Dear High School Parents and Students,
Happy Friday! I hope this email finds you safe and healthy. We are about to end the fourth week of our journey into Continuous Learning in high school. As with any new practice, we need to re-engage and re-envision What/How/When/Why of our practice. Over the last few weeks, I hope, that we all have been able to settle in places that we all wanted to, and feel more safe and comfortable now - whether it is in India or not.
Please read the following information/guidance with care and an open mind, and keep the needs of our whole community as an important priority in this unprecedented situation. Thank you.
Expectations for Continuous Learning in the High School
Starting April 21st, HS teachers will be expected to offer more synchronous zoom sessions with their students and continue with the asynchronous parts of learning that have been successful already for many students and teachers.
All synchronous teaching and learning will take place between 8 AM and 9 PM (IST). We have extended this window so that teachers can choose a time that might work for both them and their students.
If a teacher chooses to offer synchronous learning that falls between 8:30 AM and 3:30 PM (IST) it should follow the regular block schedule in order to avoid any conflicts between classes.
For students outside of India, Individual or small group synchronous sessions should not take place earlier than 8 am or later than 9 pm in the time zone the student is located in.
If a student misses a synchronous class meeting, they should watch the recording of the session and follow up with the teacher as needed.
All other learning outside of those time periods is asynchronous.
We are requesting parents to help students manage their workday by going to bed and waking up at a reasonable time in their respective time zone.
Rationale: Some students and teachers are currently working in a way that is not balanced and sustainable. The well-being of the High School has been and will continue to be a priority going forward.
Synchronous/ Asynchronous Learning
Beginning Tuesday, April 21, teachers are expected to engage with students in a synchronous learning environment (whole class or small group) at least once per 8-day cycle.
Whole class and small group lessons will be recorded and posted to Google Classroom so that students in other time zones (such as Europe) will be able to access them, or students can rewatch the video as needed.
Teachers will notify students about synchronous sessions at least 48 hours ahead of time.
In addition, all Zoom sessions will be recorded and shared with the HS administration. Teachers will then link the necessary videos to their Google Classrooms.
Rationale: Teachers, students, and parents all see the need for more teacher/student contact. This not only supports students academically but also socially in a blended synchronous/ asynchronous environment. This also supports the AES Child Protection Policy and provides a data point for the evaluation and further refining of the Continuous Learning model.
Attendance
Student attendance will be reported by teachers weekly between Friday and Sunday by 9:00 PM (IST) at the latest
If the synchronous sessions fall within 8 am and 9 pm for any students’ current time zone, they will be expected to attend the live session
Students who were not able to attend the synchronous session will check in with teachers within the following 24 hours; this check-in will be considered in attendance for the class.
If a student misses a class, the teachers will follow the attendance process below.
Rationale: This practice supports student success, and provides data about the effectiveness of Continuous Learning at AES.
The high school has clarified its process for communicating concerns about absences and missing work:
Teacher emails the student and cc’s the parents
Students and parents have 48 hours to get back to the teacher
If a teacher does not hear from the students and parents within 48 hours, the teacher then emails the counselor
Counselor checks in with students/parents via email
If 48 hours pass by and there is no response from student or parent, counselors let the principals know to follow up
Rationale: Students must be attending classes and showing evidence of continued learning.
Lesson Structure
Information about lessons will be shared by teachers in two ways: an overview (either for the week or for the 8-day cycle) and a by-class period breakdown of the week.
There will no longer be a need to differentiate between “class time” and “homework.” It will simply be referred to as learning.
The total amount of time for learning for each class should not exceed 90 minutes per class per day (AP Courses could have up to 120 minutes, as they will have an exam soon)
If a student is regularly struggling to finish assignments within 90 minutes they are encouraged to email the teacher for guidance.
Teachers will strive to create succinct directions using the Welcome, Why, What, How, When overview format:
Rationale Teachers, students, and parents are asking for more structure. We are learning that some students need learning to be more organized and some students are spending way more time than intended completing work.
School/Parent Partnership
All HS parents should accept Google Classroom Guardian Notifications & Regularly Check Powerschool
Rationale: Parents can best support students by using AES systems to stay informed of assigned work and scores.
If parents or guardians have not received an invite to the Google Classroom daily or weekly summaries, please contact:
Grade 9 & 11: Gargi Sharma at gsharma@aes.ac.in
Grade 10 & 12: Sonam Rani at srani@aes.ac.in
If you are unable to log in to PowerSchool, please contact:
Mr. Hardayal at hkumar@aes.ac.in
Mr. Joice at ejoice@aes.ac.in
Continual Feedback
HS admin will continue to gather feedback from students, teachers, and parents in various forms on a regular basis.
Rationale: This is an evolving situation and we need data to drive the evolution of our practice.
Teachers will update Powerschool consistently.
Rationale: Communication with students and parents will provide more structure and support.
Grading and Reporting for Semester 2 for Grades 9, 10 and 11:
We are still gathering feedback from various universities and international schools. We will be able to finalize our decision when we think we have a better understanding of the impact of our decision on our students. Please stay tuned. Thank you.