Outlining plans:
1st) Present findings about Iowa / Chicago Second Language Programs to other education leaders in Brazil.
- Showing our BNCs’ educators what we have observed is a way of enhancing their cultural knowledge for those who haven’t had an opportunity to immerge in the North American culture nor had the chance of getting to know further about the educational trends among some American renowned schools
- We also should be commited to providing awareness on behavioral adjustment to all the parts involved in the process.
Lia Plankans through her research and teaching that mainly focus on assessment introduced us to what she called Assessment Literacy, which we found very enriching indeed. A similar Special Project will be implemented in our BNCs, which means: you test what you need to be tested, so you think about what is necessary to change. For instance, there are times in which grammar needs to be tested while others don’t.
As shown below, based on Dr. Plankans’s model, there is a brand-new Graded System has recently been developed for one of the BNCs:
Graded System
- Mid-term Exam: 20 points
- Composition: 05 points
- Interactive Reader: 10 points
- Special Project: (Oral Part: 20 points; Written Part: 10 points) – 30 points
- Final Exam: 20 points
- Commitment: 15 points (Review and Check + Student´s Self-Assessment)
Score Passing Grade: 70%
Attendance: 70%
Furthermore, having visited West Liberty Elementary and learned more about their dual-language program was a unique opportunity of learning more about the power of Mindset and really notice how the entire school is exposed to this new behavioral and cognitive approach.
All the posters, pictures and sentences on their boards were completely based on mind setting techniques, which are very useful and will certainly be adopted by us and adapted to our realities.
And last but not least, The Academy for Global Citizenship of Chicago offered us the opportunity to become more aware of our important role of educators concerning of a more civilized society, in which students are taught to constantly think about their impact on their communities.
Sustainability, flexibility and a collaborative environment through democracy – horizontal model of leadership – ties up with a more student-centered style, which will also be implemented in our schools by transforming our management system into a way of making everyone naturally committed to common purposes.
2nd) Identify areas in one’s program school or district that can begin adapting similar organizational or pedagogical practices from Iowa / Chicago schools.
- As exchange BNC supervisors, we were able to experience different learning environments and profit from them. Having the chance of dealing with different realities and comparing them to ours was a project milestone;
- We believe that “all areas” in our BNCs will certainly benefit, such as: reception desks, libraries, teachers, students and parents; since we are responsible for sharing and implementing all the acquired information during this program.
POSSIBLE SETBACKS THAT MAY OCCUR DURING THE PROCESS OF IMPLEMENTING THE CRITICAL THINKING PHILOSOPHY
- Cultural conflicts
- Limited budget
- Fear of leaving the comfort zone
- Difficulty in staff engagement in the process of changing behaviour
3rd) Establish professional development sessions for teachers and administrators in Brazil on issues such as innovation, creativity and leadership.
- After this Language Programwe have got to a conclusion: schools need to be in constant “movement” as Education has got no boundaries;
- Working on Human Capital Managementis the key to success and brings about improvement in all areas;
- And last but not least, developing a sense of awarenessconcerning what should be done in terms of individuals (in charge of their own learning and teaching processes) is essential to a healthier society.
Establishing a common Coach Teaching Program in which we will share our knowledge and strengthen our bonds as BNCs is absolutely recommended to survive in an aggressive chain-school market. Considering distance among our schools, implementing a virtual project is our first plan to save costs and bring about innovation, using our own staff through a collaborative creative environment.
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
- REVIEW DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES FOR EACH SCHOOL AREA
- IMPLEMENT CRITICAL THINKING APPROACH TO THE FACULTY MEMBERS, THROUGH PERIODICAL MEETINGS, TRANING SESSIONS, WORKSHOPS AND WEBINARS BEGINNING A NEW METHODOLOGICAL PHASE IN ORDER TO PREPARE BOTH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS FOR THE 21STCENTURY SKILLS.
- ATTEMPT TO IMPLEMENT CRITICAL THINKING APPROACH:
- ASSESSMENT THROUGH PBL – PROJECT BASED LEARNING – DIFFERENT STEPS OF THE PROJECT RELATED TO THE PRACTICE OF THE FOUR LANGUAGE SKILLS.
- CO-TAUGHT CLASSES: TEACHERS WILL BE ENCOURAGED AND TRAINED TO PREPARE CLASS PLANS FOCUSINGON CO-TEACHING AT A MINIMUM OF 1 CLASS A MONTH BASIS.
- PULL-OUT CLASSES: A FOLLOW UP PROGRAM WILL BE HELD WITHTHE OBJECTIVE OF EITHER SUPPORTING OR REINFORCING CONTENT FOR STUDENTS’ SPECIFIC NEEDS.
TECHNOLOGY
- BRINGING UP THE ISSUE CONCERNING A SPECIFIC AREA FOR TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT TO THE CLASS-ROOM, MAKING ALL THE STAFF AWARE OF HOW IMPORTANT AND ESSENTIAL TECHNOLOGY BASED LEARNING IS NOWADAYS.
CONCLUSION
Based on the inferences above mentioned, we conclude that the expertise provided by the FDE program sponsored by the American Embassy along with the Department of State will bring deep and substantial changes in our managerial and educational system, thus involving the entire community. Furthermore we believe that our American Spaces will probably have an outstanding projection in our environment which is one of our main expectations. This will definitely help us consolidate credibility in our society.
Finally, we are conscious that it is an endless and changeable plan and that it may be reviewed from time to time so that we can adapt it to our necessities
Atualmente, estão surgindo muitas notícias referentes à novas metodologias, inovações fora e dentro das salas de aula, novo currículo, desenvolvimento de habilidades interpessoais, socioemocionais, entre outros. Mas, dentre todos esses assuntos, um deve ganhar grande destaque – o mindset.
Advancing Knowledge of the United States ESL and ELL Curriculum 
