2020 End of Year Assembly

The End of the Year Assembly will be held on Wednesday, June 3rd.  It will include student performances, acknowledge departing students and offer farewells to departing teachers.  To accommodate multiple time zones, we have decided to offer two opportunities to join the festivities, one at 9:00 AM and a second at 7:00 PM Yangon time.  Further, we will record and make available the assembly.  We ask that students choose only one to attend, as the content will be the same and we’d like to keep the group size as manageable as possible.  Parents are welcome to attend with their child, if they wish.

As this is our first virtual assembly, we hope the audience will have patience and understanding should errors or connectivity be an issue.  We are working very hard to have the content be entertaining and community building.  In order to have a successful assembly, we ask that you review a few guidelines with your children before joining. 

The students have developed many strong online skills in the last few months and these are just quick reminders of assembly behavior and protocol.

1. Review the Acceptable Use Policy Page 4-5 for KG-2 and Page 6-7 for Grade 3-5.
2. To minimize background noise and ensure that the presenters can be heard, please keep your microphones muted.
3. The Chat (sometimes called the Backchannel) will be open for technical problems or essential communication but is not meant to be a social discord.
4. We hope to have some interactive aspects which will ask audience members to add or take away video. Please know how to do this prior to entering the assembly.
5. We encourage appropriate nonverbal participation, such as hand waving, thumbs-up and silent clapping.

We look forward to continuing this important ISY tradition!  Hope to see you there.

Assessment at ISY in a Virtual Learning Context

All assessment practices at ISY are designed to provide a fair and accurate picture of a student’s achievement and progress in relation to the ISY curriculum standards. 

In a virtual learning context, insofar as it is practical, teaching and learning will cover the same content and skills as in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting. However, the unique methodology and challenges of online teaching and learning requires a unique approach to assessment. 

Assessment at ISY in a virtual learning context will be: 

• Fair to students, 
• Strive to develop an accurate picture of what a student is capable of in relation to ISY curriculum standards,
• Compassionate to students and acknowledge the unique challenges that each student faces in a virtual learning context.

It is important for teachers to assess student work and to provide feedback to students so they continue to grow academically. However, ISY teachers acknowledge the fact that teaching and learning virtually might not allow for the development of a fair and accurate picture of what a student is really capable of. ISY teachers are also very aware that circumstances beyond the control of the students may mean that students cannot always complete work to the best of their abilities. 

In assigning final grades to students, ISY teachers will show compassion to students. This means that teachers will consider past academic performance to assign grades. This permits grades to better reflect what a student’s current academic performance would be in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting. In assigning final grades, ISY teachers will also take into account any other circumstance beyond the control of the students that will adversely affect academic performance. 

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES

Over the next week the teachers will share information about conferencing. Each grade levels conferences will look different. This is due to planning virtual conferences to match the age of the children. We would like to continue with our tradition of end of year student led conferences. This will look different virtually. The teachers are working very hard to plan something that will be rewarding for our families and students. If you would like more information, please reach out to your child/ren classroom teacher.

COUNSELOR’S CORNER

Transitions and Saying Goodbye

Looking at the calendar, it’s clear we are close to the end of this wild and unexpected school year.  Who would have guessed in August that our final months together would be virtually through our screens.  For some of us we are wondering what next year will bring for ISY. For others we are saying farewell as life is taking us to a new destination or is preventing us from returning.  Saying good-bye is a process. Unfortunately, for many departing families this process was quickened or put aside due to pressing needs or the immediacy of the situation.  Don’t fret, there is still time.  Below I’ve shared a quick reference to the RAFT and RAKE model.  These models support the leaving process and provide suggestions of things to reflect on as we say goodbye.  Please keep in mind that this model, although important and encourages smoother transitions can be arranged in ways that best suit your family.

If your family would like more information about these models or are in need of other support, please feel free to contact me at escounselor@isyedu.org.

Sincerely, Ms. Patty

Elementary Counselor

Wednesday Fun

This week Grades 4 & 5 explored miscommunication and the filters people use to communicate.  The students were asked to listen to a set of directions in an attempt to recreate a drawing.  The results show ISY students are effective communicators! 

and

This week Grades 2 & 3 explored nonverbal communication.  Can you guess what messages they are saying with their nonverbal cues?

See above for drawings and the pictures they were trying to create and the nonverbal cues photos.

Reflective Chinthe

Hi everyone,

This week, we asked the students to reflect on the ISY Learner Attributes and how they use them.

See below a screenshot of the Reflective Chinthes Padlet that the students used to share their reflections:

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