The ESL Program at Suzhou's International School

WIDA WORKSHOP

This November my school was generous to fly a WIDA Consultant out to work with our ESL team and other Elementary Homeroom teachers on a 2 day workshop about Differentiation for English Language Learners.

After the workshop, myself (being the ESL coordinator,) along with the Principal met to discuss the big question: NOW WHAT? For our programming.  I checked in with my team, and here is what we decided together:

We decided that we would change our leveling system to better reflect the WIDA levels (we have phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3 at the moment). Next year we will change to Level 1, 2, 3, 4. This simple change, will likely result in a big project for me, but I think it is a valuable change!

Instructional Coaching Certificate

I am looking forward to applying the strategies and learned I have come away with from taking this course!

Key ideas I learned about:

• Defining the Instructional Coach's Role

• The Characteristics of Effective Coaches

• Different ways to support teachers

• Teacher's are at different stages on the 'Continuum of Self Reflection' which effects what kind of coaching and coaching strategies to employ.

• Goal Setting

Leadership in EAL

The 2016-2017 school year brought with it a new and exciting opportunity for me to grow as an educator. I have the opportunity to develop my leadership skills as the EAL coordinator at Suzhou Singapore International School.  My job has involved leading and supporting the EAL department, leading staff meetings, parent sessions and PD for staff. Assessing new students and working with teachers in a support role to ensure that students are progressing and are in the correct EAL phase.


2016 was a good year for Leadership workshop opportunities at SSIS.

The first weekend workshop was the ACAMIS Leadership Training. Leading Collaborative Teams with Micheal Iannini. We learned a lot of  useful, hands on leadership strategies and ideas including new Ice breakers, creating Norms,  using protocols, and having difficult conversations.

The second workshop was a 2 day IB workshop. Pedagological Leadership (PYP Category 2) workshop. We learned even more about the changing role of leadership and were able to apply much of the learning to our school context.

Making the PYP Happen Workshop

I also took part in a 2nd 'Making the PYP happen' workshop in October 2015.  This one was run by Yoon-Ah Lee and Jay Brownrigg. I don't know where I have put the certificate though.

Learning about Materials and Their Properties in the Makerspace

This year the Grade 1 team has the luxury of an empty room in their corridor. We created a "Makerspace" in this room!

During the G1 unit How the word works:

Central Idea: Materials are chosen for different purposes based on their properties and people’s needs

Students worked in the makerspace to create their own informational text at the end of the unit. They chose and attached different materials to their book and wrote all they could about the properties of that material.  The students were really engaged and their learning was very evident. If I were to do this activity again, I would create book pages that had a line for the title at the top of the page (where they would write the material) then an empty box for them to attach the material. Underneath I would have distinct 2 sections. 1 that said 'properties' and one that said 'uses.'

How we Express Ourselves

Admittedly I have not been good about keeping up to date with my blog/portfolio. It has been tough with poor internet connections and lots of internet censorship.  The goal is to stay on top of this blog!

Unit of Inquiry: Cultures Express Themselves in Different Ways

Korean Moms came to school to share their culture with our class. Amazing effort on their part, putting all this wonderful learning together. We learned about dress, songs, games, and even some history!

We read so many great books that explored culture:

We went on a field trip to explore Chinese culture by touring 2 famous gardens in Suzhou.

At the end of the unit, students took action by displaying their favourite work  and sharing their learning with parents and teachers in a 'culture expo.'