Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Report cards - Thank you for all of your work on reports this week and for getting them done. If you can send me and Stephen a note that you are finished it will help with our timing for checking and compiling them. PLEASE, keep an eye on your school account this week and into the first week of vacation in case we find any issues with your reports. Once you see reports are uploaded to ManageBac, it will be less important to check your mail.

• Last day of school - Depending on which website you look at, the forecast Wednesday ranges from cloudy to chance of rain to possible thunderstorms. Thus, the plan for the day is still a bit of a question. Review last weeks update for the different scenarios and we will make a final decision Tuesday afternoon.

• Tech Use - I met with the PTA presidents this week because they have some concerns about tech use. From conversations they've had with parents and students they feel like there is a lot of surreptitious use of phones during class and that the rules aren't always enforced. Other things they talked about were students sharing videos, accessing questionable content, shopping on Amazon, and a lot of gaming, both in class and out. While they understand that this was a strange year where phones and devices replaced many other activities they weren't allowed to do, they would like us to engage with us as a faculty on this as we start the next year. There are a lot of facets to a discussion like this but it is one worth having and we will pick it up in the fall.

• End of year checkout - Myles shared this sheet via email the other day. It lists out some things that need to be done prior to the end of the school year.

• EE Cafe - The website was published in the Learning Updates last week. If you haven't had a chance to look, you can find it here. Thank you to Tara and the juniors for putting it together.

• MAP Testing - With the problem with the last exam, these got finished behind schedule. However, they are basically done now and results are available online and will be published to students' ManageBac portfolios soon.

• Study from home - There has been a bit of shuffling the last few days on and off the list. There should be a few faces on campus that you've only been seeing digitally. You can see the current list here.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Report cards - Thank you for all of your work on reports this week. Please review announcements in previous updates and let me know if you have any questions. Everything is due to be uploaded on Friday. If you are having issues with the deadline, please communicate with me and Stephen.

• EE Cafe - This is on the calendar for Monday. As with so many things this year, the Extended Essay Cafe will look different. Rather than everyone gathering in the Third Floor Conference room to meet the students and learn about their research, the juniors have been working hard, under the guidance of Tara, to make an interactive website. It should be complete by Monday. Look for more information soon.

• June 30 - Here are some updates on the last day of school. It is a half day and there are two main goals. One is to get lockers cleaned out, materials returned, and keys handed in. The other is to bring closure to the school year by handing out MYP certificates, awards and say goodbye to those community members who are leaving. In a normal year, we would also have class parties which usually involves a potluck of shared food. We won't do that this year. The schedule is a bit in flux because it will depend on the weather. The two week forecast says thunderstorms are a possibility but that could easily change. If it is raining, or the chances are high, we will be sharing the gym with SIS for our different assemblies. We will start the day in the gym with an assembly and then go to homerooms to complete the other tasks. If the weather is nice, we will do homeroom first and then move to the courtyard for the assembly. After the assembly there would be a final check in with homeroom teachers and then, after 10:30, students who've turned everything in can be dismissed.

• End of year checkout - Myles shared this sheet via email the other day. It lists out some things that need to be done prior to the end of the school year.

• MSHS Faculty Meeting - Thank you for taking the time to meet on Wednesday. The main points of discussion were tasks for finishing the year, looking ahead to next year and awards nominations. Slides can be found here.

• Awards - We narrowed down the nominations in the meeting. There are still some awards that need to be settled by vote. Here are some things to keep in mind when voting and as we settle on the awards:

  • You do not necessarily need to teach the students to vote but you should know all the nominated students well enough from this year to make a comparison. It may be worth reviewing their Service or CAS in ManageBac to get an idea of what kinds of activities the students have been involved in over the year. This is especially relevant for the Values award which includes Caring and the Qualities award which includes Balance and Risk Taking.

  • We have had two awards winners in the past for a category so that is possible if the vote is very close.

  • A few people are nominated for multiple awards. We generally try to spread the awards around to qualified people and not have one person win all of them in a grade level.

  • Conversely, someone nominated for multiple awards may have their vote diluted for any one award.

  • For these reasons, we may have a follow up discussion in a few cases to ensure that we are recognizing students who deserve to be recognized.
    
    Here is the voting form.
    

• End of Year Meetings - I will be following up with a few more people this week. Thank you for your patience as I've worked to juggle them into what is proving to be a very busy end of year.

• MAP Testing - Thanks to teachers being prepared this went seamlessly until the very last test on Thursday afternoon when the MAP testing servers were down. Thus, the grade 8 students were not able to complete their last test. If anyone wants to volunteer to give up a class with them, I'd appreciate it but I may need to ask one or two of you. There are a couple of students who still need to finish their tests, I'll be sending emails to them.

• Study from home - It looks like most people will be back next week. You can see the current list here.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Report cards - Remember, everything is due on June 25 and you can find all of the documents regarding reporting expectations and deadlines in the Academic Affairs shared folder which is always linked at the top of this page. Here are a few reminders and other things to consider as we start getting closer to the deadlines.

  • For students who are new and it isn't possible to assess all four criteria, you can leave them as N/A on the spring trimester report and include an explanation of why it is N/A in your comment. They should get a mark for criteria that have at least one assessment. While N/A is okay on the spring trimester report, they do need a 1 to 7 grade for the final overview summary of achievement, as that is how they will get credit for their coursework during the time they were here. Since you don't have all the criteria you'll have to do a best fit based on the grade descriptors and the work you have seen. Here is a link to the grade descriptors.

  • Remember, as Stephen referenced in his recent email, we cannot have incomplete coursework carried over the summer with the intention of printing a revised report in the Fall when the work is received. The way ManageBac works these days, it’s almost impossible to go back and make a report from a previous academic year. If you have students like this, please discuss them with me.

  • A reminder that the Spring trimester reports will include attendance summaries, so make sure the attendance on ManageBac is up to date and complete.

  • It has been a strange year so if you are likely to have some anomalies in meeting reporting expectations, please discuss them with me now.

• Students not meeting expectations - I believe I am aware of all the students who are in danger of falling short of expectations and there are several parents I've been communicating with. If you are concerned about someone missing work or not meeting expectations and you haven't spoken to me, please do so now.

• June 30 - I've had a few questions about the last day of school. It will be a half day with students dismissed at 11:30. We will follow the same procedure as previous years except that the assembly will obviously have to be conducted differently. The general schedule will be to meet in homerooms, have an assembly and then complete tasks in homeroom like cleaning lockers, turning in keys, packing up classrooms, etc. In the assembly, we will give out awards and MYP certificates, say goodbye to students and teachers who are leaving and generally try to wrap up the year. Normally, homerooms finish with a class party or another activity. We may still be able to do this but we will probably need to put some guidelines together.

• MSHS Faculty Meeting - We are scheduled to have our last MSHS meeting this Wednesday. The main thing is logistics for wrapping up the school year. This includes things like awards, grading, etc. The following week, we don't have any meetings scheduled so you can use the time to work on reports.

• Awards - Please take a few moments to nominate students for the end of year awards on this form. Please do it by Tuesday evening so we can discuss it in the faculty meeting Wednesday.

• End of Year Meetings - Thank you for your work preparing for these and for the conversations. There are still a few more to go. Be sure to sign up if you haven't had the chance. More details on what to prepare can be found in previous updates and the professional growth protocol. The description of the reflection is on page 8 of the document while the teacher expectations self-assessment is on page 10. If you haven't signed up, you can click here for the form to let me know your best times to meet.

• MAP Testing - Thank you for your work on this. There are only three more tests to go. Here is the schedule. Remember, if you are normally teaching the students during the scheduled period, you will need to proctor. I made a sheet of things to consider and plan for. It has information on testing people from home, accounts to use for testing and other information. Please read it and the proctor quick start guide before your session. I also have two extra laptops in my office. It is better not to use your own since in most cases you will be handing off to another proctor for the second half of the test.

• Study from home - Grade 11 is the last class with a large number of students off campus. they were all here this week for mocks but I believe several of those will be studying from home next week. You can see the current list here.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• End of Year Meetings - These have been going well. Be sure to sign up if you haven't had the chance. More details on what to prepare can be found in previous updates and the professional growth protocol. The description of the reflection is on page 8 of the document while the teacher expectations self-assessment is on page 10. If you haven't signed up, you can click here for the form to let me know your best times to meet.

• Wednesday's Meeting & Reports - Thank you for attending the meeting. We discussed the expectations for comments on the upcoming reports and Stephanie shared the current discussion of how we are planning to incorporate ATL skills into the reports. You can see the documents she shared here. As far as the comment on the upcoming spring report, we only need a basic comment that includes a generic class summary that includes reference to an ATL followed by a sentence about the particular student related to that ATL. You can see some samples here.

• MAP Testing - MAP testing is in full swing, here is the schedule. Remember, if you are normally teaching the students during the scheduled period, you will need to proctor. I made a sheet of things to consider and plan for. It has information on testing people from home, accounts to use for testing and other information. Please read it and the proctor quick start guide before your session. I also have two extra laptops in my office. It is better not to use your own since in most cases you will be handing off to another proctor for the second half of the test.

• Study from home - I heard from several more families this week and we will have more students back on campus. You can see the current list here.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• End of Year Meetings - Thank you to those who have already signed up. I've started making appointments. Full details on what to prepare can be found in the professional growth protocol. The description of the reflection is on page 8 of the document while the teacher expectations self-assessment is on page 10.
  The main purpose of the writing and this meeting is to encourage self reflection on your practice and how that led to student learning. Often the focus in these kinds of situations is on what teachers do. We all know that we have a highly skilled faculty who plan great lessons, write good units, and care about students. However, we also understand that there is sometimes a gap between what is taught and what is learned. The focus here is to look at how you are bridging that gap and reflect on how what you are doing is leading to learning. Are you reaching the students who don't get it? Are there some student accomplishments this year that you are particularly proud of? Are there areas where coordinators, colleagues or I can support you over the next year? Good teachers often have the best handle on what is working for their students and what needs to be improved, sharing this and how we can help you move forward is the focus of the meeting.
  If you haven't signed up, you can click here for the form to let me know your best times to meet.

• Reports - I've had the reports deadline on the calendar on the right side of this page for a few weeks now. In a previous update, I also referred you to the Reporting File in the Kyomu shared drive where you can find the handbooks and other guides for report writing. Please review that and see me with any questions but as a reminder, there is a third trimester report that includes a comment and an end of year Final Overview report that includes a student reflection.

• Graduation - Graduation is next Friday in the gym. The doors will be open at 6:30 and the ceremony will start at 7:00. We are trying to limit numbers and it will be streamed live online. If you want to come and see it live, please let me know. The student leaders of the grade 11 organizing committee, Do Hee, Janet and Asuka have put in a lot of time and effort already under the guidance of Espie and David. Allana and Stephen have been organizing things for the grade 12. Thank you to everyone. Note that grade 11 will be decorating the gym Friday after lunch.

• Study from home - We are likely to have more students in school next week. A number of families have written to me to say that their child will be coming back. You can see the current list here. Note that a new form and list were started after the original end date of May 24 passed. The list linked here is the most accurate one.

• MAP Testing - I believe I sent an individual message to all of the teachers involved, apologies if I missed you. MAP testing will start next week and here is the schedule. Remember, if you are normally teaching the students during the scheduled period, you will need to proctor. Here is the proctor quick start guide. There are also videos and other information on the MAP website, NWEA.org. Please review the information, check your password, and ask any questions prior to your scheduled time.

• Department Budgets - In the meeting on Wednesday, the issue of department budgets was brought up. Just as a reminder, the budget folders are linked at the top of this page. Each department has its own spreadsheet that includes the current balance and purchases made in this fiscal year. The spreadsheets are updated once a month so the most recent purchases won't necessarily be there yet. Previous years are also in the folder. Steve sent an email earlier in the week with other information on the budgets.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• End of Year Meetings - Thank you to those who have already signed up. I will start booking appointments soon. More details on what to prepare can be found below in last week's update or in the professional growth protocol. Click here for the form to let me know your best times to meet.

• Summer Orders - It is time to make any overseas summer orders. If you want something from overseas to arrive by the end of August, the order will need to be complete by May 25. Please download a copy of this form and send it to me with your order as I have to approve them. Please note that shipping is quite expensive at all time and especially so during the pandemic. It has the potential to eat up your department budget quite quickly. Finding a similar product locally can save quite a bit.

• Graduation - We have now confirmed that graduation will take place on the scheduled evening, Friday, June 4 in the gym. Thank you to PE for adjusting their use of the gym that day to accommodate getting the venue ready.

• Study from home - With the email sent yesterday by the heads, a new sign-up sheet for home study was shared. You can see the current list here but it will probably have some additions over the weekend. As of this writing there were 43 responses, 13 of whom were OIS. Look at the sheet labeled "summary". All families who were doing it should reapply on the new form. I have heard from one family (the Foos) that said they will be back from Monday. We are discussing some rules to make sure we have more forewarning of any changes. Look for more information on that soon. Thank you again for all of your support with this. I know it is a challenge.

• Triangle Project - Two years ago a SOIS senior made a mural exchange CAS project with the whole of PYP K-5 here in Japan and with another school in the USA. At OIS we included it in our ES Art show. So we took both schools cool color triangles and we made a huge mural of color and symbols. The other school was to do the same- the following year with the warm color triangles from both schools. But then Covid happened and the art show got postponed and postponed. Asa Hasagawa-Johnson just wrote recently to say the sister school we collaborated with in the USA is now putting up the mural. And the local news is there to make a little story for their art show. Here is the video finally completed after 2 years disruption became cause of Covid and other issues last year. - Jennifer

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• End of Year Meetings - It feels strange writing this, but the end of the year is upon us. Please let me know your best times for your end of year meeting and I will start setting appointments. For this meeting, you need to complete a self evaluation of how you've met the teacher expectations and write a short reflection on student learning in your class. More details more details can be found in the professional growth protocol. Click here for the form to let me know your best times to meet.

• End of year reports - Just a reminder that deadlines are coming! Remember that all of the handbooks on reporting, sample reports, deadlines, etc. can be found in the Reporting File in the Kyomu shared drive that Stephen set up.

• Summer Orders - It is time to make any overseas summer orders. If you want something from overseas to arrive by the end of August, the order will need to be complete by May 25. Please download a copy of this form and send it to me with your order as I have to approve them. Please note that shipping is quite expensive at all time and especially so during the pandemic. It has the potential to eat up your department budget quite quickly. Finding a similar product locally can save quite a bit.

• DP Exams - These will finish next week. Here is the proctor schedule for your reference.

• Graduation - We are working on putting together an in-person ceremony on the originally planned day, June 4. The logistics of doing this safely in a difficult stage of the pandemic is complicated but I should be able to share a plan very soon.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday is a full faculty meeting to look at the feedback from WASC. Here is their report.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• WASC Visit - Thank you for your work preparing for the visit. We have now received the official report which will go to the WASC Board of Trustees for approval this summer. Myles sent it out last week but with everything else going on, you may have missed it. Here it is again.

• DP Exams - Thank you again for your work on this. Here is the proctor schedule for your reference.

• Personal Project - Brodie shared a list of project topics so you can sign up to supervise based on interest. If you aren't already supervising a couple of Extended Essays for next year, please have a look and sign up. Between EE and PP, full time teachers should be supervising one or two students depending on the number needed.

• Free PD - There is an Inquiry Educators Conference being hosted by Toddle with free registration on May 15 and 16. It is being hosted online and includes some well-known speakers, writers and educators.

• School Festival - There have been lots of emails and announcements about this. The plan right now is to spread it out over several Mondays giving different classes the opportunity to share their booth on different days. Student council is asking for feedback from homerooms on whether they will be able to participate. Here is a copy of the proposal and here is the form for your class to give feedback.

• Meeting Calendar - The meeting calendar has changed a bit over the last few weeks but this Wednesday there will be a presentation on the new Personal Project guide so we can start advising the next batch of students. Following that, we will spend some time getting ready for the BQC.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• WASC Visit - I will let Myles share the bulk of their thoughts but overall, it was a positive visit and the feedback from the team in the Exit Report meeting was helpful. Their full report will be available next week. Thank you to everyone for your support in reviewing the report, attending meetings and helping to organize things.

• ManageBac - Part of the exit meeting was going over the timeline to the next visit. When you start reviewing the dates, it really brings home the fact that there isn't a whole lot of time between now and then. I mentioned ManageBac last week and having units up to date will make the evaluation process much easier for the coordinators and everyone else. Obviously, everyone will be in a different place but a priority would be working on stage 1 of the planners. Feel free to come discuss this with me.

• DP Exams - These begin Thursday. Here is the proctor schedule. Please be sure you put your times into your calendar so you don't forget your turn. Sometimes the person you are replacing has a class to go to. Thank you in advance for all of your work on this and thank you to Stephen for his organization and for all of the time he will be spending in the third floor conference room.

• School Festival - Fran sent an email today on behalf of admin and the student council advisors with a proposal on how to adjust the festival given the current situation. Essentially, rather than a one day event it would be broken up into several Mondays. See the email for a full description and please let me know if you have any thoughts or feedback.

• Counseling - Lil Wills is the other person who will be supporting us while Maricar is away. I forwarded an introduction from her earlier in the day. She will be available for appointments and if she isn't booked, drop ins. Her email has more details on her schedule but she will mostly be here Monday morning.

• AIELOC - I received this digital flyer about the Association of International Educators of Color that which I'm passing on in case anyone is interested.

• Meeting Calendar - As noted on the meeting calendar this Wednesday we will be going over the feedback from the WASC mid-term visit with the full faculty.

• Free PD on blended learning - I don't know much more about it than can be found on this website but the price is right and it could be a good opportunity.

• Personal Project - From Brodie:
  Dear lovely staff. Normally this time of year teachers come and do some speed dating with students to help them on their personal project selection. This year, for obvious reasons, that won't work. I have decided to use flipgrid as a way of facilitating some asynchronous feedback. I'd love it if you'd take some time to view the videos and record some brainstorming help to the students.
  If you are unsure of the new PP requirements, they are very open ended. Students need to learn about something and present their learning in some form. It's that easy. SIS and PYP are very encouraged to throw your ideas in. Don't worry about giving bad advice!
  https://flipgrid.com/4ef134aa
  You will need to click the button for "enter with passcode" and then use the password PPfeedback
  Please let me know if this doesn't work. It's my first time using this tech.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• ManageBac - As we shift towards preparing for our MYP and DP self-studies, it is very important that we have units up to date in ManageBac. Soon, we will need to create unit overviews, identify cross curricular links, map ATL skills, Global Contexts, etc. All of this is much easier for the coordinators to coordinate if units are current in ManageBac. If you have fallen behind please put an emphasis on fulfilling this expectation.

• WASC - Next week is the virtual WASC visit. Myles has shared information and schedules. Thank you to those teachers who volunteered to meet the visitors.

• EARCOS Global Citizen Award and Osaka Governor's Award - This is your final chance for nominations and the committee will need to meet next week. Please the note from two weeks ago for more information. The nomination form can be found here.

• Attendance - A quick look at ManageBac shows that a few students who we know were absent were marked as present in some of their classes. It is important that we keep this accurate as it is part of their school record. If you do have some mistakes, now would be a good time to fix them.

• Counseling - Melissa Lamug has been meeting several of our students online this past week. Monday, we will be meeting with another counselor who will be coming to campus one day a week and be available to meet with students. More details will come soon.

• Student request for absence under COVID - This option was given to students in the latest email that was sent by the heads. So far, one OIS 11th grader has made the request. More could come in. I have notified the teachers involved. For now the instructions are the same as I wrote in the email Myles shared with teachers yesterday. In my weekly meeting with the coordinators, we will be discussing this and other related issues and will follow up with more information.

• Personal Project - Thank you for all of your work on the Personal Projects. This year, there was a lot of agreement on the assessments from the teachers which means that Brodie, Stephanie and I won't need to spend as much time moderating.

• Tanishka's book - Many of you know the SIS grade 11 student, Tanishka Murthy. She will be joining us next year as part of the next SIS DP cohort. She recently published her first book which is available on here.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday was going to focus on MYP but it will be a full MSHS faculty meeting.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Earthquake Drill - Mamoru sent out an email over the break reminding people of this. This is an earthquake drill only, not an evacuation. It will take place on Tuesday at 9:20. He will share more details will be shared shortly.

• EARCOS Global Citizen Award and Osaka Governor's Award - Please see last week's note. As of now, only one candidate has been suggested. The nomination form can be found here.

• Living on the Edge Conference - Yoshi Grote, who has been a guest speaker at Rainbow Week twice is hosting this conference. It started in October 2019 and included a presentation from Tara and Fred was on a youth panel about "differences." Like so much else, last October's conferences was canceled but she is reviving it with Zoom version April 24 and 25. Fred and Karni will be presenting this time as will numerous educators and others in Japan. You can find information on the poster at the right or at this website.

• Attendance - Thank you for your patience as we've worked through the transition to electronic attendance. In the long run, this will streamline the work in the office while allowing us to keep better track of the students during the day. One thing to keep in mind is that the two systems have different purposes. The office is legally required to keep track of daily attendance thus the new app is designed to collect that information. In the OIS middle and high schools we need to know whether or not our students are attending all of their classes so ManageBac is meant to track their class attendance.
  Because they need homeroom teachers to do the official attendance, Student Info agreed to transfer the data from the app to ManageBac for homerooms. Please be sure you are accurate with homeroom attendance and switch students who come to homeroom between 8:30 and 8:40 from "Absent" to "Late". However, please do not make any changes to the app after homeroom ends even if it looks like what you put in has changed. Yumemi is working in the system after that and she might change someone's attendance status for her system but ManageBac homeroom attendance will still be accurate.
  A morning attendance email is no longer being sent. You can check who is on campus by using the "Absent, etc. today" tab in the app. It will be updated throughout the day. An official attendance summary email will be sent after school.
  We've tinkered a bit with the attendance codes in ManageBac this week but they should be settled now. The codes are now

  • • • • • • Absent (A) - use for any student not present who doesn't qualify for OA.

            • Late (L) - For students who arrive to your class late, note the time in the comments.

            • Official Absence (OA) - Use this for students who are required to be absent because of COVID protocols. In the future this will also be used for AISA and similar events.

            • Late (Traffic) (LT) - The Student Info staff will be the only ones using this.

            • Excused (E) - Use for SL students when you are having an HL only class or similar circumstances.

            • Fieldtrip (F) - Unfortunately, this won't get much use but in future it might.

I realize this is a lot of info but it is important that we get the APP and ManageBac attendance right. Please see me or Stephen with any questions.

• Interdisciplinary Units - As we start gearing up for BQC, we would like to know who has worked with another teacher to build connections between subjects even if they aren't full blown IDUs. There is a new guide out and as we plan how to move forward it would be good to capture where there are existing connections. Please send a note to me and Stephanie.

• Department Budgets - The new fiscal year has started and the business office has been working on the department budgets. With the pandemic still going strong, they will follow the same pattern as last year and keep a bigger contingency reserve. The folder for department budgets is here and linked at the top of this page. The current year's budgets aren't in yet but they will be soon.

• Guest Speaker - Stuart Sampson, the father of 2020 graduate, Riki will be speaking to grades 11 and 12 next week. He will be drawing on his experience as a DEA agent to talk about drug abuse and the societal impact on the illicit drug industry. Thank you to Tara and Stephen for giving up their classes for this and to Margot for organizing. You can find a lot more detail in an email Margot sent.

• Personal Project - Thank you to Brodie for organizing the meeting on Wednesday. Please check his follow up email so that you know the next steps. Graded reports are due next Wednesday.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday there is a full faculty meeting.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Earthquake Drill - Mamoru sent out an email over the break reminding people of this. This is an earthquake drill only, not an evacuation. It will take place on April 13 at 9:20. Please see his email for more details.

• EARCOS Global Citizen Award and Osaka Governor's Award - It is that time of year where we need to make nominations for external awards. This year, it looks like there will only be two. Last year the Council of International Schools had their award under review, this year there is no mention of it on their website so I think they may have discontinued it.
  The EARCOS award is due May 1 and there is a process that needs to be gone through. I need to collect nominations from teachers and then convene the awards committee to choose the winner. It goes to a grade 11 student and the committee includes last year's winner. The rest of the committee is me, the CAS coordinator, the DP coordinator, the counselor (this year probably Margot) and a teacher rep which most recently has been David A.
  The Osaka Governor's Award typically goes to a senior and doesn't have a process so clearly spelled out but I will accept nominations for that, too.
  The criteria for both awards and the nomination form can be found here. Please get your nominations in next week.
  We will do internal awards closer to the end of the school year.

• Attendance - For morning attendance only, Student Info has created an app that will streamline the process for them and also ensure that we have accurate attendance in ManageBac. Please read the email sent from SOIS Student Information in the evening on March 31. It has the links for both your computer and phone. If you open it on your computer, on the right side of the URL address bar their is an icon that says, "install this app" when you hover over it. Click it and it will install a shortcut on your computer desktop. I did it from Chrome on my PC, I haven't tried it from other browsers or a Mac but I'll try it at home.
  Remember, teachers still need to use ManageBac to take attendance in their regular classes and it is important that it is accurate as it becomes part of the students' records. While I don't have direct evidence of cause and effect it does seem that attendance has improved this year and students knowing we are using ManageBac is likely helping.

• Website - Thanks to a lot of time and effort from Steve and Stephen, our website is now being hosted by Finalsite. The URL is the same, www.senri.ed.jp. Please have a look and if you notice any broken links or information that didn't get transferred properly, please let Stephen know.

• Sabers Safe - It is clear that the numbers are moving in the wrong direction, particularly in Osaka. Please reinforce the protocols with students and do your best to keep yourself safe. A spring patrol schedule was made to take into account the shift in teachers' classes. Please review it and let me know if there are any conflicts. Thank you again for all of your effort to help keep campus safe.

• Senri Server - Smart Technologies is still working on recovering information that was stored on the old email server. Takeshi sent an email recently with instructions on how to reactivate your Senri account and have the messages forwarded to SOISMail. Please take some time to get that up and running as there may be parents or others who are writing to you with your Senri account.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday there is an important meeting for Personal Project advisors. We will be moderating the students' project reports. Look for more information from Brodie soon. On Thursday, DP teachers will be meeting.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Reports - You should have everything uploaded and ready to go Monday morning. If you are struggling with that, please talk to me and Stephen but we are hoping to start proofing and preparing to publish then. Thank you for all of your efforts.

• International Women's Day - Mel, Allana, and many others have been working to plan some events to raise awareness on this day. Please wear purple on Monday to show your support. Other events include a guest speaker in homeroom for grades 6 to 8, a movie screening after school of Why is Japan’s Gender Gap So Wide, leadership workshop, library displays, etc. More information can be found in this poster. Thank you to everyone involved for your time and effort in making this happen.

• JUMP! - Thank you for getting your students' names and groups into the sheets. Early next week, I will send out the links and other information to everyone. It is important to confirm that students have a computer with Zoom installed (not the web based version). I've sent a note home but it would be worth asking in your homerooms in case we need to arrange for a Chromebook to be sent home. Because everything is online, teachers supervising on Zoom can work from home. Be sure you send me your team's supervision schedule. Every student in grades 6 to 9 are signed up. I'm working out service activities for the grade 10 students who didn't sign up. If you have something you need done, please let me know. Keep your eye on email because more information will come out soon.

• Friday camps - The sign ups were done during Flex today and to my surprise, the most popular choice was the hike with 35 students. That is in addition to all of the grade 10 who were already planning on hiking. If students want to hike, I would like to accommodate them. To do so, we will need a few more teachers. You can see who signed up for which camp here.

• In-service - On Friday, April 2, we are scheduled to have an in-service day. Working with the PD committee, Michelle has put a lot of time an effort into organizing the day. Here are some instructions from the committee:
  Please complete the Sign Up form by Wednesday 10th March at 4.45pm. If you do not fill in the form, you will be assigned one by the PD Committee to balance numbers. A big thanks to all the teachers who are facilitating sessions. Your contributions to our school community are greatly appreciated. Sessions will run depending on the number of people that sign up. Also, depending on numbers, the content in the session might be modified based on the desires of the participants for 'bespoke learning’.” A timetable overview for the day is that two elective whole school sessions during the morning (Sessions A and B). In the afternoon PYP/MYP/ DP specific sessions will occur, then the day wraps up individual application time.

• Online attendance and Pink Slips - As mentioned previously, we are moving towards using ManageBac for our official attendance next trimester. It is very important that we keep it accurate in all classes. (As a reminder, please check your attendance from this trimester to ensure it is accurate for the upcoming reports.) The pink tardy slips will also be going digital. I realize that teachers aren't really sure what to do with it when they are handed a pink slip and they often end up on the floor or mixed up with other pieces of paper. However, it is actually one half of a two part carbonless copy. The other half is the more important one because it goes to Student Info and lets them know they do not need to call home to ask why the student isn't in school. Starting in the spring, when a student arrives late, they will fill in an online form that will let Student Info know that they have arrived. There may be some growing pains as we move everything online but in the long run it should make things more efficient.

• SIS DP applicants - There are about 5 students from SIS who are currently in the process of applying to study for the IB Diploma. Allana, Michelle, Jeremy, Yuka, David Algie, and Kevin have all been reviewing exams. Thank you! The students may be approaching DP teachers to ask questions about courses or the program in general so thank you for your support.

• Tech use - A few of the PTA leaders have asked some questions about the use of tech on campus particularly during free time. This is a big discussion that has come up before. Last time, I started monitoring how students were using tech in their free time in somewhat of a systematic way. While there were a few who were overusing it at that time, and most students will play games or watch a video at some point, the majority of our students were also doing many other things with their time, too. My less systematic observation now would be that the amount of gaming and video watching has increased in the pandemic because many of those other activities, including just talking while eating, are not allowed. The question of whether students should play games is an emotional one. There are people who will cringe or be annoyed if they see a student playing a game in the library. Others may not love the idea but recognize that is how teenagers are going to take a break and decompress. Still others would encourage it in a constructive way as an activity that can help develop skills, and health and mental abilities, to the point that many universities and schools, such as Western Academy Beijing are starting esports teams. Many US universities are offering scholarships to their esports team members just as they do to athletes like basketball players. Of course, even the strongest proponents of gaming would recognize that everything needs to be done in balance and gaming can be taken too far. This is a topic that the PTA is interested in and something we will likely be discussing further in the coming months. It would be good to know where we stand as a faculty on this issue, to what extent we perceive it as a problem, and develop a clearer understanding of how much of our students' free time is spent on screen.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Attendance in ManageBac - Thank you for reviewing your attendance in ManageBac this trimester to ensure it is accurate. With moving towards making this our official attendance, it is important that we get it right and bring out any questions or concerns now.

• Reports - You should have your comments to your proofreader today. Remember, when inputting your comments, you should use the official name published in ManageBac not a student's nickname, even if that is in ManageBac. Nicknames are in brackets, official names aren't. If you weren't able to meet today's deadline, please be sure you communicate with your proofreader and let them know when your comments are coming. The deadline for having everything on ManageBac is the morning of March 8. Stephen and I will begin reviewing then so that we can "print" reports to ManageBac by the end of that week. Please communicate with us in advance if you are struggling with meeting the deadlines and while we hope to have things done by the start of spring break, please keep an eye on your email during the early part of the vacation in case there are any problems.

• JUMP! - The planning for this is really developing well. We are only missing two students from grades 6 to 9 and I think they will join. Grade 10 is a different story. The impetus for this was to find something meaningful that wouldn't be canceled at the last minute because of the pandemic. As we've gotten into the planning with JUMP! though, there are some really positive things that will come out of it in terms of developing student leadership and agency, planning for service, and team building within the grade. This has a lot of potential to move things forward with our service program and student leadership.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday there is a meeting for Personal Project advisors.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Attendance in ManageBac - We are planning on moving towards full digital attendance next trimester which means not using the paper attendance books anymore. I think this is a positive development as it will create less work downstairs and make our official attendance more visible and easier to track.
  However, in looking through the attendance module, we have noticed another concern. There are several classes and homerooms that have inaccurate attendance records or records that don't match what is in the book. This is an issue because it means inaccurate information could be published in the report cards, and could in addition lead to students and parents challenging you about their attendance. We would then need to investigate, change the data where necessary, and remake the reports. Please take some time between now and the end of the month to review your attendance in ManageBac and correct any mistakes. Moving forward it is very important that we get the attendance done properly in ManageBac because it is part of the students' official school records. It needs to be a regular habit in all classes.

• Art Auction - The art auction is still going on. You can support this fundraising event, obtain a nice piece of art, and make a young artist proud by clicking here.

• Friday Flex - Thank you for your support of the Friday Flex presentation today. Aoto and Kei took a big risk and probably underestimated how challenging it is to present to an invisible audience. We had a bit of a debrief and they are planning on following up with some targeted information for the different grades to give their topic, "Effective Altruism" more context.

• Grade 9 & 10 meeting - Thank you for your participation in the meeting on Wednesday. There was a good discussion and a range of opinions. In the middle school meeting that happened prior to this one we we were more readily able to come to some shared agreements. I think this needs to be a continued conversation because while grades are important, a sole focus on them can be detrimental to learning. A quote from the article I've linked below kind of sums this up. “When the goal is to be smart, the formula is reduced to maximizing grades while minimizing effort,” whereas “when the goal is to learn, the formula is about maximizing learning while optimizing effort.”
  Obviously, our student body isn't a monolith, our students approach their learning in a range of ways. However, the surveys and the follow up discussions we had with the students indicate that we have at least some students whose focus on grades may be detrimental to their actual learning which doesn't bode well for actual success in the DP and university. I've had a couple of separate conversations reported to me this week that back this up.
  Here are the slides from last Wednesday's grade 9 & 10 meeting and the slides from the previous MS Meeting.

• Instagram Account - Last week I wrote about the bulletin board the Janet, Dohee, Asuka, and Erin in OIS 11 set up. For part of the project, Dohee is maintaining the existing SOIS Instagram page, SOIS Stories. Have a look and share your events on their spreadsheet.

• International Women's Day - There are still some good conversations happening around planning for this on March 8. It is looking like there will be an online author visit for middle school classes and other plans are taking shape. If you have thoughts or ideas, please share them.

• JUMP! - In grades 6 through 9, just about everybody has signed up. For whatever reason, grade 10 currently only has seven students. While I've signed the official agreement to move ahead at the current numbers, I can add up to 20 more people if some change their minds soon. I still think it will be a positive experience for the students. Anything you can do to keep the focus on the positive aspects of this opportunity would be appreciated.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday there isn't a scheduled meeting but the following week there will be a meeting for Personal Project advisors.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• PD Funds - As the fiscal year draws to a close, there are still some PD funds available. This is a rare occurrence that has resulted from the pandemic as we usually have the opposite problem. In her notes below, Stephanie has linked some MYP opportunities but funds can be available for DP or non-IB PD as well. The PD committee will look at requests and make decisions on any new applications based on school goals and the needs of the programs. They will meet on March 1 so if you have something in mind, fill out the application before then. Please note, that the PD Application form is always linked at the top of this page of the update website. Also, any PD you apply for has to be completed before the end of the fiscal year on March 31.

• Bulletin Board - You may have noticed that the bulletin board by the south stairwell near the field has been redone with information about school events. This is the work of Janet, Dohee, Asuka, and Erin in grade 11. If you have events planned, you can register them on this form. There is also the opportunity to get pictures taken of the event. Here is what they wrote about it:

  • We have created this excel sheet for students and faculty to fill out if they would like to have their event posted on our notice board. It will also be used to notify our team if they would like members of the team to be at the event to take good quality pictures. These pictures will be used for the noticeboard but also for the yearbook and the school Instagram page

• International Women's Day - We had a brief discussion about this in the faculty meeting and some emails with good ideas have been shared amongst the faculty. In addition to long homeroom on March 8, there are other opportunities to raise awareness which the recent controversy in the Japanese Olympic committee indicate is still needed. Please consider ways that you can get your classes involved.

• Camps - I presented JUMP! to most of the classes today. Using "thumbs up, thumbs down" feedback a good percentage of the students seemed interested. I do think it is a good opportunity and the best way forward so whatever you can do to talk up the positive aspects of this would be appreciated. I am now working on some activities for Friday, March 12. Details still need to be developed but Curtis still wants to organize an art activity, Chee is still willing to do his outdoor ed plan, the possibility of hiking and other things are still there. If you could talk with your homeroom team about what you could support, I would appreciate it.

• Friday Flex - Last week I mentioned that Aoto and Kai would like to present to the MYP students during Flex Time. It turned out they weren't ready this week but hope to be ready for next. Look for more information soon.

• Mid-Year Meeting - These have been going well. There are still a few more to do but thank you to those who've signed up. There is still time if you haven't had a chance yet.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have a grade 9&10 team meeting.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Parent Meeting - We had a little more than 20 parents at the meeting on Tuesday which is more than I've ever had for a parent meeting that wasn't specifically about something like applying to college or starting the DP. The slides and more info are in Stephanie's notes below. Our goal was to raise the understanding about how grades work in the MYP and get their support in dialing back the pressure many of the students are feeling. This comes on the heels of the recent MS teacher meeting, the MYP student survey and the flex time meetings we've been having with student reps. It is clear that while we are raising awareness of the issue and we have some middle school agreements (see below) more work needs to be done.

• Cleaning - With COVID, the school has really ramped up the cleaning however we do have to set priorities. Because the students sanitizing the desks are part of the Sabers Safe protocols, wiping them has been deemphasized with the cleaning staff. You might see them doing it quickly if they have some time but they are concentrating on handrails, door knobs, and other shared areas. It is important for all of us to take responsibility for our own areas and safety. Please remind the students to continue to clean their tables and follow all of the Sabers Safe protocols.

• Camps - Thank you to those who've volunteered to organize something. As things have progressed and after some conversations with the coordinators and others, I've had more serious discussions with JUMP! about leaving the camps to them. While several teachers have come forward, leaving most of it to JUMP! will take the pressure off. JUMP! made a proposal for a two day online camp for grades 6 to 10. Quite a few schools have been using their online camps and they have good reviews. This will make the camps COVID proof because they can continue even if we are forced to shut down. The plan would be for students to meet online on Wednesday and Thursday and then come to school on Friday for closure and to say goodbye to students who are leaving. The camps will be broken into grade levels and they will have a 1 to 7 ratio between JUMP! facilitators and students. Each grade level will need an OIS teacher in the Zoom room but it doesn't have to be the same person the whole time. This should be good PD as the feedback is that JUMP! makes quite creative use of Zoom to get students up and moving.

• Friday Flex - Grade 11 students Aoto and Kai would like to give a short presentation to the MYP students during Flex Time on Friday. It is part of a CAS project they are working on to help develop more service in the school and I would like to support them. More details will come soon but please keep it on your radar. This year's grade 11 has really gotten off to a good start with CAS and we want to maintain that momentum.

• Mid-Year Meeting - Thank you to those who have already signed up. I've fallen a bit behind on scheduling appointments as I've had a number of other meetings come up this past week. If you haven't received your appointment yet, look for it soon. More information on the process can be found in the "professional growth protocol." If you haven't had a chance to do so yet, please let me know your available times by completing this form.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have a MS/HS faculty meeting. There isn't a lot planned at this point but I want to touch base on camps and some of the other discussions we've been having around student well-being.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Parent Meeting - Now that we've spent the last year training parents in how to use programs like like Zoom and Meet, we are going to host a virtual parent information session. In the past, when I've tried to run "Coffee Mornings" or other events, I've had very few parents show up. Holding it virtually will eliminate some of the previous issues like the timing and parking. Stephanie, Margot, Maricar and I will be discussing some of the same issues we've been focusing on in the recent faculty meetings and the survey follow up meetings with student reps in Friday Flex. This includes how grades in MYP work, student stress about grades and what parents can do to support their children.

• Camps - I've had some more online meetings with JUMP! and they are going to give me some proposals for online camps that might make them "closure proof." They are supposed to get back to me Monday so I hope to have more details to share then.

• Being prepared - In the DP meeting this past Wednesday, Myles talked about the fact that while we intend to stay open, we do have to be prepared for any eventuality whether it is full distance learning, some classes operating off campus or a teacher or two who is out. Having your units up to date and resources ready to go home will help with a quick transition. We had a good discussion about this in the DP meeting. One strategy that was discussed there was having a buddy on campus besides me and the coordinator who knows what is happening in your class and thus can help get a sub ready to take over. Stephanie and I will follow up with those of you who aren't DP.

• Mid-Year Meeting - Thank you to those who have already signed up. I've had a few good meetings this week and it has been helpful to get feedback on how things are going for everyone, which has been more of the focus this year. More information on the process can be found in the "professional growth protocol." If you haven't had a chance to do so yet, please let me know your available times by completing this form.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have a full faculty meeting where the focus will be on our mid-term accreditation report.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Personal Project Exhibition - Thank you to Brodie for organizing a virtual event this year. It went really well. I was able to watch, or at least listen to most of them while trying to get some other things done. If there were some you weren't able to see, you can find the recorded versions at this link. Brodie has also done a really good raising the quality level of the projects over the years.

• Rainbow Week - There have been several announcements about this. Monday, during LHR, there will be a panel discussion. All the information can be found in these slides from the committee. Note that panel members and other support students need to leave to set up during period 6 at 2:15, if possible. They are, g7 Kate, g9 Fred, Natsumi M., Michelle, and g11 Kokoro. All homerooms should participate and everyone else is also invited.

• Camps - Thank you to those teachers who have shared ideas for camps. Here is the list I have so far. I've had quite a few extra meetings this week that have slowed the planning but I am still open to other ideas.

• MS Meeting - In the meeting this past Wednesday, we had a good discussion about how to shift the conversation in middle school from grades to learning. The student survey data suggests that as the students move into high school they focus more and more on the numbers. While the two can go hand and hand, when the students are solely focused on the grade they are more likely to cut corners and be open to academic dishonesty. The goal of the meeting was to come up with some shared agreements about how to move the focus to learning in middle school. This will be an ongoing discussion. You can see the slides here and the notes from the meeting here.

• Mid-Year Meeting - Thank you to those who have already signed up. This year I'm particularly interested in how you are handling the uniqueness of this year. More information and a copy of the form can be found in the "professional growth protocol." Please let me know your available times by completing this form.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have a DP teacher meeting to prepare for mocks, IA uploads, etc.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Personal Project Exhibition - This is scheduled for Monday. The students will be presenting virtually and Brodie sent emails about it. This is a strong cohort and we want them to have the opportunity to share their work with others and get feedback. It will be much better for the grade 10 if the students have an audience so if you can support it even for a short time, that would be great. Please see the emails Brodie sent for more details.

• Friday Flex Survey - Next Friday, follow up with some of the students who came to our previous sessions. More details will follow after we meet with teachers (see below).

• Learning Updates - These weekly updates are still going out to families and I'm sure they would love to see what is happening in your class. If you haven't had a chance to share anything yet, please think about what you can contribute as the hope was for everyone to share at least once this year.

• IB Asia Pacific Virtual Conference Call for Proposals - a request from the IB regarding the conference which will be built around the theme of, Unlocking the next paradigm. "The IB seeks to offer a wide range of compelling breakout sessions that both motivate and educate. Sessions may include professional applications, scholarly analyses, skill-building programs and case studies. You are invited to share your best practice tips and innovative ideas with the IB community." If you are interested in making a proposal please see me or one of the coordinators.

• Rainbow Week - This starts on January 25. The committee has been preparing since the last Rainbow Week for this year. The highlight will be a panel discussion involving both OIS and SIS students during LHR on Monday, January 25. It will be conducted via Zoom with teachers projecting in their homerooms and a link to forward questions to the panel. Simultaneous translation will be provided by Wakana Myers. It has been on the LHR calendar for some time but please be sure to keep the date open for your class to participate.

• Mid-Year Meeting - This meeting is a mid-year check in to make sure things are going okay and to find out if there are areas in which you need support. This year I'm particularly interested in how you are handling the uniqueness of this year. More information and a copy of the form can be found in the "professional growth protocol." Please let me know your available times by completing this form.

• Camps - I've had individual conversations with teachers about organizing some day events during camp. I will continue those next week and hope to have a plan in place soon.

• PD - For the in-service day in April, the PD committee is looking at organizing teacher led workshops. We have a lot of in-house knowledge we can share with each other. As a first step, please complete this form to share your interests and to help with planning. Please complete the form 4:00pm Friday.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have a middle school (grades 6, 7, & 8) teacher team meeting. Stephanie and I have been following up with groups of students on the survey they completed and we want to follow up with teachers on how best to move forward.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Friday is Monday - With this Monday being a holiday, next Friday we will follow a Monday schedule. This is to ensure that there is some equity between the number of class meetings for each day of the week.

• MUN event - There is an MUN event this Friday for the grade 10 students and a few grade 11 who are organizing it. They will be out of classes for the day. Tara sent out an email previously and will follow up again during the week.

• MSSC Dodgeball Tournament - Like happened in high school, the middle school school student council is hosting a tournament in lieu of sport's day. This will happen over the next two LHRs, next Friday and the following Monday. The student council has been working hard to get it organized with the support of Mel and Fumi but it will be the first event created by this year's group so thank you in advance for your patience and support. They have an important meeting after school today will be sending out more details soon.

• Personal Project Exhibition - This is scheduled for Monday, January 18. Like last year, it will occur over the course of the day and won't just be in LHR. More details and sign-ups will be coming from Brodie.

• Friday Flex Survey - The last few Fridays, Stephanie and I have been meeting representatives from MYP classes to go over portions of the survey results. Next Friday isn't really a Friday so there won't be a meeting but we will be planning another session for the following week. Look for more details soon.

• Art Auction - Emily and Curtis are planning an art auction to raise money for Friends of the Earth Japan. They are collecting donations of art to auction off. You can see more details here.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have an MYP teacher meeting.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• First day back - Normally, we would have an in-service on either January 6 or the following Monday depending on whether we were hosting a weekend workshop. This year, for a variety of reasons, you do not need to report to school until classes start on January 7. The building will be closed and quarantined on January 4 and 5 leading up to the SIS admissions test on January 6. Nobody is allowed in the building on the 4th and 5th while teachers but no students are allowed in on the 6th. Yamaoka san sent an email in the late afternoon of December 11 announcing opening times and closures for the campus over the break. Please refer to that before coming into school.

• Art Auction - Emily and Curtis are planning an art auction to raise money for Friends of the Earth Japan. They are collecting donations of art to auction off. You can see more details here.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Friday Flex - Next Friday, Stephanie and I would like to have another session with class reps. Last week went really well and we would like to look at a different section of the survey. If homerooms could please choose two reps, we would appreciate it. It could be the same people but if others want to volunteer that would be great.

• Camps - I'm still open to comments or suggestions for this. If you have any thoughts or ideas, please let me know.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have a full faculty meeting.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Faculty Meeting - Thank you for your time in the faculty meeting Wednesday. There were some good discussions happening. Here are the slides. I received some specific feedback already on the discussion points but not from every group. If your group had some good insights or if you have anything to add, please share them in writing. They would be helpful in the follow up meetings we will have with parents and students. The other main discussion point besides camps (below) was accreditation. More details will be coming in the next few weeks but there will be opportunities to give your input to our areas of focus. You can review those here.

• Camps - Normally at this time I would be sending a letter home describing our spring camps. As discussed in the faculty meeting, I'm considering several different options from online activities with JUMP!, school based activities, day trips in the local area like a hike or possibly some local overnights. A lot can happen between now and March so planning flexibly is the key. A few people approached me after the meeting but if you have ideas for what you could support, please share them with me.

• Prefecture Visit - Every year, Osaka gives OIS a fairly significant education grant. Before they do, they want to come and look at our curriculum, particularly social studies, to ensure that we aren't engaging in the type of propaganda you might find in a school that supports North Korea. They will come to review our textbooks, curriculum documents and classrooms on Wednesday. They will also observe Mike and Brodie. If you teach a class that would fall into the realm of social studies in Japan, I will be asking for copies of some of the books you use.

• Evacuation Drill - Thank you for your efforts in the evacuation drill. If you have feedback or suggestions, please respond to the email Mamoru sent out so we can follow up in APM.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have committee meetings.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• PTCs - Thank you again for all of your work on the Parent Teacher Conferences. I've sent a survey to parents to get their feedback. So far, there haven't bee a lot of responses but the ones I've received have been quite positive with some people specifically commenting on the professionalism of the teachers. If you could take a moment to fill out a teacher survey here, I would appreciate it.

• Student survey follow up - Stephanie and I would like to involve some students in looking at how to use the survey data the MYP students took. Could grade 6 to 10 homerooms please choose 2 people each to meet with us next Friday during Flex time.

• Rainbow Week - This is coming up earlier this year beginning on Monday, January 25. There will be a panel discussion during LHR that day and they have requested questions in advance.

• Evacuation Drill - This is scheduled for Tuesday at 9:50 am. The basic format is the same as previous years although the map has changed slightly to accommodate more distance. The new field now has numbers marked on it and classes will line up in front of their corresponding number. Please see Mamoru's emails for more information. If this is your first drill or if you have questions, please make some time to see me Monday so that I can go over the procedures with you and answer any questions.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have MS/HS faculty meeting. Agenda items will include moving forward with the accreditation cycle, the student survey, etc. More details will follow.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• PTCs - The PTC website went live Friday evening and you should be seeing appointments on your calendar. A few people still haven't given me their appointment link, please see the screencast on how to do it and send your link to me. You can see the parents who've signed up for the morning session here. Please let me know if you have any questions about the format.

• Reports - Thank you for all of your work on this. Please keep Stephen and me in the loop if you are still wrapping things up. We will do our best to work with you but of all the reports, these have the hardest publishing deadline because we absolutely have to get them out by Wednesday afternoon so parents have an opportunity to review them before conferences. You can help us by deleting your comments that will still be in there from the fall progress report.

• COVID Rate - As I am sure you are aware, the COVID rate has been going up in Japan and Osaka as it has in much of the world. A reminder was sent to parents this week about the guidelines for when you can and can't attend school. When the local infection rate is on the rise, as it is now, people should stay home if a household member has a fever even if they are healthy. This may mean students who are healthy are required to stay home. Please do what you can to help them stay on track with their studies. When this comes up, we can discuss what is possible.

• Please monitor your own health carefully and stay home if you have any symptoms. If you do have to stay home, the sooner you let me know the better. If you wake up with symptoms, I'm usually up around 5:00 and the best way to reach me is with a phone text or iMessage, Hangouts or LINE, please do use not email in the morning.

• Friday Flex Survey - Thank you for your support during flex today for the survey. Stephanie and I will look at the results and share them out soon. We usually mix in some fun questions with more serious ones. One tidbit to share now, in response to the question of which person living or dead you would most like to spend a day with, the most popular answer was a grandparent. This survey was on learning and school climate. There is another survey in the works on student well-being.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have committee meetings.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• MAP - Thanks to Yumemi and the student info team, all students should now have a MAP score report in their ManageBac portfolio. You may use this for student reflections in homeroom or class or refer to it with parents. The IB coordinators and admin will be doing a data analysis of our MAP scores, soon. We will follow up with teachers afterwards.

• Reports - According to the Report Deadlines Cheat sheet located in the Academic Affairs shared drive, these next reports include criteria achievement levels and ATL skills for MYP and trimester grades for DP. Both groups get an advisor comment but because of Parent Teacher Conferences, we do not include class comments. The official deadline is next Friday but talk to me and Stephen if you will have difficulty with that. Keep in mind that we must upload reports to ManageBac on November 18 so they are available for the PTCs. In the MYP, you only need to include criteria levels where you have actual assessments. If you do not have an assessment for a particular criterion, NA (Not Assessed) is acceptable.

• Parent Teacher Conferences - I haven't talked to everyone but I've had conversations with many of you which has included a lot of different opinions. A few people really would like appointments, a few think that isn't a good idea at all and several say they will do whatever they're asked to do. Every year when I send a parent survey, the feedback on PTCs is positive and I don't get many, if any, complaints about the open appointment system. My experience with fixed appointments is that they can very quickly get off track and then parents complain about their appointments being late. Several people shared similar experiences and my first thought was if something seems to be working, why change it?

• However, Covid does add a new wrinkle. What I'm working towards now is following the open appointment system in the morning, having a clean break for lunch at 11:30 and then resuming with appointments from 12:30 to 4:45. This will give us an opportunity to test the appointment system but also allow flexibility in the morning for parents who couldn't get appointments or who just prefer to be more flexible. The appointments in the afternoon will also allow for virtual meetings if there are some people who do not want to come in. We will be using the appointment system in Google Calendar so a "Meet" will automatically be created with each appointment. The other thing I am trying to do is to move all of the meeting spots to the third floor where most of our classes take place. That way, we won't have parents wandering around the school. To do this I would use the computer labs and conference room and also put two teachers in a classroom with the waiting areas outside. You will need to create appointment slots on your calendar. Here are Google's instructions for doing so and if you are more of a visual learner who doesn't mind my voice, here is a 3+ minute video showing you how to do it. I will need a link to your appointments which I will post to a parent website. My video explains how to do that.

• Friday Flex - Thank you for your support during flex today for the survey. Stephanie and I will look at the results and share them out soon. We usually mix in some fun questions with more serious ones. One tidbit to share now, in response to the question of which person living or dead you would most like to spend a day with, the most popular answer was a grandparent. This survey was on learning and school climate. There is another survey in the works on student well-being.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday we are scheduled to have a DP teachers meeting.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• MAP - These are all finished! Thank you for all of your support. They went by with very little issue. You can see the data on the MAP website, NWEA.org. If you need help with that please let me know. The coordinators and admin will be doing an analysis of the results in November.

• Lunch time and Patrol - We're still making adjustments to get better use out of the cafeteria during lunch time. There are times when it is almost empty and other times where it is packed. About 60 to 70% of SIS high school students only have Flex Time for lunch depending on the day. If our students who have lunch 4th or 5th could avoid the cafeteria or eat in homerooms during Flex, it would relieve the pressure. SIS is also going to ask 10th graders not to eat upstairs and use the cafeteria and we will be keeping an eye on the numbers this week and adjusting patrol accordingly.

• Parent Teacher Conferences - We obviously all won't be able to pile into the library this year but I think we can do the conferences in person. Most teachers will be able to be in their classroom and since SIS has poster presentations, the labs will be available for science teachers. That leaves PE, a few Japanese teachers and perhaps a couple of others to use the library or another venue. Using classrooms should allow for appropriate social distancing. I'll work on safety protocols but if anyone has any comments or feedback, please share it.

• The other difference with PTCs this year is that they are not scheduled on a half day of school as in year's past, there are no classes on November 19. I'll work on the schedule but we will align more with the work day and publish teacher lunches and breaks in advance so parents know the times you are and aren't available. I would like to stagger the breaks so that some teachers are always available.

• EARCOS Winter Journal - A call for submissions has been made for the Winter edition which is due December 1. They are looking for submissions on service projects, green initiatives, MS student art, student writing, etc. See me for more information.

• Friday Flex - Stephanie and I are going to use this period next week to do a student survey. More details will be shared closer to next Friday but it might be good to plant the seed early.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday grade 9 & 10 teachers are scheduled to meet. Be prepared to talk about student concerns and your current and next units. Look for more details early next week.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• MAP - Thank you for all of your help on this. The last tests are next week. There were a few minor problems with some of the computers but for the most part this has gone well. Here is the schedule as a reminder. Remember, if the class you are normally teaching is testing, you will be proctoring. Instructions can be found here. Let me know if you have any questions. The tests will finish this week.

• Patrol - We're still making some minor changes to the schedule shared last week. Because of the way SIS has been eating lunch we will also evaluate how much supervision is actually needed over the next week which might lead to some further changes. Thank you again for all of your support on this.

• Shared Reading - Just a reminder of this, see last week's update for more details. This is a good opportunity to get to know some of your SIS colleagues. Let me know if you are interested.

• Office space - Myles cleaned up the PTA and received their permission to make it a potential workspace for a couple of teachers who have been displaced from their rooms for other classes. If you would like to use it, please let me know.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday grade 8 teachers are scheduled to meet. Be prepared to talk about student concerns and your current and next units. Look for more details early next week.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• MAP - The first few tests went well and even included a few surprises in the results. They will continue for the next two weeks so please keep an eye on the schedule. If the class you are normally teaching is testing, you will be proctoring. Instructions can be found here. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Patrol - Please find here a new patrol schedule. (Please look at sheet 3 called Ver 2 Lunch Only). We will stop patrols in periods 1,2,3,6 and 7 and only do it in period 4, flex and period 5 when students are eating lunch. Every teacher has two 30-minute duties in a week, so one hour of patrol each week (except for teachers who have lessons in periods 4 and 5 most days). Middle school homeroom teachers will continue with the same schedule we've been using. Please check the schedule and let me and Fran know if there are any mistakes or any problems for you. Thank you so much for all the work you are doing, we know it is difficult and often frustrating, but it is very important that we are all getting this message of keeping safe out to our students every single day.

• Meeting structure - We've been experimenting with a different format for meetings by holding more targeted meetings on Wednesday that don't necessarily involve everyone while cutting back on the full faculty meetings. In some ways this has worked well because it has allowed us to do some things like grade level team meetings, which, while required, were difficult to find the time for. On the other hand, not having the bigger meetings has meant that we've had to rely more on email and updates to discuss things related to the whole school. For example, improving the homeroom system might benefit from all of us getting together to discuss what is and isn't working in our homerooms. This is something we are still working through with the new structure. We had our first grade level meeting for 6 & 7 this past Wednesday and while there was some good sharing, I've already had a few discussions on how we can improve it. The overall meeting structure is something we will continue to improve upon and I appreciate you keeping your Wednesday afternoons free so you can attend when invited.

• Shared Reading - Stephanie and I were discussing student council and how there often isn't enough communication between the teachers in the two schools. When talking about how one of the founding vision statements of our campus was to combine the best of international education with the best from Japan it occured to me that I had copies of Miyuki Endo's recent translation of Lynn Erickson's Concept based curriculum and instruction for the thinking classroom and the original on my desk. With copies in each language, it could be a good opportunity to develop some two school conversations based on a shared reading of the texts. Hisashi thinks he can get a couple SIS teachers involved, if you would like to take part let me know and then we will work out the details.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday there will be committee meetings.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• MAP - There were a few minor changes to the schedule for the MAP tests that will be starting this week. In the second week, there will be a bit of shuffling of rooms to accommodate the tests. You might be able to figure it out from the schedule but I'll talk to the teachers involved. If the class you are normally teaching is testing, you will be proctoring. Instructions can be found here. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Budgets and ordering - As with everything else, the pandemic has changed this. Steve sent some emails explaining this and asking for any requests. This is just a reminder to have a look at those.

• Parent teacher conferences - These are still five and a half weeks away but how to do them this year is in the back of my mind. We won't be able to run it like we normally do with everyone crowded into the library. One possibility is to have them in classrooms but if you have thoughts or ideas, let me know.

• Behavior Records - So far no one has put anything in. That is a good thing but I just want to remind you that they are there. Read last week's update for more info. Remember too, that we we want to keep track of students who are habitually violating the Sabers Safe protocols.

• Homeroom - One of the big goals this year with hiring Maricar was to revamp the homeroom and pastoral care system. Obviously, with Maricar stuck in Korea waiting for a response from the Japanese consulate, things haven't really gone as planned. She has been working on updating the well-being scope and sequence and this week she has started reaching out to homeroom teachers to offer support. You can also reach out to her. We haven't put out a schedule this year as several homerooms already have their own but we are available to work with your team if you want the support. It is obviously tricky for her not having seen things in action but she is eager to work with you and virtually visit your homeroom.

• MYP Service as Action - Many students have already been recording things in ManageBac but we haven't really had an opportunity to discuss expectations with the whole MYP group since we haven't been doing assemblies. I will share the handbook with students on ManageBac. Stephanie and I also introduced this to the grade 6 students on Friday during Flex using this presentation. It would be worth pointing out the grade level expectations to your homerooms which can be seen both in the handbook and presentation. I can also come discuss it in your homeroom.

• Yearbook Photos - These are scheduled to take place on October 20 and 21. As in the past, students and teachers will go to the green room on their own time to take the pictures. However, there will be some different safety protocols in place.

• Beginning of the year meetings - These will almost be finished this week. If you haven't done yours, please contact me.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday there will be a grade 6 & 7 team meeting. This will include discussions of student concerns and curriculum.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• MAP - Here is the basic schedule for the MAP tests that will be starting the week of October 12. A few details like room numbers and which computers high school students will use need to be worked out but I wanted to get the classes involved out now. I realize that this is an inconvenience for your class schedule and appreciate your understanding. With a few exceptions, if the class you are normally teaching is testing, you will be proctoring. An older document with proctor instructions can be found here. I will update it during the week.

• Behavior Records - These are ready to go from Monday. You can see the forms here that you will use to input incidents. You can review the spreadsheet containing all of the incidents here. And finally, you here is an example of an individual behavior record that will automatically be generated. When you input an incident, an email will automatically be sent to the homeroom advisor and me. You also have the option to have an email automatically sent to the parents. Links for the forms and records will be put at the top of this page and in the shared folders for each grade level. Please use the forms to record any incidents and the spread sheet or automatically created records to review a child's behavior history. The old behavior records are still available to view and I will work on getting the records in them transferred to the shared folders. Ultimately, the shared grade level folders will hold all student's behavior records. You do not need to log every little incident, what we are trying to capture are serious incidents and those behaviors that may be happening in several classes but the individual teacher doesn't realize is a habit. Right now the only existing behavior record in the new documents is for Fred. Fred isn't really a bad kid but as I've been working out the details on this, Fred has been getting lots of emails about his behavior. I'll delete that record soon.

• Sabers Safe - We know that enforcing these guidelines is a thankless task that can be frustrating. We've been having ongoing discussions about this in APM. We are now half way through the trimester and students should be completely familiar with and used to our health and safety guidelines. At the same time, as they get used to the situation there can also be a tendency to relax and not be as careful as they were at the beginning. Taking both these points into consideration, the SOIS admin team have decided that we should keep track of which students are continually not complying with our guidelines so that we can follow up with them. If there is an OIS student who is not following the guidelines, report it in the Behavior Record described above. "Sabers Safe Violation" is one of the choices available. If it is an SIS student, ask their name and homeroom teacher and then send an email to them. If you get their class number (i.e. 7-3) you can also find out the homeroom teacher that way.

• Beginning of the year meetings - If you haven't made your appointment, let me know when you are available on this form.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this Wednesday there is a meeting for Personal Project Advisors. This is an important meeting for ensuring that you are able to give your student the support they need to finish the project properly.

• Calendar - The official school calendar lists next Saturday as a school day for sports day, the following Monday as a holiday and the Wednesday as a virtual Monday. With the cancellation of sports day the Monday and Wednesday will revert to being normal school days.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• MAP - I'm am working on the schedule now and should have it ready soon. As in previous years, it will take about three weeks and we will begin in mid-October, most likely the 13th. I should have the schedule by the end of next week but most teachers in grades 6 to 10 should expect to lose one class per grade level over the three weeks. When your class would normally take place you will be proctoring the test.

• Reports - Today is the day you are supposed to get your comments to your proof reader. If you need more time you can work it out with the person reading your comments. Ideally, we would like your proof read comments on ManageBac Monday so Stephen and I can start going through everything and have reports ready to publish next Friday afternoon. We realize things have been a bit hectic so we can be flexible. Just communicate with us if you need a bit more time to get them posted. When you do have everything up and ready to go, please send each of us a note. Thank you for all of your work on this.

• Friday Flex - We haven't been doing this because of the distancing rules. And while students haven't necessarily been begging me to restart, a few have asked about it. In particular, some students organizing service projects and other activities have asked about a venue to sell their project and get volunteers. Like everything, I'm rethinking the role of flex time on Fridays. There are good reasons to come together as a community at times and there are other activities we could do on Friday in conjunction with our PSE goals. Stephanie and I have discussed some form of an MYP meeting next Friday with the idea of introducing service expectations and opportunities, perhaps via TV. Look for more info soon and feel free to share any thoughts or ideas you might have.

• Beginning of the year meetings - These have started more slowly than I would have liked but they are now if full swing. If you haven't made your appointment, let me know when you are available on this form.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this week there is a meeting for DP teachers.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Back to School Night - Thank you again for all of you work last night. Anecdotally, it seemed to go well but I would like to get some more systematic feedback. Here is a short survey, I'd appreciate it if you took a few moments to fill it out.

• Student Behavior Records - I've come up with a template and a record using 9th grade as an example. It is set up so that you can input incidents using a form. (The form is live so don't use it unless you have a real incident. The information will go to a spreadsheet similar to what we had before but the form will also generate an incident report that we can move to a student's file. This will be handy for parent conversations later. You can see sample reports and the spreadsheet here. You can also automatically send an email about the incident based on what you wrote in the form. Have a look and let me know what you think. I can make adjustments based on your feedback and create versions for the other grades.

• Beginning of the year meetings - Please make your appointment for the beginning of the year meeting with me by checking the times you are available on this form.

• Quiet Work Room - The COVID-19 schedule has meant that several teachers don't always have their classrooms to themselves when they are on prep periods. If you need a quiet place to work, I've had the senior lounge cleaned out so teachers can go there to get things done without being bothered.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this week there are the committee meetings.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

Meetings

• Back to School Night - Stephen shared a file where you post your slides and other information for back to school night. Please be sure to use it so we can make everything available on this website> It went live to parents last night with the caveat that it will be updated throughout the week.
  When planning your presentation you might want to think about these concerns or questions that parents want to know.

  • Is the teacher sane? Well, maybe most of them wouldn't phrase it that way but parents do want to know that you are a nice person who will care about their child. They want to know that they can trust you and that you are understanding of students. You want to establish a positive relationship now that you can draw upon if you need to communicate later about the challenges a particular student is facing. Sharing a bit of personal information about your own learning experience or background can help them see your human side.

  • What does my kid have to do to get an A? They shouldn't ask it this way and not just because we don't give letter grades. Of course, we want the focus to be on learning but the fact is that many of our parents haven't moved beyond equating success with high numbers. You don't need to give a 20 minute recitation on the IB grading systems. Instead, relate their concern about their children's success to the skills and habits others demonstrated who did well in your course. You can link this to the types of assignments and assessments you will be doing over the course of the year. This will help them understand that we are more concerned about developing the skills and attitudes for learning rather than just the numbers.

  • Does this subject really matter? Well, yeah! You don't have to go into a polemic about why it is better financially to major in English than engineering but it doesn't hurt to sell your subject a bit and show some excitement about what you teach. What will the students learn this year? Why is it important even if you are never going to have to explain the causes of World War I or solve a quadratic equation in the grocery store. Showing some enthusiasm for your course and discipline can be contagious and help when they are discussing your class with their children later.

There are of course other things you can discuss and share but addressing the three points above will help you make a positive start with the parents.

• Beginning of the year meetings - Please make your appointment for the beginning of the year meeting with me by checking the times you are available on this form.

• Student Behavior Records - I'm still working on this so please email me about any particular behavior concerns even if you told me verbally. That way we'll have a written record I can transfer over to the documents when they are ready.

• Morning Temperature Checks - Take 2 - There were some struggles with the forms this week so Natsuko and Student Info created a new form for the students to use. The instructions and links are in this document.

• Meeting Calendar - On the meeting calendar this week there is an MYP meeting.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Back to School Night - Stephen and I are still working out the logistics and the schedule but as we agreed in the faculty meeting, this will be an online event on one evening. As noted in the calendar, that evening is September 17. Look for more details soon.

• Book Week - Next week is book week. Given the shortened planning time resulting from Distance Learning last trimester and the protocols in place now, it is a little more low key than what was originally conceived. Still, that doesn't mean you can't have fun! Dress up as your favorite book character on Tuesday. See Mel's announcements for more info.

• Google Classroom - Do you want to learn more about this? There is a session on Wednesday for MYP teachers although it is open to all. Please fill out this form as there will be a separate sessions for beginners and advanced users.

• Attendance in ManageBac - Thank you for continuing to do this every period. The automatic emails that are generated from this have meant parents and students are paying more attention to attendance. If you have questions about the process, please let us know.

• Student Behavior Records - I'm currently in the process of updating these documents that Oscar made for the current year. There is a little bit more back end work than I anticipated but I should have them ready next week. In the meantime, please email me about any particular behavior concerns even if you speak to me, too. That way we'll have a written record I can transfer over to the documents when they are ready.

• Morning Temperature Checks - Natsuko created some forms to do this digitally. She shared those with homeroom teachers so that you can review them. I put a message and the link in each grade level's class page in ManageBac and had it go to both parent and student emails. I also mentioned it to a few classes that I was able to catch before the end of the day. Still, I imagine there will be some people Monday who didn't see it or can't find the link. It may take a few days to get it running smoothly. Feedback is welcome.

• Faculty Meeting - Thank you for your time in the faculty meeting Wednesday. Here are the slides from the meeting. Teachers were asked to make unit planning a focus this year but the main action items is to set a beginning of the year meeting with me and to work with your homeroom team on planning for homeroom.

• Meeting Calendar - Here is the meeting calendar that was mentioned on Wednesday when we met. All of the meetings for the firs trimester are listed there.

Here are some things to think about as we move into the next week of school..

• Sabers Safe - Enforcing the protocols in the plan is the best way to control what we can to keep campus open. I know it isn't easy especially when it feels like you are the only one saying, "keep your distance!" It is clear that some students are taking this more seriously than others but the more we all send the message, the better it will be. Please continue to refer students to the Sabers Safe poster and enforce the behaviors when you are in contact with students. The more students see that we care the more they will care.

• Back to School Night - I have until Monday to inform the guards and support staff whether this will be an in-person event or conducted online. I'm leaning towards making it online to limit the numbers of people coming to the building and it also may be difficult for parents to follow the safety protocols we have in place. The one advantage of doing it in person besides the actual face to face contact with our parents is that they would get a clearer understanding of our expectations for students. The advantages of doing it via Zoom would be safety and we could possibly start earlier or have two shorter nights (one each for MYP and DP) rather than one long one. Making recordings of Zoom sessions available would also help parents of multiple children who typically have to choose between presentations for each child. Stephen and I have bounced some ideas around about his but if you have thoughts or a strong opinion about one or the other, please let me know.

• Attendance in ManageBac - Thank you for your work on this. We understand that forming new habits takes a bit of time but by the end of the week, we were almost there. At this link, you will find the document that Stephen shared way back in February about how to take attendance. It is worth a look as it explains some things you might have forgotten like how to take attendance for another teacher.

• Clubs and activities - If you are planning any after school clubs, activities or events that aren't already part of Sabers or something else, please let me know so I can get approval.

• Blinds on the east side - Classrooms on the east side of the building get a lot of morning sun. Closing and locking your windows at night and making sure the blinds are down will help keep the room cool by blocking the sun. The guards go around at night and make sure all of the windows in the building are shut and locked. If your windows aren't already locked they may raise the blinds to lock them. They've been asked not to leave them raised but it is better and there is less chance of mistake if you make it easier for them.