ISY Elementary Blog

Elementary Update – May 29th 2020

Sandy Sheppard, Elementary School Principal

Dear all,

Next week will be our last full week of school. There will be slides on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday the 3rd there will be no slides due to the end of year assembly and on Friday the 5th of June there will be no slides as the teams will have conferencing type activites planned, they will communicate these to you. Report cards will go home on Thursday the 4th of June. In the final week there will be planned activities around the end of the year, each grade level will have their own plan.

Next Wednesday the 3rd of June will be dedicated to our end of year assembly, see below for more details. Links to the assembly will be send out via email.

Have a great weekend.

Ms Sandy Sheppard

Quote to enjoy

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.

Review the Acceptable Use Policy Page 4-5 for KG-2 and Page 6-7 for Grade 3-5.
To minimize background noise and ensure that the presenters can be heard, please keep your microphones muted.
The Chat (sometimes called the Backchannel) will be open for technical problems or essential communication but is not meant to be a social discord.
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.
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.

Library book availability during the summer

To help support members of our community remaining in Yangon, ISY will be allowing limited access to the library. Below is a form which has a video showing you how to access the ISY library database and search for books. You can then choose up to 10 books per family using the form to request those items. The next deadline for requests is next Friday (5th June) at 12:00 noon. The books will then be prepared and will be available to be picked up on Monday the 8th June from 12:00 noon. The same process will continue every two weeks, throughout the summer. The Friday book request deadlines are as follows:

June 19th, July 3rd, July 17th, July 31st

Library books can be returned to the security team at the front steps at any time.

Library Book Request Form

Text Books and Musical Instruments

Below is the schedule for picking up Yearbooks. When you pick up your Yearbook please return any textbooks and musical instruments that you currently have. This is especially important for any student who is not returning. Students that are returning may keep these items over the summer if they wish.

Yearbook pick-up schedule

The Yearbooks will be on the front steps and parents or students will need to come and pick them up from there. Names will be checked off and, if you have children in multiple grades, the books can be picked up together even if it isn’t the day for one of those grades. We ask that students do not stay around school to sign the Yearbooks with their friends. This should be done at a later time when safe to do so.

Tues 2nd June – Grades 6-7
Wed 3rd June – Grades 8-9
Thurs 4th June – Grades 10-12
Fri 5th June – Secondary School catch up day for anyone who missed their day

Mon 8th June – Prek-Grade 2
Tues 9th June – Grades 3-5
Wed 10th June – Whole school catch up

If you have already left Yangon but are returning, you can pick up your Yearbook in August. If you are not returning or would like someone else to pick up your Yearbook for you. Please fill out this form.

IN CASE YOU MISSED THEM:

Elementary School Welcome Back Slides

We wanted to welcome everyone back to school and let you know how much we missed our community and how ready we were to continue with Virtual Learning. See the slides here.

PE Newsletter

Mr Wyatt and Ms Lisa put together their first PE Newsletter, this newsletter has important information about the PE program and can be found here.

A Musical Message

Just in case you missed it here is the video made by the faculty at ISY. Wherever you are in the world, you can count on us! It’s on both the Facebook page and the YouTube Channel. Enjoy.

Message from the Director

Dr. Hedger’s third message for the whole community can be viewed here.

Dr. Hedger talks about reimagining school and our commitment to reopening.

UPCOMING DATES

3rd June – End of year virtual assembly celebration

4th June – Report Cards go home

10th June – Last day of school for the 19-20 school year

EMAIL CONTACTS

Principal – ssheppard@isyedu.org

Counselor – escounselor@isyedu.org

Office – office@isyedu.org

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.

A Year Successfully Served

As the 2019-2020 school year comes to an end, service learning groups are celebrating their achievements from this year and beginning to plan and prepare for the next school year. Global prepared a series of short articles for the next few weeks outlining the visions and future plans that each service learning group has. Perhaps this will inspire you to become interested and involved with one or more of these groups. See here for all the news.

United World Schools Update

For the latest from the UWS project please see the newsletter written by four High School students. It has all the latest news and a round-up of the year.

COUNSELOR’S CORNER

Parent Blog

An Attitude of Gratitude can Improve Your Life
Did you know individuals that live a lifestyle with an attitude of gratitude tend to be happier, healthier people who exercise more, sleep better, have stronger relationships and enhanced empathy. All these benefits have been scientifically proven. So how do we encourage an attitude of gratitude?

Random Acts of Kindness: Think of simple small acts that demonstrate kindness and care for others. These small gestures bring joy and hope to others and acknowledge that you are in a position to help others.

Letters of Appreciation: Sit down and write a letter expressing your thanks and appreciation for someone in your life. Typically, the act of reflecting on how that person has improved or helped your life, brings a joy within, further encouraging gratitude.

Mindfulness: Being aware, within the moment, of how people and things have improved your life. Be mindful of the things you take for granted. Imagine what life might be like without some of the things or people you interact with each day.

Perspective Taking: When things aren’t going your way, think of the big picture. Does this set back really alter your overall level of happiness? Remember mistakes and setbacks are opportunities for learning.

Smile: Feeling blue? Try smiling. Your brain can actually be tricked into thinking it is happy when your facial muscles contract.

Keep a Gratitude Journal: At the end of each day, think of 3 things you are grateful for. Research has proven this daily act can increase your overall happiness.

Implementing any of these into your daily life can help you and your family develop an attitude of gratitude.

Ms. Patty

Elementary Counselor

escounselor@isyedu.org

Wednesday Fun

This week students reflected on gratitude. Grades 2-3 made Gratitude Wind Spinners to brainstorm messages of gratitude. Grades 4-5 reflected and used their STEM critical thinking skills to build Gratitude Towers.

Grateful Chinthe

Hi everyone,

This Wednesday we invited our students to tell us what they were grateful for. Some made Gratitude Towers and Gratitude Spinners. Yet again, they showed us their thoughtful and fun sides!