“Many Languages, One School”

Swiss Group of International Schools

Annual Conference

March 8th and 9th, 2013

Hosted by Leysin American School

Many Languages, One School

The human ability to adapt and to acquire new languages, whether English, Mandarin or Swahili, is central to success in the modern world, and central to the existence and everyday function of all educational establishments, and international schools more than most. EFL, EAL, ESL, call it what you wish – this is an element of our schools that we must get right.

The challenges of differentiation, recognition of support needs through the fog of the language acquisition process, the dynamic modification of language and support programmes to meet evolving needs – these are the bread and butter of all our teachers. If our schools don’t provide the absolute best in these areas, we are failing both our staff and – most importantly – our students.

The SGIS conference 2013 brings together some of the top experts in the field of ESL. Our aim is to revisit these essential topics, to help teachers across the various curricula and ages we teach find out about the latest research in this area, to help them to hone their tools and skills, share best practice or even to re-tool with some of the many technological options now available as we learn to integrate our English support programmes ever more closely with the fabric of our schools.

We are indebted to Stephen Dexter and his colleagues at LAS for the support which has allowed SGIS to welcome you to the beautiful, historic setting of their Belle Époque campus in its stunning Alpine location.

Ilya Eigenbrot,

SGIS Chair

Welcome to Leysin American School

Dear SGIS Colleagues and Friends,

LAS is very excited to host the SGIS Conference on March 8 & 9. The theme of this year’s conference will be “Many languages One School.” It will be a privilege to welcome notable people in the field such as Dr. Krashen, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Southern California, who will be our keynote speaker. In addition, our feature speaker will be John Harlin III, renowned mountain climber, who grew up in Leysin.

The conference will take place in our newly renovated building, the Belle Époque Campus, which was formerly the Grand-Hotel and was built as a tuberculosis treatment center or sanatorium. It is a breath-taking building through its architectural beauty and has a rich history. A number of prominent people like Josephine Baker, Igor Stravinski, Jean Cocteau, and Mahtma Ghandi, either visited or treated at the Grand-Hotel in the first half of the 20th Century.

In addition to a wonderful conference, we hope you bring your skis along. March is usually still an excellent month for skiing: great snow, no longer very cold and longer days. And not

to forget the Après-Ski! There will be a lot happening in Leysin, since the Nescafé Snowboard Championship will be taking place in town!

We look forward to welcoming you and your colleagues in Leysin next March!

A bientôt as we say in the Suisse Romande!

Marc-F. Ott, Ed.D. Head of School

Conference Sponsors and Exhibitors

Our thanks to all the Exhibitors for their support, sponsorship and raffle prizes.

We would also like to say a special word of thanks to Steven James of Atlas Promotions EU, for all his hard work in contributing to this conference and making it such a success.

Featured Speakers’ Bios Rebecca Freeman-Field

Rebecca Freeman Field, Ph.D., is a sociolinguist who has worked in the field of language and literacy education for more than three decades. She has extensive experience working with pre-service and practicing teachers and administrators in the United States and internationally in the following areas:

Leadership and professional development in English language learner (ELL) education Integrating ELLs into the academic mainstream Dual language education Differentiating instruction and assessment for ELLs

Reading, writing, and talking across the curriculum (Re)structuring schools around linguistic and cultural diversity Developing language policies to promote multilingualism Program development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation in multilingual

schools Language, culture, identity, and equity

Freeman Field is adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Language Education Division of Caslon Publishing and Consulting in Philadelphia.

She is author of Bilingual Education and Social Change (1998), Building on Community Bilingualism (2004), and co-editor (with Else Hamayan) of English Language Learners at School: A Guide for Administrators (1st edition - 2006; 2nd edition – 2012).

She has been presenting and consulting at SGIS and ECIS-ESL/Mother Tongue conferences for the last fifteen years.

Else Hamayan

Else Hamayan is an independent consultant and Director Emeritus of the Illinois Resource Center in Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA.

Dr. Hamayan was born and raised in Lebanon, where she learned English (among other languages) as a foreign language. She taught English to Arabic-speaking adolescents. She graduated

with a degree in psycholinguistics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where she conducted research in Canadian Immersion programs. Subsequently, she joined the Illinois Resource Center, a professional development center for teachers of linguistically and culturally diverse students. She was director of that center from 1982 through 2006, when she moved to Argentina, where she currently resides.

She currently provides professional development to teachers and administrators in the U.S., Latin America and Europe on teaching English as a second language, early childhood bilingualism, English language learners with special needs, cross-cultural learning, and dual language instruction. She has also helped administrators in program development, particularly in dual language schools and International Schools, and has consulted with refugee programs and state boards of education in addition to PreK-12 schools.

She is the co-author of Dual Language Instruction: A Handbook for Enriched Education (Heinle & Heinle), and the accompanying web-based training program Dual U. More recently she co-edited English Language Learners at School: A Guide for Administrators (Caslon Publishing) and co-authored Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners: A Continuum of Services, and Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners: A Teacher’s Guide to Research-Based Practices (Heinemann).

Her latest publication, with Genesee and Cloud, is called Dual Language Education from A to Z, to be published shortly by Heinemann.

Stephen Krashen

Stephen Krashen is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Southern California. He is best known for developing the first comprehensive theory of second language acquisition, introducing the concept of sheltered subject matter teaching, and as the co-inventor of the Natural Approach to foreign language teaching.

He has also contributed to theory and application in the area of bilingual education, and has done important work in the area of reading. He was the 1977 Incline Bench Press champion of Venice Beach and holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

He is the author of The Power of Reading (Heinemann, 2004, second edition) and co-author, with Fay Shin, of Summer Reading: Program and Evidence. (Allyn and Bacon).

His recent papers can be found at http://www.sdkrashen.com.

Erica McWilliam

Erica McWilliam is an internationally recognised scholar in the field of pedagogy with a particular focus on workforce preparation of youth in post-compulsory schooling and in higher education. She is well known for her contribution to educational reform and its relationship to “over the horizon” work futures in the context of formal learning environments from early years to doctoral education.

Her career has involved four decades as an educator, moving from two decades as a teacher in Queensland schools to a professorial role as an educational leader in the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. She has been instrumental in directing the Creative Workforce 2.0 Research Program in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation since 2006.

Erica has also performed professorial duties as an educational researcher at the National Institute of Education in Singapore, and was Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School’s Scholar in Residence in 2010. Erica’s research and scholarship focuses on ‘low threat, high challenge’ teaching in and for the 21st century.

Her latest sole-authored book, ‘The Creative Workforce: How to launch young people into high flying futures’, is published by UNSW Press.

Professor Peter Taylor

(One Session co-presented with Erica McWilliam)

Professor Peter Taylor has established a national and international reputation as a highly innovative curriculum leader, developer and researcher in the area of classroom pedagogy. He was the founding Director (and Professor) of Bond University’s Institute for Learning Communities, in 2002. More recently Peter worked as a Professor in the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice (CRPP) at

Singapore’s National Institute of Education (NIE) from 2008-2010, and is now an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University (Australia). His most recent research, conducted as an independent consultant, involves the characterisation of pedagogical practices associated with the use of tablet PCs in Australian secondary classrooms. That work has given rise to a site-specific approach to supporting teacher professional development, involving structured sharing and smart borrowing, which is being implemented across a range of sites and systems.

Activities as Education Consultant

In 2009, Peter was engaged by Raffles Girls School (Singapore) to characterise the degree of classroom implementation of a school-wide curriculum initiative based on the principles of Understanding by Design.

In 2010 that work was extended to the teaching in Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College, with the intention to compare and contrast the pedagogical practices across those three sites.

In 2011, Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) engaged Peter to undertake a characterisation of the impact of the introduction of Tablet-PCs on classroom pedagogical practices. That work focused on Year 8 classrooms, the year in which the Tablet-PCs are provided to all boys, and used in all subjects. Observations were extended to include Year 9 and 10 classrooms, where use of the Tablet-PCs was already well established. He was also engaged to lead the characterisation of one-to-one pedagogical practices in the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. In 2012 that work has given rise to involvement in professional development work based on the idea of ‘smart borrowing’ through structured sharing based on video clips of particular aspects of teaching as they are enacted in different year levels and subject areas, in both primary and secondary schools. Peter’s involvement in this work is ongoing.

Brian Mull

Brian Mull, Director of Innovation, got his first taste of the role technology can play in the classroom as he worked toward earning his Master of Education degree at Louisiana State University. Immediately upon graduating, he accepted a sixth grade position at a local school, where he also served as the school’s Technology Site Coordinator. Brian then accepted a job in New Orleans at Trinity Episcopal School as the Director of Technology. There, he led in the development of a growing technology program

for seven years – the last of which was focused on sustaining ties within the school community during and in the months following Hurricane Katrina.

Brian has been on the November Learning team for over three years. His roles as an educator, technology director and parent as well as his experiences gained through the development of a vast professional network of global peers bring a tremendous range of ideas and abilities to our team. He is described as having an infectious enthusiasm and an incredible depth of knowledge as he presents on the topics of critical thinking, motivating students through authentic tasks and developing collaborative partnerships.

Brian has given keynotes and hands-on presentations in schools and at conferences across the United States, in Canada and in Europe. Some of his major events include the Building Learning Communities Conference (BLC), the Cisco sponsored Smithsonian American Art Museum Teacher Institute, the Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators Conference (LACUE) and the European League for Middle Level Educators Conference (ELMLE).

Brian has worked closely with a variety of companies including Cisco, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and 21st Century Learning. He was also named one of Google’s first 200 Google Certified Teachers, and he has been a lecturer for an Executive Doctoral Program for K-12 School Administration at Seton Hall University.

Stuart Stotts

Stuart Stotts is a songwriter, storyteller and author from Madison, Wisconsin. He’s worked as a full-time performer since 1986, and he gives over 200 shows a year for kids, families and adults around the United States, and sometimes farther. He has worked at a variety of international schools in Greece, Costa Rica, England, Egypt, and Switzerland.

Stuart is also a Kennedy Center teaching artist, and he works with schools and educational institutions around the United States through the Partners in Education program, focusing on connections between literacy, music, storytelling, and arts integration. His training sessions are interactive and grounded in practice, providing strategies and approaches that teachers can implement with students immediately.

Stuart is a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops for teachers, parents and librarians. A major area of focus is on early education. Stuart works with early childhood teachers in the areas of current brain research, music, and professionalism. In 2009, he cooperated with the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association to develop a program called “I’m a Teacher Not a Babysitter,” which incorporates stories and experiences of teachers to give a portrait of the daily life, challenges, and joys of work with young children.

Stuart has also worked extensively as an artist-in-residence in elementary, middle and high schools. He has released several award-winning recordings including Celebrate, Everybody Started Out Small, Are We There Yet? and One Big Dance. He is also the author of The Bookcase Ghost: A Collection of Wisconsin ghost stories, Books in a Box: Lutie Stearns and the Traveling Libraries of Wisconsin, Curly Lambeau and the Green Bay Packers, and We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World. We Shall Overcome was named an American Library Association Notable Book for 2011. His newest book, due for publication in 2013, is a biography of civil rights leader James Groppi, a central figure in Milwaukee in the 1960s.

Stuart is married and lives in Deforest, Wi.

Friday, 8th March 2013 8:30 to 9:30

Registration

Welcome Coffee and Tea in the Exhibitor Area

Visit Exhibitors

9:30 to 9:50

Opening Ceremony

9:50 to 11:00

Key Note speaker: John Harlin

11:00 to 11.20

Visit Exhibitors

Tea and Coffee in the Exhibitor Area

11:20 to 12:30

(Staggered lunch)

Brian Mull

Webliteracy: Teaching Zack to Think

Stephen Krashen

The (astounding) power of reading

12:30 to 13:40

(Staggered lunch)

Erica McWilliam and Peter Taylor

21st Century Teaching: Visible,

Share-able, Improve-able

Else Hamayan

Understanding ESL students with

academic difficulties: What do we look

for?

13.50 to 15:00

Brian Mull

Student as

Contributor: The

Digital Learning

Farm

Erica McWilliam

Hearing student

thinking in the

classroom

Rebecca Freeman

Field

Leadership and

capacity building

in ELL education:

A framework for

action

Stuart Stotts

Storytelling 101,

part A

15:10 to 15:40

Exhibitors presentations

15:40 to 16:00

Visit Exhibitors

Tea and Coffee in the Exhibitor area

16:00 to 17:10*

Brian Mull

Creating a New

Culture of

Teaching and

Learning

Else Hamayan

Using the Mother

Tongue to

support learning

(even when you

don’t speak it!)

Rebecca Freeman

Field

Differentiating

instruction and

assessment for

ELLs: A guide for

all teachers

Stuart Stotts

Storytelling 101,

part B

*Trains depart at 17:53 from the school

Conference Schedule—Friday March 8th

8:30– 9:30 Registration

Welcome Coffee and Exhibitor Displays

9:30 – 9:50 Opening Session

9:50 – 11:00 John Harlin – Keynote

11:00 – 11:20 Coffee Break in the Exhibitors’ area

11:20 – 13:40 Lunch will be served in the Exhibition Area

Please note that lunch will be served over a span of one hour 10 minutes to allow participants to select particular sessions to attend.

11:20 – 12:30 Brian Mull

Web Literacy: Teaching Zack to Think

Too many students are not sure how to separate fact from fiction on the Internet. Students need to learn the “grammar” of the Internet and how to apply strategies to validate information on a website. This session provides step-by-step teaching tips that help students and teachers think critically about Internet information.

Stephen Krashen

The (astounding ) power of Reading

Free Voluntary Reading (FVR): source of reading ability,

writing style, vocabulary size, much of spelling, complex

grammar

a. Hooked on Books!

The overwhelming research case for FVR

b. Sustained Silent Reading

12:30 – 13:40 Erica McWilliam and Peter Taylor

21st Century Teaching: Visible, Share-able, Improve-able

There is now overwhelming evidence of the importance of teaching quality in improving student learning outcomes. This workshop will provide participants with a language and a practical methodology by which teachers can improve the quality of their own pedagogical practices by making them visible first to themselves, and then able to be shared with their colleagues in systematic and non-threatening ways. It is a process that has been used in schools in both Singapore and Australia as a site-specific approach to professional development based on structured sharing and smart borrowing of actual practice, including use of digital tools and resources. Participants will be assisted to identify meta-level categories of practice that assist student learning, and then develop micro-level descriptors that characterise the journey from relatively ineffective to highly effective practice. The outcome of this is a shared language for pedagogical conversations, as well as specific foci for self-reflection.

Else Hamayan

Understanding ESL students with academic difficulties: What do we look for?

• Seven integral factors that may contribute to ESL students’ academic difficulties.

• How to get information about these integral factors. • Interpreting and using this information to build an

effective learning environment for ESL students.

13:50 – 15:00 Brian Mull

Student as Contributor: The Digital Learning Farm

Alan November describes the "Digital Learning Farm" as a place where students come together to make valuable contributions to their classrooms for the benefit of their classmates and the world beyond their school's walls. This session will focus on the ideas behind these contributions and will introduce participants to a toolset that will get their students moving in the direction of empowered, purposeful learning. Examples include tutorial creators, student scribes, curriculum reviewers and more.

Erica McWilliam

Hearing student thinking in the classroom

This workshop focuses on ways that digital technologies can be used to build a learning culture in the classroom. The point of the workshop is to flesh out more fully the idea that twenty-first century teaching is not simply a matter of going digital, but of having clear learning intentions, and then applying pedagogical imagination to classroom tasks. The workshop draws on Peter Taylor’s recent research on teachers’ use of digital tools in both Singapore and Australia to guide thinking about ‘next practice’, rather than ‘best practice.

Rebecca Freeman-Field

Leadership and capacity building in ELL education: A framework for action

This interactive workshop is organized to address the question: How can we ensure our systems, structures, and resources better support equitable access to education for our English language learners?

Participants take away the following big ideas from the session:

1. English language learners are everyone’s responsibility.

2. Administrators, teachers, and leadership teams are powerful agents for change.

3. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to educating ELLs/bilingual learners.

4. Effective educational leaders use sound theory, core principles, flexible frameworks, guiding questions, and defensible evidence to inform their decisionmaking about equity for ELLs/bilingual learners in their schools.

5. Students first.

The session lays out a road map that administrators, teachers, and leadership teams can apply to their school context.

Stuart Stotts

Storytelling 101, part A

Storytelling 101, part A: Teachers of Students ages 4- 11. Storytelling is a central pillar of language development, in every culture in the world. Over the course of these two sessions, participants will learn why stories are central to language and character development, the essential skills required for storytelling, as well as three stories to tell their students

15:10 – 15:40 Exhibitors Presentations

15:40 – 16:00 Afternoon Coffee Break in the Exhibitors’ Display Area

16:00 – 17:10 Brian Mull

Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning

A powerful new culture of empowered teaching and fearless learning is emerging. Access to more timely information and communication tools can empower educators to focus on the individual learning needs of their students. These same tools can lead to more collegiality, build stronger community relationships and empower students to be more self-directed. This workshop presents clear examples of how this new culture has been achieved

Main points include:

• Increased Collegiality: Shared Best Practices • Increase Student ownership of learning • Technology aligned to curriculum • Authentic work • More rigorous and motivating assignments • Classroom to learning community

Else Hamayan

Using the Mother Tongue to support learning (even when you don’t speak it!)

• The important role that cross-linguistic transfer plays in developing bilingualism.

• Strategies for bootstrapping from mother tongue to English (and vice versa).

• Using bilingual books to help build proficiency in the students’ two (or more) languages.

Rebecca Freeman Field

Differentiating instruction and assessment for ELLs: A guide for all teachers

This interactive session addresses the question: How can we make grade-level content area instruction comprehensible and engaging to all students, particularly ELLs? We begin with profiles of ELLs at different stages of English language development and from diverse linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds. Educators are encouraged to think of

defining characteristics of their ELL populations. Participants are then introduced to a template that they can use to differentiate instruction and assessment for ELLs within the context of the general education classroom.

Participants will:

• Describe what ELLs at different levels of English language development (ELD) can do with reading, writing, listening, and speaking in English

• Identify instructional and assessment strategies that scaffold and support learning for ELLS at different ELD stages in the general education classroom

• Explain how to promote shared responsibility for ELLs through teacher collaborations

Stuart Stotts

Storytelling 101, part B

Teachers of Students ages 4-11. Storytelling is a central pillar of language development, in every culture in the world. Over the course of these two sessions, participants will learn why stories are central to language and character development, the essential skills required for storytelling, as well as three stories to tell their students.

** 17:53 Train departs from school towards Aigle

Gala Dinner and Jazz Band at The Mercure Classic Hotel, Leysin

(Advance purchase of tickets necessary)

Apero 19.00-19.45 (To be confirmed)

Gala Dinner 20:00-23:00

Dress code: Smart casual

Saturday, 9th March 2013 8:20 – 9:30

Welcome Coffee and Tea in the Exhibitor Area

Visit Exhibitors

9:30 to 10:40

Key Note speaker: Stephen Krashen

Fundamentals of language acquisition theory

9:40 to 11:00

Tea and Coffee in the Exhibitor Area

Visit Exhibitors

11:00 to 12:10

(Staggered lunch

starting at 11:30)

Stephen Krashen

What about technology?

Rebecca Freeman Field

(Repeat Session)

Differentiating instruction and

assessment for ELLs: A guide for all

teachers

12:10 to 13:20

(Staggered lunch)

Erica McWilliam

Creating room for experimentation

Else Hamayan

Supporting ESL students with

academic difficulties

13.30 to 14:40

Erica McWilliam

Teacher

Improvement:

The Next Step

Stephen Krashen

Writing: Mastery

of form comes

from reading, but

actual writing

makes you

smarter

Rebecca Freeman

Field

Implementing

effective

instruction for

ELLs: 12 key

practices for

administrators,

teachers, and

leadership teams

Stuart Stotts

Arts Integration

14:40 to 15:00

Tea and Coffee in the Exhibitors Area

Visit Exhibitors

15:00 to 16:10*

Else Hamayan

(Repeat Session)

Supporting ESL

students with

academic

difficulties

Stuart Stotts

Writing the

Hero’s Journey

Breakout Sessions by Discipline

*Trains depart at 16:53 from the school

Conference Schedule—Saturday March 9th

8:20 – 9:20 Coffee Break and Exhibitor Displays

9:30 – 10:40 Key Note – Stephen Krashen

Fundamentals of language acquisition theory

The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis: Two DIFFERENT ways of developing ability in another language.

ACQUISITION – subconscious = "picking up" a language

1. While it is happening, we are not aware that it is happening.

2. Once we have acquired something, we are not usually aware that anything has happened; the knowledge is stored in our brains subconsciously. Everybody can acquire, children and adults: The language acquisition device never shuts off.

Both oral and written language can be acquired.

Acquisition - What the brain does well.

LEARNING – conscious = Everyday language: "rules", "grammar"

What we did in school.

Error correction is supposed to help learning. When we make a mistake and are corrected, we are supposed to change our conscious version of the rule. BUT: error correction and conscious learning are very limited.

Learning – What the brain does poorly.

The Monitor Hypothesis: Consciously learned language is only available as a Monitor, or editor.

Fluent production comes from Acquisition.

Grammar rules help only as an editor: before we say/write something or after.

10:40 – 11:00 Coffee Break in the Exhibitors’ Display Area

11:00 – 12:10 Stephen Krashen

What about Technology?

1. Technology makes it possible to do in nano-seconds what should not have been done in the first place (Gerald Bracey)

2. The Comprehension hypothesis and the Skill-building hypothesis

3. Technology in service of the skill-building hypothesis 4. Technology in service of the Comprehension hypothesis

1. providing comprehensible input: eslpod.com – aural and written

2. making input more comprehensible by adding visuals 5. The fear that the internet will destroy reading. 6. Who surfs the net? 7. I-pads for everybody? 8. The future of the library

Rebecca Freeman-Field

Differentiating instruction and assessment for ELLs: A guide for all teachers

This interactive session addresses the question: How can we make grade-level content area instruction comprehensible and engaging to all students, particularly ELLs? We begin with profiles of ELLs at different stages of English language development and from diverse linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds. Educators are encouraged to think of defining characteristics of their ELL populations. Participants are then introduced to a template that they can use to differentiate instruction and assessment for ELLs within the context of the general education classroom.

Participants will:

• Describe what ELLs at different levels of English language development (ELD) can do with reading, writing, listening, and speaking in English

• Identify instructional and assessment strategies that scaffold and support learning for ELLS at different ELD stages in the general education classroom

• Explain how to promote shared responsibility for ELLs through teacher collaborations

11:00 – 13:30 Exhibitor Displays – Staggered Lunch

11:30 – 13:30 Lunch will be served in the Exhibition area

Please note that lunch will be served over a span of one hour 10 minutes to allow participants to select particular sessions to attend.

12:10 – 13:20 Erica McWilliam

Creating room for experimentation

This workshop is designed to help staff think about how they spend their working time in the context of the changing nature and purposes of their daily work. In asking the question, how to create room for experimentation, Erica works with participants to investigate strategies for spending less time responding to external accountability requirements and more on the learning culture of staff and students. Participants explore their own teaching in terms of experimental space.

Else Hamayan

Supporting ESL students with academic difficulties

• Seven principles we must adhere to when designing interventions for ESL students

• Examples of interventions that are based on these principles

13.30 – 14.40 Erica McWilliam

Teacher Improvement: The Next Step

This workshop is designed to help teachers focus on where and how to improve their teaching capacity. It uses a self-audit tool to engage staff in thinking about their own capacities (including the routine use of digital tools) and those of their students and colleagues. The discussion that follows provides a space in which to explore what priority issues emerge from the individual work and small group discussion. The outcomes of the workshop will provide a platform for designing teacher improvement projects in all types of schools nationally and internationally.

Stephen Krashen

Writing: Mastery of form comes from reading, but actual

writing makes you smarter

COMPONENTS OF THE COMPOSING PROCESS

Writing makes you smarter, inspiration the result of writing, not the cause (Boice). The CP: strategies to use writing to solve problems, keep your place

Rebecca Freeman-Field

Implementing effective instruction for ELLs: 12 key

practices for administrators, teachers, and leadership teams

This interactive session introduces the 12 key practices framework and checklist system to improve instruction and achievement for ELLS. Teams that use this system strategically in their schools can

• Structure equitable learning environments • Coordinate effective literacy, content, ESL, and mother

tongue instruction • Use languages other than English as resources for

learning • Share effective school and classroom practices

The activities in this session demonstrate how to use the framework and checklists to monitor, evaluate, and improve instruction and achievement for all students, particularly ELLs.

Stuart Stotts

Arts Integration

Teachers of Students ages 5-14 Arts of all kinds include visual, dramatic, musical, movement and written forms. The arts are a central language in all cultures. In this workshop, participants will explore the definition of arts integration developed by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in the United States. This definition provides a foundation for deep instructional practices and artistic exploration, and has been adopted by schools around the world.

14:40 – 15:00 Afternoon Coffee Break in the Exhibitors’ Display Area

15:00 – 16:10 Else Hamayan

Supporting ESL students with academic difficulties

• Seven principles we must adhere to when designing interventions for ESL students

• Examples of interventions that are based on these principles

Stuart Stotts

Writing the Hero’s Journey

Teachers of Students ages 8-14. Using Oral Literacy to Promote and Improve Writing. In this workshop, participants will learn techniques to draw upon students’ natural oral and verbal strengths in order to enhance organization, fluency, and character development in student writing.

Breakout Sessions by Discipline

16:53 Train departs from school towards Aigle

Thank you for your participation in the SGIS conference hosted by Leysin American School. We would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to complete the Conference Feedback Form included in this package

Conference information Transportation options:

As parking is limited at the school you are encouraged to park in Aigle or at your hotel and catch the train to the school stop - GRAND-HOTEL

The school is a very short walk. Once at the school please walk down the stairs in to the lobby/registration area. http://www.las.ch/about/directions/ The current train timetable period ends on 8th December 2012 so these times are subject to change. Train times at present (October 2012) are as follows:

• Fridays from Aigle Gare to Leysin Grand-Hôtel: departures: 07:20 and 07:56 arriving: 07:50, 08:25

• Fridays from Leysin Grand-Hôtel to Aigle Gare: departures: 16:53 and 17:32 arriving: 17:53, 18:32

• Saturdays from Aigle Gare to Leysin Grand-Hôtel: departures: 07:56 arriving: 08:25

• Saturdays from Leysin Grand-Hôtel to Aigle Gare: departures: 15:53 and 16:53 arriving: 16:32, 17:32

For those staying for the Gala Dinner on the Friday, the closest train station to the Classic Mercure is Versmont.

Versmont does not have arrival/departure times published on the cff site. Attached is a local Aigle-Leysin timetable page from the Leysin Information book from the Leysin Tourist Office that shows all the times. Again this is valid until December and may chance but in theory shouldn't! Please do double check before arriving at the Mercure Gala Dinner what time the last train does leave!

SGIS Membership Information Please remember to pay your membership fees for the 2013/14 school year by June 10th, 2013. Membership Fees: CHF 4 per student with a minimum of CHF 400 per school and a maximum of CHF 3000 per school. Bank Details: Account: Swiss Group of International Schools UBS, PO Box CH 1260 Nyon Account Number: 228-E0122617.0

SGIS Annual General Meeting 2013

The 2013 SGIS Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday, September 27, 2013 at the the International School of Geneva, Campus des Nations Please contact Geneve tourism for information on accommodation.

SGIS Annual Conference 2014 (TBC) The 2014 SGIS Conference will be held on March 7th and 8th, 2014

SGIS Professional Development Support Each year SGIS allocates funds to support a number of professional development groups that operate within the SGIS schools community. Funds are managed by the SGIS Executive Committee and reported on each year at the AGM.

Applications can be for funding to support an entire event or as a contribution towards the costs of an event where additional sources of funding are in place This limited fund can be accessed by the group’s nominated representative applying to the Executive Secretary of SGIS using the standard application form. The intention of the process is not to be overly bureaucratic whilst ensuring that limited funds are spent wisely and prudently. Go to: www.sgischools.com After clicking on ‘Professional Development Groups’, you will find the information and forms on the right of the page.