SPOTLIGHT
FESTIVAL OF
LEARNING
"THE ART OF TEACHING IS...
... THE ART OF ASSISTING DISCOVERY." MARK VAN DOREN
NEW WAYS TO CELEBRATE The Festival of Learning is the moment when the magic happens. It is an opportunity to see our learners in action, empowered by new knowledge, and proud of the journey they have taken. It is at this time that it all makes sense, and we recognize and realize the reason for being. Together we are learning the meaning of learning! All of this production is usually celebrated in a festival of posters, colors, and stimulating interactions. Therefore, transposing this experience to the virtual world was one of the greatest challenges in the year of 2020. How do we replicate the magic of the celebration without the possibility of meeting in person? As with everything that has happened this year, we've committed to the idea that, even if it is different, it can still be incredible!And it happened exactly like this: we created a website where all the projects, from all the classes of the 3 Concept schools, were registered, and the experience of the virtual visit proved to be a success!
We had more than 1,000 hits between the 12th and 17th of September; and we look forward to even more busy days on Friday and Saturday, when families will be invited to get to know their children's projects up close. For this festival, we also included moments where different classes could interact with each other while continuing to make all learning visible, for our students and the entire Concept community. And today we have new reasons to celebrate!In the pages that follow, you can find reports and interviews about our first Virtual Festival of Learning, where learners at Escola Concept showed, once again, that knowledge is transformative. Let's go together?
THE REASON TO CELEBRATE LEARNING HAVE YOU EVER ASKED YOURSELF WHY ESCOLA CONCEPT CELEBRATES LEARNING AT THE END OF EACH TRIMESTER? WE HAVE EXPLORED THIS IDEA IN THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW WITH THE EARLY YEARS PRINCIPAL FROM SÃO PAULO, KATHERINE STRAVOGIANNIS, WHO COORDINATES THIS SEGMENT FOR ALL THREE SCHOOLS.
Why does Concept celebrate the Festival of Learning? We understand that this is a way to celebrate the culmination of a process. It is a way for children to perceive the trajectory they went through. It gives more meaning while learners search for a way to represent their learning. Although it characterizes the completion of a stage, the culmination does not end the investigative process, rather it celebrates a cycle. It may bring other discoveries and perspectives, as it involves revisiting the previous experiences, in a process of reflection about learning or metacognition.
What did this year's virtual experience bring to the Festival? This year, we learned to overcome geographical barriers, and transform physical distance into an opportunity to get closer, while sharing creativity. Being able to observe other projects, think flexibly and connect easily with other cultures and contexts, brought an unimaginable variety of perspectives!
Is the Festival of Learning the main way of evaluating the learner? The Festival of Learning is one of the integrated ways to measure learning, linked to formative assessments. It represents a summative assessment, in which the educator can review the trajectory of his students, critically analyze the course, check how students got involved and the level of awareness about what they have learned. It is possible, through the documentation of this process, to perceive how metacognitive skills are developed, as well as artistic, communicative and social skills. During the process, to develop what is presented or experienced at the Festival, the habits of mind are widely encompassed, and include the ability to persist, apply past knowledge to new situations and think interdependently.
AN AMAZING
JOURNEY Listening to the learner Gabriel Cardoso talking about project-based learning is a delight!
He illustrates with practical examples and an unusual analytical and synthetic vision of how he prepared for this edition of the Festival of Learning and the other events he has participated in. Gabriel is a Grade 9 learner at Escola Concept Salvador.
TO BEGIN... This year, we worked on two projects and we are now starting a new one. The main question that guided the first one was: How can we be so equal but so different? We studied physical, biological, and social aspects of equality and what makes each individual different. The second project, with the name; "Evoluwill or not Evoluwill, that is the question"; we studied the evolution of things. We studied the evolution of the English language, the evolution of the Republic of Brazil, the evolution of cultures, evolutionary theories and much more. All by choice, with autonomy and freedom! In our current project, we will study mental problems. We have already prepared questions to use as pillars for our project!
FREEDOM OF CHOICE... We have total choice, freedom and autonomy to choose and develop our project. When a project ends, we discuss topics in class and reach a consensus of what we're going to study this trimester. We think about different themes, and we start specializing like a funnel, to connect the possible themes together. For me, the best way to learn, without a doubt, is through projects! To be authors and leaders of the things we do, and in the end to have something concrete and incredible is priceless!
THEN WE BEGAN PLANNING... After a phase in which we gained more knowledge about the topic, we started to think how we could present it in a different way, to people, at the Festival of Learning. We have already made incredible final products, such as a giant cell, a website to help abandoned animals, plays, films, etc. The weeks close to the Festival are those in which we dedicate ourselves to the final product.
UNCOVERING TALENTS… In preparing for the FoL, you exercise many skills such as “getting your hands dirty”, presenting with confidence to people (losing shyness), a lot of teamwork, listening to our educators and peers, go-getting and much more! It is at these times that many learners end up discovering that they can do things they didn't know they could! Each one ends up finding and using a different talent to make a good FoL.
ROCKS ON THE WAY... For me, the biggest obstacle in carrying out projects for the FoL, during this period of pandemic, is definitely the limitation of final products that we managed to make. Now we can only do things virtually, which we are not so used to doing. Our projects have always been done right in front of us! Having the freedom to get close to each other, use concrete materials, etc. and suddenly we had to change to something that we had little experience.
"THE JOB OF AN EDUCATOR IS TO TEACH STUDENTS TO SEE VITALITY IN THEMSELVES." JOSEPH CAMPBELL
3 SCHOOLS 3 DIVISIONS 3 HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, OUR FESTIVAL OF LEARNING TAKES PLACE VIRTUALLY AND IT IS NOW POSSIBLE TO VISIT PROJECTS FROM ALL THE CLASSES, OF THE 3 CAMPUSES, ON THE SAME WEBSITE, WHICH WAS CREATED ESPECIALLY FOR THIS PURPOSE. ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES, WE HIGHLIGHT A PROJECT FROM EACH SEGMENT IN EACH SCHOOL. BUT, PLEASE, TO BE FAIR, WE HAVE MANY INCREDIBLE WORKS DEVELOPED BY OUR LEARNERS…
VISIT THE FESTIVAL OF LEARNING VIRTUAL PAGE AT WWW.ESCOLACONCEPT.COM.BR/FOL OR CLICK HERE.
CELEBRATING THE CULTURE OF CHILDHOOD PRE K-3 - CONCEPT SÃO PAULO
"Culture is a complex concept and can be understood, among countless analyzes, both as inherited heritage transmitted as a tradition, and as construction enriched permanently". This sentence written by the educator and researcher Adriana Friedmann summarizes the Pre-K3 project at Concept São Paulo, which sought to value the Culture of Childhood. Symbolic games, use of natural elements and make-believe games marked the process. Families, as partners in the learning of their children, were encouraged to observe them, recognizing kids as social actors and producers of culture. As a product of these investigations, educators created a website, in which they presented the Pre-K3 children's journeys to the Concept community, thus contributing with yet another source of research and reference on the culture of childhood . You can access the website at this link.
LITTLE SCIENTISTS
GRADE 3 - CONCEPT SĂƒO PAULO
When learners realized the impact social isolation had on nature, with videos that went viral showing animals running on roads and clean, empty beaches, a question could not remain silent among Grade 3 learners: how could they help animals? A chat with David and Kian Schurmann, the father and son that crossed the world aboard a sailboat, aroused many other learning moments and curiosities to the project. They studied contents such as animal classification (biology), weight and size (Mathematics), research, and production of scientific texts (Language). At a certain point, the children were challenged to rewrite and record a TV news program about animals, which required them to develop Habits of Mind such as Creating, Imagining, and Innovating, Being Open to Continuous Learning, and Taking Responsible Risks. The culmination of the project was the development of a website, where the searches were indexed.
A NEW CONCEPT IN EDUCATION GRADE 6 - CONCEPT SĂƒO PAULO
The theme that triggered the Grade 6 project of Escola Concept SĂŁo Paulo was the transformations in education caused by the pandemic. The learners returned to Ancient Greece to understand the educational system in the Western World, a research path that allowed explorations of the languages of the arts, theater, and philosophy. They developed masks and made comics inspired by Socrates' dialogues with his followers. Now they have entered the last phase of the project, in which class A has chosen to address the problem of bullying among learners and will make an "anti-bullying squad", while class B will develop an adult literacy project.
HOW DO PLANTS GROW? KINDERGARTEN - CONCEPT RIBEIRÃO
Plants have a fundamental role in our lives. We wouldn't even exist without them, as they help us breathe and serve as food for us! In order to get to those conclusions, the Kindergarten learners of Escola Concept Ribeirão Preto participated in hands-on proposals like one in which the children received a box at home with a plastic pot, soil, and seeds. They were encouraged to plant and take good care of the plant. Another activity that was part of the project was the “Why are stems important?” experiment. They put a white rose in a glass with water and red dye, and observed how the stem brought nutrients from the water to the plant.
WHERE IS THE INTERNET TAKING US? GRADE 2 - CONCEPT RIBEIRÃO
In this atypical period, when the internet became our main means of connection, Grade 2A and B learners at Escola Concept Ribeirão Preto reflected on rules of coexistence in the virtual school, on citizenship and digital security, and what is the social function of the Internet. Harnessing the potential of the internet as a learning tool, learners participated in virtual visits and trips while talking with people from Costa Rica, England, and Russia. At the end of the process, they developed a website so that other people could be impacted and dive into the universe of the learners.You can visit their website and check out more details in this link.
THE IMPACT OF OUR ACTIONS
GRADE 7 - CONCEPT RIBEIRĂƒO
The reflection on cause and consequence guided a work that went from the study of communication, in the production of argumentative texts, to the discussion of current topics about the refusal to take a vaccine. The students also analyzed what caused the great moments of rupture in history. Among the works on which the project was based, students read PersĂŠpolis, by Marjane Satrapi, a story about a young Iranian woman who closely follows the fall of the Shah and his brutal regime; The Time Machine, a classic by H. G. Wells, which focuses outside the character, dealing with the facts themselves on an extraordinary journey; and Frankenstein, a famous work by Mary Shelley, where an orthodox doctor works on creating a monster that becomes out of control as a result of the rejection he suffers.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT A GROWTH MINDSET? KINDERGARTEN - CONCEPT SALVADOR
Kindergarten B learners at Escola Concept Salvador investigated the complexity of the brain and intelligence. During the project, they developed important socio-emotional skills around self-awareness and self-management as a fun introduction to neuroscience and mindfulness! The class explored important issues such as implementing a growth mindset, the effects of learning on the brain, and the role of challenges and mistakes in the growth journey. The learners also invited their parents to share their personal stories with the Kindergarten class about the times they felt they were getting smarter. This led to a discussion about working hard and finding the right strategies to face challenges. To conclude their discoveries, the learners created a rap song about the power of "yet". A fun way of showing the community that a positive attitude makes us unstoppable! Click here to listen to the song shared by our learners!
THE EARTH, THE SUN AND OUR LIFE GRADE 2 - CONCEPT SALVADOR
The project that started exploring sunlight and how it is a natural source of heat has raised many curiosities about the Solar System and the possibility of life on other planets. The group studied how the sun is the closest star to our planet, and how celestial bodies are distinguished from each other in size, temperature and other aspects. They also represented learning with drawings and models and in a delightful way and demonstrated the phases of the moon with cookies! With this new knowledge, students started to think about the preservation of life on Earth and actions that impact the good use of our environment. Finally, the students created a blog where they shared their projects about the solar system and planets.
HOW DO MICROORGANISMS AFFECT OUR LIVES?
GRADE 7- CONCEPT SALVADOR
Much of what affects us is invisible to the eye. For example, yeasts, bacteria and viruses, also known as microorganisms, affect our lives considerably. The Grade 7 learners at Escola Concept Salvador decided to examine how microorganisms actually interfere and affect human beings, not only when they attack us physically, but also how they cause damages to our well-being. They conducted research on the psychological effects of restrictive measures to control COVID contagion and, after analyzing the data, they concluded that poor diet, lack of physical exercise and excessive use of electronics during the pandemic may be related to negative feelings. Then they created a magazine with the purpose of informing and helping the population to keep healthy and balanced.
They also collaboratively created a version (parody) of a famous national rock song, "Ainda é cedo" by Legião Urbana, and reflected on how microorganisms can affect our lives by describing the sensations, feelings and care experienced during the Coronavirus pandemic. You can listen to their song by clicking here, and to check ou the Informative Magazine click here.
EDITOR’S NOTE
LONGING TO CELEBRATE, RIGHT? When we think of celebration, we think of smiles that emerge, arms up freely or united in hugs. The feeling of living in the now, being grateful for life, reaching a point where what is to come does not scare us - on the contrary, it is enthusiastic! With the pandemic, we are locked in our homes, with imprisoned wants and needs, and, many times, we let ourselves be taken by the insecurity of uncertainty. With a sigh of hope, we decided to celebrate, in this edition of Spotlight, all small and large achievements, through a variety of colors, shapes, and senses.
Our challenge was to bring the celebration in different shapes and tones, one that could fit on a rectangular screen of different sizes. How to transpose the joy of the learning journey? If we reinvented how we lived during the pandemic, now, we must also reinvent how we celebrate learning. Come celebrate with us!
Luciana Pölönen Head of Design Services
HAVE YOU HAD THE CHANCHE TO READ OUR PUBLICATIONS ON ISSUU?
CLICK HERE AND CHECK OUT THE PAGE WHERE YOU CAN FIND ALL OF THE LATEST EDITIONS!
SPOTLIGHT FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
FESTIVAL OF
LEARNING