News from our Secondary Principal, Craig Randall
Dear Parents,
Parent/Teacher/Student conferences are coming up soon so mark your calendars. On Wednesday November 11th conferences will run from 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. On Thursday November 12th conferences will run from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. All secondary conferences take place in the gymnasium in an open concept. This means all the teachers are at tables in the gym, with names and a map clearly marking where everyone is located.
We suggest you work your way around the room from teacher to teacher. If you see a teacher is busy, there are one of two options, wait until they are free or go see another teacher and come back to that teacher later. We suggest that normally conferences will run for ten minutes and thank you in advance for being cognizant of the time and respectful of other parents wanting to speak to the same teachers.
This will be a great opportunity to check on your child’s progress, celebrate achievements and possibly look for ways to improve performance. We strongly encourage you to bring your child to attend the conferences with you. We find that having teachers, parents and students together lead to the most productive conference meetings. Lastly, counselors and administrators will be available in the gym as well.
We look forward to seeing you on the 11th or 12th.
Sincerely,
Craig Randall
Parent/Teacher/Student conferences are coming up soon so mark your calendars. On Wednesday November 11th conferences will run from 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. On Thursday November 12th conferences will run from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. All secondary conferences take place in the gymnasium in an open concept. This means all the teachers are at tables in the gym, with names and a map clearly marking where everyone is located.
We suggest you work your way around the room from teacher to teacher. If you see a teacher is busy, there are one of two options, wait until they are free or go see another teacher and come back to that teacher later. We suggest that normally conferences will run for ten minutes and thank you in advance for being cognizant of the time and respectful of other parents wanting to speak to the same teachers.
This will be a great opportunity to check on your child’s progress, celebrate achievements and possibly look for ways to improve performance. We strongly encourage you to bring your child to attend the conferences with you. We find that having teachers, parents and students together lead to the most productive conference meetings. Lastly, counselors and administrators will be available in the gym as well.
We look forward to seeing you on the 11th or 12th.
Sincerely,
Craig Randall
GEMStagram
Greetings GAA Community,
We would like first to say a huge thank you to those parents, teachers and secondary school administrators who responded to our invitation to observe the first IB Diploma Theory of Knowledge cohort's official presentations on October 11-13th! It was a great opportunity to showcase the learning that has been going on for the two years of the program in this core component class of the IB Diploma. This presentation assesses the ability of the students to apply TOK thinking to a real-life situation, while their other assessment component, the essay, takes a more conceptual starting point. Students appreciated having a supportive audience and interacted with those who were present during their official presentations.
Theory of knowledge (TOK) plays a special role in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program (DP), by providing an opportunity for students to reflect on the nature of knowledge, and on how we know what we claim to know. It is one of the components of the DP core and is mandatory for all students. The TOK requirement is central to the educational philosophy of the DP. The course is a thoughtful and
purposeful inquiry into different ways of knowing, and into different kinds of knowledge. TOK is composed almost entirely of questions and the most central of these is "How do we know?".
The TOK course is assessed through an oral presentation and a 1600 word essay. For example, the essay may ask students to discuss the claim that the methodologies used to produce knowledge depend on the use to which that knowledge will be used. Students choose, with teacher guidance, from six prescribed titles published by the IB for every examination session. TOK aims to make students aware of the interpretative nature of knowledge, including personal ideological biases whether these biases are retained, revised or rejected. It offers students and their teachers the opportunity to: reflect critically on diverse ways of knowing and on areas of knowledge and to consider the role and nature of knowledge in their own culture, in the cultures of others and in the wider world.Please do not hesitate to engage our GAA students in these types of meaningful conversations and you can find out more information about the IB Diploma program and TOK at http://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/
Sincerely,
Florian Ciprian Baciu and Costandina Kyrkos
TOK Teachers
We would like first to say a huge thank you to those parents, teachers and secondary school administrators who responded to our invitation to observe the first IB Diploma Theory of Knowledge cohort's official presentations on October 11-13th! It was a great opportunity to showcase the learning that has been going on for the two years of the program in this core component class of the IB Diploma. This presentation assesses the ability of the students to apply TOK thinking to a real-life situation, while their other assessment component, the essay, takes a more conceptual starting point. Students appreciated having a supportive audience and interacted with those who were present during their official presentations.
Theory of knowledge (TOK) plays a special role in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program (DP), by providing an opportunity for students to reflect on the nature of knowledge, and on how we know what we claim to know. It is one of the components of the DP core and is mandatory for all students. The TOK requirement is central to the educational philosophy of the DP. The course is a thoughtful and
purposeful inquiry into different ways of knowing, and into different kinds of knowledge. TOK is composed almost entirely of questions and the most central of these is "How do we know?".
The TOK course is assessed through an oral presentation and a 1600 word essay. For example, the essay may ask students to discuss the claim that the methodologies used to produce knowledge depend on the use to which that knowledge will be used. Students choose, with teacher guidance, from six prescribed titles published by the IB for every examination session. TOK aims to make students aware of the interpretative nature of knowledge, including personal ideological biases whether these biases are retained, revised or rejected. It offers students and their teachers the opportunity to: reflect critically on diverse ways of knowing and on areas of knowledge and to consider the role and nature of knowledge in their own culture, in the cultures of others and in the wider world.Please do not hesitate to engage our GAA students in these types of meaningful conversations and you can find out more information about the IB Diploma program and TOK at http://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/
Sincerely,
Florian Ciprian Baciu and Costandina Kyrkos
TOK Teachers
U.A.E .Social Studies
We teach geography skills for both the sixth and seventh chapters. We focused on the classification, analysis and research skills, and drawing terrains clip, and interpretation of geographic concepts. It was the activation of these skills within a variety of classroom activities to support scientific article in the subsequent units.
We teach geography skills for both the sixth and seventh chapters. We focused on the classification, analysis and research skills, and drawing terrains clip, and interpretation of geographic concepts. It was the activation of these skills within a variety of classroom activities to support scientific article in the subsequent units.
From our Math Department
Our first math contest was on October 8th, below are the top GAA students for each test. Congratulations!
The next contest will be moved to Thursday, November 5th due to Parent Teacher Conferences. It will be held in Room 238 (Ms. Ruderman’s room) at 3:10. If you have any questions please contact [email protected]
Sincerely,
The Math Department
Sincerely,
The Math Department
News from the IB Creativity, Activity & Service (CAS) corner…..
Last week saw the CAS students promote their ‘Pink’ Awareness campaign that they had spent time planning.
They had dedicated their break times to setting up ‘Pinky’ stations around the secondary corridor with inquisitive students rushing to see what all the ‘Pink’ was about it was remarkable to see just how many of our students were being inquires, being caring and being principled.
Along with the ‘Pinky’ stations the CAS students spent time in the foyer towards the end of the day inviting parents over to support their awareness campaign, sign their ‘Pink’ pledge and build on the culture of kindness and the community spirit that we have here at GAA.
Students also made ‘Pink’ ribbons and distributed this to staff members as well as parents.
To end their ‘Pink’ awareness campaign students held a yoga, fitness and dance session in the aerobics room during their lunch time, teachers and students from grades 10 to 12 were invited to take part to show their community spirit.
A big thank you to all the grade 11 & 12 students that took part, they were risk-takers and truly went above and beyond to make their Awareness campaign one to remember.
Below is a snap shot of the week’s events….
Last week saw the CAS students promote their ‘Pink’ Awareness campaign that they had spent time planning.
They had dedicated their break times to setting up ‘Pinky’ stations around the secondary corridor with inquisitive students rushing to see what all the ‘Pink’ was about it was remarkable to see just how many of our students were being inquires, being caring and being principled.
Along with the ‘Pinky’ stations the CAS students spent time in the foyer towards the end of the day inviting parents over to support their awareness campaign, sign their ‘Pink’ pledge and build on the culture of kindness and the community spirit that we have here at GAA.
Students also made ‘Pink’ ribbons and distributed this to staff members as well as parents.
To end their ‘Pink’ awareness campaign students held a yoga, fitness and dance session in the aerobics room during their lunch time, teachers and students from grades 10 to 12 were invited to take part to show their community spirit.
A big thank you to all the grade 11 & 12 students that took part, they were risk-takers and truly went above and beyond to make their Awareness campaign one to remember.
Below is a snap shot of the week’s events….
On Friday, October 23rd the GAA staff placed in the finals at the Shangri La Dragon Boat Races. It was fun hanging out and relaxing with friends over the weekend and a wonderful opportunity for team building.
Here is our Community and Secondary School Calendar - Scroll through the months to see what's planned for this year at GAA
Please make sure you check this calendar regularly for updates and new events