2008 ET Journal Winter Issue

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EARCOS TRIANNUAL

East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools

December 2008

Proud to announce the 7th Annual

EARCOS Teachers’ Conference 2009 March 25-28, 2009 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

The EARCOS TRIANNUAL The EARCOS TriAnnual is a magazine published by EARCOS (East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools), a nonprofit 501(C)3, incorporated in the state of Delaware, USA, with a regional office in Manila, Philippines. Membership in EARCOS is open to elementary and secondary schools in East Asia which offer an educational program using English as the primary language of instruction, and to other organizations, institutions, and individuals.

Objectives and Purposes * To promote intercultural understanding and international friendship through the activities of member schools. * To broaden the dimensions of education of all schools involved in the Council in the interest of a total program of education. * To advance the professional growth and welfare of individuals belonging to the educational staff of member schools. * To facilitate communication and cooperative action between and among all associated schools. * To cooperate with other organizations and individuals pursuing the same objectives as this council.

EARCOS BOARD President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: Director at Large: Director at Large: Director at Large: Director at Large: Office of Overseas Schools REO:

Tim Carr Sean O’Maonaigh Larry Jones Tom Hawkins Anne Fowles Deidre Fischer Brent Mutsch David Toze Connie Buford (exoficio)

Letter from the Executive Director

Dear Colleagues: Happy New Year!!! I wish everyone good health and prosperity for 2009.

The EARCOS staff is busy getting ready for the activities for the second part of the school year.

Welcome the newly elected board members, Deidre Fischer (I.S. Cebu), Brent Mutsch (Singapore American School), and David Toze (I.S. Manila).

Since we have expanded the board to nine members it provides a better opportunity for representation from our diverse membership. Congratulations!

The 2008 EARCOS administrator’s conference (EAC) was our largest to date with over 800 delegates registering. TheSutera Harbor Resort was an excellent venue for our 40th EARCOS conference. Thanks to the GM Ravi Kathiravelu and his staff for the wonderful hospitality and service. Our keynoters Alan November, John Joseph, and William Lishman were outstanding as were the breakout sessions and pre-conferences. A zoomerang was sent out in early November to comment on the conference and this will help us plan for the future. Please see our conference write up in this issue.

The ETC scheduled for March 24-28, 2009, at the Sutera Harbor Resort also has a huge slate of great presenters and activities scheduled. Keynoters are Alan Atkisson, William Lishman, and John Liu. We appreciate the hard work of the ETC teacher representatives who help coordinate teacher registration and on site logistics. The teacher representatives do an exceptional job for which we are all grateful.

I look forward to seeing many of you in the next few months while visiting schools and attending various conferences and recruiting fairs. We are here to serve you!

EARCOS Executive Director: Richard Krajczar Administrative Assistant for GIN Conference: Linda Sills Vitz Baltero Elaine Repatacodo Brigette Javier Ver Castro Robert Sonny Viray Edzel Drilo

East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools Brentville Subdivision Barangay Mamplasan Biñan, Laguna, 4024, Philippines PHONE: 63-49-511-5993/5994 FAX: 63-49-511-4694 WEBSITE: www.earcos.org

Dick Krajczar Executive Director Check out our updated website at www.earcos.org

In this Issue 2 3 4 5-8 10 12 13 14 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 26 27 28 29 30

31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

7th EARCOS Teachers’ Conference 2009 Announcement ETC2009 Advisory Council Learning to Lead in a Challenging World EAC2008 Photo Gallery Brent International School Baguio Celebrates 100 years (1909-2009) Canadian International School of Hong Kong Opens Their New Arts Centre Global Issues Network Conference 2009 Announcement International School Ho Chi Minh City Celebrating 15 years of Excellence Taejon Christian International School Celebrates 50 years of World-Class International Education United World College of South East Asia: Empower, Achieve, Inspire United World College of South East Asia: Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race 2008 New International School of Thailand: A Celebration of the Arts New International School of Thailand: Stand Up Against Poverty Day Bali International School: Student Strive to Reduce Carbon Emissions International School of Beijing: Paralympics Athlete Motivates Students and Teachers Paper and Pencil = Stone Tablet and Chisel – The New Tools: Blog, Thumb Drives, and Digital Cameras Orff Schulwerk at the United Nations International School Hanoi Learning 2.008 – Teachers Teaching Teachers and a Whole Lot More EARCOS Administrative Assistants’ Institute Weekend Workshop with Kathy Gardner Weekend Workshop with Nancy Doda – Teaching the Best Practice Way: Classroom of Success for All Weekend Workshop – What Makes a Mathematical Task Worthwhile? Learning to Think Deeply at International School Bangkok Weekend Workshop with Gloria Linder – Scientific Inquiry: Building Deep Understanding of Science Concepts and Processes Weekend Workshop with Maggie Moon – Balanced Literacy: Unplugged Weekend Workshop with Dr. Susan Clayton – Understanding By Design (Intermediate Training): Foundations of Effective Student Learning Weekend Workshop with Dr. Deborah Welch – Leadership Tools for Department Heads and Teacher Leaders Weekend Workshop with Dr. Giselle Martin-Kniep – Communities for Learning: A Framework for Improving Schools from Within Weekend Workshop with Bill and Ochan Powell – Differentiation Workshop at Hokkaido International School Weekend Workshop with Bambi Betts – Leadership Tools for Team Leaders Weekend Workshop with Carrie Ekey – Using Classroom Based Assessment to Drive Instruction in Reading and Writing Weekend Workshop with Bill and Ochan Powell – Understanding by Design and Leadership for Training Weekend Workshop with Kathy Epps – Blogging in Classroom Weekend Workshop with Dr. Fred Wolff – Assessment of Writing Using the Six Traits Rubrics EARCOS Annual Golf Tournament 2008 at Sutera Harbour, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Back cover

Weekend Workshops SY 2008-2009

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The 7th Annual EARCOS Teachers’ Conference 2009 PRE-CONFERENCE

Presenters Topics Buchmann, Stephen Digital Photography and Insect Natural History Clifton, Alex Drama Funk, Catherine Effective Teaming George, Marilyn WASC Accreditation Gerber, Jim AP Calculus Kim, Josephine Working with multicultural populations OHalloran, Mary Sean Eating Disorders Paas, Sal and Young, Lorne Environmental Systems and Societies Rojas, Virginia ESL Strategies for Mainstream Teachers Spellicy, Jim AP Economics van Houten, Bernadette Cross-cultural Management Webster, Janet Special Needs

Theme:

Our Global Impact: My Responsibility Service, Stewardship, and Sustainability KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Alan AtKisson Area of Expertise: Sustainability

WORKSHOP PRESENTERS Presenters Topics Apple, Inc. TBA AtKisson, Alan Sustainability Barder, Chip Faculty Roles and Communication William Lishman Barash, Phoebe Conflict Management Area of Expertise: Environment, Buchmann, Stephen Digital Photography & Insect Natural History (Fine Arts) Adventure, and Film Making Clifton, Alex Drama Funk, Catherine Effective Teaming Hensley, Clay Establishing and Enhancing your School’s AP Program Jansen, Chris Outdoor and Experiential Education Jehn, Tom Harvard Writing Program Kiisk, Linda Building Green Structure, Making Schools Green Kim, Josephine Career Development Education Lancaster, Ron Math Levin, Joseph Science John Liu Lishman, William Environmentalist, Adventurer, and Film Maker Area of Expertise: Ecosystem Liu, John Ecosystem London, Ellen Social Studies and Art DO YOUR PART to make the Moon, Maggie Literacy EARCOS Teachers’ Conference (ETC2009) in OHalloran, Mary Sean Counseling Kota Kinabalu as GREEN as possible!

Ott, David Mathematics Powell, Bill / Ochan Differentiation REDUCE paper consumption with downloads and thumb Rogers, Julie TBA drives.

Rojas, Virginia ELL, UbD Conference delegates from last ETC2008 received apSchwartz, David Mathematics, Language Arts proximately 72,000 sheets of paper. 72,000 sheets of paper Spellicy, Jim AP Economics weighs 44 kgs and stands 8.6 m tall.

Stubbs, Nancy / Zanna McKay Third Culture Kid Tisone, Dede Art (on AERO) REUSE the water bottle you brought from home.

Utecht, Jeff Technology Last teachers’ conference, over 12,000 bottles of water were van Houten, Bernadette Cross-Cultural Management consumed at ETC 2008. You can help lower the number of Webster, Janet Special Needs plastic bottles that end up in a landfill by reusing one from home.

POST CONFERENCE (March 29-30, 2008) 2 Day Post Conference Workshop with Kenny Peavy Bring Your Own Water Bottle.

It takes 6.8 L of water to manufacture 1L of bottled waFor more information about the ETC2009, ter. Last teachers’ conference, over 12,000 bottles of water please check http://earcos.org/etc2009 frequently for updates. were consumed at ETC 2008. Is it worth it?

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ETC2009 Advisory Council

Our Global Impact – My Responsibility: Service, Stewardship, Sustainability Tucked into the beautiful coastline of Malaysian Borneo and in clear view of the rugged peak of Mt. Kinabalu, Kota Kinabalu sets the scene for what promises to be an unforgettable ETC 2009.

This year’s EARCOS Advisory Council descended upon Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, from September 13-14, 2008, to discuss ETC 2008 in Kuala Lumpur last March and finalize details for this year’s ETC 2009 to be held March 25-28, 2009, at the Sutera Harbor Resort. Dick Krajczar helmed our meeting and ensured that we covered all aspects of our agenda in final preparation for the March conference.

Finally, teacher workshops remain a critical part of the ETC experience and allow for a mutually beneficial exchange of practical ideas among your colleagues in overseas teaching. While we particularly encourage teacher workshops that incorporate the ETC 2009 theme “Our Global Impact — My Responsibility” into their presentations, we look forward to a wide range of teacherled workshops and Job-A-Like sessions that encourage faculty and staff throughout a school community to join us and actively participate in this year’s conference.

Our two-day meeting began with a sunset tour of the sprawling facilities of the resort, which truly offers something for everyone from family-friendly facilities including Kids’ Clubs and playgrounds to numerous restaurants that offer an extensive array of tasty Malaysian cuisine to the lush, sea view pool setting and the on-site spa for relaxing after a day of workshops. The Sutera Harbor Resort, comprised of two impressive hotels – the polished Pacific Sutera and the more resort-oriented Magellan Sutera – will both offer discounted EARCOS rates and house ETC workshops, and is only a short 10-minute taxi ride from the airport with complimentary shuttle access into town and throughout the resort (although we’d still recommend bringing your walking shoes!).

This year’s Advisory Council delegates represent each of the countries that EARCOS reaches as well as designated representatives of ISS and curriculum coordinators. The following is a list of members of the ETC 2009 Advisory Council:

The next day, the Advisory Council got down to the business of carefully reviewing the feedback from ETC 2008 participants.

With all of the attendees’ comments in mind, we looked at what we did well and what we could do better at ETC 2009.

Kenny Peavey – International School Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Michael Peach – International School Bangkok, Thailand Elaine Leavitt – Jakarta International School, Indonesia Nanette Carreon-Ruhter – Singapore American School Dee Mulligan – Hong Kong International School, China Dale Hutchison – International School Manila, Philippines Karen Campbell – Shanghai American School, China Michael Fox – Taipei American School, Taiwan Stella Ellis – International School Beijing, China Warren Bowers – International School of Phnom Penh, Cambodia Mike Moody – American School in Japan - Kobe, Japan Heidi Pullen – International School Yangon, Myanmar Erin McCall – International School Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Ann Straub – International School Bangkok, Thailand Lisa Mangelsdorf – Caltex American School, Indonesia

In continuation of last year’s efforts and to extend this year’s theme — “Our Global Impact — My Responsibility: Service, Stewardship, Sustainability” — and the suggestions that we received from many of you about the need to be even more ecofriendly throughout the conference, we again plan to “Go Green” as much as possible and encourage all of our attendees and presenters to do the same. To this end, we ask that ETC 2009 participants bring their own water bottles along to the conference. Also, you may want to bring your laptop and take advantage of the free internet in their hotel rooms at the conference site to download all materials necessary for the workshops you want to attend.

At ETC 2009, IB and AP teachers will once again have unique opportunities for professional development during pre-conference workshops in subject areas including IB Geography and IB Environmental Systems, AP Calculus and AP Economics, in addition to special pre-conference workshops connected to this year’s EARCOS theme. Specific details on all pre-conference workshops as well as confirmed keynote addresses and presentations to be held during the main conference are already available on the EARCOS website, www.earcos.org. In addition, during the year, students will also be considered for other EARCOS activities and awards including taking part in the Global Issues Network Conference and the Global Citizenship Award. Please feel free to contact your school’s EARCOS representative for more information.

We ended our meeting looking ahead to future EARCOS conferences and discussing the venues and possible themes for ETC 2010 and beyond. The Advisory Council is already looking forward to its March 2009 return to Kota Kinabalu and for what will certainly be a conference to remember. Just like this year’s conference site, ETC 2009 will have something for everyone, and the Advisory Council looks forward to you seeing you there!

For more information about EARCOS or the ETC March 2528, 2009, please check http://earcos.org.etc/2009 frequently for updates.

Dale Hutchison International School Manila -3-

“ Learning to Lead in a Challenging World “

EARCOS Administrators’ Conference 2008 - Theme: “Learning to Lead in a Challenging World”

“Learning to Lead in a Challenging World” was the theme for the 40th EARCOS Administrators’ Conference (EAC) just held on North Borneo in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The EAC hosted nearly 800 delegates from various regions of the world.

The 40th EAC had three excellent keynote presenters in Alan November, John Joesph, and William Lishman, 11 preconferences, and 119 workshop sessions all geared to meet our administrators’ and boards of trustees’ needs. We had nealy 800 delegates attend so it was EARCOS’s largest administrative conference to date. The sessions for board members was very successful, and Ralph Davison did an excellent job engaging a diverse group of trustees. Feedback from our zoomerang was very positive.

The Sutera Harbour in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, was an exciting venue for EARCOS’s 40th conference. The evening functions took place in lovely setting and had great food and super entertainment. I’d like to thank the general manager, Mr. Ravi Kathiravelu, Jocelyn Untasan (our conference operation guru), and the whole Sutera staff for their generous hospitlity. We will return to Sabah again. The conference gift was a pedometer promoting a good healthy life style in our EARCOS community.

We thank Gopher sport and Matt Nelson for co-sharing this memento.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) led by Tim Carr, our EARCOS president, was very informative. Two new board members were elected: Deidre Fischer of International School Cebu; Brent Mutsch of Singapore American School; and David Toze of International School Manila was reelected for another 3-year term. The board also highlighted the EARCOS Strategic Plan and reviewed the organization’s financial summary. David Cramer was recognized for his contribution to the board as treasurer.

Linda Sills was also recognized for her efforts and leadership during the last four years.

EARCOS extends a special thanks to the Malaysian Tourism Bureau and Mr. Mohd Akbal Setia for providing a cultural show that was truly spectacular and memorable. Through music and dance, their efforts to make the EARCOS community feel welcome were truly apparent and very successful. Sabah Tourism Board Chairman Datuk Tengku Adlin provided a brief welcome and slide show presentation of the interesting sites of Sabah. We are already looking forward to returning in March for the Teachers’ Conference and continuing to build our community of learners. A big thanks to Dan Scinto who has always been a great supporter of EARCOS. We wish him the best in his retirement. Thanks to our sponsors for the keynoters’, coffee breaks and to our exhibitors who support EARCOS each year. Finally our EARCOS team of Linda Sills, Vitz Baltero, Elaine Repatacado, Brigette Ann Javier, Ver Castro, Edzel Drilo and Robert Viray did an outstanding job with logistics and hospitality.

Dick Krajczar and the EARCOS team.

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EARCOS Administrators’ Conference 2008 - Theme: “Learning to Lead in a Challenging World”

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EARCOS Administrators’ Conference 2008 - Theme: “Learning to Lead in a Challenging World”

EARCOS Administrators’ Conference 2008 - Theme: “Learning to Lead in a Challenging World”

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EARCOS Administrators’ Conference 2008 - Theme: “Learning to Lead in a Challenging World”

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Brent International School Baguio (1909-2009)

Celebrates 100 years

“A Legacy of Learning” In March 2009, Brent International School Baguio is celebrating its Centennial – 100 years as an institution with 100 years of a proud tradition of academic excellence. The original Brent School was named after its founder, Bishop Charles Henry Brent, the first Episcopal Bishop of the Philippines. The school began as a boarding school for boys in 1909 on a sprawling twelve hectare campus set 5,000 ft. above sea level in the northern mountains on the largest Philippine island of Luzon.

were admitted on the basis of character as well as scholarship, and this paved way for Brent to become even more international in nature and outlook.

A number of years later, after many new facilities and growth in enrollment, the school’s existence was challenged again with the devastating earthquake that hit Baguio in July 1990. After immediate rebuilding and rehabilitation, the school opened for classes by August of that same year! That event was a testament to Brent Baguio’s determination to rise from the ruins and overcome hardships.

On 15 March 2002, the Philippine National Historical Institute granted Brent School the distinction of being a National Historical Site – the second site to be recognized in Baguio City! To this day, Ogilby Hall on the Brent campus holds the distinction of being the oldest wooden building in Baguio still in use for its original purpose.

Baguio School 1909 First Students Brent School has faced many challenges over the past 100 years as it has continued to remain true to its calling. It struggled through the First World War with very few students. In 1925, a girl’s boarding house was added and Brent became the first coeducational boarding school in East Asia.

During World War II, the school was closed as Japanese forces used the campus for a hospital and as a military officer’s residence.

During that period, the school functioned as best it could from the internment camp known as Camp Holmes.

The start of a new era in the school’s history came with the reopening of Brent School in November 1947. At that time, students

As Brent School was celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary in Baguio in 1984, a group of parents from the international community in Manila successfully requested the creation of a Brent Campus in Manila, and thus began Brent International School Manila. Growth of the Brent philosophy continued as the next Brent School opened in Subic Bay in 1994 with Father Gabriel Dimanche as the Headmaster.

Today, Brent has three separately incorporated international schools with a total enrolment close to 2,000 students. The original Brent Baguio has 280 students, Brent Manila, now twenty-five years old, has 1,200 students, and the fifteen-year-old Brent Subic has 450 students. While separately incorporated, all three schools operate with the same mission statement and the same educational philosophy. Additionally, all three schools have one Headmaster, Mr. Dick Robbins. Headmaster Robbins was tasked with bringing the schools together as far as the educational programs and academic offerings in each location are concerned, and that initiative is in its final stages.

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Continued from page 10 All three Brent International Schools are proud members of EARCOS. In addition, Brent Manila is a founding member of the hugely successful Asia Pacific Activities Conference (APAC).

Together with Brent Manila, Brent Baguio and Brent Subic are also members of the International Schools Activities Conference (ISAC). This year, being the Centennial year for Brent Baguio, all three Brent Schools are proud to have Mr. Harlan Lyso, former EARCOS Board President, as the graduation speaker at each of their commencement exercises in May 2009.

During this Centennial year, Brent campuses have come together in a number of ways to reflect and celebrate 100 years of its legacy. Alumni from around the world have likewise retold their school experiences and memories on our “magic mountain” which they called their home. Year after year, their heartwarming stories and visits serve as priceless testimonies of how their lives were touched and how the Brent School legacy thrives beyond the classroom, beyond activities, and beyond graduation.

Baguio School 1909

Mr. Dick Robbins, Headmaster Brent Statue

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‘ISA became one of the most valuable indicators for the Board of the Moscow Economic School of our students’ development. Now ISA is compulsory for all the MES students. We also built the ISA results into the MES teacher’s appraisal system. We are really happy that ISA became a very important part of our professional life.’

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The design of the ISA and its focus on literacy and processes is also a valuable indicator of our learner qualities such as problem solvers.’

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For more information about the ISA please visit: www.acer.edu.au/isa To register your school simply visit:

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Much Ado About the Arts

Canadian International School of Hong Kong Opens Their New Arts Centre The grand opening ceremony of the Leo Lee Arts Centre at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong (CDNIS) on Thursday, May 29, 2008, represented a major milestone in the school’s history, and significantly marked the beginning of a new era in the arts for the school.

school community – past and present – has been galvanized; the school’s image and reputation have been substantially enhanced, and the awareness of an educational facility with vision, drive, and ambition has been raised within the Hong Kong community as a whole.”

Situated within the school’s campus, overlooking the Hong Kong hills and scenic Aberdeen waterfront, the HK $100 million complex comprises eight spacious multi-purpose art, drama, and music rooms, all of which have wall-to-wall sound proofing and are fully equipped with student-friendly equipment and furnishings. The main attraction of the centre is the 604-seat masterpiece auditorium, which features a retractable solid Canadian maple wood stage with an orchestra pit, as well as state-of-the-art sound, lighting, and technical equipment. Prominent guests present at the opening ceremony included The Honorable Dr. Leo Lee, philanthropist, who, as the Centre’s most generous donor, the complex is named after; The Honorable Michael Suen, JP and Secretary of Education; Dr. Stanley Ho, world-renowned entrepreneur; and The Honorable Gerry Campbell, Consul General of Canada.

Students, staff, governors, parents, and friends of the school were all involved in fundraising activities, ranging from donations and charity balls to parent association supported events. The campaign to raise money became a common goal, which consequently further united all members of the school community.

The idea for the arts complex was conceived in 2004 as a response to the growing interest in the arts and the wish to further promote the school’s growth and development. After recognizing how much their students would benefit from a facility dedicated to music, drama, dance, and the visual arts, CDNIS embarked on an exciting and eventful four-year journey that culminated in the largest arts development ever to take place within a school facility in Hong Kong.

CDNIS is extremely thankful to the overwhelming support from the whole of its tight-knit school community, without which this project may not have succeeded.

The school is proud that the facility, with its original design and innovative features, will present CDNIS students with an enhanced arts education, while incorporating the school’s other strengths—linking current media technology centre to new production facilities and enabling students to learn a new range of skills as well as develop their creativity.

The Leo Lee Arts Centre will not only improve the students’ learning environment but will contribute to the greater community, providing Hong Kong with a unique cultural venue in which to showcase spectacular performances and conduct events. As many as 500 hours each year will be allocated exclusively to local schools and other organizations for the use of the Centre as an artistic venue.

CDNIS was established in 1991 to meet the demand for schools in Hong Kong offering a North American curriculum, and has evolved from a small campus of 81 students to a student body of over 1700 students representing 30 different nationalities today.

Now an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, CDAs Dave McMaster, head of school, explains, “When the idea NIS is offering the IB Diploma Programme with its first DP graduof raising a hundred million dollars to build a world-class perform- ates currently in grade 11. The school expects to receive authorizaing arts centre for a non-profit school in Aberdeen on Hong Kong tion for the PYP in spring 2009 and the MYP in 2010. With over island was first mooted, it was greeted with all the awe and skep- 160 teachers, it also continues to offer the Ontario curriculum, ticism of the proverbial pipe dream. But the dream has become granting credits for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. an amazing reality in a relatively short space of time. And in the process of raising the funds to realize this ambitious project, our For more information, please visit www.cdnis.edu.hk.

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Our ongoing focus is on empowering the students and supporting them to make their projects sustainable.

Want to know about the upcoming Global Issues Network Conference??

Please register online ASAP!!

earcosgin.ning.com

Hosted by International School Bangkok Deadline is December 8 for the first round.

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50

TCIS Celebrates Years of World-Class International Education

At 50th Homecoming held Oct.10, alumni and current students/faculty mixed for an evening of brass band music, barbeque and the best fireworks in town.

Taejeon Christian International School (TCIS) marked its 50th founding anniversary in 2008 with a series of international events that culminated in the October 10th Homecoming Weekend Celebration. Alumni from the 1950s and 1960s mixed with the current students, and dignitaries representing Korea and U.S. attended the event. TCIS traces its small beginning to 1958 when U.S. missionaries serving south of Seoul founded the school in the centrally located city of Daejeon. This was a time when foreigners numbered very few in the country devastated by the Korean War. Over the past half-century period, the school evolved into a top-quality international school serving 600 students within a Christian environment. TCIS is Korea’s only international school offering the IB program at all three levels of elementary, middle, and high school years. In its 50th founding year, TCIS also consolidated relocation plans to move the school to a new state-of-the-art campus to be built in Daedok Techno Valley in Daejeon.

Korea. In January, the school hosted a first-of-its kind symposium “Teaching IB Education in Christian Schools.” IB Christian school heads from Asia-Pacific, the U.S., and Africa gathered to share their experiences. In May 2008, the school hosted another unique symposium honoring the history of Christian missionaries to Korea. The event reunited the descendants of Korea’s early U.S. missionaries who arrived in the 19th century. In June, in-Korea alumni gathered on campus for a celebration dinner. In July, the school hosted a three-day U.S. reunion in North Carolina that brought together many of the alumni and teachers of the early years.

Headmaster Thomas J. Penland said, “we take pride and are honored to have been a part of the early missionary movement in South Korea that assisted with providing medical and educational services to Korea in a time so desperate for the nation. We continue to be passionate about our role in assisting with the internationalization and globalization of Daejeon and Korea as we enter the 21st century.”

The school also believes in reaching out in educating globally responsible citizens of the world. Dr. Penland added, “we look forward to continuing to partner together with various institutions and friends in Korea and throughout Asia in continuing our purpose of providing world-class, quality Christian international education here in Korea.” The school partnered with the Korean government for the 2006 opening of Gyeonggi Suwon International School (GSIS), a growing school of 450 students. Every year, TCIS high school students participate in mission trips to developing parts of Asia.

Throughout 2008, TCIS hosted celebrations in and outside

Former Headmaster Dr. James Wooton (1970-1996) flew from U.S. to join current headmaster Dr. Thomas J. Penland (right) for celebration.

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Wheelchair Basketball Middle School assembly

Members of the BIS COPs group with school Interim Director Chris Akin planting trees to symbolise the commencement of the project

Wheelchair basketball Autograph

Empower, Achieve, Inspire

wheelchair BB looking at leg

The International Paralympic Committee website scrolls the words “Empower, Achieve, Inspire.” These words so aptly capture the spirit of the paralympians. All students at United World College of South East Asia were given the chance to see and understand that paralympians are empowered; they have achieved and how fortunate we were — they inspired and united our entire community. It was quite simply a great week.

In addition to this and as part of their preparation for the Beijing Paralympics beginning September 6, the teams played a five-game tournament, and although Great Britain made a clean sweep of the series, the interest and appreciation of the large audiences never waned. The wider Singapore community was treated to an athletic and strong display of this very physical game of wheelchair basketball.

The paralympic wheelchair basketball teams from Great Britain and South Africa visited the college and changed the perception of most in our community as regards physical disabilities. The focus of conversation between students and their parents was on what the athletes were able to do, not once about what they were unable to do.

We always knew this visit would have an impact on the students; however, few realized the impact we observed. We wish the two teams all the very best in their endeavors and to thank them earnestly for the contribution they have made to open our eyes, minds, and hearts. No amount of bookwork could have achieved the tiniest fraction of this, and I doubt any of us will ever forget this unique experience.

The paralympians gave their time freely as they led assemblies for every grade level of the college and conducted wheelchair basketball clinics during the students’ physical education lessons.

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Susan Edwards and Brian Ó Maoileoin

Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race 2008 For most people, the thought of doing physical activity on any given day for more than one hour is a crazy idea. On 27 July, I did what more people think is absolute madness. I competed in the 12th Annual QuiksilverEdition Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race, a 32 mile paddle between the islands of Molokai and Oahu in Hawaii using only my arms to propel myself forward on an 18 foot paddleboard in either a prone or kneeling position.

In the months leading into the event, I was driven by the thought of competing in a race that is not only physically and mentally challenging but also a race that brings together upwards of 150 people from all over the world who share a common goal of getting across a challenging piece of water as quickly and as safely as possible. One of the highlights of the event is to sit on the island of Molokai the night before the race and hear the stories of why everyone is there. For some, it’s to be the first across the channel. For others, it’s for a different purpose. To paddle in memory of loved ones. To raise money for people less fortunate that themselves or simply to say they have done the best they can at a physically enduring event. I did the event for all of these reasons. I wanted to try and win, I paddled with the thought of my family always at the forefront of my mind and I was trying to what I could to raise awareness for the Non-Government Organisation, SurfAid International who do a remarkable job helping the people living in the Mentawai Islands located off Western Sumatra Indonesia.

To fly to the island of Molokai takes less than twenty minutes. To paddle back can take anything from five to nine hours. I was hoping to do it in as close as five hours as possible but many things would have to come together for this to happen. Along with fatigue and sunburn, I had to contend with unfavourable currents, container ships and other competitors who were trying to get to the finish line faster than I wanted to.

phins. There were also stories of people seeing manta rays and whales plus one paddler who saw a tiger shark eating a turtle.

On the morning of the race traditional Hawaiian blessings were given, everyone wished each other luck and we all moved nervously into the water to prepare for the starting gun. As soon as the starter’s gun fired, everyone started off on their journeys and it was not long until I settled into a comfortable rhythm of paddling.

Despite there being over 150 paddlers in the water with accompanied support boats, I did not speak to another paddler during the entire race. It was me and the ocean. Paddle, paddle, glide.

Paddle, paddle, glide. This went on for five hours and nineteen minutes. The feeling of being in the ocean, the quiet and the physical pain which grows as the race gets longer makes for an unforgettable memory.

People ask what I think about whilst paddling for such a long period of time. Most of the time I think about paddling. I make sure my stroke is efficient, I try and ride the ocean swells for as long as possible and I try to enjoy every single stroke, even when it hurts so badly that I never want to get onto a paddleboard again. I also think about my family and those dam Wiggles songs my children love so much which are forever etched into my subconscious.

Fortunately I was able to finish the event in second place which I am very happy about. I am also happy that I was able to share my joy with the other paddlers as they finished paddling and more importantly raise further awareness for SurfAid International by doing something that I love and specially to inspire others.

There was also an amazing amount of marine life to look at and be absolutely scared stiff of. I saw flying fish, turtles and dol-19-

Jackson English Head of Grade 2 UWCSEA East Campus

A Celebration of the Arts at NIST Bangkok, Thailand – NIST (the New International School of Thailand) has just completed its 2008 Arts Week. Students, parents, and staff experienced a wide range of performing arts through a series of workshops held September 15 – 17, and which culminated with an assembly sharing the week’s results.

NIST invited special guests, Doug Goodkin and Kofi Gbolonyo from universities in the USA to lead the music sessions and speak to parents about the importance of the arts in education today. Doug Goodkin, from the San Francisco School of Arts, is an author, music educator, jazz musician, and expert in the Orff Schulwerk method of music education. Kofi Gbonlonyo is a lecturer in African Music Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a national of Ghana and an expert in African music and dance.

Guest teachers or NIST’s own teaching staff led other creative and dramatic arts workshops.

ences for the students. And everyone was very impressed by the performances at the final assembly.

NIST is an IB World school located in the heart of Bangkok.

The IB curriculum is a holistic curriculum that develops students as rounded, reflective, and responsible individuals.

Students from year levels six to nine enjoyed three days of workshops, which covered the range of performing arts. Students selected these sessions from a list of 23 workshops in music, dance, drama, visual art and IT arts which included pottery, painting, mega murals, sticky tape sculpture, silent moving making, video and animated movie making, digital photography, the art of improvisation, African drumming, hip hop dance, and stepping.

One of the year 6 students said, “I like Arts Week because it is fun and we get to learn new things we didn’t know before. I would like it to happen again.” A student in year 7 observed, “I got to do creative things and have fun. We learned many new things having so many workshops to choose from.”

Parents also enjoyed a special evening session where the two dynamic, inspiring guest teachers talked about the importance of the arts in education. All in all, it was a week of wonderful experi-20-

NIST Makes its Stand: Stand Up Against Poverty Day Bangkok, Thailand – NIST marked World Poverty Day on Friday, October 17. The whole school day was dedicated to action in order to empower students to help those who are less well off and to teach that with individual action, however big or small, each student can make a difference.

Students had planned several activities, starting with their arrival at school in the morning when a collection was taken for the Human Development Centre in Bangkok of both clothing and baht donations. Over B68,000 was raised and 24 bags of clothes collected.

Last year, NIST’s secondary students stood up to poverty and formed a message. This year, we wanted that message to go deeper and be more meaningful to more students. As Mr. Leslie, NIST headmaster, said at the end of the day, “It was a very good experience and had a real impact on NIST students’ perception and understanding of people in poverty. “ NIST is a fully accredited IB World school located in the heart of Bangkok. It is a “truly international school” and is also one of the few offering the Primary Years, Middle Years and IB Diploma programmes.

This was followed by a day without air-conditioning or light in the classrooms. Many classroom studies took place outside, reflecting areas of poverty where there are no school buildings for children, let alone tables, chairs, lights, or air-conditioners.

Snack time and lunch were marked by basic food stuffs—again allowing our students to feel empathy with those children around the world who are lucky to get a meal, let alone have a choice of what to eat. NIST students were offered fruit and pancakes for snack and a meal of fried rice or pasta with sauce. In addition, only water was available to drink, no juices, milk, or sports drinks.

To mark the end of the day, at 2:15 pm, all of NIST’s 1,410 students made a stand—they stood up for two minutes of silence and listened to a report written by students on poverty.

The elementary student council even came up with a list of activities that the parents could do at home or office—to go without.

These suggestions included going without a maid for the day, no fast foods or foods that can be delivered, prepare something simple for dinner, use lights and air conditioners sparingly.

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Bali International School Students Strive to Reduce Carbon Emissions September 26, 2008

“Take responsibility for your actions, we are.” That is the message that Bali International School students are trying to send to the community in Bali.

The Bali International School Carbon Offset Projects (BIS COPs) is a group of senior students from the school who are committed to reducing the carbon footprint of Bali’s community. The group aims to achieve this by supporting and initiating sustainable forest rehabilitation projects in order to take responsibility for our use and misuse of Greenhouse Gases.

but also provide great learning opportunities to our students.”

The BIS COPs group will soon be opening an official website that will contain more information on their goals and activities.

If any business, organization, or individual is interested in aiding the project, please e-mail biscops@baliis.net. More information on other service learning projects conducted by BIS students can be obtained by emailing pmuir@baliis.net

“We are doing this because we have recognized what we are doing to the resources of the world and that they are finite. We need to do something about it as soon as possible. This is the message we are trying to spread,” said Rinaldhy Oosterman, a BIS COPs spokesperson.

BIS COPs is aiming to raise awareness and funds that will be used to support projects that will offset carbon emissions. An example of a project is the Friends of the National Park Foundation (FNPF) forest rehabilitation project in Nusa Penida.

According to BIS teacher and Global Citizenship Programme Coordinator Peter Muir, BIS students are encouraged to participate in such activities as a part of the school’s curriculum. “This is one of many service learning projects planned and initiated by the students that fit in with the aims of the school’s Global Citizenship Programme. Such projects not only benefit the community, -22-

Paralympics Athlete Motivates Students, Teachers at International School Beijing As the Beijing Paralympics got under way in early September, the International School of Beijing was proud to host Paralympic silver medalist John Register for a day of thought-provoking and inspiring interchange. Register works for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), where he manages the Paralympic Academy Youth Outreach Program and directs the USOC’s Paralympic Military Program. He had traveled to Beijing with a group of 25 students from his Paralympic Youth Outreach Program, who came, along with their parents and their teachers, to watch their heroes compete through the two weeks of the games.

When he was a young man, Register was a three-time AllAmerican track-and-field star for the University of Arkansas, and he twice qualified for the US Olympic trials. In 1994, however, his Olympic hopes were demolished when a hurdling injury led to the amputation of his leg. His determination to succeed found new channels, and he went on to re-learn athletic competition at the championship level. He competed in the Atlanta Paralympics as a swimmer; four years later he returned to track and field, claiming the silver medal in the long jump at Sydney in 2000. It was a long way round to Olympic greatness, but he got there.

During his day-long visit to ISB, Register spoke to students at all grade levels; in the evening, he gave a community forum to a wide audience of parents and neighbors. For the students, teachers, and parents in attendance, Register brought the Paralympic experience to life, with vivid tales from his own life story and engaging images of the unstoppable champions who compete in these games.

He encouraged his listeners to understand, as he had, that adversity can be met through the power of faith, family, and friends. Register believes in the ripple effect of personal inspiration—that each individual has the power to inspire another, who will in turn in-

spire others. He advised students to find in their classmates all the potential that can be developed, rather than to waste energy in making comparisons.

The question-and-answer sessions that followed each of Register’s presentations proved to be unusually lively, as the students’ forthright questions elicited colorful and candid responses. Teachers were able to import the tone and the message of Register’s presentation into their classrooms with follow-up activities and reflections. John Register’s visit to ISB is an event that will long reverberate with students, teachers, and families.

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Paper and Pencil = Stone Tablet and Chisel

The New Tools: Blogs, Thumb Drives, and Digital Cameras

As the curve of technological advances becomes ever steeper, and innovations are born with increasing frequency, the tools available to teachers and students are growing exponentially.

These tools can be tremendous assets, particularly when teaching students language arts. Isn’t language arts the study of written and oral communication? Doesn’t this crucial subject area focus on sending and receiving messages? Today’s world is filled with a dizzying array of media, and messages are sent and received in many different ways. We are no longer simply preparing students to read and write letters, newspaper articles, and traditional texts.

Consider the amount and variety of modern forms of communication: emails, text messages, websites, television, instant messaging, blogs, and wikis. Traditional texts are still an important part of modern media, but are we adequately preparing students to create and cope with the many forms of communication that they encounter in the average day?

Undoubtedly, a language arts curriculum should be grounded in solid reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Students can certainly practice and develop these skills through the use of pencils, paper, and books, but shouldn’t they also be interacting with more modern forms of communication?

My grade four team at Thai-Chinese International School (TCIS) discussed these types of questions at great length. We asked ourselves what we could do to better equip our students for the future. We realized that we needed to get our kids creating content for the web. Normally, students were creating written works for an audience that included their teachers, classmates, and parents. My team understood that publishing student work online could grant students a wider audience, and in turn, students might begin to place more value on their written work.

After scouring the internet for student-based resources, we discovered the perfect website: www.think.com. The website is offered by the Oracle Education Foundation and is a free, password-protected, safe website that allows students to create their own web pages. Only teachers and students have access to the site, which aids in keeping the web spaces safe. There are no advertisements and all obscene words (in multiple languages) are automatically blocked. Students must receive parental permission to use the site, and nearly all of our students did receive approval from their parents.

I’m doing during the weekend. Schools around the world are using www.think.com connecting our students to students in countries across the globe. Students often excitedly come in to class in the morning to announce that they’ve received messages from India, Australia, the United States, England, China, or countless other nations.

A few years ago, our lower school director, John Jenkes asked our team to read an article about portfolios in order to start a discussion about our use of portfolios. The article included a section related to the concept of eportfolios that really intrigued our team.

We liked the idea of students storing their writing electronically, making it much easier to share. A discussion developed about the idea of storing our eportfolios online using Think.com. We realized that if students kept their pieces of writing on their websites, then they could be easily accessed from home and at school. Parents would be able to view their work anytime along with their grandparents in Taiwan (if students shared their usernames and passwords with them).

Another benefit of students’ publishing/storing their writing online was that it would expose their writing to a much larger audience. Occasionally, I’d been disheartened to see a student take a paper they’d written, one that I’d graded and returned, and throw that paper into the garbage without bothering to share it with their parents. I realized that some students placed little value on their writing. My team hoped that publishing their work online for the world to read would help them to find the worth in their work.

The idea worked! Students began to put more time and effort into their writing in hopes of attracting positive comments from other teachers and students around the world. Their writing suddenly obtained a much greater sense of worth. Students stopped putting their writing in the garbage can, and started putting it on the World Wide Web instead.

The grade four teachers requested that students purchase portable “thumb drives” to store and transport their works in progStudents are able to create their own personalized web pages ress from one computer to another. Students proudly wore these to that include text, photos, video, and multimedia. They are able to school and compared their drives with their friends. It was increcreate “votes” allowing visitors to their page to vote on a question dible the amount of enthusiasm that they displayed by using this generated by the student such as “what is your favorite subject?” new tool. By our second year, the cost of thumb drives were half as or “what food do you like best?” Students and teachers can leave much as the previous year while the storage was double. Students messages and comments for each other—I sometimes receive mes- carried around their thumb drives, which they filled with music, sages asking for clarification about assignments or asking me how documents, and videos. When I used educational songs in class, -24-

Continued from page 24 they asked me to place a copy on their thumb drives, so they could enjoy them at home.

The next step for the modernization of our curriculum was to consider the idea of students generating multimedia such as videos and narrated slide shows. We paired students together and had them write biographies about each other. Next, each student was asked to bring at least ten photos of themselves into school on their thumb drives. Lessons were given on the use of Windows Movie Maker, a free video-editing program. Students used the program to create a narrated video slide show of their partner. Their written biographies became a script that they read into a microphone and they inserted the photos of their partners to accompany the narration. Their finished videos were then posted on their www.think. com websites for parents and students around the world to enjoy.

school in Texas to create a cultural exchange between our school in Thailand and their school in the United States. We are planning on linking our students together in a kind of online pen pal format.

Instead of waiting weeks and weeks for letters to be delivered to the opposite side of the globe, our students will have access to messages that are delivered instantly. Instead of communicating with our partner school once or twice a year, our students will be able to interact weekly or even daily if they choose. The potential for the sharing of two very different cultures is truly thrilling. If all goes well, we may even create assignments for our students to collaborate with their “cyber partners.”

Technological tools are getting faster and cheaper, and the storage is growing. The prices of notebook computers are dropping, and even cheap cell phones are now able to access the internet. Within a few years, every student in our class will have the internet in their pocket. Are we ready for that day?

Our program continues to evolve and improve, and we are seeking more ways to integrate modern technological tools into our language arts curriculum. This year, we are pairing with a

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Orff Schulwerk at the United Nations International School in Hanoi During the week of September 8, the United Nations International School in Hanoi (UNIS) had the pleasure of hosting guest teacher and musician, Doug Goodkin. Doug is a world-renowned expert in the style of music pedagogy known as ‘Orff Schulwerk,’ which is also practiced by David Cameron, the MYP music specialist at the school. His time at the UNIS campus energized staff, students and parents alike.

Orff Schulwerk is a respected music teaching process that was developed by Carl Orff (of ‘Carmina Burana’ fame) and Gunild Keetman in Germany after World War II. Carl Orff believed that music was an elemental force inside of all of us and that the role of the music teacher was to draw forth students’ innate musicality through games, movement, carefully chosen material, and light-hearted play. His ideas have been enthusiastically accepted by music teachers in Europe, America, Australia, and Japan, and ‘The Schulwerk’s’ emphasis on process rather than product is perfectly suited to modern teaching concepts such as Jay McTighe’s ‘Backward Design’ and the IB Middle Years Programme ‘Design Cycle.’

the school were given the opportunity to take part in two afternoon workshops which drew links between language instruction, mathematics, and music education and which were, perhaps most importantly, fun! It was a real treat for teachers from all subject areas to get the opportunity to view their subject from a musical perspective.

Parents at the school came to a parent evening where they learned more about the Orff Schulwerk process and were able to do a bit of music making on their own. Music teachers at the school were able to observe and participate in classes conducted

by Doug, which demonstrated the most important aspects of Orff Schulwerk.

Doug’s visit to the school gave a boost to the performing arts program and helped all the members of our school community better understand the Orff Schulwerk approach to music. As UNIS begins its 20th year of service to our students in Hanoi, we hope that his trip to our school will continue to inspire students, staff, and parents and that music education continues to remain an integral part of the UNIS community.

While Doug was on the UNIS campus, he worked with stuMore information on Doug Goodkin and Orff Schulwerk can dents in all grade levels. He emphasized movement and direct music making and creation and thrilled our middle school stu- be found at: www.douggoodkin.com dents with his lessons on blues and improvisation. All faculty at -26-

Learning 2.008 – Teachers Teaching Teachers and a Whole Lot More

On September 18, 2008, almost 600 teachers and leaders from all over Southeast Asia (and beyond) gathered on the Hongqiao Campus of Shanghai Community International Schools to tackle issues related to the future of education. As the name implies, there was a wide range of topics that considered the future of education and how emerging technology tools can help pave way to a brighter future for all of the children we serve. The sequel to Learning 2.0 BETA last year, this conference built on the foundation of the first and expanded its offerings to include teachers from an even broader range of age levels and disciplines. Additionally, many school heads and principals joined us to provide more leadership strands in the overall conference.

David Warlick, one of the six headline speakers at the conference, summed it up in a blog post to the conference website: “How does the future find me? In what condition does it find me? Am I intellectually, emotionally, attitudinally, oriented to accept, evaluate, adopt, and reject the future that finds me? I think that this is part of our challenge at Learning 2.008, that we must discover the formula that unlocks futurereadiness in all teachers.”

Other headline speakers included David Jakes, Clarence Fisher, Ewan McIntosh, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Alan Levine, Jeff Utecht, and Brian Crosby. Search any of these names on the internet and you’ll find the results synonymous with leading edge thinking and practices in the art of technology and learning. Teachers all carried laptops throughout the classrooms of the SCIS host campus as they listened to these key speakers and their own colleagues deliver sessions on learning and technology concepts that covered a wide spectrum of topics. A large number of recruited students from all the coordinating Shanghai campuses were duly named the “Geek Squad” and they assisted conference participants and presenters with all of their technological needs throughout the weekend. One of the key features of the conference included sessions set aside as “un-conference” meetings that allowed for any topic to be proposed and discussed. All of the thoughts of participants were also captured electronically on the pages of the conference social networking website. Thus, the collaboration continues long after the last day of the conference as the site continues to thrive throughout the year ahead.

vation at the International School of Bangkok), Michael Lambert (teacher at CISS), Andy Torris (assistant superintendent at SAS), Simon May (technology teacher at SAS), and David Gran (technology teacher at SAS). Joining the committee this year were Michael Boll (teacher at CISS), Chris McAnally (campus technology coordinator at SCIS Hongqiao), Matt Seigal (ICT subject leader at BISS), Samran Wiriyaphong (technology teacher at SCIS Hongqiao), and Tim Chan (technology integration coordinator at SCIS).

Also new to the group and assisting in the days leading up to and during the conference were Wayne Voogt (classroom technology integration specialist at SCIS Hongqiao), Mikey McKillip (classroom technology integration specialist at SCIS Pudong), Steve Clark (campus technology coordinator at SCIS Pudong), and Emily Zurfluh (pre-school and IT teacher at SCIS Pudong). There were also countless others who contributed to the success of the conference, and special appreciation goes to the finance and operations staff at the SCIS Hongqiao Campus, the finance staff at CISS, and the transportation coordination at SAS. It is also important to thank the board members, headmasters, and/or superintendents of each of the participating schools for their continued support of this conference.

The Learning 2.0 conference series has been jointly funded and sponsored by two key regional organizations. EARCOS, the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools, and ACAMIS, the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools both share common strategic plans that call for increased attention to learning initiatives and technology integration amongst the schools they serve. Representatives from each organization were on hand at the opening and closing ceremonies to greet and inspire participants. For more information on the Learning 2.0 conference series, you can join us on the conference website at: http://learning2cn. ning.com/.

The Learning 2.0 conference series, now in its second year, was born out of a multi-school collaboration in Shanghai. Originally discussed five years ago at a joint meeting of technology directors from five schools, this year’s conference was jointly coordinated by Shanghai Community International Schools (SCIS), Concordia International School Shanghai (CISS), Shanghai American School (SAS), and British International School Shanghai (BISS). Core committee members included returning members Jon Zurfluh (head of school, SCIS Pudong), Michael Weber (recently retired director of technology at CISS), Jeff Utecht (originally from SAS, but now residing and inspiring technology inno-27-

Jon P. Zurfluh Head of School, SCIS Pudong

EARCOS Administrative Assistants’ Institute October 10 and 11, 2008 Beijing, China

The EARCOS Administrative Assistants’ Institute was held October 10 and 11, 2008, at the Traders Hotel in Beijing, China. Twentynine administrative assistants to heads of school, working in 21 schools in Southeast Asia, were on hand for the event. It was an exciting opportunity for these important members of our administrative teams to meet, share similar experiences, and develop collegial relationships.

Dr. Mary K. (Candy) Fresacher, head teacher of English for Advertising at the Werbeakademie in Vienna, facilitated the institute with discussion of communication skills; intrapersonal and interpersonal emotional intelligence; relationship building; time and stress management; team building; and conflict resolution management. We would like to thank Dr. Fresacher and commend her expertise in this area of school leadership.

Dr. Tom Hawkins, EARCOS board member, welcomed Dr. Fresacher and the institute participants, stressing the core roles the assistants play as they come in contact with all members of their schools’ community while maintaining the smooth management of the head of schools’ offices. Once the institute was underway, AAs embraced the topics that were presented and eagerly took part in collegial discussion of issues that arise as part of their daily duties. At the end of the two days, they readily agreed to continue discussion of topics via the EARCOS network, which will enable them to dialogue and share principles of good practice with all AAs throughout the EARCOS region.

Many thanks to the AAI advisory committee members Esther Moo, Macky Regino, Sophie Tsai, Stella Valentino, and Amy Guan for their assistance in bringing this institute to fruition, and to EARCOS and Dr. Krajczar for his enthusiastic support! Additionally, we would like to give warm thanks to Louisa Chen, accounting manager at ISB, for her assistance with the registration process.

Sally Choy-International School of Singapore Jocelyn Dorai-United World College of South East Asia Mary Ann Drakulovic-International School of Beijing Juana Elizalde-Chinese International School Ma. Clarissa Jang D’Estacio-International School of Manila Atsumi Fujii-Tokyo International School Yoshiko Fukushima-Tokyo International School Amy Guan-Beijing BISS International School Lily Guo-Beijing BISS International School Racquel Haverkamp-International School of Phnom Penh Edna Lagunday-Brent International School, Subic Kitty Lau-Hong Kong Academy Esther Moo-International School of Kuala Lumpur Ida Morris-TEDA International School Marissa Narvaez-Brent International School, Baguio Quynh Hoa Nguyen-UN International School of Hanoi Macky Regino- Brent International Schools, Manila Pamela Rickard-International School of Beijing Christina Song-International School of Tianjin Ann Tan-Singapore American School Jamie Touttavong-Vientiane International School Sophie Tsai-Taipei American School Stella Valentino-Western Academy of Beijing Paramy Vilayvong-Vientiane International School Ma. Luisa Villano-Cebu International School Aki Yoshikawa-Canadian Academy Japan

Below is a list of all the AAs who attended the EARCOS Administrative Assistants’ Institute Beijing. We look forward to the next AA Institute.

Candy Fresacher-B.A., M.A., Consultant Vitz Baltero-EARCOS Armie Marie Bausas-International School of Manila Yoko Chiba-Canadian Academy Japan -28-

Mary Ann Drakulovic International School Beijing

Weekend Workshop with Kathy Gardner February 16-17, 2007 and September 19-20, 2008

Large Group, teachers from BKK, Japan, China, and Korea Educators from various parts of Asia met at Thai-Chinese International School in Bangkok, Thailand for an EARCOS sponsored workshop presented by Kathy Gardner, international consultant with the Instructional Training Company. The topic was “Development of Quality Assessments Aligned to School Standards.” Over the course of two invigorating days on February 16 and 17, forty teachers and administrators explored what makes curriculum align with their school’s standards.

This workshop examined a five step process for developing assessments that accurately measure the school’s established standards. In the course, participants learned 1) Assessment vs. evaluation; 2) Levels of assessment; 3) Types of assessment and their appropriate use; 4) The concept of backward design; and 5) The five step assessment development process. This collaborative, ‘hands-on’ approach implemented in the workshop was met with rave approval by the participants. Participants were given ample time to discuss the importance of essential questioning and how this will tie into the assessment of students. Small groups were formed by teachers instructing common grade levels and departments. Teachers carefully processed how their style of instruction must reach all styles of how students learn. Also examined was the thinking process of students will retain information using the theories of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Teachers were given information and proven strategies of how to organize classroom instruction to meet the expected assessment results. It was determined by the administrators who attended the workshop that Kathy’s message contained applicable instructional strategies that teachers should use to maximize student’s thinking so the most effective student learning will take place.

3 teachers from TCIS creating Essential Questions clarified and discussed by the participants. The large group then worked in small groups of grade levels or departments to create essential questions. This was followed by the instruction of using the complex thinking skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy as the basis to achieve learning results in writing the Skills, Contents, Learning Activities, and Assessments in curriculum maps. Included was the weaving in of Expected School-wide Learning Results into the assessment results. A large group discussion followed in the instruction of where to cite standards and benchmarks into the curriculum maps. The day ended with small groups creating T-charts to illustrate what their grade levels/departments need to do to articulate individual maps into school-wide curriculum maps including consistent, common language and understanding.

The second day was spent applying what was learned on the first day, and the examination of how assessments are established in achieving benchmarks to show how curricular standards are met. It is noted that benchmarks are evaluated in summative assessments, while formative assessments show the teacher how to measure learning results. Kathy advised that schools may want to differentiate map designs to include the evaluation process in addition to the assessment process in building curriculum maps.

Kathy willingly offers her vast knowledge and expertise as a curriculum consultant by making herself available to answer teacher’s questions during the workshop and after the workshop has ended and questions arise while developing curriculum maps.

She once again received some of the top evaluations from the participants who attended this EARCOS sponsored workshop.

It is quoted from one of the participants of Kathy’s presentaOn September 19 and 20 of 2008, Kathy returned to TCIS to tion: “Kathy has a unique way of coordinating the best of Mcpresent greater details in “Building and Following a Great Cur- Tighe’s Understanding by Design, Heidi Hayes-Jacob’s curriculum riculum Map.” This workshop was attended by 103 teachers and mapping using higher order of thinking strategies, and Morzono’s administrators from the Bangkok area. Mrs. Gardner instructed standards-based classrooms into a process that is not difficult for the group in detailing components in writing Essential Questions, teachers to understand and readily implement into their classroom and linking the vision of the end result as the tool to design the instruction.” Kathy Gardner does have a special way to communicurriculum map backwards. An extensive explanation of how to cate complex details into no nonsense, direct approach. select cognitive action verbs found in Bloom’s Taxonomy was -29-

Weekend Workshop with Nancy Doda

Teaching the Best Practice Way: Classrooms of Success for All September 13-14, 2008 On September 13th and 14th the American School in Japan hosted 40 teachers from around the region at Teaching the Best Practice Way: Classrooms of Success for All, a workshop focused on teaching and learning in the middle years. The middle school focus attracted a diverse group of attendees from Japan, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, and China.

Our presenter, Nancy Doda, not only facilitated our learning, she inspired us to examine our practice so that every student we teach can reach his or her full potential. Nancy is an author, professor, and John H. Lounsbury Award winner and is considered to be one of the top middle level experts in the US. She has worked with hundreds of schools and districts all over the world. She has presented at the National Middle School Association Annual Conference for a number of years. Nancy is currently a full-time professional development facilitator, keynote speaker, workshop leader, and author.

This two-day workshop was designed to help educators better understand and more effectively implement effective classroom instruction in the middle grades. Drawing on an emerging synthesis in the field regarding what constitutes “best practice,” Nancy engaged participants in model practices with opportunities to examine the underlying theory and related research for each method or approach studied. As Nancy modeled strategies, we became a community of learners dedicated to working together to improve our practice. As one participant said, “I want to inspire my students to ‘want to learn’ in the same way [Nancy] encouraged me to ‘want to improve’ my teaching.”

Over the two days, we became more knowledgeable about best practice strategies of differentiation as well as the critical role of multiple intelligences and recent brain research. Nancy

Who knew rolling our ear lobes could affect our learning? Participants learn kinesthetically about the latest brain research. made sure that we had the opportunity to experience “teaching the best practice way” from the perspective of students.

The questions we sought to answer were: * What kind of classroom culture supports student engagement, investment, and learning? * How can teachers develop such a supportive classroom culture? * What instructional principles define “best practice” teaching? * What methods and approaches are exemplars of “best practice” teaching? * What approaches are particularly effective with a varied and diverse population of learners?

As always at EARCOS weekend workshops, the participants particularly valued the dialogue with colleagues and the networking with like-minded teachers and administrators from other schools. Several commented that it was the best workshop they had ever attended.

What Makes a Mathematical Task Worthwhile?

Learning to Think Deeply at International School Bangkok “Who wants to spend a weekend in Bangkok? raise your hand!

Who wants to spend a weekend in Bangkok doing math? Wait a minute, where are you going?” You may be wondering who chose math and why,—well, read on.

ISB hosted an EARCOS sponsored workshop led by Rebecca Bogert on September 27 and 28. Rebecca is a former teacher and principal who now, after extensive work in reform math and science movements, leads professional development programs to support these paradigm shifts. The workshop topic that caught our attention? “What Makes a Mathematical Task Worthwhile: Deepening and Challenging Student Understanding.”

First, we must have agreed that student understanding needs to be “deepened and challenged” or we wouldn’t have been there.

Our first question was, “What criteria must a mathematical task meet to be considered deep and challenging?” Rebecca led us

through a series of activities throughout both days, which pushed our own understanding of mathematics from a personal perspective. For example, who would have thought that asking 15 adults to model 15% on a 6 x 10 grid would have generated so much discourse and so many proud presenters of their unique models?

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Continued from page 30 How cool to tap into that inner mathematician in all of us.

ing of percents and opened the door for further connections to fractions and decimals.

These activities were coupled with opportunities to evaluate mathematical tasks as one of four categories; memorization and procedures without connections, on the lower end of cognitive demand, and procedures with connections and ‘doing math’ tasks, on the higher end of cognitive demand. So where does the 15% problem lie on this spectrum? Depending on how it was presented and facilitated by the teacher, it could have been a lower or higher end cognitive task. This led us to a case analysis by a teacher who had presented and facilitated this task in two different ways. We identified the changes in student engagement and thinking when the teacher employed the following:

The final key component for the weekend was looking at student self assessment tools which prompt deeper thinking and greater understanding of mathematical tasks. Some sample measures:

* Redirected student questions by encouraging them to look more specifically at the information (in this case a diagram) that they were given. * Gave students time to struggle without intervening. * Asking more questions such as, “How can that information help you find the answer?” * Students shared work and justifications, taking time to analyze all strategies

Our goals this weekend were to learn the characteristics of high cognitive demand tasks and how the cognitive demand can change through teaching techniques. Both were well modeled and practiced. We were given a few more tools and a few more nudges toward that paradigm shift which will allow us to bring out the inner mathematicians in our students. It made for a good weekend in Bangkok.

* “I justify why ideas and answers do or don’t work.” * “I use multiple representations–models, diagrams, graphs, numbers, words, math symbols, and situations from every day life to make sense of math ideas and problems.” * “I use more than one method to solve problems.” * “I use mistakes to start new learning.”

By Nancy Harris, grade 7 math/science teacher

These techniques led the students to a deeper understand-

Weekend Workshop with Gloria Linder

Scientific Inquiry: Building Deep Understanding of Science Concepts and Processes, September 27-28, 2008 It is not easy to detect the seasons here in Bangkok. Young students listen curiously as you read about cold, snowy days, and can’t imagine days or nights that never end in some parts of the world. Every day is summer to them. How can we meaningfully guide our students to build understanding of complex scientific concepts within the classroom, where actual experience is impossible?

other groups. This process allowed us to extend our understanding and walk away with a solid conceptual base on which we could attach deeper thinking in the future.

Through active engagement, Brownie also gave us a weekend of fun, challenge, and collegiality as we contemplated science and teaching.

An EARCOS weekend workshop with Gloria (Brownie) Linder provided a group of K-12 educators with a series of activities modeling proven strategies that promote scientific inquiry.

Brownie has been involved with professional development for teachers and administrators in science education for over 20 years.

A consultant in the development of FOSS, SEPUP, GEMS, and CHEMS science kits, she has received numerous awards for her cutting edge contributions to the field of science education.

Research shows that understanding and explaining the causes of the seasons can be challenging for people of all ages. Intuition and misconception leads us to think about the distance from the sun as being the sole factor, when in fact it is more complex than that. Using an inquiry approach, Brownie led us through deep thinking to construct our own reasons for the seasons. Building models, graphing temperatures and hours of daylight, constructing and tracing shadows, and numerous other activities led us to construct scientific explanations using evidence and reasoning. Working in collaborative groups, we could communicate our findings to -31-

Weekend Workshop with Maggie Moon Balanced Literacy: Unplugged

On October 4 and 5, Brent International School Manila hosted forty-eight teachers from PK to Grade 6, from EARCOS schools in the Philippines, Korea, and China. Maggie Moon, a former senior staff developer of the Reading Writing Project of Teachers College, Columbia University, presented the workshop.

Day 1 sessions provided an overview of the Balanced Literacy framework and modeled unit development and planning of literacy curriculum for each lower school grade level. Teachers were equipped with strategies for teaching to grade level reading and writing expectations using literature. Maggie modeled practical reading and writing workshops for participants, while delivering a compelling rationale for the benefits of the balanced literacy approach.

During Day 2 sessions, participants received training for conducting reading and writing conferences with students that focused on individual learning needs, while still meeting course expectations. Participants also discussed formal and informal assessment within a reading and writing workshop format. During the workshop, teachers were given the opportunity to take the role of a student and experience some of the strategies they might use in their classes and in conferencing situations.

Group Photo, Day 2 held in Early Learning Center Library Participants were impressed with Maggie’s expertise in literacy instruction, as well as her knowledge of children’s literature.

Some participants commented that they could have extended the workshop for up to a week to learn from Maggie’s experience.

Weekend Workshop with Dr. Susan Clayton

Understanding By Design (Intermediate Training): Foundations of Effective Student Learning

On September 13 and 14, Brent International School Manila hosted the school year’s first EARCOS weekend workshop. Dr. Susan Clayton, the workshop presenter, is a former consultant with Grant Wiggins’ Authentic Education. She led participants into deeper understanding of UBD through a practical, hands-on approach to unit evaluation.

During the sessions, participants looked at the elements of Understanding by Design to establish the need for a connection between learning goals and how people learn. They also designed assessments for understanding and transfer. They used the six facets of understanding to design and evaluate authentic transfer tasks, and to construct strategic learning plans. Dr. Clayton infused recent brain research to establish effective curriculum design, goal setting, and to provide a rationale for her thoughtful approach to unit development.

Group photo, Our Day 1 with Dr. Susan Clayton

Dr. Clayton remained at Brent on Monday to work with the heads of departments and administration on providing effective feedback for curriculum development. The weekend workshop provided an enriching look at improving curriculum and instruction.

Participants left feeling challenged and empowered to teach for understanding.

Dr. Clayton working with principals and faculty -32-

Weekend Workshop with Dr. Deborah Welch

Leadership Tools for Department Heads and Teacher Leaders October 24-25, 2008

Sixty EARCOS-region teachers and administrators gathered in Hong Kong for an EARCOS weekend workshop at Canadian International School (CDNIS) on October 24 and 25. The weekend workshop, “Leadership Tools for Department Heads and Grade Level Leaders,” was facilitated by Dr. Deborah Welch, director of the Teacher Training Center for International Education (based in Cummaquid, MA). The workshop was sponsored by EARCOS, CDNIS, Hong Kong, and the Principals’ Training Center for International School Leadership (PTC).

Dr. Welch set the stage for the workshop by introducing essential questions for effective team leadership and providing an overview of the expected outcomes of the two-day event. She organized the course into a variety of activities that were both engaging and fun. Key topics included: roles and expectations of grade level leaders and department heads, facilitating change, common practices of effective teams, building effective teams, team collaboration for learning, strategies for effective meetings, norms for collaborative work, effective agendas, communication skills, and curriculum leadership. The workshop ended with participants developing actions plans for themselves to put in place on their return to school.

with more tools in their tool-kits and a renewed vision for effective leadership as grade-level leaders and department heads.

CDNIS, Hong Kong, would like to thank Deb Welch for facilitating an excellent workshop, and EARCOS and the PTC for sponsorship of the workshop. With such great results, we are already looking to host additional workshops in the coming year.

Kudos also to Dr. Dick Krajczar and Edzel Drilo of EARCOS for his excellent support in the planning and execution of the workshop.

The weekend workshop was a first for CDNIS, Hong Kong, and was an excellent opportunity for the host school’s teachers to interact with other EARCOS-school teachers and administrators while participating in first-rate professional development.

The school’s goal in hosting the workshop was to add value to important change agents in the school, grade level leaders and department heads. With the school in its third year of the IB journey, much of the responsibility for change leadership lies on the shoulders of teacher leaders. This group of teachers left the workshop -33-

Dean Croy EARCOS Weekend Workshop Coordinator

Weekend Workshop with Dr. Giselle Martin-Kniep

Communities for Learning: A Framework for Improving Schools from Within September 20-21, 2008

Schools, by their very nature, should consistently be model communities focused on learning—places where people know and respect one another and, in turn, honor the wisdom and expertise of their community members and nurture their learning. However, schools are also incredibly complex systems and, in the midst of complexity, focus can, at times, become blurred.

On September 20 and 21, forty-three professional educators representing five countries and eleven international schools gathered at Ruamrudee International School for an EARCOS sponsored workshop. The goal was to explore the notion of professional learning communities under the facilitation of Giselle Martin-Kniep—a teacher, researcher, author, and highly respected educational consultant for Communities for Learning. Through significant questions such as “who belongs in professional learning communities?” “what do learning communities require and do?” and “what do we stand to lose without professional learning communities?” the participants explored the dispositions of prac-

tice that support communities of learning and assessed individual and organizational capacity to develop and sustain learning communities.

As a group of 43 who came together for a short time to focus on professional learning, participants were enthused about both Giselle as a presenter as well as the foundation from which she presented. In the words of one participant, the workshop “. . . gives me a framework to successfully build a more robust learning culture in my school.” – a clear focus.

We are already looking forward to exploring more fully the work of professional learning communities as well as the conditions that sustain them when Giselle returns for a second EARCOS weekend workshop on January 24-25, 2009.

Christie Powell

EARCOS Future Conference Calendar ETC 2009 Teachers’ Conference, March 25-28, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia GIN2009 Global Issues Network Conference, March 20-22, International School Bangkok, Thailand Spring Heads’ Meeting 2009, April 25-26, Myanmar EAC 2009 Administrators’ Conference, October 31 to November 3, Manila, Philippines

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Weekend Workshop with Bill and Ochan Powell Differentiation Workshop at Hokkaido International School October 11-12, 2008 Hokkaido International School had been gearing up for Bill and Ochan Powell’s workshop since Bambi Betts introduced them to us with the statement, “When it comes to differentiation, nobody can do it better than Bill and Ochan.”

H.I.S. began working closely with Bill and Ochan right from the start. Their book, Making the Difference: Differentiation in International Schools, became the focus of our professional reading plus we started our own blog site where we could respond to specific questions that Bill and Ochan had prepared.(http://hokkaidointernational.edublogs.org/) This thoughtful means of collaboration prepared the groundwork for their workshop.

We began the year with our first fumbled attempts at differentiation so Bill and Ochan’s workshop really connected with us as a teaching team. The Powells teased out our strengths and built on them, taking some of our head and heart knowledge and opening possibilities for a more refined practice of differentiation. A 25-year veteran of teaching stated that this experience has been the most systematic and continuing professional development she has ever experienced at any school.

L-R: Betsy Greenway (HIS), Troy Decoff (Hong Kong Academy), Terrance Wilson (HIS), Sandra Caswell (Hong Kong Academy) Sara Arno (HIS) and David Piazza (HIS) in small group reading and discussion group during the EARCOS Weekend Workshop at Hokkaido International School at which Bill and Ochan Powell presented on Differentiation in the International School.

Barry Ratzliff, Deputy-Headmaster Hokkaido International School

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8/6/08 8:19:37 PM

Weekend Workshop with Bambi Betts “Leadership Tools for Team Leaders” October 17-18, 2008

What is team dynamics in an international school? What type of leaders are we and what are characteristics of successful team leaders? Educators from three International School in the Tianjin area discussed these and many other issues regarding teamwork and leadership at the “Leadership Tools for Team Leaders” weekend workshop at the Teda International School in Teda, China, held on October17-18.

The workshop was presented by Bambi Betts, the Director of the Principals’ Training Center (PTC) for International School Bambi Betts with the participants of the “Leadership Tools for Team Leadership and the CEO of the Academy for International School Leaders” workshop.

Heads (AISH).

Bambi Betts focused on the latest research regarding various leadership styles, roles and essential work of a team leader, as well Forty participants from Teda International School, Internaas qualities of a successful leader. Very practical, clearly outlined tional School of Tianjin and Tianjin International School took part leadership strategies were presented to us. We left the workshop in this inspirational workshop. Day one was dedicated to activities with an understanding that that the goal of everything we do as on building effective teams in international schools. teams and leaders must be the improvement of the curricula and, To be a leader in an International school is a complex task. On ultimately, of our students’ learning. day two, we took part in collaborative activities, in which

Suzana Ivancevic-Berisa HS Teacher, Teda IS

Weekend Workshop with Carrie Ekey

Using Classroom Based Assessment to Drive Instruction in Reading and Writing September 19-20, 2008 Assessment Drives Instruction. We’ve all heard it before. But it can be little more than an educational platitude unless you know what to do with the assessment data you collect. With the help of Carrie Ekey, 35 participants from Taipei American School and other EARCOS schools spent these two days learning how to effectively use the classroom based assessment data to focus instruction.

Carrie Ekey is an educational consultant who spent most of her career in the Denver area public schools as a teacher, curriculum specialist, and staff developer. In her “retirement’ she has served as a literacy consultant in residence at two EARCOS schools and has conducted numerous workshops in the region and around the world on literacy development, instruction, and assessment. Taipei American School has been fortunate to have Carrie work at our school in the past, and we were happy to host her again so we could continue learning from and with her.

The participants at this workshop were eager to learn how to use the data from their reading and writing workshops to determine the effectiveness of their teaching and to plan for next steps. Carrie began with reviewing the basic practices of reading and writing workshops and then shared possible frameworks for how to organize curricular units in both reading and writing. Participants learned strategies for gathering numerous types of data from their

classroom instruction including anecdotal notes, conferen cing, and student self-reflection.

The real focus of the workshop though, was using all this data to inform and guide classroom instruction. Because, really, what good is all the data if we don’t use it? “I used to be the queen of anecdotal notes,” Carrie told participants. “That was actually my nickname at my school. After a while, though, I realized I had so many notes, but I was not using them to tell me what my students needed next.” Judging from the chuckle in the room, many participants knew what she was talking about.

Carrie showed us how to angle our classroom data collection to answer the big question “What did my students learn?” She helped us think about how to analyze our classroom assessments to plan the next concrete steps in our teaching. Her strategies were practical, achievable, and based on best practice in literacy education.

Carrie’s presentation style is straightforward and offered ample time for teachers to talk with each other. Devoting time to this important professional conversation with Carrie as our guide was powerful way to spend two days and will surely have a direct impact on the instructional practices of those who attended.

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An Interesting Weekend with Bill and Ochan Powell “The Powells worked well as a team and they maintained the interest by constantly breaking up the presentation into small digestive morsels. This kind of dynamic is far better than listening to just one presenter for 3 days.”

“The seminar was very informative and was a great introduction to UBD.” “This is the most helpful workshop I have ever been to because it was all based on research about how the brain learns best.

You can’t argue with that!”

“Informative and relevant to our missions and goals.”

These were just a few comments from the faculty and staff of Cebu International School when Bill and Ochan Powell came for a weekend to conduct a workshop on Understanding

by Design and Leadership for Training.

The specialist independent healthcare adviser for international schools and teachers.

The Leadership for Training was attended not only by the head of departments from the faculty but from the middle management of the office staff as well. It was a chance for the two groups to collaborate and share knowledge, insights and opinions on certain issues in school. The workshop gave everyone an opportunity to reflect on their leadership style. It was also a good opportunity for getting insights from other heads and knowing people better.

Mission statement: To help schools make informed private healthcare choices and to ensure continued excellence of service.

International private health insurance is becoming increasingly complex, and expensive, year after year. New providers, products or modified product structures are constantly appearing (and disappearing) in the marketplace. In light of this, the role of an independent, specialized, dedicated adviser is likely to become an increasingly important resource for international schools.

Understanding by Design was attended by the whole faculty. Since Cebu International School is currently gearing towards using the UBD, it was a chance for the teachers to learn and understand the “big idea” behind the approach.

Overall, everybody had a very informative and interesting weekend that some teachers were even asking for more.

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www.aqiaonline.com E-mail: info@aqiaonline.com -37-

Weekend Workshop with Kathy Epps Blogging in Classroom November 1-2, 2008

To blog or not to blog was not the question for 20+ teachers from around Asia who gathered at the International School of Kuala Lumpur to take the big leap into the world of blogging. Guest presenter, Kathy Epps, from the International School of Geneva, shared many examples of how other teachers around the world use blogs. She immersed the teachers in a smorgasbord web 2.0 technology, focusing on the use of blogs to enhance teaching and learning.

Teachers worked through a step-by-step process developing a blog, along the way they learned how to integrate the following into their blog: photos, widgets, comments, gadgets, and assignments.

Participants were amazed at how easy it was to make a blog. Teachers left the workshop with a plethora of new vocabulary and were energized and excited about utilizing technology to enhance learning.

Weekend Workshop with Ann Straub

First Row L-R: Chris Young-Shekou International School, Lincy Fung-Ruamrudee International School.

Second Row R: Brian Benson-Ruamrudee International School. Third Row L-R: Sylvie Galais-Mon’t Kiara International School, Lee Poh Yean-The International School Of Kuala Lumpur.

Leadership for Learning October 11-12, 2008

The participants while watching one of the many presentations Ann has prepared for the workshop.

October 11&12 was no quiet weekend at International School Bangkok. Thirty teachers and administrators from ISB, outside Beijing, and even Thailand came for Ann Straub’s Leadership for Learning workshop.

The theme of the workshop was all about leadership, but it could have been all about change. Ann shared with us all kinds of tools not only to become a better leader, but also to be a great agent of change with a vision and a focus in each of our respective learning communities.

Ann Straub decision-making, influencing growth and change, as well as key tips and tools that will not only help us confidently lead others but also build trusting and positive relationships.

Ann has the ability to create a comfortable and open learning environment and makes sure that we process the information through deep discussions, modeling, and work-related activities.

We all walked away with practical skills and strategies to make us better teacher leaders. What do we need the most in time of change? Practical skills and strategies to help us embark on the long process which we call CHANGE.

What I liked the most about this workshop is that all the strategies Ann presented were really simple and effective without losing focus on student learning. Through a series of relevant participatory learning activities, we explored questions on key areas of leadership success. We learned about critical leadership qualities, -38-

Sylvain Jacques

Weekend Workshop with Dr. Fred Wolff Assessment of Writing Using the Six Traits Rubrics September 20-21, 2008

Dr. Wolff visited classrooms from kindergarten through grade 10 demonstrating model lessons for teachers and students on writing. In addition, Mont’Kiara International School hosted a weekend workshop where 50+ teachers from the EARCOS region attended sessions on how to implement the 6 Traits of Writing – Ideas, Organization, Voice, Sentence Fluency, Word Choice, and Conventions.

Fred Wolff working in a grade 1 classroom demonstrating the power of word choice – one of the traits of writing.

Participants were thrilled with the information that was shared and his numerous examples of student writing. Teachers were able to practice scoring student samples and are ready to go back and implement the strategies that were taught throughout the session. In addition to the great presentation, teachers enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers in the region. Teachers gave up their precious weekend to further their knowledge, and all of our students will definitely benefit! Thank you, TEACHERS!!!

Danielle Rich Coordinator - Curriculum and Instruction Mont’Kiara International School d.rich@mkis.edu.my Teachers Bonnie Lee, Ann Andrew, Danielle Rich, Kathleen Walker watch Mr. Wolff in action as he shows us how the expert does it!

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EARCOS Annual Golf Tournament 2008 Sutera Harbour, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Runner up trophy during the EARCOS golf tournament at Kota Kinabalu Sutera Harbour Resort was a magnificent site for the Annual EARCOS Administrators’ Conference. It was even more idealic for those who enjoy chasing little golf balls around acres and acres of green fairways lined with great ocean views.

The golf course and golf facilities at Sutera are quite splendid and only Mother Nature spoiled the annual tournament with the only bad weather of the conference.

A shot gun start ignited the record field of 64 enthusiastic players but the weather took the major prize. After nine holes of wet weather, the club management closed the course and that was the end of the golf.

However, that was not the end of the day. Fellowship, good times and stories of great shots continued for hours afterwards.

Camaraderie was the biggest winner on this occasion with players commenting that they enjoyed the outing in spite of the weather.

Runner up trophy. Dick krajczar and Rufino Bomasang Dick Robbins Charles Bates

Best Gross Score - Bob Hartleip, Bob Connor, Dick Robbins, and Charles Bates Special Events Winners: * Nearest to the Pin * Longest Drive

(1st 9 - hole # 7) = Rufino Bomasang (2nd 9 - hole # 22) = Dirk Kraetzer (1st 9 - hole # 3) = Paul Brodie (2nd 9 - hole # 27) = Steve Tait

Finally, it should be noted that this was the first time our Executive Director Dick Krajczar played in the event and he came away with a trophy - well done. Also, the only team that submitted a photo was Dick’s Team. – So that is all we have to offer.

By the way, the course had lights allowing play to continue at nights, too bad the lights couldn’t keep the rain away.

See you next year.

For the record and with the aid of a computer an official score was able to be calculated and the winners are outlined below: The main tournament was a system 36 handicapped stableford event played as a four man team scramble, truly a fun way to play.

1st Placed Team - Best Stableford Garth Wyncoll Ron Knapp Ian Sutherland Jim Hall 2nd Placed Team - Dick Krajczar Chris Akin Rufino Bomasang Tom Hennessy 3rd Place Team - Bob Hartleip Bob Connor

Rt. Rev. Dixie Taclobao, Rufino Bomasang, and Robert Hartleip -40-

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“Building a Global Foundation for Education Since 1955”

Weekend Workshops & Conference 2008-2009 SY 2008-2009 Date

School

Title/Consultant

Coordinator/ Tel/Fax/Email

January 17-18

Hong Kong International School

New pedagogies for a changing world: Practical strategies for schools of excellence and modern learners Dr. Loretta Giorcelli

Karen Rohrs, kcrohrs@hkis.edu.hk (852) 3149 7000/(852) 2899 0809

January 24-25

Ruamrudee International School

Professional Learning Communities: Making It Last Dr. Giselle Martin-Kneip

Christie Powell, christiep@rism.ac.th 662-51-80320/662-51-80334

February 7-8

Shanghai American School

Using Film to Integrate Visual Literacy into English/Language Arts, Social Studies and TOK Breen O’Reilly

Lynne Coleman, lynne.coleman@saschina.org 86-21-6221-1445/86-21-6221-1269

February 13-14

Int’l School Eastern Seaboard

Assessment Carrie Ekey

Heather Naro, hnaro@ise.ac.th 66-38-372-591 to 6/66-38-345-156

February 13-14

(Co-share) Saigon South Int’l School Schooling by Design & Understanding by Design (UbD) Workshop Jay McTighe

Theresa Flaspohler, tflaspohler@ssischool.org or tflaspohler@mail2world 84-8-413-0901/84-8-413-0902

February 21-22

International Christian School

Successful Teaching in the Differentiated Classroom (based upon the title of her newest book) Carolyn Coil

Jeff Auty, autyj@ics.edu.hk (852)3920-0000/852-2336-6114

February 21-22

International School of Beijing

Kodaly Concept and Methodology Dr. Joy Nelson

Jill Raven, jraven@isb.bj.edu.cn 86-10-8149-2345/86-10-8046--2002

February 21-22

Bandung International School

Differentiated Instruction Terry W. Neu, Ph. D.

Henri Bemelmans, ibdp@bisdragons.com 62-22-203-1844/62-22-203-4202

March 7-8

Beijing BISS International School

Literacy Links Laura Benson

Allison White, awhite@biss.com.cn 8610-6443-3151/8610-6443-3156

March 14-15

Saint Maur International School

Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom Bill and Ochan Powell

Matthew Parr, mparr@stmaur.ac.jp 81-45-641-5751/81-45-641-6688

March 20-22

EARCOS GLOBAL ISSUES NETWORK CONFERENCE International School of Bangkok

Linda Sills, lsills@earcos.org

March 21-22

Hong Kong International School

Karen Rohrs, kcrohrs@hkis.edu.hk (852) 3149 7000/(852) 2899 0809

March 25-28

EARCOS TEACHERS’ CONFERENCE 2009

March 26-28

9th Annual ISNA Conference

International School Nurses of Asia

Linda See, ampang_nurse@iskl.edu.my

April

Singapore American School

Training Trainers- UbD 2 years program - EARCOS SPECIAL INSTITUTE Jay McTighe

Mark Boyer, mboyer@sas.edu.sg 656-360-6315/656-363-6445

April 18-19

Seoul Foreign School

Hurt: Understanding the Adolescent Experience Chap Clark

Shirley Droese, sdroese@seoulforeign.org 82-2-330-3100/82-2-335-1857

April 25-26

EARCOS SPRING HEADS’ MEETING 2009

TBA

International School Manila

Pathways to Understanding: Patterns and Practices in the Learning-Focused Classroom Dr. Laura Lipton Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Yangon, Myanmar

Physical Education J.D. Hughes

October 31-November 3 EARCOS ADMINISTRATORS’ CONFERENCE 2009

www.earcos.org/etc2009

www.earcos.org/spring2009 Stephen Dare, dares@ismanila.org 63-2-840-8400/632 840-8441

Manila, Philippines

www.earcos.org 63 (49) 511-5993 to 94/63 (49) 511-4694