Caring

As we learn more about the IB primary year program it becomes more and more evident how substantial components of the program are deeply rooted in our GSP community.

Bukesa, Uganda soccer field

The IB Learner profile describes learner attributes that are considered essential to develop into productive learners and well rounded citizens.
One of the learner profiles is "Caring: I care about people, plants, animals and the earth. I help others and care for people and the world."
While we will formally introduce the learner profiles to students and families over time, we are also looking for opportunities to make that connection now.
When I saw our students rally for the Bukesa orphanage this week I witnessed "caring in action". With short notice our 4th grade students were able to collect supplies for Frau West to take to the orphanage. So last week Frau West left with 2 extra bags of soccer balls, cleats, and jerseys.I am sure that children at the Bukesa orphanage will put them to good use!
I am so proud to be part of our GSP community and all the things we can accomplish together!!
Thank you,

How to Survive Science Fair Season

This is the time of the year where students and parents alike start their endeavor into the world of science. If you follow social media, you might have seen the following display. It sums up the sentiment that many of us had towards science fair projects - at least once. As a parent and teacher I still believe that this can be a wonderful learning experience for all involved if you take a few precautionary steps, but yes we have run out of printer ink and glue sticks the night before the project due date in my house, too!

• When helping students choose a good project, focus on their general interests and the scope of the potential project. Often smaller scale projects are a much better choice and allow students to be successful, especially if this is their first time. Safe those elaborate ideas for upper grades and middle school years (yes there will be more science fairs in your live!)
• Set expectations of which parts you want your child to do independently and where you are willing to support - this is not an easy task but can help manage frustrations along the way.
• Encourage students to find a question in their everyday life. A good starting point can be to browse Science buddies
• Help your child plan backwards: When does the project have to be done, how long will each step realistically take, how much time can I spend on the project on a weekend without loosing interest? We will have a check list available and attached to next week's Laternlein newsletter to get you started.
• Have fun while doing the research and putting the project together.
• Reflect on the experience, what did go well, what did your child learn from the process and how can this be used for other long term projects?
• Last but not least: Celebrate success and accomplishment!

Happy Exploring!

Oregon Battle of the Books

The mission of Oregon Battle of the Books is to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence, and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students. 

For weeks our 4th and 5th grade students prepared for these battles. They read, they talked strategies and practiced answering questions. Many students met during recess to listen to books on tape together with Ms West. 
Today, the first 2 teams battled it out. In front of a captive audience, the "Hello Little Fella" and the "Soggy Chaos Biscuits" faced each other in the first round. Yes, silly team names are part of the tradition.Each team will battle at least twice and the overall winning team will represent GSP at the next level competition.

If you are interested in finding out more about the books the students read in preparation follow this link: Oregon Battle of the Books or come and visit us for one of the battles - sorry no cheering allowed during battles! A schedule with upcoming battles is posted downstairs in front of the English classroom. Thank you also to Hilary Uhlig for helping our students prepare! 
- to be continued...

Perseverance pays off….

GSP alumnae Agnes Rehr-Zimmermann (right) and Annalise Helm (middle) together with Nghia Ho (left), an avid learner of the German language  from the Sophie Scholl Saturday School, all took the last part of the DSDII Deutsches Sprachdiplom this past Saturday here at GSP.  While they had already taken the written parts of the test that included listening, reading and writing skills at the beginning of December this part of the testing was definitely the hardest on their nerves since it was happening right at the time when finals in High School took place as well.

Under the official supervision of Fachberaterin Natascha Milde and under the eyes of their (former) teacher(s) Heike Schütz-Malinowski, Christiane Seydel and Wibke Fretz three nervous candidates entered each individual session of 20-30 minutes of oral testing.  As part of the exam they had to present and discuss a theme they had just been given 20 minutes ago as well as give a prepared presentation and in-depth discussion of a topic they had chosen weeks ago. All candidates gave their very best on the exam and were relieved the pressure was off after this exam they had been preparing and studying since the beginning of the school year.  They were all smiles around noon and are now awaiting word (and a diploma!) from the KMK (Ministry of Education in Germany) to tell them that their language skills are at the level required for entering a college or a university in an German state. Congratulations to all of them for taking on this challenge and best of luck with their ongoing studies of German, possibly in Germany!

“If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!"

 “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it”, that’s true for all skills and it certainly applies to language skills, too. Many of our alumni have taken that advice to heart and signed up for teen language classes. German language skills that our students pick up so easily during their years at GSP don’t maintain themselves without some effort that, as always in our school, can and will be combined with having lots of fun!

Frau Seydel, our German teacher at the Gilkey Middle School Program alongside with our own Herr Quam have taken on the challenge to both maintain existent skills and expand vocabulary and grammar as well as presentation skills.  During these past months both teachers have succeeded to convince otherwise sometimes reluctant teenage learners to come back to class after school with joy and make German a priority despite a often busy schedule. According to parents their teenagers actually look forward to meet with their friends, socialize and at the same time pick up some more German language and culture through games, puzzles and presentations as well as bare-bones writing and grammar.

While all students enjoy the German setting and the socializing part, many have signed up to take the DSDI exam that will be administered for the first time here at GSP in March. This exam will already be the third step our alumni take in a 4-tiered system towards highest level language proficiency that will ultimately allow them to study in German at a German university or college. The following links provide more in depth information about the diploma program:

Info about Sprachdiplom in German

Sprachdiplom flyer in English

We also have our first candidates preparing for the DSD II exam. We will share more about their program next time!

Classroom Learning is for Teachers, too!

Over the last weeks our classroom teachers had an opportunity to visit with fellow teachers at the French American School in Portland.
The purpose of these visits was to offer an opportunity to learn more about the Primary Year Program that runs successfully at FAIS.
Our teachers met with the school's program coordinator (a role that we at GSP will fill very soon) and observed instruction. in various classroom settings.
While we learned about the PYP (Primary Year Program) in shorter workshops during staff development days and meetings, this was the first time our teachers had an opportunity to see the program in action.
We all took away ideas about how this could look like in our unique GSP setting. Here is a link with more information about the Primary Year Program: IB Primary Year Program
Starting in January GSP will be able to officially apply for candidacy with the IB program and I am planning to share more information with you about these exciting developments very soon!

Compassion

In second step our students are learning and practicing compassion this month. 

After initial classroom discussions students started to create meaningful activities through which we can all show compassion.

Our grade school classes learned about an orphanage in Ghana and are writing messages and holiday cards for the students at the school.They watched a video to learn about life for the orphans at the Bukesa children’s home in Kampala, Uganda, Africa. This is an orphanage supported through the HALO Portland non-profit Halo Worldwide Frau West's husband is one of the project coordinators.

Our 5th grade students initiated the coat drive that started this week. If you have walked through the lobby this week you can attest to the success of their efforts! The donations will go to the Portland Rescue Mission Portland Rescue Mission 

The clothes drive continues for the next 2 weeks, so there is still time to go through your closet and help somebody in need. I am amazed by the compassion I see here at school everyday and am proud I can be part of a community that strives to help others in need.