Weekly Update January 25 – February 15th

Tim Chute | January 24, 2019 | Weekly Update | No Comments

Chúc mừng năm mới (Happy New Year!)

As this will be the last Dragon’s Lair before the Tet, Jacob and I would like to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for all the time and energy that you have dedicated to our students and their families. We wish you safe travels if you are leaving Ho Chi Minh City during the break and if you are staying here then enjoy the quietness of the city.

We have a lot of things happening during the next few weeks with sports teams traveling, an IBDP Recital night on Tuesday, Jan. 29th at 6:00pm, and our annual Dragon Dance event on Thursday, Jan. 31st at 2:15pm.

In February we will be having a Wellness Week from February 18 – 22nd. Some details about this week are below but more information will soon be sent to you.

Tim

Friday, January 25
Day 5 – CDAB
Revised Room Schedule to Accommodate Final Site University Schedule

January 26-27th Vietnam Tech Conference

Monday, January 28
Day 6 – GHEF
Advisory Schedule

Tuesday, January 29.
Day 7 -DABC
HSLT Meeting, 3:15-4:45 (HS Conference Room) Agenda Here
DP Music Recital 6:00 -7:30pm

Wednesday, January 30
Day 8 – HEFG
Please remember to be in the HS Staff Room at morning Break (9:30am) as we will present our Tet money to the HS support staff.
HS Divisional Staff Meeting – MPR

Thursday, January 31st. Last Day Before Tet
Day 9 – ABCD
HS Tet Assembly Schedule for Friday, January 31, 2019
8:00 – 9:05am          Block 1 (65 min)
9:05 – 9:20am           Break (15 min)
9:25 – 10:30am        Block 2 (65 min)
10:40 – 11:45pm      Block 3 (65 min)
11:45 – 12:35pm      Advisory (Pot Luck Lunch) (50 min)
12:40 – 1:45pm        Block 4 (65 min)
2:00 – 3:00pm          Dragon Dance

Friday, February 1 – 10th Tet Holiday
Sunday, Feb. 10th Pest Control at SSIS

Monday, February 11th
Day 1 ABC Adv D
Advisory Schedule

Tuesday, February 12th
Day 2 EFGH

Wednesday, February 13th
Day 3 BCDA
HS Divisional Staff Meeting – MPR

Thursday, February 14th
Day 4 FGH Adv E
Advisory Schedule

Friday, February 15th
Day 5 CDAB
Hearing Vietnam Club Event in the evening

On the Horizon

January 24, Early Release Day-PD with Warren Apel
January 26-27, Vietnam Tech Conference
January 31, Tet Dragon Dance at 2pm (special schedule)
February 1, First Day of Tet Break
February 18, Start of HS Wellness Week
February 22, Wellness Week Workshops Afternoon (aprox. 60 minute classes)
February 23, Faculty Follies
March 2, Saigon International Teacher’s Social 3-8pm (location TBD)
March 12th PSAT for Grade 9 students from 8:00am – 12:00pm in the HS Gymnasium

Staff Action Needed

Please be sure to read the IBDP Blog for information on the IA process. Details will be provided next Wednesday.
Complete your RNR form for student course selection 2019-20 by 3pm Friday, January 25
Talk to students that are not recommended for specific course by Tet Break (see below)
Complete the HS Wellness Week Teacher Support Survey
Nominate a colleague for great work via Kudos
Meet the new HS staff for 2019-20

VTC2019 – Classroom Usage

Workshops will be held in the High School classroom Saturday, January 26 and Sunday, January 27.Please secure any valuables in your classroom.

Classrooms:
High School C313
High School C401
High School C404
High School C405
High School C408
High School C409
High School C413
I.D.E.A. Lab
ES Makerspace
MS Design Lab
Auditorium
High School Library
Cafeteria

HS Wellness Week February 18 – 22, 2019

Monday, February 18, 2019
8:00- Meet in first block class for attendance, leave bags and hustle to the auditorium.
8:05 – 8:25 am Keynote Speaker Catriona Moran – Auditorium **realistically speech will be 15 minutes long**
8:30 – 9:40 Block 1
9: 55-11:05 Block 2
11: 15 -12:25 Block 3
12:25-1:00 Lunch
1:05- 1:45 Advisory
1:50-3:00 Block 4

**Each block is 70 minutes long, lunch is 35 minutes with a 5-minute transition, and Advisory is 40 minutes.**

Friday, February 22, 2019
8:00 – 8:45am      Block 1
8:55 – 9:40am      Block 2
9:50 -10:35am    Block 3
10:45 -11:30am   Block 4
11:30 -12:05pm   Lunch
12:10 -12:50pm   Session 1
1:00 – 1:40pm      Session 2
1:50 – 2:30pm      Session 3
2:40 – 3:00pm      Reflection with advisory teachers

RNR Form– As the counseling team discussed at our faculty meeting this week, teachers will be completing an RNR Google Sheet to help the counselors best place students in courses that are their “best fit”. We have updated this process for teacher ease. Please find your department Google Sheet below and complete the tab with your name on it by the end of the day on January 25. Each department will choose a unified approach to do this. This may be a list of courses for a particular student may struggle in (not recommended to take AP History or HL History) or courses that are the logical next step (recommend Spanish 4 or SL Spanish). Additionally, we expect that teachers are sharing these recommendations with their students when they complete this information.

Additionally, at any point between now and Tet break, please talk to your students about any specific courses that you did NOT recommend for them. It is essential that you have these conversations with students, so they understand why they are not recommended. When students meet with their counselors and choose classes they (counselors) will not have the experience and knowledge to articulate why they were NOT recommended for a given course. How you share this information with students is critical and should be couched in the positive. i.e. “After working with you in the 1st semester I believe you opportunities for growth and success are in most of the social science offerings. I did not recommend AP World History, AP US History and HL History due to the high level and quantity of reading.”

English R&R Sheet for 2019-2020

Fine Arts R&R Sheet for 2019-2020

Math R&R Sheet for 2019-2020

MWL R&R Sheet for 2019-2020

Science R&R Sheet for 2019-2020

Social Studies R&R Sheet for 2019-2020

Tripod Survey Conferences- The results from the Tripod Surveys will be shared with you shortly. There are a few things that will be useful to you for when you review your feedback. Tripod Reflection Protocol: This is created by Tripod and will be especially helpful for those who have never done a Tripod survey before. The information is valuable and there is a reflection worksheet you could use. Here is a shorter reflection form that we used last couple of years (you’ll need to make a copy). If you want to use this one, I recommend using it in conjunction with the information in the Tripod Reflection Protocol. Here are 2016-17, 2017-18 & 2018-19 Divisional Results for comparison. As you can see our division results have held steady in every category. Great work all! Huyen will schedule a 20 minute meeting with each of you to talk about your analysis and reflection on the data in January before Tet break. Please review your data and complete the short reflection form before our scheduled meeting. We look forward to chatting with you in the coming weeks.