Tirana International School 27 February 2019 Important Dates February 28 - End of 3rd Quintile 28-3 March - CEESA Swimming in Kyiv, Ukraine March 6 - MS/Sec Assembly 7-10 - CEESA HS Boys Basketball/Tbilisi 7-10 - CEESA HS Girls Basketball Prague 8 - End of Second Round of Activities 10 - SAT 14 - Summer's Day - No School 15 - Staff Professional Development Day - No School 20 - Elementary SO Assembly Director's Desk Dear Parents, Students, and Friends of TIS, As educators and students, one of the hardest parts about school is that once you master a subject, there is always something else to learn. The image of the life long learner is valuable, but it does come at a cost as we push ourselves to always be learning. Rarely do we have time to stop and reflect on successes that we have experienced or moments that are life changing. That is why our breaks and vacations mean so much for us. These are not days that are just off school, but a time to mentally process all that we have been exposed to during the last few months. During the recent break, I was reminded of one of the important life changing moments that our students experience throughout the year. Julia, one of our Secondary I students, wrote an article about her experience with the national robotics team. Originally the piece was submitted for a class assignment to Teen Ink magazine, but was then picked up by the editors at First Robotics Competition. Feel free to read her inspiring story here. Thank you Julia for sharing your story with us! Looking Forward, Robert S. Jackson, Director Status Reports Look for your child’s Status Report in your family Google folder by the end of the day on Monday, March 4th. If you would prefer a hard copy of the report, please email egla-lila@alb.qsi.org. In each class, your child should have more than half of the units completed. If you see several “P” or “H” grades and would like further explanation, please email your child’s teacher directly. It is hard to believe, but the second round of activities will be finished on March 8. The 3rd round of activities will start on Monday March 25th and run until June 7th. The activities website will be updated with new offerings by Thursday evening. https://tisactivities.weebly.com/activities-schedule.html The forms will go live on Friday, March 1st at 18:00. Forms will close on Monday, March 4 at 10:00. MSA Accreditation We are so thrilled with the news that we have been recommended for full accreditation through Middle States. The visiting team left just before our break and expressed how impressed they were with the community and school in general. On Thursday, February 14, the team head Crystal Jacobs read a preliminary report that outlined our successes and provided some helpful suggestions for the school as we continue to grow. Please feel free to read the oral report for yourself here. A final report will be sent to MSA from the visiting team within the next few weeks and we should have final approval for our continued accreditation during the summer months. Thank you to everyone in the community for providing such insight and a positive attitude toward growth in the time leading up to the visit. Stretch! In the Crickets class, we have been learning toddler yoga and mindfulness. Studies have shown that children benefit greatly from learning such activities. Not only does it enhance their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness; it also improves their concentration, sense of calmness, ability to relax and self-reflect. It encourages self-esteem and fosters compassion and cooperation. As a whole, It benefits their well-being entirely. And it's so much fun! Middle School Newsletter Did you know that the middle school students write and publish articles about the school each quintile? Check out the latest edition here. The Secondary II-III German classes will be working on the new project about famous people. The project is based on a very famous quotation from André Malraux about the importance of history “Wer in der Zukunft lesen will muss in der Vergangenheit blättern“ (In order to read the future one must first leaf through the chapters of the past) We will discuss men and women, who have made a difference to the world. The project includes people from the fields of politics, science, religion, humanitarianism and culture. Going along with understanding society, studying history allows us a look into what causes change. To understand society today is important for us to know and understand what created it, people that shaped who we are today are incredibly important, they can inspire us to take action in our own lives, better predict and influence our future. Animals and Habitats The Fives have been learning about animals and habitats. In Reading, we are reading non-fiction books about animals and each student has chosen one animal to research. In Writing, each student is going through the writing process to write a non-fiction book about their animal. In Science, we are learning about animal habitats, and we made giant habitats to display in the hallway. These exciting units will culminate with the students making shoe box dioramas of their animal in its habitat. In French Class, we are learning the members of the family and today, we saw a video about a family in a kitchen. The students had to introduce the characters, saying what member of the family is he/she by speaking in French. It is great how they already know to practice French, not only by writing but also by speaking. Bucket Fillers Students in the 7 Year Old Black class are learning to be bucket fillers! Our class read the book "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" and learned that we all carry around an invisible bucket with us. We can bring happiness to others and "fill each other's buckets" by being kind and encouraging to one another. Students fill each other's buckets with positive notes and through their actions by being respectful and helpful. Working Together TEAMWORK or one of our success orientations Group Interaction can take on many forms while supporting each other to succeed. 10 Orange supports our classmates and our schoolmates. We believe at TIS a supportive school is a WINNING school. AP Seminar students have concluded their first important task for the course, which consisted of a group research project and presentation. Their presentations focused on themes of “Reliability of Forensic Science” and “Importance of Emotional Intelligence”. The task was hard because of the amount of work, time constraints, necessity to collaborate and present in front of an audience, but both groups dealt with it successfully. In Preparation for their up AP Exam, the AP World History class has been working on how to plan and develop their ideas for the Long Essay Question part of the exam. For practice different group used note cards to create an Argument tower as a way of developing their body paragraphs. This helped the students visualize how their evidence should be based upon an assertion. In AP Statistics students often learn by discussing with each other and teaching each other. This helps them actively process the material while also making learning enjoyable. Parents, TIS is excited to announce our winter Saturday Sports Program. TIS will offer a six-week gymnastics and basketball program for our students from ages 5-13. Dates: February 2, 16 March 2 Gymnastics for ages 5-7 will run from 9:00 until 10:00 Gymnastics for ages 8-13 will run from 10:00 until 11:00 Basketball for ages 8-10 will run from 9:00 until 10:00 Basketball for ages 5-7 will run from 10:00 until 11:00 Basketball for ages 11-13 will run from 11:00 until 12:00 The cost for the gymnastics is 6000 Leke for the six-week session. Payment will be made directly to the coaches at the first session. The gymnastics training will be conducted by 3 coaches with extensive experience in the United States and Albania. There is no cost for the basketball program. Both programs are open to boys and girls. The schedule has been organized so that children may participate in both activities. Registration for the Saturday Sports program can be completed by filling out the Google form HERE We have a new website where you can look through the items and see if you find anything that belongs to you. |