21st Century Skills - The 4Cs

Learning and Innovation Skills - the 4Cs (for more info: 21st Century Skills)

1. Critical thinking
2. Creativity
3. Communication
4. Collaboration

I think I am fascinated with the 21st Century Skills because I did not learn in this fashion. When I was going to school in the 70s, these skills were almost not at all included in my learning. When I went back to the classroom in the 90s, as a teacher, I used these skills as an enrichment to the school experience. Now these skills are expected to be part of the learning for our students.

These skills change our expectations of students' learning. We do not want our students to read a book or listen to the teacher and repeat what we said. We want them to understand the big picture, make connections to their previous knowledge, discuss with their classmates and formulate their own schema of the new knowledge. There is also a major change in the expectation of the work that students produce. We expect every student to come up with a unique product using their preferred medium.

The teacher role needs to go through a shift from being the supplier of information to becoming a facilitator of learning. The teacher will not be giving the students the new knowledge but helping them to find resources, to ask good questions, and to formulate hypothesis and test them. And finally to communicate their findings in a clear and unique way.

Not an easy change, but definitely exciting!

Nihad Mourad

WASC Visit

Dear reader!

Welcome and assalam alaikum!

 

Last week I participated as a member of a WASC Visiting Team for 4 days in a nearby city. The team was assigned to visit a school and make accreditation recommendation to WASC. I worked with 3 other educators from diverse backgrounds visiting the school, reading their self-study report, and meeting with stakeholders to verify the content. Finally we wrote our own report and made our recommendations to WASC.

I really like the WASC process and I believe it is very beneficial. When I was the self-study coordinator in 2002, I saw firsthand how this process helped us evaluate our school and identify its areas of strength and areas of growth. Based on the later we wrote a 6-year action plan to address the school needs. WASC offers a sound detailed process and send educators from other schools to review your findings. Even though it's a lengthy and tedious process, when done properly, the WASC process really helps schools to improve.

Participating in the WASC process as a Visiting Team member has its benefits too. It allowed me to get to know another school on a much deeper level. This was eye-opening to me to see the similarities and differences among schools. I interviewed parents, students, teachers, staff, administrators and board members. This opened my eyes to what the different groups value and look for in a school. Finally I worked closely with 3 other educators; we basically were together for about 12 hours every day meeting people, discussing findings, reading and writing the report and eating and drinking. Very enriching experience!

Nihad Mourad

P.S. WASC is Western Association For Schools and Colleges

Important December Dates

Assalam Alaikum dear parents,
December is a short month at school but full of activities. Please mark your calendar:

• This week is GIS Spirit Week: Wednesday - Wear your gold and Thursday - Wear your Golden Eagle shirt. We will have Jamba Juice Jumua' at dismissal time on Friday.
• Next week is Scholastic Book Fair (Dec 9-13). Check the Parent Letter and Book Fair Webpage for details.
• Parent -Teacher conferences are scheduled on Monday, December 16. there is no school for students on that day. Please check your child's class Conference Page for your appointment time.
• First Trimester Award Ceremony for Grades 6-8 is scheduled on Tuesday, December 17 at 9:30am in the Masjid. Parents are welcome to join us!
• Tuesday, December 17 is a minimum day for students (8am-12pm). Teachers will have an In-Service on this day.
• Winter Break is two weeks long from Monday 12/23/2013 to Friday 1/3/2014.

Sincerely,
Nihad Mourad
Principal

"If you are grateful, I would certainly give you more"

Dear parents,

Assalam Alaikum. The end of the month of November brings with it the end of the first trimester and the Thanksgiving holiday. I pray that your family enjoys these few days off, and that our students come back to school in December refreshed and ready for more learning and growing.

Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.  As Americans, we are reminded to give thanks to God and to others. As Muslims we are taught that we need to be grateful all the time. Allah Taala says in the Quran, “If you are grateful, I would certainly give to you more…” (Ibrahim, 14:7). Being grateful is a quality of the Muslim and is the character of the believer. It is not surprising that recent research identified that being grateful has many benefits on the youth.

• Practicing gratitude at a young age promotes later development of self-control and self-regulation, sources of lifelong success.
• Gratitude helps foster positive emotions, and we know from research that positive emotions help students with the learning process.
• Grateful youth have higher GPA; experience more positive emotions; and ultimately go on to live more meaningful lives.
•  Gratitude among middle school students can foster an increased sense of hope and trust in others and fuel a desire to give back to their community.
•  Gratitude is a skill that can be taught at different age levels based on developmental readiness.
• Adults need to encourage children to say why they are grateful. As young as 1^st and 2^nd graders can practice that. Adults have to model that again and again for children to think more deeply in terms of why they’re grateful for someone or something.

Research of Giacomo Bono, Professor at California State University, Fullerton and The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

Resource: ASCD Education Update, November issue.

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

The CCSS initiative is a joint effort by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop a common core for K-12 standards in English language arts and Mathematics. The goal of the initiative is to develop internationally-benchmark standards that ensure all students are held to consistent expectations that will prepare them for college and career. To date 45 states adopted CCSS. The changes to expect are:

• Students will delve deeper into core concepts.
• Students will be expected to read more difficult text and discuss what they read at a more complex level. More focus will be on informational and expository text.
• Students will focus more on practical skills, so they will take the role of scientists, researchers, historians, …
• Students will take different types of assessment that will likely be more difficult. Instead of multiple choice tests, they will be writing essay responses, answering in-depth questions, analyzing, and synthesizing information.

To get better acquainted with the CCSS, we at GIS are partnering with the Santa Clara County Office of Education in two ways. First, we will send representatives from Granada to participate in the Curriculum Leadership Council at the County Office where they will work with other educators to create CCSS aligned units. Secondly, trainers from the County Office will deliver five training sessions, three of which on language arts and two on math this academic year.

Reminders

• November Newsletter has been mailed and posted on school website
• Monday 11/25, Tuesday 11/26 & Wednesday 11/27 are all minimum days (8am to 12pm)
• No School on Thursday 11/28 and Friday 11/29
• Next week is Spirit Week at GIS - 
• Tuesday - wear your red with your uniform
• Wednesday - wear your gold with your uniform
• Thursday - wear your school mascot shirt, The Golden Eagle
• Friday - Jamba Juice Jumua'h

Sincerely,

Nihad Mourad

Spelling Bee

Assalam Alaikum dear parents,

Yesterday we had the Spelling Bee Assembly for grades 4-8. The eight Finalists from each class competed to determine the School Champion: Rizq Khateeb (7th grade). The competition took about an hour, and it became very tense as the number of competing students became less and less. The audience were quietly cheering their classmates up on the stage and warmly comforting the ones who got eliminated. As the School Champion, Rizq is eligible to participate in the regional Spelling Bee and could potentially move on to the State and National Bees. Congratulations to the Spelling Bee Finalists: Alya Samsudin (4A), Asbah Wasim (4B), Saara Kharal (5A), Abdullah Naveed (5B), Humza Malik (6A), Dania Kirmani (6B), Rizq Khateeb (7A), and Nabeel Sabzwari (8A).

This week Granada students from all grades participated in Reading Buddies Activities. Children are paired with students from other grade levels to read to one another. The objective of this activity is to boost confidence in readers, as well as make reading exciting. This activity is repeated at GIS in every trimester. Students read in the grass area or at the masjid.

GIS will take a whole school panoramic picture next week (11/19). All students from PK to 8th grade will be included in the picture, even if they are not buying a picture. You will receive order information this week. Please fill a "Permission Denied" form if you do not wish your child to be included in the panoramic photo.

Students in grades 6-8 will have their final exams on the last of week of November: 11/25, 11/26, and 11/27. The finals schedule has been posted in the classrooms and published on the school website. These days will be minimum days for all students (8am to 12pm).

Please note that the school email distribution lists are a one-way communication from school to parents. They are not a parent discussion forum. Please review Parent/Student Handbook, Section 13.2, page 13. Emails sent by parents to the school list are not distributed to all parents.

Upcoming School Events in November:

• Nov 18-29 Arabic Online Book Fair
• Nov 19 - Panoramic Picture Day
• Nov 25, 26 & 27 - Min days (8am-12pm)
• Nov 28 & 29 - No School (Thanksgiving)

Sincerely

Nihad Mourad

School Updates

Assalam Alaikum dear parents,

Today is Jamba Juice Jumua'h at Granada! It's time for our monthly yearbook fundraiser. This activity will take place outside the Basketball Court from 3-4pm. Students may purchase a 12 oz. drink of either Pomegranate or Mango flavor for $3 (cash only). Twenty percent (20%) of the proceeds go to GIS yearbook.

Eid celebration photos have been uploaded on Granada's Facebook page. We also uploaded the Granada Section of the MCA Annual Report on Granada's homepage.

The October Newsletter will be mailed today and has been posted on the school website. Two highlights of this issue: 1) Parent survey results and 2) Bios of admin members and department heads.

About 20 Granada staff and students are participating in Givelights' 4th Annual Walkathon 2013 this Saturday. It's a great opportunity to meet outside of school, get some exercise and support a great cause. Personally I am planning to walk for 10K, insha Allah! Givelight's founder is a Granada parent, and Granada students and families were of the first supporters to this noble cause.

Reminders:

• Tonight is Board Parent Communication meeting at Maryam Hall at 6:45pm.
• Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday
• 1435 Islamic New Year starts on Monday

Have a blessed Friday!

Nihad Mourad

Principal

School News

Dear parents,
Assalam Alaikum.

I would like to thank the parents who organized the beautiful Eid celebration for our students. We had four activities happening simultaneously at four different locations, and this required careful planning and many volunteers. May Allah reward you all; it was a wonderful day for our children to celebrate Eidul-Adha together.

The Hajj Book Drive will be extended to Oct 30. This is an opportunity to honor your child with a book dedicated for our beautiful Granada Library. Your donation will enhance our library collection and encourage all students to become lifelong readers. Please read the parent letter for more details.

On Tuesday 10/22 a fire engine visited our school. Three firefighters from the local station gave presentations to our students (preschool to 4th grade) about fire safety. Students got to see the engine of the fire truck, the ladder extended more than 100 feet, and the captain climbing all the way to the top.

On Wednesday 10/23 we had our first Earthquake drill this year. Students practiced: Duck/Cover/and Hold then to evacuate outside. We usually have 3 earthquake drills per year.

Picture day retakes will take place next Tuesday 10/29. Who is Makeup Day for:

• students who were absent on individual portrait day,
• students who did not purchase a package on individual portrait day and would like to buy a package now, and
• students who purchased a picture package but would like to retake their picture.

Students who decide to have their portrait retaken should return all individual portraits to the photographer on October 29. They can keep the group picture as the new package will not contain class group picture.

We have an opening for Quran and Islamic Studies teacher for grades 3-5. Please advise any qualified candidates to send their resume to me very soon. This position is replacement for Ustadh Bilal El-Sakkah who will not be teaching at GIS any more. We wish him the best in his new endeavors! it was great having him around for students, teachers, and parents!

October newsletter will be sent home next week, insha Allah.

Sincerely,

Nihad Mourad

Principal