Sunday, January 3, 2016

Week of January 3, 2016

Just in case you need a little inspiration to get back to work on a cold Monday morning after a two week break...

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MYP: Risk-Takers

In our final MS Chapel of the calendar year, I asked students to identify an area of their lives in which they wanted to be more resilient and to articulate a "resilience resolution." We'll return to these resolutions in this week's MS Chapel, and we'll attempt to make a connection between the LP "Risk-Taker" (a.k.a. "Courageous") which explicitly links the attribute to resilience. Wisely, the language of the LP also attaches resilience to resourcefulness, but too often we limit our notion of "resources" to material and abstract things - funding, space, supplies, time. I think we all know from our daily experiences and our work that the greatest and best resource is people, which means that building resilience requires attention to our relationships and to our ability to ask for help. 

 Recently, I returned to Amanda Palmer's TED Talk on "The Art of Asking." I won't pretend to be cool enough to be a Palmer aficionado, but I can say that I remember her in her Eight Foot Bride days. Alongside Toscanini's ice cream and the daily assortment of local punks (the cultural designation punk - chains, leather, spiked hair, red tartan, and all), the Eight Foot Bride was one of those much-beloved quirks of Harvard Square in the late 90s, and this was years before this form of performance art became typical of the peddlers that you can see today in tourist destinations. She'd perch herself on Mass Ave, a few hundred yards from the pit outside the T-station, which always seemed like a deliberate attempt to not distract walkers-by from the street musicians that camped out closer to the subway. The Bride remained frozen in a pose until someone dropped some money in her bowl. At the sound of coins dropping, the Bride came to life, sought eye-to-eye connection with the donor, and offered her or him a daisy. Once the flower was accepted, she would find a new pose and freeze until the next generous human came along. 

 On summer days, the Bride would be flocked by tourists, who were giddy to make her move, and onlookers cooed when children offered a donation. You might think that the creature Palmer assumed would frighten some children - she was gaunt, gothic, other-worldly, and the mask of white face-paint really was unsettling - but I never saw a child shrink from her (unlike mall Santas or party clowns). On slower days, it was magical to watch the locals engage her like she was just part of the typical urban fabric, alongside streetlights, cops, shops, and Starbucks. You'd see a shop clerk drop a few coins on the way into work, and once in a while, one of the punks would wander over to her. One day, I was emerging from Toscanini's and I witnessed a local homeless man amble over to the Bride (there has always been a surprisingly high number of homeless folks around Harvard Square). He dropped a coin, she repositioned and caught his gaze, and she gave him a flower. There was nothing extraordinary about this encounter, but the image has stayed in the back of my mind for many years. 

 When Palmer delivered her TED talk in 2013, the image came to the fore, and it was fascinating to hear her describe the experience and tie it to performing music and to social media. For her, at the heart of it all is a desire to connect and to demonstrate a fundamental trust in other people. "I don't see these things are risk," she says. "I see them as trust. Now, the online tools to make the exchange as easy and as instinctive as the street, they're getting there. But the perfect tools aren't going to help us if we can't face each other and give and receive fearlessly, but, more important - to ask without shame."

 Items of note...

Starting the Year Mindfully 

As we approached the end of the calendar year, conversations in Team meetings and other settings highlighted the need to encourage students to be mindful about a number of things. We'll talk about this in our Morning Meeting, but in Advisory, in class, and in the halls, please remind students of these aspects of community life.

  • Uniform: Please ask your Advisees to review their uniform compliance daily, and if you see students out of uniform throughout the day, please remind them. If you notice a repeat-offender or suspect that a student is deliberately pushing the boundaries, please reach out to Clare or me. 
  • Maintaining Common Spaces: Please remind students to maintain common spaces (hallways, the Lounge, etc.) throughout the day. 
  • Movement: There are a few key spots where MS students are frequently racing or talking loudly - including the stairs between the LS Science Classroom and the 6th Grade Hallway and the Library Hallway. Again, any repeat-offenders, please let Clare or me know. 
  • Dining Room: Please remind students to enter the Dining Room through the indoor entrance. The entrance near the food service counter has seen a lot of bottle-necking because of MS entering through that door. If you're in the Dining Room when MS is finishing lunch, please help them to remember to return chairs borrowed from other tables as part of their table clean-up. 
  • PE: Please remind students that they must request a waiver or special permission to use the 2:10pm PE block to do homework. This is an accommodation given to students who receive a waiver because they participate in significant physical education outside school and students who are injured and unable to participate in PE. Occasionally, students will need time to catch up on academic work because of an absence or special circumstances, but they must receive permission from me and notify their teacher/coach of the need for this accommodation. 

Drive safely!

As of writing, the snow is falling steadily, and the roads are wet. It looks like the temperature will be dropping overnight, and more snow is on the way. Please drive safely and anticipate a slow commute in the morning. 

MYP: Checking in with John Hunt

If you didn't get a chance to meet with John before Winter Break to see where you are in the MYP process and review your unit planning progress, please schedule time with him in the coming weeks. This is of utmost importance both for our process toward pursuing authorization and for planning in-house PD.

First Semester Final Assessments

Finals are coming up! I'll work on a schedule for first semester final assessments this week and post a draft a.s.a.p. If you know that you will not require time to give a final assessment on January 20, 21, 22, please let me know!

Meeting Agendas

The agendas for Grade Level and MS Faculty Meetings are always linked at the bottom of the blog (though I discovered that some of the links got unlinked somehow). Please remember to post agenda items in advance of the meetings. For Grade Level Teams, it's been especially helpful to include a question or observation in the agenda so colleagues who cannot be present can contribute relevant commentary. For MS Faculty Meetings, please feel free to post any item for discussion designate whether it's an item to develop Understanding, to Inform, to make a Recommendation, or to make a Decision.

Parent Coffees - 6th on 1/21, 7th on 1/28, 8th on 2/4

A second round of parent coffees are on the horizon. Last time, we welcomed about 10-12 parents each time and had great conversations about how the year was going, and those attendees were determined to get more parents to attend. Please know that Faculty and Advisors are most welcome to attend as schedules permit. There's no need to stay the whole time, and there's certainly no expectation to "come prepared" to present or respond to topics that emerge. 

Often, these conversations included some concerns (stress and homework was a consistent theme), but for the most part parents oozed with enthusiasm and gratitude for their children's experiences. For this round, we'll offer a particular topic to frame the conversation. These are yet to be determined, but they might include a short article to send out ahead of time via the Flash or they might focus on some particular aspect of the Grade's experience (for example: the high school transition for 8th Grade Parents). If you have any ideas about topics to address or short articles to share with parents in advance of these conversations, please let me know!

US Tutors

If you read the January Flash, I hope you noticed the post about the cadre of tutors that is available. Jen has been working with Tiffany on this for the last couple of months, and it would be great both for student support and for building interdivisional community to capitalize on this great resource! If you have students or Advisees who would benefit from working with an US Tutor on any issue - from general organization to coaching in particular subject areas - please contact Jen!

Upcoming Chapels

In the next couple of months, MS Chapels will focus on cultural diversity. Below, please find a very draft suggestion of the rotation of foci on cultural heritage. If you, your Advisees, or your students would like to contribute to these in any capacity (from "I've got some ideas" and "I'd like to help plan one or two" to "I've got this"), please let me know. Likewise, perhaps you're connected to a local organization or a potentially fantastic guest speaker who could join us - please put it on my radar a.s.a.p.!
  • 1/6: Epiphany, Mindfulness, and Resilience Resolutions for the New Year
  • 1/13: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Observance
  • 1/27: African American Heritage (connect to February Black History Month?)
  • 2/3: Asian Heritage (connect to Lunar New Year on 2/8?)
  • 2/10: Native American Heritage
  • 2/24: Hispanic Heritage
  • 3/2: South Asian Heritage
  • 3/9: Middle Eastern Heritage

Update on the MS Schedule

As you know, the volunteer Schedule Research Team (Angelica, Ann, Chaya, Clare, Kyle, Liz, Shelli, and me) has been exploring the design and implementation of a new schedule for the Middle School. In our research, we've discovered that there's not much consensus out there in terms of identifying a silver-bullet, catch-all, perfect schedule. There's even a wide variety of schedules in independent MYP schools. Our conversations, rooted in the feedback the entire faculty has given, conversations with students, and our own observations, have identified a few starting points and parameters for designing a schedule, including our commitment building a student-centered schedule and to the Advisory program, the need for longer teaching periods, MYP requirements, and interdivisional commitments (cross-divisional teachers, shared spaces and schedules, etc.). We've also been able to imagine a few new possibilities that a redesigned schedule might bring, including integrating components of different experiences (like including student recognitions in MS Chapel), introducing  time for Clubs, Student Council, rehearsals  during the academic day, and designating the Lunch block as lunch-only.

At an upcoming MS Faculty Meeting, we'll introduce a few potential models. We'll also share these models with leadership in the Lower and Upper Schools and the Senior Leadership Team, and once we've identified a model we want to pursue, we'll look at focus groups of students and parents both to educate them about the philosophical and logistical aspects of schedule design. 
* This was originally posted indicating that we'd be ready to present the drafts at this week's faculty meeting - that was an error.

Advisory this week...

MS Space

I'll keep this doc linked in the blog for ongoing ideas about the MS space. As ideas come up, plug them in! 

Celebrations

Thanks to all of you for shaping, implementing, and hosting a beautiful Grandparents' & Special Friends' Day! Both the mini-concert and the Expo reflected hard work and creativity on everyone's part, and it was really well-received by our guests. 

MYP...

Communications...

Flash

This week's Flash will introduce the Key Concepts Aesthetics, Connections, Form, and Perspective and highlight Science and Music. 

Blogs

Don't miss the latest installments of The Dish from Mrs. Dicks or Joe Romano's AWSLibrary blog! 

Religious & Cultural Observances coming up...

  • Tuesday, January 5 is Twelfth Night, which marks the end of the Christian Christmas festival.
  • Wednesday, January 6 is the Christian Feast of the Epiphany. It is also the Sikh observance of Guru Gobindh Singh's Birthday.
  • Thursday, January 7 is the Orthodox Christian celebration of Christmas. Why do Eastern and Western sects of Christianity have differing calendars? After centuries of theological, scientific, and political debates on the subject, the Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, and the Western uses the Gregorian, of course. A succinct explanation is here.

Upcoming at AWS...

Monday, January 4
10:00am All School Chapel

 Tuesday, January 5
10:00am Flex
3:15pm 6th Grade Team Meeting 
3:30pm MS Boys JV Basketball v. Carbonado
4:30pm MS Boys Varsity Basketball v. Carbonado

Wednesday, January 6
10:00am MS Chapel
2:10pm MS Faculty Meeting
3:15pm MS Girls JV1 and Varsity Soccer @ North Lake Tapps

 Thursday, January 7
3:15pm MS Girls Varsity Soccer @ Seattle Christian
3:30pm MS Boys JV Basketball @ Chief Leschi
4:30pm MS Boys Varsity Basketball @ Chief Leschi

 Friday, January 8
10:00am 7th Grade Share

 Monday, January 11
Cross the Commons - Schedule for 8th Grade TBD

 Thursday, January 21
7:45am 6th Grade Parents Coffee 

 Thursday, January 28
7:45am 7th Grade Parents Coffee

 Friday, January 29
7th & 8th Grade Winter Dance

 Thursday, February 4
7:45am 8th Grade Parents Coffee

 Saturday, February 6
Middle School Ticket to Thrive: All Hands on Deck!

Meeting Agendas:
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