AISL seniors had an excellent advisory discussion with Ms. Terry Maguire, Secondary Librarian, & Mr. Tony Potts, K-12 Tech Integration & Primary Asst. Principal, centered around the topic of digital footprints versus digital tattoos this Wednesday.
 
Students explored the different connotations of tattoos- which are actively chosen, permanent, and meant to say something meaningful about the person vs. digital footprints- which tend to be passively left.
 
In trios, students looked at each others’ social media feeds to see what type of impressions the other students in their group had created for themselves on-line. Students were encouraged to be more intentional and deliberate in curating their on-line presence so that it shows the student’s interests, career aspirations, and contributions. Students who felt that traces of their on-line presence were less than flattering are working on adding more to their social media feeds to show maturation and new directions. 

This lesson was part of a secondary scope and sequence of digital citizenship classes developed & led by Ms. Maguire & Mr. Potts as part of the advisory program. If you're curious to learn more about the topics discussed throughout these sessions, please visit the AISL Middle School Advisory Libguide or the AISL High School Advisory Libguide (password is the same as for parent portal or see a member of our library staff).

The AISL Library is excited to partner with Penguin Random House publishers of Zambia to bring you a book fair on Friday 22 February from 12:30-14:30 in the library.

We will have a wide range of books for readers of ALL ages, with a special focus on regional field guides & books about the wildlife of Southern Africa.

The prices are extremely reasonable and on average are quite a bit less than what you will find at local bookstores in Lusaka.

This is a CASH ONLY event. If the publishers run out of a stock of an item you like, they are happy to take orders.

Hope to see you there! Celebrate #booklove!

AISL Grade 9 students had an absolutely captivating Skype session in our beautiful new Palm Pavillion with award-winning UK poet Karl Nova this past Wednesday. Karl Nova, a spoken word artist and poet, won the UK Clippa Award for Best Poetry in 2017. This prestigious award is granted annually to top poetry written for children or young adults in the UK.

Our Grade 9 students are exploring the role of the arts in helping people to explore their personal and cultural values, and the content of Karl Nova's work was perfectly suited to this. Karl left the UK at age 7 to live in Lagos, Nigeria for the better part of 15 years before returning to the UK. His message to students was about the importance of authenticity, inner strength, and the beauty of internationalism- all themes our students relate to on many levels! He told students, "the aim is not popularity- the aim is authenticity."

As a teacher, I was deeply proud of all our Grade 9 students. They held themselves to the highest standards and posed such thought-provoking questions that Karl joked they were going to all become TED talkers! Several of our students even shared their own poetry with Karl.

One of our Grade 9 students, said this of the event: "Skyping with Karl Nova was a very unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Meeting, chatting, and listening to someone with a different perspective is very inspirational. He’s multicultural, passionate, and willing to listen to students. I love how he really tried to include everyone into his conversations, and he joked and laughed. It felt like we were having a normal conversation with someone that we knew well. He was open to our questions and was eager to get to know us." These sentiments were echoed by many of the Gr9 students.

I am grateful to Grade 9 teachers Mr. Michael Ryan, Mr. Edward Chow Worn, and Ms. Clare Cullen for the collaboration that allowed us to realize this wonderful learning experience- and to our always amazing IT Department for providing additional band width and tech support to keep the Skype connection running optimally. - Terry Maguire, Secondary Teacher-Librarian

One of the things I've heard both teachers and students saying around campus is that they want to challenge themselves to read more. For those of you who haven't heard of GoodReads, it's a great on-line site where you can set reading goals for yourself, find recommendations, explore interviews with favorite authors, and follow friends & their reading (and more!). The majority of our high school students already have accounts on GoodReads and are using it to keep track of their reading. You can set a reading goal challenge for yourself on GoodReads (a number of books you'd like to read across 2019, for instance)- but if that's not your style perhaps a different goal is in order: trying a new genre, reading the entire body of a favorite author's work, exploring reads set in this region, or taking a deep dive into a subject that captivates you. You can follow our Primary Librarian, Ms. Jill Daley, or our Secondary Librarian, Ms. Terry Maguire, on Goodreads to see what they're reading and recommending.

Modelling reading is a powerful way to make a statement about its importance. Even if that means reading for only 15 minutes as a family a night, that still amounts to nearly 2 hours of reading across a week! On long road-trips, families might want to select an audio book to listen to as a family & discuss - or take turns reading a book aloud as a family. Our library staff is always ready to provide recommendations!

This semester we are excited to launch two new book awards at AISL: The Leopard's Paw Award for best book for middle school (Gr6-8), and The Leopard's Eye for best book for high school (Gr9-12). Two student groups polled their peers to generate a short-list of books, and then whittled that list down to the top four reads for each division (books had to be published within the past 2 years and available in the AISL library).  Secondary students will have until May to read at least two of the books on the list for their division, and then will vote on the best read for the awards in May. This initiative is one way to promote more reading and to show how excited our students are about books.

Whether you are returning to AISL this semester or are joining us as a new family, remember that the library is a welcoming gathering place for all members of our community! Parents are encouraged to open accounts, too, as we have an excellent range of fiction & non-fiction for adults in addition to our offerings for students. Our library is a space where everyone is free to relax, read, explore, create, and collaborate. Please visit us!

The Leopard's Eye Book Award: This award recognizes the YA (young adult) book that our high school students think is the best read of the year from our library (published 2016 or after)

Students who wish to participate in the awards selection process need to read at least TWO of the books for the award appropriate to their grade level. Then in May we will vote for our favorite!

This is a fun way to promote both a love of reading & the awesome literature being published for young persons today. These books also make great holiday gifts!

Many AISL students took part in Computer Science Education Week from 3-7 December. Activities set up in the library were meant to promote computational thinking, coding, and creative problem solving. These activities included

• A game playtesting station created by Grade 9 MYP Design students
• Quiver augmented reality coloring
• 3-dimensional drawing using 3Doodler pens
• Hour of Code activities for iPads & laptops
• MakeyMakey circuitry kits
• 3-D printing & dye cutter printing
• A mac tear-down station

Many thanks to Mr. Langi Shuma of our IT Department & Mr. Frank Louw (Primary IT) for additional support and supplies!

Our library will be open for four Saturdays across the long break with regular Saturday hours (9:00-14:00) each time. Please put us on your list of stops if you are in Lusaka over the holiday! We have something for everyone in the library. Mr. Chabi & Mr. Sinyenga will be here to assist.

AISL Class of 2019 IB Diploma candidates celebrated the completion of their Extended Essay journeys this Wednesday with presentations of their research questions, methodologies, key findings, and tips for students about to start the process. Thank you to the teachers, supervisors, parents, and other community members who attended the presentations. Students have gained valuable research and self-management skills through the rigorous process of writing an extended essay. Some students said that the seeds for their extended essays were sown with Grade 5 PYP Exhibition projects- which for some students became Grade 10 MYP Personal Projects that were then explored more formally through the extended essay during the student's DP years.
 
IBDP Class of 2019 Extended Essay Research Questions:

“If one is resolute about the journey ahead and passionate about achieving one’s goals, then with the right processes in place we can achieve that which has been considered to be impossible before.”
- Peter VanKets

Last week South African professional explorer and adventurer (yes, that's a real occupation!) Peter VanKets gave a rousing talk in Lusaka at a fundraising event for Musikili School about the importance of mindset, grit, and building the right team. Peter VanKets and his partner Bill Godfrey won the pairs Trans-Atlantic Woodvale Rowing Race in 2007, and then in 2010 he went on to solo row in the same race from the Canary Islands to Antigua, a distance of 2500 nautical miles. To accomplish this feat, VanKets cleaved to a routine of rowing for 90 minutes on, 90 minutes off, for 24 hours a day, 76 days straight. Ever looking for the next challenge, VanKets then teamed up with fellow South African Braham Malherbe to join the 2011 Scott Amundsen Centenary Race to the South Pole, an unsupported journey of approximately 700km. VanKets said that part of why his races with partners have been successful is because he promises his partner & has his partner promise him in return to look after & care for each other during the toughest parts of the trip. 

In 2014 VanKets published The Eighth Summit, which is both a memoir of these events together with ways that the lessons he learned from each adventure applies to goal-setting, businesses, and personal enrichment. In thought and deed VanKets embodies many aspects of the IB Learner Profile including risk-taking, caring, reflecting, and being principled (he even helps manhaul a rival's gear on the race to the pole!). His book is an engrossing, inspirational read. If you're interested in checking it out, pass by the library- we now have a signed copy!

Next week is international Computer Science Education Week! This week is meant to highlight the importance of creative problem-solving and computational thinking. For those of you familiar with Hour of Code, that is one component of Computer Science Education Week. We will have a range of hands-on activities set up in the library next Monday through next Saturday as part of this event. Many secondary students will participate in these activities and primary students will be exploring these skills through Bloxels and other units. Please feel welcome to pass by and check it out! We will leave these activities set up for our 8 December Saturday hours (9:00-14:00), too.