Wrapping up school year 2016-2017 at ISE Library

Enjoy the ISE library antics through the below photo show. Our library is a busy place where learning, socializing and fun in general happens.

Let's start off with a regular state of the library on any given Wednesday, period 8, when almost all middle school, well except year 4 is in having a class, group investigations or independent work.

Our IT Integrator Ms. Glyka introduced books including augmented reality during our last PYP literature circles meeting. Grade 3 students were eager to make connections on how innovation changes the ways we read, and access books and information, something that we have been discussing in the library in conjunction with their Innovation UOI.

Meet the Gruffalos in Reception. Students loved Gruffalo stories by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, as well as the lovely film based on Gruffalo book that gave a sneak and peek in "behind the scenes" of the story.

In February Year 5 students hosted the Human library on their Personal project topics. We has 12 exciting and knowledgeable Books sharing their learning stories with the community.

Visitors from the youngest to the oldest of our students.

 And then this happens... I told you...

... fun ...

... sometimes sorrow ...

... and love.

Till the next year! Have a great summer holidays! Päikest!

Reflecting on the Personal project showcase

As a community we took time to reflect on the Human library showcase format that we used for Personal projects showcase for the very first time. This evaluation served the purpose of reflecting on common experiences to improve the planning, implementation and running a successful event for all partakers (books, readers and librarian) during future events.

The reason for using the Human library format was to engage in personal, deeper level conversations on mutual topics of interest. We addressed the following questions.

     1. What did you find most enjoyable? Responses included-
Books (students) were very knowledgeable about their topics. Books enjoying telling their stories. The setup where a Book (student) was in a separate place which allowed the full attention of the audience and valued and honored their work. The smaller venues, set up in different classrooms, where everyone had a chance to ask questions and comment the work. It was particularly nice to see year 4 students engaged, clearly starting to think of what they might do.
Readers (parents, teachers, fellow students) were supportive and interested in the stories.
Getting to know some of the students from my child's class a bit better. Also having time to talk to some of the teachers and parents.
I appreciated the last round in the end, with all books present, that allowed seeing everyone's project.

     2. What were some challenges, if any? Responses included-
Books had to tell their 20 minute story 6 times to different audience. One student commented that she felt like a college lecturer and was surprised that this is the way the lectures are done...).
Having mixed feelings about the 20 minute session, not being sure  what would work during that length of time.
Readers wanted to read more books.
Year 5 students wanted to read their classmate stories.
The last round, with all books present, was chaotic and readers tended to chat with each other rather than with books.

     3. What would you do differently next time as a Book/Reader? Responses included-
Pay attention to go to a correct room. The mistake turned out to be a happy one though:)
Learn about the stories and books more thoroughly beforehand.
Try to visit all Books even if during the last "speed" round.

     4. What improvements would you like to see in the set-up of /managing the library? Responses included-
Host the Human library on two days. First for the school community (during/at the end of the school day), second to the families and friends (in the evening) to ease the tension and manage stress of presentations.
Find a way how year 5 students can read their classmate stories.
Have a clear guidelines for the book about the expectations for the presentation.
Review rules for the readers for guidance for the last round.
More noticeable labels on the classrooms.

Personally as a Librarian I have always struggled with the check-out process. This year we tried pre-choosing books which saved a great deal of time during the event but took a considerable amount of librarian's time to manage this type of check-out. Nevertheless it was a worth trial which I will applied during the future events. One area to consider how best to remind the Readers Books they chose.

Overall everyone thought that the Human library format was a huge success and worked well, was engaging and allowed the students to be in the center of the attention and shine. All partakers Books, Readers and the Librarian learned a lot and were happy but exhausted at the end of the event. Some things to consider for the future events are spreading the event onto two days, giving clearer guidelines to Books and Readers to be prepared and confident and find a way for year 5 students to participate as Readers.

MYP Personal projects showcase 2017

I am exited to share the MYP Personal project showcase 2017 event.

Personal project is a cumulative project each student is required to complete during their final year in the MYP. It provides an opportunity to investigate a topic of interest (RESEARCH), produce a creative piece of work (PRODUCT) and reflect on the project process (REPORT) with a specific focus defined by one of the six the global contexts.

Since September Grade 10 students have been engaged in self-led, in-depth study on a topic of interest - a Personal project. During the showcase they shared their products developed based on their project goals, along with their learning journeys to show the new knowledge and understandings of the topic, and their growth as an independent IB learners. This showcase recognized and celebrated year 5 students' efforts over the past 6 months. It offered grade 9 students and families great examples for when you will engage with the Personal Project.

     Although the students’ learning has been largely independent and self-led each student was supported and guided by a project supervisors whom I would like to recognize and applaud for Ms. Beth, Mr. Dan, Ms. Reelika, Ms. Kuhn, Ms. Sandhya, Ms. Triin, Mr. Paulo, Ms. Karolina, Mr. T, Mr. Smith, Ms. Maren and Ms. Anais.

     This year the showcase followed the format of a Human library. Books in this library are human beings and the Books and Readers enter into a personal dialogue. Grade 10 students became Books on their project topic and guests became Readers who borrow a “Book” for a limited period of time to learn and converse on the mutual topic of interest.

We opened the Human library for two sessions-

• afternoon session at the end of the school day for the school community (grade 5 up) ;
• evening session for grade 10 and 9 families, friends and supervisors.

Below are 12 thrilling titles and summaries from year 5 students from the Human library catalog.

     Title: Ragga style in dancing

Summary: Have you ever heard about ragga dance style or dancehall? If you feel like you are interested in dancing or you would like to know more about Jamaican music/dance culture, then this book is just for you. Be ready to let your hips loose!

Create a ragga dance routine, make a video
and use it to inform and inspire audience about that dance style.

Title: The Young Screenwriter                                                                            Summary: Have you ever wondered what a tough job do screenwriters go through? It's their brains, where the ideas of directors gain adequate and interesting shape. It's their nerves, which go wasted on writing dialogues and describing the settings. It's their passion and will, that make a movie a masterpiece. Screenwriting is art, and not a single good movie has a bad script. In this human library, I, the simple student will share my personal experiences with how screenwriting is done.

Write a quality, 20-40 pages, script.



Title: Humanization of Death

Summary: Have you ever thought how death would look like if it were a human? Is it possible to collect different human beliefs and values in one painting? We will be talking about how the humanized death would look like based on the philosophical, religious and psychological beliefs of people.

To understand trough research, why people are afraid of the concept of death.
How the humanized Death would look like, based on psychological, religious and philosophical beliefs.



Title: Medieval armor and HEMA tournaments                                        Summary: Learn about blacksmith work nowadays and during medieval times. Hear about three aspects of armor: defense, mobility and firepower and learn about HEMA (historical European martial arts) tournaments. See the armor I made.

To show how three aspects of armour can affect the outcome
of a (medieval melee) tournament



Title: People pushing our progress up

Summary: Have you been thinking how the ideas can change world? Do you know who the people who bring these ideas into real life are? Can we meet a new Leonardo Da Vinci nowadays? Interesting? Come and read!

Ideas , technologies and innovations of humanity.

         

      Title: Portrait Photography

Summary: Come see the unique and diverse personalities of the 10th grade shown through portrait photography! The photos were taken this fall at ISE to help me achieve my objective of learning how to use my camera.

To learn the technical aspects of my cannon rebel camera in order to take high quality portraits that reflect the personality of the subject.



Title: Wisdom and Knowledge through the Eyes of the Owl

Summary: We will be learning about creating our own toys, through crocheting. We then make our own owl out of paper cups. Can’t wait to see you there, hoot hoot hooray!

Acquire the skill of crocheting, to become more experienced
in hand made work, to help me to extend and enjoy my creativity.

        

      Title: What is a micro controller

Summary: What is a Micro controller? How to use them? What is programming? If you wonder about these questions my book is good for you :)

How I can program a micro controller

by learning c++ programming language ?

         Title: The Vegan Life

Summary: Explore the world of veganism through recipe ideas, learning about the lifestyle, and an opportunity to relish some vegan food.

To research about healthy, eco-friendly, and vegan diets/foods and video making,
creating blogs/websites in order to produce a website with nutritious and vegan cooking videos
for people that would like to follow a healthy diet and reduce their carbon footprint.

         Title: Clothing and fashion design

Summary: This book is about how to design and manufacture a few pieces of clothing connected together by a the look, aesthetics and specific theme (music album).

What are the possibilities of implying Abstract Expressionism into fashion?

  

      Title: Electrical motors

Summary: This book is about the electrical motors, how they work and are built. I built my own to use this motor control for turning a solar panel.

Electrical motor turning a solar panel.

Title: Animated music video

Summary: Come and learn how to animate a music video digitally.

I was truly blown away with the diversity of the projects, the knowledge and expertise students demonstrated of their project topics. An evaluation to reflect on common experiences to improve the planning, implementation and running a successful future events for all the parttakers (books, readers, and librarian) will follow soon.

MYP Personal projects 2016-2017

Image source: http://alannamunro.com/blog/the-power-of-personal-projects

For the third year year 5 (grade 10) students are busy developing their personal projects. For the third year I am busy coordinating the process:) This school year we have a substantial group of fourteen adolescent learners with a range of interests that lead their explorations and projects. I am very happy to have a team of supervisors supporting the students during their journeys, all of whom are not MYP teachers but ISE staff members.
Students have submitted their project plans, completed initial research and product criteria and are working on creating their products. I am very excited to see their products and reflective reports as we move on with the projects process.

Below are brief introductions of year 5 projects

Topic: Ragga style in dancing
Goal: Research about roots and origin of ragga dance style, ragga music, dance elements. Create a ragga dance routine with its elements, make a video, film and edit it, and use it to inform and inspire audience about that dance style.

Topic: Electrical Motors
Goal: Research about electrical motors (how they work and how to build your own), creation of demonstrator of a precise motor control, use this motor control to create something to show how to use it.

Topic: Fashion in the last century
Goal: To find out what fashion was like in the last century and what influenced it, and from that knowledge infer, what will future fashion be like.

Drawn by Elisabeth Roden

Topic: Film-making
Goal: Create an animated music video.

Topic: Screenwriting
Goal: Write a quality, 20-40 pages long script.

Topic: Programming
Goal: Learn how to programming a micro controller using c++ programming language.

Topic: Art, Psychology, Religion and Philosophy
Goal: To understand trough research, why people are afraid of the concept of death, how the humanized Death would look like, based on psychological, religious and philosophical beliefs. To create a painting, communicating the learning.

Topic: Medieval Armour and Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) Tournaments
Goal: To show how three aspects of medieval armor can affect the outcome of a (melee) medieval tournament.

Topic: Clothing and Fashion Design
Goal: To design and create few pieces of clothing that are connected together by a specific theme and manufacture few of them into actual pieces of clothing.

Topic: Ideas,technologies and innovations of humankind.
Goal: Learning information about my topic through research and creating website or YouTube channel to communicate my learning.

Topic:Website with Cooking Videos
Goal: I will research about healthy, eco-friendly, and vegan diets/foods, video making, and creating blogs/websites in order to produce a website with nutritious and vegan cooking videos for people that would like to follow a healthy diet and reduce their carbon footprint through dietary choices.

Practice video by Anjali Venkatsubramanian

Topic: Portrait Photography
Goal: To research and learn the technical aspects of my cannon rebel camera in order to take high quality portraits that reflect the personality of the subject. To take photos of my classmates, my family members, myself to demonstrate my knowledge.

Photo by Gwyneth Dodson

Topic: Making a vlogg about how teenagers act in different societies, and their reactions to different types of questions.
Goal: I will research movie making, in order to create a vlogg that shows differences between teenagers in different societies and cultures, to show to people in order to broaden their views and beliefs about other cultures.

Topic: Acquire the skill of crocheting
Goal: To acquire the skill of crocheting, to become more experienced in hand made work, which will help me to extend and enjoy my creativity.

MYP Personal projects 2015-2016

Year 5 students have finalized their project topics, goals and identified the inquiry questions. 

Please read the below introductions so you know what to look for. Show interest and support by asking about their progress. You are welcome to invite the students to talk about and present their projects in your class.

Topic: The World as it is right now, why does one have to suffer but not another.
Goal: Researching about different opinions (and mine) about the situation of the world we are in right now, then making a large scale painting mirroring the situation of the world.
Global Context: Fairness and development 
Inquiry question: Why is the world so absurd as it is right now? 

Image source: http://kovowolf.deviantart.com/journal/Anthro-DD-Roundup-April-2013-368845886

Topic: Build and program an EV3 robot.
Goal: Build and program a robot that would look and act like a dog.
Global Context: Identities and relationships 
Inquiry question: How life-like can a robot be created using simply construction and programming methods such as Lego? 

Image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/568860996656312458/

Topic: Job shadow advertisement posters
Goal: To bring my graphic design art skills to a new level. Encourage students to participate in job shadow day.
Global Context: Identities and relationships 
Inquiry question: Will I manage to improve my art skills by trying new technique?

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Do_It!

Topic: Software programming
Goal: To learn the basics of programming language (Java Script) and, demonstrate this knowledge by creating examples of simple tasks using Jaca Script.
Global Context: Identities and relationships 
Inquiry question: How can the ability to use JavaScript help someone in different areas of life? 

Image source: http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/features/software/best-apps-for-instant-messaging-on-smartphones-tablets/

I am looking forward to see the students progress and learn about their passion, successes as well as struggles.

MYP Personal projects

This post will inform you about the MYP Personal projects that all year 5, grade 10, students complete. For the second year I am the Personal Project Coordinator and believe that our library offers relevant and reliable resources for the research portion of the project.

     Introduction
The personal project is a chance for students to do what they want to do. Sound wonderful, doesn't it?
It is a product of their own initiative and should reflect their experience of the MYP. It provides an excellent opportunity to produce a truly creative piece of work of students' choice, to demonstrate the skills developed in approaches of learning and to show the understanding in areas of global context.

     Aims
• engage in personal inquiry on issues that are relevant within a global context
• generate creative new insights and develop deeper understandings through in-depth investigation
• demonstrate the skills, attitudes and knowledge required to complete a project over an extended period of time
• demonstrate responsible action through, or as a result of, learning
• reflect on the process of learning and take pride in one’s accomplishments.

Current Year 5 students are working hard identifying their topics, goals , global contexts and inquiry questions. 

Please look at the last year, 2014 - 2015, projects for examples of students creativity and talent. Students created a variety of interesting products ranging from websites and videos to written products, books, paintings and gadgets. 

Topic: Creating an art piece: Acrylic painting

Goal: My goal is to share my experiences in the different countries I've been to, through art. 

Inquiry question: How to present 5 different countries by blending landscapes, symbols, and objects in one painting? 

Topic: Alternative energy sources for automobiles.

Goal: To research alternative energy sources and to invent a different energy source for cars. In order to make driving cheaper taking into consideration environmental impacts.
Inquiry question(s): What does a 22nd century car look like, need or how will it be special for 22nd century? 

Topic: Writing a "choose your own adventure" book for young readers.

Goal: To write a "choose your own adventure" book for young readers, to make the illustrations and to print it.
Inquiry question(s): How to organize a book, what makes it appealing to the reader, what are some characteristics to a children’s’ book. 

The book displayed in the library

Topic: Workout plan for teens

Goal: To create a workout plan to develop more muscular strength based on the results of the physical tests I'm setting up for ISE students
Inquiry question(s): How physically active are the ISE students? Does my workout plan work? Would they like to use my workout plan? 

Link to the Workout plan http://issuu.com/rauljervaproduct/docs/produkt_-_koopia/1

Topic: Baltic States song

Goal: Create lyrics and melody for a song that informs the listener about the Baltic countries. Learn to play the song on the guitar.
Inquiry question(s): How to write a song with a catchy melody? How to include facts about the Baltic States in a song?

Performing the song

Topic: Human rights (Feminism)

Goal: To find out do men and women have the same rights in different countries around the world; how women and men are treated. 
Inquiry question(s): Why, in the 21st century gender inequality still exists? How women and men are treated? What do people in Tallinn feel about gender inequality?  

Link to her website http://maryosp.wix.com/womensrights

Topic: Operations with calculators

Goal: To explore and to demonstrate the fundamental principles of today’s computers by building my own simple adder.
Inquiry question: How does the simplest part of the computer, an adder, work? 

A 4 bit full adder (calculator) which is based on the binary system. The adder shows the basic function of a today’s computer.

Topic: Creating a website dedicated for teaching Hebrew.

Goal: To learn how to code using WordPress and how to teach a language, then design and create a website dedicated to introducing basic Hebrew and useful phrases, and market the website.
Inquiry question(s): How to teach a language, as well as how to code and create a website? 

Link to his wesite http://www.myivrit.com/

Topic: Exploration of my father's side family tree and important Estonian people's historic events.

Goal: To study my father’s side family tree and Estonia's people's as well as my families journey through important events in Estonian history, to interview family members, write an essay and create a family tree map.
Inquiry question: What are relevant historical events and their effect on my peoples population/the population of my family? 

Topic: Human relationships and the stereotype of Estonians in Tallinn

Goal: To research psychology in order to learn about how to connect to people to interview/photograph them. Document all of the interviews on Instagram and my blog. To produce a short film about the process. 
Inquiry question(s): How to connect to people in a short amount of time in order to interview them? Are Estonians as superficial and cold as thought in reality? How to take quality pictures with a cellphone? 

Link to her blog http://sincerelytallinn.blogspot.com/