August 14, 2014

Seabury in Seoul

The Seabury teachers participating are Paul Gonzenbach, Ruth Maitlen, Tiffany Price, Tamara Ritchie and Caitlin Webb. Head of School Sandi Wollum is also heading to Seoul for a week to check in with the teachers and Korea Poly staff.

Wollum and the team of teachers attended a Korea Poly Schools conference in March. During that trip they observed classes of gifted students and "returnee" students, those who had studied for at least a year in an English-speaking country.

The teachers have been directly teaching the pilot units and are presenting them as they would for Seabury students. The goal is to see how Korean students do with a Seabury unit in its pure form in order to gather information that can be used to determine how future units may need to be customized.

Here's an excerpt from a Seabury in Seoul blog we're working on. We hope to go live with in the next week or so. (Watch Facebook.) 

Mr. G started the day having the student track volcanoes over 5.0 on the Richter Scale in the last 24 hours on the world map. They compared those to tectonic plates and noticed that most them occurred along the plate boundaries. They then projected what the continents would look like 3.5 million years from now and created maps to represent what the earth may look like. One student created what another student dubbed a “mini Pangea”.

"We feel honored to get to bring Seabury-style gifted education to Asia," Wollum says. We're excited to see what opportunities this pilot progam opens up for partnership with KPS that will benefit our students and program."

All classes include:

  • Activities and experiences across the curriculum –including math, art, social studies and the sciences.
  • A focus on reading, writing, and speaking English, using the topics being studied to expand students’ vocabulary.
  • Hands-on exploration – Seabury learning is active learning with lots to touch, experience and create. A focus on critical and analytical reasoning – questions like, “Why is that so…” or “How might it be different if ...” encourage students to go beyond simple memorization and begin to apply what is learned.
  • Open-ended activities that allow students to follow their interests and ask their own questions for study. Seabury teachers are experts at adapting curriculum to the interests and expertise of their students, adjusting activities to keep students challenged and engaged.
  • Research activities that encourage students to dig deeply into the subject they are studying.
  • Projects that allow students to showcase what they have learned.
  • Final presentations of student projects that provide students with public speaking experience in English, as well as an opportunity to share their projects with others.
The units the Seabury teachers took to Korea include (stated briefly) animal adaptations; how the earth transforms; and culture and civilization. The teachers report that it's going great.

From Seabury teacher Tiffany Price: "We all believe that we can see many 'Seabury kids' in the students we are working with. At first it was hard for many of them to understand that they can talk and have fun while here, but I think all of us have seen kids open up and come out of their shells. They are all enjoying the activities we are doing, and we are looking forward to seeing their final projects."



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8th Grade Capstone Night

June 7th
Lower School Talent Showcase

June 7th
8th Grade Graduation

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