Crossroads October 2012, volume 15

A Singapore American School community service publication

MICA (P) 056/08/2012 VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1-12/13 A FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY

iPAD, iLEARN Page 5

NOVEMBER 2012

HISTORY ALIVE Page 28

THE ENDURING LEGACY Page 32

I’M NOT TEXTING. I’M TWEETING! JAY ATWOOD High School Technology Coordinator “I saw you texting during the keynote speech.” A couple of teachers whispered this to me as if I had been naughty. I just smiled. We had just listened to a fantastic opening session

by Dr. Austin Buffum, an expert in the Professional Learning Community (PLC) process. Of course, to many it did look like I was busily sending text messages to one of my friends. Of course, that is exactly not what I was doing. I was tweeting!

There is an important difference between texting and tweeting. Texting is a private message between two people. A tweet, on the other hand, is a public message that is broadcast to whomever follows you and has an interest in what you are saying. You have 140 characters to get across a short, sweet point that is tweetworthy.

Many people do not yet see the point of tweeting. “Why would I care what someone eats, or if Ashton Kutcher is having coffee.” I agree! For me, however, it is the most valuable professional development tool in my bag of tricks. Who you follow, what you contribute, and the conversations that you have are the secrets to the effective use of Twitter.

The list of people I follow is mostly comprised of other educational technology coordinators, coaches, administrators, and techy teachers.

We all share something in common... the desire to share and a passion for good teaching. Most of us tweet out

photos, quips, links, experiences, struggles, and celebrations. These tweets are my Personal Learning Network (PLN), and we all grow from what we share, even though most of us have never met.

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EDITOR’S NOTE/CONTENTS SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

REGULAR FEATURES

MY FAVORITE THINGS TAMARA BLACK Associate Director of Communications I’ve always loved The Sound of Music. I remember as a child sitting mesmerized once a year when it would play on Channel 7 (one of three available television channels). I rooted for the heroine as the nuns anxiously tried to figure out how to solve a problem like Maria. The soundtrack of the movie was the first album I owned, and my favorite song was My Favorite Things.

At the age of five, raindrops on noses and whiskers on kittens were at the top of my list of favorite things. As I’ve grown older and developed into a full-blown geeky girl, my tastes have evolved. Now when I receive brown paper packages tied up with string, I hope they contain the latest gadgets.

As the person who leads the communications office for Singapore American School, technology is my BFF. My job is to tell the story of SAS and to help others find their place in that story. And my tech tools of the trade help me do just that.

Without a doubt, the biggest game-changers for the field of communications have been mobile technology and social media. As long as I have my iPhone with me—and I always have it with me—not only am I able to stay in touch, but I can help the SAS community stay in touch, too.

If I'm walking down the hall and I notice a science experiment with students being dunked in water-filled trash bins? I snap a photo and post it to Facebook. Hanging out in the High School foyer observing Interim sign-ups? I video students as they chatter excitedly about their selected

courses to share on YouTube. Eating lunch while catching up on the latest updates to my Twitter stream? I DM an idea to a colleague who’s attending a conference in the States.

Technology has definitely changed the way that we communicate.

In this issue of Crossroads you’ll learn how technology is a game-changer for an SAS education, too. As you read through the stories from faculty and staff, you’ll find that amazing transformations are taking place regarding what and how our students are learning. And you’ll find that we are focused on what we need to do as a school to prepare our students for the future—a future in which technology plays an integral role.

When I think back, I realize that not a lot of technology was available when I was in school. But I do remember the distinctly low-tech metronome I used during violin practice. Imagine my joy when that practice paid off with the opportunity to play for our local theater group’s production of The Sound of Music. In the spirit of the von Trapps (and with apologies to Julie Andrews) perhaps My Favorite Things could use an update . . .

New apps on iPhones and hard drives unwritten, Retina displays seem to have me quite smitten.

Upgraded memory and my Mac zings!

These are a few of my favorite things.

When my disks crash.

When my file’s trashed.

When I've lost my iPad. I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don’t feel so bad!

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT

PAGE 3

PTA

PAGE 17

BOOSTER CLUB

PAGE 34

HIGHLIGHTS ROBOTICS POWER

PAGE 9

DIGITAL-AGE SKILLS FOR KIDS

PAGE 12

ENGLISH 10 BOOK TRAILERS

PAGE 16

TAKING INTERIM TO NEXT LEVEL

PAGE 26

GREAT SHOWING AT MATH OLYMPIADS

PAGE 29

WEAVING SUMMER MAGIC

PAGE 38

YOU CAN’T TWEET A SMILE

PAGE 41

Crossroads is published during the academic year by the communications office of Singapore American School.

It is distributed free of charge to the parents, faculty members, and organizations served by the school. We welcome input from the community associated with Singapore American School.

EDITORIAL EDITOR

TAMARA BLACK

DESIGN

LINA WEE

CONTACTS GENERAL INQUIRIES AND COMMENTS communications@sas.edu.sg

CROSSROADS SUBMISSIONS Tamara Black, tblack@sas.edu.sg Deadline for Crossroads submissions is the first of the month prior to the proposed month of publication.

SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547 +65 6363 3403 • www.sas.edu.sg

Singapore American School CPE Registration Number: 196400340R Registration Period: 22 June 2011 to 21 June 2017 Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE DR. CHIP KIMBALL Superintendent of Schools

academic base—that will be required so that students can apply their skills to any difficult problem.

Preparing for the Future Global Marketplace Our current system of education was built for the industrial age. The system is efficient and works when educating the masses. But in the 21st century the system no longer works effectively for today’s student. Students need a system that is increasingly relevant and embraces today’s greatest challenges across the globe. This will require challenging our assumptions around schooling, and providing experiences that help students navigate what is happening in the global marketplace.

Thinking about the future can be daunting. Even thinking about the present can be overwhelming when we think about the amount of information at our fingertips, the rapid pace of change, and what our children are faced with now and into the future.

A recent study ranked 42 countries in order of smartphone penetration per capita,1 and Singapore is ranked number one with 90% of the population owning a phone. Think back 20 years ago, or even ten; could we have imagined that smartphones would be a primary device for surfing the internet? If you talk to your teenager you realize that for their generation, email is now being replaced by text messaging.

Smartphone penetration is a great example of technologies that become “game changers.” The smartphone is pushing many technologies quickly toward extinction. What might be next?

Some believe that children born today will never use current technologies such as a wired internet connection, dedicated camera, landline phone, a computer mouse, remote control, desktop computer, and even a phone number. We live at a time when technology is changing and expanding at a rate never before seen in history. But what does this mean for students today? This is the question that we MUST answer, or our students will find their skills will also be pushed to extinction.

Today’s students need more than reading, writing, math, and science. In addition they need applied skills for the 21st century including operating in a global context, problem solving, and the effective use of technology. These are the skills of the 21st century learner, and the skills that SAS needs to pay attention to.

Educating the 21 Century Student At SAS, we need to build a pathway for our students to careers and learning that may not exist today. This will require us to develop skills that persist over time and can be applied to a number of contexts. This includes communication, collaboration, problem-solving, technology, project planning, and working with others from different backgrounds. It is these skills—supported with a strong st

Integrating Technology into Education 21st century skills include discrete technology skills that students must master. Technology can be an exceptional catalyst for improved teaching and learning as well as differentiation and individualization. In addition, it can transform how students interact with content and with each other.

Technology can connect students and faculty to resources that would be impossible to access otherwise. Used appropriately, it can provide opportunities for connecting and communicating, expressing oneself, and for extending and deepening thinking. This can only happen with a faculty and staff given ample opportunity and support for its use.

Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders SAS students have more opportunities and experiences than most students in the US and across the globe. These students will be asked to run companies and countries, and they can be highly leveraged for great work. We need to ensure that these students not only develop effective skills in business, science, engineering, or the humanities, but also develop skills so that they are ethical leaders, global citizens, and are humane in how they deal with others.

Developing these leaders is part of our responsibility.

There are common characteristics that we can find among all people groups no matter ethnic, religious, or economic background. We ask ourselves, do we want our students to be fair? Do we want them to be honest? Do we want them to have resiliency and know how to work hard? The future SAS will have a system that not only makes room for those characteristics but helps develop them as well.

These are exciting times at SAS as we think about preparing students for the future. We know that it requires commitment and tenacity, but we also know that SAS has what it takes to pull this off.

Onward we go!

“Communities Dominate Brands.” : Smartphone Penetration Rates by Country! We Have Good Data (finally). TomiAhonen Consulting 2011, n.d. Web. <http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2011/12/ smartphone-penetration-rates-by-country-we-have-good-data-finally. html>.

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Continued on cover

So what was I doing during Dr. Buffum’s opening address?

I was having a rich conversation with other members of the audience who were also tweeting such as Heather Dowd, Tim Stuart, Anthony Selley, Shaun Kirkwood, John Gaskell, and Jemma Hooykaas. We shared the bits that resonated with us and recorded the experience as it happened.

This is the way I take notes now during many conferences.

Several more SAS faculty in the room were following along with what we were saying, lurking and learning. We used the #sasedu hashtag to tag our school-related tweets and #atplc when referring to PLCs. Not only were people in the room learning from one another, there were thousands of other Twitter users reading what we were sharing. Kerri-Lee Beasley, a digital literacy coach at UWC, was following along.

She tweeted:

The power of Twitter comes from the connections we make.

It takes time to build up a good list of people to follow, and you have to contribute to the conversation to get people to follow you. Once the ball starts rolling, however, it can be one of the most professionally rewarding things you can do.

If you really want to see what I was doing with my nose in my phone and my thumbs frantically tapping away, check out my Storify round-up of the Twitter action from Day 1 at http://bit.ly/QlmN3O. The next time you see someone on the phone during a workshop ask, “Were you tweeting?!”

TECHNOLOGY CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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THE TEACHER DASHBOARD JASON CONE

Director of Educational Technology As part of Singapore American School’s initiative to promote 21st century skills in all of our classrooms, teachers in the High School science department have been taken on the challenge of integrating ICT (information and communication technologies) skills, as well as sprinkling some learning and innovation skills (more information on 21st century skills can be found at http://www.p21.org). Over the last few weeks teachers have attended many training sessions given by both SAS Technology integration specialists and outside experts from the recently held Google Summit on new pedagogical techniques in delivering and improving instruction using Google’s suite of applications known as Google Apps.

The High School science department, with tremendous support from the SAS educational technology team, has been especially hard at work implementing new technologies in an effort to more fully integrate 21st century technology and skills into its collective daily instruction. One of the

more exciting new developments is the Teacher Dashboard with Google Apps and Blogger integration. The Teacher Dashboard allows teachers to quickly and easily view, collect, and assess student work within the Google Apps environment.

Documents can be shared easily and seamlessly with students through the use of shared folders, and students can turn in work through personalized drop folders that only the student and teacher can access and view. Teachers can view online snapshots of students’ work in realtime and within one browser window.

Another benefit of the integrated Teacher Dashboard and Google Apps environment is the addition of Blogger, a content management or Blogging system. Through the integration of Blogger with Google’s suite of online applications, students can create, share, and post videos, photos, and other media all within a safe, protected, and moderated environment. Many members of the SAS HS science department have been using blogs in lieu of a

standard laboratory notebook to create opportunities for students to reflect on the learning goals of both classroom and laboratory work. This also allows teachers to give students multiple types of formative and summative assessment to demonstrate evidence of proficiency, as well as the student’s depth of knowledge in science standards and benchmarks.

So far the outcomes have been wonderful. Students have made some very original, excellent blog posts, with videos and photos demonstrating both their individual creativity and understanding of science content and concepts. In the coming months we will implement new probes and probe interfaces that will allow us to take learning to new levels and new locations. In addition, we will be able to increase the amount of collaboration and exposure to real life problems that our students need to excel in the new century. Exciting stuff!

iPAD, iLEARN

ROBIN PEARSON Primary School Educational Technology Coach Last school year was the pilot year for iPads in the Primary School.

Both teachers and students had firsthand experience using iPads as a learning tool in class.

This year the Primary division launched sets of iPads in each primary classroom. On average, two teachers now share a cart of 12 iPads allowing teachers and students multiple opportunities to integrate them into daily lessons.

When it comes to integrating technology in the primary classroom, teachers have one main goal.

Whatever the learning activity is, it must add value to a student’s learning. The class set iPads have applications that specifically

target key learning areas. From a technology point of view, there are also apps that allow students to create and communicate. Apps such as Pages, Keynote, or iMovie are important applications because they provide platforms which allow primary students to create projects with minimum ease.

Last school year, for example, all first graders created a Keynote, Apple’s powerpoint. This year, students will be creating much more, such as Posters in Pages, a math problem in a screen capture app, or a simple iMovie.

Technology can now be seen in all facets of the Primary School and it is not just iPads. The new World Language classrooms are

also designed to allow teachers to seamlessly integrate technology.

Just like class teachers, they are supported by a technology integrator.

The new Promethean Interactive Whiteboards are a feature of the new language rooms, along with Voicelift, a device teachers can wear enabling them to be heard wherever they are in the room.

Regardless of what technology is employed in a class, the goal is the same. To advance a child’s learning while recognizing the importance of digital learning.

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ConnectedPE ANNE WENSTROM PE Teacher

The SAS physical education (PE) department was energized by the recent hands-on IT weekend workshop presented by Jarrod Robinson on August 25-26 titled, “ConnectedPE.” Mr. Robinson is a

leader in bridging the gap between PE and technology integration.

In his blog, he is described as a “PE teacher with a passion and enthusiasm for the role emerging technologies play within teaching and learning. He is first and foremost an advocate for lifelong movement and physical activity. However he realizes the power of 21st century technologies that can shape new age teaching pedagogies.” Jarrod Robinson is also known throughout the online community as the PE geek, and authors a blog of the same name at www.thepegeek.com that has proved to be an invaluable resource for teachers seeking effective use of 21st century tools in PE. The SAS K-12 PE department spent two days absorbing and practicing

how to best integrate technology into their classes. iPad apps for classroom management and assessments, video analysis tools, and social networking within the worldwide PE community were among the highlights explored by participants in order to become better. The PE department anticipates an exciting future of IT implementation of best practices for student learning.

The K-12 PE department also looks forward to meeting again in the near future to reflect on IT integration and our vision for ongoing development.

We truly appreciate the work of Mark Boyer and the Office of Learning for supporting such a wonderful professional development opportunity for our PE department! We would also like to thank Jason Cone and the SAS IT department for their continual support of our tech integration.

THE CHANGING SHAPE OF LEARNING RUSHTON HURLEY Founder and Executive Director, Next Vista for Learning, and SAS Alumnus It was almost forty years ago when I trooped into what was then the new Ulu Pandan campus of Singapore American School, much shorter than I am now. And, while there have been changes since at SAS and at schools in many places, I believe these changes are kittens next to the lions that are on the near horizon.

I spent over two decades as a teacher (high school in California, Japanese language) and a principal (online high school in Texas), and seven years ago, I began the work that I do now. I founded and run a nonprofit called NextVista.org, which is a library of free, short videos made by and for teachers and students everywhere. Through highlighting educational creativity, it’s designed to help students learn challenging concepts they encounter in school, see new possibilities for their futures, discover other parts of the world, and appreciate the joy and meaning that come from serving their communities.

My little save-the-world effort won’t move the system into a much higher gear, but it is part of a larger movement that seeks to give everyone the chance to learn what they want, when they want, and from whom they want. If you were to search YouTube today, querying any piece of technology plus the word tutorial, you would find videos that will teach you to make use of that technology. You can find extensive math help online at the Khan Academy or at Guaranteach.com. You can be inspired by amazing people at TED.com. And via iTunesU, you can get free

lectures from many of the greatest universities in the world.

In the next decade or so, schools everywhere will be required to show what they add to one’s learning experience if they are to stay relevant. Do our teachers have a special talent for connecting with their students and igniting in them a passion to explore their horizons?

Can they draw on the (now easily available) world’s knowledge to go light-years beyond what a textbook provides in order to connect their students with what they teach? Will universities be more impressed by what students accomplish with their teachers’ help or by what students do to take charge of their own learning, with or without the school’s help?

These changes need not frighten us. Rather, they represent the possible destruction of weaknesses that have been part of our educational systems for decades: geographical limitations, learning inefficiencies resulting from calendar-driven curricula, and professional isolation.

Exploring this together as a community can allow us to prepare our students for their futures instead of our pasts.

In visiting SAS and helping teachers learn about possibilities with technology, I have enjoyed reconnecting with an important piece of my past. What I see from the dynamic teachers at SAS makes me optimistic, and I hope sharing these thoughts with you conveys the optimism I have for where we are all going.

TECHNOLOGY CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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iLEARN: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL SHAUN KIRKWOOD

Primary School Educational Technology Coach It is an exciting year in the Primary School as we continue to improve and increase our use of technology in the classroom. An exciting addition to our department this year is a fleet of iPad carts, fully kitted out and ready for use in classrooms from the ECC through to second grade.

After last year’s successful trials in several classrooms, we have been able to provide a set of twelve iPads between two classrooms throughout the Primary School. This provides teachers with a great opportunity to have the technology at hand when they feel it is appropriate to incorporate it into their teaching.

Providing the technology is only one step in the process that we are undertaking in the Primary School this year. We are also focused on making sure that we are using the technology in ways that allow students to express their creativity, improve critical thinking, and research effectively, as well as develop their communication and collaboration skills. To achieve these significant goals we are approaching them from both a hardware and a pedagogical perspective.

On the hardware side, we chose to move forward with the iPad this year, given our successful pilot program last year. The iPad is a great tool to use with younger students with its amazing ability to motivate and engage children with different learning styles from visual through to auditory and kinesthetic learners.

From a technical perspective, its size,

ease of use, quick response times, and stable and predictable functions mean that students spend less time getting to know how to operate the machine and more time learning.

We have made careful decisions with the apps we have installed on the iPads this year. We want to provide students with materials that allow them to develop the creative, critical thinking, research, and communication skills referred to above. Therefore, along with apps that help students learn basic skills, such as, the alphabet and math facts, we have also provided apps that give them the opportunity to be creative, make discoveries indepently, and record and reflect on their learning.

An example of one of the creative apps that the children really enjoy is Puppet Pals. This is a great app that lets students make their own animated stories, which they can narrate and share in a number of ways. Apps like Puppet Pals don’t have one correct solution, or become boring after being used two or three times. These are the types of apps we want to have our students use with the iPads: those that require imagination, that can be adapted to a number of tasks, and have an ongoing appeal that will motivate the students to achieve their best.

Alongside providing the hardware in classrooms, we are strongly focused on the way we use these tools in our everyday teaching. We want to make sure that teachers are

supported when they use technology and have the opportunity to seek advice when developing plans that incorporate technology. To do so the Primary School has changed the role of the traditional computer teacher into that of a technology coach. The role of the technology coach is to work with teachers to find areas of the curriculum that could be enriched by the use of technology.

The technology coaches will work with teachers this year in and out of the classroom to both familiarize the teacher with new technologies and to help them consider alternative learning activities that will help enrich their lessons. A simple example may be helping a teacher to record a student explaining a math concept with an app like Screen Chomp.

Screen Chomp is a recordable whiteboard for the iPad. It records not only what the student says, but all of the pen strokes they make as they solve the problem on the iPad. This can be saved by the teacher, shared at conferences, or used by the students to reflect on their learning at the end of a unit of study.

We are all very excited about the possibilities that lie ahead this year as we focus on continuing to improve each student’s learning at SAS. There are sure to be challenges and obstacles, but already we can clearly see the benefits that integrating technology further into our curriculum will have on student learning and engagement.

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MOVIN’ AND GROOVIN’ PAULI HAAKENSOR PS Chinese Teacher

Teaching the “digital generation” a second (or third) language can be challenging, but with a generous daily dose of comprehensible input through stories, music, and images, students are making steady progress.

With the new daily Chinese program underway, Primary School kids are learning new language skills every day through entertaining original videos made by SAS teachers.

The first round of new videos started with the Primary School Chinese teachers acting out classroom instructional phrases in humorous ways. For example, teachers showed the incorrect and correct way to line up so students learned the essential phrase (pái duì 排 队). The kids love watching them.

These days students can also be found movin’ and groovin’ to music videos in Chinese class to help them learn. A favorite now is, “nǐ shì nǎ guó rén” (你是哪国人？) used to teach nationalities. Other music videos and video stories are being used to teach about greetings, fruits, and, later this year, about family members, losing teeth, and being sick. The videos are created at a “just right” level of linguistic complexity and with ample humor.

Many of the music videos used by the Chinese teachers have been published by Peking University Press as Move and Groove in Mandarin Chinese with Groovi Pauli and

Friends (2011). The second DVD and book are due out in early 2013.

“The music videos work,” says Zhang Laoshi, “because they involve a multiple-sensory event: watching the music video, hearing the music and the beat, physical movement to complement the meaning, and singing along. With this going on simultaneously, kids have new meaningful vocabulary heading through multiple pathways into longterm memory. It is bound to stick.”

Overall, our goal is for students to use and apply the language they are picking up. Zhang laoshi shared, “I had a wonderful moment last year when, after spending time in class movin’ and groovin’ along to a music video about losing teeth, a first grader came up to me in the hall and said in Chinese wǒ huàn yá le (I lost my tooth). That is what we want! Kids using language to express something meaningful, like losing a tooth.”

Teaching the digital generation a second (or third) language can be challenging, but with a generous daily dose of comprehensible input through stories, music, and images, students are making steady progress.

TECHNOLOGY CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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ROBOTICS POWER BARTON MILLER Robotics Teacher

Robotics is actually a combination of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer programming, and machine design. When people look at robotics for the first time, they either think it is incredibly complex or ‘just machinery.’ Neither statement is completely true.

and even harder to get it to work time after time.

After she saw we what do, she began to marvel— as you should also—at her automobile and even our toaster and washing machine. They work time after time—not an easy thing to accomplish.”

Initially, the class at SAS uses university level curriculum jointly designed by Carnegie Mellon University, Tufts University, and LEGO Corporation. The students use kits specifically designed for university freshman engineering majors to learn to interface programming with hardware, to use sensors and design machines for specific tasks.

Robotics has long been a part of the SAS curriculum.

This year, the curriculum and focus have been overhauled.

Bart Millar, in his second year at SAS, came from Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon. There, he coached both land and marine robotics competitions, including a fourth place finish at the world competition in San Diego four years ago. Here at SAS, he has used that experience to revise the approach to the class.

“Robotics is actually a combination of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer programming, and machine design. When people look at robotics for the first time, they either think it is incredibly complex or ‘just machinery.’ Neither statement is completely true.”

“By scaffolding the learning, by building each part on the previous, robotics can be made very approachable.

On the other hand, my wife (Vivian Colvin) was amazed at how hard it is to get a machine to work precisely

First, they design “sumo bots” that utilize sonic and optical sensors. Later in the semester, students are introduced to basic computer programming through the use of Arduino microcontrollers. They program tiny but powerful computer chips using C language to activate and control motors and sensors.

Last year, Mr. Millar partnered with chemistry and former STEM teacher Meredith White start a marine competition team. Last April, they traveled with ten students to Hong Kong to compete against high school and university teams from around the region.

The team intends to return to Hong Kong next April, and also will be competing November 28-December 1 at the Science Center in the FTC competition.

The long-term goal is to make SAS a robotics power, first in our region and then at worldlevel competitions in the United States.

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SHHH....THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR RON STARKER MS Library Media Specialist

Ray Kurzweil wrote a dramatic revolutionary book titled, The Singularity is Near. In his book, Dr. Kurzweil—a former MIT computer scientist, inventor, and futurist— documents an explosion of information at exponential rates, impacting every academic discipline and every facet of our lives. Our challenge as human beings is to find ways to adapt to this rapid change and to direct the forces of technology in a manner that is conducive to human growth and happiness.

Walk like an Egyptian Libraries are among our oldest institutions. The Great Library of Alexandria existed during the 3rd Century BCE and attempted to collect all the world’s knowledge.

Interestingly, the Alexandria Library was not simply a warehouse for scrolls and information. Scholars, scientists, philosophers, and leaders all gathered in this sacred temple to knowledge.

Today libraries are in great jeopardy.

Many believe that libraries are no longer necessary or viable in a digital age. Why do we need libraries when we have Google? This same argument was made in the 1960s

when advertisements stated that microfiche readers placed in homes would end the need for libraries.

Today a more compelling argument is being made for the Internet along with eBooks as a replacement. It is the concept of book warehouses that is in jeopardy; the concept of libraries as gathering points for collaboration, innovation, and authentic learning is only just beginning to take shape.

Caterpillars into Butterflies Libraries in their present form may very well become extinct.

Adaptability and change are essential to the survival of any organism, and libraries have reached a tipping point where they must adapt quickly to the demands of the digital age.

In our quest to reshape and “flip” if you like, the Middle School library, we have developed what we call thought partners with whom we are collaborating and trading ideas. One such partner is Dr. Cathy Davidson of Duke University who founded the Humanities, Art, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory (HASTAC). In a recent HASTAC report titled “The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age,” ten key principles (listed below) are

outlined for the future of learning.

Modified libraries of the future transformed into innovation centers are perfect settings for implementing these ten principles. Adapting to exponential growth in knowledge is not a matter of running faster or working harder; we will never keep up. We have to work smarter. We must move as rapidly as possible to higher order skills such as critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis. We must move away from trying to cover all the informational content of each subject and instead learn the skills of information literacy and creative problem-solving.

Social change is much slower than technological change. Time and again we see that culture wins out over strategy, and school cultures are among the most resistant to change.

We can use our libraries as innovation centers to help teachers and students try new approaches to learning with professional support in that process.

In this transformation, the librarians and related professionals may adopt new roles as Learning Design Specialists bridging the gap between technology, information, and individual learners.

TEN GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE DIGITAL AGE

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Self Learning: Perhaps the most important thing we can teach our students is how to become masters of their own learning process.

Horizontal Structures: Top down hierarchy structures are no longer the most effective ways to learn.

From Presumed Authority to Collective Credibility: “Learning is shifting from issues of authoritativeness to issues of credibility. A major part of the future of learning is in developing methods, often communal, for distinguishing good knowledge sources from those that are questionable.”

A De-Centered Pedagogy: “Only a few years ago ALA cautioned librarians about students relying on unproven sources such as Wikipedia; now ALA itself uses Wikipedia as a trusted source.” Highly useful information is being systematically gathered through crowd sourcing and tools such as Wiki’s, blogs, and other social media.

Networked Learning: “Socially networked collaborative learning extends some of the most established practices, virtues, and dispositional habits of individualized learning.”

Open Source Education: Open source culture promotes the idea that knowledge building is a collaborative effort that improves through contributions from many sources and individuals.

Learning as Connectivity and Interactivity: Teenagers today are using social networks and mobile devices to connect and interact. Academic challenges can move from an individual level to a collaborative ensemble.

Lifelong Learning: In order to adapt to the ever increasing complexity of our world, lifelong learning is now a necessity. We will need new skills and knowledge in order to deal with novel new conditions and challenges.

Learning Institutions as Mobilizing Networks: Libraries can offer a flexible and agile environment with unique opportunities for networking. We hope to create accidental collisions among disciplines and people.

Flexible Scalability and Simulation: In order for our schools and society to keep up with the incredible acceleration of change, we must find more effective ways to learn.

TECHNOLOGY CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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10 INSIGHTS ON LIBRARIES AND INNOVATION RON STARKER

MS Library Media Specialist

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Last year we conducted several “dream workshops” in the Middle School Library to gather ideas from SAS staff, students and parents on how they learn best and what types of environments promote creativity and innovation. Each of the four workshops lasted for three hours and involved a variety of small and large group collaboration. The facilitators from Experience Union summarized the comments and observations provided by the participants into these ten insights on how we might develop our library into a center for innovation and learning. http://bit.ly/QwzHxu Books are still precious and relevant.

“The journey of finding and flipping through a book is still seen as an element of wonder.”

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Library and librarian are no longer adequate terms to encapsulate and communicate the scope and depth of the desired experience.

“It needs to be a space that promotes creativity, shared experiences and a place to develop relationships.”

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Students and teachers thrive in relationship-building and engaged learning environments that bring authentic experiences into a safe, curated platform.

“Learning should not be confined solely by a set curriculum.”

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Everyone shares similar definitions of learning which are based on growth, exploration, and experimentation.

“The ability to discover and explore the unknown is an essential aspect of learning.”

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Connection and community are no longer defined by physical space and proximity.

“An ideal learning space would be an environment that helps me further connect to the world…I can access, connect, and be inspired…”

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Fun and games are essential to every student’s learning experience.

“It would be cool if there was a room that could become anything I wanted it to become.

Mars, a baseball stadium, anything.”

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A unique school experience is defined by what is offered outside of its core curriculum.

“I love having them come back and hearing their stories of what they are doing with their lives. You don’t know what they are passionate about while they are sitting in your classrooms.”

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Libraries should be inspirational and yet intimate and comforting. “ I want a place that engages all the senses.”

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Experimentation, the courage-to-fail, and grace are disciplines and art forms that contribute to learning.

“Real life situations and interactions are key elements to developing students into great human beings.”

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Learning is not defined through controlled and examined output, but through process, reflection, and independent expressions of knowledge.

“Learning has to be important to you and what you get out of it…that’s when it’s most meaningful.”

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TECHNOLOGY SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

DIGITAL-AGE SKILLS FOR KIDS SUSAN SEDRO Computer Integration Specialist

The past decade has seen huge changes in the types of technology standards that most schools have. Even two years ago the SAS technology standards were lists of concrete skills organized around types of tools such as word processors, spreadsheets, and desktop layout programs. Depending upon grade level, the standards looked something like this: • Insert header and footer into a Word document.

• Create a graphic in a paint program and export it as a JPEG file.

• Convert spreadsheet data into a bar graph.

In January 2009 SAS adopted the Technology Integration Framework: Grades K-12.1 (Please see sidebar) The framework is based on the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S)2. The International Society for Technology in Education, which developed the standards, explains them in this way: NETS are the standards for evaluating the skills and knowledge students need to learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly global and digital world.

Simply being able to use technology is no longer enough.

Today’s students need to be able to use technology to analyze, learn, and explore. Digital age skills are vital for preparing students to work, live, and contribute to the social and civic fabric of their communities.3 The adoption of the SAS Technology Integration Framework marks two major shifts as described below.

Shift from...

Shift to...

• isolated technology skills

• technology skills embedded into 21st century learning skills, such as creating, communicating, collaborating, and problem solving

• stand-alone computer classes

• technology integration in every grade and in every content area

Our framework is well written, but it is not written in kidfriendly language. We use the terms below to make it more accessible to our students. I’ve also listed a few examples in each section.

MAKE IT! Use technology to show your creativity.

• Art students creating stop motion movies to animate their art.

• Grade 3 students creating digital posters to explain the board game they designed.

• Grade 4 students creating a collage or scrapbook page with photos from the year.

SAY IT! Use technology to communicate.

• Grade 3 classes Skyping grandparents to learn about inventions.

• Grade 4 students working on oral fluency through choral reading podcasts.

• Grade 5 students Skyping family members to give them a weekly update on their activities and progress.

SHARE IT! Use technology to collaborate.

• Using the comment feature in Google Docs to give writing partners feedback on first drafts.

• Using Mind Meister mind mapping software in our Google Apps suite to collaboratively reflect on story elements FIND IT! Use technology for research.

• Our librarians, Kate Brundage and Rosa Shin-Gay, teach search skills during library classes. Students apply these skills in the classroom with the assistance of teachers.

• Exploring fake websites to learn how to check the validity of website sources.

SOLVE IT! Use technology to think critically, solve problems, and make decisions.

• Grade 3 students gather data and analyze data on developing and developed countries.

• Grade 4 students play the Great Ocean Rescue computer simulation to gather information, think critically, and make decisions to solve problems affecting our oceans.

PROTECT IT! Use our core values whenever using technology.

• Grade 3 students learn to be responsible for keeping their passwords and other personal information safe online.

• Grade 4 students are respectful when they leave appropriate comments on one another's blogs.

• Grade 5 students learn about their digital footprints and put those skills to use as they start using school email and blogging.

• All grades learn about their responsibility to help stop cyber bullying and the compassionate way to treat students who are being bullied.

USE IT! Use technology devices and programs to improve your learning.

• Students in all grades learn a wide variety of technology skills as they complete classroom projects. These skills include word processing, typing, movie making, podcasting, desktop publishing, graphical design, graphing, mind mapping, and using spreadsheets.

• They use a variety of devices including computers, iPads, cameras, and digital microscopes.

TECHNOLOGY CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION FRAMEWORK: GRADES K-12 Standard 1: Creativity and Innovation Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Standard 2: Communication and Collaboration Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

Standard 3: Research and Information Fluency Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.

Standard 4: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.

Standard 5: Digital Citizenship Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.

Standard 6: Technology Operations and Concepts Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.

SAS Technology Framework: Grades K-12, (January 2009).

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http://bit.ly/UPx9Mi

NETS for Students, International Society for Technololgy in Education (2012).

2

http://bit.ly/OKoIfA

NETS for Students, International Society for Technololgy in Education (2012).

3

http://bit.ly/O1J740

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KEEPING AN EYE ON THE DASHBOARD JAY ATWOOD High School Technology Coordinator

For the past few years teachers and students have been using the GoogleApps for Education suite of applications at school to communicate and collaborate. All students and teachers have access to Gmail, calendars, docs, sites, and a slew of added applications. Although we all tend to focus on and debate about the hardware and types of laptops being used, the real power to transform teaching and learning comes from how we use the software available to us. This year we have seen a massive spike in the level of interest in GoogleApps and how it can be used to innovate in the classroom; most of this is due to our recent rollout of Teacher Dashboard.

Dashboard gives teachers a bird’s eye view into specially created folders in GoogleApps. These are private folders shared individually between the teacher and each student.

Anything that students save in the folder becomes viewable to the teacher in their dashboard. They can quickly access documents, monitor progress, and provide feedback directly and privately with each student. This ease of interaction has proved very popular with teachers.

I met with English teacher Rick Silverman to show him some of the features of Teacher Dashboard. Within a few minutes we had come up with a great process for the free writing activities he has his students do regularly in class. Students use MindMeister, an online mind mapping application, to brainstorm their ideas. It is a quick and easy process to let the ideas start to flow. When it comes time to write, the students create a new GoogleDoc and paste the link to their mind map at the top of the page.

Dashboard gives Rick an easy way to pop open each student’s writing and link to their brainstorming. Since this is all happening live he’s able to copy snippets of good writing and project them from his computer for the other students to see as exemplars. He is already seeing improvements in the student writing because this is all happening in real time. The time-tested practice of teaching writing by brainstorming, planning, writing, and commenting has taken a new shape and the benefits are tangible.

This is just one example of how Teacher Dashboard and GoogleApps are transforming our classrooms. Other classes are using the shared calendars to stay on top of homework and assignments. We have created collaboration folders for students to all simultaneously contribute to shared documents. Some chemistry, history, and literature courses are starting to use Blogger for students to post and share their learning. Art students are using Picasa to share proofs of their work with teachers. All of these activities are facilitated by Teacher Dashboard.

If you have students in high school, ask them how they are using GoogleApps in their classes. There is some pretty exciting learning going on.

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TECHNOLOGY SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

POSITIVE DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS WITH E-PORTFOLIOS ROBYN LYNCH IS Tech Coordinator

Students should be able to identify what they did well along with areas for improvement. The recording is embedded within a post along with their response to the guiding questions. Weeks later, after completing their second recording, the structure of the blog enables them to easily return to their original post. Students will replay their initial “reading fluency” recording and compare it to their latest attempt. It is here that the greatest potential for learning occurs! During conferencing, each student can compare and determine if they did, in fact, improve.

The excitement in each Grade 5 classroom has been palpable this year as students have been taking delivery of their new MacBook Pros. Three of the thirteen classes are piloting a 1:1 program and the remaining ten classes are 1:2. It is all part of the Intermediate School’s investigation into the best model to achieve individualized learning for students.

Each homeroom is becoming familiar with the new MacBooks as well as being introduced to Google Apps for Education. The hardware and software combine beautifully to enable students to develop effective communication and collaboration skills and to provide them with opportunities to create authentic, relevant learning experiences.

Another exciting initiative is each student’s electronic portfolio, or e-portfolio, using Google’s blogging

platform, Blogger. The e-portfolio will contain posts of work samples along with reflections about their learning.

The process of reflecting enables students to become more successful as they know how they learned and can identify what they would have done differently.

One of the first posts that Grade 5 will complete is to assess reading fluency.

They use an online tool to record as they read an extract from their “just right” book. After listening to the recording they self assess using the following guiding questions: • Did I quickly self-correct mistakes or omissions?

• Did I stop to take a breath where there was no punctuation?

• Did I follow the punctuation signals such as commas and periods?

• Did I read with expression that conveyed meaning?

Students can refer back to their reflections where they identified their areas of strength and weakness.

Is the weakness still there? What strategies did they employ to improve? Providing students with evidence of growth, or lack thereof, allows them to see the value of responding to feedback. They learn to set achievable goals, outline strategies to achieve those goals, and to be held accountable for achieving them.

The e-portfolio will stay with them during their time as SAS students, providing them with perfect pictures of their growth and experiences as learners. Along with the technical skills required to set up, post, and embed work samples onto their blog, students have discussed and agreed upon a set of responsible and ethical behavior necessary to build a positive digital footprint. They have been asked to consider the additional audiences for their posts: friends, teachers, parents, extended family, even universities and future employers! They are coming to grips with the fact that their digital footprints start now. What do they want them to say about them in the future?

TECHNOLOGY CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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OLD SCHOOL MEETS NEW SCHOOL JAMIE ALARCON SIMBULAN Energy Conservation Engineer

When you combine old-fashioned service with high-tech workflows, that’s your killer app. Working at SAS, in whatever capacity, means that you have to be just as techsavvy as teachers who blog and students who tweet. While none of the folks in the facilities and services department is selling apps, they’re using technology more and more every day—sometimes in unexpected ways. And it’s not just the young’uns, either. They say you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, but our veterans apparently never got the memo.

GETTING THINGS DONE Head custodian Radzali Dolah, 58, was issued an iPad last year to boost productivity on the field. He uses the builtin camera to take and share photos of things that need fixing, and he’s also able to refer to drawings and floor plans in a pinch. His chief complaint is that while the iPad is very portable, he still cannot bring it to jobs that involve heavy lifting without a bag that makes him “look like a Ninja Turtle.”

One of the tools in Radzali’s virtual toolbox, SchoolDude MaintenanceDirect, has a webapp that he can access on his tablet and phone as well as his PC. Before SchoolDude, Radzali had to wade through hundreds of emails—not to mention hastily scribbled notes—in order to figure out what needed to be done.

Now, SchoolDude gives Radzali a tidy to-do list that updates itself in real time. Combined with Radzali’s knowledge of the school and of his team’s skills and experience, this means that jobs are scheduled more efficiently and workloads are distributed more fairly.

Radzali, who was a production foreman in the manufacturing industry before coming to SAS, also loves that he can set productivity goals and check SchoolDude to see if he’s actually meeting them. He and the facilities staff have completed nearly 5,000 work requests since SchoolDude was launched in late 2011.

BUILDING APPS Working with technology is second nature to 34-year-old William Ng, who has a degree in computing information systems and oversees the SASCard office, the most technologically complex department in facilities and services.

William’s Excel spreadsheets, supercharged with custom macros written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), are apps in and of themselves. He has built tools that allow security officers to check whether drivers’ faces match the photos on their vehicle pass registration documents, and provide SASCard office staff with background information on callers even before they pick up the phone.

William also lends his expertise to simpler projects, like automating attendance at High School assemblies with

SASCard readers that can be plugged into any device with a USB port, such as his Lenovo ThinkPad tablet.

Getting external vendors to do what William does, on top of his day-to-day job, would easily cost tens of thousands of dollars a pop. And even then, an outsourced app would not have been built with the same insight into the school’s needs, nor the same understanding of SAS culture and values, that he has. Now, that’s ingenuity.

CHANGING THE GAME For security and safety assistant Edward Paul, 42, it’s the ability to automate simple but time-consuming or laborintensive tasks that has changed the game.

Previously, he and the security officers would have to watch hours of CCTV footage and manually count the number of people or vehicles going in and out of the campus. Now, software like CSGold gives him all this information with just a few clicks.

Tech also allows him to remotely lock or unlock cardactivated doors from anywhere he has an Internet connection—no more schlepping back and forth with the master key.

The downside is that, with ubiquitous access to the web, Edward compulsively checks his email even when he’s on medical leave or during the daily commute between SAS and his home in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. But, especially with the sensitive nature of his job, he’s happy that he can stay in the loop and contribute information and opinions even when he’s away.

TRANSFORMATIVE According to Anthony Wong, director of facilities and services, his team is extremely selective about using the right tool or technology for the job. He cites SchoolDude as an example of a success story. “Clearly, the Dude has enabled the office to not only streamline back-end maintenance processes, but to also empower all frontline staff to manage, execute, and analyze work requests in an accountable fashion. The ease with which Facilities staff has embraced and used the Dude is nothing short of transformative for both the individual and the office,” he shares.

“We have a laser-like focus on serving our customers—the students, staff, and community—promptly and efficiently,” Wong says. “Embracing and utilizing technology are mission-critical parts of providing quality facility services. We already have some great software and hardware, and we’re always looking to add more, but it’s our brand of customer service that is the most important weapon in our arsenal.”

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TECHNOLOGY SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

DIY DIGITAL RESOURCES JOHN JOHNSON High School Librarian

SAS students, parents, and staff have free access to a wealth of digital resources. The SAS libraries subscribe to 13 databases, most of which can be accessed on campus, at home, or anywhere else. Ask any of the librarians or assistants for an “Online Database” bookmark to find user names and passwords for each.

For a much larger collection of reference resources, librarians point patrons to the offerings of the National Library Board (NLB). After registering, anyone who lives in Singapore—foreigners, too!—can log in. The SAS High School library has produced a short video to show you how. Find it at: http://goo.gl/w0ku7 Have you read an eBook yet? The NLB site offers millions! You will find some of the more popular titles for leisure reading on user-friendly OVERDRIVE. Again, registration is required, but it’s easy! Here’s another howto video: http://goo.gl/PPd4A For more academic pursuits, many high school teachers recommend JSTOR (Journal Storage) to their students. According to the JSTOR site, “The JSTOR digital archive includes more than 1,500 leading academic journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. The entire back runs of journals (from volume 1, issue 1) are always included…” You can find JSTOR at either the SAS High School library site or from NLB. Just follow these instructions to register: http://goo.gl/XDAa3 Whether you are engaged in serious research or just reading for fun, a plethora resources are at your fingertips.

ENGLISH 10 BOOK TRAILERS

ANNE-MARIE RUSSELL and MARK GUGGISBERG, HS Teachers DIANNA PRATT, Technology Specialist Grade 10 English students returned to a very different type of summer reading assignment this year. Instead of the usual oral book reports "pitching" or "ditching" their summer reading choices, they were tasked with making a book trailer. It was a busy two weeks as they worked through script-writing, storyboarding, finding and citing fair-use images, and learning the tools of iMovie or Moviemaker.

The support of our HS tech coaches was invaluable.

The student reflections show what they learned.“I knew almost nothing when I began this project, and have learned a lot about not only iMovie settings and special effects, but also how to upload things to YouTube and how to use pictures and audio without plagiarizing, and giving credit to the author(s).”

“I learned to make an iMovie, which I have never done, I learned to review the themes and main storyline of the book to make sure I included as much as I could. I developed skills in trying to fit the mood of the story.”

“I’m most proud of how I took the time to get my own video footage, although it definitely took longer, I think in the end it helped improve my trailer by making it more realistic.

Additionally, I’m glad that I contacted the owner of the song I used on YouTube, to ask permission to use it in my trailer.

I think the song goes very well with the mood I was trying to set.”

“I am most proud of my music choice and synchronizing it with the text to make it aesthetically pleasing. I put a lot of time into finding the music that was well-fitting. It was

http://bit.ly/SGDUAU kind of cumbersome because I had to find music that I was permitted to use/edit by a creative commons license.”

“In this project, I learned a lot about online media. I was very proud of how I got the music for the trailer from Blizzard. I sent multiple e-mails back and forth to them, working out how I could use it and negotiating options. I have learned how to have an online conversation with a company representative, negotiating with them to let me do something!”

“This was the first time I used Pixlr, an online version of Photoshop. It required a lot of guessing and Googling, but I’m really proud of the way I got the hang of it. I had to be really creative to get around limitations posed by the free program—for example, using giant screenshots of Word documents when the font size in Pixlr was too small—and I feel confident about the program now.”

“I am most proud of the quality of my images because I found each one to particularly fit the scene. I learned how to work ahead and plan out projects rather than wait until the last minute. I’m not used to using a storyboard and I found that learning how to work with one was very useful.”

The English 10 students and their teachers are looking forward to putting these newly learned skills to work, turning original narratives into short films.

Thanks to Sarala Nair, the HS library assistant who came up with the idea for the project. You can view the book trailers on the High School library website.

PTA CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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SAS PTA: BUILDING COMMUNITY BECKY MOSELEY PTA Vice President

rdmoseley75@gmail.com With the school year well underway, I hope everyone has had a chance to get settled. The PTA has been very busy. In the few short months since school started, there have been the Welcome Coffees, Back to School Nights, and the Carpet Auction. We are gearing up for the Pumpkin Patch and Sale, Food Fest, and Book Fair, all of which take place before the holiday break. As the vice president of the PTA, I see firsthand how much work goes into each of these events. We have some incredibly dedicated volunteers.

I would like to extend a big “Thank You” to Kirsten Fitchett, Sachiko Sakai, Mei Holt, and the entire PTA Sales team for all of their work during Orientation and Open House. These volunteers started preparations last spring and worked through the summer to get the uniforms on campus. It is a daunting task, which they handled with grace.

I would also like to thank Jodi Jonis, the new Hospitality and Welcoming Chair. Jodi put together the Welcome packets for new families and arranged the Newcomer Coffees, not to mention the Ice Cream Social at Open House. She also worked with Division Representatives on the food for all of the Back to School Nights. Volunteers like Jodi are essential for all we do in the PTA. This is my eighth year as a Singapore American School parent. One of the aspects of SAS that I find very helpful as an expat is the sense that SAS is a community. There are so many activities on campus, but SAS extends beyond the gates. The PTA hosts some of the off-campus events, like the Carpet Auction, which took place at the iconic Raffles Hotel. It was a great opportunity for parents and staff to socialize, while bidding on incredible carpets. Eastern Carpet was once again the sponsor of this fun evening.

As vice president, one of my duties is to oversee Fund Spending, including scholarships. Already this fall, the PTA has awarded three Interim Scholarships. These scholarships are awarded to deserving High School students to pay for their Interim Semester trips. This is just one way in which the PTA can enhance the students’ experiences at SAS. In the next couple of months, the PTA will continue with many activities on campus. In October, the NOL Group will again donate a container of pumpkins, decorative corn, and gourds. Pumpkins will be sold in the PTA office from October 15-19. All the funds raised by this sale go directly to High School service clubs. Meanwhile, a Pumpkin Patch will spring up in the Primary School, thanks to Tracy Faulkner and her group of volunteers.

In November, the PTA sponsors two great events. First is the Food Fest on November 3. SAS families can share the cuisines of various cultures, as well as shop at the Vendor Fair. It is a fun-filled day that also includes entertainment and the ever popular Theme Basket Raffle. Patrice Molnar is the Food Fest Chair. Contact her if you want to help (trece95@gmail.com).

A few weeks later, November 19-21, is the PTA Book Fair.

All sorts of wonderful books will be available on campus, from picture books for the little ones to travel books and cookbooks for the grownups.

There will a Bookmark Contest held in conjunction with the Book Fair. Primary and Intermediate students will have the opportunity to create winning bookmarks, which are printed and distributed throughout the fair. Please contact Sukanya Pushkarna (sukanya.pushkarna@gmail.com) or Gabriela Roemhildt (groemhildt@gmail.com) to help.

With so much going on, the PTA looks forward to working with you to help build a wonderful community for all of our children.

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PTA SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

PTA CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

Our Students. Our Community. Our Future.

Support the people and programs that make SAS exceptional.

The SAS Annual Fund provides financial support for the people and programs that make

SAS exceptional. Funds provide for many of the experiential, academic, arts, athletics, and service programs that connect our students to the community. Our children are our future. Your support helps SAS develop the potential of our students and offers each a rich, diverse perspective of the world.

How SAS put your gifts to work in 2012 Academic Programs

S$115,000

Learning Through Community Service Programs

S$165,000

Excellence and Innovation

S$40,000

Extracurricular Activities and Athletics

S$55,000

Financial Aid

S$380,000

save the date Star Appeal Dinner April 13, 2013 Goodwood Park Hotel

Endowment S$57,000

Please make your gift today.

SAS Foundation c/o Advancement Office Singapore American School 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547 www.sas.edu/giving Questions? Call +65 6360 6334

All donations made to the SAS Foundation Ltd, a Singapore Institution of Public Character (IPC), Registration No. 200813073R, or to the Singapore American School Foundation, a United States 501(c)3 charitable organization, Federal ID No. 13-6266797, qualify for tax benefits in accordance with the applicable laws of the respective country.

CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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CHINA BOUND KEVIN TUNG Grade 12 Student

Attending the most prestigious international school in Singapore, we easily forget how fortunate we are. Each student’s bag contains a wallet full of money for the daily trip to the cafeteria, a personal computer, a smart phone, and the bag might even be a branded Long Champ or even Louis Vuitton. Not only that, students are given the chance to visit various countries for the school trips, an unachievable dream for many students worldwide.

With such amazing possessions and chances, it is not hard to become spoiled. The High School Service Council aims to provide a system of clubs that offers students opportunities to help give back to the world and experience the hardships that go on outside our perfect little bubble. Among these service clubs is Aiding China. When Aiding China was first established in 2008, its main service was to give aid to the unfortunate victims of the Sichuan earthquake.

Now, it aims to give support to China as a whole. This club includes many in-school events, such as

selling cup noodles for fundraising, assisting teachers tutor Chinese to the Intermediate School students, and teaching English to migrant workers and local students.

However, its main event is an annual service trip to China during summer vacation.

This year, Aiding China took thirteen students and two sponsors, Mr. Roy Tomlinson and Ms. Vivian Lin, to Tianjin, China to volunteer at the Prince of Peace Foundation. This organization sets up orphanages all over the world to care for orphaned children with brain disorders, such as mental palsy and Down syndrome.

Students cleaned rooms, painted walls, cooked meals, played with the children, and even helped a few of the children with their physical rehabilitation. Working in an environment much less fortunate than our own definitely opened up a new perspective of the world. Working for hours and then being fed at the same time on metal trays surely wasn’t something any of us were used to.

Of course, the trip wasn’t all

volunteer work. During our time off, the students were able to experience a new country’s culture as well as enjoy each other’s company.

Students and teachers went to local streets to buy pistachios and watermelons as snacks for the group on bus rides. The group enjoyed Beijing Kao Ya (roasted duck) and dumplings for dinner. Students even experienced the nightlife of China by bargaining in Wangfujing Street during the time in Beijing and singing karaoke in the hotels.

Going on this trip has unquestionably changed the way I viewed the world. During the eight days I spent in China, this service club taught lessons that no course in school could have taught me. It was definitely an experience that will stay with me for a long time and I can’t wait for next year’s trip!

Special thanks to Lenovo and Seagate. Their donations and help to this club aided the Prince of Peace while also making this trip much smoother.

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

WORLDWIDE BEST PRACTICES IN MATH TREENA CASEY

Director of Curriculum Last year the SAS Office of Learning’s Curriculum Director Treena Casey, Assessment Director Jennifer Sparrow, and an extraordinary team of K-12 math teachers conducted a thorough review of the SAS mathematics program and developed a set of commendations and recommendations.

WHAT WAS THE PROCESS? • We worked with consultants Erma Anderson and Janis Freckmann to take a critical look at our written curriculum.

• We developed a set of classroom "look fors" and through two “data-in-a day" protocols, teachers and the consultants visited all math classes in the school to observe various criteria.

• We invited parents to respond to surveys and actively participate in random focus groups. We asked questions like “How would you describe a successful math program? What would it look like?”

• We researched best practices in the world in mathematics. We networked. We asked lots of questions.

• We dug deep into our school’s annual and longitudinal assessment data that informed us where our students were being successful, where we have work to do, and how we compared with students around the world.

WHAT DID WE DISCOVER? As a result of the process, the review team was able to generate commendations and recommendations for SAS as follows: Commendations • Overall, Singapore American School students consistently outperform their US counterparts on all forms of standardized testing.

• SAS math faculty in kindergarten through Grade 5 have significantly enhanced the delivery and use of common assessments.

• SAS math faculty in grades 6 through 12 have made significant progress in improving consistency of practices through collaborative conversations.

• SAS students positively perceive the current math program.

• SAS math faculty are eagerly embracing changes reflective of common core values and best practices.

Recommendations • Align Singapore American School curriculum (content and mathematical practices), assessments, technology, resources, and pedagogy with the Common Core State Standards.

• Ensure vertical alignment between grade levels with emphasis on transitions between divisions.

• Review different courses and delivery models offered at each grade level in light of Common Core Standards and best practices research to ensure appropriate levels of rigor.

• Conduct a comprehensive review of math resources in 2012-2013 to determine best support for successful implementation of the Common Core Standards.

• Provide dedicated professional development for teachers to: - strengthen understanding of content knowledge; - build understanding of how students learn mathematics - increase use of effective instructional and assessment practices that address how students understand and learn mathematics.

• Ensure appropriate balance of time for elementary PLC conversations on the teaching and learning of mathematics.

• Continue to explore extended learning opportunities in mathematics based on interest and ability (e.g., clubs, competitions, enrichment).

• Ensure that hiring practices reflect recruitment of teachers with best practices expertise in mathematics.

• Hire math coaches (i.e., ECC, grades 2, 3-5, 6-12) to facilitate the transition to, and implementation of Common Core Standards and provide job-embedded professional development.

• Ensure communication among all stakeholders in regard to implementation of Common Core Standards and ongoing awareness of best practices in mathematics.

WHAT NOW? This information will guide the work in the next phase— implementing the recommendations. We are developing a transition plan for moving from current curriculum to Common Core Standards. This will involve a review of different courses and delivery models offered at each grade level in light of Common Core Standards and best practices research. We are also ensuring a comprehensive review of math textbooks/resources to determine optimum support for successful implementation of the Common Core Standards.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE COMMON CORE? There is a great deal of information available on the Common Core State Standards. As explained in the mission of the Common Core State Standards: “They have been developed for consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. The standards are informed by the highest, most effective models from states across the country and countries around the world, and provide teachers and parents with a common understanding of what students are expected to learn.”

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We developed a set of classroom "look fors" and through two “data-in-a day" protocols, teachers and the consultants visited all math classes in the school to observe various criteria.

Take a further look:

http://bit.ly/ibT4i2

http://bit.ly/XMknB

FOCUS—RIGOR—COHERENCE

KEY POINTS IN MATHEMATICS • The K-5 standards provide students with a solid foundation in whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and decimals—which help young students build the foundation to successfully apply more demanding math concepts and procedures and move into applications.

• In kindergarten, the standards follow successful international models and recommendations from the National Research Council’s Early Math Panel report by focusing kindergarten work on the number core: learning how numbers correspond to quantities and learning how to put numbers together and take them apart (the beginnings of addition and subtraction).

• The K-5 standards build on the best state standards to provide detailed guidance to teachers on how to navigate their way through knotty topics, such as fractions, negative numbers, and geometry, and do so by maintaining a continuous progression from grade to grade.

• The standards stress not only procedural skill but also conceptual understanding to make sure students are learning and absorbing the critical information they need to succeed at higher levels—rather than the current practices by which many students learn enough to get by on the next test but forget it shortly thereafter, only to review again the following year.

• Having built a strong foundation K-5, students can do hands-on learning in geometry, algebra, and probability and statistics. Students who have completed 7th grade

and mastered the content and skills through the 7th grade will be well-prepared for algebra in grade 8.

• The middle school standards are robust and provide a coherent and rich preparation for high school mathematics.

• The high school standards call on students to practice applying mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues and challenges; they prepare students to think and reason mathematically.

• The high school standards set a rigorous definition of college and career readiness, by helping students develop a depth of understanding and ability to apply mathematics to novel situations, as college students and employees regularly do.

• The high school standards emphasize mathematical modeling, the use of mathematics and statistics to analyze empirical situations, understand them better, and improve decisions. For example, the draft standards state: “Modeling links classroom mathematics and statistics to everyday life, work, and decision-making.

It is the process of choosing and using appropriate mathematics and statistics to analyze empirical situations, to understand them better, and to improve decisions. Quantities and their relationships in physical, economic, public policy, social and everyday situations can be modeled using mathematical and statistical methods. When making mathematical models, technology is valuable for varying assumptions, exploring consequences, and comparing predictions with data.”

ONGOING COMMUNICATIONS We were pleased to include parents in our math textbook/ resources review on October 1 and 2. If you would like to learn more about Singapore American School’s continuing alignment with worldwide best practices in mathematics, please join us for an SAS Parent Forum on K-12 mathematics on October 30 from 9:00–10:00 a.m. in room M301 (middle school). Also we will continue to provide communication updates as we transition our curriculum to the content and practice standards of the Common Core!

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

TAKING INTERIM TO THE NEXT LEVEL TICO OMS

HS Interim Semester Director

From trekking Leaping Tiger Gorge to Spanish Language Immersion in Barcelona and from Singapore’s Food Trail to building houses in the Philippines, Interim Semester is one of SAS’ most beloved and memorable programs. For the past 38 years, High School students have spent one week doing some of their most valuable learning outside of the classroom walls.

The task of taking this wonderful program and trying to improve it was daunting. Interim Semester is already a magical, transformative experience. We pulled together a team of nine members representative of the various stakeholders and who shared a passion for Interim Semester. The team was comprised of two parents, four faculty members, one administrator, and two students. We held our first meeting in May 2011 and met monthly during Fall 2012. Our goal was to analyze Interim Semester and ensure its alignment with the SAS mission, vision, and focus on learning.

Our first task was to examine the current state of Interim Semester and identify areas for improvement. After gathering information from students, parents, and faculty members, and analyzing data such as costs, destinations, popularity of courses, and the objectives of our current course offerings, we came to the following conclusions: • Interim Semester has an important part to play in the high school experience; • It is a valuable experience that requires more effective utilization of resources; • It has unclear and unfocused objectives; • It is frequently perceived as a school-sponsored holiday; • It focuses on destination not on the value of the learning; • It offers an uneven price distribution of courses; • It offers few service options; We devoted our efforts to creating a proposal that improved Interim without killing the magic. The work resulted in the following six recommendations.

http://bit.ly/Szkc4b • inspiring students to contribute to the global community; • building a sense of community. #2: THREE LEARNING CATEGORIES Our goal was to bring the mission statement to life. Building a sense of community should naturally permeate all Interim Semester courses. Reaching the other three objectives of the mission requires deliberate focus and meeting certain criteria. We therefore created and defined the following three Interim Semester categories: • Global Issues • Service Learning • Eco-Adventure #3: COURSE DESIGN PRINCIPLES With the mission statement providing overall guidance, we felt it necessary that Interim courses should also meet certain design principles to ensure authentic learning experiences.

• Interim Semester must focus on learning while also being a memorable and enjoyable experience.

• Interim Semester should take kids out of their comfort zones, challenging them intellectually, mentally, and physically.

• Interim Semester should provide uncommon and difficult to replicate courses.

• Interim Semester should deliver its courses effectively by balancing costs to the families, costs to the environment, travel time, and jet lag. #4: INTERIM SEMESTER PROGRAM STRUCTURE The committee felt it important to stress the educational mission of Interim Semester. While geography will always play a part in the selection of courses, learning objectives should have primacy over destination. Therefore our student handbook, parent’s nights, presentations, and other communication items will be structured around the learning categories.

#1: A NEW MISSION STATEMENT The committee’s first task was to agree on the objectives of the program. We did not feel the current goals were sufficiently clear or focused. After reviewing quality programs from other schools and referring to the SAS mission and vision, we agreed on the following new mission statement:

#5: SERVICE LEARNING REQUIREMENT Service learning is part of our ethos. We have heard time and again from alumni that service Interim courses were the experiences they remember and cherish long after they leave SAS. In analyzing the scarcity of service offerings and our desire to further the Vision that SAS “empowers students with the confidence and courage to contribute to the global community," we decided to increase the number of service learning experiences.

The Interim Semester program is committed to: • deepening students’ understanding of the world around them; • encouraging students to challenge themselves;

#6: PILOT A NEW POST-INTERIM EXPERIENCE The objective of a post-interim activity is to consolidate learning and communicate that learning and growth. Interim Semester has traditionally ended with an on—campus

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presentation of student work to parents. This activity has received mixed results from parents, students, and teachers.

We have recommended piloting an alternative experience— students will place their reflections and other work on a website to share with their parents as well as the world.

Last year we began the pilot program with seven Interim Semester courses: 2013 will see an increase to 24 courses participating in the online pilot program.

40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547 Phone: (65) 6360-6501 Web: www.sas.edu.sg

GLOBAL ISSUES The Global Issues category denotes active participation and awareness of our interconnectedness with people and cultures around the world. Students will deepen their understanding of the world through themes.

These themes may cross any academic discipline and often focus on development (resource management, environmental care, poverty), peace and conflict, cultural expression, and political conditions. Language study, which facilitates all cultural understanding, is also a valued focus area.

Global Issues Courses contain the following characteristics: • The course activities must center around a particular focus of inquiry; • The students should learn firsthand how certain forces both positively and negatively impact a community’s people, culture, and environment; • The course should enable students to genuinely know the people of the locations they visit; • The focus of inquiry can be a historical or a contemporary issue; • While the course theme is common, the driving questions may be unique to each individual or may also be common course-wide.

• The majority of the activities during the course need to concentrate on the theme of study.

SERVICE Service has the capacity to touch on each of the desired student learning outcomes of the school’s strategic focus. By using the model that knowledge

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leads to compassion, and compassion to action, service learning projects give students the opportunity to make a positive impact on the local community in which they work. Service learning provides a framework in which students learn and develop through active contribution in thoughtfully prepared service that meets the needs of the community.

• It can parallel subjects from across the curriculum, combining experiential learning and community service with projects that might focus on social injustice, inequality, human rights and dignity, population, poverty, consumption, sustainability, conflict, and/or the environment; • Service learning should be sustainable, offering a long-term relationship between SAS and the community being supported; • Clubs are encouraged to participate in Interim Semester as a group. Interim Semester could be the on-location culmination of the club’s on-campus activities and preparation; • To be considered a Service Learning Interim Course, at least 20 hours must be devoted to service.

ECO-ADVENTURE Eco-adventure courses are designed around the belief that the outdoors provides a unique context for humans to grow socially, emotionally, and academically.

As such, Eco-Adventure Courses provide students opportunities to learn and develop physically and intellectually while being fully immersed in the natural environment. Students will return from these excursions with an improved self-perception, increased academic skill-set, and a robust sense of the environmental dynamics of the region visited.

Eco-Adventure Courses contain the following characteristics: • All courses must be physically or intellectually challenging beyond what is typically experienced during a family outing or vacation; • Eco-Adventure Courses that focus on physical challenges should be full outdoor immersion experiences including accommodations. The majority of nights should be spent in tents or other rugged, eco-friendly accommodations; • The majority of the student’s work day, both physical and intellectual, should be spent immersed in and exploring the wilderness; • To minimize environmental impact; trips should be conducted in the Asian sphere unless the biome or ecosystem of study cannot be reasonably replicated in the region.

For more information about Interim Semester, go to http://bit.ly/T9EEZJ

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

HISTORY ALIVE

SHIVANI R.

Grade 8 Student “What do they do in the house?” “Do they use all the rooms in the house?”

“Are they here right now?” We even toured the multiple rooms that were ostentatiously furnished with each president’s mark. We actually found out that President Obama was in the house while we were touring.

Although we didn’t get to see him, knowing that we got to walk though his grand hallways on our tour in the White House is a memory that will always be etched in my mind.

We stood where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech facing the bold Washington Monument. We walked where over 650,000 people died fighting for their beliefs in the worst war in American history. We even toured where 44 presidents pondered on the best future for their nation. I have to admit, it is every girl’s dream to shop at Times Square in New York.

But being at the Lincoln Memorial, the Gettysburg Battlefield, and in the White House is when history really came alive for 26 eighth graders.

The 21 hours on the flight seemed to take forever. My heart finally calmed down after passing through U.S. immigration for the first time. We were warmly greeted by the WorldStrides team. As I took in my first breaths of the chilly DC breeze, I tingled with excitement of finally being on the trip I’d waited for all year long.

Mornings were filled with excited chatter in anticipation of the day’s events.. One site piqued our interest more than any other. It was the grandiose statue of Lincoln sitting in his humble position overlooking the multiple war memorials that I had heard so much about.

We went to the Lincoln Memorial, a place that all of us longed to see ever since we first learned about it. I reached the top and squeezed my way to the front to admire the colossal statue up close. Every shape and curve of Lincoln’s face

precisely captured his admirable personality and character. The reverence of the monument just added to the history heavy atmosphere. I could sit here for days.

Reluctantly, I made my way down to the first break in the steps. In this very spot the “I Have a Dream” speech by the famous Martin Luther King Jr. came to life. Looking out on the open space, I imagined thousands of people in front of me.

The energy of a crowd of thousands supporting one courageous stand radiated from this place. That very speech not only brought African American freedom dreams alive, but so many others who were also repressed around the world. What better place to experience that than in front of the man who initiated it all?

Where we went next crossed the boundaries of even something we could dream about—the White House!

Forty-four ordinary people rose from our population and were legends within the very walls of this house.

One thing that still echoes in my ears from our tour through the White House is what Mrs. Rogers said, “Many look from the outside in. But here we are, looking from the inside out.” For a moment, we imagined ourselves being the Head of State looking upon this nation.

We were enamored by the Secret Service agents, and instantly bombarded them with questions.

“Where do the kids go to school?”

Days went by much quicker than I could keep count, and now we were leaving for Philadelphia. Walking through the Gettysburg battlefields felt like a surreal experience. Lush greenery upon tough rocks under the blinding sun in rural Pennsylvania is where America’s worst war ended.

Our guide took us through three days of battle in a few hours. In those three days, thousands of lives were lost. As we stood at the top of Little Round Top with the wind whipping our hair, we imagined how General Lee sat proudly on his horse, looking over his troops. Bringing alive the major battles between the Confederate and the Union soldiers on the actual battlefield surrounded by the survivor trees, real cannons, and the barn that was turned into a hospital just made the experience that much more powerful.

The experience is something that will never be forgotten.

Every detail will be locked in my memory like a mini movie.

Thank you to all the teachers and WorldStrides organizers who planned this trip. Everything went perfectly.

I loved every day mostly because I had so many friends to share the days’ experiences. Some of the other highlights of this trip included Times Square, The Holocaust Museum, The Newseum, Mount Vernon, Independence Hall, and the Empire State Building. This one trip will be the first memory that will come to mind when I think American history. It was truly more than just history alive.

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GREAT SHOWING AT MATH OLYMPIADS SUSAN SHAW IS Gifted and Talented Advisor

participating worldwide. This year for the first time in the IS, Solina Kim, a fifth grader in the GATE Math program, won the George Lenchner Medal. George Lenchner (1917-2006) was the founder of Math Olympiads and the medal is awarded for a perfect score in the Math Olympiads contest. Well done, Solina!

Every year students in fourth and fifth grades in the Intermediate Division compete in the Math Olympiads problem solving contests from November through to March. More than 4,000 teams took part this year with over 102,000 students

This year’s team score was 209 points, which put the IS Division Math Olympiad team in the top 10% of all teams participating and included a wooden plaque for the team. Congratulations also to the team’s highest scorers, Daniel Kwon and Rohan Jasani, who received a gold pin for scoring in the top 2%

of all competitors in the Elementary category. Congratulations also to Andrew Li, Avery Smith, Hee Ju Lee, Maya Sivanandan, Nakul Sharma, Rohan Kothari, Aiden Sherry, Dion Hii, Raghav Narayanswamy, Eugene Chong, Lukas Daniel-Pedersen, Avery Fitz, Kalia Craig, Bo Seong Kim, Grace Tantra, and Jeffrey Ann, who received silver pins for scoring in the next 8% of all competitors worldwide. All competitors receive certificates for their efforts and many also received a felt patch for being in the top 50% of all competitors. Many new math problem solving strategies were learned by all contestants, and they celebrated with a pizza party at the end of the school year!

IMMERSED IN A NEW LANGUAGE AND CULTURE ELLA CHEN AND HILDA HUANG

MS Chinese Teacher and HS Chinese Teacher input. The discussions included their immersion experiences, their travel, and their encounters with the local Chinese people and culture.

Our first ASA-sponsored Chinese language immersion program was hosted by our partner school Y K Pao in Shanghai, China. Eleven students from grades 5, 6, and 7 were enthusiastic and curious about the Chinese language and culture. They demonstrated high spirits in taking risks in a new culture and a new language environment.

Every morning they were divided into two groups according to their levels of language proficiency and received three-hour Chinese instruction in the classroom from SAS Chinese teachers with a focus on developing their oral Chinese language proficiency. The target language was used 95% of the class time, and students were provided with personalized, comprehensible

In addition to the language instruction, students were immersed in the Chinese culture through oncampus and off-campus activities, such as Chinese kongfu, noodle making with invited specialists, city tours, and neighborhood visits interacting with local Chinese people.

On one weekend, they visited Hangzhou, a city that is famous for its history and beautiful scenic spots. From these activities and trips, they explored Chinese culture and practiced speaking Chinese in real life situations, such as shopping, ordering food, asking directions, and chatting with people.

They also went to a local migration school to join in the classes and interact with the children in different activities. Each student found a buddy from the school, and they went to the Science and Technology Museum together. They made friends and took the initiative to talk with them.

At the end of each day, students wrote and shared their reflections of the day. They took turns communicating with their parents, keeping them informed of any interesting learning that went on each day. All the students had such wonderful learning experiences and developed close ties with China. They were reluctant to leave China when the trip was over.

The immersion trip was a great success. Student interest in learning the Chinese language has increased as well as their confidence in communicating with real people in real life situations. Students have developed their personal artifacts, such as pictures and video clips, as a final learning project and are ready to showcase their experience for their parents.

The exposure to the culture was valuable for those children in developing real life problem solving skills and creativity in preparing them for the 21st century. However, it could not have been successful without parents’ support and trust.

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

GINSING: BRINGING HOME A NEW PERSPECTIVE SAMI FULLER Grade 12 Student and GINSING Officer

Inspiring ideas, real-life action, and international networking: what these three phrases all have in common is that they were all among answers by facilitator candidates to our interview prompt “Describe GIN in three short phrases, and elaborate on which one is the most important to you.”

GIN, or Global Issues Network, is an international network of schools in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia that seeks to promote local solutions to global problems.

The network focuses on 20 global Issues that are outlined in JeanFrançois Rischard’s book High Noon: Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them. These issues range from education for all and food for all to digital divide and tax reform. They cover both the environmental and humanitarian spectrums and therefore cater to a wide variety of interests.

Something that our world is going to have to get used to a lot more in the coming years is realism. Of the twenty years we had to solve these pressing global Issues, we have three left.

That’s right—three. So why bother?

We must bother because these projects’ achievements are measured in terms of progress, not perfection.

There is so much more we can do, and so much more we have to do, to keep our world afloat. We haven’t given up yet, and neither should you.

Kids’ abilities to affect change,

by and large, are significantly underestimated. With 30% of our world’s population below 18—and a percentage that’s rising, mind you—we can’t afford to harbor this attitude any longer. The truth is, kids are extraordinarily capable. Just ask Hannah Taylor, one of the keynote speakers at our GINSING conference this year. At age 8, Taylor founded her own NGO, the Ladybug Foundation, and has become the youthful face of the homeless worldwide. Inspired at an early age, Taylor isn’t even 17, yet, she has spoken at more than 175 schools, events, and organizations globally. Taylor’s work has touched the lives of thousands of homeless men and women—all before she has even graduated from high school!

Our generation is going to be faced with some of the most challenging problems humankind has ever had to conquer. If we don’t start young, we’ll be too late. This is why at this year’s GINSING conference we’ve taken a huge step forward by holding a consecutive Middle School GIN conference hosted

by United World College of South East Asia (UWC – East). Over 200 MS delegates will gather to learn through discussions of global issues.

For most of them, this will be their first exposure to some of the major problems tackling our globe.

GIN is an opportunity for international school students to network and discuss means to mitigate the humanitarian and environmental issues of our generation. The aim of our GINSING conference is for delegates to leave prepared with an action plan that they may execute within their respective home countries, all of whom will work to a common goal.

The GINSING conference SAS and UWC will co-host this year will have lots of opportunities for kids to grow and reach new heights through leadership training, NGO workshops, disaster simulations, lectures by guest speakers, networking with other kids around Asia, and working in groups to develop action plans.

Through networking, students will return to their countries with a passion for the implementation of the locally minded plan they had drawn up at the conference.

Students gather into Global Action Network Groups (GANGs) to construct the details of these plans over the several days of the conference. In addition to Hannah Taylor, the committees planning the conference have been fortunate to secure fantastic guest speakers such as Dorjee Sun, founder of Carbonconservation.org and star of the film, The Burning Question, and Emmanuel Laumonier, founder of Yayasan Emmanuel. Emmanuel is a former JIS student who started an NGO to feed hungry villagers around Jakarta, Abigail Alling, founder and CEO of the Biosphere Foundation, will further inspire our participants.

This fits the “Think Globally, Act Locally” mantra we want to promote for the future. As the official conference motto for GINSING so tellingly states, it is time to act and time to change. After November, there will be just that many more kids on the frontlines of saving our planet.

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ICCS REFLECTION CATHERINE LI Grade 11 Student

On September 8, for the fourth time and the third year in a row, I attended a mangrove cleanup with my fellow classmates. I remember the first time I went to one—I was nervous and had covered myself from head to toe with clothing. But over time I became more comfortable, and last Saturday was a very familiar experience to me. I enjoy coastal cleanups because I can see before my eyes large groups of people gathered together, mobilized and in action, working for what they believe in.

Ever since I was small, I have taught not to litter as a sign of respect to others and our earth. So when we walked down that rocky path and I turned to see fields of plastic and Styrofoam, I was disgusted.

How could people so recklessly dump their waste in the ocean, upon which animals and other humans depend to live? I immediately insisted that we focus on that area. As we worked, sweat began to drip into our eyes, and mud dotted our skin and clothes. Thankfully, it wasn’t a very muddy area, but the Styrofoam was plentiful. (Our group ended up with more than two hundred pieces.) We couldn’t help a few complaints about the heat, but it was all good natured, and we never paused for breaks. There was just too much debris.

With the smell of H2S in our nostrils and our feet submerged in the mud, we called out trash item after trash item. Every thud of a plastic bag or Styrofoam chunk into the trash bag was satisfying. The fact that we were focused in one tiny area for the entire time is telling of just how much we had to clean up. But we weren’t just casually picking up bits and pieces, here and there. We were there to see for ourselves the damage caused and to learn the effect we can have if we work together.

Teamwork is something I take away from every mangrove cleanup. Whether it’s having my whole group centered around a huge piece of blue plastic that won’t come out, or having a stranger help me when I’m struggling with a bag, there is always teamwork. When we gathered to combine our data, all I saw were smiles and all I heard was “Good job!” and “You worked hard!” Taking part in remediating our destruction of nature is not only a way to raise awareness; it is also a way to bring people together. Coastal cleanups are processes that only bring benefits—to our environment and to us.

FIRST GRADE WALL OF CARING AMY FERGUSON Middle School Teacher

At the end of May grade 1 wrapped up a two week Earn-To-Give Campaign supporting Tabitha Cambodia and the building of Norkor Tep, a hospital for women in Cambodia. The total earnings for the first grade group were presented to the children at the May assembly.

Together the children earned and donated a grand total of $6,200!

All of these funds were contributed toward the fund raiser for the construction of this hospital—The Wall of Caring —by purchasing bricks that will be displayed and used to construct it. Each contributor’s name is engraved on each brick.

Tabitha has now inscribed the names of our first graders onto these bricks. Click on the QR code to view our students' names on the Wall of Caring: http://bit.ly/SivHDp. Again, congratulations to all of the first graders who worked and earned and to the parents who supported them to help raise funds for this needed project.

Following is a message from Janne Ritskes thanking the first graders for their efforts and contributions: Dear First Graders, I would like to say a very big thank you to all the grade one students who worked so hard to help us build a hospital.

It’s a very big dream—but when I hear of the grade 1s raising so much money—I know the dream will come true.

You students are helping a lot of students here to dream of being able to help their moms in a real way when their moms are sick.

You are all very special people. You may be small and you may be young, but you have done what big people do. You believed in people you may never meet to have a better life and you did it by working hard. I am so very proud of each of you. I am so very thankful that you helped us.

Janne Ritskes http://www.tabithasingapore.com With much thanks and gratitude, The First Grade Teachers

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THE ENDURING LEGACY: TABITHA CAMBODIA AND SAS AMY FERGUSON Middle School Teacher

Having taught at Singapore American School for the past 17 years, I have seen many changes such as buildings, superintendents, students, co-workers, curriculum, friends, etc. However, one thing has remained a constant for me and for so many others in our community, our dedication and devotion to Tabitha of Cambodia. It’s easy to remember the reasons why I chose Tabitha above other non-profit organizations.

When I first began working at SAS eighteen years ago I was put in charge of organizing the charitable works for the students in my department. I needed to find an organization that would acknowledge our hardearned student donations and give us detailed and timely feedback as to how the money was used.

A colleague from United World College introduced me to Janne Ritskes who was just starting her NGO in Cambodia.

Janne Ritskes stated that she would not only come and speak with the students in person, but she would tell us exactly where the money would be used and why. Our first donation, sent 17 years ago, went to pay six months worth of rent for an orphanage Janne had taken over. Janne sent

me and my students the actual paid bill for the rent along with pictures and cards of the children at the orphanage.

I have had a fulfilling professional and personal relationship with Tabitha, and this is all due to the incredible competence of one amazing woman—Janne Ritskes.

Each year Janne Ritskes takes the time to talk with our students from first grade through high school and presents them with ways they can be responsible global citizens.

I have been fortunate and honored to volunteer my time with Tabitha for the past seventeen years. Unfortunately, the Tabitha stockroom that had been located at SAS for more than ten years moved off campus to UWC this past June due to room constraints on our campus.

However, Singapore American School will continue its legacy with Tabitha Cambodia when the nonprofit organizations have their sales of cottage industry goods.

Following are Janne’s comments and heartfelt appreciation about the ongoing relationship Tabitha Cambodia has with the SAS community.

From buying a product at one of the three non-profit sales to becoming a full time volunteer, becoming involved with the Tabitha organization will ensure the enduring legacy with the SAS community will continue well into the future. Check it out at http://www.tabithasingapore.com

CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

Dear SAS, This past month we have had to leave SAS premises because of lack of space.

It is a sad moment for us at Tabitha. SAS support began 17 years ago when Amy Ferguson, a teacher at the school, began to raise funds for some of our programs. That support continued to blossom into holding silk sales at the school, and the formation of house-building teams (423 houses have been built

by SAS teachers, parents, and students) to a stage where the grade 5 classes have held various campaigns to raise funds for us—more than 1,000 wells and 5,000 families have been helped by these students. Grade 8 parents, students, and teachers have come for the past several years to house build, and this group has expanded to become two separate teams.

Paul Koebnick of the high school has brought a team every year for the past 12 years over the Thanksgiving weekend. Last year the grade sixes joined in with donations of 26 wells as they studied the impact of water on peoples. Even the first graders have contributed throughout the years, last year donating some $5,000 toward the building of the Nekor Tep Women’s Hospital. In addition to all the student efforts, the SAS parent volunteers have been both amazing and outstanding.

Over the years I have had the privilege of talking with many of the classes at SAS—a time of sharing with the young people the challenges and success of our work in Cambodia. Tabitha was in an infant stage when we began our involvement with SAS. Our relationship enabled Tabitha to become what it is today, a holistic development program that has touched and helped more than 2 million Cambodians to come out of deep poverty into a dignified way of life. It is the generosity of the SAS community—in spirit, in action and in funds—that has enabled this to happen. What a gift that has been.

But our relationship is not over. Having had a physical presence on SAS campus has always strengthened our ties. I believe those ties will become even stronger as we must work harder to hear and see each other. Tabitha Cambodia has a large vision this year—79,000 families in our savings programs. The amazing grade 5’s—what a challenge for us! We have a vision for 3,400 new sources of water —help us again grade six! We want to build 1,100 houses—thanks to Grade 8’s and Paul Keobnick and Dale Ford. SAS will help at least another 50 families through the sales of our products with Amy Ferguson’s help in organizing the nonprofit sales three times a year. I am sure the sales will be even better. Our latest project is Nokor Tep Women’s Hospital—so many of you have come forward and made the beginning of construction possible—hope for millions of women here in Cambodia.

Tabitha is about compassion and justice—over the years SAS has made those values yours—bringing hope and equity to literally thousands of people here.

What a gift of life you have given - thank you for that.

Warmest regards, Janne Ritskes Founder/Director - Tabitha Cambodia Sept. 2012

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BOOSTER SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

BOOSTER CLUB MARIA CREMA Booster President

Dear Parents, We hope that you and your families are all settled into the SAS life. At times the school can seem quite large, but as the weeks go by you will find your children navigating quite well through the hallways of the different divisions. We may still get lost, but they definitely know where they are going.

Throughout August and September Boosters was busy with uniform sales, welcoming our new families, and

breaking out the BBQs for the football opening ceremonies and the Friday Night Lights soccer event. We also held our Welcome Back Coffee and want to thank all of the parents who were able to join us that day. If you were not able to attend and would like to get involved, please email us at boosters@sas.edu.sg.

We have just finished reviewing our Interim Scholarship Applications and will have the pleasure of awarding 5 full scholarships and 5 partial scholarships. We are fortunate to have this opportunity to give back to our community and look forward to

making a difference in these students’ experiences this year.

Please join us for our annual “Trivia Night” at 7 p.m. on November 16.

You will want to start planning your table, attire, and strategy. It’s a night of fun, food, wine, and prizes. Just be careful of those quiet friends who turn into fierce competitors!

We wish all of our athletes’ good luck during IASAS and hope they bring home the gold.

Go Eagles! sasboosterpres@gmail.com

BOOSTER BAKE SALE SHUKA HALL AND LESLIE O’BRIEN Chair and Co-chair

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW FOR THESE UPCOMING BOOSTER BAKE SALES FEATURING BAKED GOODS AND JAPANESE OR INDIAN FOOD TOO: November 15, 2012 and March 21, 2013 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. • High School Cafeteria The first Bake Sale of the school year was a huge success! We wish to thank all of the parents who donated delicious baked goods for our first Booster Bake Sale, and a special thank you to our Korean parents for contributing their wonderful Korean specialties. Our event wouldn’t have been successful without all of your tasty treats and your help at the sale! All proceeds from the Bake Sales directly benefit the High School students. boosterbake@gmail.com

TRIVIA NIGHT 2012 KIM ROWE Social Fundraiser Chair

A BOOSTERS SAS-SY SOCIAL EVENT Friday, November 16, 2012, 7:30 p.m.

Middle School Cafeteria

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW FOR THESE UPCOMING SAS-SY SOCIAL EVENTS: Fashion Show: January 25, 2013 Home Tour: May 10, 2013

LOVE TRIVIA?? Can you name that TUNE?? Know lots about SPORTS? Bring it on and join us for an exciting evening at the 2nd annual Trivia Night, on Friday, November 16. Get ready for a fun filled evening of competition in an informal setting that includes food, drinks, and prizes for the winners of each category. We will also have some fabulous raffle prizes. Organize a team of 8, or allow us to put together a team for you. Then get ready to crush the competition!

Purchase Trivia Night tickets at the Booster Booth October 22 through November 14. All proceeds benefit the High School Athletics, Visual and Performing Arts, Student Clubs, and Booster Club Scholarship Funds.

BOOSTER CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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BOOSTER HOME TOUR 2012 A BOOSTERS SAS-SY SOCIAL EVENT

The Booster Club held its annual Home Tour on Friday, May 4, 2012.

This year Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colonial past was celebrated by featuring a historic Black and White on Goodwood Hill, which is one of Singaporeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest, landed properties.

The Tour also included a Black and White in Sembawang that was part of the important Port Colony here in Singapore, a Conservation property which is part of Townerville, and an elegant Black and White that is owned and operated by The Capella Hotel.

The experience was truly unique and approximately 95 participants were able to enjoy and appreciate the lovely decor, architecture, and surroundings. In addition to touring the properties, a lovely tea was served in each home, including traditional Irish, Southern USA, modern ethnic fusion, and Indian teas. A special thanks to all of the SAS Booster Volunteers as well as the Garner and Feibrich-Hoss families, the Far East Organization, and Capella Resorts for donating the use of their properties. Thanks also to our generous sponsors KC Dat (S) Pte. Ltd., Yeap Transport, Sally Greene Jewelry, and Anne Locket Antiques.

Join us for the next Home Tour in May 2013.

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

HIGHEST SCOUTING HONOR TAWNYA HARTBERGER Committee Chair BSA Troop 07, Singapore

Finding an Eagle project in Singapore is not easy—many facilities are sensitive about having outsiders visit and prefer to just have funds donated. That is not possible for an Eagle candidate, as he must show leadership in developing and implementing a service project involving other workers.

Some Scouts find it easier to do their projects in nearby countries, such as Indonesia or Thailand, where the needs are greater, but a leg injury on a campout meant Nick needed to stay close to home.

Early on in the project his mother was diagnosed with cancer, so the support his parents normally would have given in transportation and participation was not available, and carrying through with the project took a lot more energy than he had anticipated. Nick feels that the reality of being left on his own as leader, and watching the girls at the home having healthy interactions with his volunteers turned out to be the highlights of the experience. He is very appreciative of all the people who came out to help.

Nick Stearns earned the rank of Eagle Scout in May 2012, and received his award at a ceremony in September. He has been a member of the Boy Scouting movement for thirteen years, all in Singapore, and is one of the 4% of members who complete the rigorous requirements of becoming an Eagle Scout.

Nick’s Eagle project was to provide equipment and training for grounds maintenance at DaySpring, as well as raise awareness of the facility. DaySpring is a therapeutic residential treatment center for abused teenaged girls, and is a self-funded initiative under Highpoint Community Services Association (HCSA), which is a member of the National Council of Social Services and recognised as an Institution of Public Character (IPC).

During the course of his three-month project he led a team of over 50 volunteers, as well as liaised with 10 outside organizations, to provide cleaning, pruning, hauling, and shovelling of the grounds at the facility. He also raised funds for the purchase of the equipment they used. There is now a regular core of volunteers that continues the maintenance on his schedule of every two weeks—although more are always needed!

You may have seen Nick performing in an SAS musical, or seen him umpiring at a SACAC or Little League baseball game. You may run into him at the Doubletree Hilton in Shanghai, where he is now an intern, comfortable with his Mandarin skills. Or you may have known him when he was a hyperactive, bratty 6 year old, or a mouthy teen wannabe comic, as I did. I consider myself lucky to have seen the transformation of that boy into the man he has become.

May I suggest two ways for you to continue the effect he has had on his community—volunteer at DaySpring (http:// www.dayspring.org.sg) or volunteer with the Boy Scouts of Troop 07, info@bsatroop07.com. Either one will change your life.

During the course of his threemonth project he led a team of over 50 volunteers, as well as liaised with 10 outside organizations, to provide cleaning, pruning, hauling, and shovelling of the grounds at the facility.

CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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WELCOME TO SINGAPORE FRANK OLAH HS Learning Support

We enjoyed a tour of downtown Singapore in a tour trolley with all of the adults listening to our tour guide in air conditioned comfort, while all of the kids were in the open back of the trolley singing up a storm that entertained all of the Singaporeans walking on the sidewalks. two weeks. Karen and Frank Olah would accompany them for the entire two weeks, explaining how Singapore worked (paper, forms, and more paper) and that the food here is nothing less than fabulous.

We all left the hotel to start our day visiting banks, hand phone companies, and then a number of great restaurants and carpet demonstrations.

For most of them, a 23-hour flight was the longest flight they had ever taken. From New York to Japan and then on to Singapore, landing at 00:20 at Changi with rain pouring down.

As they filed out from flight DL 470 and down to immigration, most of these weary travelers wanted only to take a quick shower and settle into a bed for a long comfortable sleep.

As they rounded the corner to the baggage claim on belt #26, they looked for their belongings and the long trip to the York Hotel, never expecting what was awaiting them on the other side of the glass wall separating the passengers from the world of Singapore.

Rolling through the glass enclosure, they were face to face with the navy blue SAS-shirted welcoming team, including Dr. Kimball, superintendent, Dr. Laurynn Evans, director of human resources, and Dr. and Mrs. Frank Olah, the two faculty members who coordinated the entire â&#x20AC;&#x153;settling-Inâ&#x20AC;?

welcome for the new teachers and their families. This welcome began right at that glass enclosed exit from the world of Changi into the world of Singapore American School.

As the new teachers were greeted by the administration, their baggage was sent over to Dr. Olah who helped tag their luggage and explained to these weary travelers that their bus awaited them just outside the doors.

As the bags were packed into a lorry, the new teachers had sandwiches and drinks waiting in their air-conditioned bus, which would bring them to the York Hotel. It would be their new home for the next two weeks.

As morning broke the next day, their faces showed their jet lag; however, their spirits were full of excitement. Breakfast was ready by 7:30 and as they ate their eggs and yogurt, they were told how they would be spending their next

Each day, the new teachers were taken around Singapore by their real estate agents looking for the perfect places to live. Once they found their homes, they needed to make trips to Ikea and Courts to purchase everything from furniture to coffee pots and vacuums to sewing machines and toasters. We all loaded into our bus with Alan driving and went to the mega stores along the TPE. We enjoyed a tour of downtown Singapore in a tour trolley with all of the adults listening to our tour guide in air conditioned comfort, while all of the kids were in the open back of the trolley singing up a storm that entertained all of the Singaporeans walking on the sidewalks.

Our last evening of fun was the grand dinner and reception held at the Riady Center at SAS. Dr. Kimball greeted all of the new teachers and their families, the administrative leadership team, and various invited guests. Once again, the children stole the evening with a quick yet ingenious play that they performed.

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

WEAVING SUMMER MAGIC

JAMIE ALARCON SIMBULAN Energy Conservation Engineer

SAS is no Hogwarts, but the way the campus can change over the summer is positively magical. While our construction wizards—architects, engineers, contractors, and facilities staff—haven’t figured out how to build a Room of Requirement yet, the team has managed to conjure 17 classrooms literally out of thin air.

By definition, summer works are projects that take too much time or create too much nuisance to undertake during the regular school year. Last year, perhaps the most high-profile summer project was the redesigned IS/MS cafeteria and its pièce de résistance: a 24-foot, 269-pound ceiling fan that is saving the school $200 every single day.

This year, out of 380 summer works, the drama is unquestionably the new world language classrooms in the Primary and Intermediate Schools.

In 60 days, the void area in the IS foyer and the roof of the IS half-moon were transformed into beautiful, user-friendly classrooms that our tireless teachers now use to provide exemplary Chinese and Spanish language education.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT Planning for Summer 2012 began almost as soon as Summer 2011 ended. Starting in August, clla Architects and other consultants held design charrettes with administrators, teachers, and other stakeholders to determine the requirements of future users. Besides the usual safety and engineering aspects, they also paid close attention to sustainability,

instructional technology, and ergonomics for growing kids.

“The process of developing the new world language classrooms was inclusive and it gave teachers a voice as to how the rooms should be built,” shares Marc L’Heureux, IS deputy principal. “The brainstorming and collaboration helped to make everyone excited about what was going to be built. The architect listened to our needs and used his experience to develop a plan that enhanced our school and provided high-functioning classrooms and a beautiful main entrance.”

With large windows, light ledges, and sunshades similar to those in the renovated Middle School science laboratories, the classrooms maximize natural daylight, minimize glare, and look much bigger than they actually are. Skylights were built into the classrooms with the loftiest locations, but rooms on lower floors didn’t miss out, either: perforations in the staircase landings allowed the sun to shine from the skylights in the roof all the way down to the ground floor.

(Not quite Hogwarts level, but pretty darn clever.)

Floor plans make the most of every square inch, despite the traditionally inefficient half-moon shape at IS. Foyer staircases were resized and repositioned to make classrooms 47% bigger.

Creative landscaping, including modular green walls partly funded by the National Parks Board, provide vertical and horizontal patches of

nature. Landscape architecture firm Cicada and contractor Prince added 3,229 square feet of tropical plants.

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING Because builders had to convert a void area into floors and rooms— talk about making something out of nothing—the foundations had to be beefed up. Careful planning and early submissions to the authorities allowed the builders to do piling works over the winter break so that, once summer came along, they could hit the ground running.

It was absolutely critical to follow the construction schedule to the letter.

While there were contingency plans in place for 9 teachers should the PS classrooms not be completed on time, the temporary loss of the staircases would adversely affect two divisions.

Obstacles emerged along the way that could have had disastrous implications were it not for the creative solutions that Megabuilders proactively implemented. When the demolition machine broke down on the first day, Megabuilders made up for it by using higher concrete grades (so that formwork could be removed earlier) and a leveling screed that cured faster (so that vinyl flooring could be installed sooner).

It was practically a 24/7 job.

Megabuilders worked well into the wee hours, even on Sundays, compromising with residents and authorities by having shorter hours and focusing on less noisy works. But

CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

thanks to stringent risk management, no accidents occurred throughout the entire construction period.

The project was finished in the nick of time: the fire code compliance certificate was issued on August 10, a week after inspection and on the eve of Open House.

“The whole construction challenge is hinged on a great team overcoming intense demands under pressure,” says Anthony Wong, director of facilities and services. “Having the right contractor and setting up the appropriate site environment for rapid communication and close cooperation from the onset for the whole team were key to a great product and timely completion.”

RAVE REVIEWS After two months of nearly nonstop

construction, the project was handed over to rave reviews.

“The new world language classrooms and main entrance have added a new style to our school,” says L’Heureux.

“The architectural design and the lighting have enhanced the look of our school and make for a welcoming classroom. Teachers are very pleased with the finished product.”

“We’re most proud of the way the new aesthetic of these classrooms marry the old aesthetic of SAS that we’ve known and loved for 16 years,” adds Wong. “When you look at the whole external elevation, with the old classrooms and façade next to the new, it’s not jarring at all. It’s cohesive. It doesn’t stand out like a new addition to an old building. It looks like a completely new building.”

The project looks as good on paper

as it does in real life. Thanks to keen competition, the overall final cost comes in below the approved budget of $4.7 million.

“The positive reaction received from administration, staff, and the community raised the benchmark for another successful summer construction program,” says Wong.

“The size and scope of the world languages project was the most significant of all the summer works successfully completed.”

Seventeen classrooms in one summer is certainly the biggest thing Facilities has had to pull out of a hat in a while, but there’s more in that bag of tricks.

Not bad for a bunch of Muggles.

SAS VOTES NOVEMBER 6 AND 7 ERIK TORJESEN HS Social Studies Teacher

Please vote in the SAS Mock Election this November. Parents, Staff, and High School Students are encouraged to vote for a U.S. presidential candidate, and to weigh in on thirteen state specific ballot initiatives.

Students in AP United States Government classes are conducting scientific polling, educating the student body on ballot initiatives, and running the polling station on November 6 and 7.

Students will debate all the ballot initiatives at lunchtime speakers' corners organized by the Peace Initiative club.

These have been running since early September with excellent ideas and arguments.

Student media The Eye Online and The Morning Show will publish opinions on the ballot initiatives and the presidential candidates. Arguments supporting and opposing the ballot initiatives are posted at the Eye site, and we hope to develop a lively online discussion.

848 students and faculty voted in the 2008 mock election.

We are excited to add parents to the electorate this year.

Please join us in the high school this November, and help us push that turnout higher.

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WHEN Tuesday, November 6, 7:20 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 7, 7:20 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

WHERE H206 – Adjacent to the 2nd floor HS cafeteria PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: Gary Johnson – Libertarian Barack Obama – Democrat Mitt Romney – Republican Jill Stein – Green SPECIFIC BALLOT INITIATIVES California – Death Penalty California – Three Strikes Colorado – Marijuana Louisiana – Right to Bear Arms Massachusetts – Assisted Suicide Michigan – Renewable Energy Minnesota – Marriage Missouri – Minimum Wage Missouri – Tenure Montana – Citizenship Montana – Parental Notification Oklahoma – Affirmative Action Virginia – Eminent Domain

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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL

FROM TEENAGERS TO SCREENAGERS JEFF DEVENS, PH.D. School Psychologist

Today’s teenagers, better known as “screenagers”, have grown up with the Internet. To a large degree their social life is dependent on devices that enable them to stay connected. They spend much of their time in front of screens of various sizes, ranging from cell phones, and video game consoles to laptop computers and high definition televisions. A recent report by the The Kaiser Family Foundation noted that the total amount of leisure time American kids devote to media/ technology is on par with a full-time job. Screenagers primarily keep in touch with friends and family through texting, social networking, email, blogs, and websites.

One of the more interesting features of screenagers is their purported efficiency at multitasking. There has been much hype regarding this perceived advantage.

However, looking more closely at this phenomenon gives rise to a number of concerns. Dr. David Meyer, University Maryland, notes, “Switching back and forth from one task to another takes its toll.

As you’re switching, you are not concentrating on either task.” While it is true that today’s teens are able to access more information than previous generations, the quality of thinking that goes into determining the validity of the content is often shallow. In essence, kids wander about the Internet in search of facts without a strong basis for determining what is factual.

A key skill, therefore, is knowing where to look online and then analyzing what’s found from the information. Sadly, the mantra “click, copy, paste” characterizes a portion of the academic work screenagers produce. This may explain why sites such as Turnitin. com have seen a marked rise in popularity, including at SAS. Using a student’s submitted paper, Turnitin scours the Internet locating sentences, quotes, paragraphs,

and full papers that students have “lifted”. The use of such tools among educators isn’t so much to catch kids cheating. Rather, it’s to help educate students on the importance of producing their own work in the process of evaluating others.

It should come as little surprise that a 2011 Neilsen study of 65,000 teens found that 13-17 year olds send, on average, 3,417 texts per month (approximately 2,815 texts for boys and 3,952 for girls). For many parents texting has become a primary tool of communication between them and their child, and this is just fine with teens. Richard Watson, author of Future Minds, humorously describes cell phones as “proximity devices that allow teens to reshape time and space,” and indeed they are.

When it comes to raising kids in a wired world, the challenge parents and educators face is helping them become digitally disciplined.

Discipline in this sense not only involves training that corrects and molds mental faculties but also moral character. Parents spend incalculable hours instructing children on moral responsibilities and duties, yet when it comes to digital discipline are we doing the same?

With the above in mind I have two suggestions for parents.

1) FIND OUT WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING ONLINE. By the time the doorknob turns to your screenager’s room, their fingers have already moved into overdrive, minimizing windows and closing objectionable sites. Many parents have no idea what their kids are doing online. If you’re finding that the computer is consuming much of your screenager’s timetable, and contributing to conflict in the home, then you need to find out what they are doing. I can assure you, it’s not all homework. For some families, monitoring software may be a necessary option. Check out Top Ten

Reviews (http://monitoring-softwarereview.toptenreviews.com). This software is easy to download, and it can greatly aid in understanding your child’s online activities. If you are not monitoring what your kids are doing than you are partly responsible for the conflict. This isn’t about control; then it’s about helping kids become disciplined with their head and heart.

2) INSTITUTE DIGITAL DOWN TIMES. When was the last time you sat down as a family for dinner and didn’t have text messages or various chimes interrupting your meal? In many homes the dinner table serves the function of reconnecting family members, a place where families gather to discuss events of the day. Parents, with the myriad of electronic devices competing for space at the table, you will need take the lead on this: If it plugs in or runs on batteries, don’t bring it to the dinner table. Easier said than done, but your children will follow the example you set.

A colleague and friend shared this next idea with me, and I think it’s a great one: Make it a rule that all family members keep their cell phones and laptop computers in one central location before bed. I know of screenagers who sleep with their phones in hand, not wanting to miss the most recent status update, tweet, or text. If this describes your teens they already have issues around balance. Back up, make new plans, and reboot the system.

If you teen resists, stop paying the phone bill. Yes, they will experience the painful effects of withdrawal, but there is a bigger principle you are trying to instill, namely balance.

As new technologies are brought forth the challenge parents’ face is to stay connected, but doing so in such a way that kids recognize there are responsibilities that extend into the reaches of cyber-space.”

CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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YOU CAN’T TWEET A SMILE LAEL STANCZAK Girl Scouts in Singapore

Girl Scouts, the world’s largest leadership program for young women, has been taking advantage of all that technology has to offer for 100 years. Today leaders can do much of their training online, parents can find information on websites and girls can communicate with other troops all around the globe. Technology has enhanced the Girl Scout experience for many by broadening perspectives and opening up a wealth of information and experiences to girls without leaving their homes. In helping guide leaders of tomorrow, Girl Scouts recognizes and embraces skills that are invaluable to girls growing into modern women.

In Girl Scouts there are badges and activities for every age group that utilize modern technology: creating digital paper dolls, geocaching, sending email pen-pal letters to sister troops around the world, starting a troop newsletter, and even web design are all options for girls today.

Many troops in Singapore have private websites to share information, updates, and photos with family here and back home. Girls have the benefit of all that technology has to offer in bridging distances, time, and information.

Technology has indeed enhanced the girl scout experience, but in the excitement of the new it is easy to discount the low-tech value of simple human interaction.

From a laptop, younger girls can get that instant feedback they crave while the older girls can explore the wider world. But the same can be accomplished in real time.

Instant feedback can be found in the smiles that transcend

language and age barriers on a visit to the Metta Home for a holiday party with songs and games. A short ride away brings girls to an eco-farm allowing them to experience a different part of their world. Our recent Gold and Silver Award projects have taken girls to Papua New Guinea, India, and the Philippines as well as reaching into disadvantaged communities in Singapore. No screen can accurately convey the experience of watching girls as they dive into a project they crafted and planned. Their smiles, their joy, their relief, and their triumphs transcend the abilities of the pixel to truly capture those emotions.

That you cannot post a hug is one of the shortfalls of technology. Emoticons are only representation of emotions; low-tech interaction has great value in providing in a real and tangible way a wealth of opportunities to communicate and experience the world. No one will advocate technology need be abandoned or minimize its importance. For me it is simply that Girl Scouts has found the value in that fine balance between high and low technology.

Part of the Girl Scout Law is to “use resources wisely.”

A smile costs nothing but the returns are great indeed.

In using resources wisely, we are looking for a volunteer to help set up a basic website for Girl Scouts in Singapore. Please contact Committee Chair Kathleen Borsh at singaporeocc@yahoo.com

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DANCE EXCHANGE 2012

ALEX KONCKI AND JACKIE BENFIELD Grade 11 Students and High School Dance Club Co-Presidents

The Dance Exchange at SAS in September was unique.

The value of meeting with all the IASAS schools for a full day of dance workshops and body conditioning was amazing. It was a day where we learned so much about various dance styles from the different instructors that were brought in to teach us.

The day challenged each and every one of us in different ways. When we spoke to the participants, some said the Contemporary Class was the highlight; for others, the best part was the Upside Down Workshop. The other workshops that we were exposed to were Broadway Jazz, Ballet, London Commercial Style, Suspension Training, and a ViPR workout designed for dancers.

We were surprised at how much we learned from dancing next to people weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never met before and how much we turned out to have in common. All the dancers who participated this year agreed that exchange was not only an excellent excuse to spend a whole day dancing, but also a great opportunity to catch up with or make new friends.

We found common ground through dance and later our sore muscles!

The day came to an end with a trip to the theater with the drama exchange students to watch a show together.

We know that we found this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exchange a valuable experience, and we hope to have the chance to participate again next year.

CROSSROADS NOVEMEBER 2012

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MS SEASON 2 ATHLETICS AND ACTIVITIES GRANT WALKER MS Director of Athletics, Activities

Middle School Intramurals and select sports offerings for Season 2 begin in midNovember. Check out these links for the weekly schedules. All of our clubs are in full swing by November, and information can be found through the links:

SEASON 2 INTRAMURALS http://bit.ly/O1Ut8c

SEASON 2 SELECT SPORTS http://bit.ly/Va14k3

SAS MS CLUBS http://bit.ly/QF6b96

WHY THE MIDDLE MATTERS NOTES FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL RLA CLASSROOMS

SUNDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2012

WE ARE THE LIGHT Imagine 400 of the most proficient techies in Southeast Asia congregating physically (and virtually) to share the latest and greatest tech tools out there. Scary, isn’t it? That’s exactly where I found myself this weekend at the Google Summit.

I have to admit, on that first day, I felt out of my league. I spent my day going from session to session soaking up every idea. Some of them came at me so fast, the whole experience was “like drinking from the fire hydrant of opportunity,” (as Brian M. quoted Bill Hoffman in one of his tweets). By the end of the day, I was drenched. Here was this whole community out there doing amazing things with innovative tools, and I barely knew about it.

A bit overwhelmed, I returned on Sunday, ready to fill up an already full tank when the keynote speaker, Rushton Hurley, reminded me of something important, no matter where we lie on the technology continuum.

My “ah ha” moment began when he showed us this video.

My initial reaction was, yup, I’m the lamp. I get it. Like that has-been light fixture, I live in a fast-paced world, and I can’t keep up. That’s when Rushton said, “We’re not the lamp, we’re the light.” And what is our light? It’s when we connect with our students at the times they need it the most.

That’s when it hit me. Here I was trying to pick up every new trick and tip, but it’s not about the technology. It’s about finding more efficient ways to connect with our students and have them to connect with one another.

I remembered the video I had seen in a session on Saturday. In it, a science teacher used a Google form to ask her students about how they were doing. As if unlocking a seemingly bolted door, she provided a way through which her kids could express their feelings.

She connected with them unlike any other teacher, and their learning flourished. Her light shined brighter as a result.

I began thinking about all of the tools I was learning this weekend: Teacher Dashboard, Google Forms, Youtube, Twitter, Google Apps, Google Hangout, and more. They aren’t tools that I need to learn so I can keep up. They are opportunities for me to connect with my students. When I use Teacher Dashboard to quickly read through student drafts to see where my writers are or create a Google form to get some instant feedback from my students, I can finetune my teaching with more precision. My light will shine brighter as a result.

http://bit.ly/PUVSdI The lamp video failed to mention one thing. With both lamps working together, the whole room is brighter. Last week, in my Power of Partnerships post, I wrote that I’m not the only teacher in the room. I know that my students have lots to learn from one another, and if I use just one tool that showcases their expertise and perspective, I know that my whole classroom will be brighter as a result. Check out this video that Rushton shared with us: By creating this video, this student is able to teach others new possibilities, and when they give him feedback, he finds purpose and place in the community. His light shines brighter as a result.

Here’s the thing. Our lights aren’t broken. In fact, with the growth we’ve made over the past few years, they’re brighter than ever. I know this because I’ve seen it. With technology though, we’ll be able to do it even better. Believe me, we shouldn’t feel as though we need to learn every new tool and trick out there. There’s just no way we can. After all, there are people around us who already have. What we need to do is to keep them in mind and call on them when those tools may make a greater difference. And by having those experts show us how to use them, the light will shine brighter as a result.

By Sunday afternoon, I no longer felt out of place nor overwhelmed. I realized that this wasn’t just a technology conference. It was much greater than that. It was about sharing ideas that work. It was about leveraging our collective intelligence. It was about connecting with others to find purpose and place. In essence, it was all about good teaching and learning, and that’s what I strive for each day in my classes. Now, with some help from those around me, I hope to do it even better.

Posted by Scott Riley at 04:49 Labels: Google Summit, Technology

COMMENTS: Nancy 9 September 2012 07:16 Even tho' I didn't participate in this weekend's summit, your wisdom here was what I needed. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the onslaught of technology inundating us from what feels like every corner of our universe. It makes me feel old and out of touch and lacking relevance when I see my students tune out because I'm not entertaining enough or because I don't connect to them online...

Ms. Dowd 10 September 2012 00:46 Thank you Mr. Riley for your eloquent summary of the weekend. I know that I’m seen as the ‘techie’ who knows everything, but really I’m just good at figuring it out...