by Lural Ramirez | Dec 1, 2017
If you are a FV classical languages student then “Panta Rhei” may be a Greek saying from the philosopher Heraclitus that you understand. But even if your Greek is a little rusty, the phrase’s meaning – everything, or all, flows – is something we have all lived and know to be true. Often times we refer to this as “the only constant is change”. In Futuro Verde, we are committed to a consistently high-quality and loving learning environment that nurtures and supports children through all ages and stages of life. Our true essence and founding principles will never change, but the details of how we run our programs will change in big and small ways each year. I share with you here a brief summary of some of the exciting changes in the works for the 2018 school year:
- Futuro Verde is an IB World School, offering the diploma program in years 11 and 12 and high-quality, IB aligned learning at all grades!
- We will have a later start, with a school schedule from Monday – Friday, 8:00-3:00!
- We will have fully finished and stunning learning spaces: science lab, computer lab, two libraries, a music lab, a language lab and an art studio!
- Plans are in the works for rejuvenated garden and recreational spaces!
- Electives will be offered from 7th grade on! Student choice = more love of learning
These changes are positives shifts to the already amazing school you know and love! Thank you for your continued support, commitment and investment in a Futuro Verde education for your child!
by Lural Ramirez | Dec 1, 2017
Si usted es un estudiante de lenguas clásicas en FV la frase “Panta Rhei” en griego puede ser un dicho del filólogo Heraclitus que usted comprende. Pero aunque su griego este un poco oxidado, el significado de la frase – todo fluye – es algo que todos conocemos, lo hemos vivido y sabemos que es verdad. Muchas veces nos referimos a esta frase en griego con el dicho, “el cambio es la única constante”. En Futuro Verde, nos comprometemos a un ambiente de aprendizaje consistentemente bondadoso y de alta calidad y que a la vez nutre y apoya a los jóvenes durante todas sus edades y etapas de la vida. Nuestra verdadera esencia y los principios fundadores de Futuro Verde nunca cambiarán, pero los detalles relacionados a cómo organizamos nuestra oferta educativa cambiarán de manera grande o pequeña todos los años. Les comparto un breve resumen de algunos de los emocionantes cambios planeados para el ciclo escolar 2018:
- ¡Futuro Verde es un colegio del mundo del IB, ofreciendo el programa diploma en los años de 11º y 12vo y, un aprendizaje de alta calidad alineado al IB en todos los niveles!
- Iniciaremos clases más tarde, ¡con un horario escolar de lunes – viernes, 8:00 a 3:00!
- ¡Tendremos espacios de aprendizaje amueblados y hermosos: laboratorio de ciencias, laboratorio de cómputo, dos bibliotecas, un laboratorio musical, un laboratorio de idiomas y un estudio de arte!
- ¡Oferta de materias electivas desde 7°grado!.Elección del estudiante = más amor por el aprendizaje
¡Estos son cambios positivos, dentro de la misma institución ya increíble que ustedes tanto conocen y aprecian! ¡Les agradecemos por su apoyo continuo, su compromiso y su inversión en una educación en Futuro Verde para su hijo(a)!
by Lural Ramirez | Nov 1, 2017
Often in the world of education you will hear, “Good teaching is good teaching”, with the meaning that there are universal qualities of a good teacher that are equally valid and important in any educational context. This argument is often made regarding teachers working with language learners, with the idea that good instruction for a native speaker is equally high quality for a student in class still acquiring the language of instruction. While it is true that there are universal defining qualities of excellent educators: patience and attentiveness, creativity, critical thinking, a great personality, among other qualities; in my experience, there are additional and essential qualities specific to educators working in an international context and with language learners.
These necessary qualities include:
- Professional qualifications in both the pertinent content area(s) and in the area of teaching and education: whereas we have all met someone we consider to be a “natural” teacher, it is important to not discredit the value of formal education and training in teaching and education just as it is equally important to hire educators who are experts in their field of study. Both of these qualifications should be highly valued and sought out during the recruitment and hiring process at any international school. Lack of one qualification or the other can undermine a student’s education and lead to learning gaps.
- Superior emotional and cultural intelligence skills: respect and understanding for the culture of the host country and language in combination with an open-minded perspective and openness to divergent ideas and ways of being are especially essential for educators who work in international schools and with diverse student populations. It is essential that students’ feel accepted and valued within their school context.
- Knowledge and application of strategies and techniques that support language acquisition through content: in an international context a good teacher has to become a great teacher by not only providing appropriate content instruction and learning experiences, but by providing instruction with the use of techniques and language supports that have been proven by research to be the most effective in students optimizing their language acquisition whilst they acquire new content learning. These strategies and techniques are not necessarily taught in most teacher education universities and it is, therefore, a goal to hire staff with additional training and qualifications related to language learning. High-quality additional qualifications might include: ESOL endorsements and certifications, TEFL certifications from respected and validated training programs, International Baccalaureate (IB) trainings, among others.
- Ability to impart content knowledge with a local and global lens simultaneously: an international school has the unique goal and responsibility to prepare students for success on both a national and an international stage. Content cannot be taught within only a narrow lens of national realities and context. International school graduates are much more likely than their traditional school peers to have future careers with an international connection and therefore their education from a young age must reflect that unique reality. Furthermore, a commitment to contextualizing learning in relation to the diverse schema of all students in an international school assures they optimize their solidification of concepts and maintains students connected to their learning in as meaningful a way as possible.
In Futuro Verde, we are grateful and fortunate to have a highly qualified staff with strong professional qualifications and ways of being consistent with high-quality international educators!
by Lural Ramirez | Nov 1, 2017
A menudo en el campo educativo se suele escuchar que “la buena enseñanza es buena enseñanza”, lo cual significa que un buen maestro posee cualidades universales que son igualmente válidos e importantes en cualquier contexto educativo. A menudo, se hace este argumento con respecto a los maestros que trabajan con estudiantes de idiomas, con la idea de que una buena instrucción para un hablante nativo es igualmente de alta calidad para un estudiante en la clase que todavía está adquiriendo el idioma de instrucción. Si bien es cierto que hay cualidades universales que definen a los educadores excelentes como: la paciencia y la atención, la creatividad, el pensamiento crítico, una gran personalidad, entre otras, en mi experiencia, existen cualidades adicionales y esenciales específicas para los educadores que trabajan en un contexto internacional y con aprendices de idiomas.
Estas cualidades necesarias incluyen:
- Calificaciones profesionales tanto en el área de contenido pertinente como en el área de la enseñanza. Si bien es cierto que todos hemos conocido a alguien que consideramos un educador “natural”, es importante no desacreditar el valor de la educación formal y la formación en el ámbito de la enseñanza y la educación. Asimismo, es igualmente importante contratar a educadores que son expertos en su campo de estudio. Ambas calificaciones deben ser altamente valoradas y buscadas durante el proceso de reclutamiento y contratación en toda escuela internacional. La falta de una u otra calificación puede socavar la educación de los estudiantes y causar rezagos en el aprendizaje.
- Habilidades superiores de inteligencia emocional y cultural: el respeto y la comprensión de la cultura del país anfitrión y el lenguaje en combinación con una perspectiva abierta y la apertura a ideas divergentes y maneras de ser, son especialmente esenciales para los educadores que trabajan en colegios internacionales y con diversas poblaciones estudiantiles. Es esencial que los estudiantes se sientan aceptados y valorados dentro de su contexto escolar.
- Conocimiento y aplicación de estrategias y técnicas que apoyan la adquisición del lenguaje a través del contenido: en un contexto internacional, un buen maestro tiene que convertirse en un gran maestro, no sólo proporcionando instrucción de contenido y experiencias de aprendizaje apropiadas, sino impartiendo su materia con el uso de técnicas y apoyos lingüísticos que han sido comprobados por la investigación de ser los más eficaces educando a estudiantes que están en el proceso de optimizar su adquisición de idiomas, mientras adquieren nuevos contenidos de aprendizaje. Estas estrategias y técnicas no son impartidas necesariamente en la mayoría de las universidades de educación docente, por lo tanto, es un objetivo contratar a personal con formación y calificaciones adicionales relacionadas con el aprendizaje de idiomas. Las calificaciones adicionales de alta calidad podrían incluir: aprobaciones y certificaciones de ESOL, certificaciones de TEFL de programas de capacitación respetados y validados y talleres del Bachillerato Internacional (IB), entre otros.
- Capacidad de impartir contenido a través de un prisma local y global al mismo tiempo: una escuela internacional tiene el objetivo único y la responsabilidad de preparar a los estudiantes para el éxito en un contexto nacional e internacional. El contenido no se puede enseñar únicamente a través de un prisma de realidades y contexto nacionales. Es mucho más probable que los egresados de una escuela internacional tengan carreras futuras con una conexión internacional que sus compañeros de una escuela tradicional y, por lo tanto, su educación a partir de una edad temprana debe reflejar esa realidad excepcional. Además, el compromiso con la contextualización del aprendizaje en relación con el esquema diverso de todos los estudiantes asegura que los estudiantes optimicen la solidificación de los conceptos y mantiene a los estudiantes conectados a su aprendizaje de la manera más significativa como posible.
¡En Futuro Verde estamos agradecidos y somos afortunados de contar con un personal altamente calificado con fuertes calificaciones profesionales y formas de ser coherentes con los educadores internacionales del más alto nivel!
by Lural Ramirez | Sep 3, 2017
Our Futuro Verde community have been so enthusiastic regarding the recent improvements made to our campus as we comply with the requirements of IB* verification! Read below for a summary of the improvements we’ve had and the students who will access these beautiful, new spaces.
- State of the art science laboratory: designed to support exploration and experimentation, our science lab features science counters with stations for up to four students to work together as they do experiments. Each station features a sink, gas connection for a Bunsen burner and electrical outlet. Our adjacent science prep room keeps all our lab materials and equipment safe and ready for student use! Beakers, graduated cylinders, scientific sensors, petri dishes, microscopes and much, much more. Our science lab is a space that all students, preschool through secondary, will use in science and environmental education classes!
- Big and welcoming school library: with separate library wings for preschool/primary and secondary, all students in Futuro Verde have full access to our continually growing collection of books. We have over 4,000 books in our collection currently, all cataloged within a library inventory system and with a schedule for weekly visit and lending processing for all grade levels. Comfortable seating, private study space and a beautiful mural welcome our students to develop their love of reading daily! Our collection ranges from board books for our preschoolers to non-fiction texts on global warming for our oldest students and all the way to classic literature in both Spanish and English and texts in multiple languages other than Spanish and English (Hebrew, French, German and Italian- just to name a few!). Our school library is a space that all students, preschool through secondary, access daily during both free play times, before and after school times and integrated into regular classroom instruction and learning!
- Spacious multi-media center: 20 desktop computers are available to our students of all ages in a dedicated computer lab, set up to support all multi-media needs. With regular technology classes at all grade levels, Futuro Verde students from preschool through high school learn about all aspects of Information Technology Systems. A new, and exciting, addition to our multi-media center is our school site license with EBSCO, which offers research databases for our students, Ebook collections for students in kindergarten through high school, access to thousands of online magazines and periodicals and so much more! Our multi-media center is a space that all students, preschool through secondary, use in support of their learning in all subject areas and classes!
- Dedicated and creative art studio: with two separate levels and an open design, all students from preschool through secondary enjoy weekly art classes in our dedicated art space, with adjacent and spacious art supply space full of art supplies and materials of all kinds. With a studio approach deeply rooted in our constructivist methodology, students explore collage, painting, drawing, printmaking and so much more! Coming soon: the electrical installation for our new pottery kiln! Our school art studio is a space that all students, preschool through secondary, use during their weekly art classes and access as desired during secondary flex blocks.
- Dedicated music classroom: constructivism is alive in our music classes with a balance between music theory, instrumental work and music creation for students from preschool through 11th grade at Futuro Verde. Recent improvements include new instruments for student use: two electric pianos, multiple professional quality recorders and percussion sets that join our current collection of string and wind instruments already available at the school. With new recording equipment currently en route from the US, we are excited for the upcoming music creation possibilities. Also, stay tuned for a new purpose built music classroom that is coming soon! Our music classroom is a space that all students, preschool through secondary, use during weekly music classes and access as desired during recess and flex blocks.
If you haven’t yet seen our new and renewed spaces in person, please come by for a tour and be amazed by our inspiring improvements. Remember, these changes, which directly supported our candidacy for IB*, now benefit Futuro Verde students of ALL ages and grade levels!
*Centro Educativo Futuro Verde is a candidate school* for the Diploma Programme. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy- a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Centro Educativo Futuro Verde believes is important for our students.Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.
For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit http://www.ibo.org
