The Xi'an Pupil Leadership Forum

This fall, I had the laurels of taking business office inwards the Xi’an Student Leadership Forum. The forum was organised past times the English linguistic communication Language Institute of China. For this forum, a dyad hundred students were interviewed together with 80 finalists selected to bring together the forum. These students were leaders or people who exhibit leadership potential inwards their universities.

After an incredible luncheon at the Westin Xi’an, nosotros heard from 3 concern leaders.  The starting fourth dimension to beak was Simon Lee. Mr. Lee said that when concern is done good it tin mail away alter the world. He is involved inwards 2 businesses at the moment. Fifty pct of the profits from 1 of his businesses goes to charity spell one-hundred pct of the profits from his 2nd concern goes towards ending human trafficking.

Mr. Lee spoke at length virtually the importance of branding. He said branding is non a logo, fellowship advert or concern advert but it is a story. Some factors to endure taken into consideration when selecting a construct are:

1. Who are we?
2. What are we?
3. How does the client experience virtually us?
4. What is the human relationship betwixt us together with the brand?

Mr. Lee besides believes that matrimony is the foundation of every company. He said our world life together with individual life are really much connected. There are 3 parts of our lives: the starting fourth dimension alone nosotros know, the 2nd alone our solid unit of measurement know together with the 3rd our co-workers know. According to Mr. Lee, keen leaders take away maintain homogeneous graphic symbol both privately together with publicly. “Personal branding is crucial to leadership.”

We should do self-leadership past times quest others what they intend virtually us. Be an authentic leader past times sharing your struggles; endure a consistent leader past times doing what you lot say. Don’t locomote on beingness a keen leader later; locomote on it now. Personal branding should come upwards first, therefore fellowship branding, therefore the logo together with all the rest.

The side past times side speaker was Mike Jorgensen. Mike leads the squad at I Am Second. This is a website that creates brusque videos together with books that document transformations inwards peoples’ lives. Mike graduated from Duke where he studied constabulary together with practiced for twelve years next graduation.

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He shared 3 principals for creating together with leading a keen team:

1.  Get the correct people on the motorcoach together with acquire them inwards the correct seats.
2. Be clear virtually the administration the squad is going. Get everybody going inwards the same direction.
3. Serve the squad every bit they implement the vision.

To amount upwards Mr. Jorgensen’s message, I would nation he was proverb that beingness a leader is all virtually making those who you lot atomic number 82 succeed together with locomote to a greater extent than successful than yourself. He used the story of how Jesus washed his disciples’ feet together with told them to serve others. This besides resonates alongside the locomote of Peter Senge inwards his book, The Fifth Discipline. Senge believes everyone on the squad should strive for personal mastery together with that, when this is achieved, the organisation every bit a whole becomes better.

The concluding speaker at the forum was Joe Foster. Mr. Foster leads Foster Financial Group, a finance administration organisation. He believes that losing his undertaking was 1 of the best things that e'er happened to him together with that he learned some of the most valuable lessons from it.

Mr. Foster shared vi keys to leadership alongside us:

1. Invest time, energy, together with coin on relationships.
2. Ask keen questions to focus on serving others.
3.  Find the expert inwards others together with admit it.
4.  Be customer-centred, non only product-centred.
5.  Be a people mortal together with attract others.
6. Hire tiresome but burn downwardly fast.

The forum was an incredible learning experience for me together with reminded me what beingness a truthful leader is all about! 

Search Associated Hong Kong Fair

Each January, inwards Hong Kong Search Associates organise i of their chore fairs. The vast bulk of the international schools manage come upward from mainland China, followed yesteryear a disclose of schools from Hong Kong. This was my instant fair but this fourth dimension I was going every bit a recruiter.

The indicate of this post service is to grade teachers together with schoolhouse leaders insights into the recruiter experience. Preparation for the fair is real important. My schoolhouse sent a squad of four, 2 recruiting for primary together with 2 for secondary. Within each couplet were a instructor together with administrator, i alongside classroom noesis together with i alongside management knowledge. This worked real good for us.

Our Team at the Fair

The calendar week earlier the fair nosotros met to determine upon our roles at the fair together with the form of teachers nosotros were after. We decided nosotros wanted qualified teachers who came alongside real practiced references. We decided on 2 interviews, i on Sabbatum alongside 2 interviewers together with and then a instant on Dominicus alongside the sum team. We lost unopen to candidates due to this every bit other schools were making offers at i time on Saturday, however, all the teachers nosotros hired had their references thoroughly checked, Masters degrees together with sense alongside the PYP.

I would similar to stress to teachers the importance of their references. If y'all convey a profile on Search Associates it is slow for the recruiter to scan downwards through your references together with every bit they are inwards checklist format, depression scores stick out. One of the questions that nosotros peculiarly honed inwards on was, “What influence does this someone convey on schoolhouse morale together with “climate”?” This is on a scale from i to 10 together with when triangulated alongside the other references says a lot.

So teachers:

1. Make certain y'all inquire an administrator who is real happy alongside your function to write your reference
2. Stay positive through hard situations.
3. If y'all are looking for function inwards China this is a peachy fair. The organisers are extremely helpful, Barry Drake - bdrake@searchassociates.com together with Ray Sparks - rsparks@searchassociates.com. Contact them if y'all you would similar data on attending. 

My Showtime Yr Didactics The Pyp

In the basis of international didactics it seems the International Baccalaureate has risen to the come about inwards damage of reputation. Getting into the "top schools" tin live on a nightmare if you lot exercise non get got sense inwards i of the IBs iii programs. I am writing this to a greater extent than for myself to human face dorsum upon together with every bit a reflection (of my get-go twelvemonth teaching inwards the IB) than for the public, but mortal wanting to intermission into the organization may discovery it useful. I get got key words inwards italics, which could live on dropped inwards at an interview!

First of all, the to a greater extent than good established IB schools that I applied for were non fifty-fifty considering applicants unless they had PYP experience. PYP stands for The Primary Years Program, it goes from Early Childhood (3 years) to Year 6. For a schoolhouse to live on authorised yesteryear the IB to deliver the PYP, all teachers who learn the programme must get got Category 1 preparation inwards a course of instruction called, "Making the PYP Happen inwards the Classroom". If you lot get got done this preparation together with know simply about of the IB lingo, you lot volition live on at an payoff inwards an interview. The course of instruction costs nearly 760 Singapore dollars together with may live on found here.

IB PYP Wheel from www.ibo.org

I get got to say, the PYP is incredible. They get got taken the best bits of didactics together with packaged it inwards a actually proficient bundle to sell to schools. Constructivism, Understanding yesteryear Design, Concept based Education and Inquiry are simply about of the basic edifice blocks of the program. You learn 6 transdisciplinary themes a year. This is real dissimilar from traditional systems where the subjects are separate. In the PYP, the specialist teachers excogitation their lessons amongst the homeroom teachers thence the students sense continuity throughout the program. Most of the Mathematics together with Literacy is taught inwards a unit of measurement together with all of the Social Studies together with Science is inwards there. The residual of the Math together with Literacy is taught every bit stand-alone.

There are v principal parts to the PYP: knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action.

Knowledge - This is the 6 transdisciplinary themes together with the subjects that are taught. Examples of the themes are, "Who nosotros are", which has a Social Studies focus, or "How nosotros limited ourselves", which has an Arts focus. PE is called PSPE (Personal, Social together with Physical Education) together with could live on transdisciplinary, planned together with taught amongst the homeroom teacher, or stand-alone where the PE instructor would exercise a unit of measurement alone.

Concepts - The concepts are oftentimes referred to every bit lenses inwards the IB programs. We human face at the query or lessons through them. Some of them include: change, perspective or reflection. This aspect of the programme is epic! I am notwithstanding a flake confused betwixt these concepts together with the concepts inwards the key ideas. After reading the run of Lynn Erikson, I learned that a key thought or enduring agreement is made upwards of ii concepts inwards a relationship. It may live on a generalisation or a principle. I volition non acquire into this yet, until I fully empathize it myself.

Skills - There are v transdisciplinary skills which I believe are going to live on called approaches to learning (ATLs) inwards the upcoming PYP update. They are: social skills, research skills, self-management skills, thinking skills together with communication skills. These are thence broken downwardly farther together with should live on carefully planned into the curriculum. You may discovery all of this information inwards the book, Making the PYP Happen. Just Google it together with you lot volition discovery it easily.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 version of the Inquiry Cycle from my classroom floor

Attitudes - There are 12 attitudes such every bit empathy, independence together with inventiveness that nosotros attempt to develop inwards the students. Another related together with hugely of import business office of all the IB programs is international mindedness. This is summed upwards inwards the IB mission controversy together with inwards the ten learner profile attributes. Some of these are: caring, thinker together with risk-taker.

Action - Finally, what is yesteryear far the best business office of the programme inwards my opinion, students are expected to accept activity afterwards they get got learned. This tin live on anything from turning off lights to campaigning for students to halt wasting food. Some awesome examples may live on found on a spider web log called, "Sharing the PYP".

Employee of the Year - Primary School

So to amount upwards my get-go year, I believe I get got simply scratched the surface of the possibilities amongst the PYP. My background inwards UbD together with query from teaching the Queensland curriculum has actually stood to me, but I get got a lot to learn. If you lot desire to larn to a greater extent than nearly the PYP quickly, follow Twitter.  This has been an incredible twelvemonth of learning for me!