Like many languages, Hong Kong Chinese uses a myriad of idiomatic expressions or 成语/chengyu. One I recently learned is “Because you are greedy for the small thing, you end up losing the big thing” or tan xiao shi da/贪小失大 (Thanks for the CSP tip karl hanratty).

My first few days in this country has been bogged down with finding a flat. They’re tiny in this country for a lot of money (250 ft² for about US$2,000/month). I’ve seen around 10 in my short time under suffocating heat. And I still haven’t locked one in. It’s been a frustrating process to say the least.

But also in my short time here, I quickly got my HKID, opened a bank account, took the Star Ferry around Kowloon Bay, visited beautiful temples, shopped in bustling markets, and met some wonderful people.

American and Canadian Black History Month is in February. I realize that many of your schools might only have an handful of or even no people from the African Diaspora at your school. However, you can still celebrate Black History Month. If you’re not sure how this can be done, please check out some suggestions below:

1. Place biographies of famous Black people up on your walls in your classroom and around the school. (Not just MLK, Malcolm X, and Harriet Tubman)

2. Discuss the contributions Black people have made to the world. (Yes, for many you, this will require…

Sofia, Bulgaria

Today, I observed a brand new middle school elective this year, “HOGS” or “Hands On Green Stuff” taught by MS science teacher Lori Riggleman and assisted by secondary school secretary Krasimira Kodzhabasheva.

While the goal of this elective is to give hands-on experiences with gardening including planting, transplanting, thinning, composting, diagnosing, harvesting and more, Stevie, a 7th grade student, preferred to think of their roles this way:

“We’re playing God with little plants.”

Trimester One: Fall of 2016

In the first trimester, students focused on house plants and developed discreet gardening skills in controlled environments. They mostly worked from “starts” or seeds that…

On September 10, 2016, teams of educators from various schools within the CEESA, Central and Eastern Europe Association, including the International School of Prague, Cazech Republic; the American International School of Budapest, Hungary; the Anglo-American School of Sofia, Bulgaria; the International School of Helsinki, Finland and the International School of Brussels, Belgium met at ISH’s campus to join a growing number of international schools in a movement called Education for Social Innovation.

What is Social Innovation?

Social Innovation at the Anglo-American School of Sofia

After the orientation session in Helsinki, Finland, we returned to our respective cities. But unlike many conferences where you gather a plethora of information, return with too…

What is the meaning of where and when?

This essential question guided my English 9 students and me through our first unit. We read several short story memoirs and analyzed the authors’ choice of setting, character development, plot structure, stylistic devices and how all of them helped to develop themes.

As a final written assessment for the first unit students wrote their own personal narratives, their own memoirs.

Below are the CCSS assessment criteria for their final pieces, all of which was taught through analyzing other texts and focused writing mini-lessons:

• W3A: Engage and orient the reader by setting out…

In their essays “Mother Tongue” and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Amy Tan and Gloria Anzaldúa explore the connection between the “languages” they speak and the role these have played in shaping and reflecting their identities.

IB Year 1 English Language & Literature HL, Part 1, Written Task Assignment

To develop skills for the IB Lang/Lit Written Task, students answered this prompt after studying Part 1 of the course, Language in Cultural Context:

What are the different “languages” you use? When and why? …

“According to Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, there can be no clear detailed thought without speech or the acquisition of articulated language” (Allison and Chanen, 36)

Ultimately, that means that every teacher is a language teacher at the heart of his or her discipline. To teach content or skills, students need the words to talk about them. Yet, too often vocabulary isn’t explicitly taught. So here are some tips.

Marzano’s Six-Step Process to Teaching Academic Vocabulary

1. Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
2. Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.
3. Ask…

Today, the new hires of 2016–2017 stepped foot on the campus of the Anglo-American School of Sofia, home of the wolves. The campus is located on the southeast outskirts of the capital of Bulgaria. It is nestled at the foot of the Vitosha mountains.