Author: Cebu International School

Admin News

Dear CIS Community,

It has been great to have students return after their October end-of-term holiday and immediately get back to focusing on their learning activities. Please remember to take the time to discuss with your child how they are progressing with their learning, and how they feel about it. For example, you could celebrate their achievements, listen to areas they show an interest in, and discuss areas they might be struggling with. You do not necessarily have to teach them or resolve these issues, just show interest, and suggestions on how they could resolve the areas themselves! If you have any questions or concerns, please do share these with their teacher at any time. Your interest in their learning has been shown through research to have a positive impact on your child’s performance!

A big THANKS to all CIS Corporation members who made time to join our Corporation Meeting (AGM) last Tuesday. We are pleased to welcome Ms. Jill Figueroa onto the CIS Board of Trustees for the coming year, replacing Mr. Marcelino Ugarte, who is leaving after six years of valuable service to the school. I am sincere when I share with you that CIS is fortunate to have such a dedicated, focused, and forward-looking Board, who volunteer their time willingly to govern and support learning at CIS.

I will send community members more details via an Infobrief to your registered email shortly. Enjoy your weekend!

Dr. Gwyn Underwood
Superintendent

International Day

International Day is coming soon to you virtually on Saturday, October 24, 2020!

Elementary News

by Ms. Maureen Juanson, EY 2/3 Homeroom Teacher, PYP Coordinator, Accreditation Officer

Dear Elementary Community,

As we welcomed our learners back to our virtual classrooms this week to begin quarter two of the school year, a lot of wonderful stories of students engaging in their learning have also been shared during my collaboration meetings with our PYP teachers.

• At the end of their PE class, two of our EY 2/3 learners asked their teacher if they could do the dance one more time because they really liked it. Even though there was only a minute left before the end of class, their teacher happily obliged and played the song again to let them dance to the music. At the end of the class, the students commented how much they had fun and enjoyed the class.
• After receiving instructions on how to create leaf mobiles for Culture Week, one of our first graders decided to create one a week early. With support from her parents, she was able to find alternative materials to make her own version of the mobile. With enthusiasm, she sent a photo of her work and proudly shared it with her teacher.
• During music class, our second graders explored connections between dynamic levels and familiar things. They associated loud dynamics with things such as elephants and loud trucks, and soft dynamics with mice and small fish. The class was very much engaged in the discussion which led to a lot of wonderings. A number of them eagerly asked questions and didn’t even notice that it was already time to end their synchronous call, while their teacher willingly listened and responded to them. Even after the call, some students continued to seek for answers by messaging their teacher on Google Hangouts.
• One of our fifth graders pursued her interest to create sketches of still life at her own time. She sent some examples of her work to her art teacher and asked if she could have extra lessons with her to learn more about sketching and improve her skills. Upon receiving this message, her teacher decided to make adjustments to her plan for their next lesson in order to cater and support her student’s interest.

These are just some snippets of how our CIS learners continue to demonstrate agency during this period of remote learning. Amidst all the challenges of this new way of learning and lack of face-to-face interaction with their teachers and peers, our students continue to engage meaningfully in their learning, take risks, have inquiring minds, take ownership of their learning, and contribute not only to their social, emotional, and cognitive growth, but also of others. These stories also highlight the vital role of parents and teachers in supporting and nurturing learner agency. Your willingness to listen and respond while students make choices empower them to pursue their interests and wonderings, and become independent learners. 

It is encouraging to see how we, as a learning community, are able to realize our commitment to develop the unique potential of our students and become agentic learners by creating a supportive, nurturing, and collaborative environment. These are the stories that inspire us and define the purpose of why we continue to seek ways to navigate these changing times.

Remote Learning in Art

by Ms. Thea Raagas, Elementary Art Teacher

Ezra shared his process of creating his artwork. On the two photos on the left, he is shown painting and coloring the Very Hungry Caterpillar, (a story that the students tackled in their Homeroom Class), on the two photos on the right, he cuts strips of paper to create a Paper Chain Craft of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Voice, Choice and Agency are practiced in ART Class by giving the students options on which craft or type of artwork they would like to produce on that day. In this class they got to choose between Finger Painting, Paperchain Craft and Finger Puppet-making.

This is Yeosan’s (KG1) Cool Colors Landscape. We are discussing Cool Colors as well as Drawing Landscapes in KG1 Art Class. I Yeosan’s audio comment he says,  “This is the sky, the sea, and these are cool colors. This is not a red flag, it is purple or violet, and that man in the boat is me”. His work shows that students are not only taught painting skills but they are also encouraged to think about their work and share these thoughts with others. This fosters communication and thinking skills in the students. They are asked to explain their work by taking a video of themselves and posting this on Seesaw.

Edgar of Grade 3 has put a lot of detail into this Covid Mask Design. He has drawn three figures on his mask using Colored Markers, and has colored these very well. The effort that he has put into this work is admirable. Keep up the good work Edgar!

CIS Culture Week and International Day
Next week, during Culture week, students will be exploring various continents through a series of Games, Art activities, Cooking, Dancing and Virtual tours. For South America, Ms Lyn and Ms Thea have asked the students to prepare leaves, branches and other available materials to create a Mobile in the style of the Art of Alexander Calder. Fiona surprised us with an early submission of the activity. In these photos, she proudly holds up her mobiles for Culture Week. She created them using recycled bottles and colored papers as her material.

Grade 3
In grade 3, we have been practicing the use of prepositions and demonstrating them with our favorite toys.

We are also practicing to describe our physical environment by creating informative maps of our surroundings. These maps will then be used to write preposition sentences to describe our surroundings.

The students also explored their physical surroundings by going on a virtual field trip. We flew to the edge of space, recorded our thoughts and described what we saw through pictures and drawings.

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School News

Diploma Programme (DP) gets the year started

During the month of September each year, our grade 11 and 12 students, families, and teachers come together for an evening (for each grade) to introduce the year ahead and review the IB Diploma Program for students in those grades.

This year we have held these meetings virtually- the 11th graders in the middle of the month, and the 12th graders at the end. The goal for these meetings is primarily to introduce our courses to the students and their families, as well as preview the year in each course. For the grade 11 students this meeting comes at the beginning of their IBDP journey. For the grade 12 students it occurs as the students and their families are preparing to make their IB Decisions for the year.

Each year, we also make a visual commitment to the IBDP values with students and teachers signing a tarp that will hang in the Media Center for the rest of the year. This year we are doing these signatures digitally, and the tarp will be printed and displayed as soon as we are able to do so.

Please feel free to check out our DP Program through this link:

Diploma Program at CIS

MHS Science in the Remote Learning Classroom

A few weeks ago we focused intentionally on our Design classes in MYP and on how we are using remote learning instruction and technology tools to lead our students to understand and implement the design cycle across the curriculum.

This week we would like to highlight some of the exciting things that are occurring in our Science Department. One of the most exciting aspects within a student-centered science class is watching students experiment and learn from the eureka moments that emerge organically from these engagements. So much of science, especially for us, is to lead students to learn by actually doing, and in science this means exploring through conducting labs and experiments. The question that we may spring to mind, then, is: How can we replicate these moments remotely; that is, how can we do science when we don’t have access to a science lab or to lab equipment?

Our teachers have been using a creative array of video, simulations, interactive apps, and virtual labs to help bring the science classroom alive for students while they are at home. We will be sharing a number of these experiences below to give you an idea of how our science classrooms continue to be active, engaging spaces even when we are not able to physically gather together in our science labs.

Grade 7 Science
Students have been led virtually through a tutorial on how to safely use the bunsen burner using Edpuzzle. They begin with a video which pauses intermittently to check for understanding so that students are able to  master the steps to using a Bunsen burner safely, The students engaged in a Bunsen Burner Experiment which was conducted virtually, where they can see the relationship between the amount of air entering into the airhole (by adjusting the collar) and the color of the flame produced by the bunsen burner. A yellow flame ”safe flame” is produced when the collar is closed, preventing air to mix with the gas whilst “blue flame” is produced when air is sufficient. This virtual training will help students once we are physically on campus and using this equipment.

Science 8:
This class has been working on a formative task on the important idea of Conducting Scientific Investigations. Unit 1 in Science 8 focuses on exploring the use of the scientific method in real-world applications. Part of their formative tasks has been to conduct individual scientific investigations on natural phenomena. This simulation has allowed students to investigate the effect of altitude on the boiling point of water and relate the role of atmospheric pressure in the boiling process. They used a correct design in their experiment to establish the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

How does altitude affect the boiling point of water?

https://interactives.ck12.org/simulations/chemistry/boiling-point/app/index.html
Another formative task related to conducting scientific investigation involved collaborating with a partner.  This task guided students to investigate the effect of minerals on the growth of plants.  The students were challenged to use critical thinking skills as they developed a correct experimental design.  They considered the independent and dependent variables, controlled variables, and the control and experimental setups.  

How do minerals affect the growth of plants?

http://www.kscience.co.uk/animations/minerals.htm

Chemistry 10:
Formative task: Atom Builder Challenge

Unit 1 of Chemistry 10 emphasizes how atomic structure affects different elements’ properties, uses, and how these elements are arranged in the periodic table. This simulation challenged the students to specify the number of subatomic particles in each of the missing elements by identifying and interpreting patterns in the atomic structures of other elements.

Can you build the atoms of the missing elements?

https://interactives.ck12.org/simulations/chemistry/atom-builder/app/index.html

DP Chemistry 11
Home-based lab: Measurement and Data Processing

Taking accurate and precise measurements with proper consideration of absolute uncertainties is a basic skill in conducting scientific investigations. In this unit, the students learned that all measurement has a limit of precision and accuracy. This limitation must be taken into account when reporting and processing data as well when evaluating experimental results. In this simple home-based lab, they are tasked to determine the volume of a box. They considered proper reporting of data as well as propagation of errors in calculated results.

Simulation: Absorption and emission line spectrum

The unit on atomic structure involves the analysis on why the atoms of different elements give out light of a distinctive color when an electric discharge is passed through their vapors.  The absorption and emission line spectra of different elements provide valuable information regarding their atomic structure and identity.  This simulation allowed the students to investigate how the frequency and wavelength of a transmitted or absorbed radiation are related to the energy levels of atoms of elements.

 How do we know what the stars are made of?

https://interactives.ck12.org/simulations/physics/atomic-colors/app/index.html

DP Chemistry 12
Our unit on Equilibrium introduces the different applications of Le Chatelier’s Principle in daily life. This principle states that if a system in a dynamic equilibrium is disturbed by altering the conditions, the position of equilibrium moves to counteract the change. This simulation involves keeping CO2 gas in a solution which is a delicate process to produce carbonated drinks. The students are able to investigate how changes in pressure, volume, and the amount of CO2, and temperature affect the position of equilibrium and the quality of the soda produced.

Why does soda go flat?

Our students developed their skills in the unit on Acids and Bases by designing an experiment distinguishing between strong and weak acids or strong and weak bases. This simulation allowed the students to set the conditions within their own experiments and develop a methodology to distinguish acids and bases according to their strength.

http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/acid-base-solutions/latest/acid-base-solutions_en.html

Grade 10 MYP Biology 
The unit on the study of DNA and Genetics concluded in the sub-unit, “Forensic Science”. One of the activities was for them to learn the technique of lifting  fingerprints.

Grade 11 Biology
Students studied the concept of osmosis in unit 1. This virtual lab involves different concentrations of solutions that could be manipulated both inside the cell and in the immediate environment of the cell. It also allows the students to hypothesize the direction of the movement of water molecules and verify whether or not their hypothesis was validated.

http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/lab1/types.html

Grade 12 DP Biology

Students performed an investigation on the rate of respiration in germinating seeds.  Here, the choice of variables were limited, yet it was a great tool for them to compare the amount of oxygen consumption by germinating pea seeds along with non-germinating seeds with a control group of glass beads. Students were able to develop a deeper understanding of the importance of having a control group for their experiments.

http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/lab5/intro.html

Grade 10 Students Take the Lead with Social and Emotional Learning in Homeroom Collaborations

In the midst of our current pandemic, the entire student body has had to learn remotely, resulting in fewer interactions with our peers. To bring back the joy everyone wishes to experience, the grade 10 students have set up collaborative circles across MYP grade levels with different activities that would best suit their interests. We had a range of interesting activities such as Netflix, Cooking, Basketball, Gaming, Music,  and Kpop/Kdrama. Through this experience, the grade 10 students were put in their teacher’s shoes as they were the ones asked to lead the activities. They quickly realized that being a teacher in a remote environment was not as easy as being one in a face to face environment. We now better understand how hard and awkward a remote environment can be at times for teachers. The grade 10 students would like to thank all the hardworking teachers that have been setting up lessons to teach us from work. Thank you, teachers!!!!

Netflix has really helped us to quarantine because of the various shows and movies we could choose from. Selly, Victoria, Hayun, and Joo Ha have decided to come up with ideas to talk about with people who have similar interests on Netflix. The activities consisted of bingo, scribble.io, charades, and a discussion about their favorite show they watched during quarantine, or one they are currently watching, and more! We really enjoyed talking with the younger grade levels, and although it was awkward at first, we got a laugh out of it and realized how important and fun school could be (and could have been all along) if we all came together. – Joo Ha

The beginning of the meeting was really awkward and quiet since we didn’t know each other. But, as soon as we began discussing gaming, people started to be interested and spoke out loud about their own opinions. Everyone had experiences and enjoyed gaming which made our meeting more lively. During the online class, I think interacting with different people and talking about our own opinions is a great experience.  – Thomas 

It was a little awkward at first since we were all not very familiar with each other. However, as we went on with the activities, some students started to speak up more. Everyone seemed to have some experience with instruments, which was great. We did activities that made us work together, such as building an instrument tier list and guessing what note was played. We also played musical charades. It was an interesting experience. – Katrina

As everyone else has probably said, it was very awkward at first. In the beginning, when we went on with our introduction activities, it was hard to get everyone to participate since they must’ve been shy. Once we got to the later activities, everyone started getting comfortable and goofy. We talked about our different interests in k-pop and k-drama and even created our own k-drama storyline. It took a while, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. This was a great experience for us to learn what it may be like for our teachers to lead our class and I think some of us might even feel bad for our teachers now that we experienced what it might be like for them every single day. – Lea

Dragon’s Print

Excerpt:
Despite being a less than ideal situation, it must be acknowledged that remote learning has its fair share of benefits that can be highly useful even when we resume traditional classes in the near future. A student shares his insights on the important takeaways we can get from “Riding the Remote Learning Wave” on http://dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph/.

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Tip for the Week:

College Essays:
If you are applying to multiple universities and the college essay prompt is similar, you may opt to reuse an essay as long as you revise it to fit the prompt and the institution you are applying to. The most important value of an essay is to demonstrate who you are. The transcripts are merely figures that show your academic potential and performance but the essay shows what kind of person you are and this could determine if you are the right fit for the university.

Upcoming Virtual Visits and Fairs: (students & parents are welcome)

Date

Until end of October

October 20
Tuesday
3:15 PM

October 21
Wednesday – 5:30 PM

October 22
Thursday
3:00 PM

October 22
Thursday – 6:00 PM

October 22
Thursday

October 23
Friday – 5:00 PM

November 13
Friday
2:00 – 5:00PM

Event

Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong)
Register here: HK Poly (for personal consultations or faculty-specific webinars)

Alumni Visit:  Evangeline Gerodias – NYUAD Class of 2020 and CIS Class of 2016
Click here to join: https://meet.google.com/vnp-jywo-mgv

Chat with a Yale NUS student
Link to join: Yale NUS student chat

Yale NUS College (Singapore)
Link to register: https://apply.yale-nus.edu.sg/register/CIS (students will receive the Zoom link upon sign-up)

Jacobs University (Germany)
Link to join: to follow

Student World Virtual Fairs
Click to see List of Universities
Link to register and join: https://fairs.thestudentworld.com/cebuis

University of St. Andrews (UK)
Link to join: to follow

Study in Japan Virtual Fair – Link to Virtual Fair: Study in Japan Fair
Participating universities: University of Tsukuba, Kyushu, University, Temple University Japan, Hiroshima University, Nagoya University of Commerce & Business, iCLA Yamanashi Gakuin University, Nagoya University and Kyoto University of Advanced Science

SAT Update

Please note that most universities have gone test-optional.  This means they do not require test scores for students to be eligible for admission.

November 7 and December 5  have been  cancelled by the College Board.  Test-takers registered on these dates will receive an email with instructions.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Admin News

Congratulations, CIS community! Your  adaptability, resilience, and efforts to face challenges with a growth mindset have enabled us to complete our first term successfully. I am sincerely impressed by what we have achieved as a community. Some highlights and acknowledgements are:

• Our faculty/staff who have strived to adapt to offering/supporting a remote learning program since the pandemic began, including undertaking ongoing professional development (PD) as we seek to constantly get better at facilitating learning remotely. It is new for all of us, and I am proud of the collective effort they have made to make it work well.
• Our amazing students, who are not only the ones at the centre of our new remote learning mode, but who are ALSO coping with being quarantined for about 100 days now! THAT is a noteworthy example of resilience that is an example to all of us.
• Our students and teachers who use their growth mindset to look for SOLUTIONS rather than just complaining about a situation that is largely out of our control, by adapting our school events to interesting new virtual events, such as our orientation events, House Activity Day, assemblies, production, an impressive range of after school activities (ASAs/clubs), and currently, planning for our upcoming virtual Culture Week & International Day.
• Our dedicated, supportive parents. We acknowledge the hardships you are facing, while you work to provide for your family, AND support your children’s RL at home at the same time. This is an extreme challenge, especially for parents who both work, and parents with multiple children. Please know we are aware of this at school, and are here to support you. One of our goals as we design learning engagements is to make it as easy for you as possible, under the constraints we are working under.

Our shared objective is what holds us together and drives us. As a community, we aim to develop our students’ unique potential to contribute to a better world – a mission even more important than ever with the uncertainties for the future currently facing us. A sincere thank you to each and every one of you for your part in enabling us reach this mission. As I noted in last week’s assembly: Together, we are stronger. Together we can do it.

Have a wonderful, safe, October break!

Regards,

Dr. Gwyn Underwood
Superintendent

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary School Principal

Student Learning on Seesaw

Early Years 2/3

by Ms. Aimee Sesbreño, Ms. Maureen Juanson & Ms. Jerilyn Gibson, EY 2& 3 Teachers

As we are about to end our unit on “Who We Are”, the Early Years discovered new things about each other by sharing our likes and dislikes. We have observed that we all like similar and different things. We made use of different words to express our interests and likes.  We looked at how many of our friends liked similar things. Some of us shared about how we like salami, apples, toys and oreos. We looked into the beginning sounds of these words for our synchronous and asynchronous engagements. We sorted out pictures into different boxes to show their beginning sounds in order to develop our reading skills. Few students were able to dive deeper and started to write and take photos of objects that start with the /s/, /a/, /t/ and /o/ sounds. We worked on becoming good readers by learning the sounds of some letters.

In connection, let’s take a look at Ezra’s first story book below. This inspired us to work on becoming good writers too. As we end our unit this week the Early Years created their own “Me Book”. This will show our understanding on how well we know ourselves by drawing or writing the things that we like and how we/ve grown overtime.

Kinder and Grade 1 Tamaraws – Spaces in our Houses

by Ms. Tara Bersabal and Ms. Belen Tubilan

As we launched our new Unit of Inquiry with the transdisciplinary theme How We Organize Ourselves, with the Central Idea: Common spaces can develop the well-being of a community, students excitedly shared their special spaces in their house. In our synchronous classes, we shared what is our special space, what things we can find in there, and how we feel when we spend our time in that space. Most of the students took a photo and videos of their special spaces while others gave us a live tour to showcase their spaces and the things that we can see. Some students even have names for their special spaces.

Throughout the week, we shared and talked about the spaces that we have in our houses. Most of the students made connections with each other as they found out that some of them have the same space in their houses. In one of our class conversations, some students mentioned that they share their special space with other family members. We then started the conversation about common and private spaces. We can really see in the students’ eyes the joy that is brought by their special spaces and the things they can do in it.

Grade 2 Remote Learning

True to our CIS Guiding Statements, learning continues to be a joyful, creative, and open-ended exploration in Grade 2. On Monday, our excited student researchers kick off their new unit on How The World Works by going on a virtual field trip around the world. After taking attendance at 8AM, we boarded our helicopter on the school field, fastened our seatbelts, and pulled out our binoculars and recording notebooks. What will we see and discover? Will our predictions be correct? As we took off high into the sky with the helicopter noise roaring in our ears, the students gasped with amazement and wonder. Then they used their senses to observe, notice, and record details of the incredible sights below. Could these places be true? How can land and rocks be split? Was it an earthquake or a tsunami? How do mountains form? Could we go back in time to see who did all of this? (The answer is yes. Later in the week, we went on a second field trip in a time machine that took us all the way back to 240 million years ago… but the students came away with more questions than answers!) All of these student thoughts, connections, and questions will now guide us as we inquire deeper into How The World Works. Stay tuned to learn how our knowledge, understanding, and skills will develop over the next few weeks!

Philippine Language & Culture

Lower Elementary: Family values in the Philippines

Our Early Years learners are engaged in our topic about the values of a typical Filipino family. One of the values that Filipinos take seriously is to show respect to the elders. In the Philippines, we do the Mano Po (Mano Po) as a sign of respect. We ask for the hand of our elder and gently place it on our forehead while saying “Mano Po”. Similar to the mano Po gesture, Po and Opo are also distinctly Filipino ways of showing respect to one’s elders. The Po is usually affixed to the end of sentences or phrases when one is addressing someone older than him or her. Another tradition many families value is visiting church to pray together or Pagsisimba.

In addition, we have been exploring how a traditional Filipino family lives by looking at how they made their houses and the values they have. We took a peek into the structure of a Bahay Kubo, a type of stilt house indigenous to the Philippine culture. We learned how to introduce family members in Filipino, i.e. Tatay (father), Nanay (mother), Ate (older sister), Kuya (older brother), and Bunso (youngest sibling).

Upper Elementary: Family values in the Philippines

We continued to explore our unit on Family in our Philippine Language and Culture class. Our inquiry led us to the question “what makes our family unique“ and we looked into our contrasting family values and beliefs. Grade 2 and 3 students expressed their appreciation of the Filipino family’s common values as we shared each other’s family values. Though we come from different countries and celebrate different things, we do have something in common. We realized that each family have their own values and beliefs that we should also respect. In addition, the students and their family had fun playing the game ‘Pinoy Henyo‘ during our synchronous class and were able to share their knowledge about Filipino games.

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School Principal

Dear Parents,

We have made it to October and the end of our first quarter of the academic year. Well done and thank you all once again for all of your support, flexibility, and growth mindset as we have navigated through these first months of our school year together. My wish is that you all are able to enjoy a restful break next week, and hopefully this will give us all a wonderful opportunity to relax, recuperate, and prepare for the remainder of our semester.

Design in the MYP

The Design Cycle is a “model framework” used by International Baccalaureate students to guide them in creating solutions in response to challenges. As a central component of the MYP program, design challenges all of our students to:

• apply practical and creative thinking skills to solve design problems
• explore the role of design in both historical and contemporary contexts
• consider their responsibilities when making design decisions and taking action. 

MYP Design emphasizes and fosters a focus on the holistic design process rather than simply focusing on the final products and solutions.

MYP uses the design cycle as a way to guide and structure:

• inquiry and analysis of design problems
• development and creation of feasible solutions
• testing and evaluation of students’ models, prototypes, products, or systems.

For parents involved professionally in Research and Development or Innovative Product Design, all of this may seem quite familiar. What we are doing is teaching our students how to follow the same steps that professionals in the “real world” take to design new products or systems. Hence, our design program is one of the most relevant dimensions of our MYP program both in terms of the process itself but also with regard to the real world concerns we direct students to engage in when they problem-solve.

The Design Cycle contains the following four essential elements/steps:

At the Investigate stage students are led to ask questions such as: What problem do I want to solve? They may research similar solutions which have been attempted previously by others. They also ask practical questions such as what supplies they will need.

At the Design/Plan stage students use their critical thinking skills to develop their ideas and consider what the final product will look like. They are asked to generate at least two prototypes for consideration and evaluate these options to ultimately choose what they feel is the best one.

At the Create stage students build/make/construct their selected prototype.

At the Evaluate stage students test the quality and efficacy or their solutions, asking questions like: Did it turn out as planned? Which step might I need to reconsider and plan differently? What variable should I change this time? If the solution is positive, can I consistently recreate the same results and, if so, how?

As you can see, this model, as a cycle, invites inquiry at all stages and the four steps are actually interacting dynamically throughout the process.

A more complex and full-orbed version of this model looks like this:

Grade 7 Design

by Mr. Jessie Saclo, Design Teacher

Imagination and creativity are key elements in design. The IB, through the MYP, emphasizes the significance of design as a profound approach in exploring possibilities and constraints to provide solutions to the inherent problems presented by a rapidly developing world. Design being the link between innovation and creativity enhances the process that transpires within the birth of an idea to the final form of the conceived product. By applying the principles of the design cycle, students become aware of the fundamentals of design through methods of inquiring, analysing, developing ideas, creating solutions, and evaluation. Students develop their skills in thinking critically while also gradually applying the principles of design as an iterative and cyclical process. 

The grade 7 design class has recently learned how to utilize the 3D design application, Tinkercad, to create product designs by manipulating basic geometric shapes and transforming them into composites ready for 3D printing. The students each identified a problem that they are able to solve using Tinkercad. Here are some reflections on their design solutions.

This year for unit 1 of design we have been learning how to use the app Tinkercad. We had to make a few formative designs so we can be ready for our summative design. For our summative design we had to make a design that would fix a problem that we have. I did not quite fix a problem for myself, but instead for my fish. The reason I went with this is because I want my fish to live in a better home and be more happy. One big way I made my fish happy was by adding artificial corals. The most challenging part for me in building this design was that I had to measure every artificial coral to see if the fish would fit inside. – Xavi

My tinkercad design is an organizer to hold certain things, especially for my stationery and notebooks because they are usually scattered around my table and I don’t like it. I also made it to be kinda carried like a basket because the top area is a handle and has a place to put stuff. The bottom is the notebook area, though. – Aadya

My design is about a stationery organizer. I specifically chose this because every time and everyone sees my table, their first impression is “This is really, REALLY messy.” I do arrange it a lot but no matter how I place my stuff, it always seems to be chaotic. So I decided to just make a single container and organize all my stuff in one box. I honestly had a hard time measuring and making the shape that I wanted to, but overall I think it’s a success and I can use it with good usage. – Rina

My problem was that I didn’t have a proper enclosed case for my stylus. I also wanted to keep my accessories for the stylus with the stylus. The steps in my process were to look at existing products, draw the sketch of what I want my design to be, sketch out other designs, make small adjustments on my original design, and lastly replicate the design using Tinkercad. – KC

I came up with my designs because my house has a lot of random jewelry around everywhere, so I wanted to make a jewelry holder to make things organized. I made it in the shape of a butterfly because to me butterflies represent beauty and to be your own self, and that was what I wanted others to feel. While I was making the design the trickiest part was making the butterfly because if I made the wings I had to make them aligned and symmetrical. – Grace

For my creation, I wanted to come up with something that could sort out my problem of having nowhere to put my accessories.  First, we created multiple potential designs to become the solution, then we asked our peers or family for their opinion with which one they think would be the most suitable. When we finished choosing our final design to create, we went on TinkerCAD to make it ourselves. A challenge for me was finding the inspiration in the first place where we needed to brainstorm, but then I came across a design and added my own changes to it to make mine different. After some advice on certain components of my original design, I adjusted it until I was satisfied and turned it in. – Yi Chen

At the beginning of the unit we were told to find a problem in our household, for example a stationery organizer or a wire holder; mine is a jewelry organizer. I chose this because my earrings have no proper storage space. So to come up with my perfect design, I had to do some research. I looked at all kinds of jewelry organizers, boxes, trays, bags, I chose a tree like design and the tray, where you can hang your jewelry or lay your jewelry. Then I had to make the base and the containers or tree branches, and finally the measuring to see if everything is the right shape, this was my most challenging part, I was not able to measure very well or accurately but so I learned. Finally, do some touch ups and add color and make it your style since it will be in your house hold all day, this was my favorite part. Finally done, there I have made one tree and one holder for my jewelry. What problem would you like to solve and how would you have designed it? – Amelia

Grade 8 Design

by Ms. Gerri Ancajas Jumao-as, Design Teacher

The Grade 8 class has been investigating different methods of delivering a message for their unit on Delivery of Message.  Students have been exploring various ways as to how we can communicate relevant issues as part of the shared responsibilities of being a member of a community.  As a formative task, they created a poster to promote awareness on Covid 19 safety.  Please find below some samples of our student work.

In terms of communicating some safety tips to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 to protect yourself and others, I feel that I have been effective. The drawings of the two people turned out really well because I made them big enough so that they will be visible especially from afar. The colors that I used pop, which make the poster more interesting and nice to look at. The captions are the just the right size for people to read even from afar. The elements of my poster are balanced, so there aren’t too many drawings on one side, which is good. – Fiana

I am very pleased with the final result of my poster; it looks really good. I think the areas that are done well are the drawings in the middle and the portions of text. The drawings in the center of the poster turned out really nicely; it’s big enough for people to see from afar and the colors really pop for me which makes it more visible. The text is large enough for people to be able to read from a certain distance. – Gabrielle

 It feels good to finish the poster since it took a lot of time and hard work. I feel like it looks pretty nice and colorful and is easy to read.  I think it would help to convey this message and I think it would work pretty well since it is very simple. – Miguel

I feel very happy about my finished product. It looks very nice and the colors appear very attractively. I think I have been very effective in communicating the safety tips. I think the title is very well done because it clearly shows the message. I also think the small messages are very helpful to keep the people safe. – Sengo

Grade 9 Design Class

by Ms. Gerri Ancajas Jumao-as, Design Teacher

The Grade 9 Design class has been investigating different cooking methods and handwork processes for their unit on Food Preparation.  Students applied their creativity in developing dishes that support varied palettes.  As a formative task, they explored different ways for how to prepare and cook individually selected dishes.

Sofia’s Bread Pudding: I think I did well with this recipe. It was not as complicated as the first two recipes I investigated and it did not require frying or cutting vegetables. A challenge I had was placing the shallow bowl into the steamer. I was afraid I would accidentally touch it and get burned. I overcame it by just facing it head first and just gently and quickly dropping it into the pot. Through this recipe I was able to develop my skills in creating desserts. I do not usually cook desserts and most of the time cook breakfast, lunch, or dinner. – Sofia

I think I did pretty well, I didn’t run into any problems with this dish and my family loved it so I think it was successful. I also found that the lasagna tasted really good.  My skill in cooking really improved here because this dish was really complicated for me. Before making this dish, I had no idea how to make lasagna and now I can say that I can prepare lasagna on my own. – Liam

Click for video

I think this definitely turned out better than expected. I have never used a steamer before, but it worked out okay with some help. I made too little filling, so I ended up with some dough left over, but the dumplings I made were okay. I feel I may have added too much salt this time, and it overpowered the other seasonings I put in the filling. I also had trouble making the dumpling wrapper, but I managed pretty well. I didn’t cut out circles from a big piece of dough but I took small balls of dough and rolled them out. they weren’t perfect circles, but they still worked well. I think that I have learned a few lessons from this session; don’t over season, follow measurements exactly, ask for help if you’re not sure, and many other things. – Mahati

This was a very very difficult meal to prepare. I should beat the meat, but the meat shouldn’t be torn. I tried to beat it slowly and carefully. I used pepper to remove the smell of pork, but I actually used too much pepper. Actually, pepper smells better than pork, but I don’t feel good about this menu. Overall, it was a bit challenging, but it improved my skills in some parts. – Minseong

Click for video

I think I did pretty well because the finished product looks very tasty and is also very tasty. The challenge that I came across was straining the water; the pot was very heavy which led to me almost dropping it. I overcame it by not carrying the pot but rather just placing it in the tile and carefully pouring/strain the water. I think that I now know the basics of blanching and sautéing which I think I became very good at. – Clark

I think I did really well because they tasted really good and they had a nice lemony taste to them. They were also cooked perfectly. My main challenge was whisking the egg whites without a mixer because it was really hard to keep doing it for long periods of time. I tried switching the angle of the whisk every few minutes, and that helped a little bit. It was also pretty hard to grate the lemon zest from the lemon because the outside of it was really rough, so I had to press really hard to get the skin off. I used a handheld grater rather than a regular one and that made it much easier to grate the lemon zest from the lemon.

I learned a lot of skills during this formative recipe because I’ve never whisked egg whites by myself before and it was interesting to see how they turned out in the end. I’ve also never made meringue cookies in general, so this was really fun to accomplish and do it well. My whole family liked it, including me.

Athletics Director’s News

by Mr. Ace Pierra, Athletics Director

ISAC Update

The ISAC board met last Friday to discuss important details about ISAC during lockdown. Here’s the statement of the ISAC board.

“Due to the Philippine government mandate of no in-person classes, and due to the IATF directives disallowing sports competitions and tournaments, the ISAC Athletic Administrators recommend to the heads of their respective schools, the cancellation of season 1 sports in the first semester of the year.  Furthermore, the AD’s recommend that if schools are back on campus and if allowed by the government, that season 2 & 3 combine in a yet to be decided tournament format.  If there are any changes to the government mandates, the ISAC AD’s are prepared to meet immediately in order to make adjustments.”

The ISAC board also decided to conduct an online ISAC tournament/challenges which will start next week. It is open to all students.

Challenges will be by age category to be participated by all ISAC schools.

CAS / Service Learning

Lockdown did not stop our students from doing their CAS experiences. Listen to this beautiful song composed and sung by Deandra and Imai for the frontliners.

“We have composed a song to thank the frontliners for what they have done for us while we are all staying safe at home. These people risk their own lives to help others and through this song, we want them to feel appreciated. We also created a lyric video along with the song. We hope you enjoy it! 🙂 – Deandra and Imai

HEROES

After School Activities – Online

CIS REAVO Club

From the beginning of quarantine to the end of summer, our club of Radio/Rescue Emergency Assistance Volunteer Organization (REAVO) Junior Responders decided to try and continue our lessons of responding to first-aid online through our own free time. Every Wednesday, we met and continued throughout summer, adding Friday to our meetings per week. We learned the steps in responding to a medical emergency. The students responded to hypothetical simulations and provided videos of their work. Our goal is to spread the practical skill of being a Responder which can be very useful in life. This year, we are continuing it as a virtual club, and we invite the high school students to join and learn the practical skill of saving lives this semester. This could make a difference in your life later on! – Juan Miguel Q., G12

PHE9 Class Online Learning

Ms. Hidilyn Diaz, Olympian Silver Medalist and World Cup Weightlifting Champion joined the PHE9 Class Online Learning.

As part of the PHE 9 Unit 1- Personal Fitness Program, we culminated our unit through an online question and answer session with Olympian Ms. Hidilyn Diaz. Students were given the opportunity to ask questions about how they can develop their fitness program at home as well staying fit and healthy during the lockdown.

For this unit of Physical Health Education, PHE, we focused on creating our own fitness programs at home during this lockdown and looking into improving our fitness and health during online learning. We each choose a fitness goal like increasing stamina, muscle gain or weight loss, etc. and each person chose a focus and created a plan or program around it. We had to do some research on our goal chosen and the exercises that would help us reach that goal. We then took the research made and knowledge we’ve gained and applied to our fitness plan. We would record our exercises and show evidence through our online portfolios with videos or pictures. After around 1 month of exercising we created a calendar to show all the things we’ve been doing so far. After that we continued on until our last day of exercise which was September 30, Wednesday.- Jandra R.

Dragon’s Print

Announcing… Dragon’s Print!

Dragon’s Print is the school’s first online student-run website and publication. Made of a team of Grade 11 students, they release articles every Friday on their website dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph

S.Y. 2020-2021 – Meet the Team!

Although it may not seem like it, we’ve been in quarantine for around 6 months already! By this time, hopefully, everyone has already adjusted to this new normal of just waking up, attending online classes, eating our meals, and going back to sleep. But because we are so used to this new normal, we decided to bring a little ‘spice’ to your lives… Through documenting the day of some students! Read it on dragonsprint.cis.edu.ph

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Tip for the Week:

Scholarships and Financial Aid

If you are applying for a scholarship of seeking financial aid  in a university in the USA, make sure you fill in the CSS Profile on this link: https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/.

This profile needs to be submitted separately from your college application to be considered for a scholarship.  Speak to the college counselor for more details.

Upcoming Virtual Visits and Fairs: (students & parents are welcome)

DATE

October 3 – Saturday
11:00AM (Virtual)

October 5 – Monday
10:00AM
Virtual

October 7
Wednesday
6:00PM

October 8
Thursday
8:00PM

October 9 – Friday
5:00PM

October 14
Wednesday
6:00 PM

October 15
Thursday
1:00 PM

October 16 – Friday
7:00 PM

October 27 & 28
3:00 – 7:00 PM

November 13
Friday
2:00 – 5:00PM

EVENT

University of the Pacific (USA)
Zoom Link: Univ of the Pacific

Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
Zoom link to register:
https://cuhk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nv_PEeoaQ4OG8JuiGtxZ4A

Hong Kong Polytechnic University(Hong Kong)
Faculty of Construction & Environment
Link to register: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/pfs/index.php/482696?lang=en

Canada Virtual Fair (Link: Link to Canadian Fair) – Participating universities:
Mc Gill University, Concordia University, University of Toronto, Ryerson University, University of British Columbia, Ontario College of Art & Design, Lakehead University, Memorial University of Newfoundland

University of Navarra (Spain)
Zoom link to follow

Hong Kong Polytechnic University(Hong Kong)
Faculty of Business, Health & Social Sciences
Link to register: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/pfs/index.php/482696?lang=en

University of New Brunswick and University of Victoria (Canada)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3183943681
Meeting ID: 318 394 3681
Password: 946466

New York University (USA)
To register: NYU Info Session

Student World Virtual Fairs
Click to see List of Universities

Study in Japan Virtual Fair
Participating universities:
University of Tsukuba, Kyushu, University, Temple University Japan, Hiroshima University, Nagoya University of Commerce & Business, iCLA Yamanashi Gakuin University, Nagoya University and Kyoto University of Advanced Science
Link to Virtual Fair: Study in Japan Fair

SAT Update

Please note that most universities have gone test-optional.  This means they do not require test scores for students to be eligible for admission.

September 26 and October 3 have been  cancelled by the College Board.  Test-takers registered on these dates will have received an email with instructions.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Admin News

CIS Corporation Announcement

The Annual Meeting of the CIS Corporation will be held via videoconferencing on Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at 7:00pm.

CIS Corporation members will receive meeting details via their registered email prior to the meeting.

For any inquiries, please contact the CIS Corporation secretary, Ms. Azela Diapana <adiapana@cis.edu.ph>.

PLDT Advisory

Dear CIS Community,

We have recieved an advisory notice from PLDT indicating major mainenance on one of their submarine cables. As per the latest update (refer to the infographic for details), all measures are in place to ensure continued connectivity during the scheduled emergency repair. PLDT has spare cables systems and additional capacity to keep uninterrupted connection during the service maintenance.

If there are any connectivity issues (which there are occasionally even without major maintenance!), do not let it bother you. Teachers are aware this might happen, so students can just switch to work on asynchronous learning activities until their connection is restored.

Source

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary School Principal

Dear Elementary Community,

Throughout the year we like to hold regular parent workshops at CIS. Since we have been on Remote Learning the elementary school has not offered workshops to parents, however we believe the time has come to begin offering these again. CIS views parents as partners in the learning process and never before has this been more true. As partners we would like the opportunity to discuss the learning process with you in greater detail and there is much that we as a school can learn from your experiences over these past months of being a teacher and facilitator of learning at home. In the survey linked here a list of workshops has been shared. Some of these are workshops that we have offered before, while others are new and more targeted to our current circumstances. We would be grateful if you would take a few minutes to complete this short survey to help us plan workshops that would be both meaningful and worthwhile to you as parents. There is also a place in the survey for you to suggest workshops that we may not have thought of. Please follow this link to complete the short survey.

Remote Learning on Seesaw

PE Synchronous Class

by Mr. Jaydil Hermias, PE Teacher

Physical education has never been more important than it is right now. Students find themselves living more sedentary lives. Sedentary bodies can lead to sedentary minds.

During our PE synchronous class, students are engaged in several virtual fitness games such as 60- Second Challenge, Virtual Tag Games, Scavenger Hunt, Simon Says as well as learning the different Components of Physical Fitness to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. One of the most exciting parts is letting them play using the materials that are available at home, for example, paper bags, paper towels, pencils, rolled socks, stuffed toys, pillows, the laundry basket, and books. Students display a lot of enjoyment when they have been very active and participative during our synchronous classes. They also get a chance to collaborate with different grade levels. Students are also provided with options to do the PE activities posted on Seesaw at their own pace.

Understanding the concept of CHANGE in the Early Years

by The Early Years Team

Our EY learners have been engaged in our unit of inquiry, Who We Are. We have been exploring the key concept “change” through various learning experiences, such as story read alouds, collaborative discussions, and simple experiments. Last week, we did an experiment to see how objects and materials change. The EY 2 and 3 students had the opportunity to conduct some experiments at home. Some students choose:

• Color Mixing – Mix two or more colors and see what changes happen. What happens if we mix different colors together?
• Ice Melting – Put some ice in a bowl and let it sit on a counter. Observe what happens to the ice after leaving it out of the freezer.
• Making Playdough – Mix ingredients together and see what happens. In what way did the materials change?

The students identified that changes can happen when we mix ingredients together, or if we change the conditions they are kept in together.

We have also investigated how living things such as humans and plants can change. Last Tuesday, we put some mung bean seeds on wet cotton to see what would happen. After a few days they began to sprout. We recorded our observations each day using pictures each day is an opportunity for them to begin developing their research skills.

We look forward to inquiring deeper into this unit to gain a better understanding of who we are.

Living Things in Grade 5

by Ms. Freya Abella and Ms. Carolyn Pynor

This week in Grade 5, we looked back and reflected on our first Unit of Inquiry. The students have shown how advertisements affect our decisions on what we purchase. In their responses, they showed evidence of how they are Thinkers and Communicators, and how they are reflective.

We have also begun our new Unit Of Inquiry, How the World Works with the central idea,  Living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment. We are talking about unusual animals and how they have adapted with their ever-changing environments. This is a  little bit like us adapting to COVID-19 and the changes in our environment.

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School Principal

Social and Emotional Learning in MHS

Last week in the ES portion of the Newsflash Mr. Davies explored the area of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) needs and why it is so vital for us to be aware of and address those dimensions within our community, especially given the current quarantine status. As he explained, our previous traditional daily face to face classroom interactions with students allowed many of our students’ social and emotional needs to be met organically; however, as this period of remote learning is extended and people find and/or feel themselves isolated, both physically and psychologically, it is incumbent upon schools to become more intentional about how they meet these social and emotional learning needs.

I wanted to build on what was shared last week and focus on our Social and Emotional Learning efforts in the Middle and High School, exploring some of the things we are doing in our co-curricular programs to promote and facilitate social and emotional learning.

Virtual House Activity Day

The House Activities Day (HAD) is one of the most awaited events at Cebu International School every year wherein the members of the 4 Houses – Acacia, Mahogany, Molave, and Narra – engage in various activities that promote teamwork and foster school spirit! In recent years, this event has been spearheaded by the Student Council members fulfilling their aim of creating opportunities for students to have fun, work together, and enrich their non-academic school experience.

With the remote learning set-up this year, it has been quite a challenge for the members of the StuCo to come up with creative ideas to hold a virtual HAD, which would be quite unique compared to those held in previous years, yet would still be as fun and as enjoyable! While virtual, the students were able to enjoy a morning full of exciting and engaging activities as they went through 6 different activity stations which ranged from virtual charades, singing songs, competing in random trivia, drawing and guessing pictures, team challenges, and even physically challenging activities!

Of course, the House Captains were on top of their league as they guided their house members in creating house hype videos which included chants and cheers for their respective teams! Virtual venues were created to house up to 40 students at a time and each one tried their best to contribute whatever they could to help their respective teams!

In the end, there can only be one winner and for our first HAD of the year, the house that obtained the most overall points was House Narra!

Here’s what Bianca M., the Class Representative of Grade 11 has to say about her experience:

If I were to describe last week’s HAD, I would say it was different…in a good way. The days previous to HAD, were filled with much uncertainty. Surprisingly though, it went much better than anyone could have expected. There were almost no complications during the day itself and from what I heard, most people actually enjoyed it. It was a nice break from online classes and a great way to connect with people from different grade levels. One highlight of mine was the live awarding ceremony. Because of the new online platform, I wasn’t able to see who was watching us. This was a good thing, though, as I have really bad stage fright. Overall, I think the day was very successful and enjoyable for all who participated. I surely can’t wait for HAD 2!

And here’s the Narra House Captain’s experience:

Online HAD was a huge success. I was quite nervous waking up in the morning since this would be the first HAD I would be leading. Going into the first activity I was very excited after the game finished and I felt the nerves coming in because we had tied with Acacia that round. But as the day progressed and we started winning more and more of the activities, my nerves settled and the determination to win kicked in. When they announced the final results I was ecstatic because I knew all the effort the Narra team had put into the games. Overall, I felt as though all the games went very smoothly and all the intensive planning the Student Council put in really showed.

StuCo would like to thank everyone who helped in any capacity to make this first ever virtual HAD a success! To all teachers who supervised the teams and activities, to the live ceremony team headed by Ms. Jenny Basa and Ms. Justine Condor, and especially to all students who gave their best for their respective houses! Until next HAD!

Here are some photos from our HAD 1

Adapting Homeroom Time

One of the things we have done this semester to help our students socially and emotionally has been to return to holding homeroom/advisory twice per week, which has given us much more scope to meet virtually with our students with a non-academic focus. Last week, for example, we were able to allocate homeroom time to gather our students across all grade levels according to their respective houses and facilitate their collaboration in preparation for HAD day.

For any of you who missed our opening ceremony, you can follow the link to the video below. The respective houses, led by their house captains, collaborated on the video, created and presented house cheers, and then presented three house representatives for the “best dressed” competition.

The houses worked together to plan and create these spirit videos which were used to kick-off our HAD day and begin scoring points for the final tally. As you can see, these creations were student driven and student led, with the adults facilitating from behind the scenes. One of the things that HAD does so well is to involve all of our students across all grade levels, so those who may have been feeling a bit isolated would have the chance to work together with their houses and feel a sense of participation and connection.

After School Activities

This semester we have initiated and are running ASA’s just as we always do, albeit virtually, and these groups provide another opportunity for us to address the SEL needs of our students. This semester the ASA’s are optional both for students and for faculty sponsors. However, even though these are not mandatory, we are running nineteen different ASA activities after school to allow our students to gather (virtually), learn, collaborate, and create outside of regular class time. The following are two examples.

Student Support Club
Last year this group was formed after we saw the encouraging success of the Grade 5/6 mentoring program. We thought it would be a great idea to embrace the purpose of the mentoring program, which was created to provide support, empathy, and guidance for our youngest MHS students as they transitioned into Grade 6, and expand it to the entire MHS student body, since we can all use a little help from time to time. While this is a student-led group, Ms. Villagonzalo serves as the faculty sponsor and works with the students to equip them to be effective peer mentors. Here is a description of this ASA in the students’ words:

A strong support system is the foundation of a good community. In order for our school community to be efficient in what we do, we must have a group of people that the entire student body knows they can rely on. This group of people must be well-equipped enough to be able to tend to students and help provide emotional, social, or mental support.
This includes, but is not limited to:

• Knowing how to react/how to phrase words in situations where one opens up
• Being open-minded and accepting towards all identities and cultures
• Practicing non-judgmental listening
• Not forcing opinions on others
• Recognizing and helping others recognize toxic behaviours, traits, relationships, etc. and how to handle such situations
• Recognizing self-sabotage, and helping others to stop
• Knowing and understanding sensitive topics, why they are sensitive topics, and why they should never be joked about
• Understanding and being able to recognize depression, anxiety, disorders, etc.

○ Disclaimer: We understand that these are very serious issues, and it takes   someone who is more knowledgeable about these topics to deal with       them. We are not mature and prepared enough to help others with these, and will direct others to get proper help if necessary.
○ Reminder: It is okay to get help when necessary and is never something to be ashamed of.

The reason we want this group to be student-driven is because students can relate and empathize easier with other students. We understand the struggles a student has to go through, especially now with remote learning. We hope that this encourages students to be more open to approaching us and speaking with us.

Virtual Guitar Club
This semester we have revived the Guitar Club as an ASA and our small but active group comes together, guitars at the ready, on Google Meets to share and learn from each other. While students are given some direction and are taught how to play songs and develop new skills and techniques, they are also invited to request songs for the group to learn and can also teach the group songs and techniques that they have picked up.

Student reflections:
Guitar ASA is a fun way for me to get back into playing the guitar during this quarantine. I am able to spend this time dedicated to learning how to play the guitar better despite not being able to interact in-person. For me, it’s a great way to enjoy my hobby with others, making this quarantine a little less lonely. – Miggy

I have really been enjoying the Guitar ASA so far. I’m in the process of learning guitar, including practicing different guitar chords and learning different songs. The Guitar ASA helps me in this aspect, because it surrounds me with people who can help me get better. It’s more relaxed and less stressful compared to standard instrument lessons. Our sessions are done in a very social way, where everyone is working and communicating together; I really enjoy that. – Kat

College Counselor’s Corner

Tip for the Week

Online options for extra-curricular activities:
If you are worried about having less opportunity for CAS during quarantine, sign up for the online CAS projects presented by Mr Pierra. When filling in your college application form, provide context about your situation and describe what you are doing virtually. The admissions officers will appreciate as much information provided by you as the applicant.

Upcoming Virtual College Visits & Fairs

SAT Update

Please note that most universities have gone test-optional. This means they do not require test scores for students to be eligible for admission.

September 26 and October 3 have been cancelled by the College Board. Test-takers registered on these dates will have received an email with instructions.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link. If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Admin News

You have probably noticed now that each week, we are showcasing examples of remote learning in the Newsflash from various subjects at both the elementary and middle/high school levels. We hope you are finding this informative and interesting! Our purpose for doing this is to give our community an idea of how learning is occurring at various levels in different subjects, and to promote the feeling of community through connectedness as we all work towards our school’s guiding statements.

Another way parents have the opportunity to learn more about how we do things at CIS is to attend our CIS PTA virtual Coffee Morning Meetings! Last week, we covered the question, “How can parents support their children during remote learning?” I have included the main areas covered below for those who could not make it.

How can parents support their children during remote learning?

1. Lay the foundations

• Are YOU ready to support your child’s academic, social, and emotional learning?
• Children will pick up (and mimic) your feelings/attitudes!
  • Be positive/proactive/place importance on learning
• Ask for help (from teachers, keep in touch with other [positive] parents)
• Consider the context (Remote Learning) at home – adapt!
• Consider “Maslow” before “Bloom” (essentially meaning consider health and wellbeing needs before trying to learn).
• Note the key components of remote learning at CIS (refer to the diagram to the right) also highlights the need for a holistic program that addresses five main focus areas that cover both the social-emotional learning as well as academic learning.

2. Prepare a safe space

Physically – uncluttered, resourced, quiet/limit distractions, comfortable,
Emotionally – safe and supportive, protected from stress/fear/harm

3. Facilitate a supportive learning environment

• Provide positive conditions at home (download PDF with details)
• Ensure they take breaks
• Allow them to FAIL (“First Attempt At Learning”)
• Consider their Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) needs
• Relationships with their peers
• What motivates them?

4. Promote optimal learning habits

• Learning should be fun (even if it is hard at times)
• Encourage a growth mindset
• Approaches to Learning skills
• Maintain a disciplined structure to facilitate productive habits (age-appropriate/important for all ages)
• Balance screen time with breaks and non-device work
• Consider your child’s individual needs (personality, temperament…)

A selection of resources with more detail:

• Building Positive Conditions for Learning at Home: Strategies and Resources for Families and Caregivers
• How Parents Can Help Their Kids While Managing Distance Learning
• Keep Calm, Learning is On! Tips and Resources for Parents to Support Learning at Home
• 22 Remote Learning Tips For Parents Helping At Home
• Build IB Approaches to Learning at Home – A collection of diverse challenges across skills
• D4ELL 5 = ONLINE LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR PARENTS & STUDENTS.pdf

Finally, the Student Councils of both ES and MHS with their teacher supervisors are busy preparing for our first Virtual House Activity Day (HAD) next Friday (Sept. 18) morning. I am impressed with the creativity of the planning teams and look forward to the event. As per usual, students then have the afternoon off while the Faculty hold inservice meetings.

I hope to see many of you at the Parent Coffee Meeting on Thursday at 10 am. Have a wonderful weekend!

Regards

Dr. Gwyn Underwood, Superintendent

Elementary News

by Glenn Davies, Elementary School Principal

Dear Elementary Community,

Over this past week, the AMT (Academic Management Team) has been exploring the concept of Cognitive Bandwidth. This is a concept that explores how we may free up intelligence, or IQ, by establishing routines that take care of lower-level thinking, freeing up the mind to engage in creativity and problem-solving.

Distraction depletes cognitive ability because the distraction becomes the point of focus. As adults, we have developed some level of control over this distractibility, although many of us would admit to finding ourselves distracted more often than we would like. Children however have limited ability to monitor or control this distraction, particularly when engaged in formal school-based learning. For children distraction may be caused by spending learning time organizing a personal space, active social media in the learning space, by just getting up too late and being unprepared, then having to leave the focus of learning to retrieve something that has been forgotten. Helping students intentionally develop and managing their executive functioning skills empower students to make intentional choices to overcome many of these distractions. Freeing up a student’s working memory can be done by developing routines and through learning to use calendars, diaries, daily planners, and by engaging in personal reflection.

At the beginning of each school year, our CIS teachers spend several weeks setting students up for success by developing habits and routines that allow them to automate their lower-level thinking so the distractions of getting organized do not become a focus that robs a student of their cognitive bandwidth. Although we began the school year remotely,  the focus on the development of routines and learning habits at beginning of this school year was no different, it was clear to us as a team of educators that developing habits and routines would be the foundation of Remote Learning success. To assist with this, the elementary teachers developed a school-wide schedule identifying each class’s synchronous calls. Each family was given a schedule showing when each call would take place, and students were given a daily schedule to follow which included an identified start time, break times, and an identified end of the school day.  Over these past weeks, we have seen these routines gradually become established, resulting in students become increasingly responsible for their own learning. These routines are at the heart of our IBPYP Learning. The ATL (Approaches to Learning) Skills and Attributes are weaved throughout the PYP as essential skills and attributes that prepare students to navigate this changing and challenging world. When considering the management of our Cognitive Bandwidth, the Self-Management ATL skills emerge as a focus area. It really is very exciting when we see our students make milestones in their personal self-management, and taking increasing levels of responsibility for their own learning. (Source: International Baccalaureate)

As you continue to support your children with their remote learning, supporting them in the development of these daily routines is one of the most effective ways to help them to develop independence in their own learning. Regular bedtimes, waking up at the same time each day, taking responsibility for changing their own device, and having a set place to work each day are all ways these habits can be developed, thereby maximizing your child’s cognitive bandwidth.

(Source: Alison Young)

Learning in the Media Center

During one of our Synchronous calls with the Early Years class, we read a story about Mr. Wiggle, who loves books. The story taught us how we should take good care of our books.

One way to make sure that our books are in good condition is to use a bookmark. During one of our synchronous calls, we made bookmarks together.

Students are also learning how to choose good-fit books using the I-PICK method and the 5 Finger Rule. As a reader, we make sure that the book that we have is a good fit so that we can understand and enjoy what we are reading.

Borrowing Books from the Media Center during Remote Learning

During this continued stay at home, the Media Center is here to provide you with hours of enjoyment! Students are welcome to borrow materials using the Follett Destiny catalog. Reading is a great way to pass time, improve thinking skills, learn new information, and expand our imaginations!

Here’s the link for our library catalog  https://cisph.follettdestiny.com/.

If you have any questions about borrowing books, please feel free to reach out to any of the Library/Media Center Staff Mr. Monfre (dmonfre@cis.edu.ph),  Ms. Noelle (malino@cis.edu.ph) and Ms. MJ (mcordova@cis.edu.ph).

Learning in Art

Over the past few week several teachers, EA’s and ur secretaries have been preparing our CIS Remote Learning Art Kits. This has been a rather big job and we are thankful for the assistance Ms. Lory, Ms. Belen, Ms. Freya have given. If you have not yet been able to collect your child’s RL Art Kit, please drop by the school at some point to collect it, or we are happy to work with you if you would like to arrange delivery through a third party.

Let’s look at some of the art projects CIS students have been doing during remote learning.

Early Years

The Early Years students have been exploring landscapes and Yoyo drew her chosen landscape. Yoyo has chosen colored pencils as her medium in this artwork. Yoyo describes her character as showing joy as she stands beneath the tree with the flowers.

Grade 3

The Grade 3 students watched a short film called Austin’s Butterfly.  This film focused on the importance of creating several drafts before having a successful drawing. Taito has shown perseverance in his Third Butterfly Draft. After each draft, the other Grade 3s suggested helpful ways for Taito to improve this butterfly drawing.

KG/G1

Grade 1 have been exploring the concept of impressionism and brush painting. Erin Gibson has captured the style of Impressionism in this landscape Painting. Her brushstrokes show similarities to the style of Vincent Van Gogh.

Grade 4

Learning in Grade 3

In Grade 3, the students have been exploring what makes them unique. They did so by representing different aspects about themselves through emojis. Then, all of the students tried to see if they could recognize each of their classmates by emojis alone. Emojis have now become more than just a face on an email, they are used to regularly express feeling and convey emotions in contexts where face to face communication is not possible. Learning to navigate the tool of the emoji is quickly becoming an important social skill. As the unit has progressed we have identified and discussed what are the different unique things that connected all of us, and which of our communities they connect us to. Please see some of our work samples below.

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School Principal

Another model for examining the power of technology integration

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus has been credited with the famous quote: The only constant thing in life is change.

Our current Covid crisis has forced schools across the world to get on board with exploring and implementing the use of new technological tools; at CIS this has meant advancing and refining our use of platforms and tools we already had in place, as well as adding new technology tools and resources to help our students engage and learn. While in the past some teachers could (and sometimes did) resist innovation since they were familiar with more traditional media; however, we are now in a position where educators world-wide have had to expand their skills and use of technology in order to continue being effective practitioners within our profession. This has actually been a real “silver lining” in the midst of this crisis, as technology holds the potential for opening up doors to learning we could have only imagined in the past.

We have examined the SAMR model in the Newsflash on a couple of occasions, and this week I wanted to share the RAT model for technology integration, which is similar and perhaps a bit easier to remember. It has been said that technological advances can fall into three categories: those which replace previous methods, those which amplify previous methods, or those that engender transformation. Similar to the Redefinition level of the SAMR model, technology has the ability to transform what students are doing and create ways of learning we would not have thought possible without the use of those innovative tools.

The RAT model breaks down our use of technology into these three categories as illustrated below:

R-replacement
A-amplification
T-transformation

Just like the SAMR model, RAT gives us a framework for evaluating the impact of technology on our instructional methods, student learning processes, curriculum goals, and the assessments we are using.

Replacement
An example of replacement would be schools installing white boards back in the 20th century. While white boards may be easier for students to see and easier to clean than blackboards, there really isn’t much appreciable difference between the two types of technology. PowerPoint can provide another example of replacement. If, for example, a teacher has a three slide PowerPoint containing content that could have easily have been written on the board, he is using technology just for the sake of technology.

Amplification
With amplification, we find that the basic structure of the experience in question doesn’t change. The practices that we’re doing, though, are amplified, so things either get better or they’re done more quickly; our efficiency or productivity increases as the structure becomes streamlined. Calculators offer a pretty clear example of amplification, that is, if you know what you’re actually putting into your calculator. Google docs contain built in features that can amplify the experience, like being able to search the “version history” of your doc to revisit a paragraph you might have deleted without needing to keep a stack of revised drafts. Student work created in Google can also be enhanced through features such as auto-saving the document as well as auto-sharing and auto-linking in the cloud. However, you are still creating a piece of writing with new tools that amplify the experience.

Transformation
This is where things really get exciting, and our teachers in both ES and MHS have been experimenting with technology in ways that challenge previous structures and where a brand new paradigm can emerge, where something incredibly different is created that couldn’t have existed without the use of innovative technology. Technology has the ability to change the way we teach and change the way we think about activities we might implement to engage our students. It also has the power to change the thought processes of our students. At the transformation level, we find school or learning not as we’ve always known it, but rather we see a new paradigm emerging, where the subject matter changes, our methods for teaching change, and/or the methods for learning change. Here are examples of how we are doing this in MHS.

Example 1:
Mr. Gibson, for his Grade 9 Language and Literature class, has created an asynchronous Nearpod extension of his lesson on chapter 4 of  Orwell’s Animal Farm exploring the impact of totalitarianism on education. He has created supplementary activities and questions which allow students to reinforce their understanding, as well as a short interactive video, which pauses along the way to check for and ensure student understanding.

You may access this experience by clicking on this link, entering the code RLMNO. The program also asks you to enter your name so it can record your individual responses; this feature allows Nearpod to provide both individual and class feedback, including graphs and charts to visually represent the data from the class. All of this can be generated automatically via this app.

Example 2:
Using the Flipgrid app participants make audio or video recordings and post them on the flipgrid, which is essentially a virtual message board; the messages here, however, are videos which allow students to both demonstrate their knowledge and also develop important communication skills. Other students from the class are often tasked with collaborating and offering feedback by posting their own videos in response to those on the flipgrid; these follow-up posts reinforce the students’ knowledge and allow the teacher to gauge the understanding of the class.

For example, students in Mandarin B (Grade 11 DP) may record and post their response to a newspaper article, using vocabulary specified by the teacher, and then their classmates can watch and respond to these recordings with video comments of their own (also using Mandarin). We can see here how much practice students would receive to reinforce and expand their understanding. The teacher also has the opportunity to review all of this recorded material and offer specific feedback and suggestions for further development.

Example 3:
Ms. Enrile describes her virtual classroom
The unique situation that we are in right now empowers teachers to find new ways to deliver the content during remote learning. My personal journey in daily class preparation includes designing and utilizing virtual classrooms for my science classes. A virtual classroom is a classroom with active links and embedded resources in Google slides. It is an ideal platform for sharing interactive resources with my students.

Essential to my virtual classrooms are the learning expectations, active links to varied resources and activities, synthesis discussion, formative assessments, and virtual labs when applicable.  As students access the tasks in the virtual classroom, they are able to develop their understanding and skills. All resources for each lesson are conveniently located in one place and students can always revisit the virtual classroom as they review the lesson. Its use is also beneficial to the students who missed classes. Since students are able to develop their knowledge and skills asynchronously, our morning synchronous sessions are focused more on giving feedback and answering questions since the synthesis discussion has already been integrated within the virtual classroom.

The use of virtual classrooms is just one of the varied ways to keep students engaged and keep the spirit of inquiry alive even during remote learning.

In essence then, the RAT model- replacement, amplification, and transformation, is simply another framework to help us understand and evaluate how we are using technology and provides a means for us to reflect on whether or not this has been effective? While transformation is the level we aspire to, it’s important to also acknowledge that It takes both critical and creative thinking on the part of our teachers to reach that level as they create learning engagements that are truly transformative.

Creativity Activity Service (CAS)/ Service Learning

by Zoe S. and Deandra R.

With the coming of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cebu has been one of the main cities of the Philippines that has suffered the most. The Enhanced Community Quarantine has limited the ability for most Cebuanos to acquire work and money, especially for the day to day workers. 

Without any work and a steady income, they were desperate to find support within their own communities. Most of these workers have families, so a source of money or food is essential to their survival in Cebu’s ECQ. The families that live by the riverside about a kilometer away from Villa Leyson Subdivision suffer from this situation, as they have no proper work to supply for their livelihood. Whatever finances they held had been exhausted, forcing them to find any means of work that was close to home. Since the ECQ only allowed them to move within their own barangay, finding work and money was scarce. This situation had taken a heavy toll on these poor families, as they had to work twice as hard for half the pay. 

My family is fortunate enough to live comfortably in this quarantine, but when we learned of the situation of these poor families, we felt the need to help. We reached out to friends and family, my grandmother and grandfather in the USA, Ms. Pynor the Grade 5 homeroom teacher, and CIS parent Mrs. Jovi Green responded positively. They all agreed to help us support these less fortunate families, either with money or basic goods. My grandparents from the USA sent us money to partially pay for the supplies we were buying, while Ms. Pynor and Mrs. Jovi Green also contributed with donations of food and supplies. With the cooperation of all these people, we were able to support multiple families every two weeks since June. 

On our first donation, we identified the families that needed it the most, one of which did not live close to the riverside but within Villa Leyson. We purchased the groceries and had the identified families collect from our home. They were grateful, even for the very basic essentials, as each family received food to sustain them for five days. In addition to food, we also donated clothes, bags, and shoes we have outgrown. We have done around eight waves of grocery donations since June, and have plans to continue in the future until these families are able to steadily support themselves. 

With this, I learned that there are people who are truly suffering from Cebu’s quarantine and that my family is very fortunate enough to be able to help them. There are many more poor communities just like this all over Cebu, some of which are in worse conditions than that of the riverside. As members of the CIS community, it is within our ability to help and support these communities in any way. Be it in donations, awareness, or in any way that you can think of contributing, we can make a difference in Cebu’s current situation. – Zoe S.

Because of the pandemic that the world is facing today, many people have been vastly affected. I am planning to support the communities living by the riverside near Villa Leyson, Bacayan from selling my family’s old clothes (attached below are pictures of the area). These clothes would be sold at low prices to family and friends, which would help prevent contact with strangers (considering the Covid-19 precautionary measures) and it also allows them to thrift. All of the profit earned from the clothing will then be used to provide those families with basic necessities such as but not limited to food packs, shampoo, conditioner, and sanitary items. I have decided to do this because many people have been struggling with their jobs to support themselves and I have outgrown a lot of the items in my closet. What better way to get rid of clothes than to do it for a cause? This week, I have been successful in selling some items to my families’ households, but I think it would be a challenge to get many other people to buy a lot. I would overcome this by promoting this sale through social media platforms to spread the message. I hope to make an impact on the lives of the people living by the riverside by putting a smile on their faces and by reminding them that people care. This helps me as a learner because it allows me to be more open-minded and aware of what people are going through during these trying times. It makes me more grateful for the blessings that I have and also reminds me to bless others as well. I challenge other students to help support Cebu whether that be by donating to charities, giving provision to the less fortunate, spreading awareness about Covid-19, or even by staying at home. Let us make a difference, even while stuck in quarantine. – Deandra R.

Salamat sa mga Frontliners

by Jenny B.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the world by storm and has led the Philippines to be in the world’s longest and strictest lockdown. During this unprecedented and difficult time, the majority of us have had the privilege of being in a safe home within the comfort of our families and preparing for a new school year in remote learning.

On the contrary, there have been many others out there struggling to make ends meet. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of indispensable workers to our society as well as shed light on the significant imbalance in the wealth inequality of the Philippines. As we are adjusting to the new “normal”, it is crucial to understand what we could do to help our frontline workers and those who have been at work non-stop in order to provide us with our welfare.

In my case, I’ve used money that I’ve earned from working as an online english tutor for younger kids during the summer, to purchase face masks and shields to donate to the families of frontline workers. This project was meaningful to me in that I was able to give back to those who do so much for us and be able to give back a sense of gratitude and let these families know that I acknowledge and am immensely grateful for the work that the frontliners have done to help me and my family feel protected.

Going forward and embracing the changes around us, we have been taught the value of our health and safety and develop a sense of responsibility to ourselves and others by practicing health measures and protocols that are being established around us. With more cooperation and less indifference, we can fight through this pandemic and gain profound insight.

Book Donation Drive

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor 

Tip for the Week:

• When writing your college essay, always start with your draft on a google doc or word document. Do not type directly into the online form where you are to submit the essay.
• Share your doc with at least 2 adults for editing.  Aside from your college counselor, you can share it with a parent or a teacher for their comments.

 Upcoming Virtual Visits and Fairs

DATE

September 14 – Monday
1:30 – 2:30PM
Online via zoom

September 15
Tuesday
1:00 – 1:45PM

Online via zoom

September 17
Thursday
2:30 – 3:30PM

Online via zoom

September 17 – Thursday
Available on these timezones:
04:00–07:00; 13:00–15:00 CEST (Central European Standard Time)
09:00–12:00; 18:00–20:00 ICT (Indochina Time)
7:00 – 10:00 PM PH Time (online via Zoom)

September 30

Wednesday

2:00 PM PH time

October 15

Thursday

1:00 PM

October 17-18
Saturday & Sunday

EVENT

Nagoya University of Commerce & Business (Japan)
Zoom link: https://nucba-ac-jp.zoom.us/j/94628405342

New York University Shanghai
Student Registration:
https://connect.nyu.edu/register/CebuInternationalSchool
Virtual Meeting Link: https://nyu.zoom.us/j/91953812019

New York University Abu Dhabi
Student registration: https://connect.nyu.edu/register/?id=7552d0ca-7b58-40cd-ba6e-831452425284
Zoom link: will be sent to you after you register on the link above

Council of International Schools Southeast Asia Fair
Link to Register: https://www.cois.org/for-students-and-parents/students/fairs-and-tours/southeast-asia
View the full list of attending universities (247 universities from all over the world)

Scholarships and Financial Aid
Overview of Financial Aid at Japanese national and private universities
To register, click here: https://japanuniconsortium.typeform.com/to/drhPRY

University of New Brunswick and University of Victoria (Canada) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3183943681
Meeting ID: 318 394 3681
The password will be 946466 – Session for CIS students

EduCanda Virtual Fair
(list of institutions to follow)

SAT UPDATE:

Please note that most universities have gone test-optional.  This means they do not require test scores for students to be eligible for admission.

September 26 and October 3 have been  cancelled by the College Board.  Test-takers registered on these dates will have received an email with instructions.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Admin News

Cebu moves to MGCQ but 20 year olds and under are still on lockdown!

It is promising to see our risk level move down to MGCQ after 6 months of lockdown, however, for school operations, there is little change in our outlook as our students are still unable to return to school. DepEd schools restart October 5th, however, this will be via distance learning, and the indications at this stage are they will not be allowed back onto campus for some time – possibly even until a vaccine is available. We are therefore unsure when independent/private schools could be allowed back on campus. We are preparing for our return and will be seeking some specific input on the conditions we have options with from parents and students shortly. For now, we have been pleased with the positive reception we have received from our Remote Learning 3.0 program. It is positive to hear from teachers and principals that our students have settled into the the new school year with RL well, and that our learning objectives are being addressed as planned. We acknowledge RL is different to F2F learning, however, we are learning to accommodate the areas that are more challenging, and to take advantage of those that we can do better remotely!

One way you can help is to maintain communication with your child’s teachers, and keep seeking ways to support your children in their learning engagements. Last Wednesday we hosted a virtual PTA Coffee Morning discussing how parents could support their children at home, and I will be sending home the areas we covered shortly for those who could not make it to look over. Keep an eye out for upcoming info sessions for parents. The next event we have planned for is September 17th (10am – virtual meeting), where Mr. Denton (MHS Assistant Principal-MYP) will give a session on the IB MYP. More details will be shared next week.

MYP Consultancy Visit

Last week, CIS hosted an MYP Consultancy Visit, where an IB representative virtually visited the school to look at our MYP program, documents and interview our students, teachers, admin and parents. The findings will be used to guide us as we make final preparations for our verification visit at the end of this school year, when we will be seeking authorisation to become a full MYP school (we are currently on candidate status). Once we obtain this, CIS will be the first school in the Philippines to be an IB Continuum school, offering the PYP, MYP and DP all the way through Early Years to Grade 12!

CIS Corporation meeting postponed

Due to COVID-19-related complications, the CIS Corporation Annual General Meeting scheduled for Sept. 15th will be postponed to a date in October yet to be decided. We will update you on the new date/time when it is confirmed.

One of our complications is we have been unable to attract as many CIS Corporation members as we usually do. I wonder if one of the reasons why is the system is a little complicated, so I would like to try to simplify it here!

• The purpose of the Corporation is to facilitate the operations of CIS as an incorporated company, as required by the SEC.
• Our bylaws state all CIS parents and guardians are eligible for membership (the first year at CIS is as an associate member with no voting privileges).
• We usually have two meetings a year – an AGM in September and a Regular meeting in March. A written report is prepared for both meetings, and that is supplemented by a verbal report from the CEO (the Superintendent). New and renewing CIS Board members are voted in during the Sept. meeting as well.
• CIS Parents and guardians have to register to become CIS Corporation members(with a nominal fee of 200PhP). One purpose of this requirement is to ensure we can operate our meetings with interested members, as a 20% quorum of members is required (so if all parents were automatically members, we would struggle to obtain a quorum, as not all parents want to or area able to attend the meeting. By having this member system, it reduces the numbers making it more feasible to operate). It is not an exclusionary step, all parents are equally entitled to become members.
• Board members are elected using a nominating system and nominating committee to determine who would be a good addition to the 10-member Board, keeping in mind we have requirements for Philippine nationals members, and desire a representation of expat, local, and business representatives that can compliment the Board with their input. The Board speak as one voice via the Chair, and oversee governance, judiciary, strategic, and Superintendent hiring and evaluation. The Superintendent is tasked with the operational management of the school.

We are extending the CIS Corporation membership signup date, and would like to encourage parents/guardians to consider signing up to become Corporation members. Your membership supports the school by allowing for broad representation as you support the functioning of the Corporation. Please contact our Corporate Secretary, Ms. Azela Diapana <adiapana@cis.edu.ph> for sign up details.

PTA Board nominations and election

We have already received six nominations to the eight-member PTA Board, with a few more inquiries and nominations being processed, indicating we will get a good number of nominees this year! Thank you so much to those who have shown interest in contributing by agreeing to be nominated.

As it is looking like we will have more than eight nominations, we now need to go through the selection process and voting in of the new PTA Board. As outlined in the PTA Charter, we use a nominating system (like the CIS Board), the process is as follows (although note we have had to make a few adjustments to cater to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic).

• CIS Parents nominate willing parents to the Nominating Committee via the Chair (Mr. Belda), who will collate the nominations, and confirm their willingness to serve on the PTA Board.
• The Nominating Committee considers all nominated candidates and presents a slate of eight candidates to the PTA members for voting on at our next PTA meeting (Sept 17). The selection process focuses on presenting members who represent our school’s diverse body, as well as those who can and are willing to contribute towards fulfilling the purpose the PTA Board in a united manner.
• The members of the Nominating committee will be announced shortly, as we are just confirming the last two members. (Members are drawn from the parent body who are not running for the Board, and school representatives who work with the PTA).
• Once the PTA Board has been voted in, they will vote as a Board on who will become the Officers of the Executive Committee(President/Vice President/Secretary and Treasurer).

Note this process is a little different from what has been practiced in the past few years, as the process had evolved to fit the annual needs and interests of the parents at that time. This year, we are bringing the system back to fit the PTA Charter more closely, in an attempt to encourage a wider participation at the PTA Board level. We look forward to your participation in the PTA this year as we adapt our PTA activities to fit the strange new world we are now living it!

Have a great weekend and you can look forward to another 4-day weekend next week (with Wednesday as Osmeña Day public holiday)!

Regards,

Dr. Gwyn Underwood 
Superintendent

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary School Principal

Dear Elementary Community,

Over these past two weeks, you will have received a request to connect by video conference or phone call with one of your child’s teachers. For us at CIS, connecting with you as parents is one of our priorities, as this gives you the opportunity to share your family’s Remote Learning experiences, and enables us to assess the effectiveness of our program and make adjustments to better meet individual learning needs. The feedback you have provided us with has been very positive and the suggestions you have provided for small improvements are valued.

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School Principal

MYP class virtual displays

Grade 8 I&S Parent Coffee- explaining PEEAL essay model
Our Grade 8 Individuals and Societies students have been working on developing arguments into a formal paper. A few weeks ago we saw a useful tool in the Newsflash- the PEE model for writing strong paragraphs. In Grade 8 they have been examining an expanded version of this, the PEEAL essay structure (point-evidence-explain-analyse-link), which will be used extensively this year in this course and will also be used across various subjects within Grades 6-9. This simple model helps students to be aware of the quality of their own writing and evaluate the strength of the argument they are presenting.

Students worked on an example paragraph in class together in response to our research question:

What were the factors that led to humans changing from being hunters and gatherers to being farmers?

Over the weekend students were asked to complete a second paragraph independently using their research action plans to provide guidance. This was a formative piece of work; however, learning this structure will set students up for a successful year both in this course and in their other courses. The PEEAL structure helps students organise their thoughts and ideas more effectively to build more detailed, compelling, and convincing historical explanations and arguments. For this reason, this is a model which university students could also implement.

Mr. Denton held a parent workshop for parents of students in his I&S class two weeks ago to help them learn more about the PEEAL structure, and also learn how they might help their children at home. Please find included a link to the class website with videos about what each element of the structure looks like. https://sites.google.com/cis.edu.ph/g8-individuals/peeal

Middle High School Student Council

by Youngju K., 2020-21 StuCo President and Joo Ha C., Vice President

The first-ever virtual StuCo campaign has been an experience that both of us will never forget. Jhon and I were expecting, as has been the case in past years, to present in front of all of CIS. Instead, Covid-19 came along and we had to present our campaign virtually. It was quite a rapid process since our campaign videos had to be a maximum of 3 minutes and we were given about a week to create it. However, Jhon and I worked for hours, whether it was about our ideas, posters, or our videos. We knew it had to be perfect, and in the end, we felt it was all worth it.

The elections started on August 20, during homeroom time. Ballots were sent out to each homeroom grades by the Student Council advisor and students were given the decision to vote for either Deandra as President and Dominic as Vice President or Jhon as President and Joo Ha as Vice President. This was the chance for the two teams to show what they would bring to CIS and both teams had definite strengths. After much consideration and voting, the school announced that the 2020-2021 Student Council President and Vice President would be Jhon Kim and Joo Ha Choi.

Our President, Jhon has been in CIS since grade 6, and has been a  member of the Student Council for 3 years in a row. Joo Ha has been in CIS ever since pre-school and has been a member of the Student Council for 2 years. With their experience as class representatives, we can’t wait to see what they will do as the school’s President and Vice President.

For as long as we can remember we’ve always had only male house captains, but this year there is a refreshing change! Two of our elected house captains are female – Cassandra R. from grade 12 as Narra’s house captain and Jenny P. from grade 11 as Acacia’s house captain. We are looking forward to how this new gender ratio may open our eyes and help us raise our school spirit in new, creative ways.

Joo Ha and I can’t wait to plan and put into practice the various promises we made during our campaign presentation. We know that times are tough right now, but we hope to put in our best effort to help you guys with everything that is changing as we continue in this online learning set-up. Even though our spirits may be down due to current circumstances, we believe that it is our job to improve the morale of our student body! We want everyone to feel connected and included even in this period of physical isolation. Please don’t forget that we are here for you and that the teachers, your classmates, and friends, are all there to help you succeed. Do not hesitate to reach out for any type of help or aid.

Sincerely,
Your President and Vice President

Creativity Action Service (CAS)

by Kimberly C.

A Helping Hand from Home: Mask On

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is in our best interest to protect ourselves and take good care of our health. Nevertheless, it is just as important to look out for the people around us. Working together is key in order for us to overcome the challenges we face during this time of crisis.

At CIS, we strive to be global citizens while taking action in our local community. Mask On is a student-led activity open for students from 7th to 12th grade and is spearheaded by Nayeli Caitlin Dy. Participants of this project will be making homemade masks that will be donated to Everlasting Hope, a non-government organization that helps children with cancer and their families. 

Face masks are essential in the mitigation of the COVID-19 outbreak. Unfortunately, some people do not have the means to access them due to lack of supply or financial reasons. Hence, homemade face masks are a smart choice because they are reusable and easy to make. Moreover, a cloth mask is intended to trap droplets that are released when the wearer talks, coughs or sneezes. Asking everyone to wear cloth masks can help reduce the spread of the virus by people who have COVID-19 but don’t realize it (MAYO CLINIC, 2020). 

Here are some useful information, which were obtained from a test conducted by scientists from the University of Chicago, about cloth face masks: 

• Best fabric for cloth masks: When each fabric was used in a single layer, high thread count cotton performed the best with a filtration efficiency of around 80% for particles larger than 300 nanometers. 
• Better when layered: One layer of cotton with two layers of silk, two layers of chiffon, or one layer of flannel was effective at filtering greater than 90% of particles larger than 300 nanometers.
• Keep the fit of the mask in mind: Improperly fitting masks which left gaps for leakage decreased filtration efficiency over 60 percent.

Tips: 

• To check if the fabric serves as a great filter, hold the material up to light. Make sure you do not see the outline of the individual fibers. 
• Wash cloth masks daily with soap or detergent and hot water. 

Attached below are some preview materials of the Mask On initiative. Sign up now through the google form to join. We look forward to making masks together with you and for us to share them with the Everlasting Hope community. 

Service Learning

by Mr. Ace Pierra, Service Learning Coordinator

Alumni Spotlight

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College/Careers Counselor

Tip for the Week:

• When writing your resume/CV, start with the most recent activities or awards you have received.  Universities will want to see the most current information about you.
• Identify your role in the activity or project.
• Write 2 or 3 sentences about each activity.

Upcoming Virtual Visits and Fairs:

DATE

September 5 – Saturday
9:00 – 10:30 AM
(online via zoom)

September 5 – Saturday
2:00 – 3:00 PM
(online via zoom)

September 10 – Thursday
1:30 – 2:30 PM
(online via zoom)

September 17 – Thursday
Available on these timezones:
04:00–07:00; 13:00–15:00 CEST (Central European Standard Time)
09:00–12:00; 18:00–20:00 ICT (Indochina Time)
7:00 – 10:00 PM PH Time (online via Zoom)

September 20
Sunday
10:00AM – 1:00 PM PH time

September 30
Wednesday
2:00 PM PH time

October 15
Thursday
1:00 PM

October 17-18
Saturday & Sunday

               EVENT

Osaka University (Japan)
Virtual Open House for their International Undergraduate Degree Program in the Human Sciences
Click here to register: http://g30.hus.osaka-u.ac.jp/openday

Hiroshima University (Japan)
Session on International Global Studies
Click here to register: Zoom Session
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87462397750?pwd=dGltaWViNlNPdHhhQkJ6TzFTMXk4Zz09 
Meeting ID: 874 6239 7750
Passcode: 8t37er

University of British Columbia (Canada)
Zoom link to be sent via email by Ms. Basa
Session for CIS students

Council of International Schools Southeast Asia Fair
Link to Register: https://www.cois.org/for-students-and-parents/students/fairs-and-tours/southeast-asia

View the full list of attending universities (247 universities from all over the world)

KIC UnivAssist Webifair
Click here to register: https://southeastasia.webifairs.com/
Check this link for the list of 40 universities

Scholarships and Financial Aid
Overview  of Financial Aid at Japanese national and private universities
To register, click here: https://japanuniconsortium.typeform.com/to/drhPRY

University of New Brunswick and University of Victoria (Canada)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3183943681
Meeting ID: 318 394 3681
The password will be 946466
Session for CIS students

EduCanda Virtual Fair
(list of institutions to follow)

SAT UPDATE:

Please note that most universities have gone test-optional. This means they do not require test scores for students to be eligible for admission.

*The College Board has restricted future registrations for Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 since these will likely be cancelled due to quarantine restrictions.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link. If you need assistance or have any questions, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Admin News

Thank you all for your feedback on our updated Remote Learning 3.0 program. After almost a month, we are pleased to note that feedback on the updates has been overwhelmingly positive! We will continue to seek ways to improve, so please do not hesitate to send any feedback via a teacher or principal. As our students and faculty continue to learn how to perfect their use of new apps and systems, we expect learning will settle into a new routine, where student progress is possible without having to spend extra energy on setting new processes up!

Virtual Parent Coffee meeting

Thank you parents for your role in helping our students to focus on their learning. This is a challenging task, so the focus for our next Virtual Parent Coffee meeting next Wednesday, Sept. 2nd at 10 am, will be exploring ways to help you do this. I hope you can join us! (A link to the meeting will be emailed to your registered email prior to the meeting for security.)

CIS Corporation AGM

The Annual Meeting of the CIS Corporation will be held via videoconference on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 5pm. In order to attend, parents need to become Corporation members. As outlined in last week’s Newsflash, all parents are eligible to become members. Please contact Ms. Azela Diapana adiapana@cis.edu.ph. (Superintendent’s Secretary and CIS Corporation Secretary) for registering details, or for more information.

(make sure you’re a registered Corporation member!)

We encourage you to become a Corporation member and support CIS through the election of Trustee members, and fulfilling our company requirements for the SEC.

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Class of 2020 IB DP Results

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary School Principal

Dear Elementary Community,

Thank you for another week. There is no doubt that Remote Learning prompted CIS to adopt a new teaching pedagogy. It has been discussed before that between March 16th, 2020 and June 5th 2020, CIS was engaged in what we describe as Emergency Learning. However, with a lot of summer holiday upskilling we have now adopted a new approach to learning and teaching.

The SMAR model was made popular by Dr. Ruben Puentedura with the goal of transform the way learning happens in order to achieve;

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School Principal

Digital Well-being, Part II

As I shared two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend several virtual courses over the summer specifically focused on effective on-line instruction and the implementation of technology to help our MHS navigate this season of remote learning. As parents, screen time is one of the challenges we may encounter in general and may particularly struggle with within the scope of remote learning as our children are now, by necessity, spending so much time with their screens. 

Key question: How much screen time is too much?
This is a difficult question to answer and, as parents, we must negotiate what is right in meeting the unique needs of our respective families. A good rule of thumb, though, is that it likely is too much when the online activity, regardless of length of time, interferes with other aspects that are essential for a whole and balanced life, like spending time with the family. If other priorities fall by the wayside, or if your child’s sleep or exercise are suffering, then it may be that a child has a problem with too much screen time or with managing the amount of time they have. Another related factor that may help in answering this question is to look at how screen time affects your kids emotionally. If you find that your kids are moody after a lengthy session of gaming or chatting online with friends, then it might be too much.

It’s also important to remember that our kids have been cut off socially for several months now, and in our case here in Cebu, not even allowed to leave their houses except for emergencies, not even able to go out to a restaurant or see a movie. Our children haven’t been able to do what they are used to doing and so they are socializing on their devices as a default. We return to the idea of balance and having the wisdom to choose our battles carefully and also show understanding and empathy for our children’s situation.

Another important question to consider is: “What are the kids doing online?”
Some online activities are wonderful, and even educational. Pause and ask yourself whether your children are using what they are encountering online in a purposeful way. Also inquire and reflect on how they are interacting with the online content. 

All to say, with regard to screen time, it is important to pay attention to what our children are actually doing when they are online. It could be helpful to become familiar with the games your kids are playing so you can understand them and set reasonable boundaries (they might get really excited that you want to try playing with them). This will help you to be more understanding but also recognize if your kids are making unjustified excuses. For example, if they are playing a multiplayer game, they might legitimately need “just 5 more minutes” (i.e.  legitimately need a bit more time to be fair to the other players in the game who may be collaboratively resolving the scenario they are in).

It is important for us to recognize that screen-time is not monolithic, not summarily good or bad. As with most tools and blessings in life, some online activity can be very useful and even help our children learn, while other activity may be unacceptable or even harmful to them.

Starting the new year in the DP

by Emily Cornet, DP Coordinator

For our 11th graders, these first few weeks of the new school year have been all about the introductions to their new courses in which they will be enrolled over the next two years. Some students have been working to find the right combination of classes, while others are settling into their schedules and beginning their exploration of Mandarin, Physics, History, among others.

Our 12th graders have picked up where they left off at the start of the summer, with many courses continuing their work on their IB Internal Assessments. 12th grade students are building their knowledge and depth of understanding, while at the same time adapting to the new adjustments set by the IB that changes some of the expected topics of the course (for the May 2021 exam session only) in light of remote learning.

While the 11th graders are just now starting to learn about the Extended Essay, a key component of the IB Diploma Program, many of the 12th graders are getting closer to completing their Extended Essay journey as they move towards finishing their final copy for submission to the IB as well as completing their viva voce interview process.

Learning Engagements in MHS

by Ms. Gerri Ancajas Jumao-as, Visual Arts Teacher

Grade 9B Visual Arts Class

The Grade 9B class has been investigating ‘composition’ for their unit on Still Life Drawing. Students have been exploring various techniques on how to approach still life drawing, specifically composition. They experimented with different ways to arrange and place visual elements in a piece of work using very simple shapes as the building blocks. They had to grasp the techniques in drawing through a formative exercise on composition using simple geometric shapes with IT integration. They applied their skills in creating different compositions showing different moods such as happy, lively, lonely, sad, tension, angry, congestion, and strength.

Here are some of the students’ products:

Psychology 10 Presentations

Psychology 10 is a semester-long course designed to give students a basic overview and understanding of the subject; this will help students to make an informed choice if they select Psychology as one of their DP subjects entering Grade 11. The students have learned that psychology aims to be empirical, and that there are many approaches to understanding behavior; thus, students have worked on guides to organize and review different approaches and research methods. The Unit One global context centers on identities and relationships. Students will explore identities, different beliefs, values, and approaches.  Part of their learning engagement task is to research the different approaches and analyze how these approaches reflect and explain human behavior and mental processes. 

Here are some of the students’ sample slides and reflections:

I think I have learned the basics on a topic I was very excited to learn. I think sociocultural psychology tells me also the process of culture being assimilated to different countries, so I can definitely say this topic was very useful. ~ Jun Jang

From my presentation I undoubtedly learned a lot about the ideas and the focus around the Cognitive Approach. Through this project, I learned all about the area of psychology I focused on. And by going into detail to talk about the main theories and key figures that surrounded this subject, I fully grasped the purpose and objective of the Cognitive Approach. ~ Sean Killen

While making this presentation, I learned a lot about structuralism and functionalism as two schools of thought in Psychology. I learned that the psychologist at that time treated thoughts and mental processes like how they would treat rocks and compounds which, as we know now, isn’t the proper approach to how our thoughts and behavior work. I also learned that these schools of thought influenced methods of analyzing the mental processes and the educational system in general. – Julianna Chan

Starting off the research was a pretty hard process. I wasn’t sure how to start or where to start. I began watching videos of my topic (Watson Behaviourism). Once I started understanding my topic more I started having fun learning and understanding more about the subject. I learned a lot about Watson’s theory of behaviour and I gathered that a lot of people, myself including, disagree with his theory, which is that we should only concern ourselves with what we can see and not concern ourselves with mental events and physiological processes. ~ Lea Fridrich

At first, I wasn’t sure how to start the given assessment. It is better to do something rather than do nothing, so I started to search about my topic (B.F.Skinner). After I started to understand the concept of the assignment, I learned a lot more about my topic than I expected. From my topic, I learn Skinner’s theory of behaviourism and his different results of experiments. Not many, but some people had disagreed with most of Skinner’s theory, which represents limitations of behaviorism. ~ Chewon Yang

College/Careers Counselor Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College Counselor

Tip for the Week

In a webinar hosted by UKEAS on Writing Effective Personal Statements , Lesley Thirkell of the University of St. Andrews shared statistics on the number of students who started their personal statements with these phrases. 

Tip:  Use an opening phrase that is unique and catchy.  Refrain from using the examples below.  The number shows how many times these opening phrases have appeared in essays over the past couple of years. 

The Student World Virtual Fair

Connect with 80 universities from all over the world on September 3, 2020 at 5:00PM (PH time).  Find your university overseas! Chat live with top international universities and government agencies.  Have your questions answered on programmes, application processes and moreRegister for free using this  link.

Find out how to navigate a Virtual Fair:

Japan University Consortium

Upcoming webinars

Study in Japan
August 30, 2020 Sunday
3:00PM PH time

To register, click here: https://japanuniconsortium.typeform.com/to/drhPRY

The webinar will last 1 hour with a 30 minute presentation covering applying to universities in Japan – How to apply: standardized tests, deadlines, AO (Admission Office) Entrance Exam and more! There will be 30 minutes at the end for Q&A from a panel of experts from member universities listed below.

Scholarships and Financial Aid
September 30, 2020 Wednesday – 3:00PM PH Time
To register, click here: https://japanuniconsortium.typeform.com/to/drhPRY

Kyoto University of Advanced Science (KUAS)

KUAS Webinar: Information Session
Date: September 4th (Fri)
Time: 16:00 – 17:30 Filipino Time
Registration Form: please register using this Link

SAT Update

Please note that most universities have gone test-optional.  This means they do not require test scores for students to be eligible for admission.

Below are the future test dates which may be subject to change till further notice from the College Board due to quarantine restrictions.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

CIS Corporation Announcement

The Annual Meeting of the CIS Corporation will be held via videoconferencing  on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at 5pm.

Membership

The members of the CIS Corporation shall comprised of the parents or guardians,  whether of Philippine or foreign nationality of students who are currently enrolled in the School and who have studied at the School for at least one (1) school year. Full membership are parents or guardians whose child/ren have studied at CIS for one year and have paid the annual membership fee are eligible to vote. Associate members are parents or guardians who are currently enrolled but who have not studied at the School for at least one (1) school year and have paid the annual membership fee are entitled to attend membership meetings but with no right to vote.

Due to the restrictions of the GCQ , we send details for arranging payment of the 200 pesos Corporation fee to those who express an interest in contributing to the school  by becoming a member. This may be done by contacting our Superintendent’s Secretary Ms. Azela Diapana adiapana@cis.edu.ph. If CIS parents would also like to know more about being a CIS Board of Trustee, they may also contact Ms. Azela for details. The deadline for membership and nominations of new Trustees is September 3 at 12 noon.

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary School Principal

Dear Elementary Community,

This past week a few of our faculty have been able to access the school campus to make use of the more stable internet, and pick up school resources. Several teachers have even been able to collaboratively plan using the same physical spaces, while also honoring social distancing norms, and taking Covid-19 safety precautions. These planning conversations are examples of how our teachers continue to seek ways to enhance the learning being received by your children, and ensuring the curriculum is being delivered in a way that is consistent with our CIS core beliefs.

While checking in with some of the teachers who have been able to access the campus, I came across Coach Jay running his live synchronous classes from his PE classroom. Beside his laptop, Coach Jay has set up two large speakers, and he had a selection of balls, skipping ropes and exercise mats, along with a large whiteboard full of PE learning engagements.“I love it!” he said with a big smile on his face. The students are clearly loving his classes as well.

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle and High School Principal

Best wishes for a long weekend. Your children definitely deserve it, and, knowing how much support you are providing in your own homes to help them to be successful, you certainly deserve one as well. I wanted to share some of the learning experiences our students have been engaged in over the past week. First, though, we wanted to share a video created by Daniel Monfre, our eLearning Coordinator, containing tips on how to maximize your use of some of the Google tools we are using at CIS. Mr Monfre is a Certified Google Trainer and we think you will find his insights to be very helpful.

Remote Learning Tips for Students and Families

by Dan Monfre, eLearning Coordinator

Hello CIS community. We understand how overwhelming it can be to stay organized during remote learning. This short video will discuss an overview of Google Classroom from the students’ perspective, review Classroom summary settings for guardians, the Classroom To-Do list and Calendar for students, and a brief overview of organization and search tools in Google Drive. We hope these tools will help students organize their work and help parents stay connected with the learning process.

Sections In the video (for quick access):

• Google Classroom & Classroom Summaries (Click here: 00:39)
• Classroom To-Do & Calendar (Click here: 02:35)
• Google Drive (Click here: 03:23)

Guardian email summary settings: https://classroom.google.com/gs

Creating up a Google account: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/27441

Glimpses of Student Learning in MHS

Language Acquisition is arguably one of the most challenging subject areas to orchestrate and navigate within the scope of remote learning. Our teachers are doing a remarkable job of leading our students in their Language Acquisition classes.

In Mandarin 8/9 students, for example, are mastering their color vocabulary, paired with other frequently used words through reciting the color song. After learning the song, students are expected to recite the color song without looking at the lyrics.

After singing the song, students are recording themselves finding examples of each color and showing them to the camera while saying the color. For example, holding an apple and say “这是红色。zhè shì hóng sè.” 

Students are also using the padlet tool to write letters in Mandarin to distant pen pals who are in the Mandarin class of a former CIS teacher. Students in both classes are sharing about their lives, backgrounds, daily routines, hobbies, and also their experiences with remote learning. These two Mandarin classes are also sharing videos on Flipgrid. This kind of interaction makes the communication (i.e. the use of the language) engaging and relevant for students.

Our Grade 12 Mandarin ab initio class (which only began learning Mandarin at the start of last year) is also using the flipgrid tool. They are composing short essays, using an exemplar for guidance, and are recording these essays orally and sharing them on flipgrid. One of the great learning aspects of flipgrid is that classmates can access all of the videos (so it works like a message board) and then can record their feedback on each one, thus making this activity dynamic and engaging.

Our Grade 12 Spanish B class, which is operating at an admirable level of Spanish fluency, engaged in a debate (in Spanish) on Tuesday focused on one of the primary DP Oral topics of Identities, narrowed more specifically on the subtopic: Concepts of Beauty. The debate questions was: “Should we restrict or censor fashion and the diffusion of fashion to control people’s perception of beauty” (i.e. should we restrict freedom in this area or not). Students had prepared the debate in previous classes including learning very specific vocabulary to enable them to be precise in their arguments. The teacher also engineered and facilitated group meetings to prepare the pros and contras, and also to prepare counterarguments on this topic.

Students in Grade 8 Language & Literature class have been reflectively exploring their individual identities. They have each been tasked with making a collage that represents the different aspects of their identity, using specific criteria established by the teacher:

Here are a few examples:

Grade 10 Language and Literature classes have begun reading the novel, The Alchemist. They are learning to implement the “PEE” paragraph writing model (as seen in the graphic below) to develop the quality of their writing, and here, to specifically hone in on specific portions of the text, answering the following prompt:

What point does the old man’s story about the boy in the castle and drops of oil make? (pp. 30-32)

MYP Grade 10 Drama 

It can also be a challenge doing drama collectively as we are not able to be physically gathered together. Students instead are working through a unit focusing on monologues, which incorporates many of the same principles and techniques of drama, while allowing students to work independently. The Statement of Inquiry for this unit is: Performance style informs how a character is presented to an audience. For this unit, students have engaged in a process including recording a pre-assessment monologue video which was shared on Flipgrid (also with feedback from their classmates).

Student teams have now collaborated to identify and analyze excellent examples of monologues from a selected group of films; students have been able to choose both the films and the monologues therein, from which they will prepare and perform for their classmates.

Student Reflections:

I understood how a monologue should look as well as how it should be acted out. I learned that it conveys a lot of emotions depending on the story. I learned that it takes practice to perfect a monologue and that you have to be determined to do it so you can get it down nicely. I know that it isn’t easy to perform a monologue but it can be done if you put your heart and drive in it.  – Heinz T.

I understood that we need to put a lot of expression into our monologues so that the audience would interpret our characters in the way we want them to. – Brenton L.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link.  If you need assistance, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Virtual College Visit

Nagoya University

To apply for admission, click here: https://admissions.g30.nagoya-u.ac.jp/

Tuesday August 25, 2020 at 1:00 – 2:00 PM (PH time)

To join the zoom meeting, click on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89425897839?pwd=eXFzVFZHSUN4MUdsakFoN21rUURrdz09

Below is a short summary on the international programs offered by Nagoya University (NU).  

NU offers four-year undergraduate program in: Automotive Engineering (mechanical or electrical), Physics (science), Chemistry (science or engineering), Biology (science or agriculture), Economics, Law and Japanese in Asia Cultural Studies.  Since all the programs are taught in English, no Japanese language proficiency is required at the time of admission. However, Japanese language classes are offered after enrollment. 

NU offers up to 100% tuition scholarships to qualified applicants.

University of California

To apply for admission, click here: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/apply-now.html

The UC application is self-reported by the student.  Applications are open at this time and can be submitted anytime from November 1 – 30.

UC will be “test-optional” for fall 2021 and fall 2022. Freshman applicants are not required to submit SAT/ACT test scores. Here’s the  Link for more information.

What does “test-optional” mean?

• You choose whether or not to submit SAT/ACT scores with your application.
• If you are unable or chose not to submit test scores, your application will still receive full consideration. 

You will need to answer 4 out of 8 questions. (Max: 350 words)

1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.
7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

For more information about the Personal Insight Questions, including writing exercises and worksheets, visit the UC admissions website .

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary School Principal

Dear Elementary Community,

We have now completed the 8th day of the 2020/2021 school year. I am proud of what has been achieved by our elementary community over these past weeks. Challenging times often bring people together and although we continue to find ourselves in a situation we would rather not be in, each of us are working strategically to ensure we continue to provide the best possible education for our children.  One of the changes you will have noticed in our Remote Learning program is the increase in synchronous face to face learning and teaching time. Video conferencing technology has enabled each student and teacher to connect far more frequently, making the school experience more meaningful. In our younger grades, we also have the goal of greater student independence with less reliance on the parent being constantly present to support learning a home.

Remote Learning Home Schedule
To support this goal, today you will receive a Synchronous (face to face) meeting schedule for your child. This schedule contains links and QR codes to each of the Synchronous (face to face) meetings your c

hild will be involved in. This document can be saved on a computer desktop, and can even be printed and put on the refrigerator door. Your child can then just follow the link or scan the QR code to enter their meeting at the assigned time. It is our hope that this document will make the process of taking part in Synchronous (face to face) learning sessions one step easier.

Please do continue to provide us with your feedback about the Remote Learning experience within your household. Our teaching team really appreciate the positive feedback, as it really builds their confidence and validates the challenging work they are involved in daily. We also value the feedback that tells us what is not working, as this allows us to fine-tune our program to better meet your family’s needs.

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle High School Principal

Digital Wellbeing

I had the opportunity to attend several virtual courses over the summer, most of which were focused on effective on-line instruction and the effective implementation of technology to help the MHS navigate this season of remote learning. One of the webinars I attended explored the topic of digital well-being, and I would like to share some insights over the next few weeks that I was able to glean from this webinar beginning with the following.

The importance of rituals and healthy routines

As we move back into our academic structure for the year, it may be helpful to try and recapture some of the beneficial routines you established last year which may have eroded over the summer. One of the benefits of remote learning is that we do have a greater level of flexibility as to how we define time, and one of the blessings of the quarantine is that we do not have to stress about leaving our houses at 6:20 and fighting Cebu traffic in order to arrive at school on time for first block. Still, it can be helpful for us to reestablish a sense of rhythm and routine as we start the year from our homes. Some important rituals worth protecting would be ones connected to our family time, which could be as simple as resolving to eat at least one meal each day with the entire family or having a weekly “games” night to laugh and bond (and even compete) together.

Another important area would be developing healthy habits and routines related to sleep and rest. If you were informed that there was a drug that was free, would make you feel wonderful, would improve your mood, was perfectly safe, and would actually increase your productivity, would you want it? Most of us would jump at such a crazy possibility. In fact, that drug does exist; it’s called sleep. Research, such as the link to the article below from the Harvard Business Review written by Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University, attests to the importance of sleep and its correlation to our state of general physical and mental health. He also articulates the habits (specifically connected to technology) that can lead to better, more restful sleep.

Relax, Turn Off Your Phones, and Go to Sleep

Some of the tips in the article that Dr. Rosen suggests are as follows (and in the article he explains why these habits are important based on how our brains work):

• During the day, practice not reacting to incoming alerts or notifications like one of Pavlov’s dogs. Don’t check your phone every time it beeps. In fact, turn off notifications and check on a schedule to retrain your brain’s neurotransmitters (particularly cortisol). Start by checking every 15 minutes, and gradually increase that to 30 minutes or more. Tell your family, friends, and colleagues that you may not respond immediately, but you will within a specified amount of time, such as 30 minutes to an hour later.
• Stop using all devices one hour prior to sleep.
• Put all devices away in another room rather than keep them in the bedroom to discourage you from checking them during the night. (If you must keep a phone nearby in case of emergency, set it so that it only rings when certain people are calling, but still place it across the room and away from your bedside.)
• An hour before bedtime, start dimming the room lights slowly to release melatonin.
• During the last hour before bedtime, choose an activity that your brain will find predictable and, thus, not anxiety-provoking. Consider any of the following:
  • Watch a television show that you love, maybe even a repeat.
  • Read a paper book (or use a Kindle which doesn’t emit blue light) by a familiar author.
  • Listen to music that is very familiar like a playlist of your favorite songs. If you need a device to do this, burn CDs and get a CD player. (The key is to use a device that doesn’t have internet access, email, or a phone.) Keep the volume low.
  • If you awaken in the middle of the night, try this trick: have a song lyric in mind (not the whole song) that you plan to sing in your mind over and over to block the anxiety and allow you to fall back to sleep. Another option is to learn one of many meditation techniques and practice and use those skills to calm your mind.

Seeking and maintaining balance

Our IB Learner Profile trait for August is balance. As parents, often we need the wisdom to decide which battles are worth fighting with our kids; if we fight them on everything then we will surely lose the overall campaign. What we ultimately want is the best for them, which includes helping them develop a routine of self-care. It is also loving for us to set boundaries for them, as often they don’t yet have the maturity to know what is best.

Further, when we have conversations with our kids about managing themselves on potentially contentious topics such as appropriate amounts of screen time (or other challenging areas), we also need to be careful that we are first regulating our own emotions; we need to be emotionally steady and calm when we have these conversations. As with most things, we provide a model for this for our children when we do this effectively, or present a negative model if we do the opposite. Sometimes we need to step back if we are too emotionally charged at the moment; we all have things that can push us over the edge and in that state our conversation will likely not be productive. If you find yourself in that state, don’t force the issue but rather set a time (i.e. set a structure) to talk later with your child. And, as with most human interactions, our tone of voice is critical if we want this conversation to be fruitful.

The MYP needs you!

by Jonathan Denton, MYP Coordinator/Assistant Principal-MYP

Hello everyone and welcome to a new academic year!

While starting the year remotely is not our ideal situation, as educators I can promise you we are very much up to the challenge of developing a new blended model for learning, one that is very much in-tune with our increasingly complex world.

On-line learning will never be a replacement for face-to-face learning, however, it is forcing us to develop a new set of skills that are extremely relevant and important.  As educators it is our responsibility to create “safe” learning communities that support social and emotional well-being. We aim to transform classroom learning through tech tools for collaboration, social connection, culture building and differentiation. We will model effective on-line behaviours such as maximising our time together, providing opportunities for students to collaborate, ask questions, clarify confusion and receive feedback. We will offer our students flexibility through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning tasks. We will also need to rethink assessment focusing on formative assessment as learning, providing feedback in a more personalised manner.

It is a brave new world but we are all ready for this challenge, safe in the knowledge that we have a supportive and forward thinking Academic Leadership Team and School Board behind us.

This year is our second year of MYP implementation at CIS, and it promises to be a very busy one indeed. Over the course of the year we have two IB visits scheduled to analyse and evaluate how successful we have been implementing the programme. The first of these visits will be our Consultation Visit, August 27th and 28th. The second will be the Verification Visit in May. Fingers crossed, at the end of this academic year we will be the very first IB continuum school in the Philippines.

How can you help? On Friday, August 28th, from 7:30 to 8:30, our IB consultant would like to hear from you. More specifically, she would like to discuss the impact of programme implementation on the school community. If you would like to join this meeting or know more about it, please let me or Ms Kim know via email.

Keep up to date with all that is happening in the MYP on our website, https://sites.google.com/cis.edu.ph/cis-myp/.

Until next time, may your news be good news.

College Counselor’s Corner

by Ms. Jenny Basa, College Counselor

College Applications in the time of COVID-19

Nagoya University Webinar

Philippines: 18th (Tuesday) 13:00

Register here: https://forms.gle/MdCc7Xv4dFsPtA997

NU offers four-year undergraduate program in: Automotive Engineering (mechanical or electrical), Physics (science), Chemistry (science or engineering), Biology (science or agriculture), Economics, Law and Japanese in Asia Cultural Studies.  Since all the programs are taught in English, no Japanese language proficiency is required at the time of admission. However, Japanese language classes are offered after enrollment.

NU officers up to 100% tuition scholarships to qualified applicants.

A virtual visit will be coming up at the end of the month, the date will be announced once confirmed.

If you need more details, set up an appointment with Ms. Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

SAT Registrations Update

For students who are planning to study in universities/colleges that require the SAT exam, below is the schedule of the SAT tests. Please take note of the test dates and registration deadlines.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link. If you need assistance, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.

Note from the Superintendent

It has been wonderful to see students, families and the school come together this week for the start of our new school year. The teachers have done a great job preparing for our new, upgraded Remote Learning program. At CIS, this most certainly does not mean doing traditional school work, either synchronously or asynchronously, over the internet. Rather, it considers all aspects of inquiry-based constructivist learning methodologies, adapted for remote delivery, in order to provide holistic learning in a personalized learning environment (see the diagram below showing the key components of such a program). Furthermore, we use International Baccalaureate (IB) programs that are aligned with the CIS philosophy, and while this cannot replace face-to-face interactions, it does ensure we can provide a good level of continuity of learning during these challenging times.

As we completed our first week of school after our first ever virtual orientation, I have been particularly impressed to see the vast majority of our members resiliently working to overcome issues when they arise, and facing the various challenges in a calm and practical manner. As I touched on in the welcome of our Family Orientation video, this is in line with how CIS intends to face the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. To summarize, CIS intends to:

a) make decisions that are aligned to our guiding statements
b) focus on areas within our “sphere of control” and not worry about areas that are outside of our control (but still be prepared to deal with them)

Diagram credit: Elena Aguilar, Education Week Teacher Blog

c) use and promote the use of a growth mindset, where we believe intelligence can be developed, leading to a desire to learn, embrace challenges, and persist in the face of setbacks.

Over this week, we had a variety of opportunities for parents to interact with the school. 

• If you missed any of the asynchronous videos from Facility Orientation Day, I urge you to take time over the weekend to review them, so as to be aware how we are educating your children (refer to the email sent to your registered address for the links).
• A few parents opted to join the small group meetings offered, and a larger group gathered for our Virtual Parent Operation yesterday. I will be sending home a Q&A with key questions arising these orientation meetings that might be of interest to those who could not join us shortly. We plan to hold these regularly to give you an opportunity to share positive news and challenges together, and to help communicate ways that you can fulfill the challenging role of supporting your child/ren’s learning at home.

Our next parent meeting will be our first Virtual PTA Coffee Morning next Wednesday, August 12th, 10-11am. Please pencil this in, and a meeting invite will be sent out via email with the above mentioned Q&A. In addition to getting to know each other, we will be discussing our PTA Board and Officer selection process for this year, after deferring that from the end of last year. I hope to see as many of you as possible!

Regards,

Dr. Gwyn Underwood
Superintendent

Middle and High School News

by Mr. Dale Wood, Middle & High School Principal

A big welcome back to our new school year and to this year’s edition of The Newsflash. We have missed the CIS community over these two months, and though we cannot be together in person, we are still happy that we can reconnect with students and parents virtually. Thankfully, CIS teachers prior to the lock down were already fluent and capable in their use and implementation of tech (as seen for example, in our effective use of Google Classroom and Seesaw in our respective sections of the school). This crisis has forced schools across the world to get on board with exploring and implementing new technology tools, and for us this means advancing and refining our use of platforms already in place. The fact of the matter is that, in the past teachers could (and sometimes did) resist innovation, but now we are in a position where we must do this if we are to continue being effective practitioners within our profession. I will comment more on how this can be seen as a real “silver lining” in the midst of this crisis as technology holds the potential for opening up doors to learning we could only have imagined in the past.

We have also made a commitment as a school to focus intentionally on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) to help our students maintain their balance and foster their wellbeing. Meeting our students’ SEL needs in the midst of this crisis is a challenge for us both at school and at home, for teachers as well as for parents. I want to assure you that we are committed to living up to our mission statement’s pledge of “creating a collaborative, challenging, and nurturing environment that includes community members” as is reflected in the examples below.  

This week our homerooms had the chance to meet with students both for an hour on Tuesday and then a half-hour on Thursday. These two sessions were very useful in preparing students for the start of school and then to check in on them as how these first two days went and answer any questions they may have had. We are seeking to make our homerooms a place where students can connect with each other and a safe place to share their struggles and triumphs during this challenging season.

Here are examples of what some of our homerooms have been up to over the past few days.

Our initial homeroom time included personal introductions, as we see in the following example from Grade 6: Grade 6 HR

Many homerooms shared helpful information with their students, as seen in the following from Grade 8: Grade 8 Learning links

Grade 11 HR

The 11th grade students started their experience with the IB Diploma Programme with an introductory workshop session and an explanation of the program (including information about course/level changes). The 11th graders asked fantastic questions in their live session on Tuesday August 4, and have entered the Diploma Programme ready to take on the challenge!

Grade 12 HR

The 12th grade students began their second year in the IB Diploma Programme with a Homeroom session designed to get them reacquainted with each other.  Teams were formed, and competitions are on the horizon for the coming year!

MHS Classes

One of the things we always do with our students at the start of the year is establish common agreements with them in our classes. Engaging and involving students in creating shared agreements for the smooth operation of class is a powerful way for them to feel invested in the decision making and have “buy in” for the operational policies of the class. Many of our essential agreements this year included an increased focus on the responsible use of technology, such as:

• Cameras must be on during class. If there is a technical problem, inform the teacher on hangouts.
• Mute your mics when not speaking.
• Communication is key- if you have a problem speak up either in class or outside of class.
• Contact is best facilitated between 7am and 4pm.
• Be patient. 
• Keep a smile nearby at all times.

Students were also connecting with each in class this week other through creative experiences engineered by their teachers, as seen in the following activity in our Grade 7 Individuals and Societies class: Grade 7 L&L activity

Mr. Denton created a very comprehensive website for his Grade 8 Individuals and Societies course which will also contain opportunities for parents to actively partner with the teacher as the year progresses. Grade 8 I&S website

Our Grade 11 DP Spanish ab initio (i.e. absolute beginners) class has met once and they are already using introductory phrases in Spanish. The teacher is using a tool called flipgrid where students record themselves and post to a shared “board” which the teacher and other students can see and comment on. After direct instruction and watching videos posted by the teacher, students today were doing the following using the flipgrid tool.

Introducing themselves and using several greetings. Sharing their names, how old they are, and where they are from. Sharing that they are studying the IB DP programme. They also learned how to ask each other questions to elicit these responses. Spanish ab initio is off to a great start!

Thank you, as always, for your support as we begin this new school year together!

Elementary News

by Mr. Glenn Davies, Elementary School Principal

Dear Elementary Community,

Our First Week Back

This has been a wonderful beginning to the school year. In today’s CIS Newsflash our elementary team would like to share with you several examples of learning from this past week. Every student has been involved in daily video conferences with their peers and their teachers and it has been simply wonderful to hear the excitement and enthusiasm of our young learners.

After many weeks of uncertainty and preparation, we are now together again as a school community again. Over the summer period, many of our teachers have been actively learning how to become more effective as remote educators. I am very proud of everything our teachers have achieved.

While planning to open this year, as a teaching team we incorporated our professional learning, along with the feedback we reviewed from students and families. We value your feedback as it enables us to finetune our practices and better meet the educational, and social and emotional needs of your children. When designing CIS remote learning, some Key Elements driving our lesson design are:

• Creating several daily opportunities for synchronous interaction via Google Meets
• Incorporation of regular mini-lessons where students receive direct instruction from teachers
• Decreasing the need for parent involvement in remote lessons
• increasing our focus on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

There is no doubt this has been, and it continues to be, a very challenging process for our CIS teachers. I am excited to see what we will continue to achieve as a community in these coming weeks together.

This Week’s Learning

Early Years 2 & 3
Each morning this week the EY teachers have been connecting with their classes with an asynchronous video. In response to the video, each student has been responding on Seesaw with a voice recording.  Later in the morning, the EY teachers have held a synchronous video call with all the students together.

(Please click here to view this video)

Grade 2
Grade 2 started the year with a blast! This week, we spent quality time connecting with each other and building our class community. We also explored new digital learning tools and what it means to be good digital citizens. Every day, we collaborated with each other synchronously on Google Meet and asynchronously using Seesaw Blog and Google Hangouts. We then ended the week on high spirits as Coach Jay led us through some fun physical challenges. We’re so glad to be back at school!

Data Protection Advisory

by Mr. William Belda, Data Protection Officer

In its constant commitment to the vision and mission of the school and to uphold and maintain the values and principles imbibed and practiced for the benefit of the entire community, CIS has initiated the modification and alignment of all privacy policies and security measures currently implemented and practiced in all its processes, beginning this school year, 2020-2021.

This assures the improvement and upgrade in the protection of all information, which are requested and collected for the specific processing of official school requirements and necessary compliances relative to all academic programs and in accordance to local laws.

The modification improvement of our current Privacy Policy include the following principles:

• CONSENT – As a constant practice, CIS respectfully requests the consent and approval of usage in the collection of all information necessary prior to its processing.

• PURPOSE – CIS responsibly provides full disclosure of the nature, scope and extent  of the information necessary for official school usage.

• LIMITATIONS – CIS prepares appropriate materials, media and/or multi-media tools, based on the processed information, having full approval and consent for the intended usage.

Further updates and details will be periodically released to provide reminders and guidelines to specific school processes and functions relevant to privacy and information security procedures.

For inquiries, you may contact Mr. William Belda, CIS Data Protection Officer:
Telephone (CIS landline): +63 32 261 0247
Email: DataProtection@cis.edu.ph

SAT Registrations Update:

If you are registered for the SAT on August 29, please monitor your email regularly. The SAT will announce two weeks prior to the test date if the test will proceed or be cancelled due to quarantine restrictions.

For students who are planning to study in universities/colleges that require the SAT exam, below is the schedule of the SAT tests. Please take note of the test dates and registration deadlines.

To register for the SAT, you may click on this link. If you need assistance, please feel free to email Ms. Jenny Basa at jbasa@cis.edu.ph.