Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Celebramos juntos la Semana de la Tierra 2020


¿Cómo celebramos los 50 años del día de la Tierra?

Este año ha sido diferente la realización de las actividades de la Semana de la Tierra debido a la pandemia del coronavirus.

La invitación  se realizó a través de  redes sociales, correos electrónicos, página web de la Semana de la Tierra y mensajes por Whatsapp al grupo de docentes, para que toda la comunidad educativa participara en las diferentes actividades de la Semana de la Tierra sin salir de casa.

El reto era explorar el jardín y tomarles fotografías a la vida silvestres y plantas para conocer sobre la fauna y flora de El Salvador, luego las compartimos a través de las diferentes plataformas que cuenta la biblioteca del LRC.




Sembrar nuestra propias verduras y hortalizas durante la cuarentena es una buena opción de comer fresco y saludable.








Clases de cocina mágica en microondas con 
Mrs.Garcia a través de Google Meet.





No podemos olvidar esta fecha tan importante porque nuestro compromiso de cuidar el planeta es de todos.
¡Gracias a los estudiantes y docentes por ser parte de la celebración del día de la Tierra!

Fotos en Flickr Earth Week 

Equipo LRC

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Covid-19, Closures and Coming Together as a Community

Some might think that a global pandemic, which requires school closures and social distancing would really isolate students and teachers, and separate them from teaching and learning. I have to say that the experiences we have had at our school so far despite being physically separated from our campus, classrooms, and students and them from us, have been positive, productive and united in so many ways. 

As a teacher, I have found distance teaching to be somewhat intense at times. I sometimes feel that it is not always possible to give my students the right amount of personalized support through a Google Meet lesson when compared to a physical classroom. However, as we enter our second month of school closure I have found small ways of coping with this, and students have really stepped up and embraced their online classroom culture. The situation has brought out the best in all of us, pushed us past what we may have thought our zones of proximal development were, and proven just how creative, openminded, and resilient we all are.

It isn't easy, students, their parents, and teachers are working extra hard to make this function, but attitude makes all the difference. I saw a post a few weeks ago that caught my attention, as I was teaching encryption and decryption to my 11th grades. It is a bit shallow but at the same time an enjoyable activity to engage in.   Basically, it demonstrated that while...

E   F   F   O   R   T
5   6   6   15   19  20  = 69%

A   T   T    I   T   U   D   E
1   20  20  9  20   21  4   5  =100%


I would add to that ...

R    E    S    I    L    I   A   N   C   E. 
18   5   20   9  12    9   1   14  3   5 =96%

All fun encoding exercises aside, I do believe we will do more than simply succeed in getting through these tough times. I believe with the right attitude,  and enough effort and resilience, we will thrive,  albeit differently, from the ways we would in regular school, but thrive just the same, as we devise creative ways to move the teaching and learning forward. As Horace said, "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant." Adversity prods us into action and forces us to use our creativity, rethink our methodology and implement our creativity.

In addressing some of the potential issues which could be seen to some extent as potential barriers, we have found ways at the LRC to continue to support our students and teachers, as well as provide an incredible variety of resources for them to use during school closure. 

The world has come together through social distancing. So many companies have opened up their doors and provided free resources to teachers, students, and parents all over the world, free of charge during school closures. We have been compiling the best of what we have come across on our LRC website. In doing so we have had to reorganize the home page 4 times in the last month just to accommodate all of the wonderful learning resources. We would like to invite anyone who reads this post to visit the website and peruse all of the COVID Closure resources at their leisure. 

In addition, the companies that provide us with paid subscription services have also provided us with short term access to a wealth of journals, magazines, research archives, and ebooks. These are fully accessible to all members of our school community with a school GSuite account.

The library staff members, in conjunction with the ICT department, have now moved all of our Term 3 events, as well as those from Term 2, which were canceled due to school closure, online. 

Our  Earth Week Website has launched today and Book Week starts on Monday both feature a variety of daily activities for students and their families to engage in at home. Members of the community are encouraged to submit digital images and videos of their activities, which will be posted on the various sites to share with the community. 

The 2020 Digital Video Awards have also been moved online and voting on student videos from 1st to 12th grade takes place this coming weekend. Our STEAM Fest Event, which we had set up for the afternoon before the Ministry of Education closed all schools, will also take place online with galleries of students' projects visible for the community to enjoy, via our STEAM Fest Website. 

The LRC Recilectura Club that focuses on Earth-friendly reading activities, has also moved online. Students requested that we continue running it and have pitched in their ideas for building the club's online presence. The Microwave Magic Cooking Club for senior students will continue this month, online as well. 

When considered all of this in conjunction with the many other clubs and activities being run by staff members and departments, activities which include special opportunities for teachers such as Taskmaster competitions and free yoga lessons, as well, the richness, the versatility, the flexibility and evident enthusiasm for online learning experiences become readily apparent.

Now, if we put all of this into a global perspective and consider that other schools and other organisations around the world are also engaged in building creative, accessible experiences and activities for their communities,  as well as providing support fo community members with a lesser degree of access to technology; it is impossible to not feel a certain level of pride in humanity. Schools are certainly not perfect and we won't get it right all the time, but educators, parents, students, and their school communities are resilient and are amazing at making lemonade from lemons. It is truly exciting and heartwarming to think that the world has pulled together, in such times of great uncertainty, adversity, and tragedy. 


Student Access to Online Reading Materials



Dear Parents and Students, 

The LRC wants to ensure that you have continued access to quality reading materials throughout the school closure weeks. In doing so we would like to remind the community about the various options we have available and clarify any concerns you may have.

Please note that during this time, the LRC Library System will not be generating late/missing book messages or fines. We have set up the system in such a way for the closures that this should not be an issue. Students and parents need not worry about this. 

The ABC through the LRC has invested in several options for online reading for students from KS3-IB. All of these are available through the LRC Website, which is easily accessible 24 hours a day 7 days a week through the Student Portal section of the ABC Website.

At the LRC we have been busily updating our website to include a great many online magazines, databases, and fiction collections thanks to the generosity of EBSCO, Gale, JSTOR, and Audible, which can be accessed during the school closure.

These can be accessed along with all of our regular resources from the home page.

We hope you will check back regularly and encourage your children to take advantage of this opportunity.

Regards,
The LRC Staff Members


Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Dia Internacional del Libro


'Desde 1955 la Unesco decide rendir homenaje a los libros y autores. De igual manera busca promover el placer por la lectura en los jóvenes y por eso el 23 de abril de cada año se celebra el Día Internacional del Libro. Fomentando de esta forma la Industria Internacional del Libro y la Propiedad Intelectual΅.

΅Dentro de los esfuerzos de la Unesco por impulsar la lectura a nivel mundial cada año promueve una ciudad que contribuya en el desarrollo de actividades y proyectos relacionados a la industria del libro, accesibilidad digital y empoderamiento de los niños a través de la lectura y este año la Directora de la Unesco nombró a la ciudad de Kuala Lumpur en el país de Malasia΅. 

Esta es una buena oportunidad para que nuestro país pueda contribuir al fortalecimiento de la lectura y asi talvez un dia poder ser seleccionados por la Unesco como capital del libro.
Empoderando a nuestros estudiantes y traer nuevamente el hábito lector que teníamos cuando éramos pequeños. Sabemos que la lectura por placer nos beneficia y nos permite ampliar nuestro vocabulario, nuestra redacción y nuestra forma de pensar a parte que nos abre muchas puertas.

Quedarse en casa es oportuno para practicar nuevamente la lectura, puedes buscar aquel libro que tanto te gusto cuando eras pequeño, o la recomendación que te hizo algún amigo, maestro o bibliotecario de acuerdo a tu género literario.

En el LRC, siempre tenemos diferentes actividades y este año las vamos a realizar de forma virtual. Desde ya los invitamos a que la próxima semana nos puedan acompañar en cada una de las actividades que hemos planificado. 

Hoy contamos con muchas plataformas digitales y recursos disponibles desde nuestra página web, donde puedes encontrar libros en línea, audibles, revistas, etc. al igual que muchas otras fuentes o bases de datos que están disponibles de forma gratuita durante esta pandemia para poder aprovechar nuestro tiempo y nada mejor que la lectura por placer en nuestro tiempo de ocio.

Te invitamos a que estés visitando nuestra página web y puedas disfrutar de cada una de las actividades que estaremos compartiendo y de esta forma poder contribuir al esfuerzo de la Unesco en la promoción de la lectura.



Citas:  
Wikipedia, Dia Internacional del Libro
Consultado 20 de abril del 2020

Wikipedia, Capital Mundial del Libro de La UNESCO 2020
Consultado 20 de abril del 2020

Equipo LRC

Monday, April 20, 2020

Semana de la Tierra 2020


El día de hoy se celebra el Día de la Tierra. Han pasado 50 años desde que este día sirve como recordatorio del rol de la humanidad en la preservación de nuestro medio ambiente y sirve para realizar acciones que traigan a luz la importancia del cuidado de nuestro planeta. Sin embargo, este año será celebrado mientras cumplimos con las medidas de aislamiento y distanciamiento social recomendadas por los organismos de salud a causa de la pandemia que ha afectado el mundo entero.

Cada año el día de la tierra tiene un tema y se celebra con diferentes actividades. Este año el tema es “Acción Climática”. Dicha acción se refiere a los esfuerzos necesarios para frenar los bruscos cambios que la actividad humana genera en los patrones de la naturaleza y buscar maneras de interactuar con la Tierra que sean más sustentables y menos invasivas. 

Las medidas de distanciamiento social han permitido darle un respiro al planeta. Imágenes satelitales muestran gran reducción en la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero hacia la atmósfera antes y después de las medidas de cuarentena, a medida que la actividad humana disminuye.

Debido a que gran parte de la población mundial se encuentra dentro de casa para evitar la propagación del virus, se han planeado actividades del día de la Tierra en diversas plataformas digitales. Es importante este día, recordar la importancia de cuidar nuestro planeta y estar conscientes que dependemos de él para nuestra supervivencia. Por eso debemos aprovechar y acompañar las diferentes actividades virtuales para aprender más sobre nuestro planeta y buscar maneras de contribuir a su cuidado. Quedarse en casa no debe ser excusa para no apreciar nuestra naturaleza y conocer su importancia. Además de trazar nuevas actitudes y hábitos para contribuir a la sustentabilidad y al balance con el medio ambiente. 

En el marco del 50 aniversario del día de la Tierra, invitamos a la comunidad a reflexionar sobre nuestros roles y nuestros impactos en la sustentabilidad de la vida y los ecosistemas en la Tierra, especialmente en estos momentos donde podemos claramente ver la manera en que nuestra actividad y nuestras dinámicas influyen en la salud de nuestra casa común.

Encuentra diferentes actividades sobre la semana de la tierra en nuestro sitio web LRC Earth Week

Equipo LRC