Interview with our talented dancers and world champions, Jayce and Naveh, ahead of their performance at IS Ruhr Unplugged!

In anticipation of our upcoming IS Ruhr Unplugged event on 5 December, two of our Grade 11 CAS students, Masha and Yu Su, sat down with Jayce and Naveh from Grade 8, who will be lighting up the dance floor that evening. In this interview, they share insights into their preparation, the passion behind their routines, and what inspires them to dance. Alongside the interview, we're thrilled to showcase a video preview of their dance moves, giving everyone a taste of what’s to come. Don’t miss this behind-the-scenes look, and be sure to join us for what promises to be an unforgettable performance!  

Fostering Empathy in the Classroom: Key Takeaways from the AGIS Conference

In September 2024, teachers from the Early Years, Primary Years, and Secondary Years at IS Ruhr attended the AGIS Conference, with "Empathy" as a theme this year. The Association of German International Schools (AGIS) is a network that brings together international schools across Germany to share knowledge, best practices, and resources. This year's conference focused on the importance of empathy in education, offering practical strategies for educators to implement in the classroom. To better understand how the conference impacted our colleagues who attended, we interviewed them to find out more! In this blog post, they share their key takeaways, how empathy is shaping their approach to teaching and supporting students, and why empathy is so important in our diverse international community. Read on to learn how these reflections are shaping their approach to fostering a compassionate learning environment. Q1: What were your key takeaways from the training on empathy, and how has it changed your perspective on teaching? Ms Kirsty: Understand that each person comes to school that day with different levels of stress. Some may have had a wonderful morning. Someone may have been in or observed an argument. Someone may be losing a family member. Understand that people's needs and behaviours will differ according to what is happening in their life right now. Ms Marga: Sometimes, people simply need someone who will listen without judgment. When someone shares their struggles with you, ask how you can support them rather than jumping in with solutions. A simple “I’m here for you” or “What do you need right now?” can make a significant difference and show that you genuinely care about them. Ms Yuni: The importance of understanding students' unique perspectives and the role of empathy in building a supportive classroom community. Creating an inclusive and respectful learning environment. Ms Rebecca: This was key: direct action that you can take a person and educator. Actively seek out unique and challenging perspectives (be aware of the digital echo chamber). Create habitual check-ins with your team/class - be curious but respectful. Choose your environment carefully when building connections/developing empathy Model vulnerability (within reason) and you can help model empathy. Offer (or find) varying and conflicting perspectives/viewpoints - empathy isn’t about agreeing, it’s about having enough viewpoints to make the right decision . Look at the tools/events you’re already using - add stories and diverse perspectives into these. Q2: How do you plan to integrate empathy into your teaching (Early Years, Primary Years, Secondary Years)? Ms Kirsty: We have implemented a calm tool box and area in EY3 where children can go if they need some personal space to calm down or be alone. Ms Marga: I am thinking of using the template ("How to Work Best with Me") from Ms Rebecca´s sessions. This will be posted in the classroom. Ms Yuni: In Grade 2, I use stories, and discussions to help students recognize and respect others' feelings and experiences. Regular reflective activities will also encourage them to consider the impact of their actions on others. Ms Rebecca: As part of my inclusion teaching as well as striving to have empathy at the heart of all my interactions with students, staff and the community. Q3: Were there specific strategies or methods that you found helpful for fostering empathy in students? Ms Kirsty: Showing simple videos that give a glimpse of how others' lives are, and that some people face problems such as hunger and illness. This helps the children to refelct on their own lives and discuss problems they may need help with or empathise that others may have difficulties they face each day. Ms Marga: In my Grade 8 English class, I have students rewrite scenes from our current book from different characters' perspectives. This activity enhances their empathy and understanding of character motivations, showing them that every story has multiple viewpoints. It not only improves their literary analysis but also fosters appreciation for diverse perspectives in real life. Ms Yuni: Exercises and modeling empathetic language are effective ways to help students understand and express empathy. Ms Rebecca: Yes, sharing a video, picture or sound track and reflecting on how the students feel before and after engaging with it. What do they have in common with others? Q4: In your opinion, how can parents support the development of empathy at home to reinforce what is taught at school? Ms Kirsty: When a child has had conflicts with other children, recognise that each child may have issues they are facing that they do not know about. To support their child in facing issues and problems and supporting them with problem-solving techniques to be able to work through these situations themselves. Ms Marga: Parents can help build empathy at home by encouraging their children to share their feelings, knowing that they are being listened to and understood. Ms Yuni: Parents can encourage empathy at home by discussing feelings openly and modeling empathetic behavior in everyday situations, which reinforces what students learn at school. Ms Rebecca: Parents can encourage empathy at home by sharing a range of view points and perspectives with their children. Q5: Why do you believe it is especially important to teach and promote empathy within the context of an international school? Ms Kirsty: We have many cultures in our community and it is a perfect setting to learn respect and understanding of the many different languages, religions, races, traditions etc. Ms Marga: In a multicultural setting, misunderstandings can easily arise. Empathy helps students navigate cultural differences and resolve conflicts peacefully. Ms Yuni: Empathy is essential in an international school as it helps students appreciate and understand diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives, fostering a respectful, globally-minded community. Ms Rebecca: Because students are interacting everyday with members of our school community who have very different life experiences and come from all over the world.  

Exploring Grade 5 Perspectives: Insights into the PYP Exhibition Journey  

The PYP Exhibition (PYPX) is a special event that marks the culmination of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) journey for Grade 5 students. It provides them with an opportunity to showcase their learning, skills, and interests through an in-depth inquiry into real-world issues. As the PYPX is a unique and significant milestone in their academic journey, we held interviews with all Grade 5 students to gain insights into their exhibition experiences and progress. Q1: What inspired you to choose this particular topic for your exhibition? S: I chose it because I also have ADHD, and I wanted to know more about it. I thought I could explain to people about what ADHD is. ADHD doesn’t play a big role and not everyone knows about it. E: My topic is about Down syndrome. I chose it because my little sister has it, and I want to inform other people about it. K/M/R: The main reason why I [R] took this topic, literacy, is because it's something I like. I started with it with 3 years. I like action and drama, and I could read and write at the age of 3. I got trained at home. I [M] chose this topic because I found it interesting that so many kids at school don’t read and write so much. M: It inspired me because half of my life I started with sports, and it was one of the most important things what I have right now. I knew I wanted to choose it. Basically, I work out every day. Hopefully, one day I can compete in the sport I would like to and hopefully win something. I want to show people how nice exercising could be. P: I love fashion, and I wanted to make it myself and I put some makeup and had some allergies on my face, so I chose makeup for my exhibition Q2: Can you tell me about one surprising thing you've discovered during your research? S: ADHD has really good things, actually more good things than bad things. A good thing would be that they have a lot of creativity and can feel how other people feel. E: There are many famous people with it {Down syndrome]. Some of them are actors or models. K/M/R: One surprising thing is that 750 million adults and 250 million kids can't read and write. This is almost the population of Europe. We did a survey and found out in grade 1 not many kids read or write at home so much. That was really surprising because usually, kids practice at home to improve. M: It was like how big is mental health. It has a really big impact on your physical health. You also have to have a good mindset to be physically fit. Even big athletes say that. P: It surprised me that humans are comfortable about wearing makeup; it makes them feel confident. It's like a standard for social events. It shocked me that they put everything on animals to test it, makeup, foundation, and everything, It's part of my action to create makeup. They can do it by themselves, and I can help them. Q3: What challenges have you faced during your preparation, and how have you overcome them? S: I had some problems with researching. I had some help from Ms Jessee, my mom, and Elisabeth. They tried to help me on the internet E: I also had problems to research, and I had some help from Sophia, Ms Jessee, my mom, and Sophia, and our mentor, Ms Eszter. Our mentor is helping us for getting more information. We see them once a week so that they know what we have done so far. K/M/R: We faced a kind of problem, we were just thinking of our action plan and we were thinking about making a book about literacy. We didn’t have time so we decided to make a video. Editing the video was not easy, we had to review it many times but in the end, it got quite good. It were not so many challenges because we were working together in a group. You can help each other and it is much easier. M: Time management was a challenge and it was a lot of pressure. You are always not sure if they're gonna like it. I did a training session with grade 6 with a warm-up and a cool down. With different movements and the cool down was some stretching. Before, I was talking about warm-up. It was a challenge because of the planning of the session. Make sure everything works perfectly and exercise, and I was super excited. I overcame it by doing it, and then I was asking myself why was I so excited before. P: It is so hard to do the action. It took me like two days to do it. My interview days were so hard because I was doing two people, and it was a bit hard to reach them in India. I just stayed persistent. Q4: What do you hope people will take away from your exhibition after they've seen it? S: That they learn more about ADHD, that it doesn't matter how someone looks, and that what matters is what is inside E: That they learn that it doesn't matter how people look and that every person is special, and that every person does what they want to do. K/M/R: They could learn new strategies to improve their literacy skills. I [R] just want them to understand that literacy is important in their life. They think reading a few pages is enough. If they understand that so many people and kids can't read or write, they can take action for themselves to succeed, and then they know how to take action for others. M: I hope that people like to exercise. I did a survey which was pretty good. 60 percent like to exercise, and I want to get the other people to like it, to do exercises and find out what the benefits are. P: I hope they feel like that they read the labels and will buy something natural and healthy for their skin.