Paula, Sofía, Alina, Pimpa, Cecilia, Silvia, Nora, Grace, Adela, Carolina, Carlos.
Absent: Janine
Feedback on 2010 FCE and IB exam results.
Twenty six kids passed FCE, and all students passed the IB exams. Cambridge has not sent us the detail of our students' performance by paper. In the IB we have the written tasks and the grades each one got. If you're interested you can stop by the office to have a look at them.
Diagnostic assessment of each level
o 1st Sec: chaotic group, 28 students per group are too many… Teachers are facing great challenge to handle group with no study and classroom habits. They seem to enjoy the material but it’s hard to keep them focused and well-behaved…
o 2nd Sec: the group is good at English. They don’t behave, tend to lose things, are noisy especially boys. They’re great at analyzing texts. The fact that there are 20 students per group makes it possible to work well.
o 3rd Sec: The groups are too big: 27 or 26 each… They’re noisy, talkative. They wrestle! Unfortunately they’re not inclined to academic work at all, tend to be unfocused, and hardly every bring all of the required material to class. The groups have students with a wide variety of English proficiency. Some of them use a lot of Spanish in class.
o 4th Sec: good groups. The fact that each class has 20 or 21 students makes a world of difference. Students tend to be very immature but are nice, tender, seem to have a genuine interest in learning, and are usually responsible.
o 2nd Pol: smaller groups make teachers’ work possible (16 per class). While some of them are really weak, another group can do whatever they’re asked. There’s a third group with great potential but don’t exert themselves.
o 3rd Pol: most of them work hard but don’t seem too motivated to participate much. Unlike groups in previous years, they don’t show much interest. A few students are weak but, worst of all, show no attitude to improve. This is a problem when they are facing A2 course demands.
· It was stressed that it’s likely to become very difficult to respond to the demands of the new exams with so many students per class.
Planificación
Each level’s Annual Planning (planificación) must be submitted (to Carlos, please) by May 6, the latest.
It was decided that each level will have the following configuration:
1st Sec:
Global Studies & Language (EDI), 6 hours per week (hpw).
Literature (INGLES), 8hpw - Comprehensive evaluation at the end of the term.
2nd Sec:
Global Studies - Language (EDI), 8hpw.
Literature (INGLES), 6hpw - Comprehensive evaluation at the end of the term.
3rd Sec:
Language (INGLES),6hpw - Comprehensive evaluation at the end of the term.
Global Studies / Literature (EDI), 8hpw.
4th Sec:
Language (INGLES), 4hpw - Comprehensive evaluation at the end of the term.
Global Studies / Literature (EDI), 5hpw.
2nd & 3rd Pol:
Literature (INGLES), 4hpw - Comprehensive evaluation at the end of the term.
Global Studies (EDI), 5hpw.
Professional development and coming events.
Carlos reminded everyone that the deadline to present a proposal at both the Jornadas de Adquisición and FAAPI’s Annual Congress is April 29.
Assessment of weak and newly admitted students.
Early detection of these kids is important.
o In each case we should determine what course of action should be taken (set clear expectations with each student in a one-to-one conference, call parents, etc);
o Set them on a Contract. Contact Carlos to help you out on this.
o Parent involvement is crucial. Our strategy is to get them involved early on in the academic year so that we can set a joint strategy home-school to get their child to meet proposed objectives.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:55pm.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Minutes Meeting April 19
Announcements:
Xeroxing
The school owners have asked us to check the amount of Xerox copies we order. They say there was an inordinate increase in the photocopying expenses in March. We agreed that we would continue with our policy of asking students to purchase the bound packets of material we ask them to bring to class. However, we also admitted that we generally produce a lot of class material that cannot always be ordered as a full packet for students to buy.
Musical
Unfortunately, Hairspray won’t be on stage this year. 3rd and 2nd polimodal students, especially boys, were not ready to devote the time and effort that a musical requires. Therefore, the project has been put off until we come up with a different approach to recruiting actors. We discussed the possibility of opening up the invitation to the whole school and then work with those students that really want to have the experience.
Tech workshop
Cecilia, Alina, and Silvina will give the tech workshop at some point in mid-May. There is no set date yet, as Charlie continues to discuss with Analía whether it will be during or out of class time. There was a consensus among the Department members of the benefits of having this workshop at school, and strongly support the idea of Thursday afternoons as best time for it.
Invitation to share new material
Charlie mentioned he has seen some excellent new material developed by different teams this year. He invited teams to share this material with the rest of the Department. Seeing what colleagues do is inspiring and contributes to everyone’s professional development. [Whenever you produce something that is worth sharing, please email it to me and it will be published in the Department blog.]
Diagnostic report per level
7th Grade: Great group, enthusiastic… Level of English is very good. Currently working with authentic material. Students filmed home-made episodes after Dog Whisperer… The have worked on unit on pets, and are about to start with another one on Freedom and Slavery…
8th Grade: Good groups even though there are too many per class… They are enthusiastic, enjoy participating and are always willing to work… There’s a self-confidence issue in several students who feel they’re “bad, don’t know any English”…. Teachers are consciously working on building up their self-esteem…
9th grade: Good groups, better than last year’s… There is a remarkable difference between girls and boys both in terms of physical appearance and maturity. Boys tend to be childish, dull, unmotivated, while girls are competitive, and do their best…. In general, teachers were a bit disappointed in their writing skills… Norita has started sending a note to parents of weak students… Every team is encouraged to do the same at this point and throughout the month of May, an appropriate time for parents to act early on to help their kids overcome their difficulties.
1st Polimodal: Weak group… very immature… Several of the girls are good but a few boys constantly disrupt class… In general, students seem less ready…. In one language group, Silvia is doing her best to encourage them, and she sees a positive response from them… It’s not the same with her Global Studies group… These kids find it hard to focus and be productive in class.
2nd Polimodal: Teachers are please with the division into heterogeneous-level groups, all of whom are doing the A2 program. In general, students have a responsible attitude. The mixed groups are working well. Several of them are not used to getting 3s and 4s in their assignments but they work hard to improve and get a better grade on their second draft…
A long discussion ensued about the approach to teaching writing… It was proposed that students get used to putting their ideas on paper freely, to use the language creatively, and understand that by writing they discover what they think and what they want to say, rather than thinking only first and then trying to write the final draft of a paper.
3rd Polimodal: One of the groups of English Language B is more troublesome. Some students have the notion that because they’re in English B, they should not be expected to work and produce much.
The A2 groups are working very well even though there are a couple of students there who will have to work very hard to stand any chances of passing the exam.
Curriculum balance
Carlos reminded everyone of this year’s goal of keeping a balance between Global Studies and Literature contents in the EDI subject.
Also, only the 9th grade team has made arrangements to implement the SSR program. The 7th and 8th grade teams were strongly encouraged to follow suit. They were asked to discuss ways to make it happen soon, and inform Carlos about any help they may need to do so.
Planificaciones
The deadline to submit your Planificaciones is April 26. You should both email it to Carlos and submit a hard copy to him.
FAAPI project proposal
Carlos proposed to present a workshop on creative writing throughout all ages and levels at this year’s FAAPI Congress in Córdoba. The idea would be to share a variety of strategies to promote creativity among students and encourage them to take risks and explore ideas, visit new worlds of their own invention, and delve into the creation of people and places as a way to find personal satisfaction, have fun, and develop their writing skills. He read a few ideas to apply with literary texts as an example of the various ways to tread on the path of creative writing. The proposal is on the floor, and Carlos would like to know who is willing to take part in the project.
According to the number of presenters, we can brainstorm about different perspectives to shape the type of workshop we want to offer. Teachers from the primary school will be invited to join in too.
Note: I’ll be happy to work with everyone in shaping the proposal to submit to FAAPI. However, since this time, most of you have already had experience as presenters at a congress, I hope I won’t be in every group/presentation. I do need to know who would like to join in. Please, email me back to confirm your participation, and/or if you have any comment, doubt, or concern.
On a different token, after our meeting and in conversation with some of you, it was brought to my attention that we should be ready to foot the bill on most of the expenses implied in this venture. We’ll ask for financial support from the school, however, especially this year, we may not get as much as other years.
I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.
Friday, December 11, 2009
End-of-school PARTY!
Please, mark your calendar:
Saturday, December 19th, 10pm
Party, Party, Party!
at Pimpa's
Come with your better half and be ready to have a blast as we treat ourselves to a well-deserved end-of-year celebration.
Between this coming Monday and Tuesday, at school we'll decide on the food and beverages.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Important announcements
Reminder
Please remember that a session of our February Professional Development Workshops will be devoted to your best practices. As you start to wrap up the year, please think of possible material you'd like to share with your colleagues then. If you have any idea you'd like to discuss with me, please go ahead and do so. This session will be shared with the primary school teachers, some of whom will also present.
Evaluation
This last year term, we agreed that the Global Studies final will be comprehensive (integrative) and will cover the contents for the last term only. In the December finals, Language will be comprehensive, and Global will be divided by the terms, i.e. students will take a final on the contents of the term they failed during the year. In February, both subjects will be comprehensive.
Entrance Exam
Please, make sure you select six (6) sample texts from your literary texts and your thematic units. These packets should be submitted to me by Monday November 23.
Let me as well remind you that when you administer the oral exam, you should ask the prospective student to give you their packet of texs. There will be five (5) texts in it. You should choose ONE of them. Along with this one you should give them ANOTHER one that they will not have seen. I'll pass this one to you - the 'unknown' text will one from the packet you submit to me. I'll run the copies and give it to you before the exam. Should you have any doubts about this, please let me know and I'll be happy to explain it further. Anyway, we are likely to have one more meeting for the annual department evaluation, so we can discuss this further then.
Minutes Meeting October 29
Members present: Carolina, Paula, Pimpa, Grace, Elvi, Norita, Adela, Silvia, Sofía
Absent: Alina, Cecilia, Janine
Agenda
Updates: EGB 3, FCE, IB
On-going projects: Hairspray; SSR program
Curriculum: Language, Global Studies, Lit
The meeting started at 12:50.
Updates
7th Grade / 1st Year Secondary School
The group in general seems to have gotten a bit worse than at the beginning. They are not as attentive and responsive as they were when the year started. Paula and Pimpa agreed that the number of students per class -higher than last year- has had an impact on the level of achievement for the whole group. One of the three groups is noticeably weaker than the other two.
8th Grade / 2nd Year Secondary School
In general, all groups are doing well. They have gotten considerably better at reading. They had a good transition into reading unabridged texts. The fact that they are small groups has allowed teachers to help each student better. In general, they seem more organized than at the beginning of the year.
9th Grade
The three groups are quite different: one being really good, the other one average and one of them is pretty weak. Kids in the latter group do not seem capable of abiding by class rules and constantly break them. There are five or six cases of boys showing serious discipline and attitudinal problems.
1st Polimodal
The attitude and all groups in general have a positive attitude. They have been working diligently in preparation for FCE. The main problem seems to be their grammatical skills, esp. reflected in their achievement in the Use of English paper.
2nd Polimodal
Students in the FCE groups are not so good. The students well-prepared to succeed at FCE are vastly outnumbered by the apathetic cases who lack motivation to improve their level.
Students in the A2 group have been doing really well. They are a hard-working group, several members of which may become well prepared to eventually take the A2 Higher level exam.
3rd Polimodal
In general, the group as a whole has become a serious case of "Senior Syndrome", i.e. showing lack of motivation, little energy to improve their skills. Due to this attitudinal problem, teachers report not being able to cover as much material as in other years.
On-going Projects
Hairspray: 2nd Polimodal teachers have had their audition session and have spotted some good actors for the main roles. There seems to be better singers than last year and hopefully we'll be able to have all of the voices we need. The team now needs to decide what kind of work they will do for the remainder of the year. We know that in March we are likely to start systematic rehearsals with actors and dancers. Hopefully, Julio will have worked on the complete sound track by then.
SSR program: Carlos informed that he was making a presentation on the SSR program to the Parents Association on Monday Nov 2. (It went really well. This is a nice group parents, actively involved in their children's education. They said that they would provide a budget for an annual purchase of books for the Secondary and Primary sections. They truly value our efforts to implement this program. I did present the problems we have encountered this year, which did not allow some of the groups to enjoy the benefits of this kind of reading, however I also stressed our determination to make it work better next year. The authorities and school owners are truly committed to improving facilities so that we can make better use of time and space for reading purposes.)
Curriculum
Carlos informed that out of the team meetings he had in August and September, there is an apparent need to seek a better balance between Global Studies thematic units and Literature.
The proposal to use grammar practice embedded in the Global and Lit units had a lukewarm reception. There was a misunderstanding regarding this. We would not need to develop full materials apart from what is already prepared in each unit. Rather we would need to spot recurrent grammatical structures and use them to allow for further practice, which can be obtained from workbooks such as Nelson's and Vince's. We shall keep discussing this after summer break.
The meeting was adjourned at 2pm.
Absent: Alina, Cecilia, Janine
Agenda
Updates: EGB 3, FCE, IB
On-going projects: Hairspray; SSR program
Curriculum: Language, Global Studies, Lit
The meeting started at 12:50.
Updates
7th Grade / 1st Year Secondary School
The group in general seems to have gotten a bit worse than at the beginning. They are not as attentive and responsive as they were when the year started. Paula and Pimpa agreed that the number of students per class -higher than last year- has had an impact on the level of achievement for the whole group. One of the three groups is noticeably weaker than the other two.
8th Grade / 2nd Year Secondary School
In general, all groups are doing well. They have gotten considerably better at reading. They had a good transition into reading unabridged texts. The fact that they are small groups has allowed teachers to help each student better. In general, they seem more organized than at the beginning of the year.
9th Grade
The three groups are quite different: one being really good, the other one average and one of them is pretty weak. Kids in the latter group do not seem capable of abiding by class rules and constantly break them. There are five or six cases of boys showing serious discipline and attitudinal problems.
1st Polimodal
The attitude and all groups in general have a positive attitude. They have been working diligently in preparation for FCE. The main problem seems to be their grammatical skills, esp. reflected in their achievement in the Use of English paper.
2nd Polimodal
Students in the FCE groups are not so good. The students well-prepared to succeed at FCE are vastly outnumbered by the apathetic cases who lack motivation to improve their level.
Students in the A2 group have been doing really well. They are a hard-working group, several members of which may become well prepared to eventually take the A2 Higher level exam.
3rd Polimodal
In general, the group as a whole has become a serious case of "Senior Syndrome", i.e. showing lack of motivation, little energy to improve their skills. Due to this attitudinal problem, teachers report not being able to cover as much material as in other years.
On-going Projects
Hairspray: 2nd Polimodal teachers have had their audition session and have spotted some good actors for the main roles. There seems to be better singers than last year and hopefully we'll be able to have all of the voices we need. The team now needs to decide what kind of work they will do for the remainder of the year. We know that in March we are likely to start systematic rehearsals with actors and dancers. Hopefully, Julio will have worked on the complete sound track by then.
SSR program: Carlos informed that he was making a presentation on the SSR program to the Parents Association on Monday Nov 2. (It went really well. This is a nice group parents, actively involved in their children's education. They said that they would provide a budget for an annual purchase of books for the Secondary and Primary sections. They truly value our efforts to implement this program. I did present the problems we have encountered this year, which did not allow some of the groups to enjoy the benefits of this kind of reading, however I also stressed our determination to make it work better next year. The authorities and school owners are truly committed to improving facilities so that we can make better use of time and space for reading purposes.)
Curriculum
Carlos informed that out of the team meetings he had in August and September, there is an apparent need to seek a better balance between Global Studies thematic units and Literature.
The proposal to use grammar practice embedded in the Global and Lit units had a lukewarm reception. There was a misunderstanding regarding this. We would not need to develop full materials apart from what is already prepared in each unit. Rather we would need to spot recurrent grammatical structures and use them to allow for further practice, which can be obtained from workbooks such as Nelson's and Vince's. We shall keep discussing this after summer break.
The meeting was adjourned at 2pm.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Meeting Thursday June 25
Hi!
It's been a while since my last post here, yet the first half of the year has been quite eventful. And to discuss this we'll be meeting Thursday at noon, at 12:45 more precisely. We haven't had a meeting since the beginning of the year, so this will a be good opportunity to share our work, concerns, hopes, and joy. The agenda so far looks as follows:
0. Welcome and farewells
1. Review of group achievement (7th grade or 1st Year Secondary -3rdPol)
2. Mid-year evaluation
a. Individual (teaching)
b. Team (program, material development, projects)
c. Golden classroom moments
3. Reading and writing throughout the program
If you have any item to add to the agenda, please let me know. See you there!
It's been a while since my last post here, yet the first half of the year has been quite eventful. And to discuss this we'll be meeting Thursday at noon, at 12:45 more precisely. We haven't had a meeting since the beginning of the year, so this will a be good opportunity to share our work, concerns, hopes, and joy. The agenda so far looks as follows:
0. Welcome and farewells
1. Review of group achievement (7th grade or 1st Year Secondary -3rdPol)
2. Mid-year evaluation
a. Individual (teaching)
b. Team (program, material development, projects)
c. Golden classroom moments
3. Reading and writing throughout the program
If you have any item to add to the agenda, please let me know. See you there!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Good Vibes from Alina's 8th Graders!
Last Thursday May 14, Alina launched her Green Ribbons Project with a get together in the school library. Parents, teachers, other students, friends and relatives of hers and her 8th graders joined the event in which each student gave out green ribbons with the words: "Who I am makes the difference!" to their loved ones.
Alina introduced the event with the presentation of the video of an American teacher who initiated this project in the northern hemisphere. It only took a determined mind willing to risk sending positive vibes to others to get the idea rolling in this part of the world. And the response of the audience couldn't have been better. Soon the room was filled with heartfelt appreciation and warmth. As they received the ribbon and a hug, all people attending felt touched and valued. The objective set out by Alina had been achieved.
Soon the repercusion went beyond our school walls. After hearing about it, Alejandra Poliche, our Kindergarten Head, asked Alina to go there, show the video, and present the idea.
In our school, Diana and Filomena, on their and the owners' behalf congratulated Alina with text below documented in the School Teacher's Log (Folio 60):
"El Equipo Directivo estimula y felicita a la Prof. Alina Terán por los proyectos innovadores y creativos que está poniendo en práctica desde su aula. El Proyecto de Green Ribbons superó el ámbito áulico y se hizo extensivo a los distintos actores de la comunidad educativa San Patricio. Adelante Alina!" Firmado: Filomena Araoz y Diana Parrau.
Way to go, kids (and Alina!) :)
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Meeting March 26
We'll be starting our meeting at 12:45.
Agenda
- Reflections, thoughts, comments re groups over diagnotic period
- Planificaciones: http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pdf (see chapter 3)
- Objectives 2009: Department, Class
- Class material needed
- Bibliography
- Library use (SSR) and subscriptions (propose titles of magazines, journals, etc.)
- FCE and IB results
- IB info: A2 projections; oral exams: Sept. 28-Oct. 2
- 6th Grade and 7th Grade teachers meeting
If you have any other item for the agenda, just let me know. See you there!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Dice are rolling
This is the time of new beginnings. As every new academic year is about to start, the quiet anticipation of a new group of students in our classroom, and the expectation of facing new challenges and of continued growth give us an opportunity for reflection.
It's true that for most of us, the scents of summer beaches or deep green mountains still engulf us with a nostalgic taste. But at the same time, little by little the inexorably looming beginning of class pulls our attention and engages our energy. By now, with the several meetings and training workshops we get closer and closer to that special moment of a first class with a new group that, whether they'd be willing to admit it or not, are ready to fill notebooks, turn pages by the hundreds, crack a joke in the middle of a tense class moment, and together write the pages of a significant experience in the lives of yet another bunch of avid, irreverent, inquisitive, challenging, energetic teenagers. And we are getting ready to step up to the task.
For the first time since its foundation, the school will have one coordinator for the entire English program K-12. It's true that I'll be only a couple of hours per week in Kindergarten and the Primary School, and that my hours at the Secondary section will remain at the low 12 I had last year. However, even on a supervisory visit to the Aconquija Ave building once a week, I'm confident that little by little we shall become part of one single project, one program with everyone's joint effort in pursuit of the same goals. The training workshop this year has had this objective in mind.
I wish you all a most rewarding and enriching 2009.
It's true that for most of us, the scents of summer beaches or deep green mountains still engulf us with a nostalgic taste. But at the same time, little by little the inexorably looming beginning of class pulls our attention and engages our energy. By now, with the several meetings and training workshops we get closer and closer to that special moment of a first class with a new group that, whether they'd be willing to admit it or not, are ready to fill notebooks, turn pages by the hundreds, crack a joke in the middle of a tense class moment, and together write the pages of a significant experience in the lives of yet another bunch of avid, irreverent, inquisitive, challenging, energetic teenagers. And we are getting ready to step up to the task.
For the first time since its foundation, the school will have one coordinator for the entire English program K-12. It's true that I'll be only a couple of hours per week in Kindergarten and the Primary School, and that my hours at the Secondary section will remain at the low 12 I had last year. However, even on a supervisory visit to the Aconquija Ave building once a week, I'm confident that little by little we shall become part of one single project, one program with everyone's joint effort in pursuit of the same goals. The training workshop this year has had this objective in mind.
This year has started with a few good and not so good news.
First and foremost, we all join our positive energy and prayers to support Cecilia's therapy after surgery and current treatment. She's likely to stay home till full recovery. We look forward to welcoming you back onboard, Ceci.
We are saying a brief goodbye to Omar. He'll be away for a year devoting his energy and many skills to a family enterprise. Even though we'll sorely miss you, we wish you best luck in this new challenge you're about to face.
We're excited to have Adelita back in Secondary School. She has moved from 6th to 8th grade. However, since she is on maternity leave till around May or June, Silvia Inochea will continue in 8th grade.
To replace Omar, we're happy to welcome back Elvirita. She's really excited to take on the challenge of teaching 7th graders and to join the 7th grade team.
These first weeks of 2009, I've had to face different types of situations I'd never faced at CSP before, and I've seen you all share your concern and preoccupation for anyone of us at a particular juncture in our lives. Once again, let me just say how lucky I feel to work with a group of people who are not only excellent teaching professionals but also the warmest and most caring individuals as well.I wish you all a most rewarding and enriching 2009.
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