ISG Learns Workshops
Throughout the year, we offer continuous professional development through our ongoing ISG Learns workshop initiative. These workshops are based on the needs and data collected from our students and staff in relation to our strategic goals and mission.
ISG is committed to ongoing professional learning in order to increase student outcomes and encourage professional growth and collaboration for all educators. All sessions will be offered in a hybrid format (option for face-to-face and virtual), so all staff are welcome to sign up!
Topics relate to this year's theme of Cultivating Learner Agency and to our mission: To Inspire Innovation and Compassionate Action.
Workshop descriptions are below. Click HERE to sign up for a workshop.
Click HERE if you are interested in being an ISG Learns Workshop facilitator and leading a future session.
Facilitated by: Soraya Kehoe
Date: Monday, February 20, 2023 at 2:30-3:30pm
I will share techniques, activities and songs I use in the Reception/KG class to teach phonics through five skills: letter name and sound, letter formation, blending sounds for reading, identifying and decoding sounds for writing and high-frequency words.
Facilitated by: Christy Harper
Date: Monday, March 6, 2023 at 2:30-3:30pm
Back again by request! NON-ARTISTS PREFERRED - all are welcome! Enhance your notes with hand-drawn elements like icons, arrows, and fonts to aid retention, increase focus, and inspire a deeper connection with the material. EVERYONE can Sketchnote; no special artistic skills are required! Come try it out with us and learn techniques that can benefit and inspire your students. Sketchnote works well in all subjects with note-taking, from foreign languages to physics.
Facilitated by Iwona Al Maghrabi
Date: Monday, May 1, 2023 at 2:30-3:30pm
How can success in school be influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities? With the right mindset not only can our students improve their achievement, but we as their teachers, can direct them to the better path and motivate them to become independent and self-directed students.
During this workshop I will share growth mindset strategies that will improve teamwork efficiency and students' engagement in your classroom.
After this workshop you will be able to:
replace boring lectures with productive teamwork
simulate your students to think and ask questions
watch your students solve problems instead of waiting for you to do so for them.
Facilitated by: Caitlin Fortescue
Date: Monday, May 8, 2023 at 2:30-3:30pm
Responsive Classroom is a student-centered, social and emotional learning approach to teaching and discipline. Based on research and evidence-based practices, it is designed to create safe, joyful, and engaging classrooms and school communities. We will share an overview of the key domains of Responsive Classroom and how we put them into practice in our kindergarten and 5th grade classrooms. Open to anyone new to the approach who wants to learn more!
Facilitated by: Nazli Ahmed & Raazia Ali
Date: Monday, May 22, 2023 at 2:30-3:30pm
Through this workshop, as math and science teachers, we will share our journey of discovering the importance of learner agency in our classrooms. We will share research and evidence based practices to create a student-centered learning environment where students have choices and their voice is heard. These practices are based on the 7 guiding principles of a Responsive Classroom, a student-centered, social and emotional learning approach to teaching and discipline. Open to K-8 teachers!
Facilitated by: Charlotte O'Toole
Date: Monday, May 29, 2023 at 2:30-3:30pm
Empathy is our ability to understand and share someone else’s thoughts, feelings and perspectives, even if they are different from our own. Through developing our own students' empathetic skills and qualities, we have noticed a significant change in their behaviours at school. Our students have become more compassionate and understanding of their peers, as well as developing an understanding of different life situations that they may not be exposed to here in Saudi Arabia. This workshop will discuss different lessons and activities that we have implemented within SVS that you could use or develop within your own classroom, and we will also share the impact that it has had on our students.