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Pedagogy & Learning
By Dr Karen L. Taylor
13-Apr-21
13-Apr-21
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The whole point of the learning sciences is to use what we know about human cognition in order to create the best possible environment for student learning, so taking cognitive load into account when preparing a lesson is critical. ..more |
By Dr. Rachel Ball
13-Apr-21
13-Apr-21
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Formative assessment presents a powerful opportunity for improving student outcomes. Here are several practical suggestions for providing formative feedback to students in hybrid and virtual learning settings. ..more |
By Mrs. Jean Candol-Piscioneri
13-Apr-21
13-Apr-21
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Despite uncertainty, and constant changes in our daily or weekly schedule, science lab activities at Seoul International School continue to be implemented effectively through flexible thinking and focusing on the possibilities rather than limitations. ..more |
By Kristin Simmers
13-Apr-21
13-Apr-21
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While today’s unprecedented levels of educational challenge may merit equally unprecedented levels of teacher support, it can be hard to know where to begin, or even who to trust. Educators need to critically evaluate educational claims and pedagogy. Here's a way forward. ..more |
By Ahaan Chakrabarty
30-Mar-21
30-Mar-21
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For his Grade 10 IB Middle Years Programme Personal Project, Ahaan Chakrabarty decided to build a solar power bank that his fellow students would use at school to charge their phones. In the era of COVID-19, staying charged up and connected is all the more critical. ..more |
By Kelly Owens
30-Mar-21
30-Mar-21
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Service learning, according to Kelly Owens, is problematic in that it reinforces the “savior” mentality among students at international schools. A different approach, community-based engagement, shows them the importance of working together for the betterment of all. ..more |
By Justin Connors '21
15-Mar-21
15-Mar-21
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Justin is a Senior at the Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel devoting his senior project to examining the means by which foreign students might receive better support at school by taking into account their pedagogical conditioning. ..more |
By Dr Karen L. Taylor
15-Mar-21
15-Mar-21
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One of the challenges of teaching is to capture students’ attention when they enter the classroom and to keep it. Which means being aware of attention span and cycles of attention in relation to the rhythm of the lesson. ..more |
By Michael Griffin
15-Mar-21
15-Mar-21
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Metacognition is about thinking. It is about knowing not only what you think, but why you think it and how you arrived at your thoughts. Metacognition is about active learning. It is empowering. Effective teachers foster a metacognitive learning approach, to generate better quality thinking. ..more |
By Dr Karen L. Taylor
03-Mar-21
03-Mar-21
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Thinking routines are pedagogical tools that promote the development of critical thinking skills. This doesn’t happen by accident. Classroom teachers work hard to create an environment in which such powerful learning experiences take place. ..more |
By Bonnie Billak
15-Mar-21
15-Mar-21
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After months of virtual classes, students have become accustomed to being at home with parents. Now that schools are reopening, special attention needs to be focused on ESL students to ensure that the transition from virtual to face-to-face classes is a smooth one. ..more |
By Adelina Holmes
03-Mar-21
03-Mar-21
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Initially when leading trainings, Adelina Holmes was giving fast lectures and expecting participants to absorb the information she was "gifting" to them—a common mistake. Everything shifted when she started designing her workshops in the same way she planned a class. ..more |
By Kim Marshall
13-Apr-21
13-Apr-21
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Including students in shaping what will be assessed by co-constructing success criteria has proven an effective way to improve student writing, according to Jennifer Gonzalez. “It’s essentially backward planning with students for success.” ..more |
+ 2021
By Lawrence Shepherd
16-Feb-21
16-Feb-21
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All Grade 11 students were given the opportunity to organize a senior school Creativity Activity and Service (CAS) project. When no one else stepped forward, Lawrence Shepherd raised his hand. The experience was challenging but a huge lesson in the potential of student agency. ..more |
By Rachel Ball
16-Feb-21
16-Feb-21
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Teachers in a virtual setting may observe a lack of student engagement during synchronous instruction, resulting in classroom discussions that feel strained. Here are some instructional tips that will support the integration of class discussion in your current teaching context. ..more |
David L. Di Maria Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland
16-Feb-21
16-Feb-21
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Associate Vice Provost for International Education at the University of Maryland feels that President Biden’s rollbacks on former President Trump’s travel restrictions signal new opportunities for international students. ..more |
By Lisa Perskie & the UNAtions Team
02-Feb-21
02-Feb-21
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School of the Nations has found that it is possible both to sustain and strengthen its service projects and connections with its sister schools online thanks to friendship, collaboration, and empathy. The trust developed prior to the pandemic helped tremendously. ..more |
By Angela Beach
02-Feb-21
02-Feb-21
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Dalian American International School Elementary in Dalian, China takes distance learning beyond the screen by offering student toolkits to enhance instruction and add a personal touch—a weekly-refreshed bag of physical supplements to online learning. ..more |
By Joy Jameson
06-Jan-21
06-Jan-21
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Since teachers are key players in the educational process, should they have a voice in school decision making related to COVID-induced changes? Should they be invited to participate and have a say in admin meetings at which key decisions are made? ..more |
+ 2020
By David Willows
23-Dec-20
23-Dec-20
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Pandemics don’t read reopening plans, David Willows has concluded. For each month of this seemingly never-ending year, he has extracted some fairly universal and hard-won lessons in school leadership to share with fellow international educators. ..more |
By Matt Brady
23-Dec-20
23-Dec-20
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Matt Brady offers an examination of potential next steps in techno-social transformation as a result of the effects of Covid-19 on technology integration in schools. One silver lining: how the pandemic has obliterated so many long-held limiting beliefs of what was possible. ..more |
By Amanda Sunderman
08-Dec-20
08-Dec-20
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As an International Baccalaureate continuum school, service learning and taking action are key parts of the program at I-Shou International School in Taiwan. Students and teachers participated in the Million Mask Challenge by donating, prepping materials, or sewing masks. ..more |
By Dr. Helen Kelly
08-Dec-20
08-Dec-20
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Noting a dearth of hard data about the increased levels of stress experienced by international school leaders since the start of the pandemic, Helen Kelly conducted her own in-depth survey, to which 721 leaders responded. The results are alarming. ..more |
By Theo Wilhelm
25-Nov-20
25-Nov-20
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Teaching from home while parenting is hard. Parenting at home while teaching is hard. Could it be, however, that teachers, parents, and students are all learning and growing from these challenges in new and important ways? ..more |
By Bruce Gilbert
25-Nov-20
25-Nov-20
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Canada presents as an idyllic place to weather the pandemic. But while the move "home" has its obvious advantages, longtime international educator Bruce Gilbert is having trouble making small talk with other parents on the sidelines at his kid's soccer game. And that's a problem. ..more |
By Jane Segre
25-Nov-20
25-Nov-20
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Walking through the corridors of the American School of Milan, whether on campus through our virtual classrooms, the positive atmosphere is palpable. Teachers are discovering that Covid-related adjustments have forged a stronger sense of community among students. ..more |
By Shwetangna Chakrabarty, TIE blogger
11-Nov-20
11-Nov-20
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Many international school teachers have lost their jobs, their friends, their belongings, and their homes. Shwetangna Chakrabarty is one of them. In this moving piece, she reflects on her personal experience of loss and the wisdom that has helped sustain her while in full flux. ..more |
By Dr. Tiffani Betts Razavi
11-Nov-20
11-Nov-20
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After some seven months of covid-19, educators and researchers are asking: what progress has been prompted by the pandemic? Are any of the lockdown-induced adjustments here to stay? Are there any old ways that won’t survive the virus? ..more |
By Scott B. Freiberger
11-Nov-20
11-Nov-20
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This in-depth article provides six steps for instructional success at a time when fine-tuning online and blended learning environments is becoming paramount in international school settings. ..more |
By Bonnie Billak
24-Oct-20
24-Oct-20
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The use of face masks presents a number of challenges for ESL students, as much of language learning and comprehension is based on visual perception of facial body language. Teachers need to alter their methods to ensure that all students experience maximum success. ..more |
By Elijah Petersen
24-Oct-20
24-Oct-20
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Teachers will try almost anything for their students, including, it turns out, teaching remotely with no internet. When Algeria’s Baccalaureate exams prompted an internet blackout during the week of September 13, staff at American International School of Algiers got creative. ..more |
By Steven Carber
14-Oct-20
14-Oct-20
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We surveyed international school staff, asking them to suggest the top skills and dispositions needed among professionals working in K-12 international schools. The broad intention was to better connect “the industry” with the university and addressing any perceived disconnect. ..more |
By Matt Harris
14-Oct-20
14-Oct-20
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The virus is still ever present, and our school situations are still ever-changing and uncertain. Drawing upon our technology and our teachers are still the lynchpins for learning in the coming months. It is critical that we support both. ..more |
By Debbie Stanton & Tanya Coffey
30-Sep-20
30-Sep-20
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As parents, you may be wondering what role you can play in supporting your children through this unusual return to school, making sure that they feel safe and secure, but also that they are resilient to the challenges and ready to accept and embrace the new classroom normal. ..more |
By Lisa Martin
30-Sep-20
30-Sep-20
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Disrupted Model United Nations seasons, cancelled conferences, and tens of thousands of disappointed delegates around the world have been grappling with the impact of the pandemic... and innovating like crazy, leading to program growth and increased engagement. ..more |
By Helen Kelly
30-Sep-20
30-Sep-20
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The COVID 19 crisis is increasing the huge levels of stress already experienced by international school leaders. While some are thriving in the face of the challenge, many are overwhelmed and coming close to burnout. Resilience is built through acknowledging our vulnerabilities. ..more |
By Adam Bradford
30-Sep-20
30-Sep-20
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Students struggle to work independently on developing lab ideas and carrying them out. @Home Experiments are designed to complement the IB biology curriculum by giving them memorable, safe, practical experiments to try at home. ..more |
By Robbie Jefferiss
15-Sep-20
15-Sep-20
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Here in Singapore, we do an exercise with our Grade 11 students, asking them to visualize their future lives at age 30. COVID-19 rendered the exercise more fraught than usual. Flexibility of thinking may be one of the greatest strengths we can impart to our students at this time. ..more |
By Sena Chang
03-Sep-20
03-Sep-20
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The abrupt change in pedagogy at The American School in Japan (ASIJ) brought on by the pandemic has sparked many conversations about the effectiveness and value of digital learning. Three middle schoolers shared their views with ASIJ student Sena Chang. ..more |
By Matthew Dicks
15-Jul-20
15-Jul-20
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We might be raising the first generation of children who truly understand the value of school and appreciate all of the educational opportunities that have been afforded to them. Unfortunately, it is coming at great cost. ..more |
By Lauren Mehrbach, Chris Beingessner and Chris Raymaakers
03-Sep-20
03-Sep-20
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Reimagining school during the pandemic is a global re-creation. Students disembarked the buses at Singapore American School, excited for their first full day of in-person school since March. In many ways it resembled the start of the 2019-20 school year. But it wasn't. ..more |
By Emily Sargent-Beasley
15-Jul-20
15-Jul-20
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No longer is there a chance to kneel beside a child, smile from across the room, or nudge with clear feedback using a tone that invites listening and understanding. The traditional toolkit has been left behind. Each tool now feels as if it must be replaced. ..more |
By Owen Su, Grade 8
15-Jul-20
15-Jul-20
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Distance learning has become inevitable for schools around the world. As educators continue to consider the best ways to approach this new reality, it might be helpful to hear directly from students about their experiences. ..more |
By Nafisa Mustafa, Age 10
15-Jul-20
15-Jul-20
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"Throughout this learning experience, I have missed many things, but the biggest one is socializing. Being there in the physical classroom with the teacher was better and easier, for some inexplicable reason." ..more |
By Kim Marshall, TIE columnist
24-Oct-20
24-Oct-20
| In this summary of an Education Week article by Catherine Gewertz, Kim Marshall offers a number of suggestions on how to reduce screen time for students. Teachers need to be critical consumers of technology. ..more |
By Azzah Abrar Dar, Age 10
18-Jun-20
18-Jun-20
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This time pause has the power to teach me new things every day, Utilize every moment positively, keeping your gadgets at bay. Watching a movie together and these endless family chats, have the power to mellow down, even the nasty spoiled brats. ..more |
By Rahaf Ala’aldin Yousef Mishael, Grade 8
18-Jun-20
18-Jun-20
| We needed to grow smarter and more productive and thus created a new routine for our days, to keep us busy, healthy, and happy. We have uncovered new hobbies and tried to find ways to calm ourselves down during breakdowns and stressful moments. ..more |
By Betsy Grabb Suits
18-Jun-20
18-Jun-20
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Six weeks ago, I caught one of the last flights out of Laos where all schools closed due to the Coronavirus 19. My mom had been in the hospital during this pandemic and was home under Hospice Care. I didn’t think I would make it back in time to see her again. ..more |
By ACS Press Office
18-Jun-20
18-Jun-20
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ACS Internationals Schools has raised and donated £5,000 to the Magic Breakfast programme, which will provide over 7,400 breakfasts to vulnerable children in Surrey and Greater London over the next few weeks. ..more |
By Kim Marshall, TIE columnist
18-Jun-20
18-Jun-20
| Racism: “a system of advantage based on race that is created and maintained by an interplay between psychological factors and sociopolitical factors… so deeply embedded within U.S minds and U.S. society that it is virtually impossible to escape.” ..more |
By Henry Afful
22-May-20
22-May-20
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It’s often said that adversity is the mother of innovation. This has been a true reflection on the response we had to our teaching and learning experience at ARIS. Truly, the challenges the COVID-19 global pandemic has fueled our quest for excellence and led to some serious creativity and innovation. ..more |
By Josefino Rivera, Jr.
06-May-20
06-May-20
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All schools in Hong Kong were suspended until 20 April 2020, but that did not stop students at the American International School (AIS) of Hong Kong from learning as AIS educators elaborated their innovative teaching strategies using various online tools. ..more |
By Thomas Ferrebee & Ernesto Carriazo
22-Apr-20
22-Apr-20
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At Colegio Nueva Granada’s Writing Center in Bogotá, Colombia, students serve their peers in a space where the school’s core values of respect, responsibility, integrity, and caring are made manifest and academic rigor is cultivated in community. ..more |
By Miles McFall
22-Apr-20
22-Apr-20
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When the decision to expand the Dalian American International School program offerings to include a bilingual school for Chinese nationals was made in 2017, we asked: What do we value? What do we mean when we say we’re a “bilingual” school? How do the influences of culture on individuals and systems inform our planning? ..more |
By Joanna Colley
08-Apr-20
08-Apr-20
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ACS Internationals Schools has developed a new adapter to turn full face snorkel masks into emergency ventilators for hospitals struggling to find enough equipment to treat the influx of COVID-19 patients. ..more |
By Jeffrey Weiner
08-Apr-20
08-Apr-20
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We have witnessed a seismic shift in the for-profit, private school, and international school segments of education as a result of coronavirus-related quarantines and travel restrictions. Can teachers and small training centers quickly adapt this specialized technology, or will the educational industry be drastically changed for good? ..more |
Naomi Greenberg
08-Apr-20
08-Apr-20
| A Grade 12 student at Frankfurt International School has created a virtual choir for singers in international schools around the world. If you have students in your school who would like to be part of a global choir, encourage them to join VOICE! ..more |
By Bambi Betts & Kristen MacConnell
27-Jun-20
27-Jun-20
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Your team needs your leadership more than ever. Here are the top three things you can be doing as you lead your team remotely. In our independent, international schools, teacher leaders are best positioned to have meaningful and lasting impact. ..more |
By Andrea Honigsfeld & Jon Nordmeyer
08-Apr-20
08-Apr-20
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Some international teachers have been in virtual school for months, while for others it is a new experience. This article will share some key takeaways from what are we learning about international schools maintaining collaboration in support of English Learners (ELs). ..more |
By Andrea Honigsfeld & Jon Nordmeyer
08-Apr-20
08-Apr-20
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Some international teachers have been in virtual school for months, while for others it is a new experience. This article will share some key takeaways from what are we learning about international schools maintaining collaboration in support of English Learners (ELs). ..more |
By Tom Boasberg
08-Apr-20
08-Apr-20
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Since this article appeared in TIE's April print edition, the Singapore American School campus has closed for the next month, per government guidelines. New SAS Superintendent Tom Boasberg shares lessons learned in facing the COVID-19 crisis. ..more |
By Meadow Dibble, TIE Editor
26-Mar-20
26-Mar-20
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TIE Editor Meadow Dibble interviews Edward E. Greene, Executive Director of the East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS), who describes the impact of the coronavirus on international school communities throughout his region. ..more |
ARIS Personalized Learning Department on How to Improve the Virtual Learning Experience for Students
Funke Baffour
26-Mar-20
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Funke Baffour, ARIS Head of Counseling and Support, addresses health and wellbeing concerns raised by parents and professionals in response to the massive transition to online learning, offering practical advice for helping students establish balance. ..more |
By Akofa Wallace
26-Mar-20
26-Mar-20
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Imaginative puppet shows, indoor sports challenges, interactive games and screencasts are some of the activities that have replaced classroom teaching at United Nations International School of Hanoi (UNIS Hanoi), which closed its campus to students at the start of February. ..more |
By Kristen MacConnell, Director of the Teacher Training Center Programs with the PTC
05-Mar-20
05-Mar-20
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Due to the quickly spreading coronavirus, many schools in Asia and a growing number of schools in Europe have had to shift to short-term online learning to keep students, faculty, and families safe. Thousands of teachers are teaching online for the first time. ..more |
By Chronicle of Higher Education Staff
05-Mar-20
05-Mar-20
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The novel coronavirus and Covid-19, the disease it causes, are becoming a public-health threat across the world. The Chronicle of Higher Education has compiled what you need to know — to be updated regularly — on the virus’s spread and its implications for higher ed. ..more |
By Forrest Broman
05-Mar-20
05-Mar-20
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The founder of TIE and Director of Children of Haiti and Refugee Projects (COHRP) shares 14 lessons learned during his many years as a school head in at Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel and Escuela Campo Alegre in Venezuela. ..more |
By Ben Fishman
17-Feb-20
17-Feb-20
| An elementary counselor with a PhD in psychology offers some basic tips for educators when talking with students about the coronavirus outbreak. ..more |
By Shwetangna Chakrabarty
17-Feb-20
17-Feb-20
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Education 4.0 is a term used to describe the ways in which we need to prepare students for the fourth industrial revolution, or the advent of the 22nd century. Guangzhou Nanfang International School in China has had the opportunity to pilot Education 4.0—albeit under duress. ..more |
By Carlos Minuesa
17-Feb-20
17-Feb-20
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The 21st-century school aspires to teach through comprehension, but how do teachers know when students have understood a topic? ASV is using various indicators to renovate their academic programs and to respond to challenges in contemporary education. ..more |
By Ewan McIntosh
05-Feb-20
05-Feb-20
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Independent schools are swiftly abandoning traditionally static long-term strategy planning. Instead, they’re adopting agile approaches to designing strategy so that they engage their whole community in changing how they think about what’s possible in school. But this process of agile innovation isn’t all fun and games. ..more |
By Matt Piercy
05-Feb-20
05-Feb-20
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What does “learning” really mean? It seems essential that we define it—if not as a society, or as an international school community, then at least at the institutional level. How do we expect students to think critically if we are not providing them the necessary time and space in which to do it? ..more |
By Kim Marshall, TIE columnist
04-Jun-20
04-Jun-20
| The current health and economic crises will bring about permanent changes. Leaders need to work with colleagues on adopting new practices, distribute leadership in order to draw on collective intelligence, and lead in emotionally intelligent ways. ..more |
By Matt Brady
03-Jan-20
03-Jan-20
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An imagined conversation among a school’s leadership team reconvening for 2019/2020, discussing tech integration—or taking old systems and tacking on the latest tech, taking as many shortcuts as possible, and then assuming everything will work just fine. ..more |
By Kim Marshall, TIE columnist
06-May-20
06-May-20
| In this National Geographic article, Julia Sklar reports that many K-12 and university teachers are finding remote instruction more exhausting than in-person teaching. Cognitive scientists say that virtual interactions are more taxing on the brain. ..more |
By Kim Marshall, TIE columnist
22-Apr-20
22-Apr-20
| In this Education Gadfly article, Robert Pondiscio predicts that when the current crisis is over, remote learning won’t continue. The online learning being implemented by hard-working teachers is an emergency response. ..more |
By Kim Marshall, TIE columnist
22-Apr-20
22-Apr-20
| In this New Yorker article, Michael Specter describes the scientific events that have shaped the career of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Since 1984, he’s been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and he’s currently at the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis. ..more |
By Kim Marshall, TIE columnist
26-Mar-20
26-Mar-20
| As educators wrestle with the current crisis and massive shift in learning paradigms, Kim Marshall has assembled an extensive list of resources with suggestions for online instruction, from video calls to 'zines and everything in between. ..more |
By Vicky Placeres
03-Jan-20
03-Jan-20
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This year, the elementary school at Uruguayan American School adopted the Math In Focus program, based on the Singapore Math Approach for Grades 1–5. This program emphasizes collaboration, discussion, the use of models, and multiple problem-solving strategies. ..more |
+ 2019
By Andrew Ranson
13-Nov-19
13-Nov-19
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International schools everywhere are seeking ways to help their students live the core values of the mission statements that define school communities. Five years ago, in our work as coaches of the high school girls’ volleyball team, my colleague and I began an experiment. ..more |
| The news in brief from all corners of the education field: dangers of early school enrollment, international enrollment in U.S. way down, flipping an entire school day, U.S. schools hiring teachers from overseas, ranking U.K. schools, dropping standardized testing. ..more |
By Todd Lichtenwalter
17-Oct-19
17-Oct-19
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When increased insecurity within Venezuela forced Colegio Internacional de Carabobo to discontinue its yearly field trips to Hato Pinero and Morrocoy, a committed team created an Infinity Learning Space for the collaborative practice of 21st-Century Learning Skills and Systems Thinking. ..more |
By Michael Griffin
17-Oct-19
17-Oct-19
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Consistently, the quality of teaching is recognized as the most important factor in elevating student achievement. So what makes an effective teacher? What exactly is it that sets good teachers apart? ..more |
By Gregory R. van Goidtsnoven
13-Nov-19
13-Nov-19
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With the emergence of a robust Asian market in global economics, the role of “English language” skills has been placed at the forefront of competitive and effective business strategies. What English should be taught? How should we teach it? ..more |
+ 2018
By Lesley Tait
27-Sep-18
27-Sep-18
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In September 2012, the American Cooperative School of Tunis (ACST) was confronted with a monumental challenge when protests erupted and attention moved from the U.S. embassy to the school. Over the past six years, the ACST community has sought to rebuild better. ..more |
By Michael Johnston
30-Mar-18
30-Mar-18
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Parents of PK–12 students are consistently subjected to edubabble, which creates a disconnect when the conversation about learning gets picked up at home. At Colegio Maya, creating a common way to organize learning and having a consistent definition of what it means has been a game changer for teachers, students, parents, and all stakeholders. ..more |
