Middle School Spotlight São Paulo

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MIDDLE SCHOOL SÃO PAULO

escola CONCEPT

"IT ISN'T WHERE YOU CAME FROM. IT'S WHERE YOU'RE GOING THAT COUNTS."

ELLA FITZGERALD

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spot It is now your turn to celebrate what Middle School looks like during virtual school: a team of resilient learners, educators and parents trying their best to make lifelong learning a lively village!

The Spotlight is a publication where we celebrate our past months accomplishments, hear the voices of those representing unique groups and get to dive into exceptional reading to inspire us to strive for a better and fulfilling world where we can all have a chance to dream.

So what's next? Find yourself a comfortable spot, wear your best smile and enjoy the read.

It was made from us, with you, for you.

The Spotlight Team

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light

what

By Priscila Torres

if

How do you make a difference?

How do you leave your legacy?

Should you point a finger to the person next door, or to the person sitting beside you, or should you roll up your sleeves and be part of the change?

From Micro to Macro: What makes you stand out in your household? In your family? In your grade level? In your school? In your neighborhood? In your city?

In your country? How do you impact the future?

When we consider the times we are living in all these questions matter… and they matter more than ever because you can be responsible for changing the course of the future if you just think about how you can positively impact change. Will using old tools to solve new problems get to the answer? Or should you invest in developing new tools to solve unknown problems?

otsefinam ehT

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Life will give you waiting rooms, will put you through escape rooms, where you will have limited time to find your path and figure out the answers to riddles, questions, and challenges. Life will jolt you into emergency rooms where you will have to act fast and save lives… it will parachute you into opportunities where you are a spectator and part of an audience in the show of life, and then it will abruptly escort you in front of a jury to make just decisions.

But let's hone in on waiting rooms… Have you ever stopped to think about the what ifs of life?

And if not now, then when? As you sit in the many waiting rooms that life presents you with, you stop, think, ponder, and wonder...

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what if...

I worked harder?

I complained less?

I took more responsible risks?

I persisted on a task without giving up the first time around?

I truly listened and tried to be empathetic without passing judgement and truly putting myself in the shoes of others?

I chose to think interdependently while trying to solve a problem, and valued synergy over selfishness?

I treated others the way I want to be treated at all times, and by others I mean everyone, independent of color, shape, race, background, social class, and origin?

I understood that all people have feelings and my feelings are not the only feelings that matter?

I stopped looking for excuses?

I learned that there are no people to blame about results, but myself?

I invested energy in creating, imagining, and innovating?

As life presents you with choices, it also gives you the option to be an eternal spectator and sit and relax in the complacency of waiting rooms or to be part of the change and make a striking difference that will mark your legacy.

Mankind has a tendency to believe in certain myths‌ the myth that overnight success is possible‌ ignoring the full story that success takes years to mature, that there are no gains without pains, that you cannot achieve and succeed without having to dream, plan, act, invest, focus, fail, analyze feedback, and pick up from where you last left off.

If you exit the waiting rooms of life and step into the doors that lead to mazes, you will find yourself having to embrace challenge over comfort, growth over stability, and question marks over periods. These mazes will keep you curious and on your toes, will force you to become a lifelong learner who can impact change and will present you the opportunity to establish your legacy in the world post COVID-19.

What if you tried? What if I could be by your side? Let's go together!

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Numbers

plus Sensibility The educator MĂĄrcio Todeschini teaches mathematics for Grades 6 to 8 at Escola Concept SĂŁo Paulo and shares his perceptions about Escola Concept Virtual School in this edition of the Spotlight.

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"I USED TO THINK THAT ONLINE LEARNING WAS A TOOL THAT EDUCATORS USED ONLY TO DELIVER CONTENT, BUT NOW I KNOW THAT IT PROVIDES VERY FRUITFUL DISCUSSIONS AND EXCHANGES, WHICH CONTRIBUTE POSITIVELY TO FOSTERING A CULTURE OF THINKING, EVEN IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY."

10 PLANNING TIME

STRENGTHS

"Thinking as much about how I prepare, how I teach, and how I interact with learners, I take into account some principles. First of all, I try to minimize my speaking time while working with new content. That way, we have a more dynamic interaction, and the learners do not feel discouraged and tired. I also think about how to share content in a multidimensional way, including figures, excerpts from films, movement. Why? Because I am not physically facing learners, and I need, even from a distance, to reach learners with different needs. We know that some learn better by listening to explanations or instructions.

In contrast, others need support from additional resources to understand and build meaning. Concerning the interaction, I also take into account the questions I ask to maximize online participation and for their thinking to be even more visible."

Regarding the positive aspects of this distance learning experience, I realize that distance learning can be helpful when it comes to how learners focus. When we are on campus, learners may distract each other and these distractions may be minimized inside and online environment.

I also believe that this format encourages greater learner autonomy, both in the daily organization of their studies and and with the feedback learners receive. For activities and interactions in online classes, they receive daily feedback on what can be improved, showing that these classes are not simply a series of disconnected activities. It is crucial for learners to understand the role mistakes play in their growth and development and how these mistakes will impact their learning journey in the long run.

OPPORTUNITIES “Teaching at a distance is more challenging to maintain engagement because we are not facing learners, so we depend on their intrinsic motivation to participate in the lesson. I miss looking into their eyes, circulating the room, and observing their reactions as a sign to evaluate their level of understanding. This close observation allows me to approach the groups to offer immediate assistance.�

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12 MATHEMATICAL MINDSET

TOOLS

"I believe Mathematics can and should be developed as a problem-solving subject.

Therefore one of the best ways to engage learners is to allow them to go through some investigations, so they come up with their conjectures and understand how mathematicians discover formulas and solutions to real-world problems. In one of our classes, to find the origin of pi, learners measured the circumference and the diameter of some round objects, so they made connections and understood the relationship between these measures by applying the four basic operations.

After these hands-on investigations, they were able to visually understand that whenever you divide the circumference of any object by its diameter, the result will always be pi."

"I use a lot of collaborative tools, in which learners can register their opinions in real-time, allowing me to make immediate decisions with the information I receive. Nearpod, Kahoot, and DeltaMath are some examples."

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14 Here's a timeline of how the school has been communicating with parents throughout COVID-19 crisis this far.

OUR JO

Crisis manageme

March 14th: international incidence response company: deep cleaning of learning environment & training of cleaning staff

March 17th: launch of virtual school phase 1.

March 23rd: school informs families that meal and after school fees are suspended for March and for the entire period the school will remain closed.

April 18th: vacation toolkit with appropriate age level suggestions for children and families.

April 24th: the school focused on the individual needs of each division. Early Years and Grade 1 remained on vacation to maximize on campus learning. Lower and Middle School Learners continued with virtual school on May 4th.

May 13th: 20% tuition reduction for Early Years and Grade 1 for the July tuition.

10% tuition reduction for Lower and Middle School for the July tuition.

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OURNEY

ent during COVID-19

March 25th: launch of virtual school phase 2

May 15th: launch of phase 3 for Lower School

April 6th: launch of the donation campaign for the Escola Concept partners of the COLLAB network or choice of tuition reduction

May 19th: local holiday anticipation for Wednesday and Thursday

April 7th: first communication about the anticipation of vacation.

May 22th: local holiday anticipation for Monday

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ADOLESCENCE: "A TRANSITION PHASE"

By Carlos Nascimento Jr

Who is used to hearing tender

In Geology, the layer located

references to adolescence as

between two well-defined types

place in our society, inspiring all

we refer to childhood? And to

of rock deposition, but which is

kinds of care that we can offer

mention the relevant role of

not uniform as it contains flaws

them, and adulthood is the longest

adolescence for society as we

in the rock settlement is called

and most "productive" phase of

do for adulthood? If the

the transition layer. And also in

human life, adolescents easily

adjectives that come up in

urbanism, the spaces that are

hide in their vagueness.

conversations about teenagers

called "transition" are areas

They no longer need the same

are almost always "difficult",

between rural and urban space,

protection as the child, but are not

"rebellious", "boring",

in which the utilities of

yet prepared to play the role of

"precocious", "immature", it

properties are sometimes mixed

the adult.

is time to look at this phase of

with rural and urban

human development from

characteristics.

another angle.

While childhood has a privileged

However, there is a lot of beauty in the whirlwind of emotions and

Well, adolescence, to which

the energy of teenage desire. With

The time of adolescence, as a

similar characteristics can be

each long conversation, full of

passage between two very

compared, also fits the concept

indignations and arguments, a

well defined periods of life,

of "transition phase". It is

world of wishes is revealed and

carries the difficult task of

neither childhood nor

takes shape. Each long moment of

any "transition zone":

adulthood, but it contains

isolation, full of silence and

preparing what lies ahead,

aspects of both. It contains

denial, is a precious moment of

being neither what came

"voids" with "spaces" yet to be

accommodation for the

before nor what comes after.

filled by the more mature

frustrations and contradictions

In many areas of human

learning that time itself brings.

that the world around us presents.

knowledge there is a

It is a period when the human

With each long hug, with or

"transition zone". In

body simultaneously embraces

without crying, there is the

Geography, there are, for

childhood and adulthood

acknowledgment that he or she is

example, the spaces between

characteristics.

not alone and that human

two types of climate and vegetation, which contain typical aspects of both.

imperfection does not detract .

from its beauty, but, on the contrary, confirms it.

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It is also good for them to experience the full range of emotions that arise in their hearts, so that they may have the chance to learn how to deal with them, but for this they need help from those who do not judge them too.

18 It is positive that they have many friends and that they want to be with them (and with their parents), so they can better understand the multiple perspectives that life brings and gradually comprehend different behaviors and their risks. It is also positive for them to experience the full range of emotions that arise in their hearts, so that they may have the chance to learn how to deal with them, but for this they need help from those who do not judge them.

All the nuances of teenage years cannot be ignored. As adults we are constantly telling them, “enjoy this age because it is the best phase of your life,” but the truth is, our words do not ressonante with them the way we wish they would.

These words end up bringing an idea to the teenage mind that the next phase in life will be less pleasant and that is not how we want to make them feel. We want them to enjoy the present, take responsible risks, grow from opportunities presented, and apply their learning to what lays ahead. So when addressing a teenager, perhaps the best words of advice would be, “live this phase as well as you should love each moment of your life.”

Carlos Nascimento Jr is the coordinator for Middle School in Concept Ribeirão Preto.

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MORE MORE

CONNECTION

RESPONSIBILITY

Lyna Malheiros is the educator who brings the vision of Design Thinking to the projects that students at Escola Concept develop, with her focus on the Middle School. As you may know, to listen with empathy is an important stage of the design thinking process and she is an active listener for these groups. Lyna has charisma, energy, and a sparkly personality! The growth of many of our learners can be credited to the work she has been doing. Check out her interview!

21 THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED DURING THIS PERIOD WAS ... managing to connect at a distance!

Lack of human contact is a constant challenge for me as a professional and as a person. I am a person who chose to work with other people, it is part of my life project.

I CAN ENGAGE STUDENTS WHEN… I challenge them! I feel that the more challenged they are, the more interested and participatory they become, bringing extremely significant and profound reflections to the learning process. Students have shown themselves to be even more responsible and aware at this time and a little more each time we entrust them with new challenges.

I HAVE FOUND MOTIVATION... to build a new future, to rethink the present and imagine, together with everyone, our next moment. I have

AGITATION OR BOREDOM: WHAT BEST DESCRIBES THE QUARANTINE ROUTINE IN MY HOME IS…

sought contact with several networks

lots of bread, a book and the

of educators, psychologists and

waiting for my nephew! I have

designers through transdisciplinary

read more than ever, I have

conversations that make us imagine

made a lot of bread, testing

new possibilities based on what we

new recipes and feeding my

have been experiencing today. I have

levain (the natural yeast for

brought many of these reflections to

bread) and I have drawn and

learners and I have received

written for my nephew Raul,

incredible insights from them.

who is about to be born.

LEARNERS MAKE ME PROUD WHEN… they ask questions! When they also challenge us and challenge their own learning process, with well-constructed questions and full of possibilities. When they are not content with a simple "because that is it" and seek their answers too.

A TACTIC TO APPROACH TEENAGERS IS ... listen to them. It seems simple, but many people do not exercise active listening to adolescents, understanding their anxieties and sharing their joys. We need to use empathy and try to put ourselves in their place, sometimes laughing and sometimes crying too.

BOOKS, SERIES OR MOVIES I READ AND RECOMMEND ... for books I will recommend two that are very short and very important for the moments that we have faced: "Little anti-racist manual", by Djamila Ribeiro and "Ideas to postpone the end of the world", by Ailton Krenak. I love documentaries so I would recommend Netflix's "Explaining", which explores very current themes in mini documentaries that have a very interesting dynamic. I will end with a film that I have watched many times and that invites us to create, to see beauty in small things and to dream, "The fabulous destination of Amelie Poulain", French from 2001, which for me is a recipe for happiness for every little detail that composes the film.

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EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN TIME

Mother of two teenagers, Sofia (12 years old) and Horรกcio (14 years old), Cristine Leiner is a regular at meetings of the Parent Educational Learning Community. She explained how she strategically does not simply hand things to her children, who already have easy access to the things they want. In isolation, Cris is realizing, in a unique way, how important it is to involve children in the house dynamics and tasks, to raise awareness of what is happening in Brazil and in the world, besides allowing everyone to have moments to do what gives them pleasure.

23 AGITATION OR BOREDOM: WHAT BEST DESCRIBES THE ROUTINE IN MY HOUSE IS… a little of everything. There are times when everyone is working or studying. Others when we are calm.

There are moments of confusion too.

And so the day goes by, and time flies!

ONE TACTIC TO APPROACH YOUR TEENAGERS HAS BEEN ...

I HAVE FOUND MOTIVATION... at the end of the day I read, watch the lives, work, make cake. They already know that this is my moment - and also the individual moment of each one at home. It is great when everyone has their time.

A NICE ACTIVITY TO DO AS A FAMILY IS ...

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED DURING THIS PERIOD WAS… finding the emotional balance, especially for the children. My husband and I are focused on being more attentive as role models, to show that they can feel safe with us, to explain what is happening in Brazil and in the world, so what we are doing makes sense.

games that mix family interaction

listening to them a lot, in any

and technology, at home the

situation, when they are angry or

favorite is the Jack Box from

A DISCOVERY ...

calm. Sports, friends, routine are

Playstation. But the ideias have to

I can have more patience and I

sorely missed by them. There's

come from them. Sofia likes

can't solve everything!

plenty of energy and it ends up in

crafts, so we made bijoux, tye-dye

some fights! At these times, parents

and candles. Horácio prefers to

need to be mediators, listening with

play a game of basketball. It is

empathy, looking at the emotional

good to walk and walk in the

health.

green, when possible, picking dry

MY CHILDREN MAKE ME PROUD WHEN…

plants to make arrangements.

they show control of the situation and when they are proud of what they have learned in virtual school. Learning in virtual school represents overcoming difficulties and practicing self-regulation. I like what I learned at Concept with the visible thinking routines, the idea of perceiving and talking about one's own progress, bringing growth to consciousness. Sofia the other day asked me: "do you think I'm learning?". Yes, a lot, I said, it's a great learning experience to face the new routine without complaining. They have helped me a lot in the house.

Each one cleans their room and bathroom, makes the bed, keeps the clothes and helps to think about the menu making good use of what we have at home.

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N E V IN

G N I T

E R ONESELF

with new pieces

Luiz Eduardo Scaff is one of those teenagers who already knows what he likes: assembling, disassembling and recreating machines. And it is out of his passion that he relates to the world and the people around him.

No wonder that Luiz often spends his break with Concept team members while they are taking care of some campus maintenance - one of the things he has missed most doing during the season of social isolation.

The lack of some pieces of the old routine allowed the learner to develop a more grateful and compassionate look at life. Check out the following interview.

25 WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING MOST AT HOME IS… I found an old clothes dryer on the street and my neighbor gave me a radio clock, so I have been taking things apart from them and I use the pieces to make my inventions. I am currently trying to build a cotton candy machine.

MY HERO OF ISOLATION IS… technology which keeps us connected, like Zoom and Google. I have many idols in the area of

that we have to take care of our

technology. I admire André Mafra,

whole selves: body and mind. I

to name one person that I follow, but

used to think very little about

it’s hard to just share one name.

my health and now this has become the priority.

WHAT I MISS MOST ABOUT MY OLD ROUTINE IS ...

I RECOGNIZE THAT MY PARENTS ARE BEING AMAZING WHEN ...

not being able to go out at ease. I

they realize that I need some air

used to go to the club a lot, where I

and they take me for a drive, or

do singing and theater classes. I am

even when they encourage me to

continuing with these activities

study. I know they do this because

online, through Zoom.

they want me to learn and to be happy.

FOR ME, ESCOLA CONCEPT VIRTUAL SCHOOL MEANS ... helping me stay connected with people who are important, like my friends and teachers, who are super nice to me. From school, what I miss most is Alex (responsible for IT), Cazuza (maintenance) and gardeners.

I love being with them, learning how things work and are fixed!

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON I LEARNED DURING THIS QUARANTINE WAS...

BOOKS, SERIES OR MOVIES I READ AND RECOMMEND… I'm reading in the Book Study group the book Stargirl, about a girl who was different from the others and had a little mouse. It's really cool, because she's authentic, she's not ashamed, and people start to like her as she is.

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Como as habilidades socioemocionais podem melhorar a convivĂŞncia?

Publicado em Nova Escola

27 A neurociência e os conhecimentos da natureza cognitiva das emoções mostram que o desenvolvimento das habilidades socioemocionais e afetivas impactam direta e positivamente na aprendizagem. Mas há outro ponto a favor do trabalho com as emoções: a melhora no clima escolar e na convivência entre os estudantes. Assim, ao abrir os olhos para a dimensão sociomocional e ética de crianças e jovens, em um contexto em que as práticas são democráticas, aumenta-se a probabilidade de que conflitos, casos de violência e de bullying sejam equacionados por meio do diálogo e melhorem as relações na comunidade escolar.

Aprender a se comunicar melhor, cooperar em prol de um objetivo trabalhando em grupo, dialogar e negociar um conflito de maneira construtiva, saber oferecer e pedir ajuda, por exemplo, melhoram a capacidade do sujeito de lidar com situações relacionais difíceis de forma mais competente. “Se eu parto para a agressão, é porque não encontrei uma saída mais construtiva.

Ao aprender essas habilidades, amplio o meu repertório para lidar com situações de conflito”, explica a psicopedagoga Alcione Marques. Com isso, há uma relação direta entre essas habilidades e a maneira como os jovens lidarão com o conflito no ambiente escolar.

Para a doutora em Psicologia pela PUC-SP, Denise de Camargo, que estuda o tema das emoções desde 1998, quando o afeto e a empatia são valorizados na escola, a instituição fica mais leve, mais flexível e mais tolerante, com mais espaço para a diversidade. “Quando você valoriza as emoções, o que ganha é o clima da escola, que passa a ter valores de convivência mais saudáveis entre as crianças”, diz a professora da Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná. No entanto, o trabalho precisa ser feito de maneira intencional e sistemática, e não aleatória e pontual, para dar bons resultados.

Para Telma Vinha, pesquisadora do Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisa em Educação Moral (Gepem) e professora da Unicamp, a ideia é que a escola planeje as ações sobre competências socioemocionais como qualquer outro assunto no currículo. Trabalhar com competências emocionais não é só emoção, vai além. É um conjunto de habilidades que precisam ser desenvolvidas para viver melhor.

Embora ainda seja alvo de debates no campo educacional, o desenvolvimento dessas habilidades na escola foi incorporado pela Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC).

Para ler na íntegra, clique aqui

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What If The Future Of Work Starts With High School?

Published in Forbes 2019

29 Nearly 100% of the jobs created during the economic recovery went to workers with postsecondary education training. That training really begins in high school. The work of the future will require a robust system of lifelong learning and high school may just be the fulcrum in that system, best positioned to make the necessary profound changes across the system.

Right now, the university degree is the new high school diploma. It is the best proxy we have, but it remains insufficient. Four out of five CEOs say that skills gaps in creativity and problem solving make hiring difficult and nearly half of job tasks may be lost to automation within the next two decades. While we have substantial technical skills gaps we also have a profound shortage of non-technical, uniquely human skills such as empathy, social intelligence, creativity, communication and judgment among others.

The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce predicted that without changes to our postsecondary education system immediately, our economy will be short 5 million workers by 2020.

This is not new information but our responses to these challenges are insufficient. Merely pushing more people on the existing factory pipeline through higher education is not working.

Nor are efforts to retrain those displaced in short-term skill acquisition boot camps. We need to start thinking differently.

Enter The Fourth Industrial RevolutionThe first industrial revolution was steam, the second was electrification and mass production, and the third was the advent of computerized technologies and with it the automation of physical labor such as manufacturing.

The fourth industrial revolution will be marked by many advances in many forms of technology but most notably the automation of cognitive labor. Anything mentally routine or predictable, no matter how cognitively intense, can and will be achieved by some form of technology. As a result, we need to think differently about what work humans best address and how we prepare them for that work.

To read the full article, click here.

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MIDDLE SCHOOL SÃO PAULO

escola CONCEPT