Weekly Update: February 14 – 21st

The Second week of online schooling is going very well. Thank you for your hard work and commitment to the virtual classrooms. We have not heard that schools are closed next week so please plan for both scenarios (open and being able to switch to continue online).

Please see Jacob or Tim if we can help you in any way or if you have any questions.

FriFriday, Feb. 14th
Day 8- HEFG

Monday, Feb. 17th
Day 1 – ABC Adv D
Advisory Schedule

Tuesday, Feb. 18th
Day 2 – EFGH
HSLT Meeting

Wednesday, Feb. 19th
Day 3 – BCDA
Divisional Faculty Meeting, 3:15-4:30 (TBD)

Thursday, Feb. 20th
Day 4 – FGH Adv E
Advisory Schedule

Friday, Feb. 21st
Day 5 – CDAB

Here’s your Thursday Update.  Please note anything new is bolded.  

• Tim and I will be hosting some informal check-ins in the MPR TODAY to answer any questions and provide any additional insight we may know at this time.  These will be at 9:00 and again at 12:00.  These are optional, but hope to see you there.  Please find Tim or me if you have any questions and are unable to attend.
• The HSLT will be meeting on Friday to discuss student support and accountability options once we return to school.  If you have any ideas or insight please share with your head of department by Friday at lunch.
• The Admin and Counseling teams will be sending a check-in survey to our students later today to get some more information on how they are feeling about how virtual school is going.  Data will be shared with faculty later.
• When you conduct a Google Meet, make sure to have your students turn on their mics on their computers.
• While we do not have any information from the government for next week yet, you should plan as you did last week for the continuance of Virtual School with some relatively easy tweaks to transform the lesson for an in-school learning opportunity.
• Many of our students are likely feeling isolated and disconnected from their peers.  Some of them are being kept inside by their parents all day.  As you are planning your lessons, please make an effort to create online collaborative opportunities for our students to stay connected with each other.  
• I will be running another Students of Concern report on Thursday at 3:30 pm, so please input your next wave of concerns into PS as a Log Entry and a separate email to the student/parents today and/or Thursday.  Here is the email sample and Log Entry directions for your convenience with documentation.   
  
• Take care of yourselves by being mindful of our current working conditions and at the same time supporting your House.  Complete this Self-Care Bingo card by the end of the week.

Thanks for all that you are doing for our students!

On the Horizon

• February 26 to March 4, IB Mock Exams
• February 27 to 29, Positive Education Training
• March 19 & 20, Parent Teacher Conferences
• March 23 to 25, IBO Accreditation Visit
• March 28, Spring Break Starts
• IB Mock Exam Information and Schedule
• TOK – The Map is Not the Territory Blog

Staff Action Needed

• Need more time for unit documentation? Complete this form
• 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

Updates from Catriona– It is critical that you carefully read each message that Catriona sends. This information is very important and potentially impacts teaching and learning and other key events that we participate in.

Attendance Taking– Taking accurate attendance is always important, but even more important in light of the health concerns in the community. Thank you for your support.

A few additional reminders are below:

• Make sure to review the HS Online Learning Protocol
• Please add any questions to the HS Virtual School Q & A Document in the 1st column and then Tim, Thomas and I will do our best to answer them for the good of the entire faculty.  
• Provide feedback to your head of department regarding online summative assessment meetings and potential structural changes to the delivery of online learning to our students.
• Remember to post your announcements in PSL each morning, so our students can access and complete their tasks on a flexible timeline. 
• If you are noticing that your learning support or EAL students are struggling please email Kari and Justin immediately, so they might support you as well.  FYI, they are communicating with their students daily in an effort to keep them on track.  The online learning platform will be difficult for many of these students, so it is critical that we go above and beyond to support them.
• Respond to all student/parent messages within 24 hours.
• Monitor assignment submissions and communication with students to remind them of missed and/or upcoming deadlines.  Every Friday teachers will communicate with both students and parents of anyone that has not been engaged in their learning (i.e. no assignments turned in, no comments on discussion boards, etc). You can just copy and paste the email message from above or write a personalized email of concern to the student and parent. Make sure to copy this message into PowerSchool as a log entry, so the administrative team and counselors can get a more global picture of struggling students and can follow up with families ourselves and support you.