Weekly Message from Dr. Michael Allen

Congratulations!  You and your child successfully navigated the first week of virtual school together! 

While Virtual School can never fully replace in person learning here on campus, it’s been great to see how teachers and parents are working in partnership to ensure that the students’ virtual learning experiences are engaging and aligned with ISB learning objectives.  Teams of grade level homeroom teachers and specialist teachers are working collaboratively to ensure that we offer a consistent and well-rounded education during this time of campus closure.  While program offerings vary from grade level to grade level based on the age of the students and learning outcomes, students within the same grade level are receiving the same virtual school experience regardless of which classroom they are in thanks to the teamwork of our teachers.

The ISB Virtual School Guide for Parents pictured below is a great tool for you to reflect on as you support your child during this time of distance learning.  While all the elements are essential I draw you attention to these three components: 

Assess and Adapt – Be aware that this is a new environment for students and check in from time to time on how they are feeling. 
Offset Screen time – Pay attention to how much screen time your child has and try to balance it as much as possible with other activities.
Ask for Support – Contact your child’s teachers or tech support if you have questions or need help. 

Virtual school requires all of us to constantly assess the situation and adapt as needed.  While all of us have had past virtual school experiences during the 2019-20 school year, virtual school continues to be new (unlike brick and mortar schools that have been in existence for centuries).  Maintain a close partnership with your child’s teachers by sending a short note to your child’s teacher to share what’s been working well as well as ask for support with any challenges you might need to problem solve together. 

I also encourage all families to be mindful of the amount of screen time their child has outside of the virtual school day.  When students learn on campus, they are active, physically moving, and have very limited screen time throughout the school day, however this is not the same during virtual school.  Therefore it’s very important to put the devices and screens away after school hours for students to engage in other activities…we can’t emphasize enough the importance of A LOT of ongoing physical activity while they are developing long-term healthy lifestyle skills! 

Thank you again for your support and partnership during this first week of virtual school! 

Your partner in education,
Michael Allen, Ed.D.
michaela@isb.ac.th 

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