IN THE PAC

On Tuesday 3rd of March during Block 3 (Periods 5&6) grade 8 will be presenting their Social Entrepreneurship ideas.

Misconception 2: More exposure to language will accelerate acquisition.

More language MAY slow down learning. For students who struggle with the language, researching the topic and talking about it in the home language will help them to get both a better understanding of the content and of what is going on in the classroom. This will help to give them the confidence to use the language they already know.

Book week is coming up (March 16th-20th) and we would like your help with a few things:

1. Bell songs – Maximum 15 seconds of you reading a poem, a quote, or some piece of literature.
2. Shelfies – Bookshelf + Selfie = Shelfie
3. Spine Poetry – Stack up books to create a poem or short story

Submissions should be placed in the proper folder on teacher large storage here afp://largestorage.nanjing-school.com/Teacher_1Yr_Temp_Large/Book Week 2015  (link only works in Safari)

We also invite students to submit Shelfies and Spine Poetry and there is a corresponding folder on Student large storage afp://largestorage.nanjing-school.com/Student_1Yr_Temp_Large/Book Week 2015 (link only works in Safari)

Bell songs must be submitted before 5 pm on Wednesday March 11th. For more information, there are examples and instructions in the folder or you can email emilyjohnson@staff.nanjing-school.com

Come have fun and play a variety of games every Friday during lunch time in C136 across from IT! We will provide games and you can also bring your own to share. UNO, Spoons, Jenga and many other games will be played. Everyone is welcome for lots of laughter and fun!

On Tuesday 3rd of March during Block 3 (Periods 5&6) grade 8 will be presenting their Social Entrepreneurship ideas.

Grade 8 would like to invite you to their Social Entrepreneurship presentations.

All teachers are welcome.

Each week the Language Acquisition Post will look at different language related topics. The theme for this week is Common Misconceptions

Misconception 1: Children are better second language learners than adults.

• Children ARE better at learning pronunciation (pronunciation is not an indicator of fluency).
• Children ARE better at interacting in social situations.
•  Children USE simpler syntax and vocabulary so the standard for success is lower.

Learning a second language is as difficult for a child. It may be more difficult, as children do not have access to the memory techniques and other strategies that more experienced learners use to acquire vocabulary and the grammatical rules of a language. Children are likely to be shyer and more embarrassed. Children from some cultural backgrounds are extremely anxious when singled out and called upon to perform in a language they are in the process of learning,

Thank you to everyone for your enthusiasm and deep thinking over the course of INSET week – including the limericks and doodles 🙂
A special thanks to Arek and his amazing facilities team for preparation of venues throughout the week, and for the Friday celebration. Thank you to Chartwells for the delicious spread on Friday. Thank you to Amy for devising such a beautiful schedule.
A gigantic thank you to all of the conference session and iPad redefinition leaders. And deep gratitude to Marina, Kasson, and Juan.

A survey requesting feedback on February INSET will be sent out soon.

I wish you a great week of student learning inspired by some of the profound discussion that took place over the week.

Fellow Ukulelists,

Thank you for attending one of the ukulele sessions this week. I hope that you found it informative and fun, and that you aren’t too scared of Gs and G7s! Many thanks to Bonnie, who taught me to play the ukulele in the first place, and who was a great help today (even if she did start a round!).

All resources are found on: TeacherLargeStorage / Ukulele INSET Workshop. There you will find:

– INSET iBook (view in iBooks Author or on your iPad)

– INSET iBook that has been PDFed (videos won’t play)

– video of how to tune your ukulele using GarageBand

– Axis of Awesome 4 Chord youtube video

– miscellaneous resources – YouTube tutorials, TABs, chord sheets, lyrics, etc.

Throughout the year, I will continue throwing in more resources.

I have had a large number of people inquiry about buying ukuleles. Possible to buy off Taobao, but with very poor quality. Also possible to buy off music-street in Shanghai, if you are in the area. Lydia Yang’s music store (near Little Suguo) has a good variety of quality and sizes, and so I’ve emailed her to start a conversation about how / when we can get some ukuleles for any teachers interested.

I’ll keep you informed.

Until then, please check out Jake Shimabukuro – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQlz0G66ng

A number of colleagues have asked what is happening with Neil Bantleman and Ferdi Tjeong. They are still in gaol with about 4 weeks left before the judges make a ruling. Currently they are presenting their evidence. Laurie will be going to JIS in March for accreditation and he will take a couple of cards. I will leave these in the staffroom until Tuesday for anyone to sign (or email me and I will add your name.) These messages from around the world give much support and add strength to these men, their wives and the JIS community!   Thank you!