Parent-Teacher Conferences Next Week
by Dennis Harter
Parent-Teacher Conferences take place next week on Thursday and Friday in the New Sports Complex gymnasium. Students do not have regular school on those days. They are encouraged to join you at the conferences. Students do not have to wear their school uniform.
This week you received an email to sign up for a time block at the conferences. If you have not done so, please follow the instructions below (sent Tuesday) for signing up.
Please follow this link to access the “Pick a Time” site, which handles the conference bookings. Parents should sign up for one 2 hour block as that should be enough time. If you have more than one child in the MS, you may book twice in the same block. This will ensure that block doesn’t get too crowded. You are of course welcome to book separate blocks for each child if that works for you.
Please arrive with at least one hour remaining in your block to ensure that you see all the teachers you want to see. We have built in some limited time at the ends of sessions to handle continuing conversations.
Instructions for using the “Pick a Time” booking system can be found here.
With focused conversations on your child’s learning, a few minutes with each teacher is more than enough to get an accurate picture of how your child is progressing. We have directed our teachers – and ask you – to spend no more than 5 minutes per conference as a courtesy to those waiting. If you have a conversation that would require more time than that, or that would require more privacy, an appointment for another day is advised. Counselors will also be available in the arena and you can also schedule further appointments with them as needed. Ryan Ruhl, our school psychologist will be available for appointments in his office if you wish to meet with him. To set up an appointment with him, you can email ryanr@isb.ac.th .
Our first MS Parent Coffee – Talking about math
by Dennis Harter
dennish@isb.ac.th
This past Tuesday, we hosted our first Parent Coffee of the year. We focused that session on our middle school math program and our use of the U.S. Common Core Standards for Mathematics. Finally, we outlined our own MS and HS mathematics program, so that parents could see the possible options that lie ahead. Thank you to all parents who attended.
We kicked off the session with everybody doing some math! Parents collaborated on solving a problem with multiple entry points, seeing the type of problem solving work we provide students to differentiate for diverse student needs, while constructing learning through collaboration.
Our next parent session will be the PTA meeting on October 13th (see other post on this) and our next Parent Coffee will take place on November 22nd, topic to be announced as we near the date.
Keeping our kids safe
By Dennis Harter
dennish@isb.ac.th
In our next middle school PTA meeting, on October 13th, our middle school counselors will present a workshop focused on keeping teens and tweens safe in Bangkok and our local community. The Middle School counselors will share tips for keeping your child safe during playdates (or hanging out as they call it now), sleepovers, going out with friends, and “unsupervised time.”
As we try to do our best as parents, it is helpful to have an accurate sense of what other parents are doing. Too often we hear from our kids what “everyone” does, has, or is like. For this purpose, we kindly request that you (and all MS parents) complete our short anonymous survey regarding the guidelines and expectations you have with your child.
In the session on October 13th, we will share the overall data from this parent survey to help open dialogue about communicating with each other. Counselors will also review some ideas for keeping your child safe online. This workshop will offer opportunities to connect and interact with other middle school parents and we hope you will attend.
More information on this can be found in this eNews newsletter under the Counselor Corner heading (there is also a link to the survey there). Please complete the survey to help us ensure that the data collected reflects our community.
Counselor Corner September, 30th
Teen Safety.
Dear Parents,
The Middle School Years are an exciting time for us as parents. We start to see the growth in independence and the development of strengths, skills and hobbies as our child starts their journey to young adulthood. However it can be a time fraught with some perils as they strive to be independent. This is a time when we find ourselves worrying over their safety as they want to do more and more with their peers. Will they let their studies?
slide?; Will they want to go to parties? ; What will happen at these parties? ; Will they fall in with the wrong crowd? ; Will they try things we don’t approve of? ; Is it Ok for them to stop playing sports?; How can I make sure they make good decisions?
Communication is the key to making our way through these years.
* Talk with them about their friends
* Get to know their friends
* Always try to be home when they have friends around
* Talk about school and teachers
* Watch TV with them and find movies to watch together that you both will enjoy
* Ask about music
* Take an interest in their new pursuits
* Keep them busy with activities, clubs and sports.
* Never allow them to be somewhere where there is not an adult present. * * Compliment them on their appearance
Remember that it is your presence and your relationship together with their sense of wanting to please you that will keep them safe.
Here is a link to an article on keeping our teens safe that we hope you will find helpful. :
The Middle School Counselors will be doing a presentation to parents at the next PTA meeting, October 13th, on keeping our teens safe.
In order to prepare for this presentation we would like to ask that you complete the survey located here . We hope to gather information from all parents about what concerns them and how they keep their children safe. We will share the results of this survey at the presentation.
We look forward to seeing you on the 13th October. We will send out reminders in the e-news.
For students applying to boarding school
by Dennis Harter
dennish@isb.ac.th
If you are planning to apply for admission to boarding school for the 2017-2018 school year, please make an appointment to meet with your child’s counselor before November 1. For us to best support your child’s application process, it is very important that parents meet with their child’s counselor in person.
September and October are typically when students who are planning on applying to boarding school register for the SSAT, ISEE, or other necessary testing (e.g., TOEFL). This is also the time when applicants begin gathering teacher references. Counselors can provide you with all the information you need depending on where you are applying.
Please note, in order to allow teachers time to provide a thorough, quality reference for your child, we ask that you allow a 4 week turn around time from the time the reference request is received until the reference is completed. This allows teachers to write quality references that can be thoroughly checked to best support the student. Students who are applying to schools with January application deadlines must submit their reference requests by November 15.
All reference requests must go through your child’s counselor. Please do not bring requests directly to the teachers. They have been instructed to redirect you or your child to their counselor. Having the counselor oversee this process enables us to ensure that references and other documentation is submitted to the receiving institution, complete and in a timely manner.
Thank you for working in partnership with your child’s counselor to ensure a smooth transition to boarding school.
Viewing grades in PowerSchool
by Dennis Harter
dennish@isb.ac.th
As we approach Parent-Teacher Conferences, students and teachers may wish to view the learning feedback in PowerSchool. With a recent update of the software, some of the “views” have changed. Please use the screenshots below to help you know where to click as you look at your child’s standards-based grades on PowerSchool.
Assignments are categorized as Formative or Summative.
Formative assignments are part of the learning process and inform students and teachers where understanding is and where it needs further support. Typically these do not “count” towards a students overall grade at the end of term, though they can provide extra evidence when summative data is unclear.
Summative assignments typically assess how well a student has understood a “chunk” of learning during and at the end of a unit. These can range from typical tests to transfer tasks, essays, lab reports, or other significant assessments.
As you look at PowerSchool, please note that many assignments have been entered with dates in the future, so that students can see where the class is heading and what will be expected of them. At this time, these future assignments will not have grades in them, of course.
Clicking on the “View” link on the assignments page will provide information and/or comments for assignments, when there are any. The “i” icon and the “speech bubble” icon indicate whether these are present.
We look forward to seeing you at conferences!
LAPTOP PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION FOR G6 STUDENTS AND PARENTS
Dear Grade 6 Parents,
The following slideshow has the instructions to fill out the laptop program documents. Advisory teachers will distribute these during the course of this and next week. Please take the time to go through each document and sign them. Three documents will have to be returned to the Advisory teacher. The Laptop Learning Handbook 2016 – 2017 can stay at home.
Regards,
Mr. Miguel Zambrano
Technology Learning Coordinator – MS
Upcoming MS Halloween Social – A Request for Parent Volunteers
Dear MS Parents,
Our next MS student social is our MS Halloween Social being held 3:00 – 5:00pm on Friday, October 14th in the MPB. Click here to access more information about it and the student permission form. All payment and permission forms are due back no later than 2:45pm on Thursday, October 13th to Khun Roong in the MS Office.
Parents, we are requesting your help on the following two points. If you could help out with either one, please contact our MS PTA Coordinators, Rosalina Hernandez and Karen Leung at mscoord@isb.ac.th:
- Some parent volunteers12:00 – 3:00pm on Friday, October 14th to help decorate the MPB for the social, and/or to help with cleanup at 5:00 – 6:00pm after the social is over.
- Some parent volunteers toprovide some baked goods for students to enjoy at the social!
BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL CHOIR FESTIVAL
Dear All,
Please see the edited version below as there is no cake reception this year. Sorry about that.
THE 22nd ANNUAL BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL CHOIR FESTIVAL (BICF) will be held Friday and Saturday, October 7 and 8, 2016 and will feature ISB’s HS and MS choirs along with twelve other visiting choirs from as far away as Jakarta, Indonesia. Unique to this year’s festival will be the the addition of special guest group, the award winning Male Ensemble Northwest (listen here), or M.E.N. as they are called. Join us for the M.E.N. Feature Concert* (200THB) on Friday, October 7 at 6:00pm in the Chevron Theatre and the BICF Gala Concert (FREE) featuring the 400 student MS and HS Massed Choir on Saturday, September 8 at 2:00 also in the Chevron Theatre.
*BICF participants will be given tickets for the Friday night M.E.N. Concert as part of their involvement with festival. Starting Wednesday, September 28 a limited number of tickets for the general public will be available for purchase at the MS/HS lunches in the ISB cafeteria, or by contacting Ms. Coleen Mann at coleenp@isb.ac.th.
