"LEARN, GROW, AND BE UNIQUE WITH ISB"

JANUARY NEWSLETTER

“I believe that ISB is FREEDOM of learning. It's more special because we get choices and the power to control our own learning.”

Ella, (YEARBOOK, 2018/2019)

DO NOT MISS

ISB QUIZ NIGHT!

After a successful first quiz night in 2019, we are happy to host the event again in 2020. Questions will be in English and Czech and answers accepted in many languages. All money raised will support service learning and the monthly soup kitchen organised by our High School students. Follow the event on Facebook for clues and prizes (Hotel Vouchers, Hot Air Balloon Rides, Concert Tickets just to name a few). We already have over 100 confirmed attendees so please email Mr. Brian at brian.tynan@isob.cz if you would like to have a table!

SECONDARY AND HIGH SCHOOL

Zoo Economics

We make economics a priority in middle school. We want our students to become familiar with macro-economic systems (such as a market economy and a planned economy) and understand how economic systems shape their lives, but we also want students to be comfortable with economics on a micro level. We dive into personal finances—how do you save money, how do credit cards work, what is debt, how do you create and follow a budget?

Students can often be intimidated by economics—lots of big numbers and new, challenging terminology. However, what students don’t always realize is that economics is everywhere, and they engage in economic decision making everyday. We introduced the fundamentals of economics by challenging students to design a zoo. They had to decide what animals to include and where, while working in a limited space. Without realizing it, students were having conversations about scarcity, supply and demand, opportunity cost, marginal analysis and benefit vs cost analysis. Not so intimidating after all!

Service Learning Food Drive

For service learning in November and December, students organized and planned a food and clothing drive for people in need. Students created posters and promoted the drive to all the classes in the school and collected all the donations. We were able to bring in lots of much needed clothing and food! The donated food will be given to a local food bank, and the clothing will be handed out at our monthly soup kitchen along with cookies that students baked. Thank you for all your donations and support.

LEGO Robotics

Innovation, creativity, technological competence and teamwork are some of the most highly desired skills for employers today. People need to be flexible, and think outside of the box to make it in today's competitive job market. With that in mind, at ISB we make developing these skills a priority in our students.

In our unit examining the benefits and consequences of progress, students have been examining how major inventions and technological shifts—such as the invention of agriculture and the industrial revolution—have impacted humans and society. However, we believe that history is most meaningful when students can see the direct impact of history in their lives today, so we also examined how modern inventions, such as the internet and robots, are changing us right now. To help students understand this, and to prepare them as much as possible for the future, we incorporated LEGO robotics.

Students were introduced to LEGO robotics, and learned the fundamentals of coding through experimentation. They had to figure out how to program the robot to drive, turn, reverse, and use sensors. Next, they were given a real-life challenge that engineers and astronauts are solving today—such as how to use a robot to navigate a new planet or how to move an astronaut in and out of an airlock—and solve it using a robot. It is a true interdisciplinary learning experience, where students are using the scientific process, historical knowledge, mathematical calculations, and computer programming to complete a hands-on challenge.

Soup Kitchen

Since 2013, the ISB Soup Kitchen has worked in the community helping the homeless and needy. We provide hot food, snacks, tea and coffee as well as clothes, hats, blankets, boots and other essential items. In the last few years, homelessness and, horribly, child homelessness has grown in Brno. We have seen a rise in the number of clients coming to our monthly ISB Soup Kitchen and our work seems more important than ever.

The students are involved in all aspects of running the soup kitchen. They plan the meals, bake the cookies, do the shopping, raise the money, cook the food, transport it to town, serve it to the clients and clean up. Students also engage in discussions with the clients and learn about their lives and their stories. This helps students to become more caring, risk-taking, balanced, open-minded and principled learners.

Sports Science

IB students were discovering how various stimuli (cold, static/dynamic exercise, positions of their bodies) affect their heart rate and blood pressure and made research what are the reasons and consequences for such changes. While they were conducting the experiment a couple of secondary students got interested, so their older peers introduced the experiment to them and even measured their blood pressure, for some of them it was for the first time in their life. They all enjoyed this activity and not only knowledge and experience was developed but also some bonds between students of different ages were enforced.

PRIMARY & SECONDARY

Spirit Week

As the holiday was fast approaching, excited students took part in Spirit Week activities at ISB. The primary student council planned a few holiday activities to get everyone into the Christmas spirit. It all kicked off with a pajama day. Students and Teachers got all cozy in their pajamas and settled in for a holiday movie. On Tuesday, the school was full of Santa hats, reindeer, elves and so much more. Students rocked holiday headgear and got creative making holiday crafts in their classes. Finally, on Wednesday, the holiday spirit was in full swing with many ‘ugly’ Christmas sweaters on show. Students enjoyed some Christmas games in their classes before heading to the ISB Christmas Concert. A big thank you to all the Primary student council members for taking the time to plan a festive week for everyone at ISB!

Singing in Namesti Svobody

Students in years 3, 4, 5, 6, & 9 displayed some Christmas spirit while they performed winter and Christmas songs in Namesti Svobody on December 17th. They took us on a magical sleigh ride through a wintery fantasy. They sang about the twelve days of Christmas and decked the halls with bells of holly. The students represented ISB with great pride and enthusiasm.

KINDERGARTEN

Lesson on Estimating

The Early Years 2 class learned how to make estimates and determined whether their responses were reasonable or not. Whilst learning to make estimates, they benefited from experiences with using benchmarks, or known quantities as points of reference (e.g., “This is what a jar of 5 shapes and a jar of 10 shapes look like. How many shapes do you think are in this jar?”).

Trip to Theatre Radost

Early December, the Early Years team went on a trip to the Radost Theatre (Theatre Of Joy). We left the school on a lovely winters morning via bus and tram. At the theatre we watched a Czech play called O Kůzlátkach a Vlkovi. This was a wonderful story about 2 goats and a wolf. The children thoroughly enjoyed the show. Afterwards we enjoyed a snack in the theatre canteen before heading back to school for lunch.

Creating a World Map - Inquiring into Family Members

At ISB, students are very lucky to have classmates from all over the world! To show the incredible diversity of our families, the Year 1 students created a world map to show where their family members live. Using an atlas, they identified the correct country on the map, then drew a line to connect to their hand-drawn and cut-out pictures of family members. Finally, students got creative by decorating the maps with flags and symbols from their family members country and culture.

PRIMARY

Connecting with Students from Hanoi, Vietnam via Skype

Students from our Year 5 class connected with students in Vietnam via Skype, as they began a collaborative partnership with an upper elementary class in Hanoi. Students shared unit projects that they have been working on, which led to learning about new apps and websites to use in our classroom. We were then able to spend time asking questions about the country and culture. Skype is an excellent classroom tool to provide students with the opportunity to 'visit' places and speak with people around the globe. This gives our ISB students a unique educational experience and allows us to take our learning far beyond the walls of the classroom.

Saint Mikulas

The Saint Mikulas tradition is celebrated in the Czech Republic with a visit by Mikuláš and his partners, who represent the good and bad. They visited ISB, enjoyed songs the children prepared for them, and in return left students some special packages!

ISB Christmas Party and Bake Sale

On Friday December 13th, the ISB PTA hosted a very merry Christmas party and a delicious bake sale for our community. There was Christmas music, gingerbread cookies, hot chocolate and even a visit from Santa Claus. Everyone had their turn sitting on Santa’s knee and telling him what they wish for Christmas. A great big thank you to all of the ISB PTA for organizing and facilitating the party. We greatly appreciate all that you do for the school.

STAFF & TEACHER SPOTLIGHT

Anna Marie Kubíková

Receptionist

I am originally from Havířov and moved to Brno three years ago to study Business Economy and Management at Masaryk University. Besides Czech and English I speak a little Spanish. I am a receptionist and assistant in our school. I love nature and everything connected with that. Together with my husband, we play airsoft and love to travel around the Czech Republic to play in different areas. I also play the flute in theatre of music and poetry called Agadir.