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Middle School Open House Virtual this year

This year the Middle School Open House night will be hosted virtually using Zoom. Historically, Open House is a wonderful evening during which parents typically come onto campus, visit their child’s classrooms, and get to know the teachers. Unfortunately, this year, we are not able to meet physical distancing requirements and have 600-800 parents on campus. As such, we will host our Open House “virtually”.

The MS Virtual Open House will take place on Thursday, 6:00 to 8:10 PM, BKK time, as scheduled. Parents will visit Zoom session hosted by each teacher, according to their child’s schedule, starting with Advisory and then progressing through the periods 1 to 8.

• Each session will last 10 minutes.
• There will be 5 minutes between sessions so that parents have time to transition between the Zoom links, stand up and stretch, and ensure no overlap between classes.
• Teachers will host the Zoom sessions live, but may also include some pre-recordings to give you a sense of their classroom space, curriculum, or learning goals.

Before Thursday, parents will receive an email from us for each child, with that child’s specific schedule, the timings for the night for each Zoom session, and the Zoom links to click in order to “attend” each class. This email will also include a welcome video from us in the MS Office explaining the process and preparing you for Thursday night’s virtual event.

We will be asking teachers to stick to a strict time schedule in order to ensure that parents can make it to the next session without missing anything. This means starting and ending on time (according to a school server clock) for each scheduled session. We are synchronizing our clocks to ensure we’re all on the same times.

Please be on the lookout next week for our Open House email and block off the time to join our Virtual Open House on Thursday night.

Clarification on absence and expectations 

by Dennis Harter, MS Principal
dennish@isb.ac.th

The global pandemic has impacted practices around the world as schools adjust to virtual school, on campus safety regulations, and hybrid learning (a combination of at school learners with remote learners). ISB is no exception. Here on campus our teachers are delivering lessons for students in the classroom while connecting with students, both synchronously and not, online as well. This has required adaptability, changes in practice, and hours of additional time each week for every teacher to provide online learning for students who are studying remotely.

On this last point, it’s important to understand that the intent and implementation of this program is FOR remote learners who are unable to access campus. It is NOT for when a child is home away from campus because they aren’t feeling well or for other family reasons.

If your child is sick, their time at home should be spent resting and recovering so that they may return to campus sooner rather than later. If there are other reasons a child is staying home, then we do not want the student connecting to live zoom classes. If they can attend the live zoom and aren’t unwell, they should be at school.

We firmly believe that learning is best for students when they are at school. We also believe that students who need to rest and recover at home should do so. Students will learn important self-management skills when they return to school to make up work, as they self-advocate and interact with teachers. This is a skill that is important for their entire lifetimes.

Zoom classes are not in place to encourage removing students from class during school times, nor having them try to do school work when they aren’t well. 

Thank you for your understanding and support of our students and teachers.

Helping MS Students with Digital Citizenship 

In the middle school years, students are often introduced to a wider range of social media, they are given laptops at school and often smartphones at home, opening up a wide potential for learning and growth, while also introducing new risks and concerns.

Technology is ubiquitous in our lives now and it’s important that at school and home we are engaging our young people in conversations and learning around appropriate and safe use of technology. ISB sent home laptop use questionnaires for all parents to go through with their children, facilitating discussion and agreements to be made about home use of the laptops. We support parents in maintaining boundaries for student use at home. Students need this clear support at home.

At school, our Advisory teams have been or will be engaging students in lessons and discussions around digital citizenship.

Our focus includes:

• balance, including screen time, shutting devices off, and recognizing how much you might be reliant on them
• our digital footprints, including how much sharing/posting is too much and care around what we post
• cyberbullying, what it looks like when it’s happening and what it looks like when you might be doing it

Not all grades have done all these lessons, yet – many in fact will be doing so this upcoming week. 

We recognize the importance of these ongoing conversations with young people as their interaction with media, devices, and each other grows exponentially. Now more than ever, we see the impact of technology on social interactions and development. Together, at home and at school, we can help students develop healthy habits and skills for their use with technology.

PTA – Welcome Back Coffee: Venue Changed 

 Let’s enjoy a coffee together with our community members!

It’s a great opportunity to meet the new families who has arrived and to say hello returning friends!!

Panther Activities

It’s Not Too Late To Participate!!! Although many of the fall Panther Activities registrations closed on August 19th, there are still a number of programs that have space available. Note that the November BBSA League ‘early bird’ sign up rate has been extended through September 7 and that Panther (ES) Explore (PreK-G5) and Panther Volleyball (G5-G12) registrations open for the first time on Powerschool/CHQ tomorrow, Friday, August 28th. Check out what’s on offer by going to CHQ through PowerSchool, or contact any one of the Panther Activities Coordinators listed below for more information.   

Thanks,

The Panther Activities Team

PantherActivities@isb.ac.th  PantherArts@isb.ac.th, PantherBaseballandSoftball@isb.ac.th, PantherBasketball@isb.ac.th, PantherCubScouts@isb.ac.th, PantherBoyScouts@isb.ac.th, PantherDance@isb.ac.th, Panther (ES) Explore, PantherGirlScouts@isb.ac.th, PantherGolf@isb.ac.th, PantherGymnastics@isb.ac.th, PantherMusic@isb.ac.th,PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th, PantherRugby@isb.ac.th, PantherSoccer@isb.ac.th, PantherSwim@isb.ac.th, PantherTennis@isb.ac.th, PantherVolleyball@isb.ac.th