MS eNews – Friday, April 29th, 2016

 

Useful MS Links!

• MS Athletics
• MS Clubs & Activities Booklet
• MS Drama/Dance Blog
• MS Facebook Page
• MS Photos Archive
• MS Program of Studies 2016-2017
• MS Student/Parent Handbook​ 

 

MS PTA Meeting on Tuesday, May 3rd

by Dennis Harter

dennish@isb.ac.th

The PTA meeting from April 7 has now been rescheduled for May 3rd, 9:30-10:30am, in the MS Skybox (room 4-309) on the 3rd floor above the MS Office. The topic will focus on Online (and offline) Safety for children, including sexting, snapchat use, and other concerns. We will hear from counselors, administrators, and tech, along with your own voices as parents. Please join us for this important topic.

 

MS Art Exhibition

in·ter·play (ĭn′tər-plā′)

1. Reciprocal action and reaction; interaction.

intr.v. in·ter·played, in·ter·play·ing, in·ter·plays

To act or react on each other; interact.

You are cordially invited to the MS Art Exhibition, Interplay, on now in the Chevron Theatre Foyer.  Please join us for the silent auction of MS artists’ work on Wednesday, 11 May at 5:30pm, which is being held in conjunction with the MS Band Concert.  Money raised at the auction will support people in Nepal via The Moonlight Foundation.

 

Students Leaving Middle School

Dear Parents,

Next year, some of our students will be heading to boarding school, returning home, or beginning a new adventure in another country. In the weeks ahead I will be offering a Moving On group for any student, needing support with their transition. Transitioning can bring many strong feelings, excitement, sadness, worry and loss, perhaps even relief. If you are interested in your child attending this group please email the Counseling Secretary K’Natt at natthapc@isb.ac.th by the 5 May.

The small groups will focus on:

• Moving on and what it means
• Remembering Thailand and ISB
• Connecting with your new home
• Saying Goodbye and Letting Go

For 8th graders moving up to high school, I am communicating with our HS Counselor Kevin Davy about the specific needs that students have as they transition to High School, we are also underway in the 8th grade team for planning their last days of school and celebrate their time in Middle School. An exciting time lies ahead for each of them as they enter high school, and no doubt our high school counseling team, will offer amazing support to them on their journey.

If I can help with any questions or support, please let me know.

Jackie Greenwood

 

Principal’s Forum Summary

by Dennis Harter
dennish@isb.ac.th

On March 29th, Middle School Administration hosted our second Principal’s Forum of the year. Unfortunately, the audio was not recorded, so I am sharing summary notes from that meeting below. Next week we will include some of the other topics not covered on the day. This is a long post, so please scroll to the topic headings that are of interest to you. Next time, we’ll ensure we have the audio posted.

Updates on topics from the first forum
We began the session by providing updates of where we are in identified areas from the first Principal’s Forum.

World Languages

• Significant time and attention has been dedicated to the World Languages program.
• End of year assessments and thorough curriculum work has led to greater consistency of expectations and alignment with learning expectations from year to year, including in the high school.
• Pedagogy and instructional strategies have been shared between teachers to build consistent quality of learning experiences in the classroom
• Research has progressed on developing a mother tongue program (more on this below)

Mathematics

• The new math program (College Preparatory Mathematics) is aligned to the Common Core and has proven successful with developing math skills and practices
• We continue to work towards better pacing and more clearly defined curriculum timing, so that learning can be deep and retained
• As a natural result of switching programs, teachers have identified and addressed “gaps” in learning and understanding
• MAP results will be coming in May, which will serve as one measure to determine progress made by the students. Initial impressions are very positive.

New Timetable for 2016-17
As we improve learning in the Middle School, a significant change to our school day schedule will take place next year. The school day will now run from 7:20 AM to 2:25 PM (an extension of 20 minutes) on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. On Tuesdays, we will end at 2:05 PM as we do this year.

Initially, this will allow us to add the Advisory program, a fundamental component of best practice middle schools (see below).

Tuesdays will end earlier, to allow for full-length professional development and collaboration amongst faculty. On Tuesdays, students will already have extended community building in the afternoons, and will not meet advisory groups in the morning. Each of the other four days will start with an advisory meeting, before the students head to class. There will be no change to academic learning time from this year.

In 2016-17, we will look at more significant schedule concerns to ensure that we have the best possible learning program for middle school students.

Advisory Program
With the lengthening of the day, students will meet with their Advisory group at the start of Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. These 20-minute meetings will include community building, social and emotional learning, digital citizenship, social skills, and fun. A curriculum is being developed and tested this year so that it is ready and effecting in August.

Fundamentally, we know that students learn best when they feel safe, cared for, and valued. The Advisory groups will be at the center of a child’s learning community, which will extend to a “House” of Advisory groups, a grade level with two houses, and a middle school with 3 grades. This sense of small community within a larger community will help students be recognized, valued, and cared for.

Splitting Humanities
With the goal of rich, dedicated learning in Reading/Writing and Social Studies, along with the input of teachers and students, we will be splitting Humanities into separate classes for English-Language Arts and Social Studies. Students will now have a different teacher for English and Social Studies.

This split allows for focused planning for teachers and hence more deliberate, thoughtful lessons for students. Cross-curricular opportunities will still take place, as Social Studies teachers have the same planning blocks as English teachers. Finally, with only 2 teachers per grade of a particular subject (rather than four), we can ensure greater commonality of learning and teaching between teachers.

Mother Tongue
ISB has committed to meeting the needs of students wishing to continue learning in their native language during the school day. For 2016-17, mother tongue classes (other than Thai) will take place during the Flex block, allowing students from all grades to have access. This will amount to 2 blocks of 40 minutes per week. For financial reasons, a mother tongue class will run only if there are at least 6 students.

Communicating Learning
Parents posed some important questions connected to how the school communicates what their child is learning, how well they are learning it, and how they can get better.

How do they review without textbooks or resources?

• Resources are developed by teachers to best match the desired learning outcomes. This is often not specifically from one textbook.
• Students should have all resources in Haiku (except Science which has it’s own site).

What are they learning? What are the courses about?

• Significant work has gone into improving ourProgram of Studies to ensure it provides this information.
• Unit Topics and essential questions are articulated for all classes.

How can I tell if my child is on track?

• We continue to work with teachers on providing results and feedback in a timely manner.
• We set deadline dates this semester when all completed work needed to be graded and PowerSchool up to date.

There are still concerns that assignments are posted, but there is no grade or feedback.

• We have implemented expectations for teachers to standardize how PowerSchool displays information.
• We removed putting “scores” on assignments which were not indicative of where a child was in their learning (without knowing what the learning was about or what was expected, how would you understand what 8/10 meant?).
• Instead, specific learning standards are listed along with whether the student is developing, approaching, meeting or excelling against that particular learning goal.
• The assignment is displayed in gray and the standards are listed in white, immediately following the assignment.
• The category informs on whether the assignment is formative or summative or whether it is a measure of Habits and Attitudes for Learning (HAL).

Standards Based Grading
The fundamental principle behind standards based grading (SBG) is providing clear and specific information on what learning is expected and then grading the student on whether or not she/he has met that developmental-level standard.

“Measuring students’ proficiency on well defined course objectives.” (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006)

Why do schools use Standards Based Grading?

• SBG provides authentic and specific feedback on what a student knows and can do.
• SBG is in line with learning being developmental – mastery isn’t expected the first time you try something.
• Averaging grades to get a percentage is not representative of student achievement. If a child used to be poor at something and then they got good at it, then saying they were mediocre at it (an average of the two) is not accurate. The child is good at it – period.
• What does an 85% really tell you about their learning?

Next week, we will share responses to other questions not covered at the Principal’s Forum.

 

 

Looking Out For Kids

by Dennis Harter
dennish@isb.ac.th

As part of our partnership with parents in ensuring our students are safe, when we hear about choices or behaviors being made by students we share that information with you.

We have learned that some middle school students are going downtown to drink alcohol, “vape” and smoke shisha. Popular areas for the students include the Thong Lor area and Khao San Road. We’ve been told that some students may tell their parents they are having a “sleepover” or “going to the movies”, but instead heading into the city and finding bars that will serve them.

I am sharing this in the eNews for general awareness and for you to be vigilant with where your children are at night and on weekends.  As we become aware of specific students, we speak with those parents directly. If you are concerned about this with your own child, please talk to them about your expectations. As a general rule, if your child is sleeping over at a friend’s house, you should speak with the parents to confirm this and that they will be home. Cite this post from the school, if that feels awkward.

Ultimately, like you, we care about the safety and well-being of your children. We share this information so that parents may use it as they wish and act in the best interests of their children. The risks are well-documented for adolescents consuming alcohol, vaping, or smoking (shisha is not safer than cigarette smoking). Young people are at much higher risk of addiction, the earlier they start. Additionally, there are inherent risks with middle school aged students going into the city and hanging out in bars and drinking areas with strangers also consuming alcohol.

These behaviors are representative of only a very small number of our middle school students. Overwhelmingly, most students are making healthy and safe choices. It is important, however, to provide everyone with information and concerns so that you can have good conversations with your children.

Annual Medical Screening For Students

by Sally PLOMLEY
sallyp@isb.ac.th

It is the time of year when we need to start the medical screening process for ALL students. We have modified the screening process so there is a basic medical screen for most students with a more extensive screen for students entering Grades 3, 6, 9 and 11 which includes a tuberculosis screen. Any student who has had a new student medical examination after January 2016 will not need a repeat examination. All students must fill in the Nurse Medication Consent form.

Forms are available for download from the ISB website. ISB Health Services Forms and Resources

Any student with Diabetes, Asthma or Anaphylaxis will also need an action plan filled out by the doctor. Forms are available for download from the ISB website. ISB Health Services Forms and Resources

ALL FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE HEALTH CLINIC BY JUNE 30 2016 either in person or via email nurse@isb.ac.th

Please click here to access the document containing full information. 

 

(Repeat Announcement) ISB Summer School Program

Will you be here in Bangkok in June or July?  Looking for something for your child(ren) to do?  Then check out ISB’s exciting and enriching Summer School Program!  Once again students in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 will be learning in an environment that is nurturing, academically challenging, and socially engaging.  ISB’s highly qualified summer school teachers are inspired professionals dedicated to creating the best possible learning experiences.  New ideas, new curriculum and new friends await each student.

Each year, a number of enrichment camps are offered to students.  Typically, these offer learning and exploration around a core learning area. This year, ISB is offering some old favorites as well as many new courses, including:

• Two week Computer Science for All  (previously known as Coding & Robotics) and is open to students going into grades 4 – 9
• A one-week Panther Musical Theatre Camp open to students in grades 4 – 8.
• Two week camps in Mandarin and Spanish open to students who will be in grades 1 – 5 in 2016/17, and three week camps in Thai open to students who will be in grades 1 – 8 next year.
• A two-week camp in drama improvisation (Devising Theatre) open to students who will be in grades 4 – 8.
• One-to-four week camps, called Physical Fun, for students who will be in grades 2 – 9 in 2016/17.

For complete information on our website about our ISB Summer Program, please click here. Registration is now.  

For any questions, please email sumdir16@isb.ac.th

Best Regards,

Maurilio Baron-Toaldo

Summer School Director

International School Bangkok

 

 

(Repeat Announcement) Leaving ISB at the End of the Semester?

Dear Parents,

If your child will be leaving ISB at the end of this semester please make sure you inform Khun Natt at natthapc@isb.ac.th or 02-963-5893.

The earlier we know about your child leaving ISB the more time it gives us to prepare important forms and transfer information for your child’s next school in a timely manner.

We know this can be a hard time for our students and we would like to make sure they are prepared for the transition they will be making so that it is less stressful.

If you would like your child to be part of a small group to give them the opportunity to understand their transition and build strategies to cope during their transition please click here and complete the form.

Sincerely,

Jackie Greenwood: jackieg@isb.ac.th

Carmel Kean: carmelk@isb.ac.th

Janel Wilder: janelw@isb.ac.th 

 

(Repeat Announcement) eNewsletter Guidelines

by: Tony Arnold
anthonya@isb.ac.th

ISB eNewsletters provide a valuable avenue for communication within the ISB parent community. Please see our eNewsletter guidelines below.

Submitting an announcement for publication
ISB accepts announcements from ISB families and ISB staff for potential publication in our eNewsletters. The announcements are generally intended to highlight events that occur at ISB and/or highlight information about ISB.

What to include in the announcement
• A title for your announcement
• An email contact for further information
• An image or photo (optional)

Where to submit your announcement
4publish@isb.ac.th is for announcements of interest to the entire ISB community.
tinaratr@isb.ac.th is for Elementary School (ES) announcements of interest to ES families.
maurilib@isb.ac.th is for Middle School (MS) announcements of interest to MS families.
vijitl@isb.ac.th is for High School (HS) announcements of interest to HS families.

Your announcement will be submitted to the appropriate Principal and/or to our Marketing Director for review. ISB reserves the right to determine which announcements will and will not be published, and to edit announcements that are approved for publication.

Frequency of eNewsletter mailings
The ISB eNewsletter that is for the entire community is sent out on Thursdays. Announcements for potential publication in this newsletter must be received by noon on Thursdays.

The ES, MS, and HS eNewsletters are sent out on Fridays. Announcements for potential publication in these newsletters must be received by noon on Fridays.