middle school news
International School of Panama’s Dolphins are always up to something good, and we want to share it with you. Catch all the good news and important announcements for our middle school right here.
In 7th grade, advisory classes are focused in three different areas. We have To-Do Tuesdays, Thoughtful Thursdays, and Fun Fridays.
On To-Do Tuesdays, students work on improving their organizational skills. They do this through goal-setting, reviewing upcoming assignments, making a homework plan for the week, and contacting teachers if there are any doubts about what is happening in class.
On Thoughtful Thursdays, advisory classes are reading excerpts of The Survival Guide to Bullying by Aija Mayrock, a high school student who herself experienced bullying and offers advice to younger students about dealing positively with this issue. As they read, 7th graders examine their own experiences and share ways to make ISP an even more positive place.
Fun Fridays are all about community building. Classes might work to build empathy, encourage gratitude, reinforce each other's positive characteristics, or simply be silly. One recent Fun Friday activity involved students and teachers writing compliments and words of encouragement to each other on pieces of paper taped to each student's back. The goal of Fun Fridays is for each student to feel connected to the group, happy, and excited to be a part of ISP.
The eighth grade has been steadily working their way through the book The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey. We spent the first semester largely completing the introductory work, including such things as getting in the habit, paradigms and principles, and the personal bank account. Now we are working on the actual habits. The kids have completed Habit 1: Be Proactive, and they are currently finishing up Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind. The five other habits include: Put First Things First; Think Win-Win; Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood; Synergize; and Sharpen The Saw. For each habit our kids are learning what the habit is and what it means, how to apply it to themselves, and ways they can change their mindsets according to these positive habits. So far, it's been a very successful advisory topic.
Parents, please take a look at this important information on social media from Jennifer Restrepo, our middle school counselor.
Regardless of what our social world was like when we were growing up, technology now takes a big part of our children’s lives. WhatsApp groups and social media use among children starts as early as 3rd grade. Some popular social applications are Musically, Instagram, and Snapchat. New applications come out so fast that it is hard for adults to keep up with what’s in and out.
Although keeping up may be a challenge, there are many risks associated with the use of technology and social media for our children. For example, use of inappropriate language, mean interactions, and cyber bullying are just some of the situations occurring over these platforms.
We have conversations in school, dedicate advisory lessons, and promote digital citizenship, but even with these steps we still face challenges that are best tackled together with parents.
It is important as parents and as educators that we are aware of and up to date on social media apps that our children are using. Ask your child to show you their accounts, and talk to your child about online behavior, digital citizenship, and their digital footprint. Be aware of sites and accounts that they follow, have conversations about online risky behaviors, and discuss appropriate online behaviors.
Please take a look at the articles below from Common Sense Media. Please feel free to contact me if you have any concerns or questions about your child's digital behavior or interactions.
Cyberbullying, Haters, and Trolls
Learn about cyberbullying and online abuse. We answer all your tough cyberbullying questions and offer advice and resources for navigating online harassment.
Facebook, Instagram, and Social
Use our social media guide for parents: tips, advice, and the latest research to navigate the social media landscape and help keep your kids' online interactions safe.
This year, the MS Spanish teachers implemented an activity for our SAL students called SALSA Lunch to benefit the SAL students. SALSA stands for Spanish as an Additional Language Student Association. Its purpose is to integrate and give the students the opportunity to practice the language in a fun environment and allow them to enhance their ability in speaking.
Every month, we have a lunch in which mentors and learners engage in activities to increase their speaking and listening skills. These students are in different classes. They eat together and then participate in communication games using visuals, competitions, karaoke, and a little dancing. It is a voluntary activity, but we encourage students to participate. This month we complemented our strategies with a movie in Spanish. In a later date, students will have various activities in the classroom depending on their level.
Last week, students from middle and high school took on the challenge of creating and sharing short stories in French. Students took on project based learning challenges in French class as part of their Tiptoeing Into Creative Writing project that aims to make learners aware of the importance of adjectives in descriptive and narrative writing. Students used adjectives to describe the characters’ personality, physical traits, and the environment. In addition, students were able to identify key components of a story. For example, they realized that a good story is well-sequenced, has a beginning, a middle, and an end, conflict, and a central idea. This project based learning approach helps students go beyond formal knowledge or content in order to establish connections with important issues like global warming, values, protection of our oceans, and having principles.