Hello Ireland-are you there?

Technology is amazing!  We have several teachers who have really begun to embrace skyping as a way to communicate on a global scale.  Our second graders visited with Ireland, Columbia, Canada, and Georgia all in one week!

Resources...

One of the most challenging aspects of implementing the PYP is finding resources that support our units of inquiry.  Our librarian, Ms. Angel has developed a site to provide video resources for our units links for specific grade levels are listed below.  Thanks, Ms. Angel!

5^th grade-   http://blnds.co/1jpGfJ9

4^th grade-   http://blnds.co/1jpWki0

3^rd grade-  http://blnds.co/1jpWki0

2^nd grade-  http://blnds.co/1c7maVw

1^st grade-   http://blnds.co/1h52h7h

Kinder-      http://blnds.co/18VUGQ5

Pre-K-        http://blnds.co/17U7OVP

IB/Literacy Night at S@SGP!

We had a wonderful turnout at IB/Literacy Night!  Thank you to all the students and parents that attended.  We debuted the the S@SGP production-"What is IB all about?" (see video below) .We had our dedicated and knowledgable teachers explain the IB basics.  We also had a wonderful literacy presentation and free books!  We gave out 240 free books-that is more than last year! What can be better than that?

Also-we want to give a special thank you to our wonderful teacher volunteers!

Did someone say mother tongue?-The "Kindle Project"

One of the greatest things about S@SGP is the diversity of our student population.  We have over 30 mother tongues represented.  So, we began to wonder...how can we get books in mother tongues into our classrooms in a way that is quick, accessible, and cost effective?  The result of this question is the "Kindle Project".  We decided to purchase classroom Kindles and load them with as many mother tongue e-books as we could find.  Mr. Stephens, our principal, thought of this innovative solution and quickly started talking to our PTO about financing the project.  Thanks to the generous donation of a PTO sponsored Amazon gift card, we were able to purchase a Kindle for each classroom and load them with tons of mother tongue books.  What a great addition to any classroom library!  Does anyone want to curl up and read an e-book in Arabic?

Student Led Conferences!

We have successfully completed our first round of Student Led Conferences!  Teachers and students have been diligently working on reflecting upon their work and setting academic goals!  All of the work was compiled in our IB Portfolios and we were ready to go!  We had so many parents attend the conferences and give positive feedback.  Parents overwhelmingly enjoyed the experience, and so did teachers.  Student led conferences are definitely here to stay at St. George.  If by chance, you did not get to attend a student led conference, there will be another opportunity in the spring!

Application for Authorization-ACCEPTED

Great news!  Our application for authorization has been accepted and approved.  We met all standards being considered in this phase of the process, with no matters to be addressed-whew!  This is great, because it means we can move forward with our verification visit in the spring!  As many of you probably already know, the road to becoming an authorized IB World School is long and sometimes bumpy, but definitely worth the journey.  The S@SGP submitted its application for candidacy in the 2011-2012 school year and we officially became a candidate school in April 2012.  Since then it has been a whirl wind of professional development and unit development.  Our teachers have worked tirelessly to develop and negotiate our Program of Inquiry and 6 units of inquiry per grade level.  Our IB Steering Committee has lead us through the development of our Action Plan, Language Policy, Assessment Policy, and has helped to roll out the use of IB Portfolios and Student Led Conferences.  On top of developing curriculum documents, teachers have taught the units of inquiry and have refined their teaching craft to further develop student understanding.  Like I said, it is quite a bit of work and I am so proud of all that they have accomplished!  Their hard work will pay off in a better education for all of the students at S@SGP. Way to go Dragons!

Who We Are

During the 1st grade unit of inquiry into the transdisciplinary theme-"Who We Are", our 6 year olds become increasingly curious about individuals who help their community.  This was a result of reading about the work of Mother Teresa.  And wouldn't you know it....they found out that one of our very own teachers, Ms. Haley Boone actually went to India to work with Mother Teresa's organization!  So of course she came to talk to the 1st grade and share her photo journal of her work!

WELCOME!

Welcome to the PYP at the School at St. George Place!  If you don't know by now, we are a candidate school and are working our way towards authorization.  In fact, we just submitted our application for authorization on Friday!  We are so excited and are enthusiastically waiting for the verification visit in the spring.  Hopefully, teachers and parents will find this blog full of useful information regarding the implementation of the programme at S@SGP.  As part of the programme, we will focus each month on a specific attribute of the LEARNER PROFILE.  During September, we focused on being INQUIRERS.  Inquirers develop their natural curiosity, are independent learners, acquire skills necessary for inquiry and research, and actively enjoy learning.  During October, we will focus on being THINKERS.  Thinkers exercise initiative in applying thinking skills, approach complex problems critically and with creativity, and make reasoned and ethical decisions.  We are wrapping up our first unit of inquiry this week!  Students will be taking summatives and reflecting on the learner profile and their learning during this unit.  All reflections and summatives will become part of the student's portfolio of work for their time here at S@SGP.  We look forward to sharing all portfolios with parents at student led conferences.  At the start of each unit of inquiry, the IB@Home newsletter is sent home to parents to introduce the upcoming unit. Parents-please take some time to speak with your children regarding the at home questions.  The newsletters for the first unit of inquiry are posted at the links below:

Pre-K
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B93YH1RM5qyDNmNfMHN6bHgxVjg/edit?usp=drive_web

Kindergarten
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B93YH1RM5qyDbTB6V0JCaHFHZ0E/edit?usp=drive_web

1st Grade
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B93YH1RM5qyDdlExS3M3andTUFE/edit?usp=drive_web

2nd Grade
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B93YH1RM5qyDYmJrNER4XzBVUmc/edit?usp=drive_web

3rd Grade
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B93YH1RM5qyDVXpKWnc3ZTc1ZTA/edit?usp=drive_web

4th Grade
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B93YH1RM5qyDZlBZbmM5clpMNzg/edit?usp=drive_web

5th Grade
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B93YH1RM5qyDbDlOZTNHN2phRjg/edit?usp=drive_web