Secondary eNews – December 2, 2022

December 2, 2022 Secondary Secretary

ENGLISH LANG/LIT DEPARTMENT
Grade 6 to 8 English Language & Literature students challenged themselves this semester to set self-selected reading goals and share their opinions with their peers through online reviews. While the reading goals were individual the spirit of the Reading Goal Challenge was community-based.

Students chose from a list of books which covered a range of genres, grade-level appropriateness and length to extend their exposure to different texts. By allowing students time and helping them understand the importance of creating a reading routine many students have met if not exceeded their own goals and in doing so have exposed themselves to a greater vocabulary.

Upon completing a book students submit a review to the BIS MYP Reading Challenge 2022 2023 website where their reviews can be read by their peers. Each grade level has its own page and the content within the website is completely generated by the students themselves!

Collaboratively students defined what constitutes a good review and set the criteria for themselves through a class discussion.

Their reviews are also shared within the class Google Classroom Stream so that there is a constant presence and authentic purpose created for students when sharing their reviews.

Students can be informed by their peers when selecting their next book and engage in conversations about newly discovered books they love both online and in person.

In addition, students also create a short biography and linked portfolio of their reviews in an effort to further create a sense of community and sharing.

Grade 6 Mini Bios. Grade 7 Mini Bios. Grade 8 Mini Bios.

Congratulations to the Grade 6, 7, and 8 English Language & Literature students on a highly successful and rewarding Reading Goal Challenge.! We look forward to seeing what everyone can do in Semester 2 to meet or beat their Semester one goals.

Free Rice Fridays
What if feeding your brain with new vocabulary could actually feed a person in need? Well, that is what our students in Grades 6B and 10A have been working on all semester during Free Rice Fridays, when students challenge themselves to learn difficult new vocabulary.

Free Rice is an educational trivia game that supports the United Nations World Food Programme, providing food aid in emergency situations around the world. Every question that students get right contributes 10 grains of rice to the pot, with private sponsors matching grains earned in the game with actual donations. So far this year, that means these two classes have raised more than 523 bowls of rice in food assistance programs!

Some students have shown real dedication in their contributions to these class sums by putting in a lot of extra time outside of class to study vocabulary and add to the totals, in particular, our top contributors in each class: Nour El Masri (Grade 10) and Kimmy Atmadja (Grade 6) – well done!

While we primarily focus on vocabulary in English lessons, there are over 50 categories of trivia and learning, from math to arts to languages to pop culture and the Sustainable Development Goals. If you would like to contribute to this World Food Programme initiative, too, you can try out FreeRice here.

The Grade 10 students have been busy exploring a range of texts about beauty as they prepare for their first attempt at a DP-style individual oral. As part of an exercise looking for intertextual connections between a poem (literary work) and an advertising campaign (non-literary work), students reflected on the messages in the Dove Real Beauty Sketches ad.

During the G20 week of online learning, students partnered up to draw some portraits of a classmate as well as a self-portrait to learn how to see themselves through the eyes of others. They subsequently discussed why their self-image differs from how others see them as well as the ways that media, social expectations, and beauty standards have impacted their self-esteem and self-image. Check out some of the drawings from our students, who had the extra challenge of only seeing their models over Google Meet!

Elevate Education
Elevate Education, Australia’s #1 Study Skill provider, came to BIS on Wednesday and Thursday to run sessions with Grade 9, Grade 10 and Grade 11/12. Hudson, the presenter from Elevate Education, provided the students with important skills connected to Memory & Mnemonics, Student Elevation, Time Management, Ace your Exams, Study Sensei and Finishing Line.

Below are some student testimonials:

The meeting with Huddo was incredibly inspiring. The handouts he gave are also helpful as we went through it together and had discussions.
I appreciated how they tried to engage personally with the students. The advice given was helpful and practicable.
I felt quite inspired by what he said, it was fun and motivating(even though a lot of the information he said is obvious, it still was helpful)
It was fun and I learned how to manage my time better.
It was fun, and really helped to improve my time management, and motivate myself in order to prepare myself for the upcoming exams
I thought that the seminar sessions were cool. I was able to learn quite a few things and our presenter was very engaging and spoke in a clear manner. Most of the tips were applicable and the presenter was helpful in the end, answering some of my questions.
I think this was beneficial for me. There are aspects of the sessions that I would use for my future exams. Hudson was a cool guy and funny, he was able to connect with us instantly and cracking jokes.
I feel like these two sessions were very effective and important. I think Mr. Huddo was a very good presenter and gave us a lot of good advice that we will be able to use when we go to DP. I felt very informed during this session, I will take away a lot of good advice that Mr Huddo gave to us.
I felt that he was a really cool guy, kept thinking how he would look with different haircuts but no hate to the mullet #mullets4thewin, he was engaging, had those good bantz. Definitely what I will take from the future is referring to those exam tips and tricks for the Mock Exams and the IB Exams. Also highlighting the main mistakes for each class definitely gave me perspective on what was going wrong and what to fix
I like the sessions, they were fun and insightful. I liked that it was light hearted whilst still useful at times. From the sessions, I learned the value of how friends and teachers can be a part of the process in making exams successful as well as lifting up motivations. I am to use the knowledge I gained for my mock exams in February.
The two sessions I had with Elevate Education were one of the most eye-opening experiences I have had in a long time. We talked about a myriad of things ranging from study techniques to the importance of having a growth mindset compared to a fixed mindset. I learnt about the power of saying “I will” and “I can” compared to “I can’t” and having goals or plans to focus on my purpose.
From the two sessions of the workshop, I learned how to manage time and how to prepare ourselves before we have a test or summative exam to get better results. It is important to start since it can be useful for the future.
Huddo was a very great presenter and brought up some very important points during the presentation. That everyone can basically get good marks as long as we set up a plan and be prepared like a hand before. He was also very engaging during his presentation and overall it was a very great seminar.
The session that I took both felt well-planned and insightful. The techniques that he gave will definitely be useful to prepare for Exams for my DP and beyond.
The whole session was very helpful, it motivated me a lot as Huddo is a great presenter and engages the lesson in a humorous way.
Through Elevate Education with Huddo, I could learn how to set specific goals and effective study plans. I believe I can use those useful skills for my final exam.
The two sessions with Huddo from elevate education were really helpful with the first one being student elevation was helpful with changing your mental mindset from “I can’t” to “I will”. The second one was helpful as well in organising how to plan for upcoming exams.
During the two sessions with Huddo, I felt that he was a supportive person for everyone, and even if he didn’t know each and every one of us, he was still friendly towards us to the end and tried to give ways on how we can improve on ourselves and on exams. Huddo also gave examples of how we can succeed or what would happen if we are not motivated to study, but the examples would be also in a funny way, which I have thought was a clever and funny idea.
The two sessions with Huddo are really fun, he is really good at getting student attention. I think it is really helpful because Huddo let me know what is happening with my preparation before the exam. I think in the class I have learned a better way for me to prepare for my exam in the future.
He had a very refreshing and thought-provoking approach to time management that I have not heard previously. It was very informative and engaging.
The session was very enjoyable as it is really interactive and Huddo is very funny which allows us to laugh a lot while we are learning. The sessions itself were very educational and they allowed me to realise that there are other steps out there within my reach that could be taken to boost my learning.
My take away from the 2 sessions with Huddo was the importance of a strong positive mindset. The use of better studying methods that top students use.
I think it was very informative and Huddo was very engaging during the seminar. The content taught was very helpful and I will surely use it later in the school year.
Seminars were extremely interesting and motivative. Now, I am confident I will perform well on my upcoming assessments.
The topics discussed were very relevant to us right now, especially the motivations and how we should prepare for the exam that the presenters provided. The presenters did a fantastic job and allowed us to understand well with simple tips for keeping on track for study and real life situations that relate to.
I was iffy going into it initially, but the entire thing turned out to be super helpful. Although some of the advice was re-iterations of what I’ve already heard, talking about goals and failures helped alleviate a lot of stress in my mind towards them.
The 2 sessions we had with Huddo was fun, engaging, and educational. His way of teaching made the 1h and 20 min feel like nothing as his personality was welcoming. I think I realised that I was underprepared in the techniques that I used to study for exams and in general.
The sessions with Elevate Education were extremely useful, due to the content and how it was delivered. Huddo was extremely engaging, and as his tips were based on research, I received good insight into different study methods.
The main lesson I learned from these sessions was how to plan study sessions leading up to exams. Next time, I will plan out my schedule 3 weeks leading up to the exam, with each week focused on a different method of preparation (fix notes, memorise notes, do practice papers).
I think that the sessions with Huddo were useful for understanding what needs to be done to reach our end goal. He was also good at holding student attention and relating to us due to his young age.
I felt more relaxed during this presentation than with others (of the same type/concept), because Huddo was super chill and made it engaging for us by interacting with various students. I think the advice was helpful and there were things that I’ve never thought about before.

Counselor Workshop Series 1st December
On Thursday 1st December, Ibu Noortje held a workshop for Pre-school and Primary parents about Wellbeing and Brain Development in early years. It was a great talk with lot of discussion and sharing. We will be back again next year starting in February (every first Thursday at the beginning of each month) to bring more interesting workshop topics for Primary and Secondary parents. Please send Ibu Noortje an email if you have any request for a workshop topic.

Coffee with the Counselor
Every Thursday (Except 1st of the month) in Fun Bite, there are nice talks, with or without coffee. In this talk, parents share questions and experiences together and with Ibu Noortje. It is great to see that it is getting busy and it becomes a habit to sit and talk together on Thursday mornings

Thursday Coffee with the Counselor

Join Ms. Noortje every Thursday morning at 7:45 (droff-off) for a coffee and informal chat at Fun Bites*

*Except first Thursday of each month when there will be a workshop

Upcoming ACT Test Date and Registration Deadline

More info about ACT

Upcoming SAT Test Date and Registration Deadline

More info /create account to register SAT

AP Exam School Year 2022-2023
For students in grades 11 and 12 who would like to register the AP exam in May 2023, please contact Ibu Thari in the Counseling Office at: counselorsecretary@baliis.net

The 2023 AP Exams will be administered in school following the regular schedule in May 2023: May 1–5 and May 8–12. Registration deadline November 15th, 2022 – additional fee applied to each exam for the late registration

More information about AP Exam:

AP Online Courses and Exams (Web)
Register for AP Exam (Web)
College Board student account help (Web)

Update from Counseling Corner Site

Worldwide WebiFairs- December 3rd register here
The University of British Columbia (UBC) Virtual Event December 3rd register here
Constructor University, formally known as Jacobs University Bremen Virtual Open Days (December 7th and 8th) register here

For more updates, please visit
Counseling Corner at BIS