Happenings

As Greenwich's representative for the Connecticut Teacher of the Year program, I was honored to speak at our big kick off meeting today.   We got to meet our new superintendent, Dr. Jill Gildea.  Student Body President Greg Goldstein started off the program by thanking teachers for everything we do.   Carol Sutton, president of the Greenwich Education Association, was a hard act to follow, and our Keynote speaker,  Thomas Murray, director of Innovation for Future Ready Schools, made us laugh, cry, and sing!  What a wonderful way to start the year!

By Bridget Suvansri As this school year comes to a close, I can’t help but be filled with joy at the positive experiences my students and I shared. Yes, they improved their writing skills, read wonderful books, conducted research, delivered presentations, took standardized tests, and all of the rest.  And yes, all of that is worth celebrating. But what stands out the most, by far, are the moments that happened during our second Global Conversations literature course with The Anderson School in Gweru, Zimbabwe. After reading Lois Lowry’s The Giver , students explored the concept of Utopia, the impact of rules on a society, and how societies grapple with the issues.  The power in the course lies in the research and sharing of real-world issues that the students face in their local communities such as racism, gender roles, unemployment, pollution, and crime.  Ultimately, students are challenged to think about the solutions to these issues and how improvements can be made.

by Bridget Suvansri It’s common for teachers to take large chunks of their summer vacation to teach summer school, work another job, or engage in professional development.  Some teachers even do all of the above.  As one of those teachers who takes some time for PD, I want to tell you my plans. What is the World’s Largest Lesson Plan? The World’s Largest Lesson Plan “aims to introduce the Global Goals for Sustainable Development  to children and young people everywhere, and help them take action,” and I want in!   It’s an amazing and extensive set of resources to help teachers teach students about the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.   The Sustainable Development Goals are 17 goals to achieve 3 extraordinary things by 2030: End extreme poverty. Fight inequality and injustice. Tackle climate change. Don’t be fooled by thinking 2030 is SO FAR away!  It’s only 13 years away which means my incoming 6th graders (11-12 year olds)

Yesterday started out as a typical school day at Eastern Middle School.  Students intently staring at iPhone screens before the bell; lots of wonderful books in hands throughout the day; kids tapping away on chromebooks in well-lit and air conditioned classrooms.   But then something extra special and different happened during the last period of the day.  We were fortunate to have two visitors from Kenya Connect come to talk with a group of 32 students who are participating in their second Level Up Village global collaboration course this year, this time with students in Africa.  We shared lots of laughs and listened to eye-opening descriptions of life for students in Kenya. Sharon Runge, Executive Director, and James Musyoka, Field Operations Manager, from Kenya Connect visited my 6th grade classroom as part of their two-week United States tour to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the organization. Sharon started out by sharing the work of Kenya Connect and how they help

These last few weeks of 6th grade are going to be exciting!  We've started our Global Collaboration Course through Level Up Village (LUV) based on themes related to Lois Lowry's The Giver with The Anderson School in Gweru, Zimbabwe.  I wrote and piloted the course this time last year, so this is my second go-round! In addition to getting to know one another and discussing the themes of the book, students explore their own personal idea of Utopia as well as research real-world issues that we have in the United States, the effects of those issues, and possible solutions.  Meanwhile, our global partners are doing the same thing! Here's the course description from Level Up Village's website : "Students read and discuss Lois Lowry’s The Giver alongside students in a global partner classroom. Together through video letter exchange, they discuss the impact of societal rules and cultural norms on individual free will, while determining whether Lowry is presenting rea

 Being named a Greenwich Public Schools Distinguished Teacher for 2017 is an amazing honor!  I am so thankful to my two students, Catherine and Patrick, for nominating me. You can learn about all six of this year's Distinguished Teachers in this Greenwich Time article and in this CT Post article .  Learn about The Distinguished Teacher Award or watch the video of the 2017 ceremony on the Greenwich Public Schools website .   My student nominator starts speaking around the 41 minute mark, and my speech is right after!!  My principal and two student nominators My colleague who also nominated me

  Congratulations to my wonderful team of 6th graders who placed FIRST in the Nation in this year's Gold division of the Wordmaster Challenge! What is The Wordmaster Challenge ? The Wordmasters Challenge is a national analogy solving competition that consists of three meets during the school year.  Students study the words and their relationships to prepare for the meets. What are the benefits? Improving vocabulary skills using analogies... Develops verbal reasoning abilities Addresses higher-order thinking skills Emphasizes logic and reading comprehension As a team, my 6th graders have had AMAZING success!! Here's how we have been doing: Wordmasters End of Year Rankings 9th in the nation: 2009 5th in the nation: 2013 2nd in the nation: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2008, 2007 1st in the nation: 2017, 2011, 2010, 2006, 2005 How do we prepare for the challenge?   I get asked that all of the time! I have started to put together some of m

How Do You Prepare for The Wordmaster Challenge? by Bridget Suvansri Here are some suggestions for getting ready many of which we do in class together. 1.  Make a study tool!  Look up the various meanings, parts of speech, and word forms of each word.  Students like to make flash cards, word webs, or a digital compilation of what they find.  I tell them to make a study tool that works for them! 2.  Use the words in sentences.  Try to drop them in conversations, and try to notice them when you are listening, reading, etc.   3.  Make note of the typical or usual references of the words and the things the words are usually associated with. 4. Connect the words to each other by finding relationships between the words (keeping the part of speech in mind).  Connect words that are synonyms, antonyms, related words, and any ways the words many be connected.  We make categories and give the various categories general titles to help with this step.  Each group adds their brains