Parents as Partners 2021-2022

Journeying Together: Parents as Partners in Social Emotional Learning

Presented by ELLEN MAHONEY

September 7, 2021 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+3)

We will set the stage for the Parents and Partners series, starting with an exploration of the inner work required of the adults in young people's lives. What mindsets and social emotional competencies can we strengthen to learn alongside our youth while guiding them towards a life of fulfillment and meaningful societal contribution? Through the lens of Adult SEL, participants will explore some of the most important Adult SEL competencies and create a plan for deeper reflective practice as parents.

A Parent's Guide to the Science of Attention

Presented by ANDREW WATSON

September 21, 2021 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+3)

We’ve all asked this question too many times: “Why don’t children just pay attention?” Sometimes we follow up with another: “Can’t all this new brain research give us some practical insights?” Sure enough, brain research CAN give powerful advice, by revealing that we have been starting with the wrong question.

Decades of neuroscience and psychology research have shown that – surprise! – attention is not one unified brain process. Instead, the behavior we call “paying attention” results from a just-right balance of three (yes, 3!) distinct mental functions. When adults foster those three neural processes, children find that ideal cognitive balance where they can focus. Focus at school. Focus at home, even focus at the dinner table.

This lively and practical talk – based on years of classroom experience, and decades of brain research – provides both fresh brain perspectives and practical parenting strategies.

In Our Classrooms, In Our Schools: What is the Story of Learning?

Presented by MARK CHURCH

October 5, 2021 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+3)

Many international schools strive to create a culture where learning is relevant, connected, and driven by curiosity for and among all learners. Yet this aim can easily get buried in the day-to-day business of education, where the pressures are high and the mandates are many.

The researchers and collaborators with the Harvard Project Zero Cultures of Thinking initiative collaborate closely with schools to consider these questions:

• Just what would it mean for classrooms to take on an intentional stance to cultivate and grow thinking habits in students that supports their inquiry, their skill development, and their meaning-making?
• What difference does paying attention to developing students' thinking dispositions make to what students can take with them long into adulthood?

Getting the Most from the Marshall Memo

Presented by KIM MARSHALL

October 19, 2021 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+3)

Every week, Kim Marshall reads and skims about 150 articles from a wide range of publications and chooses 8-10 that are most relevant for K-12 educators and families. He then writes a short summary of each and sends the Marshall Memo to subscribers around the world. In this webinar, Kim will describe how the Memo got started 18 years ago, how it's evolved, and how you can put it to best use.

Neutral Spaces: Tips and Tools for Avoiding Power Struggles

Presented by JOY MARCHESE

November 2, 2021 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2*)

[*Note: Daylight Savings Time ends in Greece on Oct 31, 2021.]

Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and constantly losing your temper because your kids “never listen?” Do you find yourself yelling, nagging, lecturing, threatening and/or bribing way more than you’d like? Are you ready to learn how to calm the chaos and create more PEACE and CONNECTION in your home?.

This session will help you learn how to increase cooperation and end the power struggles, so you can have a family life filled with more calm, connection, joy and FUN!

We will cover the following:

• WHY you get into power struggles with your children;
• Specific STEPS you can take and TOOLS you can use to end a power struggle;
• What to do to PREVENT power struggles in the future.

So you can...

• guide your children without yelling, nagging, lecturing, threatening or bribing;
• set loving limits effectively and respectfully;
• create a deeper connection with your children;
• feel more confident in your parenting approach;
• have more peace, calm, cooperation and FUN within your family.

Writing the New Story of Wholeness, Integration and Inclusion

Presented by KAVITA TANNA

November 16, 2021 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2*)

[*Note: Daylight Savings Time ends in Greece on Oct 31, 2021.]

At What Cost? Defending Adolescent Development in Fiercely Competitive Schools

Presented by DAVID GLEASON

December 7, 2021 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2*)

[*Note: Daylight Savings Time ends in Greece on Oct 31, 2021.]

Positive Education and the Science of Wellbeing

Presented by KRISTIN LOWE

December 14, 2021 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2*)

[*Note: Daylight Savings Time ends in Greece on Oct 31, 2021.]

Stretching Your Learning Edges: Adults “Growing Up” while Children are "Growing Up"

Presented by JENNIFER ABRAMS

January 11, 2022 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2)

Come learn tools and strategies that support your children’s development by modeling healthy adult learning and development.

At this moment in time when things are so uncertain and so ever shifting, it is critically important that we strive to develop ourselves, as educators, as parents, and as individual human beings. What can we do to be bigger and better versions of ourselves?

This webinar, based on Jennifer’s new book, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work, will introduce us to adult developmental theory and to five focused ways we can develop ourselves. We will build our skills to...

• know ourselves and our identities;
• better suspend our certainty and think with greater complexity and openness;
• take increased responsibility for our language and communications;
• engage with reciprocity and live ‘out loud’ our belief of mutual respect for all;
• build our resiliency and work on our emotional hygiene.

Consider what it means, in practice, to grow (up) – to develop our skills and capacities as learners, colleagues, friends and parents.

The Power of Making Thinking Visible

Presented by MARK CHURCH

January 25, 2022 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2)

Over the last decade there has been an explosion of interest in how teachers can best build a culture of thinking in their classrooms, nurture students as powerful thinkers and learners, and make thinking visible. These goals are more important in times of disrupted learning than ever.

Making Thinking Visible, co-authored by Mark Church, did much to popularize the use of thinking routines in schools and museums around the world. When used powerfully, thinking routines not only provide teachers with a set of practices to engage students, but also help advance a broader goal to create classrooms where students’ thinking is visible, valued, and actively promoted. This webinar will explore these ideas while engaging participants in experiencing thinking routines and the power of making thinking visible.

Navigating Parental Polarities

Presented by CAROLYN McKANDERS

February 8, 2022 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2)

These times call upon parents to be radically adaptive to meet new challenging demands. Parents seek to ground themselves and children while navigating uncharted ways of socializing and engaging in new educational learning designs and school protocols. In times of such complexity, parents are dealing more and more with paradox and ambiguities. What mindsets and practices offer promise and mooring to continue parenting with integrity, integrating learning for children and adults?

The polarity lens offers a mindset, principles, and tools that fortify you as you influence children’s well-being, efficacy and educational success.

Polarities are ongoing, natural tensions that exist in all social systems - communities, families, professional and personal relationships. This work helps parents to gracefully model handling life's dilemmas, communicate in ways that honor children's needs as well as those of adults; enhance productive child and parent communication and decision making.

Why Service Learning Matters to Schools, Your Children, and YOU: Bringing Learning to Life

Presented by CATHRYN BERGER KAYE

February 22, 2022 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2)

Our schools are charged with preparing young people for an ever-changing and complex world. Students are already engaged with real world issues. They care about community health and the environment, and they express compassion for people, our planet, and animals. Educators can harness the innate desire of children and teens to be creators, catalysts, collaborators, and change makers. What to do?

Service learning is a reliable process that involves youth in acquiring knowledge, skills, and transformative attributes to gain perspective and possibilities for interacting with significant local and global needs. As parents, we can elevate their curiosity and be their biggest cheerleaders. Let’s do this!

Discover more about the Five Stages of Service Learning, see examples of what youth do, and find out why service learning is integral to international schools all over the world.

Building a Parent Pandemic Partnership: Strengthening Your Wellness, Self-Care and Self-Compassion

Presented by FRAN PROLMAN

March 8, 2022 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2)

This pandemic has triggered a world-wide mental health crisis. We have paid an emotional toll in response to being isolated for far too long, sitting with fear and loneliness; along with too many disorienting events and the changes required of us. As parents, you were asked and will continue to be asked to embrace new roles as you build a "Pandemic Partnership" with your child's school. Exhaustion seems to be the great equalizer.

Join Dr. Prolman as you strengthen a psychologically safe community of support for each other, and strengthen yourself from within to train for this marathon endemic run.

By the end of this session, you will strengthen your own wellness, self-care and self-compassion by:

• Analyzing the six categories of self-care and how you address each one during this pandemic;

• Building a vocabulary of self-care and self-compassion to keep you company when the going gets tough;
• Affirming that we are not alone, support is here, and we are navigating together;

• Embracing our loss as we move forward to a healthy, wholehearted and adaptive future;

• Believing that you are enough.

International School Parents: Champions of DEI(B)J — Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice

Presented by JENNIFER BECKWITH

March 22, 2022 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+2)

This webinar is an introduction for parents to DEI(B)J. Its objective is to help parents acknowledge the complex realities of DEI(B)J and the importance that schools play in recognizing that differences exist and that differences are positive in the learning environment.

International school parents are acutely aware of differences in physical characteristics, cultural practices, lifestyles, race, and are engaged in raising children with a deep capacity for inclusion and empathy. Schools and parents want to develop a healthy mindset about diversity with students.

Join us for an honest talk about race, equality, and human kindness as we form community, with an emphasis on excellence and equity for all learners through the lens of DEI(B)J.

Supporting Your Child's Learning Through Effective Guidance

Presented by GARFIELD GINI-NEWMAN

April 5, 2022 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+3*, Athens, Greece)

[*Note: Daylight Savings Time begins in Greece March 27 — from GMT+2 to GMT+3]

For many children, assessments create stress and anxiety, yet when used effectively, assessment is one of the most powerful tools that can help to support their learning. The word "assessment" comes from Latin, meaning "to sit alongside". When we sit alongside children in their journey of learning, we can help them develop a deep love for learning. In this webinar, Garfield will share a vision for learning that seamlessly weaves supportive assessment into daily learning. He will provide practical strategies that parents can use to guide their children's learning and nurture important habits such as curiosity and perseverance.

Reflecting on the Journey

Presented by ELLEN MAHONEY

April 19, 2022 | 4:00-5:00pm (GMT+3*, Athens, Greece)

[*Note: Daylight Savings Time begins in Greece March 27: from GMT+2 to GMT+3]