Friday October 30

 Dear Students and Parents,

 

This week we took time to focus on wellbeing during our first Wellbeing Day of the year. On Wednesday, students attended wellbeing activities during their connection time. Teachers hosted a range of activities from online games, yoga, storytelling to crafts! Many thanks to Ms. Gemma Adderley and Ms. Gretchen Galaty for organizing this for the middle school. We regularly integrate wellbeing into our advisory program, and a wellbeing day supports these practices on a larger scale, builds community and is a way to have fun together! More about our wellbeing in today’s notes!

 

Thank you to Ms. Lakshmi’s advisory for this scary screenshot for Halloween!

 

Wellbeing Day Data 

We had an overwhelmingly positive response to our wellbeing day from our students. Here is a snapshot of the feedback from students:

·      92% of students felt it was a welcome break from routines.

·      95% of students would like to see wellbeing day offered more often.

·      78% of students felt they learned to manage stress by attending a session. 

As a middle school we will be reviewing this data to make decisions about our wellbeing day programming and frequency this school year. 

 

Responding to Your Feedback

During this first half of the school year, we have collected feedback from students, parents and teachers. We are making two enhancements to our online program in response to the feedback. 

·      First, all teachers will incorporate a system into all modules to collect feedback from students. This will ensure that feedback is collected regularly in all classes and will provide teachers data to make adjustments as needed to their modules, pacing and workload as needed. This change is in effect now. 

·      Second, all connection times will be scheduled during the first 30 minutes of each class block of the day. This change will go into effect Monday, November 9. Students will be notified of this change in each class and class calendar appointments, schedules and planners will be updated to reflect this change starting on November 9. 

 

India Month Padlets

During the month of October, students celebrated India in our India Month advisory sessions. 

You can view what students created and posted in these Padlets:

Our Delicious Creations

Kolam Gallery Walk

Mehndi Monday

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal 

Friday October 23

 Dear Parents and Students,

 

Thank you for attending our Student Parent Teacher Conferences this past week. We hope that you found this opportunity helpful to understand your child’s progress and their reflection on his/her learning at this point in the semester. At the conclusion of the semester, you will receive a detailed report card with grades for all reporting standards in each subject and comments from each teacher. If you have questions at any point in the semester about your child’s progress, please do not hesitate to reach out to individual class teachers. PowerSchool is also available to you at any time. You can check your child’s progress on assignments by logging into PowerSchool. 

 

Student Support

There are a range of ways students can receive support from teachers and connect with them outside of class connection time. 

·       Office Hours: Teachers have office hours daily from 8:30-9:00. Links to office hours for A and B days are publish in our student daily bulletin. Students may drop in at these times without an appointment. Sometimes, students are invited to office hours by a teacher. Students are expected to attend if they have been invited by a teacher.

·       Independent Work Time: Teachers are available following daily Connection Times to follow up with student questions as needed.   

·       Independent Work Days: Teachers check in with students individually or in small groups on these days. 

·       Email: Teachers respond to questions received over email within 24 hours. 

 

Our Daily Runway is time for students to review their daily schedules and gather questions they have for teachers. Checking email and PowerSchool for feedback regularly during this the Daily Runway is a part of daily preparation that can support students in their learning as well. 

 

Experiential Learning: SEVAI

This week students will be introduced to SEVAI. SEVAI is service in Tamil and is our service learning program in the middle school. The purpose of experiential learning in the middle school is to provide opportunities beyond the classroom that promote connections to our community, the environment, and local culture and nurture students’ self-management, self-awareness and positive relationships through applied learning and reflection. You can read more about SEVAI and Experiential Learning in the middle school in our handbook starting on page 44. 

 

This year, our SEVAI program will be virtual and our service learning activities have been designed for students to continue to provide meaningful contributions to the community while we are virtual. Students will select projects from a menu. All activities are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

 

This year, as students complete the SEVAI projects in November, they will also be working towards learning targets that have been aligned with the aims of SEVAI and our AISC Vision for a Learner. The learning targets are below: 

Wellbeing Day

On Wednesday October 28 students will participate in our first Wellbeing Day of the year. The purpose of the day is to take time to focus on activities that support our Wellbeing Framework. Below is our framework and details for each petal of the framework. On Wednesday, students will participate in wellbeing activities during connection times and continue to work through the module during their independent work times. 

October Grade Level Social Events

Our second grade level social of the year will take place on Friday October 30 from 3:30-4:00. Each grade level will be hosting an event for students. Students can access the events in their google calendars and the student daily bulletin. 

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal 

 

Friday October 16

 Dear Parents and Students,

This past week and next, we are taking time to reflect on student learning during this first quarter of the school year. Mid-semester progress reports were issued Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, the focus of our parent coffee was our Learning Habits and their role in our upcoming Student Parent Teacher Conferences. Learning Habits are foundational to our program: they support learning how to learn for our students. Below you will find the slide and recording from parent coffee and instructions for accessing Student Parent Teacher Conferences. 

 

Parent Coffee Slides & Video

Here are the slides from this week’s parent coffee. You can access the recording here. Our focus at the coffee was developing understanding of the learning habits, how they manifest online, and how parents can engage with their children in conversations about Learning Habits. We also shared how the Learning Habits connect to adolescent development. This information provided the segue into an explanation of our upcoming Student Parent Teacher Conferences, which will center on students’ reflection on the LH and their growth during the first half of the semester. 

 

Conference Access Directions 

Parent conferences will be Monday and Tuesday, October 19 & 20 from 8:00am-4:00pm. Conferences are 10 minutes in length. Individual conference appointments will not be sent out; parents will access each teacher’s zoom link using the Conference Menu with Zoom Links. Parents will need the schedule sent to you by the online scheduling system, PTCFast as well. This short video will guide you through accessing conferences. Written directions are here: Directions to Access Conferences.

 

Student Absences                                                                                                                  Please email the MS office (msoffice@aischennai.org) if your child is absent with the reason for their absences when they cannot participate in online learning. In a typical year, we track illnesses, fevers, and flu symptoms. Now, more than ever, it is so important that we know if a student or household member has flu symptoms and/or has tested positive for COVID-19.  

 

Arts, Sports & Activities

 

See what students think about Virtual ASA's!

If you are interested in having your child(ren) of all ages engage in FREE virtual activities for Season 2, please check out the Athletics & Activities Blog for more information and the Registration Form.  ASA Season 2 will begin Monday, October 19th.  

 

India Month

October is India Month! Students have been introduced to the activities that will be available to them to celebrate Indian culture. Please take a look at this document to learn about activities you can support at home. Activities include: 

Mehendi

Ludo & Snake Ladder

Cooking

Kolams

 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal

 

 

Friday October 9

 Dear Parents and Students,

 

I hope you had a relaxing fall break. Our students and teachers have shown a great deal of stamina during our first quarter of the year. With our systems well underway, we are looking forward to the second half of this semester. This month students will have the opportunity to celebrate India through a range of activities during advisory. You will be able to meet with teachers 1:1 during parent-student-teacher conferences. We will conclude this month with a middle school wellbeing day and another grade level social event. 

 

Parent Coffee

Our October Parent Coffee will be Tuesday, October 13 from 8:45-9:45am. The topic will be learning habits and our mid-semester progress report and conferences. Join us to learn how the learning habits support students’ academic and personal growth. The learning habits will be the focus of Parent Teacher Student Conferences later this month. The parent coffee will be recorded and the recording and slides will be posted in next week’s blog. 

 

Here is the zoom link for the parent coffee on Tuesday:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7923550247?pwd=ZGZ2eUxld1F5OU5ucGZLRGVZRkZuZz09

 

Meeting ID: 792 355 0247

Passcode: K50Rpk

 

AISC Newspaper

Our MS Newspaper staff has produced another edition of the AISC Times. This edition’s headliner: AISC: What’s the difference? This article focuses on the work students have been doing in advisory about identity, race, and anti-racism. Click here to read all about it and much more. Thank you to our AISC News staff: Chaitanya, Mihika, NaYeon, Sahana, Ha Young, Yashvi, Yuina, Siyeon and our faculty advisor, Ms. O. 

 

 

Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences

Monday parents will receive an email from the MS office with directions to sign up for parent-student-teacher conferences. The email will outline directions for registering with the scheduling system, PTCFast. After registering, you will be able to schedule conferences. The link to schedule conferences will close on Friday October 16 at 4:00pm IST.

 

We have expanded our conference times for greater flexibility. Conferences will be held over zoom on Monday and Tuesday, October 19 & 20, respectively. On both days, conferences will be from 8:00am-4:00pm. On both of these days, there will be independent learning. Students will continue to work independently on their modules when they are not in conferences. There will be no connection times these days. By continuing with independent learning on these two days, we are able to increase students’ time engaged in their courses. 

 

Mid-Semester Progress Reports

Tuesday, October 13 students will receive their mid-semester progress reports. Reports will be available in PowerSchool. Here are text and video instructions to access the report:

TEXT instructions to view your child's MS Report

 

VIDEO instructions to view your child's MS Report

 

The mid-semester report provides parents and students with an update on students’ progress the first half of the semester. Learning Habits and reporting standards for which there is sufficient evidence at this point in the semester are reported on. A more comprehensive report including on all reporting standards and teacher comments will be issued in January.

 

India Month

October is India Month! Students have been introduced to the activities that will be available to them to celebrate Indian culture. Please take a look at this document to learn about activities you can support at home. Activities include: 

Mehendi

Ludo & Snake Ladder

Cooking

Kolams

 

Arts, Sports & Activities

See what students think about Virtual ASA's:  

If you are interested in having your child(ren) of all ages engage in FREE virtual activities for Season 2, please check out the Athletics & Activities Blog for more information and the Registration Form.  ASA Season 2 will begin Monday, October 19th. 

 

 

Scholastic Book Fair Final Sale

Please click the link below to visit the Scholastic Virtual Book Fair and enjoy a 20% discount on every book until October 15th! Register with your personal email address. 

http://schools.scholastic.co.in/american-international

 

Have a great weekend,

Jessica Pechhold

Middle School Principal