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Enjoy the Break – Read Read Read

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

Students, like their teachers, have earned a well-deserved break after their hard work to start the semester. We hope that students have some time to catch up on sleep, be active, spend time with family and friends, and pursue some of their out-of-school interests.

While we purposely avoid assigning home learning during extended breaks like this, so that families can spend quality time together, we ALWAYS encourage students to read as much as they can. There is plenty of research that indicates that reading contributes positively to academic performance and test scores. It’s also great for everyone’s well-being.

Please support your child in some “off screen” time, reading books for pleasure. Adult modeling of this goes a long way to showing the value of reading. Why not block off some time as a family when everyone “Drops Everything And Reads”?

February Break – NO SCHOOL

ISB will be on February Break next week. The ISB campus will be closed February 14 – 20.

School resumes on Monday, February 21, with a Day 2 schedule.

We encourage all students to take a break from screens and spend the time actively, restfully, and with some reading. While units of work will continue upon students’ return to school, the first days back will be free of assessments (unless a student is making them up from a previously scheduled assessment date).

Have a wonderful break! We will see everyone on the 21st of February – Day 2.

MS Student Led Conferences

On March 10 & 11, ISB Middle School hosts Student-Led Conferences (SLC). With an appointment on one of these days, your MS child will take you through their learning growth this year through a presentation of their learning portfolio.

SLCs are commonly used by middle schools because they empower learners to engage with their learning, understand what has helped (or hindered) their progress, and set and articulate goals for the remainder of the term. Teachers guide students to an essential reflection process that reflects teacher feedback on assignments and how students understood and internalized that feedback.

We are excited to be able to host these on campus with an appointment system to ensure families are in a classroom, one at a time, hosted by your child’s advisor. More information on sign-ups are to come.

We are sometimes asked about Student-Led Conferences instead of the parents speaking directly with the teacher (which we did in November). There are real learning benefits for students in the preparation process as well as the conference itself. This is why so many schools use this method.

To learn more about our MS Student-Led Conferences, we will host a parent information webinar to share the experience, the research, and the benefits of SLCs on Wednesday, February 23rd, following the February break.

To register for this webinar, please click the link below and provide your details.

When: Feb 23, 2022 09:00 AM Bangkok
Topic: MS Parent Webinar on Student Led Conferences

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

MAP Assessment Results

You may access the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) assessments results of your child on PowerSchool today starting at 2 pm.

Outdoor Education in the Middle School

This week, our grade 8 students completed their Wild Panthers outdoor education trips to our Environmental Wilderness Campus (EWC). Over the last three and a half weeks, groups of 20-24 students traveled to the ISB-owned EWC for a 3 Days / 2 Nights program filled with activity, learning, development of Learner Attributes, and fun. We are thankful to have our own ISB certified teachers running the program and ensuring safety measures and a quality learning program.

The Grade 8 program, “Just Add Water,” focuses on kayak and canoe skills, alongside navigation, communication, and basic first aid techniques. Most importantly, students develop independence, self-management, social-intelligence, teamwork, and leadership skills as well.

Our team produces an individualized celebration video for each individual trip for families and students to enjoy and remember their fun experience (hosted on our Wild Panthers YouTube channel).

Following the break, our Grade 7 students will be participating in their program, which centers around rock climbing and abseiling.

We are so grateful that we can provide these incredible, unique learning experiences for students getting them off of screens, into the outdoors, and engaging in important attribute and skill development that will serve them well as they mature and develop independence.

ISB’s Environmental Wilderness Campus

Parent Presentation on Student Safeguarding

Thank you to the parents who attended the ISB Parent Safeguarding Webinar on Thursday, February 10th.

At this workshop we discussed:

Safeguarding at ISB
Defining boundaries and types of boundaries
How to talk with your child about boundaries
Using boundaries to keep your child safe
Teaching your child to respect others’ boundaries

For those that could not make it, the link and passcode for access are below:

Topic: Student Safeguarding
Meeting Recording Link
Access Passcode: 4&4ttxB#

Panther Activities Updated: Campus Closed During February Break

Campus will be closed for all access Monday, February 14 – Sunday, February 20, 2022.

Panther Activities: Week 2

With week 2 of the new session of Panther Activities wrapping up we wanted to share some updates and reminders for participation after the February break. Please see the summary of activities HERE as a quick reminder of the what, where, and when for each program. First, as a reminder, please contact us if your student will be missing an activity after school so that we know they are safe and accounted for. Second, assume activities are on as scheduled unless you hear from us that there has been a cancellation. In addition, the payment window has once again been postponed to allow us time to provide multiple payment options. Finally, thanks for signing up. We love working with your kids!

Payment Window Postponed until after

the February Break

For general questions contact Anthony or Lucas at PantherActivities@isb.ac.th.

Or, for program specific questions, please contact our Panther Activities Coordinators at the email addresses listed below.

PantherArts@isb.ac.th, PantherBaseballandSoftball@isb.ac.th, PantherBasketball@isb.ac.th, PantherDance@isb.ac.th, PantherExplore@isb.ac.th, PantherFitness@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, and new this semester… PantherXtreme@isb.ac.th

SWIM, BIKE, & RUN FOR EVELYN!

Tri Kids Triathlon @ ISB

Repeat Announcement: Hanuman Film Festival

Postponed to March 24, 2022

We invite you to participate in the Hanuman Film Festival happening on March 24th! This is open to all grade levels and we are currently accepting entries until March 17. Any creative original film is welcomed!

Please sign up using the link HERE (or using the QR code),

and send your film or any questions to hanumanfilmfestival@isb.ac.th!