INTERACT November - December 2014 | Issue IV
Getting to know
our principals P. 10
UNDERSTANDING
BULLYING P. 6
All Different, All Equal, All Inter. P. 4
meet our
new staff P. 18
Self-Confident. Positive. Value Oriented. This is my fifth year at Colegio Interamericano and I can truthfully say that every year I have become more and more enamored with the students, the staff, the country, and the school itself. The students at Inter are intelligent, they are imaginative, they are hardworking, they are courteous, they believe in family values, and most importantly to me, they have developed a positive, “can do” attitude. Some of them will travel to International settings to attend Universities after they graduate from Interamericano, while the rest of them will attend local Colleges and Universities. However, I know that eventually all of them will return to lead their home country into the future. Our students will become the financial, political, religious, and social leaders of Guatemala. When I see the quality of young men and women we have at this school, I know that the future of Guatemala will be in good hands. Since I have been here I have seen, and felt, a Positive Attitude permeate this school. The students, the staff, the parents, and the administration believe in Interamericano, and they firmly believe that with a positive attitude, everything is possible.
“Five years ago the enrollment at Inter was 950 students. Now it has risen to 1210. That is a 27% increase in just five years.” I have spoken to most of those new parents and nearly every one of them tells me that they chose Interamericano over the other International schools in the area because of the attitude they “felt” while visiting this campus. Negative attitudes are not accepted here. The students have come to realize that although they can not control many things that will happen to them throughout their lives, they can control the attitude with which they face adversity. Additionally, they know that if they remain positive, remain steadfast in their beliefs, and remain true to their goals in life, they will succeed. Self-Confident. Positive. Value Oriented. These are the students at Interamericano and I am proud to be their General Director.
Carl Wieburg General Director
Interact magazine | November-december 2014
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CONTENTS
ACADEMICS
TABLE OF
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ACTIVITIES
Features
Interact magazine | November-december 2014
ACADEMICS 07 - Choosing Careers and Universities. 13 - A Day in the Museum. 17 - STUCO. 22 - Integration of Math and Literacy. 22 - Literacy at Home. 24 - Singapore Math.
Features 01 - Self-Confident. Positive. Value Oriented. 04 - All Different, All Equal, All Inter. 06 - Understanding Bullying. 10 - Getting to Know our Principals. 18 - Meet our New Staff. 25 - Life in Middle School. 26 - Habits of Mind.
ACTIVITIES 08 - AASCA Leadership Conference. 12 - Family Day 2014. 14 - Sports Update. 16 - Book Fair. 20 - Helping La Limonada. EDITOR IN CHIEF Marcel Guadr贸n | Communications Coordinator CONTENT MANAGER Luis Masaya | Manager of Educational Technology
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ALL DIFFERENT, ALL EQUAL, ALL INTER Interamericano’s Spirit Campaign goes into its third year by: katrin Hünemörder | eca coordinator
This year’s spirit campaign focusses on the international identity of our school. Under the slogan All different–All equal– All INTER, the campaign points out that even though many of us come from different countries, have different backgrounds, and speak different languages, here at INTERAMERICANO we are all equal. The campaign also shows that our community is extremely diverse, but it’s the diversity that contributes to our community and that makes our school such a special place. This year’s I’m in I’m Inter campaign was kicked off during Family Day, with the presentation of the first fourteen nominees for this year’s campaign, whose posters are now decorating the entrances to the offices. Nine-year old Melissa Jarabande gave her very own and beautiful message against bullying and for mutual respect and tolerance, by singing the famous song Titanium in front of hundreds of spectators, who had stayed for the end-of-the-day events on Family Day.
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Interact magazine | November-december 2014
The cheerleaders supported the campaign with a dynamic presentation, and the kick-off event then ended with a stunning musical performance by Inter teachers Syeeda Echols and Ericka Artiga, who presented Christina Aguilera’s Reflection in both English and Spanish and produced goose bumps on everyone’s skin. This year’s campaign received more than one hundred and fifty nominees. Teachers nominated students who are an example of tolerance, who are very well integrated in their class or in the community, and who contribute positively to the community. Every month the campaign will present several of these students who were nominated, and who are willing to stand up for our slogan All different – All equal – All different. As a new element of the I’m in I’m Inter campaign there are several items for sale that support the campaign and our school spirit. Our student athletes can purchase their very own I’m in I’m Inter practice shirt for volleyball, soccer, basketball or dance. Parents have the opportunity to purchase I’m in I’m Inter fan shirts that support our teams. There are also sweaters with the campaign slogan in the eight most spoken languages at Inter available, as well as water bottles. Any of these items can be ordered or purchased in the ECA and sports office. Congratulations to everyone who contributes to Interamericano being a bully-free, tolerant, and diverse school, where everyone counts and everyone is valued.
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understanding bullying parents play a key role in protecting their kids from bullying. by: interamericano’s Counselors Bullying is a behavior that has always existed in school environments. It wasn’t until 1973 that Norwegian psychologist Dan Olwes decided to start to investigate and study it. Statistics show that two out of three kids cannot handle the situation by themselves. Adults have the responsibility to help not only the kids who are bullied, but also the kids who bully.
Bullying is a behavior characterized by mistreating, humiliating, and physically or psychologically attacking a peer, as well as ignoring, scaring, or making fun of another person, or systematically excluding the person. The main characteristic of this behavior is that it tends to increase over time and it is directed to a specific person (a peer) with the purpose of hurting or gaining power over him or her.
What to do if you suspect your child is being bullied:
What to do if you suspect your child is a witness TO bullying:
If you suspect that your child is being bullied, it is very important to establish a communication and trust channel. This way the children will be comfortable talking about all the good and bad things they are dealing with.
In case parents hear that their child is witnessing bullying, it is important to establish a communication channel so the children feel comfortable talking about the situations. Help your children with the following recommendations:
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Research carefully what is happening. Before defining it as bullying, listen to your children and understand their feelings. Promote reflecting on the situation and solving the conflicts in an objective and assertive way. Never tell your children to ignore the abuse. Guide them so they can report the situation to their teachers, principals, or counselors. Do not blame them by telling them that they are provoking the bully. Support them, listen to them, and immediately share this information with the school. Discuss assertive solutions they can use to reply to the bullies, and practice it with them.
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Let them know that they should not participate in the abuse. Let them know how to defend the child – telling the other kid to stop, that people should not be treated that way. Children can help the child who is being bullied. They can call an adult, tell the bully to stop the behavior, and if possible to take the bullied child out of the situation.
Since the beginning of the school year, Carmen Lucía Cordón, an expert on the matter of bullying in Guatemala, has been advising the Counseling Department. The counselors periodically meet with her to discuss projects for the prevention of bullying in each level. If you would like more information about this topic, please contact the school’s Counseling Department.
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Interact magazine | November-december 2014
choosing careers & universities PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS by: KARLA GONZALEZ | HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELOR The High School students are at the adolescent age, which is considered to be the transitional stage between childhood and adulthood. They are in a time of life of discovery and disorientation. Perhaps 20% of our students are sure about what they want to study, but 80% of our students face tough choices regarding schoolwork, choosing a career, and deciding where they want to study. Part of our job as counselors is to accompany the students through the process of choosing a career that they have a passion for. We also help to select universities that are the best fit for them. In our school, we plan different activities that provide as much information as possible about careers to our students. For example, in October we had the “Career Day Activity” to which we invited seven different professionals to give a presentation about a specific career to the students. In this activity, the students had the opportunity to learn about what skills they need to study a specific major and what classes they need to take. They also learned where they could work upon graduation. This activity provided them with a glimpse of different careers they could pursue.
Also, this year the students had the opportunity to take an aptitude test, which assesses their skills. This test was divided into two parts – the first evaluated numerical, verbal, mechanical, abstract, spatial, speed, and accuracy skills, while the second assessed the students’ interest in different areas. The results gave them three different possibilities of careers that they could study according to their abilities and interests. Additionally, in November we had the local university fair at Colegio Interamericano. In this fair the students had the opportunity to talk with different admissions counselors from universities. They got to ask questions about the admission process and scholarships and to learn more about the philosophy of the university. We provide our students with all these tools in order to help them find the correct path for their future. We understand that making this huge decision about what major to pick is a big step. However, we will continue to provide them with the support they need to succeed!
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AASCA LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE Get involved – a conference about student participation by: katrin Hünemörder | eca coordinator
“We criticize in our school that many people don’t show a lot of school spirit, that there is little support for our sports teams at games and that there are many cliques within our High School, meaning that people don’t really mingle”. This year’s AASCA leadership conference was all about student participation and student voice. Almost 100 student leaders from fifteen different schools came to Antigua, Guatemala, in order to be
a better student leader and to learn how to make students better heard in their schools. The student leaders received a one-day intensive training in how to moderate a future workshop conference.
A future workshop is a conference method often used when an organization or a school is looking for means to improve their organization. A future workshop has three steps: 1. Criticism phase: The participants reflect and gather bullet points about what they do not like about their school. 2. Dream phase: The participants dream their ideal school, not taking into account any limitations in resources, space or time. They simply try to create their perfect place. 3. Realization or implementation phase: The participants look at their dreams and chose one specific topic or dream they would like to work on. They then create a project, which implementation would get them closer to making this dream come true. They do so by creating a s.m.a.r.t. goal for their project and create a specific action plan they can follow. “Our goal is that by the end of the school year all High School students know each other by name. We will achieve this goal by planning monthly spirit activities that will be small competitions between clans. Clans are groups of High School students that have students from mixed grades, so people will get to know each other even though they don´t normally study together.
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Interact magazine | November-december 2014
The second part of the training was in improvisation training with improvisation artists from Guatemala. When standing in front of a group, when leading a process, improvisation is an amazing skill to have and very useful for any leader.
At the end of the year we will have a whole spirit week with different activities every day. In order to plan and implement the activities, we will need regular student council meetings and committees for the different tasks, which includes the public relations for the activities, the planning and getting all materials ready.”
“Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.”
(John Maxwell)
“Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” (John Maxwell) This was the motto for this year’s leadership conference. Following that thought, the student leaders wouldn’t just learn about how to be a leader, but had the opportunity to implement what they’ve learned. On Friday, the third day of the Leadership conference, all participants went to Colegio Interamericano, and implemented a future workshop with the entire High School student body. All 300 High School students worked in 26 different groups, with two or three student leaders from the conference. They went to all phases of a future workshop, the criticism phase, the dream phase and the implementation phase. All students developed projects that could be implemented during this school year, leading towards school improvement and towards more student participation. On the next day of our conference, back in Antigua, all student leaders evaluated their experience from the day at Colegio Interamericano. Later that day the student leaders worked on their own projects that they would bring back to their own schools in order to make student voices heard more. One of the participant schools, Happy Days and Freedom High School, were so excited about the conference and the method, that their student council implemented an entire Future workshop at their own High School. We are constantly working on a complete documentation of the conference and all results from the Interamericano Future workshop and will present it soon to the school administration.
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STAFF HIGHLIGHT
GETTING TO KNOW OUR PRINCIPALS by: MARCEL GUADRON | COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
Interamericano’s Principals posing in Charlie’s Angels signature pose. From left to right: Victor Ramirez, Tina House, Kenneth Davis.
Behind excellent students and excellent teachers there have to be excellent principals! These are Interamericano’s principals, whose efforts in guiding and leading our school are greatly appreciated.
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Interact magazine | November-december 2014
It is a huge responsibility for them, but they are well prepared to achieve their goals and take the school to the next level. Here’s some of their background, goals, and thoughts about Interamericano.
TINA HOUSE - ELEMENTARY “The children are always happy here… It is a great joy to come to work. Our children are very talented and very interested in learning.” HOME COUNTRY: United States (Hot Springs, Arkansas). MAJOR: Elementary Education (Texas A&M); Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (Texas A&M). FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT INTER: Love the staff and the children. It’s a beautiful and safe place. The food on Tienda Day! GOALS AT INTER: Strengthening the values program. Keeping the school a safe environment, helping the kids be happy at school and enjoy their time here. HOBBIES: Quilting, listening to live music, traveling.
VICTOR RAMIREZ - MIDDLE SCHOOL “I’m very happy to be part of the Interamericano family. The students are very special, have great friendships, and become a family.” HOME COUNTRY: Costa Rica. MAJOR: English Language and Literature (Ripon College); Master’s degree in International and Comparative Education (Framingham State College). FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT INTER: The sense of community, sharing with people from different countries. GOALS AT INTER: Creating an idea of digital citizenship. Teaching how to use technology to become more effective learners. HOBBIES: Reading and learning languages, running, traveling.
KENNETH DAVIS - HIGH SCHOOL “We want to make sure students are able to think on their own, communicate properly, be compassionate and respectful to everyone they meet along the way”. HOME COUNTRY: United States (Cleveland, Ohio). MAJOR: Mathematics (Ohio University), Master’s degree in Education (Framingham State College); Administration Certificate (Johns Hopkins University). FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT INTER: The installations, the people, the community, and the academic rigor. The school’s spirit. GOALS AT INTER: Take the academics, the technology, and the teachers to the next level. HOBBIES: Ultimate frisbee, golf, fantasy football.
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FAMILY DAY 2014 by: irene tobias | opai president
On Saturday, November 15, OPAI and Colegio Interamericano celebrated the traditional Family Day. After months of planning and weekly meetings, the school’s parent association was able to see the fruit of their hard work and organization. With the help of a group of 13 mothers from the parent association, along with the whole maintenance, administration and educational staff, Family Day was a success. More than 1,800 people attended the event and many parents enjoyed the rides along with their children. Teachers and staff were also able to enjoy some of the games and other entertainment provided by OPAI. Children along with their parents enjoyed taking pictures with more than a dozen Disney and Marvel characters that visited the school during that day’s event as well. This year OPAI had some new games and activities including a Photobooth stand with unlimited pictures, Roller Balls at the soccer field, two types of go karts, 9 Fun Fair games, and a variety of food and snacks for the whole community to enjoy. OPAI also had a stage set up at the soccer field in order to support this year’s school campaign about Diversity. Overall the event was a success and OPAI was pleased to receive emails and thank you notes from parents, teachers, and administrative staff. Thank you for all your support and as always OPAI will keep on working hard to support and be of service to the whole Interamericano community.
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Interact magazine | November-december 2014
A DAY IN THE MUSEUM Elementary students visited the kids museum and the ixchel museum of indigenous textiles by: walter flores | elementary art teacher On Wednesday, November 5th, 1st grade students had the opportunity to visit the Kids Museum as part of the activities of the integrated art curriculum. In each grade, students visit a museum to learn to value Guatemalan art. We started with the Kids Museum so they can get to know and participate in different activities to enrich their daily learning. Teachers, assistants, and some parents that were invited to this activity accompanied the students.
As part of the activities of the Art curriculum, 2nd grade students visited the Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Textiles and Clothing last November.
Some of the activities in which the students participated included: Creating recycled paper, doing electricity experiments, observing different Guatemalan musical instruments, playing in the mini market, being in a surgery room, some kids were inside a giant soap bubble, having fun in the mini city, among others. It was a beautiful experience! Thank to the teachers and parents for their support and enthusiasm to have this experience with the kids.
We toured the museum to get to know and learn about the textures of our traditional clothes and observe the diversity in colors, shapes, and figures that every textile has. One of the rooms that impressed the kids the most was the one about the watercolor pieces by Carmen de Peterssen. The displayed collection had different watercolor paintings of different traditional clothing, which is one of the hardest painting techniques. One parent per class accompanied us during this special occasion. The students worked on a worksheet and, to complete the visit, they will work on a placemat with different colors to imitate what our indigenous people do. Our students had a lot of fun and were motivated by the activity. The idea and the objective of getting to know our culture and our traditions were once more accomplished. Interact magazine | November-december 2014
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SPORTS UPDATE talended kids with a promising future by: allan secaida | athletic COORDINATOR We are very happy with the number of students involved in the sports program this year. A great job has been done with every team during this first semester, with the objective of providing students with better quality training.
ELEMENTARY Our students from this level have been the biggest surprise this year, as they have exceeded our expectations. Both the soccer and basketball teams have a promising future. The school is achieving a high level in sports and we can already find very talented kids. In addition, volleyball is continuing to become stronger in its second year. We can’t wait for the second semester to have more participation in school tournaments.
MIDDLE SCHOOL This year, we have been able to work with more categories in this level. The basketball and soccer teams are excelling with disciplined students. The most important values of these students are teamwork and dedication that can be seen in every practice and every game.
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Interact magazine | November-december 2014
HIGH SCHOOL For our high school students, there’s nothing more important than getting ready for the AASCA tournament. Interamericano’s basketball team had great participation in this event, which was held in Guatemala City last October. Thanks to the support from principals and teachers, students were able to come and cheer on the teams in every game. Personally, I think that the best moments are when the whole community comes together to support our teams.
The soccer teams are in the final stage of preparation for the AASCA soccer tournament, which will be held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The Volleyball teams will be in action during April with the responsibility of doing an excellent job since the girls’ team is the current AASCA Champion. There are a lot of expectations for our teams for this upcoming year.
Torneo de La Amistad – Friendship Tournament This past 14th and 15th of November, the school enjoyed the second International Friendship Tournament, organized by Colegio Interamericano. Twenty teams participated in 4 different categories. In this edition, we had the special participation of the Panamerican School of El Salvador. It was a great event in which kids and parents enjoyed a weekend full of soccer. Interamericano achieved the following awards: • First Place: U-10 Boys Category (Grade 4 students) • First Place: U-12 Boys Category (Grade 6 students) • Second Place: U-12 Girls Category (Grade 5 and 6 students) • Second Place: U-16 Boys Category (High School students)
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BOOK FAIR - FALL 2014 MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO READ FOR FUN by: LUIS MASAYA | MANAGER OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
The Library Media Center is constantly looking for opportunities to provide our students with reading materials and books. To achieve our goal, we have successfully completed our Fall Book Fair. This time more than 10 vendors were invited to come to our school and sell great books to our students, parents, and teachers. More than a thousand people were invited and participated by reviewing, sharing, and buying best sellers, classics, and the latest titles for teenagers and children. The Library Media Center’s staff is constantly making an effort to find new vendors and have a different selection of books and materials at every book fair. More than 6,000 different titles were available in both Spanish and English, with a good selection of books. We are glad to let you know that the key to success in this wonderful activity was the participation of parents, teachers, and principals who motivated our students to come and explore the fair. This opportunity is unique for our school’s community because students have the chance to purchase a book in a different environment than in a store. Students can share opinions and preferences of books with their friends, teachers, and parents; besides it is a good way to help our school library.
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The importance of this activity is not buying a book but creating a reading culture in our children and motivating them to read for fun. At this point Reading will let our students travel to a million places and explore thousands of cultures. It will also help them develop a broader vocabulary and increase their knowledge. Together we can accomplish a very important mission that will change our student’s lives, the mission of encouraging them to develop reading appreciation and to enjoy the benefits of it!
student council PROMOTING SCHOOL SPIRIT by: student council (stuco)
STUCO, or Student Council, is a representative structure for students through which they get involved in the school´s affairs in benefit of both the students and the school. Every year, we plan activities in which the whole school participates, creating unity for high school students. As the representatives of our former classmates, we do this not only to promote school spirit, but also to create a friendly and comfortable environment for every student. These activities are one per month, depending on the month. For example, the Halloween
rally, Thanksgiving lunch, Christmas baskets, Valentine’s day grams, the annual spring treasure hunt, and to close the year, the annual rally. To make these competitions happen, we divided the whole High School into seven houses, giving each a color and a house pet, to increase the participation and spirit of all students. Every year we improve, making each activity better, implementing new activities and ideas, and integrating not only our students, but also our teachers and staff into the Interamericano community.
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MEET OUR NEW STAFF professionals committed to our mission by: MARIA DEL CARMEN BOLAﾃ前S | human resources manager At the beginning of the 2014-2015 academic year, we welcomed to our school a successful group of professionals. It is of great value to our school to have this group of talented people who are committed to the education and mission of Colegio Interamericano.
Amy Dennis Elementary Teacher
Duda Radulovic Middle School Teacher
Andrea Garcﾃｭa Elementary EA
Hyungjoon Jin Middle School Teacher
Bruce Ferguson High School Teacher
Cassandra Jones Elementary Teacher
Jacqueline Carrothers Elementary Teacher
John LeValley Elementary Teacher
Kenneth Davis High School Principal
Lukus Brody Middle School Teacher
Maria Fuentes Elementary EA
Maxim Lowry High School Teacher
Ruth Chafchalaf Elementary Counselor
Sarah Cusworth High School Teacher
Sarah Abugarade Elementary EA
Silvia Davis Elementary Teacher
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Interact magazine | November-december 2014
Stephanie Diaz Elementary EA
Syeeda Echols Elementary Teacher
Theresa Fernau Elementary Teacher
Tina House Elementary Principal
William Martin High School Teacher
Jennifer Kiser Middle School Teacher
Danielle Gales Elementary Teacher
Temilyn Tilly Elementary Teacher
Isabel Silva Elementary EA
Valeska Flores Elementary EA
Olimpia Vásquez Elementary Teacher
Ana Beatriz Flores Elementary Teacher
Jason White Elementary Teacher
Héctor Cruz Help Desk
Zoe Muralles Elementary Teacher
Oscar Castellanos Help Desk
Angela Rodriguez Elementary EA
Karen Gudiel Administrative Receptionist
Marcel Guadrón Communications Coordinator
Regina Chamorro Middle School Counselor
Danitza Mendez Elementary Secretary
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HELPING LA LIMONADA TEACHERS WORKING TOGETHER TO HELP A LOCAL COMMUNITY with EDUCATION by: LISA CAYEN | KINDERGARtEN TEACHEr
Our Inter Elementary team continues to work together to help our local community in education! I am thrilled to announce that our wonderful OPAI mothers graciously donated the funds from one tiendita stand last month. This money was put towards purchasing food baskets for the students’ families of La Limonada. A well-nourished child provides them with the necessary fuel to learn. These food baskets act as incentives for the students’ families. They are awarded a food basket if their child attends school regularly and if the family themselves attend the monthly school meetings. Secondly, our OPAI mothers went above and beyond with their donations. They donated 100 puzzles, 100 coloring books and, 100 memory games that all pertain to character values. I would also like to take this moment to say a BIG THANK YOU to Gaby Gordillo and Claudia Artiga who also helped out this month with La Limonada. They truly stepped up an delivered a phenomenal professional development for the teachers of La Limonada last Wednesday Oct. 29th! They were organized, informative and had the teachers engaged
the whole time! They had the teachers engaged in interactive activities that they could use and apply within their own classrooms. Each activity was meaningful! The teachers had so much fun during their PD! They were laughing, asking questions and enthusiastically participating! Way to go ladies for having a fun, interactive and, educational PD!
I am so appreciative of all the efforts of our wonderful Elementary team! OPAI for their gracious donations and to Gaby and Claudia for organizing such a worth while professional development with pamphlets for the teachers and extra materials for them to take away and apply within their own classrooms! I’m in, I’m Inter! CONGRATULATIONS!
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INTEGRATION OF MATH & LITERACY INTEGRATING MATH AND LITERACY INTO SPECIALIST SUBJECT AREAS by: AMANDA BOURDON & walter flores LITERACY COACH & art teacher This year teachers have joined forces to help integrate math and literacy into specialist subject areas. In Spanish, we are aligning our writing program with Literacy By Design so students gain more confidence using graphic organizers and with the writing process. In technology, students are working with graphs to reinforce concepts in mathematics and in music using songs to help learn multiplication facts and much more. In PE class, students have been practicing measurement by measuring the soccer field and in art they have been working on vocabulary and many other concepts that students are learning in literacy. Teachers have done a fantastic job integrating math and literacy into their subject areas in fun ways. We look forward to continuing with this approach to learning in the New Year.
Literature and Art: From PK to Grade 3, students receive a 35-minute art class once a week. In every class, the students are reminded of the 6 pillars of character (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship). At the beginning of the class, we talk about a specific value, and with the younger kids we sing a song related to the animal that represents each value. By writing sentences, spelling words, and dividing words into syllables, we integrate art and literature. This is done with every group, according to their level. We also practice reading; this time we read the book “Dónde estás Papá Noel.” We also organized different artistic activities that helped us decorate our doors.
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LITERACY AT HOME FUN ACTIVITIES TO DO AT HOME THAT WILL HELP YOUR CHILD BECOME A MORE SUCCESSFUL STUDENT by: AMANDA BOURDON | LITERACY COACH It is important that we help our children foster a love of literacy. By participating in reading and writing together at home you can help your child become a more successful student at school. Here are some fun activities you can do with your child at home.
Develop Fun, Family Activities That Encourage Writing • INTERVIEWS: Encourage children to ask family members about life experiences, take notes and write short articles or stories based on what they learn. • JOURNALS: Buy your child a special notebook to write in. Encourage him to write about daily activities, important life events, feelings and other personal topics. • TELEVISION: Turn watching television into an educational activity by asking children to write about a show they’ve seen. They can retell the show’s story, or explore the values and meanings it expressed. • PROUD DISPLAYS: Have a place in your home where you display your children’s writing. This will build their confidence and encourage them to write more often.
Reading at home • READ, READ, READ. It is important for children to read every day at home. If you are a reader, then read alongside your child. They love to do things with an adult. • READ WHAT YOUR CHILD READS. Knowing what your child is reading will allow you to talk about what they are reading together. If your child has questions about what they are reading, you can answer them thoroughly and correctly- or help them answer the questions by themselves. • ASK QUESTIONS. Engage your child in a thoughtful conversation about the story. Go beyond questions and ask, “Why do you think the main character acted the way he/she did?” “What do you think will happen in the next chapter and why?” • ENCOURAGE POST-READING ACTIVITIES. Urge your children to draw a picture about a story they’ve read. Active reading will encourage critical thinking about the material without the child even realizing it. Connect reading material to prior knowledge. To help your child connect their reading material to the outside world, ask them how the book added to what they already knew about the topic or subject. For a simple start, ask your child to compare and contrast the book they are reading with the one they’ve read in the past.
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Spice up spelling practice • BACKWARDS WORDS: Write your words forwards, then backwards. • SILLY SENTENCES: Use all your words in ten sentences • PICTURE WORDS: Draw a picture and write your words in the picture. • GOOD CLEAN: Words -Write your words in shaving cream, sand, with cooked pasta, or melted chocolate • 3D WORDS: Use modeling clay to spell your words. • SOUND WORDS: Record the words and their spelling. Then listen to your tape, checking to see that you spelled all the words correctly. • ABC ORDER: Write your words in alphabetical order. • RAINBOW WORDS: Write your words in three colors.
Literacy Apps
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singapore math
Implementing the program according to its requirements. by: THOMAS HAMILTON | GRADE 4 TEACHER
About 15 years ago Singapore restructured their entire national approach to education. The backbone of their new educational system was their math program. Outside of Singapore the program has become known as Singapore Math.
was much faster than our previous program, and the assessments seemed so difficult that most grades didn’t even use them. To add to those early challenges we saw a decrease in our elementary MAP test scores.
Singapore has flourished for the last 15 years as both an international leader in education (standardized test scores) and as a leader in economic growth. Because of their unprecedented success the Singapore Math system has spread like wild fire across the globe; Canada, The USA, Australia and Great Britain are just a few of the countries that have adopted the Singapore approach.
Over the course of the last two years, with help from great coaches, and great professional development we are now implementing the program according to its requirements. We are giving the assessments that the program designs, and we have seen a huge increase in our MAP test scores. We have adjusted to the program, and although there are still many challenges, we have proven that we can do it, and that it works.
Three years ago Interamericano also decided to make the change. Adopting a new math curriculum as radically different and challenging as Singapore math has presented many challenges to our community, but today we are proud to observe and report the first signs of major success. In the first two years of implementation the challenges were many, the new program’s pacing
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Interact magazine | November-december 2014
The next challenge is to implement the program in the middle school. Two years ago we put it in at grade 6, and this year we bought the program for grade 7. Both of these grades carry the same challenges as implementation in the lower grades, but in a few years we are very optimistic that we will see the same success as the lower grades.
life in middle school
giving the support and encouragement needed in this developmental stage by: regina chamorro | middle school counselor Middle School students are experiencing a wealth of physical, emotional, social and intellectual changes. They look for relationships between lessons and life; they seek to find who they are as individuals and that´s why they yearn for adult role models and guidance. They do not find academic goals as important as being part of a group. Their peers influence in most of their decisions and they need to feel that we care about their interests, hobbies, activities, friends, etc.; but most importantly, they need to feel that we trust them and that they can trust us.
At this stage of development, children don´t have the ability to fully comprehend abstract ideas, they get to experience the phenomenon of metacognition (the ability to know what one knows and does not know) and they face decisions that can affect them, either in a positive or a negative way, academically, socially, emotionally and/or physically. We know how important it is to help them develop their problem solving and critical thinking skills. This year we are introducing The Habits of Mind, a program that will help them analyze their decisions and learn from them as they become responsible teenagers.
We want them to know how important it is for us to listen to what they have to say, to what they need and to see how they perceive their environment; therefore, we are starting to have them create new activities for their community to show how they apply values in their lives. The first student´s creation was a play about citizenship and respect at school. STUCO students represented the importance of collaborating in order to have a respectful and safe environment at school.
We know that students come from a stage where everything needs to be monitored by their parents, teachers, or any other adult around them (usually through Elementary). When they start Middle School, they realize that it is time for them to show what they have learned from others in the past and apply this knowledge to their lives more independently. Here we have a special course, Study Skills, in which students learn how to develop their executive functions so that they can improve their academic results.
The second activity was about social responsibility, directed by their Values teacher, Miss Amy Mijangos, and the whole Middle School community was involved. The “Toy Factory” was about collecting toys for children from an orphanage and our students were the principal characters of this noble action. They had the opportunity to share a special moment with these kids and give them the toys they collected. Students also got the chance to play with them and have some fun. We are looking forward to future activities!
This developmental stage is just starting, our students still have many academic and life lessons to learn, and we are prepared to give them the support and encouragement they need.
Interact magazine | November-december 2014
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HABITS OF MIND by: VICTOR RAMIREZ | middle school PRINCIPAL The Habits of Mind are dispositions for teachers, students and parents that empower creative and critical thinking, and foster a learning community where all members are engaged in the learning process. We are very excited to announce that Middle School will start a pilot program in all grades to teach the habits of mind in a natural way, integrated with the subjects. Habits of mind are a set of 16 habits that applied to daily situations gives students the opportunity to become a more successful and independent thinker and doer.
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Interact magazine | November-december 2014
We will be sharing more information in January not only for students, but also for parents. We will provide material and workshops on how to apply the habits of mind at home, supporting the work we will be doing at school. Our goal with the habits of mind is to create a school wide culture of positive skills that will support learning and also encourage students to be more creative and critical thinkers. You can find more information about the program at: www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/parents/
photo credit javier asturias - grade 12
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