Hello everyone! After a long break, the new term has started. Students have spent the past week getting to know their new and changed classroom, planning the year ahead of them and building relationships with new students in the class.
The biggest change in the new school year is definitely the timetable. In the afternoon school hours, the students will have more Japanese lessons and specialized afternoon subject lessons which will be more strongly connected to the Unit of Inquiry learning than before. They will also work in the same classroom, but as separate grade levels, so they have been practicing preparing for the afternoon lessons as quickly as possible.
The students got excited about the two upcoming bus trips of this school year and have requested to use some of their time to plan for the trips. The whole class came up with a total of 37(!) locations they wanted to visit and have narrowed them down to, first 7, then 3 possible trips. Then the did the job of real tour operators and guides and planned the trips to the smallest details, such as food options, educational content and pricing. The future of the travel industry seems bright! ✈️
The students have also enjoyed more than the usual amount of playtime this week and have been able to visit the local parks several times. The cherry blossoms created a beautiful backdrop for the group to get to know the new students more and to enjoy some downtime before difficult work resumes. We have also been playing several team building games in the classroom, such as “Two truths and a lie”, “Storytime”, “Over the fence” and “Pictionary”. The students enjoyed them and we all learned something new about each other. 🌸
The students were also given a chance to think of their goals for the following school year and to create their own classroom essential agreements, which they have whole-heartedly accepted. On Monday, the students will embark on the journey of inquiry into the first UOI of the school year, “Spatial design”, under the Transdisciplinary theme of Where we are in place and time. We will learn about space, architecture and design and the way they enable us to lead s higher quality of life.
Have a lovely, relaxed weekend! 🐻
