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Tarbiyah Academy
Head of School Weekly Updates - 3.2.2020
Read Across America Week @ Tarbiyah Academy!
March 1- March 31 Women's History Month
Activities for the Week:
Homework and Classwork Reminder:
Homework, classwork, and all assignments must be logged in Managebac. Before sending parents an email reminder of tasks and assignments, ensure that assignments are logged in Managebac first. Student's grades, with comments, are to be updated weekly. This is the only tool that parents have to know how their child is progressing academically. Managebac is our schoolwide, grading, and reporting tool. Help to keep our family partners informed In shaa Allah.
Building Construction:
Under Construction: Middle School Construction continues this week. The Gym and Middle School classrooms should be available for use this week iA. If dust is present, the gym and classes become off-limits to ensure the best environment for students and staff.
Thank you, everyone, for sharing your space, giving up your classroom, and being flexible.
Shout Outs:
Special Shout Out to the Events Team and all of the Teachers and Staff for supporting International Family Day! It was such an enjoyable experience for all who attended!
Shout out to Ms. ElKordy for working on getting all students MAP tested for the Middle of the Year Marking Period!
Shout to Ms. Sanchez for developing such an engaging learning experience in Kindergarten! Students truly experienced joyful learning!
Shout to Ms. K., Ms. Sanchez, and Ms. Karam for supporting with First grade Friday! Teamwork makes the Dreamwork:)
Shout to Ms. Lewis-Fleming for hosting Middle School Advisory and teaching students about intersectionality and uplifting an appreciation for diversity in Middle School! Excellent Job!
Shout out to Dar ul Haya for stepping up to facilitate house meeting last Friday! We are almost to our term totals!
Shout out to Ms. Ali, Ms. K, Ms. Sanchez, and Ms. Alnumri, for hosting an engaging and thoughtful morning assembly experience for students during the month of February. We learned so much during African American History Month! Ms. Mateen, thank you for supporting and selecting notable leaders and activists.
Shout out to Ms. Khan for creating the TIGER student shout out cards:) This is a great tool to share positive student outcomes! Thank you!
Tarbiyah Academy Events and Important Dates
March 2nd -6th: Summative Assessment Week
March 2nd -6th: Read Across America Week!
March 6th- Dress as your Favorite Storybook Character! : Students and Staff!:)
March 5: Term 2 ECA's End
March 6: Top Arabic fundraiser announcement
March 14: Exhibition at 6:00PM
March16: Report Card Entry Begin
March 20: Report Card Comments and Grades Due 5:00PM
March 18: Arabic Spelling Bee
March 21: HCLS Spelling Bee- Oakland Mills HS
March 25- March 27th: Half Days Student Led Conferences
Staff if you have an events or Action projects to share please email them to me directly to include in Weekly updates.
Key and Professional Development Dates:
Term II Document <available in Sharepoint>
This week starts Week Provocations within the PYP UOI's. Middle School Students' unit calendars vary across content areas.
- March 16: PDD No School For Students < Staff Report at 9:00AM>
School-wide Instruction: Assessment
Purpose of Assessment is the ongoing process of gathering evidence for and of learning.
This evidence will be used to give recognition and timely feedback to the learners and all other stakeholders. Assessment will reflect best practice that supports the learner and the teacher in the promotion of student achievement. Assessment provides the following to teachers, parents and students.
- Teachers are provided with multiple and varied opportunities to uncover misunderstandings and discover enduring understandings.
- Students are provided opportunities to choose learning activities, act on the learning presented, experience authentic activities edifying of the soul and moral character, preparatory for life and 21st century skills and reflect on learning that has been completed to build understandings that ensure success in an ever-changing world.
- Parents are provided opportunities to be informed of the strengths and areas needing improvement of their child’s academic progress. Assessment is an integral part of all teaching and learning. Effective assessment practices motivate students, validate their strengths and identify their areas of need.
The teacher must do: Post all Learning Objectives Daily on write board or PPT where it is visible for students and during classroom observations.
Policy and Procedures: TA Staff Professionalism
Professionalism Faculty and Staff are expected to:
- Be professional, mission-oriented educators.
- Smile and be positive at the beginning of the day, during the day, and at the end of the day.
- Have a positive attitude when communicating with staff, parents, and students.
- Acquaint themselves well with the behavior management policies and procedures.
- Understand their duties and job descriptions.
- Be creative and take initiatives within the context of the school’s philosophy, the adopted policies and professional standards.
- Be committed to the educational growth of all children academically, socially, and Islamically, and to encourage them to seek knowledge in a professional manner.
- Be cooperative and supportive of individual uniqueness.
- Keep their eyes on the surroundings and report to the office any strange event(s) and/or person(s) in or around the school grounds.
- Do their best to realize the curriculum objectives in their areas of instructions
- Be creative in adding materials to the standard curriculum, given that they meet the minimum requirements.
- Be kind when they draw students’ attention to their misbehavior and advise them on how to modify their behavior.
- Be generous when praising students for their accomplishments and good study habits, thereby encouraging them to do better.
- Avoid controversial matters in Islamic beliefs and/or practices and support all arguments regarding Islam by evidence from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. If there is any question regarding Islamic evidence, such questions should be referred to the AQI Department Head. Be optimistic and confident that each student can attain academic excellence in his/her own way.
- Be fair and clear in grading procedures and practices.
School Culture: Team Work "Building the We" Educational Leadership by Kenneth B. Cooper
Working Values for Staff, Teams, and Meetings
Be Encouraging to Others
Receiving and offering encouragement helps us to do our best. If we recognize the efforts of others and encourage each other, we will feel good about working together and will be more likely to produce excellent results.
Give Others the Respect We Want to Receive
When we speak, we want others to listen to us with an open mind to the ideas we are presenting. We should offer others the same openness that we want. In such an atmosphere, ideas flow freely, making the process more productive.
Maintain a Positive Attitude
Keeping a positive attitude in the face of negativity creates an environment that is positive, productive, and successful. Reacting negatively to a problem or situation only escalates it.
Be Honest and Open
Members must be able to take action on the basis of information other team members provide. Hidden agendas break trust and destroy the team's ability to interact successfully.
Not My Ideas, But the Best Ideas
The team process is a search for improvements that work best. Come to the table in pursuit of the best ideas. If others can improve upon our ideas, we should encourage them to do so.
Make the Team’s Task Our Highest Priority
Successful teams are those that truly come together behind a mutually shared vision and goals. For this to occur, the task of the team must be given precedence over the many different personal priorities that also motivate us.
Trust Goes Beyond the Meeting
Be loyal to those not present. Establish working relationships built on trust and integrity. Respect for others builds a sense of confidence and community.
Focus on Listening, Not Just Hearing
To listen actively is to make an effort to understand and respect another person's thoughts and feelings. If we are merely hearing, we may be thinking about our next response and miss an opportunity for understanding.
Try First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
What we already know may only be part of the information we need to make wise decisions. When we listen to others first, more facts and points of view become available, enabling us to make better choices and develop team consensus.
Preset Solutions Hinder Progress
A key to successful planning is for members to state their interests and concerns while being open and flexible as to how those interests will be achieved—leaving the process open to creative solutions.
Be Tough on the Issues, Easy on the People
Say what you mean, but don't say it mean. Standing up for good ideas adds real value to the process. Making our remarks personal sabotages the team's task and pushes the team toward gridlock. Focus on the issue while avoiding the personal.
Avoid Interpreting Others’ Motivations
People will usually allow us our own thoughts and feelings without becoming defensive. It is effective to talk about what we think and feel and avoid interpreting the actions and motivations of others.
Respect Diversity
Diversity contributes to the strength of our collective efforts. We each have a unique contribution to make, and everyone's contribution is to be honored. We will respect the diverse paths to excellence.
Blame No One, Fix the Problem
Blame adds a second problem to the original problem. Staying respectful and on the side of others, even when they make a mistake, is crucial to good, long-term, working relationships.
Middle School Coordinator's Updates:
Unit Housekeeping
- Please make sure you have enough grades in MB for students with useful feedback for students. Report card time is just 3 weeks away and we need to ensure that all standards you have selected for the unit have been assessed and reported on.
- There are many units in MB that are missing tasks in the gradebook as well as learning experiences in the unit itself. Please make sure you record all tasks into the Calendar/gradebook with information regarding the task. Students and parents should be able to know what they did by looking at the calendar. Please also be clear with the directions in the task. Use language students can understand.
- Unit management and grade reporting is a professional responsibility and a crucial part of our job. If you need help or are having difficulty with anything, please communicate this.
Student Led Conferences and Report Card Time
- Please spend time in your classes to make sure students have updated work in Seesaw. You do not want to be scrambling before conferences to make Seesaw presentable. All work presented in the SLC needs to be in Seesaw. So if you have work in student binders/notebooks, please take pics and upload into Seesaw. Middle School students should be able to do this independently with some guidance and direction from the teacher.
- As mentioned above, please update your gradebook with meaningful comments so report card comment time will not be difficult for you.
Read Across America
As discussed in Collab, Middle school will be doing the following activities during March 2-6
- Celebrating reading with designated reading time and a snack during ELA: date tbd
- Book character dress-up day: Friday, March 6th.
AQI Coordinator's Updates:
No new announcements-
Teachers, please remind students with the Arabic spelling bee, and returning the Pledges.
- March 6: Top Arabic fundraiser announcement
- March 18: Arabic Spelling Bee
AQI Focus Areas Continues:
- Daily 3 Instructional Model -During your planning, make sure that your planning includes every single student in the classroom and assign the time map, so you don’t focus on one group while the other did not get help yet.
- Push-in time- Please make sure that you are giving students the full attention and don’t use this time to plan. Push in, and Pullouts must take place consistently and with fidelity.
- Update the push-in sheet on SharePoint is biweekly, and it is for the benefit of the teacher and student.
- Please make sure to update it regularly on time.
- Screen time during class. Students should not engage in more than 10-15 minutes of screen time during instruction. If there is a video clip that is much longer, recommend the remainder to parents.
- Update Middle of the year Arabic assessment if you have not already done so.
PYP Updates:
Equip Observations continue this week. See Ms. Aboubakr for PYP updates this week. Collab schedule will take place as regularly scheduled.
Morning Assembly Schedule: 2nd and 3rd Grade Teams
This Month, Second and Third Grade Teachers are leading morning assembly! During Assembly, students are to arrive in uniform, demonstrating essentials and participatory in shaa Allah. Actively monitor and support students during Assembly. Let's support students with using strong voice. We will begin promptly at 8:40, all classes must be present and on time.
House Meeting Updates and Reminders
House meeting will take place March 13, 2020
Do you love to get students excited about the values house meeting? Do you have Team spirit? If so we are looking for you! ! We are looking for a few new faces to step to bring their house spirit energy to our biweekly meeting. Dar ul Hikmah will be hosting, March 13, 2020 In shaa Allah
This Month's Learner Profile
Social Emotional Focus on the Month:
Assessments: Summative Assessment Week
School Counseling Updates:
Heathly Friendships