The seventh grade class was invited to attend the We Day Celebration at the Allstate Arena on March 1. It was a wonderful sharing of the amazing works being done by teens across the city and surrounding suburbs.
The 7th grade students were given a "shout out" for their random acts of kindness as well as the upcoming blood drive in April. Way to go, Kellogg!
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We were fortunate enough to have a visit last week from Marijus Gudynas, Consul General of Lithuania. He spoke to all IB Middle Years Programme students about the history of Lithuania and about his responsibilities working for the consulate.
We will be having a member of the Lithuanian Consulate here on February 9 to share about Lithuania's culture, history, and politics. This will be a nice follow-up activity to our Multicultural Fair.
As we begin the second semester, we will continue working to complete the career unit. Each student in the IBMYP will need to determine how he/she will present the material learned about careers, degrees needed, and possible college choices. I look forward to seeing the finished products by the beginning of March. Please check your progress in Design class, which is under the category "Learning Technology" in the student/parent portal. Any missing or incomplete work, as well as any assignments, both formative and summative that you wish to do over for a higher grade, should be completed by Tuesday, January 31. Email Mrs. Pajkos at [email protected] if there are any questions.
All IBMYP students are currently working on a unit to explore career aptitudes. The students have completed a Cluster Finder activity through the Naviance Program. Based on responses to questions about activities that interest them, personal qualities they possess, and subjects they most enjoy, students were given a list of career clusters that may be a good fit for them to pursue in their futures. In addition to this, each student created a SMART goal for their immediate future (specific, measureable, achievable, relevant, and timely).
The level one (sixth grade) students will begin this week to explore careers associated with one of the suggested clusters from the results of their survey. They will then find specific information about a chosen career such as the skills necessary,, educational requirements, job outlook, average salary, etc. Students will then research a college that specializes in that course of study and find out admission requirements as well as cost, student life, demograohics of student body, etc. This information will be presented in the format of each student's choice. The level two (seventh grade) students will take their results further. They will explore two different career options and will find out additional career information such as connections to other professions, societal benefits of the job, setting for the job, etc. Like the level one students, they will do research on a college or university, but will find more information than was required of their younger peers. The format for presenting the information learned will be the choice of each level two student. The level three (eighth grade) students will complete all that the level two students are required for two chosen careers, including the college/university study. These students will then explore the Road Nation section of the Naviance Program related to one of those careers. Based on what they've learned, they will create a mock interview (both questions and answers) from a person having one of the two careers they have chosen to research. It will be the decision of each level three student as to how the information will be presented. The IBMYP students are now working on a career unit. The students will be exploring their career aptitudes, setting goals, investigating differences between the different types of college degrees, etc.
Stay tuned: more to follow. The Multicultural Fair will take place this Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:30. I would like students to arrive at 5:20 to prepare for their presentations.
Students dressing in the traditional costumes of their countries will receive extra credit points toward their 2nd quarter learning technology grade. We are rapidly approaching the Multicultural Fair date of December 7.
Students should have completed their finished products (brochure for 6th grade, poster for 7th grade, and digital presentation for 8th grade) by Friday, December 2. Our next unit will be on careers. I hope to see all the parents at the fair from 5:30 to 6:30!! The students in levels one, two, and three are currently studying different countries for their current Design Project.
Level one students are studying some of the basic facts from their chosen country including capital city, size, landforms, literacy rate, major industries, national celebrations, and traditions. They will be creating a brochure for their finished product. Level two students are focusing on topography, traditions, and environmental issues. They will be creating a tri-fold poster display to share the information they learned through the research process. Level three students found a variety of information about their chosen country, but focused on a typical day for a teen. They will be creating digital presentations about the day in the life of a teen using Google Slides, Animoto, or other digital format. We started off the first quarter of the 2016-2017 school year by learning about some of the major components of the IB Programme during the Design Class.
The sixth grade students learned about the Learner Profile Traits, the seventh grade studied the Key Concepts, and the eighth grade examined the Global Concepts. Each class created beautiful visual representations which are decorating the halls of the second floor. All IBMYP students folded an origami peace crane to decorate outside the gymnasium to celebrate Peace Day. |
Mrs. PajkosI am excited to be beginning my third year as the IB Coordinator at Kellogg School. In addition to coordinating, I am teaching Design to all Level 1, 2, and 3 students and an algebra course to selected 8th grade students. |