by Lural Ramirez | May 25, 2018
As we head into the month of June, our appreciation goes out to the collaborative nature of our educators at Futuro Verde. Do you know about the work that our music department has done this year after the unexpected illness and departure of our beloved music teacher, Oscar Leal Mendez?
Since March, Futuro Verde has been fortunate to have an incredible long-term substitute heading up our music program. And what an impact José Arturo Calvo González has made in such a short amount of time! From designing interactive and meaningful music classes for all grade levels to refining translation skills with our 3rd language students in secondary classes to his biggest job catching IB music students up to their timeline for their music studies, Arturo has been working so very hard! And, in his spare time, he has made his mark with individual and group guitar lessons for students and adults. Arturo has also been working hard to collaborate with his colleagues at Futuro Verde, with our IB coordinator, Stuart Millar, and with incoming, permanent music teacher, Irene Jover and, in so doing, has assured a seamless transition between permanent music teachers at Futuro Verde.
As our permanent hire for the position, Irene Jover, arrives at the end of this month, please take some time to thank Arturo and to welcome Irene. Our children are always enriched by the many talented and loving teachers who bring their expertise and joy to our school for short or long periods of time and we appreciate them for their time, their dedication and their commitment to keeping our students and their learning and development front and center at all times!
by Lural Ramirez | May 24, 2018
Futuro Verde’s annual education conference, focused on Bilingual, Holistic and Sustainable education. is designed to attract educators from around the country and the globe. But, did you know that most BHS sessions are targeted for parents as well? Parents who have attended BHS in years past have raved about the learning they’ve experienced and have appreciated the perspective it gives them on their child’s educational journey.
What can parents learn from BHS this year? Conference sessions are divided into three strands: Bilingual education, Holistic education and Sustainable education. Below is a highlighted list of some sessions coming to this year’s conference:
- Global Mindsets for a Sustainable World
- Community Blue Flag Green Certification: A Case Study
- Connecting Music with Poetry
- Childhood Nutrition
- The Perfect Balance between Work and Play
- Bilingual Reading Ability from a Young Age: Benefits and Advantages
- Experiential Education- Solving Real World Problems in the Classroom
- Permaculture
- Play and Inquiry Based Learning / Reggio Emilia Approach
- Comparative Language Study: a universal tool for interculturality and multilingualism
- Assessment Through Interaction and Games
- Mindfulness as a Tool for Emotional Resiliency
As you can see, BHS offers topics for every area of interest and expertise! We encourage you to register today to attend this life-changing educational conference in our own backyard. For registration details, click on the link: https://www.futuro-verde.org/professional-development/
See you at BHS 2018!
by Eileen Walschmidt | Apr 24, 2018
Centro Educativo Futuro Verde is very fortunate to have two outstanding educators be the Keynote speakers for this year’s 4th Annual International Conference on Bilingual, Holistic, and Sustainable Education: Ken Winograd and Melinda Winograd.
Dr. Ken Winograd has experience teaching every elementary grade, Kindergarten-5th grade, in the United States, including a non-graded primary class. He also has international teaching and consulting experience in Japan, Norway, Vietnam, and Costa Rica. While in Costa Rica, he studied the literacy practices in Costa Rican elementary schools. Dr. Winograd has taught courses and published academic articles and books that address the emotional dimensions of teaching, critical literacy, and enhancing children’s resilience in a world of environmental crises. This last focus of Dr. Winograd’s work will have special interest for Futuro Verde parents because he has researched ways in which teachers and parents can help respond to their children’s possible fears and emotions as they try to process the news they hear about current global environmental crises with climate change. Dr. Winograd has recently retired from OSU but has kept active with part-time teaching in the OSU Honors College and in political action groups focusing on environmental issues.
Melinda Winograd has been a teacher in education for 42 years and is now teaching kindergarten. In the past 5 years, she has been involved in taking coursework and learning about teaching mindfulness to students and educators. Ms. Winograd has taught mindfulness practices to her kindergarten students and for professional development opportunities with teachers K-12. She is currently in a Mindfulness course about non-violent communication based on Marshall Rosenberg’s work. She says that it has already had an impact on her interactions with students and that it is amazing how the kindergarten students are using the practices as well. Ms. Winograd’s work will be of interest to not just Futuro Verde teachers, but also Futuro Verde parents because mindfulness practices have been shown to have a positive impact on students’ emotional, social, and academic progress in school.
We are very excited, and we are looking forward to, all that we can learn from Dr. Ken Winograd and Ms. Melinda Winograd’s experiences with and expertise in these important educational issues.
by Noelia | Mar 26, 2018
During the month of April, we are exploring what it means to be knowledgeable. According to the IB Learner Profile, we define knowledgeable as:
“We explore concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global significance. In so doing, we acquire in-depth knowledge and develop understanding across a broad and balanced range of disciplines (IB 2017).”
Having discussed the other values in previous months, we know that prior exploring the concept of being knowledgeable, we learn about what it means to be a good inquirer. Prior to practicing inquiry, we discuss as a school community what it means to be a healthy risk taker. When examined in sequence, we realize the way each concept relates to one another. By approaching new situations with courage and forethought, we take healthy risks that push us outside of our comfort zone, allowing us to learn and grow. This process facilitates inquiry as we develop natural curiosity and skills while enjoying the learning process. By practicing taking health risks and building the skill and curiosity of inquiry, we naturally become more knowledgeable.
At Futuro Verde in addition to academic knowledge, students also gain knowledge through experiential learning social-emotional learning. Whether practicing mindfulness or learning about different values, students gain insight into building character. This gives them a well-rounded perspective as they learn to relate to themselves and others around them. Each week at Peace Practices, these values are reinforced with activities as we come together as a school community. This is a fun and interesting way to integrate knowledge with experience as they build their own understanding of who they are in the world. A great way to reinforce this at home as to ask students what value they are learning about this month. If they can tell you about the weekly activities and how it relates to the value of the month, it shows that they are really integrating the concepts and becoming more knowledgeable about themselves and the values we practice as a school.
by Lural Ramirez | Mar 21, 2018
Did you know that Futuro Verde teachers actively collaborate with other educators across the country and the world? Futuro Verde prides itself on the understanding that we are not engaging in teaching and learning in a silo here in our corner of the peninsula. Our students this year come from 32 different countries or origin, our staff hail from 11 different countries and we are keenly aware that philosophies on education and theories on the very best way for students to learn varies drastically depending on the context in which you live and the educational training you have received. We open our minds and our school doors to input from other educators and educational contexts each and every day!
How does that happen, you might ask? Well, in so many different ways! For example:
- Our CAS teacher, Karol Madrigal, collaborates with the CAS teacher in Jersey, the Channel Islands, in order to unite our students with theirs in their Creativity, Activity and Service initiatives! She also guides students in service projects that directly impact both our local and global community.
- Our IB coordinator, Stuart Millar, maintains regular communication with other coordinators and IB educators across Costa Rica and the world as he strives to clarify policy, coordinate programming and seek out meaningful connections with other IB World Schools across the globe.
- Futuro Verde hosts an international education conference each year in June. BHS welcomes guest contributors to this conference from around Costa Rica and the world who come and share their expertise and knowledge related to Bilingual, Holistic and Sustainable education!
- When we have teacher changes at a given grade level or subject, we pride ourselves on our effective transitions- teachers collaborate before their departure, during the change over and after the new teacher has taken over the class. Curricular continuity is a priority at Futuro Verde!
- Do you remember former FV primary English teachers Eileen Waldschmidt and Shahnaz Sahnow, both of whom worked at Futuro Verde while on sabbatical from their teaching positions in the United States? They are no longer on site but both master teachers continue to stay meaningfully connected to the school through their support of current FV teachers, curriculum development and systems organization. Eileen, a co-founder of BHS, also continues to actively plan each year’s conference as a member of our conference leadership team.
- Lastly, several Futuro Verde teachers and administrators have established formal sharing agreements with schools, teachers and students at different schools and grade levels around the globe with pen pal programs, Skype calls and even student exchanges!
Part of the benefit of an international school is the opportunity to easily connect with other students, educators and schools around the world via our shared values and goals. We value the benefits these relationships bring and we encourage our families to support these important efforts by our students and staff!
by Stuart Millar, IB coordinator | Mar 15, 2018
Futuro Verde graduates of 2017, Derlin Dilana Campos and Elian Gonzalez, returned this year to join our first International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme class. We asked them to reflect on their experience so far.
2018 is Futuro Verde´s first year as an IB World School. The IB Diploma Programme provides ample opportunities that open many doors to a higher education, besides being intellectually stimulating.
Last year, at the end of the 2017 school year, we were offered the opportunity to be part of this program and continue studying at Futuro Verde for an additional two years while receiving a better, more holistic education that will prepare us to face global challenges.
IB classes are notably different from MEP classes. We can notice a change in how and what we are learning. Classes are more interactive and we participate more in discussions. The main focus is on acquiring useful information that helps us analyze our surroundings and develop critical thinking.
I would say that time management has proven to be our biggest challenge because IB means more homework and projects, which can be difficult to complete if you are not good at organizing your time.
Despite the extra work, we feel excited about being back at Futuro Verde and receiving classes in the new and updated music and arts classrooms. Analyzing visual arts pieces or composing music means the world to us and inspires us to follow our dreams.
