by Tee McDougal | Oct 3, 2019
Who would have known that during the BHS conference here at Futuro Verde the staff would be offered complimentary registration for the 2019 La Cosecha Dual Language Conference! On November 13-16 Futuro Verde staff members Lural Ramírez, Khalida Lockheed, Paola Grijalba Araya, Vidhi Gada, Alannah Anglin, and Tee McDougal will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend and present at this important conference for dual language education. When the director for Dual Language Education in New Mexico, David Rogers, presented as the keynote speaker for the BHS conference he asked that Futuro Verde presenters consider presenting at the dual language conference in New Mexico. La Cosecha brings together educators, parents, and researchers from across the U.S. and several foreign countries. It offers a unique opportunity to share best practices and resources to educate children in multilingual and multicultural communities.
With this in mind, teachers from Futuro Verde will be presenting two different workshops at the conference. On is called, “Reflection and Metacognition Strategies in Upper Elementary and Secondary Grades.” This presentation, by Vidhi, Khalida and Tee, will focus on metacognitive strategies that teachers can use to help students identify error patterns and better retrieve information and skills learned. The other presentation, “Translanguaging Done Right: Transcending Traditional Additive Language Instruction” presented by Lural, Vidhi and Tee, will share with attendees the innovative “World Language” class that a team of teachers have developed here at Futuro Verde. There will also be opportunities to visit other presentations, network with dual language teachers and researchers, visit dual language classrooms in Albuquerque, and shop for new and innovative bilingual classroom resources. An exciting opportunity for Futuro Verde staff in New Mexico, “The Land of Enchantment.”
by Karol Madrigal | Oct 2, 2019
At the end of this month, our eleventh-grade students will take the Social and Civic Studies examinations of the Costa Rican Public Education Ministry, which they must pass to obtain the Costa Rican Baccalaureate diploma. These tests assess all content learned by the students, in each subject, during the last two years. For this reason, students need to be very focused and committed to making the most of their preparation time.
Although all the content has already been addressed in previous classes, during the remaining month and a half all subject matter will be reviewed and revised. This classroom review consists of practicing with exams from previous years to get to know the format of the test and acquire techniques or strategies that help them reply correctly. However, to achieve successful preparation, it is important that efforts be made both in class and at home. Students should attend class, but also study at home, allowing them to identify any doubts they have regarding each topic and arrive to class ready to ask their questions and make the most of the tutoring.
As the date approaches, it is also essential to be very aware of not ignoring such important aspects as necessary rest and proper nutrition. Both affect concentration, physical well-being and, thus, overall school performance.
The dates of the examinations are: Thursday, October 31st, Social Studies and Tuesday, November 5th, Civics.
by Irene Jover | Oct 1, 2019
Written by Khalida Lockheed and Irene Jover
With only a few months before the school year comes to an end, 12th grade students are preparing for their exams and internal IB assessments.
IB Music
Dilana Campos, the only music student in 12th grade, has been working hard these past two years and presented us with a small sample of her work in a final concert held at the school. She was accompanied by 11th grade students while all presented solo pieces as well as a group piece.
Dilana has also shared one of her musical compositions and her research on the musical links that can be established between two totally different cultures.
To meet the requirements of the subject, the music students of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program must interpret pieces of different styles and periods in public, compose three musical pieces, investigate the differences and similarities between musical cultures and take a written musical perception examination.
We are very proud of Dilana, who is very close to finishing her International Baccalaureate and the 11th grade students, Rachid, Alejandro and Axel, who have started the music course by working very hard and awarding us with the opportunity to enjoy their performances.
IB Visual Arts
Visual Arts students in 12th grade, Elian Gonzalez, Mateo Avila, and Lawerence Scheda, presented their body of work at the IB Art Exhibition in the Cultural Center of Cobano on August 29th. The Exhibit comprised their internally assessed portion for IB. Each student had their own personal gallery space with works ranging across media, including pinhole photography, painting, drawing, ceramics, graffitti, stop motion animation, and interactive installation.
Entitled “Tiquicia Online”, Mateo’s exhibit was an exploration of social media and the impact of technology and development in our rural “third-world” community. In his Curatorial Rationale, he writes, “My artworks attempt to expose the negative assumptions that social media use to try to incentivize on people. Exposing how special it is to focus on being an ethical rather than being beautiful person, being different and original rather than being fashionable and enjoying the small things rather than wishing for an opulent life.”
Elian’s exhibit was a similar exploration of modern life and social isolation through media and technology. In his words, “Isolation. That is the theme that connects my exhibition. Be it social isolation, not fitting in, or not feeling understood, or physical isolation, isolation can take many forms. With my art I tried to explore the ways and reasons why isolation has become so common in the present day. “
Lawrence’s exhibit, on the other hand, focused on connection and synergy, “or the idea that the combined power of a group of things when working together is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately.” His intentions were “to break traditional barriers into a oneness or feeling of belonging to the world without having to enter in pre established categories, this is why I often allude to duality and gender.”
Selected works from students of all grades were also showcased at the show, with special highlight to the 11th grade IB Visual Arts students’ work, giving us a taste of what will be in store for next year’s show!
by Lural Ramirez | Aug 30, 2019
Over the course of this year I will be sharing with you reflections on our school’s core values. My article in July explored the third of five core school values, “Futuro Verde: Our cultural oxygen expands your curiosity”. Today, I will be sharing reflections on our fourth core school value.
Futuro Verde: We Take the Best of our Diversity to Live in Harmony
What a gift it is to belong to an international school community like ours! Did you know that not all international school communities are the same? Frequently you will find international schools where English is the only language taught. Other international schools may be located in a country different to their curricular offering that is tied strictly to a British, American or Australian framework for learning and the host country for the school is often not reflected in the school culture. Most other international schools are also geared toward educating only the economically privileged members of the community. As you most likely already know, none of these international school tendencies describe Futuro Verde!
Futuro Verde is an international school unlike most others! Here are some of the fascinating facts about our diverse community:
- Each year our student population is made up of students from around 33 unique countries from around the world.
- Over 60% of our student population is Costa Rican.
- Most years we boast over 10 unique native languages spoken in our students’ homes.
- Our school staff come from 14 different countries, with four English dialects taught and five Spanish dialects represented.
- We are a fully bilingual school, providing instruction equally amounts of time in Spanish and English from ages 3-18.
- A minimum of 30% of our students each year receive some form of financial aid in order to attend school with us.
- We are a secular school that welcomes all forms of belief and spiritual practice and our staff and student population is full of diversity in faith as well.
It is an amazing thing, if you think about it, that so much rich diversity has gathered in this little corner of the world! But, by far, the best part of our diversity is the harmony we keep with one another. In an ever divisive world, a global and diverse microcosm like Futuro Verde offers an opportunity to grow in tolerance, acceptance and open-mindedness and we strive to lead in the commitment to promoting a more peaceful and harmonious world. Thank YOU for forming part of the inspiring community that is Futuro Verde!
by Stuart Millar, IB coordinator | Aug 27, 2019
On the morning of November 4th, 2019 our first cohort of IB diploma students will start their exams. Exams are spread over three weeks with Spanish and English in the first week, business management in the second week, and math studies, biology and music in the third week. By lunchtime on Thursday 21st November, after twenty hours of exams, we will have some very happy and relieved students, teachers and parents!
For some of us it’s been a long time since we did high school exams, and the IB exam format might be new and of interest to some of you. IB uses a range of exam instruments including essay answers of more than 1,000 words, analysis of music scores, and extended answers where students are required to demonstrate high-level analytical and evaluative thinking. It’s a far cry from the traditional exam format of multiple choice, short answers, and regurgitating memorized facts. For example, in business management, paper 1, the 2 hour and 15 minutes exam is based on a case study about a fictional business. The students have already received the case study of nearly two thousand words and are working to understand it, analyze it, and identify all the topics they might be asked about. In the exam they will be given additional information about the company and will be asked to recommend appropriate and effective business strategies for the company’s growth.
Before the exams even start the IB cohort is finishing off business, biology, and math projects as well as preparing for a visual arts exhibition! We’re very proud of the graduates of 2019. If you happen to see Elian, Lawrence, Mateo, or Dilana please be sure to wish them luck!
by Hileyn | Aug 26, 2019
In our institution ethics, research, and information literacy are very important, which is why teaching and guiding our students to locate reliable, safe and credible sources for academic writing and to make sound decisions both in and outside of school is high on our list of priorities.
EBSCO is the most reliable database in the field of education, a valuable and verified information tool available to students, which will help them find the resources they need to perform their academic tasks and learn about specific topics, making their academic research being more effective and credible.
It takes a transition process for search preferences to point to EBSCO compared to more traditional search engines, which, although they may be a faster and simpler option, have the disadvantage of not being reliable sources.
With training in how to search for information within a world full of technology and with the constant use of the EBSCO database, students will develop more qualified search competencies that prepare them for a more advanced academic and professional world, such as university.
EBSCO opens the doors to digitally reliable, reviewed and certified resources from all over the world. The use of this tools allows us to find resources such as: prestigious magazines, complete academic articles, electronic books, videos, maps, images and much more.
Hoping that these technological advances will benefit the student community in their learning and training process, EBSCO is one of the most important academic research tools at Futuro Verde, providing the assurance that what is produced within the institution is of high quality.
Futuro Verde EBSCO packages
We have databases that cover all the specific needs of our institution. At primary level, we have a subscription to more than 1000 ebooks, academic articles in the elementary field, and educational videos, all of which support our curricular goals from first grade to sixth grade, being of great benefit to both teachers and students.
At secondary level, we are subscribed to more than 5,000 prestigious academic journals, have access to the best ebooks with topics related to high school, to support for teachers regarding pedagogy, adolescence and learning methods, to a Premier Academic Source, and to a database specialized in secondary schools with over 8,800 available titles for students to gain information from quality primary sources.
IB students also have access to their own databases, designed with academic excellence in mind and containing information for their professional growth through full texts and thousands of photos, maps, and more.
