We had a great end to a year filled with lots of learning, laughs, and memories! Click on the link below to see our end of the year slideshow of photos. Enjoy and we'll see you back in August!
End of Year Slideshow 2018
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Is life overwhelming you? Do you find that you are constantly busy? Do you experience stress, have trouble sleeping, or have difficulties focusing? Chances are, you do. The constant go, go, go and the need to do more can be taxing on your mental health. However, being mindful and focusing on your own well-being can alleviate stress and decrease anxiety.
The concept of mindfulness has received a lot of attention in recent years, yet many people struggle with understanding exactly what being mindful means. As people are inundated with information and a barrage of communication (texts, emails, social media messages, etc.), it can be difficult to quiet our brains and fully attend to what is happening around us. The need for mindfulness is, therefore, paramount. Simply put, mindfulness is the ability to be fully present, possessing an awareness of what we are doing and where we are. It’s the practice of returning, over and over again, to the present moment. People who are mindful don’t overreact to their surroundings or circumstances, and they are not easily overwhelmed. The idea that mindfulness is something that one has to learn is a fallacy. As humans, being mindful should be innate. However, with our ever-increasing busyness, we seem to have forgotten how to be mindful. Mindfulness is a way of life. Once you begin to deliberately slow down, become aware of your surroundings, and quiet the chatter, possibilities open up. Practicing mindfulness impacts upon our lives in numerous positive ways. When we’re mindful, we reduce stress, increase our ability to focus on tasks and on others, and become more compassionate, resilient, and adaptable human beings. Mindfulness boosts creativity by helping you be open to new perspectives and possibilities that you may have previously rejected. Failing to practice mindfulness can lead to negative consequences, such as allowing our emotions to get the better of us and overreacting to stressful situations. What can you do to be more mindful? Start by observing and focussing upon the present moment, without judgement. Set time aside daily to be alone and practice being mindful, even if only for a few minutes. Yoga is an excellent tool for practicing mindfulness, as you become more in tune with your body and mind during the process. Meditation is a major tool used to practice mindfulness. Meditation practitioners focus on the breathing. By focusing on your breath, you are able to reduce brain chatter. If you lose your focus, don’t be discouraged; just come back to the breath. This practice of focusing on the breath can have a positive impact on other areas of your life, too. Through meditation, you hone the ability to focus, whether that’s on tasks you need to complete or on a conversation you are having with someone else. If you are interested in trying meditation, but are unsure of where to begin, there are many tools to support you. Youtube has many great guided meditations to take you through the process. Simply find one to try, get comfortable, eliminate distractions, close your eyes, and push play. Apps like Headspace, Calm, Buddhify, The Mindfulness App, and Smiling Mind are helpful tools that include guided meditations, reminders to meditate daily, and calming sounds and music. Mindfulness in schools has gained a great deal of traction lately as more and more students are experiencing higher stress levels. A small amount of stress is healthy, as it can drive us to complete tasks and achieve, however high levels of stress can produce adverse effects. Students who experience high levels of stress may have difficulty regulating their moods and emotions, sleeping, and paying attention in class. They may experience increased anxiety, frustration, decreased productivity and creativity, and changes in their eating patterns. Studies have found that students who have learned and practiced mindfulness techniques at school show improvements in behavior, such as increased self-control, participation, attention in class, and well-being. Many students experienced improved cognitive outcomes and social-emotional skills as well. The benefits of mindfulness are hard to dismiss. By taking a little time each day to quiet ourselves and be present in the moment, we can make significant changes in our overall sense of well-being. How will you start being mindful today? Resources: www.mindful.org www.mindfulschools.org Student Council is an excellent opportunity for students to take leadership at school. Ms. Michelle and Ms. Miriam are the advisors for our Primary Student Council this year, and they work with a great group of students! This week I interviewed a few of them to learn more about how they felt about being in Student Council. All of the students love being a part of the Student Council, and they unanimously cited a desire to 'make ACG School Jakarta a better place' as the reason why they joined. Shyam in Year 6 says he joined Student Council because he's "never been in anything like it before and never been in leadership, so [he] wanted to join." There were a variety of great reasons that students enjoy being a part of the Student Council. Tomoya in Year 5 and Mookyung in Year 4 like "having meetings." Jasmine in Year 6 says that she enjoys it because they "accept your ideas on what we can do and [because] it allows you to take action." Skye in Year 3 likes that the Student Council allows her to "help people be more mature and do the right thing." Marsha in Year 5 loves that she "can help other people in different ways through activities, listening to ideas, and giving information." Haris in Year 4 likes to "help the school. Friends like new things, especially the toys in the sandpit since we added new things. The sandpit is calming." Kenneth in Year 3 enjoys being a part of Student Council since it allows him to "make students more comfortable and confident at ACG." When asked about the goal of the Student Council, the majority of the students said it was to make the school a better place. Kaisha in Year 6 says it's also to "help students in need." The Primary Student Council has achieved a few things already this year, with more plans as the year progresses. One of their accomplishments was getting new and improved toys for the sandpit. They first surveyed the students in their classes to see what they wanted, ordered the toys, and then delivered them to the students at recess time. As you can see from the pictures above, it was a huge hit!
Other events include the Primary Movie Afternoon earlier this week, which raised nearly 2 million Rupiah for charity! The students also organized the BOSF and Halloween dress-up days last month. I am looking forward to seeing what new events and ideas the Student Council comes up with in the future! Thank you to the Student Council for all that you do for our school! Collaboration is an important part of teaching and learning in a PYP classroom. The Learner Profile attributes of communicators, open-minded and caring and the Attitudes, cooperation, respect, empathy and tolerance all highlight the need for all those connected to the school to be working in collaboration with one another. Students working together When you visit any primary classroom at ACG School Jakarta, you will see collaboration in action. Classrooms are designed with collaboration in mind, from carpet areas to table groups, students are engaging and working together. Whether students are playing in stations designed to inquire into their UOI in Kindergarten or interacting through written words in a chalk talk in Year 6 teachers are always encouraging team work. We are not only all learners, but everyone in the classroom can be a teacher, by connecting with one another the role of ‘teacher’ extends beyond the adults in the room. Teachers working together Working collaboratively is not just an activity reserved for our students. Each week teachers engage in collaborative planning with year level colleagues, specialists’ teachers and the PYP Coordinators. We also engage in collaborative team meetings as a whole staff group weekly. According to the International Baccalaureate (2015), ‘Research and case studies suggest that by forming a network of resources, support, and guidance, teachers feel more comfortable in their roles, which subsequently has a positive effect on students.’ Through collaboration, teachers are able to share their expertise, foster a community of experience and feel confident to implement innovative approaches to teaching and learning. When ideas are shared, and built upon, we achieve a greater range of learning experiences for our students. Working with parents At ACG School Jakarta, teachers work closely with families to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved for the students. This is achieved in numerous ways, including class blogs, parent-teacher-student conferences, student-led conferences and parent information sessions, just to name a few. Parent information session engage parents in collaborative learning opportunities, aimed at educating parents about the PYP, using the approaches to learning students are engaged in everyday. Through these education session, we develop parents’ understanding of what happens in the classroom through hands on experience. Being a 21st century learner is all about collaboration a skill that is embedded into the philosophy of our school.
References: Collaborative teaching transforms the classroom http://blogs.ibo.org/blog/2015/07/30/collaborative-teaching-transforms-the-classroom/ Parent Education Sessions are designed to teach parents more about our programme here at ACG School Jakarta. Today was the first in a three-part series to educate Primary parents about the Primary Years Programme (PYP). Our focus today was on the PYP Written Curriculum, where we inquired into the IB PYP philosophy, the Learner Profile, and the five essential elements of the PYP. One of our goals in these parent sessions is to incorporate teaching strategies that we use in the classroom. To this end, parents are actively involved in discussions and activities that encourage thinking and participation, rather than passively listening to a presentation. Today, parents watched a couple of videos to spark discussions about the future and about student action. Additionally, in small groups, they brainstormed what skills an internationally-minded person needs to have before sharing out in the larger group. The Learner Profile embodies the traits that an internationally-minded person needs in order to be successful. When we discussed the transdisciplinary skills sets, or Approaches to Teaching and Learning, that we teach students in the classroom, parents were involved in a Chalk Talk, a strategy where each person walks around, writing ideas about each skill set on the paper. No talking is allowed in this activity, but we communicate with one another by adding to existing ideas, agreeing with ideas through check marks, and adding questions we have about ideas. This is a strategy we use in the classroom to get students involved and show their thinking. During the presentation, we also touched on the ways in which we plan units of inquiry, the transdisciplinary nature of the programme, and how the goal of the PYP is student-initiated action. If you would like to learn more about today's presentation, you can view our presentation slideshow and videos shared by clicking here. If you'd like to learn more about the PYP, we encourage you to attend our next Parent Education Session focused on the PYP Taught Curriculum next month, on Friday, 20 October from 8.15-9.15am. Thank you to the parents who came out today!
We are excited to be working together, leading the staff and students in the implementation of the Primary Years Programme! We hope that through this site, you will gain a deeper understanding of the PYP, be informed of events and learning happening at the school, and connect to the curriculum and Learner Profile in a way you have not yet experienced.
Have a look around and familiarise yourself with our site. You'll find information on the Learner Profile of the Month, links and resources relevant to the PYP (as well as links to all the class blogs), an overview of our school's Programme of Inquiry (a work in progress), and information about upcoming and past parent education sessions. Our aim is to educate all of our community about the PYP, so we hope that you can attend some of our sessions. |
AuthorSMs Kesler loves the PYP! Teaching and learning through inquiry fosters enthusiasm and life-long learning. Archives
June 2018
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