Leadership in the Internationals School Community

How can leaders of Internationals Network learning communities create the circumstances to sustain strong systems while also innovating for improvement? In this visit to Claremont International High School, intended for school and academy leaders as well as district partners, participants will come together to discuss what leadership looks like in an ever-evolving Internationals Network learning community. Visitors will have the opportunity to hear from the school’s principal as well as other staff who help lead the work at this school in the Bronx, not only to support educators in their work serving multilingual learners but also to spur innovation and growth. Visitors will discuss how these systems sustain strong instruction and comprehensive student support, explore artifacts that surface key structures and ideas, observe classes, and have ample time to consider the implications for their own work and context.

9a-3p,Claremont IHS, E 172nd St, The Bronx, NY 10457. Map

Language and Content Integration in the PAIHS Elmhurst School Community

How can we support content learning while embracing the full linguistic repertroire of the young people in our learning communities? In this visit to Pan American International High School in Elmhurst, where every student’s liguistic background intersects with Spanish, visitors will have the opportunity to hear from educators about how they plan and build curriculum that integrates language and content while fostering translanguaging. Visitors will observe classes and explore artifacts that surface key elements of the school’s approach to building authentic, experiential learning environments. Debriefing together, visitors will have ample time to make sense of what they have seen and to begin considering what they can apply or share in their own contexts.

9a-3p, PAIHS Elmhurst,45-10 94th St, Queens, NY 11373. Map

A Network of Support for All: Developing Teacher and Staff Innovation in The International High School at LaGuardia Community College

Classes at the International High School at LaGuardia Community College are collaborative, experiential, responsive, and language rich. In this visit to the longest-running school in the Internationals Network, visitors will explore how teacher practice is informed by interdisciplinary teams, curriculum development resources, and other school-based support structures so that classes are able to become collaborative, experiential, responsive, and language rich. Visitors will have the opportunity to hear from school leaders and teachers, observe classes, analyze artifacts related to how educators learn and grow with comfort and confidence, and have ample time to discuss the implications for their own communities and contexts.

9a-3p, IHS at LaGuardia CC, 45-35 Van Dam St, Queens, NY 11101. Map

Unpacking the HELLO Principles at the International High School at Prospect Heights

What does the Internationals Approach look and sound like in schools? In this visit at the International High School at Prospect Heights, visiting educators will see elements of student collaboration, language and content integration and project based learning in classroom instruction. Visitors will examine artifacts from the school, hear from students and staff, and visit classrooms. Visitors will then debrief and reflect on the visit as to what they can take back with them to their own respective schools.

9a-3p, IHS at Prospect Heights, 883 Classon Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225. Map

Didi Merioles has been devloping materials and processes to support interaction with class videos. Didi says, “This artifact will help students independently explore new concepts while actively interacting with a video. Instructing the students to interact rather than watch a video will provide them with the expectation that the activity requires active and not passive interaction with the content. The artifact has three interactive sections: ‘Before You Watch, ‘While You Watch,’ and ‘After You Watch.’ The ‘Before You Watch’ section will activate the student’s prior knowledge. ‘While You Watch’ will help students understand the content through visually rich guided questions. And the ‘After You Watch’ section will ask students to reflect on their learning and evaluate their understanding of the content. The link includes the handouts and the slides that can be used to teach this topic.”

Didi Merioles, ICHS

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1n1KzDhrFQLc11_659nA73se-Kibknpia?usp=sharing

Sofia Ikram explored the intersection of art and math in her Algebra class. Sofia says: “For my Algebra I curriculum, one of the projects is the Slope-Art Project, where students use their knowledge of linear equations (slope, y-intercepts, domain/range intervals, parallel and perpendicular lines) to recreate a building in NYC or their native country on desmos.com. Some students take it upon themselves to use quadratic and circular/elliptic equations to add details to their building. Students then take their ‘blueprints’ to art class and create backgrounds and then trace their blueprints on top of the background. To make the lines more pronounced, students then glue colorful yarn to make it pop! It is a fun project and every year we do it, the kids love it, whether they chose a landmark in NYC or from their native countries.” Click through to see photos and examples of student work!

Sofia Ikram, IHS for Health Sciences

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hc_RS_9Dn0wc77k9_-MLjtddpaxty6V2/view?usp=sharing

Stefanie Macaluso has been using a unique framework to scaffold student thinking and discussion. Stefanie says, “This document highlights a popular framework called Play-Debrief-Replay that can be used in any discipline (even if demonstrated here with science) at any grade level. Play-debrief-replay or PDR allows teachers to observe and account first hand how creative students are when presented with new topics in class. As described in Bloom’s taxonomy of thinking, there is a space for ‘play’ as a form of exploration and serves as an excellent opportunity for ESL/ELL students to lead with action rather than language to showcase their initial conceptual understanding. Students then analyze what they have learned in a ‘debrief’ in order to make connections between ideas, and to make decisions based on evidence. Once students have had an opportunity to play and debrief connections, students finally go back to playing in a “replay” and investigating/pursuing new wonderings or questions. This is an inquiry framework that I’ve successfully used since 2014 when introducing new science topics or enriching inquiry activities. It is an excellent way to engage students, identify their prior knowledge and remind them of the joys of ‘play’ while simultaneously learning. I truly hope that in trying this framework in your own classes, it will not only make the learning meaningful for your students but it will also provide you the opportunity to better gauge your student’s creativity.” Click through to see detailed slides on this framework and how it has been used!

Stefanie Macaluso, ELLIS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WtyP12TDviqOT9zlDRrBihSM0x6wJLOl/view?usp=sharing

Erin Fleischauer spent time reflecting on the role of outcomes/skills-based learning in her school. Erin says: “For me, having a non-punitive system of assessment based on providing multiple pathways and modalities for students to show their skills is in harmony with the school’s restorative discipline system. Just as we have a restorative justice system that encourages some behaviors and has a set of restorative consequences for other behaviors that depend on students taking responsibility, so do we have an assessment system that works in a similar way. As a teacher, this helps me to define my role and power in the classroom as an ally helping them to develop their skills as they work with others and engage in productive struggle in experiences I’ve structured.” Take a look at the full reflection to get a sense of the many insights that Erin has to share about how this work fits into the Internationals school community!

Erin Fleischauer, Brooklyn IHS

Lionel Cruet has been using technology to help learn about student interest. Lionel says: “In order to capture students interest on artworks that have been important during the renaissance period I use a Google Form survey with images and categorical interest. I forwarded this Google Form survey to a group of students prior to concluding the last school year. The information and data collected from this survey was essential to understand what students were interested in to study. In this way, I capture their choice and their interest. In a positive way I learned much more of what the students liked and what not. I use the results to build an entire curriculum plan for two consecutive units. This practice will help teachers to use technology to capture students interest and student choice on the subject that they are studying.” Take a look at the screenshot and consider creating your own interest survey!

Lionel Cruet, ELLIS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17RRIqOlr17SxFpEuC9RXqVPO5l2n0R9t/view?usp=sharing

“Starting in 2017, the students and faculty of the New Media Club at IHSPH have attended New York Comic Con as panelists. We have discussed a variety of topics—using pop culture in education, the importance of in-person social spaces for students, supporting student interests, celebrating fandom and creativity, our favorite video games—and connected with like-minded educators around the city. These panels have served as success shares and broader conversations about extracurricular activities that can be so vital for many of our students. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!” Click through to ream more of their refletion and photos from their work!

Brendan Gillett and Keyra Jimenez, IHS @ Prospect Heights

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w7IuVsCA2gX_ZnCAp_Uq2iGqqG4MxXrV/view?usp=sharing

Stephanie Edwards explored a new project curriculum focused on real estate and learned a lot in the process. Stephanie reflects: “Do we have a choice in where we live? How does the history of a neighborhood affect our present day lives? How does the history of a neighborhood affect our classrooms? We are in a housing crisis. As teachers in the third year of a pandemic, we are in crisis of trying to understand what connects with students who have changed. The Urban Plan program is a semester-long real estate project. Students form development teams and compete to create a comprehensive proposal for rebuilding a neighborhood. In conjunction with this project, students spent several weeks learning about the consequences of neighborhood development and spent time examining the impact of redlining and gentrification on BIPOC communities. This project was necessary because at some point in the lives of my students, if not already, they will be impacted by the housing crisis. And our classrooms will be mirrors for these changes. We must understand and name the forces that are at play when it comes to where we live and the neighborhoods that ultimately shape our classrooms. Witnessing this project gave me hope and it will give teachers hope. This project wasn’t designed for my students, but my students MADE it their project. I remember the glazed over looks they had when they first saw the 100 page manual. However, it was the students that made this curriculum come to life. Those glazed over looks became looks of understanding, looks of empowerment, and the most important of all— JOY.”

Stephanie Edwards, IHS @ Prospect

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WtyP12TDviqOT9zlDRrBihSM0x6wJLOl/view?usp=sharing

Eva Morales and Samantha Davis have been leading work-based curriculum at their school. Samantha says: “This curriculum is geared toward new students completing a self analysis. At this stage, many students are beginning to understand who they are and who they could be. This curriculum is intended to give the students options as they are learning who they are. It is exciting to see students consider various pathways that were previously unknown to them. With the WBL/college & career curriculum, it is all about self discovery. In students applying to various internships and completing structured surveys, they are repeatedly asked critical thinking questions that forces them to delve deep and think about what their capacity is.” Click through to see the unit overview, including links to many of the materials.

Eva Morales and Samantha Davis, Crotona IHS

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZL9SttfLX1dYmGR_iuKbGpH0QrjAm8xDAbVqdAlahAk/edit?usp=sharing

In this full-day, interactive workshop, participants will learn some basics of game design, analyze how existing games connect to our curricula, and then create our very own playable board or card games. These games could be used to teach or review class concepts, build community in the school, or as a basis for a game design unit with your own students. Learn through playing and creating! While teachers, club leaders, counselors, and admin are encouraged to register, all are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Brian Hsu and Brendan Gillett IHS @ Prospect Heights

How can project-based learning be embedded meaningfully into our physical education classrooms? In this interactive, collaborative workshop, participants will explore and review what project based learning (PBL) is, and discuss how PBL can be incorporated into physical education.  Participants will explore sample Yoga lessons and resources and then work in groups to create their own Yoga routines for presentations.  Finally, participants will discuss where and how this can fit into their own classrooms and how the PBL concepts can be transferred to other sports and class activities as well. Participants will walk away with a better understanding of how they can use Project based Learning in their classroom, and all P.E. teachers are encouraged to attend!

Facilitator(s): James Leung, IHS for Health Sciences

To read and to read with depth are two different things. In today’s world, everything is a source with information, but it takes a discerning eye to know which sources are reliable. How can we support students to not only make sense of but also bring a critical eye to texts in the world around them? In this interactive session, participants will experience and explore different close reading strategies that can be used to encourage students to read with depth. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect and discuss these strategies and will have time to consider how the strategies might be applied in their own contexts. All are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Stephanie Edwards,IHS @ Prospect Heights

Approximately 1 in 5 youth will experience a mental disorder in their lifetime. Students of immigrant backgrounds are at higher risk due to exposure to trauma, bullying, and/or acculturation stress. It is our duty to recognize and respond to these mental health challenges to get them the help they need. In this interactive workshop, you will learn about the warning signs of mental health challenges in school, trauma-informed strategies to foster trust with immigrant students, and how to develop relationships with immigrant families in a culturally-informed manner. This workshop is open to all professions!

Facilitator(s): Olivia Khoo,Columbia Teachers College

Join us as we explore both the healing and community building role that creative writing can play in the classroom and our own lives! The main purpose of this workshop is for participants to experience first-hand a series of compelling writing activities that can be used with students, as well as giving participants a creative outlet to express themselves after years of isolation and challenges. Participants will take away a variety of writing activities to use in the classroom while also having time to process and heal through writing as a community. Self-identified writers as well as those new to the world of writing are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Leah Pascarella, Claremont IHS

Jane LawrenceHow can we bring journalism into the classroom and use the arts as a means to share news? In this interactive workshop, participants will explore a recent project that grappled with this very puzzle and discover transferable ideas that can be applied to their own classrooms. By analyzing a project that asks students to 1) explore news stories supported by the Pulitzer Center and witness how the visual arts is used to communicate global underreported stories, 2) create their own visual response using woodblock printing to focus their visual art skills to tell a stories of people, flora and fauna, crisis and celebration, and global voices that deserve to be amplified, and 3) document their work in progress by using video reflection and analysis, participants will walk away with a host of ideas about bridging news, story-telling, and the arts. Participants will be able to discuss the process, view the student work, and unpack ways to transfer concepts into their own classrooms. While art teachers are especially encouraged to register, all are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Jane Lawrence, Manhattan IHS

In this collaborative, exploratory workshop, math teachers will come together to share ideas, have fun, and dream up possibilities. Each participant is asked to bring a fun math problem, and participants will have time to hear about, engage with, and solve these problems together. Participants will discuss and share protocols for presenting, writing up, & possibly using these problems for Portfolio or Performance-based Assessment Tasks (PBATs). This is an opportunity for math teachers from across Internationals to have fun, do math, & share resources, problems, & protocols that can be applied directly in class. While ideally suited for math teachers or staff who evaluate math portfolios/PBATs, anyone who wants to work on math problems is welcome to attend!

Facilitator(s): Jay Pirani-Mellstrom, Brooklyn IHS

Scaffolding for our students is essential to our work, but sometimes this can lead to a lack of student voice or repetitiveness of projects. Sentence starters can over-guide student thinking and paragraph frames can lead to the same structure again and again. One simple solution to this problem is implementing student menus. Student menus provide students with options and strategies for a given task so that they don’t have to remember everything, or rely too heavily on working memory so that they can reach higher-order thinking without the usual obstacles. In this workshop, participants will draft their own student menus after looking at examples and seeing how they are used in student work. We will see how student menus can be used to help guide student thinking, writing, and analysis without relying on the typical scaffolds, allowing for more diversity in thinking and projects. The focus of the workshop is on student voice and choice which allows for a diversity of thinking and perspectives. A community should grow and learn from one another, and student menus provide a vehicle for that to happen. Participants will leave with at least one menu that they can use with their classes, and an understanding of how this tool can be used to support instruction. All are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Marc McEwan, Claremont IHS

Poetry is an ideal tool for celebrating identity, strengthening community, and elevating student voice in a heterogeneous multilingual classroom. This workshop presents protocols for writing, revising, and presenting student poems, with a particular focus on poems to express selfhood and advocate for equity. Participants will examine sample student work and enact parts of the poetry writing process. Participants will come away with concrete strategies for incorporating poetry into their classes as well as a deeper appreciation of the many ways in which poetry empowers everyone. The strategies for teaching poetry highlighted in this workshop present careful scaffolds that also make space for individual voice and creative expression so that all students are positioned as poets. Participants will walk away with protocols for writing, peer review, and presentation of poems, all of which foster connection and community among students with diverse language skills and cultural backgrounds. All are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Becky Gould, International Community HS

What activities and processes can help strengthen teams in our school communities? In this interactive workshop from our partners at Ramapo for Children, participants will come together to joyfully and authentically connect, play, problem-solve, and strengthen their leadership and communication skills. By participating, educators will learn activities that can be used in their own learning environments to strengthen teams as well as their own participation in those teams. All are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Sasha Elias, Ramapo for Children

Relationships are the center of the work we do and build community. This workshop will help participants recognize how they can use a multitude of skills at school to help students heal and learn and feel safer at school, which ultimately can help to build community. The workshop will focus on learning and reinforcing various trauma-informed/healing-centered skills at school which foster relationship building, including de-escalation skills and mindfulness. Participants will learn how they can use the power of relationships and positive techniques to help students who may be reactive in class or need space to heal. They will gain the skills to help students calm down in a positive way to help avoid harmful behaviors and foster community building. Participants will also use storytelling, modeling a restorative justice-relationship based framework, to share their own expertise and practices with trauma-informed teaching and learning. All are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Elena Sullivan, Brooklyn IHS

Join us as we explore both the healing and community building role that creative writing can play in the classroom and our own lives! The main purpose of this workshop is for participants to experience first-hand a series of compelling writing activities that can be used with students, as well as giving participants a creative outlet to express themselves after years of isolation and challenges. Participants will take away a variety of writing activities to use in the classroom while also having time to process and heal through writing as a community. Self-identified writers as well as those new to the world of writing are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Leah Pascarella, Claremont IHS

How can we bring journalism into the classroom and use the arts as a means to share news? In this interactive workshop, participants will explore a recent project that grappled with this very puzzle and discover transferable ideas that can be applied to their own classrooms. By analyzing a project that asks students to 1) explore news stories supported by the Pulitzer Center and witness how the visual arts is used to communicate global underreported stories, 2) create their own visual response using woodblock printing to focus their visual art skills to tell a stories of people, flora and fauna, crisis and celebration, and global voices that deserve to be amplified, and 3) document their work in progress by using video reflection and analysis, participants will walk away with a host of ideas about bridging news, story-telling, and the arts. Participants will be able to discuss the process, view the student work, and unpack ways to transfer concepts into their own classrooms. While art teachers are especially encouraged to register, all are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Jane Lawrence, Manhattan IHS

In this PD teachers will explore using live, first person narratives in the classroom. Personal stories help students build confidence speaking, develop listening skills, and allow students to create strong connections with each other. Storytelling can be used in ELA and social studies disciplines, and is a useful tool in an advisory as well. This workshop with familiarize teachers with storytelling prompts, techniques, and scaffolds. And yes, we will be sharing stories.

Facilitator(s): Alex Porter, IHS for Health Sciences

In this interactive workshop, participants will explore strategies and techniques that can be utilized in fostering parent and family engagement in schools. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about a recent successful initiative that has engaged families at PAIHS Elmhurst. Participants will take away concrete strategies to bring this work to life in their own school community. The goal of this workshop is to engage members of the school community to feel competent in helping families gain critical information, build relationships between families at the school, and provide a space for families to express their concerns and needs. All are welcome to attend as we are all key members to assure family engagement becomes an essential part of our schools.

Facilitator(s): Karla Pina, Katherine Villalobos, PAIHS Elmhurst

This new workshop digs deep into key elements of strong projects – sustained inquiry and student voice and choice – with a lens into how these criteria foster explorations of social justice and support students in exercising agency and autonomy. We’ll read, we’ll share, and we’ll work together so that all participants feel more confident in strengthening these elements of project-based learning.

Facilitator(s): Andrew Sigal, Internationals Network for Public Schools

Welcome to the Teaching With Games Workshop! Video games and tabletop games are rife with educational potential, but are very rarely implemented in our classrooms in meaningful ways. This workshop will focus on how “entertainment” games that our students are already playing can be utilized as educational resources. This workshop will tap into many of our students’ background knowledge regarding games. As most of our students play games in some capacity, bringing games into the classroom aids in their ability to access new content, skills, and language. Participants will leave with a large number of potential activities and lesson plans to start teaching with games in their classes. This workshop is especially suited for Social Studies, ELA, and Advisory teachers, but all are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Zack Hatzman, ELLIS

What tools can help us sustain healthy communities where all feel welcome and safe? In this interactive and collaborative workshop, participants will explore and discuss behavior support techniques, including proximity, redirection and distraction, managing the environment, active listening, and emotional first aid. Participants will walk away with tools to help create a trauma-sensitive environment where both young people and adults feel safe — and are safe. Participants will discover and explore methods to proactively prevent and/or de-escalate potential crisis situations, as well as methods to process a crisis event with young people to improve their coping strategies. Teacher’s looking to build deeper relationships with all of their students and to have a bigger tool box for doing so are encouraged to attend. All are welcome!

Facilitator(s): Nayib Gomez, Lynetta Sullivan, Crotona IHS

This workshop allows participants to explore the Core Principles of the Internationals approach: Heterogeneity and Collaboration, Experiential Learning, Language and Content Integration, Localized Autonomy, and One Learning Model for All. Participants should walk away with an idea of how these principles are applied in schools across the network.

Facilitator(s): Mireia Rothman-Simon, Internationals Network for the Public Schools

Are many of your students new arrivals adjusting to the classroom while worrying about their home life? Are you wondering how to support them? Information is power! In this workshop, you will learn about the different forms of immigration humanitarian relief available to recently arrived families. We will explore different scenarios and arm you with timely information to share with your students. When you leave this workshop, you will know how to ensure that your students obtain the resources they need to navigate their new home. Bring your questions, we have answers!

Facilitator(s): Dorian Rojas of Vols, Volunteers of Legal Service