MESSENGERFall/Winter 2014

Missoula International School

In this issue:MIS Celebrates “STEAM” Learning!

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STEAMdefinedatMIS:STEAMexpandsthetraditionalScience,Technology,Engineering,Mathacronym(STEM)toincludeArtanddesign;tocultivatecreativeproblemsolvingandinnovativethinking.

STEAM presents MIS students with opportunities to develop the critical skills that will be needed to solve

the problems of the 21st century. Art + Design are poised to transform our economy in this century, just as science and technology did in the last century. Dr. Yong Zhao, an internationally known scholar, author, and speaker, argues that global competitiveness comes from a diversity of talents and recognition of individual passions and creativity, rather than a standardized curriculum and testing environment. His works focus on the implications of globalization and technology on education.

See this interesting video about 21st century education featuring Dr. Zhao: http://zhaolearning.com/2009/08/07/no-child-left-behind-and-global-competitiveness/

In the ideal environment, STEAM is experienced in a transdisciplinary integration, more commonly known as problem-based or project-based learning.* At MIS, this approach comes very naturally as it is the approach used in the PYP. The transdisciplinary approach is shown to improve students’ higher-level cognitive abilities as they apply what they are learning across disciplines to solve authentic problems. At MIS students are engaged in hands-on projects that integrate the STEAM fields and challenge students to think critically, allow for multiple outcomes to a single problem, rather than only one right answer, and highlight the collaborative nature of real-world innovation. In this issue of The MIS Messenger, I’m happy to share the exciting projects in which MIS students are engaged.

Celebrating “STEAM” Education at MISby Julie LennoxHead of School

Students connected with their classmate Ella recently via Skype and an ipad. Ella is spending a semester in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Students in 2nd-8th grade at MIS are learning about the design process and the endless possibilities provided by new technologies, such as 3D printing.

* Reference: Vasquez, Jo Anne. “STEM Beyond the Acronym.” Educational Leadership 73 (2014)

Missoula International SchoolMESSENGER• Fall/Winter 2014

Julie Lennox, Head of SchoolJeff Kessler, Assistant Head of School

Laura Bovard, Director of Admissions & MarketingJoann Magee, Office Manager

Gary Cram, Director of FinanceBethany O’Connell, Director of Development

Sabine Sriraman, Administrative AssistantLayout and design by Bethany O’Connell

Rob Fleming President

Doug WebberPast President

Norm WilliamsonVice President/Treasurer

Emily RichardsonSecretary

Mary SurberPA Council Representative

Board of Trustees 2014/2015

curiosidad creativitad conexión curiosity creativity connection

• IN THIS ISSUE •2

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Missoula International School inspires principled global citizens and lifelong learners

through a challenging bilingual education from preschool to eighth grade.

Did you know?The MIS Messenger is online, with links to news and videos.

Visit www.mismt.org/publications

Front cover:MIS sixth grader, Sage, prepares to launch a bottle rocket using water and air pressure. Students developed mathematical data based on rocket launch results. Click to watch!

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Ray Aten

Susan Beck

Torin Etter

Jason Kiely

Betsy Maier

Jennifer Marrow

Shane Reely

Mike Vetter

Celebrating STEAM at MISDefining STEAM learning for MIS

All Part of the ProcessTeaching a Love for Science & Math Has Early Roots for New Middle School Teacher

Tools for InnovationProfessional Development Gives Teachers Tools to Advance Learning at MIS

Push, Pull, Wedge, or Roll?Teaching Design Process Through Inquiry and Teamwork

Math MattersMIS Engages Students in Math Program 9Faith in Our Own VoicesCreative writing at MIS

FLL First Lego Robotics League Teams UpNew Team Promises Creativity & “Brain Training”

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Curiosity Sparks InnovationStudent’s Initiative Brings 3D Printing Access

How We Express OurselvesField Trips Offer Perspectives

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(Above) Student projects for the 3D printer are designed using CAD software. (Below) LEGO® robotics teaches third grade students about simple code and simple machines. (Below left) The design process can be a way to integrate the arts into Spanish class, for instance, where students wrote Thanksgiving essays in Spanish and then created a dinner made of ceramics.

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This issue on STEAM learning at MIS is powered in great part by the generous

supporters of the MISsion Forward Fund. Thank you for your donations to the Fall

Family Fiesta Fund-A-Dream and our GRAND Society.

Together, we raised a total of $31,870 for Technology & Professional Development in 2014/2015! These funds were put to immediate use for our teachers and students, allowing MIS to invest in the following technology needs thus far:

• 2 additional eBeam Projectors• 2 LCD Projectors for eBeam

& other projection needs• 2 large TV projection screens• 10 mini iPads for classrooms• 3 cameras for classroom use

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

CLICK HERE to watch a video summarizing “inquiry based learning” during a recent Professional Development day for MIS teachers.

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Tools for InnovationProfessional Development Gives Teachers the Tools to

Advance Learning at MISBy Jeff Kessler

Assistant Head of School

Professional development at MIS is kicking into high gear, thanks to the generosity of the MIS community through support of the Fund a Dream

for technology and professional development this fall. Teachers submitted professional development proposals to the Head of School for consideration based on specific criteria. We are pleased to share the results with you. As part of the goal for each proposal, the teachers will share their learning with the rest of the MIS Faculty to enrich our entire school. Currently, 4/5 multiage teacher Sherry Dickerson is participating in an online PYP workshop on Inquiry in the classroom. As PYP coordinator, Sherry will guide teaching teams with the strategies and practices she learns in the course. In January, 2/3 multiage teacher Patty Cano will attend an NWAIS workshop titled “Refining your Differentiated Instruction Practices” at the Hamlin Robinson School in Seattle. This experiential workshop will allow Patty to see differentiation in practice in another school setting and allow her to practice new tools. As primary grades division coordinator at MIS, Patty will bring this workshop back to the K-5 faculty during meetings throughout the spring. This spring, MIS’s middle school math and science teacher Jen Gebo will attend a national conference on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.) This conference will allow her to connect with colleagues and learn about exciting new advances in science, math, engineering, and mathematics. Middle school Spanish teacher, Karim Del Pozo, will attend an IB workshop titled, “Concept Based Learning.”

Karim will increase her understanding of how to use concepts, rather than content, to guide students through the learning process. MIS Librarian, Laura Bovard, will participate in an online IB Workshop called, “Making the PYP Library the Hub of Learning.” Through collaboration with other librarians at PYP schools in an online environment, Laura will learn how to increase access and use of the MIS library through the PYP Program. John Kratz, MIS K/1 multiage teacher, will also participate in an online IB Workshop called, “Assessment in the PYP.” John will learn how to use assessment to guide instruction and better meet the needs of individual students. This workshop will be entirely in Spanish and John will be collaborating with teachers throughout the Americas. This spring, MIS art specialist Loryn Zerr will attend an IB workshop called, “Role of the Arts in the PYP.” Loryn will learn to plan her art units using the PYP assessment and inquiry strategies. Natalie Baker, music specialist, will attend a “Music and Inquiry” workshop. Natalie will learn about best practices in music teaching and how to bring a deeper level of inquiry into her music class. These individual professional development opportunities offer the advantage of enriching the overall academic program. MIS teachers will share their learning with one another during planned teacher trainings and apply what they learned to the entire academic program at MIS.

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All Part of the ProcessTeaching a Love for Science & Math Has Early Roots for New Middle School Teacher

Jen Gebo taught 7th and 8th grade science in North Carolina for 10 years prior to coming to MIS this year. The

school was similar to MIS because it gave teachers a great amount of flexibility to design the program and develop very hands-on learning projects, rather than teaching from the textbook. She was given a lot of freedom to design her curriculum the way she felt was best and that is really where she grew up as a teacher. She describes her teaching style as being very “process and project oriented.” “Students need to learn to design and build,” Jen says, “and the artistic part of building is using both aesthetics and functionality to be able to look down the line and find out what skills will be needed as adults.” “Let’s face it,” she says, “We have the internet to look up any information we want, I’m not saying we don’t do that here or we don’t open a textbook, but knowing processes is what’s most important today if we really want to be able to engineer things using math and science.” Jen’s spark for science and math comes from her upbringing. She grew up on a farm in the woods of northern Minnesota. She describes herself as someone who always wanted to build things and tinker with things. She also developed a deep appreciation for nature, which led her

“Who doesn’t ask questions? Who doesn’t poke at something to see what it is? That is science. Everyone has some level of curiosity.”

to study biology and zoology. She didn’t enjoy science very much in middle school and high school she says, because it was all textbook work. In college, she enjoyed that the learning was more process oriented rather than textbook oriented. She now models much of her teaching on the college level work she did. She finds that when she teaches

By Bethany O’Connell, Director of Development and Communications

(Above) Jen Gebo teaches sixth, seventh, and eighth grade math & science classes at MIS this year (note that her fishing net hangs behind her in the classroom, evidence of her love for exploring the outdoors.)

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(Center) Students created a display demonstrating the scientific design process through their research of Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy. They built boats that they designed to test buoyancy, using materials such as foam, foil, straws, and cork. Then they spent time testing the designs and making mathematical observations.

students to write college level lab reports, working with content at a 6th or 7th grade level, her students are engaged and fully capable of doing the work. The paper the 6th grade students write for the rockets project, for instance, is modeled after a college lab report. “Would you ever think you would see 6th graders get excited about writing a lab report? Well, these kids do.”

For Jen, the goal is not always the outcome of the experiment itself. She hopes students develop a thorough understanding of the experimental design process. MIS 8th graders are currently studying biology. They will be engaging in simple lab experiments with bacteria samples from their own hands and doing some testing with it. By spring, when they are busy preparing for the State Science Fair, they will already have the tools needed to understand the scientific process and present good science. Jen finds her students enjoy making mathematical connections to the science they are learning and developing skills in graphing and how to present data. Students go from a basic understanding of mathematical functions to learning how to apply them to real world problems in science. “I feel really privileged that I get to teach science and math,” Jen says, “It makes me feel good knowing I studied the right thing in college.” When asked about the future for MIS students, what Jen values most about STEAM education is knowing that MIS students will be better equipped to face the challenges that lie ahead for the world- challenges and problems we cannot even imagine right now- because they will know the process for finding solutions, “My main goal is for them to walk out of here excited, and with an expectation that science will be fun. They will have the right approach to ask questions and advocate for themselves if they expect it to be fun.”

“Would you ever think you would see 6th graders get excited about writing a lab report? Well, these kids do.”

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Push, Pull, Wedge, or Roll?Teaching Design Process Through Inquiry and Teamwork

Simple machines make our lives easier. The 2/3 multiage students pondered this Central Idea in confusion, “What are simple machines?” and, “How do they make our lives

easier?” We posed problems and questions for the students on how to lift and transport heavy objects without telling them how. Instantly, they were hooked. For the following six weeks, the students were involved in finding out the important functions of simple machines in our daily lives through science, technology, engineering, art and math; or STEAM. Students discovered the difference between force and work by pushing on the wall of our school building. They used their bodies to push and pull, seeing if they could move various objects. For each of the six simple machines, (pulley, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw, and wedge) the students were given a question on how it makes our lives easier. They moved through the scientific process and used different materials to come to their conclusions. They were able to apply their learning about the simple machines into technology class where they created basic motorized robots with LEGO® Robotics. Later in pairs, they engineered more complex LEGO® robots and described the roles simple machines played. Students partook in a reader’s theater play written by our English teacher, Gillian Kessler, called, “Name That Simple Machine!” They were able to express themselves creatively and integrate the arts and language into their scientific learning. For their summative assessment, groups of students made inventions to solve problems, using numerous simple machines. To accompany the invention, they wrote commercials that they also dramatized to advertise their amazing solutions to life’s dilemmas. Throughout this unit, our students were engaged in STEAM learning. They took action at home by creating, connecting, discussing, and playing with simple machines. With the unit ending right before Thanksgiving, gratitude was on the mind. One student reflected, “I am grateful for simple machines because without them, my life would be really hard.” Through STEAM, these are the kinds of connections we look for in teaching students at MIS.

Click Here to see MIS students demonstrate their simple machine inventions in Spanish.

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by Lynn Hudorovich2/3 Multiage Teacher

(Above) Students are exploring concepts of force and work. They are working in pairs, inquiring about what they see and find on the playground. They are experimenting with different tools and machines.

(Below) Students demonstrate simple machines using LEGO robotics and then demonstrate their very own simple machines to make life easier.

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Everyday Math is a research-based comprehensive math program that allows students to explore new concepts through hands on activities and a variety of learning strategies. MIS adopted Everyday Math for K-5th grade students in 2012. The program is designed to allow for inquiry as students devise hypotheses, test them and construct meaning of

new math concepts. Each grade level has a clearly designed curriculum that builds upon knowledge from previous years, allowing students to deepen their understanding. Everyday Math is transdisciplinary in nature, as it incorporates geography through world tours, science through projects that require scientific thinking and measurements, and history as students explore mathematical systems from other cultures and time periods. Teachers differentiate instruction based on students' needs, using a variety of tools available to ensure that all students master the concepts. Students have access to online games that complement each lesson, giving students an opportunity to use the technology component to practice what they have learned in class. They also learn how to interact with each other by playing games in class, completing transdisciplinary projects. Families can support their children by encouraging them to play the online games and complete homework in a timely manner. They can read the math letter at the beginning of each unit which provides new vocabulary for the unit, find "do anytime" activities, and the answers to the math homework. Students, parents and teachers all have active roles when implementing the Everyday Math curriculum.

Math MattersMIS Engages Students in Math Program

by Sherry Dickerson4/5 Mulitage Teacher and

PYP Coordinator

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I’ve sat by a frozen Rattlesnake Creek and read Mary Oliver and Robert Frost, immersed in poetry that celebrates the wonders of nature. In fact, I’ve had the opportunity to journal and craft right alongside my students, my own writing inspired by their observations.

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Faith in Our Own VoicesThe Creative Writing Process at MIS

by Gillian KesslerMiddle School English Teacher

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What makes a good writer? As an English teacher, it’s a question I’ve thought about quite deeply. I’ve been a part of MIS for

over a decade, and I am continually amazed at the quality and creativity of the children’s writing. To be quite honest, I don’t think it has to do with being some sort of remarkable teacher. Rather, I believe it has to do with their immense exposure to quality literature in two languages from a very young age. As a language teacher at MIS, one of the most pleasurable parts of my job is reading to my students. My students have seen me get teary-eyed at the climax of a Kate DiCamillo book or laugh out loud to Roald Dahl’s ridiculous ideas about the relationship between grown-ups and children. I’ve sat by a frozen Rattlesnake Creek and read Mary Oliver and Robert Frost, immersed in poetry that celebrates the wonders of nature. In fact, I’ve had the opportunity to journal and craft right alongside my students, my own writing inspired by their observations.

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CamouflageIt was the middle of the day and everyone was playing a friendly game of, "Camouflage." It was a new round and I had spotted the perfect hiding place. I heard the, "It"counting and ran toward the tree, surrounded by low hanging branches and tall grass. I saw kids around me bolting to find somewhere to hide. I saw the sun beating down on me and felt my skin burning. I smelled the grass and the enormous tree, and the sun was so bright, I could almost smell the heat waves pouring down on me. I sat in my hiding place and waited to be found.Sitting among nature and taking in everything around me, I wanted to stay there forever, running among trees and splashing in cold creeks and sleeping under stars.Feeling free from our modern world where nature is under appreciated. Where people walk right past soft, green grass. Where somewhere deep down, they have a childish urge to roll around in its green blades.Sitting on the ground, breathing in nature, I wished that I could stay there forever.

–Whitney Webber

CONGRATULATIONS!MIS Writers to be Published in National Anthology

Earlier this fall, Gillian Kessler submitted student essays and poems to a national anthology called, Creative Communication: A Celebration of Today’s Writers. She received a warm response to the submissions by one of the anthology’s editors, “It is such a pleasure to read through so many excellent poems in one packet. Ordinarily, about half of the poems sent in are rejected during our preliminary judging. However, from the packet you sent in, we accepted all the poems. This is very unusual. We would like to congratulate you and your teaching efforts. Clearly, your students have a great talent for writing poetry, but the teacher is the one who helps bring that talent to the surface.” Here are the winning poems:

ForestThe trees in the forest hug me as I come by. Their spindly branches move back and forth, swaying in the wind. The animals come out, biting at my heels to get me to play. The river splashes me and I splash it back. The incredible apple tree that grows in the center, hands me an apple. I thank her and climb into her branches A raccoon watches me carefully. His eyes watch my perfect apple. I pick one and hand it to him. I fall into a sleep filled with happiness. I wave to the black, intense eyes of the raccoon as they watch me intently. I climb from the apple tree, hug the trees once more, and leave the forest behind. All the animals watch me as I go, then crawl back into the darkness.

–Dana WebberWild IIWaves thrash against the beach, white-capped and glorifying. The trees, creaking and flailing in the wind, its breath coming hard and quick, bustling from the sky to thegranite rocks, jagged and scooping the waves up in the arms, cut into rigid bodies dotted with snails, hidden safe, from the wild of the world. I stand beneath the trees, armsoutstretched, smiling. Life is churning around me and my eyes drink in the wild of the world. The sky, a robin's egg blue, dotted with powdered clouds and a golden, moltensun. The osprey cries her eerie shriek and a crab scrabbles across the beach. The wind howls, blows, whistles, breezes. I lower my arms, eyes dancing, my spirit, my smile,finally freed from the cage of cemented walls. Was that pure happiness? Is that what happiness feels like? -McKenna Quirk

Writing is about reading. Art is about inspiration, imitation, a good ear, a sense for detail, the ability to make something fresh and your own. At MIS I have the freedom as an educator to inspire my students in a very real, tangible way. We stare in wonder at Mt. Jumbo from the playground, notice the sensory images that stir us. We listen to music and look at photographs, artifacts, artwork and write about how these makes us feel. Of course there are curriculum maps and rubrics, benchmarks and assessments, but what really moves me as an educator, and what, in turn, moves my students, is the ability to write with our whole spirits, with the faith in our voices and the safe surroundings to be heard.

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New FLL Team Promises Creativity & “Brain” Training

FLL (First LEGO® League) is about robotics – and so much more. My favorite description is that FLL is a “sport for the mind,” and I couldn’t agree more. In addition to working on design and programming with LEGO® robotics kits, being on an FLL team means that you are on a team – you have teammates, team practices, a team name, a team logo, a team uniform, a season, and tournaments – and you also have all of the commitment, challenges, learning, and fun that go along with being on a team. In addition to working on the robotics game each season, a big part of being on an FLL team is doing a research project and presentation. Each year, FLL selects a Challenge Topic for the research project that changes every year. The research project is an opportunity for the team to work on a real world problem and come up with an innovative solution to

Dari Quirk is a middle school parent at MIS and among several coaches of this year’s team, including MIS preschool teacher Jairo Torres, middle school parent William Bain, and MIS K/1 Multiage teacher John Kratz, who coached teams in New York for four years. In addition to developing skills in STEAM, students must demonstrate the core values of FLL, which are similar to the IB Learner Profile.

For more information, visit: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalues and www.usfirst.org

(Pictured above) The proud FLL team: Aidan, Hayden, Bruce, Colton, Jack, Spencer, Henry, Birch, and Clayton (Not pictured: Julian and Benjamin)

by Dari QuirkMIS Middle School parent

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share with the world. It is up to the team whether or not to incorporate robotics into the research project. Overall, FLL is an opportunity. It is an opportunity for kids of any age to exercise their brain! Groups are arranged by grade level- K-3rd:Jr. FLL; 4th -8th : FLL; FIRST Tech: 7th -12th ; and FIRST Robotics: 9th-12th grade. The FLL team is offered at MIS as part of an afterschool program, and includes 11 members ranging in age from nine to thirteen. Montana competitions will be held in Bozeman in January. The students will present their research project and participate in several rounds of the robot challenges (completing missions in the field) to score points. They will also demonstrate the core values throughout. The judges will assess these three areas based on the determined rubrics. From the FLL Core Values, to the Research Project, to the Robotics Game – FLL kids have an opportunity to learn and have fun in an exciting and challenging way. Each year, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) awards millions of dollars in academic scholarships to FIRST participants throughout the world.

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Aidan Chapman is a curious 4th grader with an interest in motors. He was watching MIS parent and software

designer, Glenn Kreisel, work on the 3D printer that he had donated to the school. Another printer lay in pieces in a box. Glenn was so impressed with Aidan’s knowledge that he offered Aidan the challenge of building the second 3D printer. Aidan told Glenn that he thought he would have a "60% to 70%" chance of success. The next day, a perfectly constructed 3D printer appeared at the school. Aidan said that he had never worked with a 3D printer before. However, he applied his knowledge of the basic motors and gears used in robotics to assemble the printer. "The instructions were easy to follow. They said it would take an hour but it only took me 30 minutes. If I had to connect it to the circuit board it would have been a lot harder, but I think I could have done it." Now all MIS students have an opportunity to use design and engineering software to plan and build 3D models using the new printer Aidan constructed.

Curiosity Sparks Innovation for MIS StudentsOne Student’s Initiative With 3D Printing

(Top) Aidan stands proudly the day after he surprised Glenn with the newly assembled 3D printer. (Above) Student innovations using the 3D printer begin to fill the shelves.

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“I learned about the art of music at the piano concert.

This inspired me to practice harder

at piano and to stick with it.”

-Allison

“I was inspired by the Headwaters Dance

Company because I loved the way that each dance

told a story. Then you could have your own

interpretation of what the dance was about.”

- Juliet

“At the piano concert, I learned that how old

you are when you start something really helps

you get good when you’re older.” -Bennett

“I loved seeing the art instruments at the M.A.M. They were musical and artistic and it was really cool to see how the solar panels made electricity to create noise.”

-Mia

Field Trips Offer Perspectives on How We Express Ourselves

“I had fun at the court house building learning more about

how government works.” -Ray

MIS 4/5 multiage students explored different forms of expression in their community in October and November. The field trips taught them about local government, modern and classical music and dance, and modern art. 5th graders will use the experiences to inform their research during their culminating PYP Exhibition projects, based on the transdisciplinary theme, “How We Express Ourselves.”

Mark Your Calendars: Spring 2015 Events

Missoula International School1100 Harrison StreetMissoula, MT 59802

406.542.9924www.mismt.org

Tuesday, May 5, 2015 MIS Celebrates National

Teacher Appreciation Day at the Top Hat!

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” ~Benjamin Franklin

• 21st Century Education• Multiage Learning• Spanish Immersion

• IB Primary Years Program

A direct gift to MIS is tax-deductible! CLICK HERE TO DONATE!Visit: www.mismt.org/support

Contact Bethany O’Connell, Director of Development, for information about giving gifts of stock or other charitable giving. Your financial advisor can provide more information about how you may benefit from the tax advantages of giving to MIS. MIS is a 501c3 nonprofit organization with the tax EIN #81-0501614. THANK YOU!

Celebrating the MIS Advantage and “20 Years of Lighting the Fire for Learning.”

A festive celebration of our outstanding MIS teachers, a family-friendly Cinco de Mayo,

with dancing and live music by Salsa Loca.

Your Support is the

MIS Advantage!Thanks to gifts to date

from MIS families, the future has never

been brighter!

Friday, February 6, 2015El Mago del Oeste (The Wiz of the West)Performances at 4P.M. and 7P.M. at MCT!

First Friday Reception at 5 P.M. in the MCT Lobby

It’s not too late to donate for the 2014/2015 school year. For more information, visit:

http://www.mismt.org/support-mis/grand-society/