Hands-on-Learning

When I visited one of our first grade classes last week I was reminded once again why hands-on learning is so important. The class learned about the concept of buoyancy - they had brought items from home and made predictions about which objects would swim and which ones would sink. The previous day they had tried this experiment as a group but this morning it was time to explore the concept further with a partner. Frau Engelberg had prepared a short worksheet that allowed students to draw (or write) their predictions and findings after conducting the experiment. Students learned about how to take a good guess and that it is OK to not always be right. Some students " made the plunge" into brainstorming why some things swim and some don't and some filled a small tin box with rocks until it sunk. All of this might have looked like play, but it required students to practice and expand many of their newly learned skills. They read instructions, practiced to follow them step-by-step, they documented their findings and most of all - engaged in purposeful conversations with their friends and teachers -in German- about the experiment. With spring break around the corner I encourage you to explore with your child. A trip to the park, the local library or just into your own backyard can create ideas for further explorations. Here is a link to some squirrel experiments. I know that we have plenty to explore in our own backyard! Squirrel Science 

Have a wonderful spring break, I can't wait to hear about your adventures!                                        

360 Feedback - GSP Peer Review

Dear GSP community,

Last week we had the unique opportunity to receive feedback from our peers.

We had asked them to take a closer look into our efforts for German language development, tailored instruction (differentiation) for student needs and our internal communication processes.

In most industries, external consulting companies are hired to provide these services, but as part of the ZfA’s School Development Cycle (more information in German here: PQM), we were able to invite 3 of our colleagues from schools in

Toronto  German International School Toronto, San Francisco German International School Silicon Valley and Washington DC Deutsche Schule Washington

to guide us through the process.

They spent the entire week observing classes - they observed 20 minute sections from 45 different lessons throughout the week! -  interviewed GSP community members, and reviewed our internal and external documents. In about 6 weeks we will receive their written report and this will provide us with information and suggestions that will help us to sharpen our focus for school development.

They were thoroughly impressed by the program we have in place, the space we have available for students to work in smaller groups, the materials teachers can use, the dedicated staff and families who are willing to support our initiatives and essentially, our children

They reminded us that school development is never a finished process, and that it takes all of us to continue to grow.

Thank you for your ongoing support!