TIS News - May 2012

International Baccalaureate World School

International Spanish Academy

TIS News May 2012

Confucius Classroom

TIS teachers selected for honors Fifth grade TIS Chinese teacher Hong Shentu has been selected from among more than 1000 candidates to attend the 2012 Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy at the Liberty Science Center. Hong will join 200 third through fifth grade teachers from across the nation for this one week intensive, all-expense paid professional development opportunity. The Academy is dedicated to increasing students’ learning and appreciation of math and science by enhancing teachers’ content knowledge, helping teachers use math tools to build understanding and connections to science concepts, and modeling “best practices” for teachers to use in their classrooms. The Academy will take place this summer in New Jersey.

TIS Art Specialist Julie Jansen is one of just 24 teachers in the United States to receive a Fulbright scholarship for the Japan-US Teacher Exchange Program for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). During joint conferences in San Francisco and Japan, Julie will work with American and Japanese colleagues to develop curriculum in food and sustainable nutrition, the environment, energy and resources, and international understanding and cooperation. In the fall, Julie will infuse ESD into her TIS art program, and work with classroom teachers on related units of study. She will also collaborate with local organizations to bring ESD concepts to the greater Portland community.

Fifth graders research & present cultural comparisons Fifth graders Harlee and Hazel found that their classmates in Japan eat a lot of dairy, while Natalie and August discovered that their Mexican host families buy less dairy than people in Portland.

These were just some of the students’ findings from their International Baccalaureate (IB) Exhibition projects and their Capstone trips abroad.

For this year’s Capstone program, TIS fifth graders traveled to Japan, China or Mexico for two weeks in March. The students spent one week living with host families and attending a local school, and a second week visiting cultural and historical sites that they had studied in class.

The trip was part of an IB unit about how “Shared beliefs and values influence people’s continued on next page

Also in this issue A parent perspective: does the IB make a difference?

State of the School How kindergarten connects with the real world Graduate Profile: Alex Annand, Class of 2001 TIS adopts new logo

The International School’s TIS NEWS * May 2012

continued from the front page everyday lives.” The unit is an inquiry into different societal beliefs and values, how culture influences their expression in everyday life, and similarities and differences across cultures.

Students focused their inquiry on an area of personal interest such as transportation, food, or music. They created questionnaires in English and in their track language, and then gathered data on their trip abroad and at home in Portland. The students presented their results to the school community using pictures, graphs, essays and other visual aids at the school’s fair-style IB exhibition on April 27.

Every research team discovered cultural differences that had a direct meaning for them. Ben learned that kids in Merida like to watch TV before doing their homework because their school ends early. Kaia and Lilly discovered that musical groups in Merida usually dress elegantly while in America bands wear every day clothes. (“In Merida, maybe if you look like a homeless person people won’t listen to your music.”)

Yet as with most IB lessons, the data

gathered was only part of the benefit. Che Che learned how hard it was to create graphs from open-ended questions in a survey. August liked writing her exhibition essay on food.

“It was fun to write an essay, thinking about the differences between the two places as I was writing.” Claire and Clara worked together to compare performing arts in China and the US, and divided the tasks according to their strengths.

“I’m doing all the computer stuff which I really like,” Claire said, “and Clara is doing more of the art parts because she’s good at that.”

Overall, most students agreed with Natalie, that working toward such a big deadline was “stressful at moments.” But still a good experience? “Yes, definitely!”

A parent perspective: does the IB make a difference?

by Yukako Owen, a former TIS teacher whose daughter is in Hideko-sensei’s kindergarten class.

Last December, Hideko’s class was learning about different artists and painting styles. We went to Japan, and my kindergarten daughter pointed at the paintings in the hotel lobby. She started saying, “Who is the artist?” and, “It looks likes Picasso’s painting,” and, “Dad, the picture on your t-shirt, it looks like Andy Warhol’s style.” I was very impressed that a six year old showed interest in art and could recognize the style of an artist! When we returned from our trip and visited Hideko’s class, I saw a wall full of little artists’ paintings that looked like Jackson Pollock, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Klee and others.

I see the difference that the IB and the units of inquiry make for my daughter. Just as an example, one day I got to see Hideko reading a story book to the kids. It looked like a typical story time, except that the kids started raising their hands, full of questions and opinions after each page!

“Those animals were not nice to the earth.’”

“It’s ok, because that’s how they built the house.”

“Oh, look! They were doing a good thing for the earth.”

It was clear that they had been learning about the earth and the environment. From the story book, they saw the pictures and made connections with what they had been learning, asked questions and shared opinions. And of course they were all talking in Japanese!

My daughter is six years old. She does not talk much about what she learns in class, but we can always tell how each IB unit impacts her real life and gives her great motivation to learn. My daughter never checked our house recycle bin, but she started checking it and talking about how she can re-use things. She wants to bring things to school to use for the art show project. It was so obvious what she had been learning.

I think both Hideko’s teaching and the IB units have turned my daughter into a very inquisitive, intellectual thinker who is not shy about sharing her knowledge on a subject. She is always asking questions about what things are and the reasons for them. They are not the usual “Why? Why? Why?” questions. Her questions are deeper and more complex than that. I believe that Hideko, the IB program, and TIS have taught her to be that type of thinker.

The International School’s TIS NEWS * May 2012

How kindergarten connects with the real world “The kindergarteners planned a field trip for our unit on transportation,” Hideko-sensei explained. “I told them that the trip should be downtown, and that it had to be somewhere we could use money because we were learning about money in our math unit. So the students looked at the transit map and discovered that the Portland Streetcar goes from school directly to a toy store! They looked at the schedule and decided when we should leave. Of course they brought money and bought toys,” she laughed.

“It was so much fun!”

“Fun” is one of Hideko-sensei’s watch words. She has a broad, infectious smile and her eyes sparkle when she talks about teaching. “I’m the teacher, but actually the kids are teaching me every day. Being with the students, sharing with them - it’s so much fun, so joyful.”

Hideko has been teaching at TIS since 1998, and truly enjoys using the school’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program. “My favorite part is the students’ questions. Before the IB, the students would ask some questions, and I would usually tell them the answers. But now, they do the research

and we all learn together. Often they ask questions that I had never thought of before. It’s so exciting to discover along with my students. And learning is more exciting for them because I am so excited about it.”

With the IB, it is most important for students to learn skills and concepts. “So even though I will teach the same units again next year, I don’t have to teach the same animals and the same painters. The lessons are always fresh.”

In the IB unit about living things, “The students were interested in chimpanzees, so that is what we studied. We used mainly books, pictures and videos because the visuals are so important at this age. The students can read, but it can be hard for them to understand all the facts.

So we use the library, and I find web sites for us to look at together.

That way they get the information and learn research skills too.

As an IB teacher, Hideko also uses field trips to connect

classroom learning with real life. “At the art museum they get to see real art, not just what I print out from the internet. They see how big the paintings are, how small they are, how they really look. After that trip, the students started drawing with more detail. And when they draw something now, they have a reason. “‘It’s because I like Cezanne’s style,’ one student told me!”

“A couple of times each month I give students research to do at home with parents. It may only take ten minutes, but it really helps students learn that what you do in the classroom is connected to real life.

And when parents hear their child say, ‘I want to do this research because I’m learning about it in school,’ the parents understand more what’s going on in the classroom, more than they can know from my weekly e-mails.”

Hideko left TIS in 2008 to continue her own education, and she took a part time job in an import/ export company. Her smile disappears momentarily as she explains, “Teaching was the only thing I had done, so I thought I needed to try a more ‘grown-up’ job. In that job I was on the phone and on e-mail with customers and companies. Some parts of it were fun, but overall – bo-ring.”

She laughs. “Working in an office, doing the same thing every day - it works for some people, but not for me. I missed the teaching so much.

“At TIS, every day I’m laughing or being surprised - it’s so much fun.

Teaching is my favorite thing, it’s my lifetime job. Now I know for sure.”

The International School’s TIS NEWS * May 2012

Head of School State of the School Report Dear Friends, The past three years have been filled with hard work and many rewards for the entire school community, and I too have found great rewards in my work here in the cause of this school’s excellent mission. There are truly few schools in the world as unique as this one.

These three years have seen: ►► A dramatic increase in enrollments in the midst of a recession; ►► A strengthening of our financial position thanks to the work of a very astute board finance committee and Business Manager Rob Timmons; ►► Attainment of International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB-PYP) authorization and now preparation for our re-authorization and for accreditation through the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS); ►► A tremendous drive to up-skill our faculty and ourselves in inquiry-based teaching, funded largely by special appeal donations; ►► A significant increase in books, computers and learning resources to make the PYP happen; ►► Development of a faculty and staff evaluation system; ►► A marked sharpening of our curriculum and assessment practices; ►► Addition of key administrative positions, including HR Manager Casey Ford, EMT /Security Officer Kevin Hawke, Maintenance Guru Eros Minera, and Tech Support Man Mark Usher; ►► Completion of a comprehensive site search process and development of a Master Plan on our current site; ►► The creation of a development office and solid community support for our fundraising efforts; ►► A marked unification of our tracks and students through collaborative teaching teams, assemblies, and school events.

Along with these efforts, as always, work remains to be done.

Among the tasks that lie before us: ►► Building stronger, wider community participation in and support for TIS ►► Increasing our long-term sustainability with an owned permanent home and an endowment ►► Furthering the refinement of curriculum, teaching and assessment through continued professional development The school is graced with a faculty and staff who work extremely hard and extremely well, sometimes under great continued on next page

The International School’s TIS NEWS * May 2012

stress and often in a culture very different than the one where they were raised. It is graced with a board that cares deeply, analyzes fully, and spends countless hours to carry out its responsibilities to the highest standards. It is graced with a key group of parents who show their devotion through hours and hours of volunteering, a group that would welcome more members. It is graced with some of the most talented, thoughtful and flat out lovable students this writer has met. And it is a school with a heart and all the things stormy, gorgeous, messy and complex that having a heart implies.

This is a school that offers unique educational value in the world, even if we are all too often too burrowed into daily life to see it. Take a day and walk around with visitors, as I did earlier this week, from prek up to grade 5, in Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese, and you will see a remarkable story unfolding. As you evaluate the texture, the brushstrokes, the hues, and the framing, remember to step back now and again to fully appreciate this little masterpiece.

Dr. Alfonso Orsini Head of School

Artwork from the 2012 TIS Student Art Show

The International School’s TIS NEWS * May 2012

Graduate Profile: Alex Annand ’01 When Alex Annand graduated from TIS in 2001, there were 253 students in the whole school and a small handful in fifth grade. TIS has grown and matured significantly 471 students including 39 graduating fifth graders this year - but the program’s core goal of developing world citizens is unchanged.

“The greatest memory I have of using my Spanish was on a tour bus when I was in South Africa for the World Cup. There were a few Argentinean men who did not speak English on the bus; my brother, sister (both attended TIS) and I translated for them throughout the tour.”

Certain things stand out from Alex’s time at TIS. “The two teachers I remember most were my kindergarten and 3rd grade teachers, Rosa and Alicia. I remember going down to the bottom playground and having recess there. I remember the pumpkin patch every year and all the field trips that we got to go on that changed the way I learned.

That was one thing I loved.”

“Our fifth grade Capstone trip was to Puerto Rico.

We visited a school there that was run by a former TIS principal. The fourth grade class went as well because our class was so small. One moment I really remember is waking up and going out to get something to eat at a nearby restaurant. It was just my friend, our teacher and me. We ordered in Spanish and took in the sun.”

Alex feels that there were social disadvantages to having

such a small class, but says, “It really helped me to have small classes early on to become a good student at TIS. I was spoiled by the class size and attention from the teachers.”

After graduating from TIS, Alex went to Sellwood Middle School and received high school credit for his Spanish studies there. He continued taking Spanish at Cleveland High School, and then studied Swahili in college. After three and a half years of college, Alex graduated this past winter from the University of Oregon with a degree in English.

Now Alex is studying for his Appraisal Trainee license, playing recreational soccer with Spanish-speaking teammates, and working at a Mexican restaurant with colleagues who only speak Spanish.

“Overall I think TIS changed my perspective and ability to empathize with people all over the world.”

TIS looks to the future with new logo After 22 great years of service, the original TIS logo has been updated to reflect the school’s current program and the energy in our community.

The original logo was designed in 1990 by Charles Politz, a friend of school founders Douglas and Frey Stearns. It showed a globe in an open book which was held by two children.

The new mark was created by Portland-area designer Jennifer Strait. It retains the original globe, and expands the representation of children to honor our three language tracks. The new logo uses the same Atlantic-perspective of the

world, since the Pacific Ocean is too large to show more than one continent in a globe.

Along with the new logo, TIS is adopting key visual elements for all materials. A colorful side banner represents the home country flags of our staff and the diversity of our community. The new materials also show photos in a “snapshot” form.

Although physical snapshots are virtually obsolete, snapshots suggest “picturing” a child’s possibilities, and capturing the wonder of each moment in a child’s life.

Educating World Citizens since 1990 • International Baccalaureate World School Thriving in other cultures • Fluent in another language Engaged in math, science, social studies & arts • Confident & capable 025 SW Sherman Street, Portland, OR 97201 • 503-226-2496 • intlschool.org