalized a report card comment writing protocol last year.  The links below will remind you of these expectations and you begin to write these for semester 1.   Additionally, each teacher needs to share the draft of their S1 comments with a peer for review by December 11.  Most teachers share their comments via Google Doc with someone in their department.  Peer editing should include looking for grammatical errors, spelling, correct student names, and adherence to the HS comment writing format.  We have created a quick guide about comment writing that is more useable than the previous documents.

Staff Video– Make sure to schedule your time for the staff video with Dan Le.  This is a huge favorite of students.