The start of our fourth year at the American International School of Lusaka (AISL) has gone really well. As we wrap up the final days of August, all grades are back to on-campus learning and most students are back in Zambia. I am teaching grade 8/Year 3 MYP Language and Literature, Grade 9/Year 4 MYP Individuals and Societies and also providing English (English as an Additional Language/EAL) support in the secondary school. Flor continues to teach MYP/DP Spanish and Maya enters 10th grade. My goal continues to be the share ideas, learning, and reflections on teaching, as well as photos from life in Zambia and (hopefully) travels. Have a good year, and do stay in touch.
I hope this blog post finds you well. I have enjoyed hearing from current and formers students from around the world. These are hard times, and I am striving to improve my communication with friends and family. Teachers love to hear from former students. I would love to hear from you and to know how you are doing. I have enjoyed watching social media updates about my former students who preparing to graduate at my former school in Chennai, India. I am very proud of you and wish you all the best. I really enjoyed hearing President Obama’s message to students graduating this year. Whether or not you are graduating this year, watch this excerpt from this speech and reflect on his words of encouragement and hope. I hope to hear from you. Please stay safe.
Welcome back to school. Monday is a 1A day. We hope you had a nice vacation, whether you stayed in Chennai or traveled. We look forward to hearing about your time spent away from school.
Happy birthday to the following students celebrating birthdays in January: Jooeun (1), Shyam (5), Anais (8), Sungmin (24), and Ayaan (25). If we left someone off this list or made an error, let us know.
This week we will continue to focus on our compelling question: Was agriculture good for humans? We will see examples of the negative effects of the agricultural revolution. We will also be starting Out of Eden, Footstep #4.
Welcome to 6th grade! We hope you had a nice summer and are ready for a great year. Along with PowerSchool, my class blog will celebrate learning and share ideas. This blog is also a great way for parents to see what we are doing in class. As of today, this site has had over 90,000 page views from 174 countries. You and your parents can ‘follow’ the blog by adding your email address in the box at the top right of the blog. You need to confirm you are following the blog when you get a message in your inbox. Anytime Mr. Martin adds a new post on this blog, you will get a message, if you are following this blog.
The photos above feature some activities we did in our first day, the name wave. We learned each other’s names and how to pronounce each other’s name. We also did a four corners activity. In addition, we discussed important materials needed for our class:
Greetings and Happy New Year! I hope you and your family had a wonderful vacation with family and friends and that you are ready for school tomorrow. Tomorrow is a 1A day. I had a nice vacation with family in New York State. Here are two photos I took in New York City, one of Rockefeller Center where they have a huge Christmas tree and ice skating rink and the other of the Empire State Building showing Christmas colors.
I received this message from Out of Eden Learn the other day. Jinwon received a personal messageon her photos from Paul Salopek. You can see her photos if you click on the link and read his comment. I have pasted it below too:
This is a reply from Paul Salopek:
Your text and photos are great examples of keen observation. The physical details, the noting of time and place, the background (a bit of recent history), all these elements are what journalists like me use to build a good story. It requires close attention. Keep at it. Carry a small notepad around with you to jot such things down—you can use them in later stories.
You will soon learn how to access this blog, make a comment and use our Moodle page. I hope these two sites will help support your learning this year. During our first days together, we talked about what you thought social studies is and what a great (social studies) class looks like. Here are the two anchor charts I created after we collected all of the results.
Ms. Lucy (Learning Support), Mr. Martin (Social Studies), and Mr. Ranson (EAL Support)
The Grade 6 Team – ‘Orange’ you glad to be in 6th grade?
Dear Students –
Welcome to 6th grade Social Studies. Along with our Moodle page, our class blog will host videos, student work, helpful links and much more! Please use it as a resource in Social Studies. You can ‘follow’ this page by adding your email address to the widget on the top right side of the blog (see image below).If you follow the blog, you will receive an email message anytime I post something new on the blog.
There are many things you can do to keep updated on Middle School events. You should read the Middle School Daily Bulletinblog each day for information about clubs, sports, M.S. parties, etc. Here are some general reminders for students from all of your 6th grade teachers:
Store backpacks and belongings in your locker and carry only the necessary items to class with you.
Use the bathroom during break times. Teachers may permit short bathroom/brain breaks during the block as per discretion.
Students should remain outside the classroom until the teacher is in the room, and/or until five minutes before the start of class.
Belongings are not to be stored in the classroom between classes.
Devices should remain switched off until directed by teacher.
Cell phones in class are for class purposes only (pictures, recording, etc.).
Eating is permitted only outside the classroom.
Student use of the common area is with teacher permission and supervision.
Have a great year, and please see your advisory teacher or your classroom teacher if you ever have any questions. E-mail me, if you have questions about Social Studies.
Students – We hope you had a nice, restful, and fun vacation, whether you stayed in Chennai or traveled. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow and starting our new unit this week, Egypt. We will also start footstep #2 for Out of Eden Learn. There are 10 weeks left in the school year and the time will go quickly. Show your best effort and finish the year on a strong note! Here are a couple of more funny cartoons I recently discovered on a funny website named Wrong Hands.
Happy New Year! I hope you are enjoying your winter break, whether you are in Chennai, your country, or traveling. Comment and let us know what you are doing during the vacation. I am currently in Mexico City, after spending a week in New York State with family. The photo above is of me in Times Square in New York City. Take care, and see you on Monday, January 11th.
Ms. Jaya, EAL teacher, and Mr. Martin, Social Studies (Photo by Rob Martin)
Welcome back to the 2015-2016 school year. We are excited to be your teachers for social studies. We look forward to getting to know you and hearing about your summer vacation. Over the next week, we will introduce our course units and our expectations. Let’s have a great year.
Greetings and welcome back to AISC! It’s going to be an exciting year, and we welcome you to the middle school. This blog, along with our Moodle pages will help provide support and resources for what we will learn this year. Please take some time to look at it and to view the teacher bio pages to learn more about your Language Arts and Social Studies teacher. We recommend you ‘follow’ our blog, so add your email address and you will receive a message in your school email inbox every time a new post is created. We also encourage you to post comments, ask questions, share information, politely agree or disagree with your classmates and use the blog to extend learning in the classroom. Check out this helpful video, if you are still having trouble with your combination lock.
Mrs. Hall, Ms. Jaya and Mr. Martin welcome Yoo Hyung to AISC. We are also sad to say goodbye to Emilie, So Hyun, and Ji Soo, who are leaving AISC this month. We wish you all the best of luck! Keep in touch with your friends here. Two more days until our three week winter vacation! It’s hard to believe our first semester is nearly finished and that we are done with half of the year. Post a comment and welcome Yoo Hyung, or say goodbye to a friend. Also, tell us what you plan to do during the vacation, whether you are staying in Chennai, traveling in India, or another country.
Your first week of Middle School is over! How did it go? What did you enjoy? Click on the ‘Leave a comment’ link below and write your first name only and your school email address when you reply to this post. Read more about how to post a comment on the ‘My Blog’ page under the ‘Your teachers” page. Have a great weekend!
Welcome back to school and to Grade 6 Humanities! We hope you had a great summer. Ms. Jaya and I will be co-teaching this class this year, and we will be working closely with Mrs. Hall, the other Grade 6 Humanities teacher. Please explore my website to learn more about the course. I will be updating this site and my Moodle site during the year, and I will post new links, videos, photos of student work and much more. The best way to stay connected to this class is to add your email address to the list of ‘followers.’ Whenever I post a new comment, you will receive an update in your school Gmail inbox. Go to “Follow Blog via Email” on the right side of the site and add your school address today! Have a great year!
"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."
- Maya Angelou
Welcome back to school and to Grade 6 Humanities! We hope you had a great summer. Ms. Jaya and I will be co-teaching this class this year, and we will be working closely with Mrs. Hall, the other Grade 6 Humanities teacher. Please explore my website to learn more about the course. I will be updating this site and my Moodle site during the year, and I will post new links, videos, photos of student work and much more. The best way to stay connected to this class is to add your email address to the list of ‘followers.’ Whenever I post a new comment, you will receive an update in your school Gmail inbox. Go to “Follow Blog via Email” on the right side of the site and add your school address today! Have a great year!
Out of Eden Walk
Linking to Thinking 
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