Best American School to Watch Across the Globe

www.theknowledgereview.com 2021 | VOL-05 | ISSUE-00

Best AHS is growing at an amazing rate and anticipates being one of the premier online schools in the world by 2022

AMERICAN SCHOOLS to Watch

Across

the GLOBE

Beyond the Books Holistic Education Need of the Hour

November

The Talking Walls

2021

Importance of Classroom Setup

Issue - 02

Dana Delane-Williams Founder

AMERICAN

HIGH SCHOOL

Riding the Tides of the Online Education Revolution

EDITOR’S NOTE

BECOMING THE BEST OF ALL

S

chools are the second home of the children where they get to spend an entire day and learn under the guidance of a teacher. And every parent dreams that their children should have access to the best quality education and develop skills and expertise for a bright future. Only good schools can have high-quality education to shape the thoughts of children.

In today’s world, as the level of competition is increasing drastically, getting education from a good school means balancing both knowledge and value.

The current educational system is being adopted rapidly in a number of countries across the globe, creating ripples of influence on their local living standards and values. There are myriad schools all around the world where education is being imparted in an effective manner.

The modern educational landscape on the other side is changing at an incredible pace too. Everyone recognizes that we live in the 21st century where knowledge and education are everything. The extent of access to the internet a kid has sitting in his room, makes all the difference. If a student is given the proper education, only then their ability to thrive can be achieved.

On top of that, what was once a model dominated by public education systems is evolving into a market filled with alternatives. Homeschooling, charter schools, online and virtual schools, engaging courses, and private schools are just a few of the innovations that are appearing as research and technology begin to reshape the world of education.

However, a good school is not directed by a curriculum but a robust system that goes beyond the traditional teaching landscape. This system promotes choice, responsibility, and commitment by teachers and the students. A good school is flexible in teaching because it adapts to students' interests, needs, and goals. This flexibility allows it to respond to changes

in society as well as changes in the interests and needs of its students.

Just like their parents want the best for them, today’s kids are unique and worldly, most possessing the latest gadgets and information in a blink. To educate and prepare young people for success, a good school has to offer more than vital academic programs. Good schools provide experiences that help children learn essential life skills like the importance of engaging in work that is meaningful to them.

The Best American Schools to Watch Across the Globe sheds light on such a role of progressive learning environments that share a commitment to student and school success extending through high school. T R

l Das

a Ananda Kam

Ananda Kamal Das ananda@insightssuccess.com

AMERICAN

HIGH SCHOOL

08

Riding the Tides of the Online Education Revolution

P r o  l e

22

The American International School ·- Vienna

CXO’s

16 A Futuristic Approach 34 Veteran’s Voice

C O V E R S T O R Y

A r t i c l e s

18 Clockwork 6 Ways for Teachers to Save Time in The Classroom

30 Edu-Talk 8 Classroom Management Strategies that Deliver the Best Ways to Disseminating Knowledge

People behind this edition

sales@insightssuccess.com NOVEMBER, 2021

Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar Senior Editor Anish Miller Managing Editor Ananda Kamal Das Assisting Editor

Abhishaj Sajeev

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Best

AMERICAN SCHOOLS to Watch

Across

the GLOBE

Name of the Institution

URL

Brief

Adhwaa Multinational Academy

mnariyadh.com

The academy aims to provide high-quality education that delivers a transformative learning experience

Al Faris International School

alfarisschool.com

Al Faris International School aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better world

Coral International School

coralschool.edu.sa

Coral School aims to instill 21st century skills among the children, while inspiring them to become lifelong learners

Dhahran High School

isg.edu.sa

The school ensures that the students aspire to their fullest intellectual potential

Etehaad International School, Jeddah

etehaad.edu.sa

The school offers high-quality education, while adopting standardized curricula and diversied activities

Jeddah Knowledge International School

jischool.org

JIS aims to prepare 21st century learners to excel in the global community

MADAC Schools

madac.edu.sa

The school aspires to be a worldwide leader in improving children’s lives

New World International School

newworldschool.com.sa

The school assists students to become condent, responsible, and innovative learners

Nobles International School

nis-jeddah.com

NIS is a premiere educational institution offering quality education to children

The Learning Caravan International School

tlc-riyadh.com

TLC provides an ambience where students thrive and learn efciently

AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL

Riding the Tides of the Online Education Revolution

C O V E R S T O R Y

American High School uniquely prepares students to become global citizens by providing authentic online learning experiences and holding them accountable for their future independent successes

Best

AMERICAN SCHOOLS to

Watch

Across

the GLOBE

Dana Delane-Williams Founder

T

echnology is revolutionizing the way students learn. With access to the internet, students can learn anywhere and anytime.

American High School is an online school in Plantation, Florida, that is leading the digital revolution in providing high-caliber online educational courses across the United States and internationally.

American High School grew from the mind of Founder, Dana DelaneWilliams, while she was developing an online college and curriculum, which is still around today. Ms. DelaneWilliams saw a great divide between traditional schools and the homeschool market that severely needed the benefits of online instructions and courses. Fearing that parents would struggle when it came to providing instruction to their kids, she realized they needed significant assistance from certified teachers, when it came to teaching higher-level courses like statistics, geometry, physics, calculus, Honors, and AP courses. The entire course catalog is available online at www.AmericanHighSchool.org Online education was relatively new and not readily accepted. However, Dana knew that parents had a choice and that many would welcome the idea of online schooling as an alternative.

American High School offers over 500 online courses, that include an entire K-12 program, Summer School, Credit Recovery, Dual Diploma program, Virtual Reality CTE (career and technical education) courses like drone piloting, welding, culinary arts, and more. We’ve also added a Adult Learner program for adults who need to learn their high school diploma and an NCAA approved curriculum for those students who want to play sports in U.S. colleges on scholarship.

Mission: American High School uniquely

prepares students to become global citizens in the 21st-century workplace, by providing authentic online learning experiences and holding students accountable for their future independent successes.

Vision: To prepare students to be innovative, critical thinkers as they enter the global community as independent, creative, and productive citizens.

Core values: Ÿ Integrity Ÿ Responsibility Ÿ Independence Ÿ Respect Ÿ Excellence Who Is Dana Delane-Williams?

Education Ms. Delane-Williams holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Georgia State University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration in Aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

A Visionary As CEO Dana is the uncompromising visionary behind American High School in Plantation, Florida (AHS)

AHS is an accredited School for Grades K-12 offering over 500 engaging & interactive, College Prep, NCAA approved, Virtual Reality , Dual Diploma, CTE, and an Adult Learner Diploma

and its transformation from a small online high school program to a fully recognized and accredited K-12 virtual school. “She has led the charge as the first African American woman to own and operate an online school in the United States,” remarks the proud school administration.

Through her joint venture partnerships, she now has the AHS programs operating in over 27 countries. Her dual-diploma program is a hit internationally, with students earning their U.S. high school diplomas along with their home country diplomas.

Dana was one of the first to offer a 'Virtual School in a Box' program where she licensed her school program to give entrepreneurs the opportunity

to start and operate their own fullfunctional K-12 virtual schools within 14-21 days. Since the launch of that program, she has established over 40 school partnerships worldwide.

Demand has increased 10-fold for those interested in adding an online component to their existing program, school, or open their own virtual school as COVID-19 continues to grow rapidly. Education and the way we knew it has changed forever.

Dana has coined this option a “Virtual School in a Box”. Everything is included to have a K-12 virtual school, with an American curriculum, up and running within 30 days. If assistance is required to create a curriculum, American High School will help with that as well.

Enduring Hardships In the beginning, AHS faced the challenge of educating parents and students who were looking to transition to the online learning environment.

Parents were familiar with the homeschooling process, but they did not realize how much more was available to them, since they could have access to certified teachers who could work one-on-one with their child, from anywhere in the United States or the world.

In 2002, online education was a mere blip on the radar when Ms. DelaneWilliams opened the AHS doors officially. In 2004, the real work began as her team working with parents skeptical about taking the leap to online school from a traditional one.

This was a risky chance to take, and comments started flooding in like “Will their credits be accepted,” “Will they be able to go to college,” “Can I work wherever I want to work,” “Do I earn a Diploma or a GED?” Dana worked tirelessly to address parents’ concerns and more importantly to become accredited, which is a significant accomplishment.

Gaining accreditation ensured her school had the credentials and met all state requirements to operate as an online school. As with most growing businesses in the COVID era, AHS had to adjust, adapt, and pivot to handle the 50% increase in students who wanted to attend AHS. One reason was not to fall behind in their schoolwork. The other is because American High School is one of the most affordable online K12 schools, especially with all of the new and innovative programs it has to offer within the educational sector.

American High School Programs AHS is currently offering over 500 engaging, interactive, college prep, virtual reality, elementary, middle, and high school courses leading to their

earning of a High School Diploma. Not a single student of AHS has been denied entry into U.S. college or universities. AHS is also an approved NCAA school that can accept students who are interested in playing sports on a scholarship in college in the United States. It is also one of the few online schools offering an online ‘Adult Learner Diploma’, ‘Virtual Reality Career and Technical Education (CTE)’.

Credit Recovery System AHS’s credit recovery program for students who fell behind and did not pass a subject the first time, but need a second chance to review the material that they did not yet master. The students are permitted to get tested again, thus allowing students a chance to relearn and get assistance from teachers to assist in course mastery.

Utilizing this approach, the students have understood the unlearned concepts and letting students make up the credit that they lost.

Offered throughout the year, these online courses give students the flexibility to take these courses when it

works best for them and their schedule.

American High School is all about flexibility, convenience, and truly selfpaced learning.

Aspire to Make a Difference AHS offers a wide variety of online courses from core curriculum to other courses and subjects like social media marketing, culinary arts, ELL, TOEFL, game design and development for PS4 and Xbox, college readiness, forensics, and many more. American High School is one of the first virtual schools to offer a fully online school using Virtual Reality (VR) curriculum.

Virtual Reality courses are continuously being developed and will offer students the true immersion and interactivity to really gain mastery of the course material.

AHS has expanded even further to offer students a variety of online certificate programs in robotics, biotechnology, nursing and healthcare, drone piloting (leading to an FAA certification), welding, crime scene investigation, and many more, all using online and virtual reality (VR) goggles for an authentic and immersive online learning environment.

Accreditations American High School maintains accreditation status with the following accrediting agencies: Ÿ Cognia (Formerly AdvancED) Cognia is the unified organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI). Ÿ NCPSA - The National Council for Private School Accreditation is dedicated to the accreditation process as a viable and responsible means of establishing a witness of school excellence.

Dana Delane-Williams has led the charge as the first African American woman to own and operate an online school in the United States

Ÿ

Accreditation International (Ai) Accreditation International (Ai) is your education accreditation of choice for schools, centers, education corporations, and other education entities throughout the world – from north to south and east to west.

Pandemic Measures American High School (AHS) is a fully online school, and Dana DelaneWilliams has been preparing for scenarios such as Covid-19 since 2004 when she recognized that a shift to online learning would be a steady progression.

Dana stated “COVID-19 brought the paradigm shift in education that has changed the educational landscape for our students forever.” The insight that grew from Dana’s vision in 2002 allowed American High School to be well prepared for the pandemic, “because all we know is online/virtual education and have grown from online grades 9-12 to include online 6-8, and now just recently online K-5,” as per Dana.

Ms. Delane-Williams understands that virtual learning is here to stay and it is an effective way to teach students when done correctly. She stresses this point because during the pandemic, many school systems hastily shifted to online learning without a full understanding of what it was and how much it took to deploy properly.

re-evaluated. Some drawbacks were that struggling students fell further behind and those that were not struggling, all of a sudden, began to struggle. Therefore, this led to a domino effect of student’s success rates falling in schools and resulted in a growing concern for many parents and administration.

As the AHS team thought about the shift, they recognized that they could not make American High School a traditional school overnight, as there is too much to undertake to be successful, and is the same for a traditional school turning into a virtual school overnight impossible. The traditional schools tried their best and shifted to zoom learning but the realization of students sitting in front of the computer 7-8 hours a day led to students developing ‘zoom fatigue’, especially in the K-8 grades.

As there are pros and cons to learning, it’s undeniable that virtual education is the future of education. “We won’t be able to turn back to the traditional ways of thinking about educating our students,” added the inspirational Ms. Dana Delane-Williams.

Surveys found that many students were not engaged and this method of education would have to be

Scaling the Future American High School is growing at an amazing rate and anticipates being one of the premier online schools in the world by 2022. “We believe this because even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was already high growth and adoption of technology in the classroom,” added Ms. Delane-Williams.

The school has expanded its online course offerings through strategic partnerships in both the United States and internationally, operating in over 27 countries, such as – Vietnam, China, Poland, Columbia, Brazil, Norway, France, Spain, India, Africa, Kuwait, Australia, the Bahamas and many more, and is continually growing at a fever pace.

Additionally, there is the introduction of the ‘dual diploma program’, continued development of AHS’s Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) curriculum, and its online tutoring through a new platform, ‘Ask Real Teachers (ART)’, or its everdeveloping proprietary Learning Management System.

American High School is diligent in finding and responding to the vast online expectations and demands of its online students in grades K-12, present and future, and will continue to stretch the boundaries of technology to offer an interactive, engaging, and immersive educational experience for all grades of K-12.

- Jackson. S I like the chat rooms and how easy the site is to navigate! I also appreciate the ability to email my teachers when I have a question. My online homeschool prior to this one had none of these features

Alumni Testimonials - Anna. A When there aren’t any teachers standing beside you to teach you the subject makes you pay more attention to each subject and to learn more. This is what I like about this school

- Jennifer. M Learning interesting new facts about topics that I just briefly touched on in public school were my most favorite experiences at this school and I loved it

- Michael. G I was able to go through at my pace.

At times I was able to fly through a section, and other times I could take as much needed time to digest certain material in the sections

- Alisha. C I loved the feedback my teacher gave me on my assignments.

It helped me understand what I did good and what I didn’t do that should have been done

Dr. Neil Webber Founder, Head of School Webber Academy Calgary, Alberta, Canada

16 | Nov 2021

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A Futuristic Approach

CANADIAN

Educational System Marching Towards a Bright Future

I

am generally optimistic about the future of Canada’s educational system. Since education falls in the jurisdiction of provinces, the future will more accurately depend upon how each of the provinces responds to the changing needs. Certainly, the development of literacy and mathematical skills of students remain on key elements of any educational system. The core subjects such as mathematics, science, and social studies will continue to have student achievement levels measured by international agencies. The results will continue to be used by different educational jurisdictions to determine whether programs should be modified given the technological advances occurring in an ongoing way. Educational leaders will have to introduce new concepts and courses to better prepare students for their future occupations. Computer programming, computer applications, coding, robotics, artificial intelligence concepts will become more and more important in the educational programs across Canada.

teamwork, and communication skills for the students.

Public speaking, debating, model United Nation clubs are several examples of extra-curricular activities that enhance the development of these skills.

In-class learning will continue to be of utmost importance in the learning process. COVID-19 Health restrictions had the move to online learning for school jurisdictions. This resulted in the deterioration of the development of social and teamwork skills. The return to in-class learning shows the advantages in terms of the positive mental health of the students.

As stated initially, I am generally optimistic about our educational systems properly preparing our students for the future. My main concern is that governments may influence the education system by over politicizing the current social issues of the day.

In addition to the academic programs, there will be increasing emphasis on the development of social,

About the Author Dr. Neil Webber, President and Chairman of Webber Academy Foundation, founded the school in 1996. He has spent most of his career in public service; first as a teacher in the Calgary Public and Catholic School Boards, then as an elected representative in the Alberta Government. He was Chairman of Telus Corporation, and director of several companies including SNC - Lavalin Group.

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Nov 2021 | 17

6 Ways for

Teachers

Save

to

Time in The

Classroom T

eaching is one of those jobs that you think would get easier with time, but it doesn’t. With more content to cover, not enough hours in the day, and intrinsically motivated students to challenge your authority as a learner, there is a neverending stream of busy work for you to complete as a professional teacher.

18 | Nov 2021

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Clockwork

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Nov 2021 | 19

Teaching can be a stressful and challenging job. There’s always more to do, and there are never enough hours in the day to get your lesson plans completed. Teachers spend their days helping students learn, creating lesson plans, and grading papers. With demanding schedules and an endless series of tasks to meet, teachers could use some guidance in how to save time.

Grade Student Efficiently In the hustle and bustle of a classroom, teachers often point out every single error their students make on a sheet of paper. While this is a common practice, it can be timeconsuming and counterproductive.

Effective grading has two steps: correcting mistakes that occurred during the homework assignment and removing errors made by students during the test. Teachers can focus on highlighting the mistakes that directly align with the lesson they have taught; this will let them conserve energy and time and be more effective as a teacher.

Observe Ongoing Learning One significant advantage of formative assessment and responding to evidence of student learning is an increase in efficiency. Because teachers can diagnose and gather evidence of learning while students are actively working, the instruction does not have to be interrupted to address misunderstandings, gaps in student knowledge, or provide high-quality feedback on student work.

Posting Instructions Many of your students will be familiar with collaborative document editors like Google Docs or Office Online with our increasingly digital society. And while these tools are fantastic for students to use to create documents and spreadsheets together, they can also help in the classroom by being used as central locations for quick-reference information about daily lessons, projects and more.

Shared workflow documents like Office Online can help the entire class work together to achieve more, in less time. The teachers and students don’t have to track who made the assignments and what was said and done. All they need is a shared document with pre-populated templates for each type of assignment that they can access at anytime.

Empowering Students No matter how much time you spend poring over lesson plans and detailed student schedules, nothing can quite prepare you for just how many things there are to do in a school classroom. If a teacher has a class of 30 students,

20 | Nov 2021

they have to find time to teach 30 unique lessons in a day.

This doesn’t include all the administrative jobs that need doing, from handing out materials and collecting work and progress reports, to scheduling group work sessions and student conferences and so on.

Empowering students to save teachers’ time in the classroom isn’t as hard as it seems. Teachers who are looking to save time could try using strategies such as: assigning specific tasks to students, teaching through a station or literature circle method, and having systems for make-up work and grading. These will help keep teachers from wasting time on simple activities that most students have already mastered or have the ability to master with a bit of guidance and support.

Using Assignment Numbers Organizing your students’ papers can be a tedious and timeconsuming chore. The Alphabetical File is a simple organizing trick that teachers across the nation use to improve and save time in the classroom. A teacher assigns each student a number and has them write it on the upper right corner of every paper they turn in.

These papers get filed alphabetically, and now it becomes easy for a teacher to record scores in their grade book and simultaneously grade all of the papers at once.

Clarifying Learning Goals and Criteria Most educators would agree that one of the most important outcomes of a learning experience is to produce students who were engaged and therefore learned. However, it isn’t easy to measure if any of our students have taken meaningful steps towards this goal until we can define or clarify understanding and skills.

Clarifying learning expectations not only helps stabilize a focus on the core elements of learning, but it also helps to clarify these elements for a specific audience. This means that in addition to assisting teachers in focusing instructional time toward what’s essential, clarified expectations help students engage more purposefully in the learning process — and when competition is tough, being able to make the most of class time and stay on target with critical concepts has never been more urgent.

Finding ways to save time in the classroom can differentiate between a successful teacher and an overwhelmed one. The key to finding more time each day may be to use strategies that make the most of the teacher’s available time.

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THE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL · VIENNA The Educational Powerhouse in a Home Away From Home

A

ustria is home to one of the most educated populations on the continent and one of the wealthiest countries in Europe. Vienna, the country’s capital, is beautiful, historical, and well connected to both western and central Europe. The city is regularly voted as the #1 city with the best quality life in the world.

In a nutshell, Vienna has everything expats need to relish a quality of life in a home away from home.

The American International School · Vienna (AIS Vienna) is one of the premier schools in the country. At AIS Vienna, students are empowered with the skills and character strengths necessary to be positively impactful global citizens who strive for personal growth and excellence in an ever-changing world.

We, at The Knowledge Review magazine were fortunate to get the opportunity to interview Kathryn Miner (Ded.) the Director of AIS Vienna. Kathryn gave us insights about the story of AIS Vienna and also about what the AIS Vienna experience is like.

Kindly brief us about your esteemed school, its infrastructure, its history, and journey since inception.

The American International School · Vienna (AIS Vienna) was founded in September of 1959. Enrolment at that time was 234 students representing 17 nationalities. We now serve about 800 students with over 60 nationalities from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 (IB Diploma or American Diploma). We are the oldest English-language school in Austria, offering a unique combination of a nurturing, family atmosphere with a challenging educational environment backed by a history of academic achievement. School programs focus on academics, but also on the development of students’ creative and leadership abilities and emotional intelligence.

AIS is located in the Neustift-am-Walde area of Vienna, adjacent to the famous Vienna Woods, and provides an instructional setting in the midst of the physical beauty of the surrounding hills, forest, and countryside. On our 11acre (4.5 hectare) premises there are seven interconnected buildings housing elementary, middle, and high schools.

Here are a few excerpts from the interview:

22 | Nov 2021

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Best American Schools to Watch Across the Globe

Through our 1:1 laptop program, which will continue to expand, all students in grades four through 12 already have a take-home personal computer. All classrooms have ceiling-mounted video projectors and interactive white boards -- touch-sensitive screens that replace the traditional chalkboard and facilitate digital manipulation of images and text.

At AIS Vienna computers are seen as a necessary tool for teaching and learning.

The city of Vienna, regularly voted as the #1 city with the best quality of life in the world, makes up our ‘extended campus’ with frequent trips to its various museums and cultural offerings.

“

We are the oldest English-language school in Austria, offering a unique combination of a nurturing, family atmosphere with a challenging educational environment backed by a history of academic achievement

“

Overall, there are more than 70 classrooms, eight science labs, art studios, music rooms, two libraries, a theatre, an outdoor classroom, two gyms, a sports field, a fun court, a cafeteria, a health unit, and a separate sports hall (which houses three indoor tennis courts or two basketball courts or ten badminton courts).

Kindly tell us about the academic and extra-curricular programs at your school. In what way are they different to those in other schools?

In the Elementary School (ES) and Middle School (MS), the curriculum ensures that all students learn a coherent and unified body of knowledge and academic skills.

Mission: At the American International School, Vienna, we empower each student with the skills and character strengths necessary to be positively impactful global citizens who strive for personal growth and excellence in an ever-changing world.

Vision: A community of innovative learners realizing their chosen futures with courage, curiosity, and joy.

Core Values: Respect. Aspire. Achieve.

Kathryn Miner, DEd AIS Vienna Director

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Nov 2021 | 23

All AIS Vienna students receive individual academic advice and help, and High School students receive extensive college counselling in their junior and senior years.

AIS Vienna offers an inclusive athletics program with ten competitive sports of varying levels across three athletic seasons plus a comprehensive clubs and after-school activities program including arts, music, language, athletic, service learning, and technology opportunities. When the school day ends at 3:15 PM, a new extracurricular world begins.

The AIS After School Activity Program offers students the opportunity to participate in guided, engaging activities that complement and enhance the curriculum that guides their daily education. Students are able to interact with friends and students from different grade levels while participating in a wide range of activities. The program also offers after school care for parents.

Our MS and HS students also have the opportunity to join or create their own activities and clubs. Activities have a set 'season' and have, at least, one cumulating event.

24 | Nov 2021

“

We are strongly committed to retaining the DNA of AIS Vienna.

Guiding our students to learn, grow and adapt, and prepare for a rapidly changing world remains our core objective

We go forward empowered by our deep care for our students, knowing that it is our responsibility to help them to be ready

“

High School (HS) students follow a challenging collegepreparatory curriculum that leads to a US High School Diploma, with the option of pursuing the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

-Kathy Miner, DEd

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Since 1959, we have offered opportunities for students to take part in activities and travel beyond the borders of our host city and country. Now, 61 years later, this is just one of the many ways we continue to supplement our curriculum with athletic and educational activities, allowing for learning to take place well beyond the traditional classroom walls.

Please brief us about the featured personality (Director) behind the success of the school, and how he/she has helped enhance the outreach and development of your reputed institution.

Dr. Kathryn Miner started her position as Director of AIS Vienna in August 2020 and right away undertook the heavy task of creating a new student-centred 5-year strategic plan to continue AIS Vienna’s journey to excellence, focusing on 4 strategic priority areas: 1. Teaching & Learning: Empowering students to strive for personal growth and excellence.

2. Character & Community: Cultivating ethical, purposeful and balanced citizens of a diverse community.

3. Facilities: Creating spaces to support innovative learning.

4. Finance: Stewarding resources to support current and future students.

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She also spear-headed major updates to the school’s mission, vision, and core values, as well as implementation of a new technology vision and philosophy.

Prior to taking over as Director at AIS Vienna, Dr. Miner served as the Director of GEMS American Academy Abu Dhabi. Before that, she was the Middle School Director of the American School of Paris. She has also served as a High School Principal in Oregon, USA. Her accomplishments at GEMS and the American School of Paris are evidence of her goal-focused approach and demonstrate her ability to get things done and effectuate positive growth. Dr. Miner’s achievements at the schools she has led are impressive; however, it was not these accomplishments alone that excited the AIS community about her coming to Vienna. Dr. Miner's presence, focus on students, and enthusiasm for her role as Director is absolutely infectious. AIS Vienna has benefitted greatly from Dr. Miner bringing her expertise and positive energy to the school and community.

How do you help your students prepare for their future participation in the world? Do you have any special clubs/initiatives/facilities for the same?

The AIS Vienna High School Counselling Office is committed to working with students and families, providing a holistic approach with supportive services. Their objective is to address the needs of students in the four main domains

Nov 2021 | 25

that impact an international student- academic, socio-emotional, postsecondary planning and globalperspective.

The school offers comprehensive university counselling services for students, as well as career fairs and networking opportunities with parents and alumni in professional fields.

Students leave AIS with a head start in life: a tight-knit global network of 14,000 alumni that has been growing for 60 years and counting. This is a network of friendship, trust, and opportunity that provides returns to its members for decades after graduation. AIS Vienna Alumni live by the motto ‘Once a Knight, always a Knight’ and offer networking and support opportunities for all students and graduates of AIS. Please mention your school’s most notable achievements, accolades, accreditations, and awards.

AIS Vienna is the oldest English-language school in Austria, being 61 years old.

During the 2020-2021 school year, we were thrilled to celebrate 44 years as an IB World School. AIS has been an IB World School since 1977, just nine years after the IB Diploma Program began. We were the 72nd IB school to be authorized, now out of almost 5,000 schools worldwide. We are one of the most experienced IB schools in our region

26 | Nov 2021

(Africa, Europe, and the Middle East) and the single most experienced IB school in Austria.

In addition to scoring the highest IB results in Vienna, our students do things like perform at Carnegie Hall. Our challenging curriculum is designed to be university preparatory, our results in international examinations are consistently above average, and our alumni go on to the world’s top universities.

Accreditation Ÿ IB World School Ÿ Accredited by the Council of International Schools Ÿ Accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Ÿ Recognized by the Austrian Ministry of Education COVID-19 has put additional strain as well as responsibility on the education sector in terms of online educational trends, hygiene, and safety precautions.

How did you prepare and safeguard your students for the same?

As with many schools, the challenges of the current world health situation have been many. AIS Vienna has continued to adapt as restrictions in Vienna have allowed, continuing to offer high quality educational programs in a variety of ways throughout this school year (on-campus learning, Hybrid Learning, and Distance Learning).

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AIS is uniquely prepared to manage the ever-changing COVID-19 context and adapt to a sense of new normal by way of our American/IB educational approach and philosophy, which supports students’ creative, adaptive, and problem-solving skills. Like our students, our leaders, teachers, and staff are similarly trained to adapt and adjust to the needs of our students, regardless of the model of learning delivery, whether inside of the classroom or across virtual platforms, while maintaining strong relationships and connection.

Some higher profile projects that have taken place include: Ÿ Solar Panels on Roofing providing CO2 free electricity Ÿ Olive seeds have replaced micro plastics on the sports field Ÿ Conscious efforts have been made to reduce the use of plastics in the Cafeteria. Ÿ Where possible only local products are used to reduce transport and CO2 emissions. Ÿ A cloud printing system was implemented to limit overuse of paper saving the trees and forests.

School staff also continue to remain available should there be any specific concerns about the emotional wellbeing of students. Counsellors and staff across the school are actively sharing information about the social and emotional concerns that may arise during a situation that is capturing so much of the world’s attention.

Setting a Standard for the Future Future AIS Vienna Sustainability Initiatives: Ÿ Creation of green roofing Ÿ Environmentally friendly climate control for classrooms, along with more solar panels to further offset our carbon footprint. Ÿ New outdoor facilities to continue connecting students to nature and ensure that this is part of their learning.

What are the future prospects of your renowned school?

Not only is AIS Vienna located in the beautiful greenery of the Vienna Woods, but in recent years, the school has made sustainability part of its identity.

“Environmental friendliness is not only part of classroom learning across all divisions, but it is also part of the learning that takes place outside our formal curriculum in various student clubs and activities” said Benjamin Kuscher, AIS Vienna Business Manager.

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At the start of this school year AIS Vienna opened an Elementary School Science and Innovation Lab. Over the course of this summer the space will continue to be updated ensuring that the school is meeting the needs of current and future students.

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8 Classroom

Management

Strategies 30 | Nov 2021

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Edu-Talk

that

Deliver

the Best Ways to

Disseminating

Knowledge

C

reating a classroom environment characterized by high academic performance and student responsibility can be challenging at times. It is even more complicated when class management strategies are misunderstood or misapplied to already difficult-tomanage high school students.

Understanding the developmental needs of adolescents, the responsibilities of both teachers and students, and the strategies that work best to optimize a classroom community will put teachers in an ideal position to manage a classroom with confidence and effectiveness. In this

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article, teachers will understand how to manage high school classes effectively.

Understand Your students It is absolutely essential that teachers must get to know each of their students as an individual. It’s only then that they will be able to understand the unique way in which each one learns and connects with different people and in diverse learning environments. And it is only then that they can provide the best teaching possible to students who are eager to learn and grow in the class.

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Proximity Proximity is one of the most underused classroom management strategies out there. Any teacher that has ever had a student knows how hard it can be to get that student to shift from doing something exciting in their own learning space to listening up to being actively engaged in the lesson. This can happen for any number of reasons: The student is excited about something more personally relevant to them, they are blasé about the specifics of the lesson at hand, or any other number of reasons.

The challenge in this situation is that you want the student engaged but don’t want to emphasize what they’re doing wrong by having them explain it in front of their peers and you. That’s where proximity comes into play.

Nonverbal Signals Nonverbal signals as classroom management strategies have been around for more than two decades. Nonverbal communication can help teachers control students’ disruptions, organize activities, and set a positive tone for the classroom.

When used well, nonverbal signals can improve relationships between teachers and students, improve teacher credibility and the self-esteem of the class, create a safe learning environment and allow students to feel connected in the classroom.

Personal Plan for Improvement If a student is repeatedly disruptive, teachers should try to work within the classroom group to identify the problem, determine its cause, and develop appropriate interventions.

However, sometimes it may be necessary to take a more individualized approach called a Personal Plan for Improvement (PPI).

A PPI is used to address repeated disruptive behavior in a positive way. It focuses on teaching students more effective ways of handling anger or other intense emotions; improving problem-solving skills; and teaching students how to create their own behavioral contract that lists their personal plan for improvement.

Call-and-Response When introduced to a classroom setting, this method of engagement exhibits many of the benefits that are associated with Brainstorming (e.g., improved creativity

32 | Nov 2021

and cooperation) while ensuring the comfort and well-being of all students. A single call can signal a transition or start/end of an activity and is a powerful tool for focusing on large or small groups.

Turn It Around Students who are generally disruptive in the classroom can, on occasion, pay close attention and are able to participate effectively. When they act out, however, they often interrupt the learning of their classmates and instructors, destroy valuable learning moments, and inhibit the collaborative feelings needed to learn effectively with others. This technique is designed to interrupt undesired behavior and create an environment where positive learning interactions can flourish.

Levels System Badges or levels systems are hierarchal and reward-based, but they can also be used to track student behaviors or attitudes towards classroom management. It can be a great way to encourage students to become more engaged and motivated in the classroom. It can be used as a positive behavior support system. Still, it can also be used as a 'gamification' tool to encourage students to earn rewards such as 'extra credit', kudos, rewards, etc., depending on how far they get in the system.

Positive Feedback Positive feedback is one tool that teachers can use to encourage the behaviors of others. Beyond the requirements for subject matter, positive feedback is one of the most critical aspects of teaching that can turn a classroom into a productive and motivating learning place.

Positive feedback lets students know they are on the right track and pay off their efforts. It can be more effective than a grade or sticker because it can focus on the process instead of the end product. It also shows that you care about how students do, not just how they perform.

'Classroom management' is one of those things that has a specific definition for some people, and a broader definition for others. For some teachers, it’s simply the act of teaching — getting kids to behave in ways that help the teacher teach. Classroom Management means much more than just training; it involves creating an organized and structured learning environment that allows students to thrive.

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The

Connection

Between

Music and

W

Emotional Learning

ith children well into their second year of online schooling, it is clear that the future of education is a hybrid model. One of the biggest and most important reasons why we’re all rooting for students to get safely back in the physical classroom, however, is that schools are centres for social emotional learning (SEL).

The construct of social emotional learning is simple: it isn’t an extra component to add to an existing syllabus; it is a foundational learning tool on which everything else rests. It allows students to be self-aware, self-regulatory, empathetic towards others, and responsible with decision-making.

While SEL is crucial, many educators find themselves wondering if it is possible to impart its values without seeming overly preachy or dull. Here’s where the value of music education can come in. Using songs from around the world and musical activities can help children develop in the five most crucial areas of SEL - all while having a great time.

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Social

I have had the good fortune of working with students between pre-primary and college ages for over a decade now, and I’ve directly seen the impact that music has had on their well-being, overall confidence, and personal growth. In the areas of social emotional learning, here are some ways in which structured music education helps:

Self-awareness, or the ability to recognise their own strengths, understand when they’re performing at their best, and what stresses them out and why: In my experience, songwriting is one of the most effective ways to help learners of all ages develop self-awareness. One of the most important exercises in songwriting, the daily object writing exercise, gives students a one-word prompt and asks them to write about it using all the senses (including how they feel about the object) for at least 10 minutes. At first, it can be a little hard to articulate how you feel about something as insignificant as a table. With time, however, this exercise makes you better at expressing how you feel and understanding the full range of your emotions a little better. While songwriting has been well-received and

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Veteran’s Voice effective among children of all ages, it has had especially great mental health benefits in pre-teen and teenage students.

It is a myth that songwriting is a hopelessly complex process, best left to the great musicians of our time. The reality is that it is a wonderful community building tool and a great skill for children to start building as early as possible.

Self-management, or discipline, goal setting, and organisational skills: Usually, parents and educators tend to think of these things as “left-brained activities” that creative people shouldn’t have to worry about. The truth is that, irrespective of creative and non-creative fields, discipline and efficiency is always the best way to get anything done. And as music educators, there is a lot that we can do in helping children build this skill early on. Here are some suggestions on how to do it: First, encourage children to set their own musical goals.

What do they want to achieve, and how much time do they want to spend with it? Second, remind them that it is alright to spend time on one task to master it fully, and that taking breaks helps them approach a problem better. Finally, help them navigate performance anxiety and the possibility for errors by guiding them to come up with solutions on their own, rather than giving them your answers.

When children start reflecting on their goals, and their strengths and weaknesses early on, they learn what works best for them, and how to create a routine that brings out the best in them.

Social awareness, or empathy and perception: We are no longer trying to predict what the workplace will look like decades from now. It is hard enough to project trends and automation without taking into account any big curveballs the world has to deal with. What we can say with certainty, however, is that we will always need skills like teamwork, empathy, and communication skills. And music is the best way to build these skills.

At SaPa, we introduce team activities early on. These are designed to make every child feel included, and to remind them to make their friends feel welcome, too. We also found that introducing children to lullabies from around the world helps them connect with each other in a powerful way. The idea is simple: we may look and sound different, but at the end of the day, we all like it when a soothing voice sings us to sleep.

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About the Author The author is a singer-songwriter, author, and Founder and CEO at SaPa – Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts

Another way to help children build social awareness early on: teach them historically relevant songs, and explain the context behind them. We typically teach songs like We Shall Overcome, and explain how black musicians turned to music to inspire large-scale social change. It helps them start asking questions like ‘I wonder how that made them feel’, which is an important step in teaching them empathy and appreciation for diversity.

Relationship skills and working with others to get work done: Conflict resolution, working with others’ strengths and weaknesses, and building team spirit will get children a long way. A great way to build this is by forming ensembles and encouraging children to work together to put out a performance. It is a hands-on lesson in navigating individual and group mistakes, handling stress, motivating each other to keep working towards a common goal, and handling disagreements as a group.

Responsible decision making: How can we help children evaluate the problem at hand and start thinking about the consequences of their choices? Consistent musical routines are a great way to build discipline, and to encourage children to understand the value of consistency, making inclusive decisions, working with others, and choosing to take breaks when needed. Learning music, especially in a group setting, will help them ask the right questions early on, like: Is it a good idea to skip practice when the team is counting on me? How can I make sure that my voice and my friend’s instrument are equally heard in this performance?

Music and social emotional learning are deeply interlinked, and value and skills built extend well beyond the classroom.

It is our duty, as music educators, to use music as a gateway to helping build these skills and encouraging children to apply these skills in all areas of their lives, too.

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