March Faculty Meeting - Tuesday March 2nd

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for joining the faculty meeting this morning. As we covered many important topics, here is the presentation for your reference.

Key Points:

1. Referral Process Update
2. Emergency Drill procedures
3. Covid Information

Dr. Jose Medina is here soon. Are you ready!

Dear colleagues,

This week Trevor, Ellen, Saiko, and Kasumi will join your planning meetings to engage you with a conversation about intercultural competence, international mindedness, and language diversity.

Why Dr. Jose Medina is coming to CA?
Time to time and particularly now when the student demographics are changing, international schools are redefining or at least revising how to best meet the needs of its student population. We at Canadian Academy are taking a closer look to see how do we respond to the growing language and cultural needs of our students. In addition, the CIS/WASC/IB visit will help us to further explore our stance and practices on international mindedness. Jose Medina is helping us to launch this conversation by working with our students and teachers next week.

30 - 40 minutes during your collaborative planning time
During the planning meeting Trevor, Ellen, Saiko, and Kasumi, will facilitate conversation including Who is Jose Medina?, Why he is at CA?, What practices we already have in place to embrace intercultural competence and language learning, and What specifically you are hoping to learn from Dr. Jose Medina?

Who
The following colleagues will be in touch with the teams to schedule the meeting as follows:

Trevor with grades 3 - 5, and specialist team (PE, VA, MU)
Saiko with grades 1 - 2 and the EAL team
Ellen with PreK/KA and KB (Ellen may need release time organized by Kim)
Kasumi with the Japanese team

Learning support teachers can join their respective grade level meetings as best suited.

Student of Concern Meetings

Dear colleagues,

As we have just finished our 3-way-conferences, we anticipate that you may have some thoughts and concerns regarding some students. Hence, we would like to invite you to indicate any those students who are not currently under the Student Support Services (Learning Support, EAL or Counseling) and have a brief discussion about them in our next Wednesday session on the 21st of February.

Purpose

The purpose of the student of concern meetings is to identify and discuss briefly students who we notice struggling with learning, socially or emotionally. These are students who are not yet serviced by Learning Support, ESOL or counselor for this particular concern. Hence, students who already have an IEP, Action Plan or are in the Pre-referral process are not part of these conversations. These are students who we have just started to worry about and/or direct their learning, behavior or social skill development regularly. The idea is not to provide quick fixes or solutions at the meeting but to share and collect data collaboratively. Additionally, having many teachers hearing those concerns usually lowers the level of stress related to these students and gives a reason for teachers to connect and work together to find solutions. Follow-up will be done by Learning Support, ESOL and/or the Counselor.

Purpose in bullets:

• Sharing, caring, informing, connecting with colleagues, with some existing solutions with the same student 
• Opportunity to share concerns about students who are NOT currently on IEP, Action plan and serviced by LS, ESOL or the  Counsellor
•  Opportunity to share additional concerns of students who may be already serviced by ESOL or the Counselor (E.g. ESOL student  with emotional/ behavioral challenges, Emotional student with new learning related challenge, etc.)
•  Not brainstorming new solutions/strategies at this point yet
•  Listing students for further conversations and follow-up (even if time runs out to discuss all the students in the meeting)

How:

1. Open the Google spreadsheet.

2. Click on the LOGISTICS tab (bottom of the page) to note your meeting time in the MPR (even if you have no concerns, presently).

3. Click on the appropriate grade level tab.

4. Fill in the information in the appropriate section (Specialists at top of each page; Classroom Teachers, scroll down).

5. Be prepared that afternoon to share your information in way that will allow for everyone to have time to speak.

The meetings are facilitated by two members of the Learning Support, EAL, and the counselor. One keeps the conversation flowing and the other one focuses on taking notes and keeping time. Each meeting takes 30 minutes.

Specialist teachers (PE, Visual Art, Music, Japanese, Tech, Library) teaching all students are sitting in all meetings. They will also have the opportunity to share their concerns first at every meeting. 

The meeting will follow the students who have been listed on the Student-of-Concern sheet. Therefore, it is important that all teachers will list their student(s) of concern to the list by Wednesday Meeting time 2:35 pm. Even if we don't have enough time to discuss all the students, the Student Support Team will be able to follow up if the students and the relevant concern is listed.

When and Where

Wednesday 14:35 - 16:35

ELAC Multipurpose Room

14:35-15:05 Grade 5

15:05 - 15:35 Pre-K/KA and KB

15:35 - 16:05 Grades 1 and 2

16:05 - 16:35 Grades 3 and 4

Flow of Conversation

The facilitator will go through the students from the list in the following order:

1. Order of listing

2. Listed by a specialist teacher

3. Listed by a classroom teacher

4. Not serviced by Student Support Team for the concern yet, however

- The student may be serviced by the EAL team, but not because of the concern like emotional, behavioral or specific learning related issue

It is important that we are prepared to contribute and listen to each other in the 30-minute meetings.

Sample talking points

- I have noticed .... often seeking connection, avoiding contact, looking for escape etc.

- I have noticed ... often fidgeting, finding the need to move, holding something in their hands

- .... seems to get stuck with their learning, not able to start their task, asking so many questions

- ... stamina for reading/writing is still ... or has diminished

- ... makes often inappropriate comments about their classmates

- ... is often very quiet and withdrawn

- ... is regularly having a hard time to control his/her excitement

Please, contact Rose, Derrick Saiko, Yoshiko or Heikki for further questions.

Thank you!

ES Parent Coffee Wed 13 September, 2017

Student Support Services in the Elementary School

Saiko, Rose, Yoshiko, Derrick and Joe gave wonderful interactive presentations to parents about Student Support Services at CA and explained how the services benefit all students.

Joe: "The four levels of services give you an overview how we support all students at CA."

Derrick: "Those little brains are busy all the time with ongoing sensory input, and here at school, we are asking them to focus on tasks at hand. We can help them with tools and strategies to shut down some of that overload and continue learning."

Rose: "In case of learning concern, we apply a thorough process of evaluating student needs and deciding upon level of support services, action plan, or individual educational plan. We make sure that parents are always aware of every step and contributing members of the process."

Saiko: "Co-teaching happens in many forms and groupings in the class. If you were to walk in the classroom you wouldn't necessary know who is the classroom teacher and who is the EAL teacher."

Yoshiko: "Parenting sessions are part of counseling services and provide great opportunities to share challenges and successes as a parent with other parents and learn new strategies."

Please check the slides by following the link below.
Slideshow

Learning Support Team - information

The Learning Support Department will be accepting any additional names of students of concern since our previous Student of Concern meeting. Once we receive the names, we will schedule a time to do observations and meet with you, as necessary. The information will be used to help us determine any immediate next steps, and supports, placements, etc. for the coming school year.

Please email or contact otherwise

Aimee regarding ELAC, grades 1 and 5 

Rose regarding grades 2, 3, and 4

The due date is Wednesday, April 12

Thank you! 

Learning Support Team 

Welcome Kyoko to the Grade 1 team!

Dear colleagues, 

I am writing to you to inform you about an addition to the Grade 1 teaching team.

This year in Grade 1N we have a very diverse population of students with different learning and language needs.

In order to better support those different learners, we have decided to add a part-time learning support assistant to the class. Although such diversity is very typical to our school setting, we felt that this arrangement will allow us to organize support and differentiate learning more effectively so that all students can continue their growth in the most effective manner.

We are very fortunate to have Mrs. Kyoko McHugh, who has previously worked as a classroom assistant in the Early Years, supporting student learning in the class every morning from 8:30 to 12:15 until the end of the school year. Please, make her feel welcome to the Grade 1 team.

Sincerely,

Heikki Soini

Student of Concern meetings - completing the round

Dear all,

First of all, thank you to all for your contribution to the first Student of Concern meeting.
We still have a number of students that weren't discussed in the meeting. Therefore, on Wednesday the 9th of November we will go through the rest of the students with the following schedule:

2:35 - 2:45 Grade 5 (Steve)
2:45 - 3:05 Grade 2 (Jerome)
3:10 - 3:35 Grade 3
3:30 - 4:05 Grade 4

Again, we are asking the specialists, LS, and ESOL teachers to join the meetings. Parallel to these meetings we will have our Math and Literacy Committees working on their agenda.

Student of Concern Meetings Explained

Dear colleagues,

As we missed the last week's Wednesday meeting the Student-of-Concern meetings and preparations come to us with a very short notice. We apologize for not sending this information out to you all earlier. However, given that you have spent the time to think and write about your students in preparation for the reports and conferences, we assume you have gathered notes and observations about students that will be extremely valuable for the Wednesday meeting.

Purpose

The purpose of the student of concern meetings is to identify and discuss briefly students who we notice struggling with learning, socially or emotionally. These are students who are not yet serviced by Learning Support, ESOL or counselor for this particular concern. Hence, students who already have an IEP, Action Plan or are in the Pre-referral process are not part of these conversations. These are students who we have just started to worry about and/or direct their learning, behavior or social skill development regularly. The idea is not to provide quick fixes or solutions at the meeting but to share and collect data collaboratively. Additionally, having many teachers hearing those concerns usually lowers the level of stress related to these students and gives a reason for teachers to connect and work together to find solutions. Follow-up will be done by Learning Support, ESOL and/or the Counselor.

Purpose in bullets:

• Sharing, caring, informing, connecting with colleagues, with some existing solutions with the same student 
• Opportunity to share concerns about students who are NOT currently on IEP, Action plan and serviced by LS, ESOL or the  Counsellor
•  Opportunity to share additional concerns of students who may be already serviced by ESOL or the Counselor (E.g. ESOL student  with emotional/ behavioral challenges, Emotional student with new learning related challenge, etc.)
•  Not brainstorming new solutions/strategies at this point yet
•  Listing students for further conversations and follow-up (even if time runs out to discuss all the students in the meeting)

How:

1. Open the Google spreadsheet.

2. Click on the LOGISTICS tab (bottom of the page) to note your meeting time in the MPR (even if you have no concerns, presently).

3. Click on the appropriate grade level tab.

4. Fill in the information in the appropriate section (Specialists at top of each page; Classroom Teachers, scroll down).

5. Be prepared that afternoon to share your information in way that will allow for everyone to have time to speak.

The meetings are facilitated by two members from the Learning Support, ESOL, and the counselor. One keeps the conversation flowing and the other one focuses on taking notes and keeping time. Each meeting takes 30 minutes.

Specialist teachers (PE, Visual Art, Music, Japanese, Tech, Library) teaching all students are sitting in all meetings. They will also have the opportunity to share their concerns first at every meeting. 

The meeting will follow the students who have been listed on the Student-of-Concern sheet. Therefore, it is important that all teachers will list their student(s) of concern to the list by Wednesday Lunch Time. Even if we don't have enough time to discuss all the students, the Student Support Team will be able to follow up if the students and the relevant concern is listed.

When and Where

Wednesday 14:35 - 16:35

ELAC Multipurpose Room

14:35-15:05 Grade 5

15:05 - 15:35 Pre-K/KA and KB

15:35 - 16:05 Grades 1 and 2

16:05 - 16:35 Grades 3 and 4

Flow of Conversation

The facilitator will go through the students from the list in the following order:

1. Order of listing

2. Listed by a specialist teacher

3. Listed by a classroom teacher

4. Not serviced by Student Support Team for the concern yet, however

- The student may be serviced by the ESOL team, but not because of the concern like emotional, behavioral or specific learning related issue

It is important that we are prepared to contribute and listen to each other in the 30-minute meetings.

Possible talking points/Notes on the spread sheet

- I have noticed .... often seeking connection, avoiding contact, looking for escape etc.

- I have noticed ... often fidgeting, finding the need to move, holding something in their hands

- .... seems to get stuck with their learning, not able to start their task, asking so many questions

- ... stamina for reading/writing is still ... or has diminished

- ... makes often inappropriate comments about their classmates

- ... is often very quiet and withdrawn

- ... is regularly having a hard time to control his/her excitement

Please, contact Aimee, Rose, Saiko, Yoshiko or Heikki for further questions.

Thank you!

Thank you to the amazing Student Support Team

Thank you to Aimee, Rose, Saiko, and Yoshiko for leading the action packed and inspiring PD learning session yesterday.

Co-teaching, collaboration, and building and maintaining trust are the key ingredients for designing outstanding learning opportunities for our students and of course for teacher well-being. We are taking very exciting steps at the moment. Let's keep it going!



Slideshow from Wed 14 September, 2016

Learning Support: Pre-Referrals Deadline

 Pre-referrals
The Learning Support Department will be accepting pre-referrals of students that teachers may have concerns about at this time. The due date for submissions is Wednesday, April 13th. You may email Aimee or Rose for a copy of the form, then email the completed document back:

Grades 5, KA & KB - Aimee
Grades 1-4 - Rose

Feeling Grim Grab a Prim!

'Feeling GRIM? Grab a PRIM!'

Our Learning Support PRIM manuals are now housed in the following locations:

1) Grade 1: Keesha's room

2) ES office

3) Learning Support office S301

4) ELAC office/supply room

This handy manual is color-coded to assist teachers in developing a comprehensive list of strategies to be tried and documented for struggling students in the class.

Any questions - come see Rose or Aimee in S301.

Learning Support Reminder

The Learning Support team is working hard to support the diverse learner population at CA. We want our services to be specific, effective and timely. Therefore, teacher input is key for ensuring success. 

For the SST meetings:

• Please, ensure timely input of information on SST forms.
• Specialist teachers attendance to the SST meetings is highly recommended

For further information, please do not hesitate contact either Aimee or Rose.

Thank you for your collaboration!

Learning Support

Dear colleagues,

Learning Support

• Please review your Action Plans (AP) and Individual Educational Plans (IEP) for those students in the Learning Support program. If you have any questions please come and talk with Aimee or Rose in S301.
• Reminder: during MAPS there is no LR push-in support during testing times.

Learning Support Assistants and BTSN

Dear colleagues,

LSAs are not required to come in for the BTSN. Therefore, it would be great if teachers would introduce them as classroom assistants and show perhaps a picture of them during the presentation.
Thank you.