IN THIS ISSUE   
GLC Attracts Global Attendees
IB Summer Workshops Filling Quickly
Water Educational Exchange II
International Classroom: Virtual High School Offers IB Courses Online
Third International College Fair Date Announced

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WEE II Registration
CASIE in the News: Proposed Georgia Language Education Legislation
Register for IB Training Workshops
Global Language Convention Schedule

GLC Attracts Global Attendees

Following months of planning, CASIE is excited to welcome attendees from all over the world to the Global Language Convention happening later this month. April 17 through 20, people from over 22 countries will gather at Atlanta International School to learn and share information about language immersion programs and language learning. The convention features presenters from eleven different countries ranging from Belgium to Argentina to Thailand. People representing six continents will be on hand to share information.

The International Baccalaureate’s Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors will be held in Atlanta during the same time, making the weekend an even further global event. As part of the IB’s Annual Meeting, attendees of the Global Language Convention will have the opportunity to see the annual Peterson Lecture featuring His Highness The Aga Khan. The Peterson Lecturers address the need for universal education across national and political boundaries while recognizing that the essence of national identity rests in education, that standards need to be raised according to individual competence and that students do not learn the same way throughout the world. Visit the IB’s website for more information on the Peterson Lectures.

IB Summer Workshops Filling Quickly
By Ayesha Siraj, CASIE Registrar

The past few months have been a busy time for CASIE with IB workshop registrations. We have received close to 1,000 registrations in our PYP, MYP and DP workshops. We are delighted to host a diverse group of participants from all over the United States as well as around the world. As a result of this steady flow of registrations most of our workshop sessions in the PYP and MYP are full. However, seats are still available for our IB Diploma Programme. To learn about availability in the various workshops and/or to join the waitlist please visit us at www.casieonline.org/index.cfm.

A waitlist is started when there are no seats available in a workshop. To join the waitlist you follow the same steps as when you are registering for the workshop. Waitlist requests are processed in the order in which they are received and must be submitted online. We notify the participant and the IB Coordinator via e-mail if availability for a subject becomes open. To secure the seat the participant or the IB Coordinator must send us written confirmation (via email or fax) of their acceptance within four business days. If a confirmation is not received within four days, the seat is offered to the next participant on the waitlist.

We are looking forward to welcoming all our participants this summer.

Water Educational Exchange: May 7, 2008
By Lynne McClendon, CrossWorlds Director

What happens when science, social studies, and journalism intersect?  Answer: Great learning experiences for students in understanding science in a social context—two complimentary and necessary lenses for understanding our world.  High school teachers of science, social studies and journalism are invited to participate in a day-long seminar designed to provide teachers with lessons, tools and resources to use with students for understanding both the science involved with current water issues as well as the social implications. In addition to hands on activities and simulations which can be translated into student practices, Mr. Paul Ankcorn of the U.S. Geological Services will present on current water conditions affecting Georgia.  A kaleidoscope view of waters practices, concerns and projects around the world will also be shared.   Teachers will receive information about many water-related projects and competitions for students in preparation for the upcoming school year as well as receive materials and a disk of water-related information. Participants will attend the WEE I Awards Luncheon with the opportunity of seeing the award-winning power point presentations submitted by schools participating in the 2007 WEE I.

Registration deadline: April 7, 2008, online at www.casieonline.org.

Coming Soon to an IB World School Near You: Virtual Classrooms for DP Students
Part of the International Classroom Series, showing international education in practice.
By Liz Pape, President and CEO, Virtual High School Global Consortium

This September, Virtual High School Global Consortium will be offering online Diploma Programme (DP) courses to students in IB World schools. Virtual High School (VHS) will be offering Economics SL and Information Technology in a Global Society (ITGS) HL entirely online over two years. Online students will sit for the external examinations in May 2010, as well as take all internal assessments over the course of the two-year courses. For additional information about the courses, and to register your students, go to: www.goVHS.org/IB. Registration is open, and will remain open until September 1. Classes begin September 3, 2008.

Global classrooms. Many smaller IB World schools struggle to offer the full complement of IB courses needed to complete the Diploma Programme. Online DP courses give schools the opportunity to not only offer more courses, but VHS online DP courses also give students the opportunity to take an online course with students from all over the world. Dan Auger, ITGS teacher who also teaches face-to-face classes at the Zurich International School, believes virtual classrooms made up of students from all over the world offer unique benefits.

“The regional mix helps kids look beyond their region, city, state or country. Even if kids are just from different states, this is enough to get them thinking how things are different and similar. International kids always help bring a global perspective. I think, more than my face to face class, it has been an added benefit of bringing that perspective and point of view to American kids in my online course. Being French Canadian and living in different countries, I bring them a much different perspective about Technology than they would get in their regular local high school.”

How does it work? The online DP courses will be offered only to IB World school students, and are taught by experienced IB classroom teachers who have been trained by VHS to teach online. Courses are delivered over the Internet, using the Blackboard learning management system platform. Students should plan to take these courses as part of their school day, but will not need to be scheduled into the course at a particular time. VHS courses are offered asynchronously, meaning that the course instructor and students do not all need to log in at the same time, because course activities, including online discussions, readings, team activities and presentations, are accomplished through online discussion forums. As part of the Economics or ITGS studies, students will be using Web 2.0 tools such as Wikis and Blogs as they learn with other students from around the world.

For more information about these online courses, visit the VHS website: www.goVHS.org/IB.

Third Annual International College Fair Date Announced

CASIE is pleased to announce the date for the third International College and University Fair. The Fair will be held in cooperation with the Council of International Schools on Saturday, September 20, 2008. As previous years, the fair will be held at Atlanta International School in Atlanta, Georgia. IB students grades 10 through 12 are encouraged to attend and meet with university representatives from throughout the world. The 2007 fair attracted over 70 universities from 8 different countries.

Registration will open in early summer. Students must register through their IB Coordinator or Counselor. Please check our website for updates.

PAST ISSUES          Jan-March '08         Sept-Nov '07

Notes from Alex

As I write this, we are gearing up for what promises to be a momentous event for CASIE – the 2008 Global Language Convention. We are collaborating with the International Baccalaureate as we showcase the best in dual language education from around the world. Six of the eight featured schools are IB schools, and it will be interesting to see how they have chosen their very different ways of integrating dual language programs into IB programs. The two non-IB schools also offer a very different approach to language education in an international framework and will, I know, be of great interest to language educators.

In addition to the featured school presentations, I am excited about our keynote speakers and the tremendous variety of workshops that we are offering. To add to the professional feast, participants will be able to see Atlanta at its most beautiful, with the azaleas and dogwoods in full bloom, and enjoy a wonderful gala dinner at the Piedmont Driving Club, a feature of Atlanta society for well over 100 years.

The IB is holding its Annual Meeting in Atlanta at the same time as the Global Language Convention, and will be celebrating its 40th anniversary with some special events. The main sessions of the IB meeting will be held at North Atlanta High School, including the Peterson Lecture, which will be simulcast to Atlanta International School for GLC participants. The Peterson Lecture this year will be a very special event as His Highness the Aga Khan will be the speaker. His Higness has long had a deep interest in international and language education, and his foundation has sponsored the development of a growing number of schools throughout the world. I am looking forward very much to hearing his perspective on issues relating to education. His presence in Atlanta for this auspicious gathering will certainly generate a great deal of interest.

In addition to the GLC, we are continuing preparation for our regular round of IB training workshops. We have signed up a very experienced group of presenters, and expect to host a record number of participants for our June, July and October sessions this year. In fact, many of our sessions for this summer are already oversubscribed with waiting lists.

There many other facets of CASIE that continue to grow. We are working with several new clients (mostly US public school districts) as seek to implement IB programs. It is gratifying to see how rapidly IB is growing in the US, as this demonstrates a real desire in the community to see improved standards and the development of a global perspective.

I am currently serving on a Task Force on Modern Languages and Latin which was set up Georgia Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox, and is chaired by CASIE board member Elizabeth Webb. Working with educators from across Georgia who would like to see genuine progress in the language offerings in public schools is extremely rewarding. We are focusing on language offerings in the middle school as a preparation for high school courses, but would also like to see considerable expansion of programs in Georgia’s elementary schools. An overarching consideration is the absolute need for courses to be sequential and meaningful so that students can develop genuine proficiency in a second language.

All in all, 2008 promises to be a most exciting year for CASIE, and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our various events. Please feel free to contact me at alex.horsley@casieonline.org at any time if I can help you with any questions related to international or language education.

Best wishes,

Alex Horsley

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