Presenter

Session Title

Stephen Bogli

International School of Prague

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI): What is it and how do we intervene?

Non-Suicidal Self-injury is self-inflicted damage of body tissue (e.g. through cutting or burning...etc) but without wanting to end life. Research suggests that between 12-24% of youth have self-injured at least once. The onset of this behavior often occurs in the middle school years between the ages of 12-15. In this session I will describe self-injury epidemiology (who, what, where, when, and why). We will also learn how to identify the behavior and develop effective detection and intervention techniques. The session is appropriate for counselors or teachers. This session will not explore treatment options.

Deborah McMurtrie and  Bridget Coleman

University of South Carolina Aiken

Active Engagement Through Kinesthetic Learning

Active engagement can promote student collaboration and achievement. The purpose of this session is to engage participants in strategies for actively engaging young adolescents as alternatives to whole-class lecture. We will investigate grouping students by chance, interests, opinions, and preferred learning mode. We will model several kinesthetic instructional strategies to use with small groups.

Dr. Sonja Hollingsworth

Webber Middle School - Fort Collins, CO

From Backpacks to Boarding Passes: Service Learning as a Pathway for Gifted Students

This session provides strategies for engaging gifted and talented middle level learners by crafting service learning opportunities which align with learning standards. Participants will review some of the most recent research on the benefit of service learning and its application in middle level classrooms and explore ways this can be integrated in both Language Arts and Math classes. Examples will be provided illustrating both small scale, local service learning opportunities as well as larger scale international opportunities and the long-term benefit to gifted learners. This session is based on a 5-year longitudinal study which has been funded by grant monies in the highly rated Poudre School District.

Dominic Carrillo

Anglo American School of Sofia

From Average to Awesome:  Publishing Student Writing

Are you a teacher who’s interested in getting your students to be more self-motivated, produce better writing, and take ownership of their work? When student writing is published and directed at a broader audience, the quality of their work and authenticity of their engagement skyrockets. Their writing connects them to the real world-- a wider school community, other students publishing their own work, and an audience of millions online. This presentation/workshop is geared toward explaining, sharing, and discussing how student writing/publishing projects work splendidly for students, parents, and teachers.

Denisse Lie-Nielsen and Vanessa Tarrant

ACS International School

Cobham, UK

Use of Exit Survey Data to Ignite Teaching

Educators and Administrators will be introduced to useful data-gathering tools that can immediately have a positive impact on student learning by receiving  instant  and consistent feedback regarding various learning activities, teachers can use evidence of student engagement and enjoyment to inform lesson planning; thus enabling them to tailor learning to individual student learning profiles and unit objectives. Educators will leave with a toolkit of ideas which they can implement to make changes in their lesson planning, to reflect on differentiation in the classroom, and to target specific learning skills for their students.

Erin Farley

New Albany Middle School, USA

History and Social Studies and Summative Assessments: Getting students beyond just memorizing for the test

With sixteen years in the middle school classroom teaching history, I have constantly tried to figure out the best ways to assess if my students truly know the content. Through formative feedback I am able to check in as we work through the content, but the final summative assessments, usually in the form of a semester or end of course exam, have been an issue. Multiple choice questions, primary document analysis, and written responses have all been part of my tests but I still always felt like students were just remembering information just for the test but not fully understanding or retaining content long term. My solution to combat this issue is concept mapping as a summative assessment-it is my final exam. In this session we will explore the ways student created concept maps can be used as assessments and provide an opportunity for students to truly show what they know. I will share with participants the process I used in my history class to introduce it to students, the rubrics I use, student work, and the ways concept maps can be used in subjects beyond social studies.

Timothy Malan

American School of Barcelona

Incorporating Systems Thinking and System Models into the Classroom

This workshop will introduce teachers to the habits of a systems thinker, as well as several systems thinking tools as developed by the Waters Foundation. Teachers will learn about systems tools, such as causal loops and stock flows, as well as how to integrate them into the classroom to enhance instruction and learning. These habits and tools can be applied in all disciplines at all grade levels. This class is a mixture of direct instruction and small group work.

Alexandra Read

ASC Hillingdon

From STEM to STEAM: Building a culture of integrated teaching and learning and visible thinking in Middle School.

This session will introduce the concepts of visible thinking, STEM and the addition of the arts and design as an integrated solution for meeting standards and strengthening content learning through a curriculum delivery style that cultivates students' thinking dispositions and develops transfer of knowledge across the domains. Attendees will follow the journey of a group of teachers and administrators at ACS Hillingdon International school who have collaborated to pioneer a strategy to bring science, technology, engineering, arts and math together in a single course for students in grades 5-8. A series of short documentary-style interviews with the STEAM team outlines the purpose and processes involved, and their unique role in developing this innovative approach to teaching and learning. A student perspective is also provided with feedback about their experience in STEAM classes, their successes and challenges and how it has contributed to their understanding of key concepts in their core subjects and how it has changed the way they think about themselves as a learner. STEAM projects and practical examples of how students and teachers can demonstrate their thinking in tangible and concrete ways are provided. A step-by-step ‘how to’ will guide attendees through the process of creating a STEAM scope and sequence aligned with common core standards at each grade level, coupled with examples of how this looks in a classroom setting including project ideas and array of resources for teachers to use in their own setting.

Tiffany Hay

American School of Warsaw

Taking the Virtual Reality classroom from ‘Awkward to Awesome’

This session provides the experience of using VR goggles in the classroom as an authentic learning tool. Participants will be led through the steps in preparing students to use the goggles and how to avoid the dropping of phones and delicate equipment. Participants will also look at different  Visible Thinking Routines that will enhance the VR experience to ‘awesome’. It will be a hands-on experience and those who attend will need a smartphone & earbuds/headphones.

Chiara Concas

American Overseas School Rome

IEP's accommodations in class. A lighthouse in a stormy ocean

The purpose of this presentation is to share effective and time proven strategies on how to incorporate IEP’s accommodations in class and at home. The development and use of a “Teacher/Student/Parents Contract” help students to become protagonists in their learning and develop students’ self-advocating skills. It will be shared how the “Contract” has been a useful tool in host country language classes for History, Geography and Literature to improve students’ academic performance and also their general behavior and attitude, and their relationship with adults and peers. The “Contract” also benefits the collaboration amongst parents, general ed. teachers and resource/special ed. teachers. Participants will be provided with a copy of the “Contract”, examples of modified exercises, tests and assignments, and also strategies on how to implement the “Contract” in their subject area.

Joy Watson

Black Forest Academy

Learning Strategies for the Multicultural Classroom

This workshop will help you use the funds of knowledge and literacy strengths of multilingual and multicultural students to empower their learning. You will be introduced to a variety of strategies to help you scaffold the reading and writing objectives in your classroom.

Brianna Caldwell and Jessica Boerema

International School of Düsseldorf

Confessions of a Co-Teacher: Thriving in a Shared Learning Environment

Seventy-two kids. Five teachers. One learning space. No survivors- only thrivers! We said goodbye to single-cell classrooms, and hello to co-teaching. We are five classroom teachers now working together in one flexible space, sharing responsibility for all students in the grade level. Curriculum planning, teaching, and student assessment are all done collaboratively. Come hear about our second year in an innovative, flexible, 21st century learning environment. We’ll share our learning philosophy, learning model, and how our newly redesigned space supports this.

Anne Edwards and

Bambi Thompson

The American School of London

Yoga in the Classroom: Simple Tips

Yoga in the Classroom: Simple Tips During this workshop, Anne and Bambi will share a series of short yoga breaks. These simple breathing, visualization and movement exercises may be easily integrated into your classroom. They only take minutes, and are particularly effective when energy begins to wane. You will leave with powerful yoga breaks ready to use in your next class. Being successful teachers requires great energy, inner strength, resourcefulness and creativity. If we have strength and harmony, our students will feel it. Using simple techniques presented in this workshop, teachers will be relaxed and healthier and that will inspire students. By adding yoga to your teaching, you will enable students to take responsibility for their own well being for the rest of their lives. This workshop offers insight on how to fit the power of yoga and breathing into our lessons. We will finish with a deep relaxation.

Simon Waterworth

International School of Düsseldorf

Get Out! The Power of Learning Outdoors

Outdoor learning, outdoor education, wild time or outdoor play; under whichever name, people are talking about it: outdoor learning offers a plethora of opportunities that allow children to experience authentic inquiry whilst developing confidence, resilience, grit and autonomy. At ISD, the outdoor learning program has been developing over the last ten years and the school now has outdoor provision from reception to grade 5. Most recently, the program is being developed with our grade 6 children. The program consists of units of inquiry which complement core classrooms, as well as stand alone units which spiral through the school. ISD is the only international school in Europe to have outdoor learning developed to such an extent. This session will explore units of inquiry, learning spaces, scheduling and staffing, providing both the inspiration and the practical ideas for participants to take back to their own communities.

Katherine Frey

American School of Barcelona

BREAKOUT EDU - It’s Time for Something Different

Cultivating Active Learning and Resilience

Would you like to bring the fun and excitement of an escape room into your classroom? Have your students use critical thinking skills, collaboration, creativity and communication while also accessing content knowledge!  

In this hands on workshop, teachers will be introduced to Breakout EDU and will learn about both digital and physical breakout games. With Breakout EDU games platform, players (students or adults) work collaboratively to solve a series of critical thinking puzzles in order to open a locked box or find the codes to digital locks. There is a breakout for almost every content area, as well as ones just for fun! Not only will teachers get to learn more about this platform, but there will be a chance for the group to try a breakout of their own!

Jenny Killion

American School of Barcelona

Using Toolkits to Scaffold Student Learning

Many of us have had the experience of teaching something and finding that our students just didn’t “get it.” Oftentimes this is because we tried to move students to independence too quickly. In this session, we’ll explore how to use tools as a way to scaffold student learning. Participants will learn why scaffolds are important, how to create them, and how to teach students to use them. We will explore examples used in Humanities classrooms at the American School of Barcelona. Participants will also have time to start building their own toolkits for an upcoming unit of study.

Matthew Armstrong

International School of Stavanger

The Importance of Kindness

Mark twain once said, "Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." Kindness has a very powerful impact on both individuals and groups. Too often in schools we tend to focus on disruptive behaviors and forget or have little time to celebrate kind actions. Encouraging and recognizing kindness is a powerful tool in combating unwanted behaviors. By celebrating positive actions, we can spread the spirit of kindness from student to student body to community. A discussion on research will provide insight into the significance of Kindness and provide a foundation to discuss how to foster positive behaviors.

Lauren Freer

American School of Barcelona

Let's Debate!

The death penalty should be abolished! Genetically modified food should be banned! The British were never going to win the Revolutionary War! When issues are presented as topics of debate, students become more engaged and the level of discourse increases. Through debate, students develop analytical skills, research skills, public speaking skills and listening skills. In this workshop, teachers will be exposed to a variety of debate tools and techniques, from 30 minute activities to formal debates. Debates can enliven any classroom!

Kelley Reid

The American School in London

Creating Solution Focused Middle Schools

We will explore solution focused approaches to counselling, teaching and meeting facilitation; starting with our efforts in the Middle School at the American School in London. Discussion will include theoretical underpinnings, participants' experience and a focus on relevant and useful shared narratives.

Alyssa Kolowrat and Colleen Knutson

International School of Prague

What I Wish My Teacher Knew

This workshop is for everyone. All students have a right to social, emotional and educational support and success. Therefore, we need to recognize and respect each student’s individuality. Critical to this recognition and respect, is considering what students wish their teachers knew about their daily lives and its impact on their well-being. Our goal is to talk about some of the recent challenges faced by students who want to educate the greater community with regard to gender spectrum. There are also many additional factors that affect an international student’s identity and sense of well-being: TCK, EAL, Learning Differences, and social-emotional health. We will discuss the complexity of identifying issues of identity which students struggle with in order to give the audience tips for improving the learning environment. As educators it is vital that we do our best to listen, respect and try to understand our students. This will then improve our communication in our school community and give learners the feeling of a stronger voice and support system.

Michael McGlade and Shannon Hancock

International School of Amsterdam

Teacher Toolbox Against Discrimination

Introducing Stories That Move, a Toolbox Against Discrimination. This new, free resource for middle and high school teachers and students helps learners deal with difficult topics like discrimination and anti-semitism through an innovative online tool. Students can work both on and offline, individually and in small groups, learning about these difficult topics through videos and interactive online materials. www.storiesthatmove.org is a project of the Anne Frank House, working in partnership with schools across Europe to help give teachers a toolbox of lessons and materials to address controversial topics in an enjoyable and engaging way with teens and young adults based on honest youth voices from seven European countries.  The tool aims to facilitate open dialogue within the classroom.  In this workshop we will introduce the online tool and give attendees a hands-on experience working through the materials. We plan to have four students who have used the tool present alongside us.

Victoria Luthringer and Callie Dutton

American School of Barcelona

Integration and Innovation: The Value of Designing a Cross-Curricular Unit Plan

In this session, participants will hear how a science and humanities teacher have collaborated to create a cross-curricular unit across both subjects. In this presentation, participants will hear several examples of unit ideas incorporating more than one subject that they may easily try out at their own schools. This session is meant to detail the benefits of cross-curricular lessons, and how they encourage student learning and achievement across multiple subjects.

Michelle Mugatha

American International  School of Vienna

Thoughtful Technology Sharing Session

After transitioning my classroom to a blended learning environment seven years ago, I know that it's tempting to grab onto that cool new app or program you've heard about and spend a class period (or a few) having your students play around with it. Sometimes you end up with a tool to use for the long-term, but sometimes, those are just class periods that you'll never get back. This session aims to share field-tested technology tools for a variety of subject areas, while focusing on the notion of avoiding technology for technology's sake. Participants are also asked to come prepared to share some tech tools they have found to be valuable. Time and space during the presentation will be devoted to sharing the tools and trying some out, in the hopes that everyone walks away with some new ideas and resources that, in addition to being fun, can actually optimize learning.

Maida Shivik and Laura Brown

American School in London

Incorporating Standards Based Feedback at Grade Based School

The traditional A-F grading system in mathematics is not well designed to give students specific feedback on detailed standards and benchmarks. Over the past 5 years, after making the transition to the Common Core State Standards in mathematics, we developed a system which fused these two methods of reporting. You will learn about how we merged these two systems, the changes it brought about in our classrooms, the effect it had on parent understanding of student achievement and how it drove institutional change. In addition, we will provide practical suggestions to create your own resources to make little changes in your current practice.

Christian Streit and Julie Spurr

American School in London

Incorporating Reflection Writing in Middle School Mathematics

This session aims to encourage middle school teachers to use writing in their classrooms more extensively. Writing in math is a way to deepen student learning and a tool for helping students gain new perspectives. After sharing the many benefits, we will present the components of an end-of-unit writing summative assessment/reflection across the middle grades. These will include guidelines, prompts, and assessment rubrics. Hands-on examples and student samples will be provided for analysis, practice, and discussion.

Beth Coyle and Colleen Coady

American Embassy School - New Delhi and the International School Bangkok

Moving from Exclusive Student Council to Inclusive Student Leadership

Do you want more of your students to see themselves as leaders? This student-centered discussion-based and interactive session will leave participants with new insights and ideas to expand opportunities for student leadership. In this session, participants will: Brainstorm the attributes and essential skills young leaders need; Share models of student leadership and learn what other schools are doing; Consider how stereotypes and popularity in traditional student leadership structures impact student opportunity; Consider their greatest hopes for a leadership program at their own school; Examine our inclusive student leadership model, which incorporates student leadership seminars, leadership roundtable meetings and student steering committees, providing leadership training and opportunities for all interested students.

Eowyn Crisfield

Director, Crisfield Educational Consulting

Translanguaging for Learning in the Middle Years

The middle school years are critical years for language development, especially for bilingual students. The beginning of middle school also marks a shift in curriculum and pedagogy that can create additional learning challenges for students learning through a second language (EAL/ELL). In this session we will explore about pedagogical translanguaging, which is a framework for integrating students’ home languages into classroom learning. Structured use of pedagogical translanguaging benefits learning in all subjects, develops language skills in both languages, and offers unique opportunities to teach skills such as critical thinking, research and translation. The session will finish with a hand-on activity that will help participants visualise translanguaging in their classroom, and consider the impact of a variety of strategies on their students’ learning and classroom experience.

Tami Canale and Eric Nelson

American International School of Budapest; NWEA

Using Data is Awesome. Stop feeling Awkward!

We know that data-driven instruction is key to helping our students succeed and for continuous improvement. We also know that getting teachers to review and use data can be a daunting task. Take a journey with us as we explore palatable ways to turn data into action. We will share some practical strategies to look at triangulated data for different levels and purposes: individual students, grade levels or subject areas, and wider curriculum decisions. Specific examples will be shared of school-made reports and NWEA’s MAP Growth reports.

Mary Kelly

International School of Amsterdam

The Art of Science

Following their experience of a Big History approach to the learning of science, and participation in an extended investigation of the school pond, students at the International School of Amsterdam explored their conceptual understanding of the related big ideas by means of differentiated activities. A number of students chose to demonstrate their final insights, including an understanding of the underlying concepts of complexity, interconnectedness, interdependence, through abstract Art. The artistic pieces that the students created served to demonstrate a depth of feeling and understanding that had not been evident through their written or spoken reflections. This session offers you an opportunity to understand the approach that underpinned their abstract pieces, and to appreciate the levels of creativity that can emerge when students have deep, meaningful and integrated scientific concepts to work with, and when the performances of understanding are differentiated and open-ended. You will have an opportunity to engage thoughtfully with their pieces and to contemplate how one might integrate this form of artful thinking into other contexts.

Mary Kelly

International School of Amsterdam

The Emergence of Collaborative Peer Development at ISA

Thoughtful Schools is a collaborative in-house peer development program designed to support the continued personal and professional development of experienced teachers at the International School of Amsterdam. Involvement in the program enables teachers to work together, across the school, in small cohorts in either a structured, semi-structured or emergent way, using the inquiry process, to explore their professional and personal development. Participation in the program constitutes a viable alternative to formal appraisal for experienced teachers and it has been growing in popularity in recent years. This session provides you with an opportunity to learn more about the program, to consider how it relates to other collaborative peer development approaches, and to reflect on and discuss how this approach compares with peer development or formal appraisal in your own context.

Valerie Navarro

American School of Warsaw

From Tongue-tied to Inspired: language learners, the brain and YouTube clips

Participants will discover how to imprint learning in the World Language classroom through the intentional use of four categories of YouTube clips. By designing units which include specific strands of emotion-provoking clips, teachers have the means to strengthen recall and deepen the understanding of unique structures in the Target Language. After a brief discussion of brain chemistry and its impact on memory, participants will work with a set of clips that evoke universal emotions. We will then explore how the different clips might elicit specific structures in the languages taught by the teachers present. The session today will also show how single clips can be used to meet the needs of students from A1 - C2 (on the CEFR scale) and from Novice to Superior (on the ACTFL scale). Participants will receive access to a library of thematic YouTube clips for possible consideration for use in class along with general guidelines for their use for students from beginner to advanced levels.

Julia Watson

International School of Amsterdam

Dramatise Your Lessons

An interactive session where we will focus on how to utilise Drama techniques in various subject disciplines to enhance learning. The use of Drama as an instructional strategy can help increase concentration and comprehension through active and creative engagement with a topic. Drama strategies can be effective in engaging students emotionally with subject content, exposing students to different perspectives and opportunities to experience empathy. Students’ verbal and nonverbal communication skills are also developed. This will be a practical, collaborative workshop providing hand-on experience in utilising drama techniques, such as role-play, hot-seating, teacher in role, and we will also use some of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of The Oppressed Drama techniques as well.

Mallory Goetz

American School of Barcelona

“I asked Google”: Awkward Research in the Middle School Classroom and How to Fix It

Research can be awkward. How do we ensure our students are learning 21st century research skills? How do we make the research process better for students to engage in? Whether you are a teacher-librarian or a classroom teacher -- providing consistency in research instruction is especially important in middle school in order to create good research habits, a solid foundation for future research tasks, and as daily consumers of information. In this session, teachers will learn what 21st century research instruction means for middle schools and be given examples of how to make it a little less awkward in their classrooms. Participants should make sure to bring a computer - we will be working through the research process as “students!"

Andras Valezy

American International School of Budapest

Thinking Creatively for Understanding

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A 2 HOUR SESSION

A common understanding of academic language and higher order thinking skills is essential for student success. This workshop will focus how to teach and make creative connections between academic language and higher order thinking skills. Participants will actively engage in developing their understanding of academic language and thinking skills through art, history and literature based content. The activities demonstrated in the workshop are directly transferable to the classroom. The workshop aims to underscore that a common understanding of academic language and an explicit understanding of thinking skills has a positive effect on student engagement and learning outcomes.

Samantha McGuinness, Ana Martinez and Lauren Gould

American School of Barcelona

Collaboration for Cross-Curricular Projects: Exploring Identity and Immigration through Humanities and the Visual Arts

Through this hands on workshop, we will share our experiences collaborating to design and implement an integrated eighth-grade humanities and visual arts project. We will share the specific reading, writing, and visual arts skills and strategies we taught students by exploring the immigrant experience, both today and throughout history. You will have the opportunity to see our student pieces and explore our cross-curricular learning objectives yourself! We will provide materials and time for you to create a tri-dimensional object that represents your personal story, inspired by Joseph Cornell’s assemblages. Come to create your own project and get ideas for cross-curricular collaboration that leads to building engaging units that deeply connect with kids.

Jennifer Wood

Independent Consultant

Self-care + Mindfulness for Teachers

Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) is a unique program developed by the Garrison Institute to help teachers reduce stress and enliven their teaching by promoting awareness, presence, compassion, reflection and inspiration – the inner resources they need to help students flourish, socially, emotionally and academically. Educators and administrators benefit from the thoree pillars of CARE: • Emotion skills instruction • Mindfulness and stress reduction practices • Listening and compassion exercises We will explore teacher self-care, learn three mindfulness practices, relax and enjoy!

Cory Anderson

International School of Amsterdam

Implementing Comprehensive Health Education in International Schools

Implementing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education can be a challenging task for diverse international school communities. When lacking the legal requirement to explicitly teach this, the temptation exists to provide a basic program that minimizes possible confrontations. This is juxtaposed to the progressive curricula taught in local schools of the Netherlands. Discover how one international school learned from the Dutch approach to sexual and reproductive health education to create a program that is both comprehensive and fitting for the diversity of international schools. The presenter will specifically show how this curriculum was integrated into his MYP science classroom to complement existing units. He will show how the science classroom can be a medium to inform and empower middle school students, demystify concepts, and create an environment that is open, accepting, and tolerant. Finally, attendees will be invited to share existing challenges and successes in teaching sexual and reproductive health education from their own schools.

Evelyn Marolf and Kelsie Sargent

American School of Bombay

Enhancing the Lives of Our Middle Schoolers

How can you make your school’s mission come to life for your students? Find out how to leverage your time in advisory to allow for meaningful conversations with your students whilst supporting the core values of your school. By the end of this session, participants will leave with resources to: Define their role as an advisor, advocate and mentor for their students. Begin or continue to develop an effective advisory program. Engage students in team-building and other social emotional activities. Facilitate conversations and develop 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Advisory Units on collaboration, communication, transitions, growth mindset, goal setting, relationships, digital citizenship, metacognition. Foster student voice and build strong relationships. This session will begin with a brief overview of the advisory model at the American School of Bombay, followed by the opportunity to engage in some “ready to use” activities that you could implement at any time throughout the year.

Kaitlyn Somers and Catherine Keery

Zurich International School

Redefining how we talk about and with kids: Neurodiversity in International Schools

International schools are incredibly diverse learning environments. In our workshop, we will highlight Neurodiversity, an understanding that neurological differences are to be honored, respected and celebrated. We will focus on the way neurodiversity can change the conversation about students with learning differences. We will look at both the way adults speak about our students and the ways we communicate strategies with students, with a goal of maximizing strengths and minimizing challenges.

Jessie Twiest and Jessica Mazzenga

American School in London

The Power of Reading Partnerships

Looking for an alternative to literature circles or book groups in your classroom? Learn about how Reading Partnerships increase student engagement by providing an opportunity for pairs of students to deeply dig into a shared text of their choice while practicing essential reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. This workshop will introduce the format of Reading Partnerships and explore the ways that this model provides a dynamic and differentiated approach to meeting English Language Arts standards in your curriculum. We will share specific examples of how Reading Partnerships develop close reading skills, such as using specific evidence from the text to support a claim, and help students learn to express their opinions in structured written and verbal conversations. This flexible approach can be used in a variety of classroom settings and grade levels to help students access both fiction and nonfiction material.

Paula Dolan

American School of Doha

Socratic Seminar - Cutting Through Media Overload

This is a confusing time to be a teenager. It's difficult enough to know who you are when you're only 14, but media bombardment makes it impossible. Who are you supposed to be? Is it possible to break through the constant stream of images, language, advertising, and peer pressure? Can a kid be free from "like"? Socratic Seminar is an effective way to get teens to talk face to face. To talk about an issue they've learned something about, they've thought about, and are ready to bring to the table, and to talk it through. Socratic Seminar is a structured activity that teaches kids how to learn, think, listen to others and develop their own identity. It's great for any subject - exploring controversial topics in science, arguing cause and effect in social studies, connecting literature to their lives, or debating gender issues in physical education. This session discusses the effects of media and shows participants how to use Socratic Seminar in their classes. Let's teach kids that face to face may teach them more about themselves than Facebook.

Gary Coyle and Beth Coyle

American Embassy School - New Delhi

Cultivating a Maker Mindset in Your Middle School

A Maker Mindset embodies many things we value in a middle school: curiosity, reflection, empathy, empowerment and a growth mindset. Learn how one middle school (the American Embassy School - New Delhi) embraced the maker movement and follow their journey developing a maker mindset as another part of their middle school’s culture of thinking. This session will be a mix of reflection, visioning, sharing of resources and Q&A.

Gary Coyle

American Embassy School - New Delhi

Deepening Thinking in a Maker Centered Classroom

Making is becoming an important part of many schools and classrooms. Learn how two powerful protocols can be used to solve problems, uncover complexity and deepen student learning in the maker centered classroom. In this session participants will experience how the parts, purposes and complexities, and GROW protocols can be applied to a variety of situations to help promote deeper student thinking.

Kaitlyn Pettinga

American International School of Vienna

Developing Systems That Support All Students: Navigating Learning Support in International Education

In this session you will learn about some of the systems and processes needed to run an effective learning support program. Structures discussed will include, creating child study and student support teams, scheduling and running effective team meetings, creating and utilizing effective referral, action planning, and goal tracking documentation, identifying high leverage interventions using student data, providing accommodations and modifications, transition planning, and program articulation.

Lindsay Schonbrun, Geoff Richman, Clair Purtell and Lindsey Long

International School of Amsterdam

From Askew to Astute : Strategies to Make Learning Stick

We know our students walk into our classrooms with a wide variety of abilities, including both the ability to retain what is being learned and to show their understanding on assessments or other summative activities. For those boys and girls who do not naturally know how to best ‘show what they know,’ they can benefit from putting more ‘tools in their toolbox.’ So let’s give them the tools! During our hour together we will share four practices—interleaving, practice testing, elaborative interrogation and distributed practice—that we can introduce to and model for our students in order that they be more efficient and effective with skills such as exam preparation and literature discussion.

Amy Lu and Aimée Skidmore

Collège du Léman, Switzerland

EdTech Solutions for the Blended Classroom

We all know students come to international schools with many different levels of proficiency. However, personalizing instruction for students is often easier said than done. Amy and Aimée will share what they do to provide differentiated tasks through utilizing technology tools in their respective subjects of Maths and English. Teachers will leave with new ideas and a toolbox of technology resources geared towards designing their first blended classroom experience. Attendees must bring a laptop or iPad/tablet with Wi-Fi capability and have some experience with using technology in the classroom. Possible Apps Presented: Showbie, Showme, EdPuzzle, GoFormative, Kahoot, Nearpod

Daniele Dattilo

American Overseas School of Rome

Teaching World Language Through Movement

In this session I will demonstrate and show activities that I use in my French and Italian language classes that get students to learn through movement such as drama and role-play, vocabulary and grammar games. These activities involve all students to participate fully, collaborate with each other and deepen their learning of a language as well as enhance their enjoyment.

Nancy Ruppert

AMLE President

University of North Carolina Asheville

Mindfulness and Mathematics in Middle Schools

This We Believe calls for middle schools that are "developmentally appropriate, challenging, empowering, and equitable" (AMLE) . Standards of mathematical practice call for our students to "make sense of problems, construct viable arguments, model, attend to precision, and reason abstractly" (NCTM). It is possible to use mindfulness to enhance students’ abilities to address the standards of mathematical practice? By focusing on the needs of our children and giving them tools and time to increase their awareness and self-regulation as well as reduce their stress and anxiety, the culture within a mathematics classroom can become peaceful and productive. Ten examples will be shared that will address the needs of students.