​Have you ever wondered what teachers are doing behind the scenes while also teaching every day? Here are some things that teachers spend time doing:

• Collaborative Planning: Throughout the week teachers are planning engaging learning activities for the students.  They work alongside the SSTs, Integrationists, and as a grade level team.  Teachers are working on building a transdisciplinary approach and having students build connections across the disciplines. Teaching teams also have a collaborative planning session with the PYP Coordinator.

• Retreats: Prior to a new unit beginning, teachers come together with myself to discuss the elements of the upcoming units.  Teachers use feedback collected by previous students and teachers and current student input to guide the new unit.  Within these planning retreats teachers use the AERO standards, PYP scope and Sequence to determine the learning outcomes for the unit.  These learning outcomes are also the ones that will be reflected through our reporting.

 

• Data informed instruction: Teachers are continuously collecting formative data that is used to create groups and inform instruction.  Teachers use this to reteach instruction, extend instruction, and work towards meeting all the students' needs.

I hope that this gave you a little insight to all that teachers are doing to prepare for each day.  

This week is Digital Citizenship Week.  Here are some excellent resources for parents to promote Digital Citizenship Week at home and help to engage your children in discussions around digital citizenship.:

1. Common Sense Education: Offers a wealth of materials, including lesson plans, videos, and articles focused on digital citizenship topics, such as online safety and responsible tech use.
2. Digital Citizenship Curriculum from ISTE: Provides resources and guidelines to help parents understand how to support their children in developing digital citizenship skills.
3. Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI): Offers tips, tools, and resources for parents to help guide their children in safe online practices.
4. CyberWise: Provides resources aimed at empowering parents to teach their children about safe and responsible internet use.

These resources can help you engage in meaningful conversations with your children about responsible technology use and online behavior.  Today during advisory, students filled out a survey on our cell phone policy implemented at the beginning of this year.  While we still periodically have issues on campus with cell phone use,  generally, students have been compliant with the policy and many have commented on how ‘freeing’ it has been not having to deal with anxiety of their mobile device at school.  Teachers and parents visiting campus have commented recently on how nice it has been seeing kids interacting with each other throughout the day rather than their device.  Thank you for your ongoing support in implementing this important policy in our school.

​One of our big goals for this school year will be to develop a Culture of Kindness in Primary School, one that is built around our School Charter, which focuses on three words: Happy, Respected, Safe.

One of the first steps in creating this culture  is to understand that in order to be kind to others, one has to be kind to oneself first. In order for students to deepen their understanding of how to foster our own wellbeing, Ms Heather, our Primary School Counselor, and I have planned to lead wellbeing assemblies for our students throughout the school year.

We started these assemblies this week with our Grade 4 and 5 students, focusing on personal wellbeing strategies to look after ourselves in order to be able to give back to others. After some thoughtful discussions, students engaged in different mindfulness activities to practice some of the strategies they discussed. Mindful Body Scanning, Yoga, Mindful Reading and Mindful Drawing were stations that kept our students engaged.

​And look at what I stepped on when walking through campus today: What a beautiful surprise to see this on one of our walkways.

The focus of AISM is always focused on achieving our mission to pursue excellence by empowering learners to achieve mastery of self, advance their communities, and flourish in an ever-changing world while living out our core values to: Celebrate Humanity, Cultivate Grit, Inspire Curiosity, and Embody Integrity. The spirit of our mission and core values are intertwined with our new strategic priorities:

• AISM will implement educational practices and technologies that challenge and enable all students to fulfill their academic potential.
• AISM will integrate effective social-emotional learning and support to enhance student and staff well-being.
• AISM will cultivate opportunities for students to collaborate with diverse communities in Mozambique to create positive outcomes.

In short, our priorities are to ensure that we have school programs that are CHALLENGING, CARING, and CONNECTED! I look forward to using this space to share details about the steps we are taking to support our strategic priorities.