Weekly Update: September 17 – 28 (WWW Edition)

Week Without Walls is just around the corner.   We have an excellent opportunity ahead of us to develop one of our HS goals of intellectual AND personal development.  Our grade 9-11 overnight trips provide our advisors the chance to make meaningful connections with students outside of Saigon with service and team building activities.  Our grade 12 advisors have a will get an inside look at the university application process through the University Boot Camp.  During their time with students, they will gain insight about students through work with their personal statements and more.  For most of us, this coming week takes us away from our friends and family.  Tim and I really appreciate the sacrifices you will each personally make in the coming days.  However, the relationships that we will build with students will set a solid foundation for both the intellectual AND personal development of our kids for the remainder of the school year.

Have a great week!

Jacob

Friday, September 14
Day 10- FGHE

Sunday, September 16
Grade 9 WWW Departures
Hydra/Naga, 5:30 am
Shenlong/Wyvern, 6:30 am

Grade 10 WWW Departures
Angland, Medina, Sylvester, 5:30 am
Jennings, Mellon, Milligan, Ortiz, Redfern, Souba, 6:30 am

Monday, September 17
Day 1- ABCD
Colleague Coverage Guide

Tuesday, September 18
Day 2- EFGH
Colleague Coverage Guide

Wednesday, September 19
Day 3- BCDA
Colleague Coverage Guide

Thursday, September 20
Junior Retreat Departure, 7:ooam (SSIS)
University Bootcamp Grade 12 (Information Here for G12 Advisors)

Friday, September 21
University Bootcamp Grade 12 (Information Here for G12 Advisors)
Grade 9 and 10 Students Return

Saturday, September 22
Grade 11 Students Return

Monday, September 24
Day 6- GHEF
Tim Out
Advisory Schedule

Tuesday, September 25
Day 7- DABC
Tim Out

Wednesday, September 26
Day 8- HEFG
Early Dismissal Schedule
Tim Out

Thursday, September 27
Day 9- ABCD
Advisory Schedule
New Faculty Information Lunch, MPR
Tim Out

Friday, September 28
Day 10- FGHE
HS Dance, 6-9pm (Auditorium)
Tim Out

Saturday, September 29
Family Fun Day, 10am-1pm

On the Horizon

• Exchange Q1 Comments with a peer via Google Doc by October 3
• Grade 9 WWW Documentary Night, October 4
• Quarter 1 Ends, October 5
• Provide feedback for peer on Q1 comments by 3pm, October 5
• Q1 Grades & Comments Finalized, October 8 at 3:00pm
• Q1 Grade & Comments Verification Reports Signed, October 9 (by end of lunch)
• Q1 Report Cards Sent to Parents/Students, October 9 (by 4:00pm)
• Parent/Teacher Conferences, October 11 (4-8pm) & 12 (8am-1pm)
• HS Block Party, November 9, 4-9pm (Jacob’s House)

Staff Action Needed

• Update your grade books
• Finalize lesson plans for your grade 11 and 12 classes for Monday-Wednesday (Sep 17-19) if you are traveling on the 9/10 WWW trips.
• Review end of quarter 1 grading deadlines
• Review the Log Entry Naming Protocol
• Add a kudos to a colleague(s)

What’s in Your Grade Book?– We are nearing the end of the first quarter and our students and families should have a good idea about how their learning is progressing.  At this point there should be 3-5 data points for our families to evaluate.  We know that many of these may be completely formative, but it is essential to have at least a summative mark or two in the grade book to generate a percentage which will result in a grade.

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 quarter 1.   Additionally, each teacher needs to share the draft of their Q1 comments with a peer for review by October 3.  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 will review these with the new faculty to SSIS at an upcoming lunch on September 27.

Report Card Comments PD Presentation – From February 7, 2018 PD (relevant slides #’s 12 & 13)
Report Card Comments Exemplars

Support Family Fun Day– Family Fun Day takes place on Saturday, September 29 from 10:00am to 1:00pm.  Stop by and support the PTA and HS clubs/advisors for an hour or two, as this is an expectation for all SSIS faculty.

Parent/Teacher Conferences October 11-12– PTC’s take place on October 11 and 12 in the HS Gym.  Each teacher will have a table around the perimeter of the gym for parents to meet with you.  The format is the same as the past years.  We will discuss this in depth with new teachers during our luncheon on September 27.