Posts Tagged ‘The Cosmo’
Seasons greetings
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Dear Cosmo students and parents,
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Once again the school parties have come to an end, and the teachers and I wish to thank each one of you for a couple of very nice evenings. It is always a pleasure to meet under more informal circumstances, where we have a chance to talk with each other in a less structured manner.
It is impossible to avoid that a huge project like our school parties with between 800 and 1000 guests each evening will cause some disturbances in our everyday life and daily routines, but I do believe that everything has gone without problems, and that it has been an eventful week for us all to remember.
So thank you very much for your participation and your good spirits.
On behalf of the teachers,
Simon Mosekjær
Bring the World Home – Host an Up with People Cast Member
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
For More Information Contact: Cheryssa Jensen, Promotions Representative
Office: 88 20 21 10, Mobile: 27 99 75 84, E-mail: cjensen@upwithpeople.org
Families in the Kolding area will have the unique opportunity to bring a bit of the world into their own homes between November 8th and November 14th when an international cast of Up with People arrives in Kolding as a stop on their 2009 world tour.
Host families are being sought to keep one or more students from the 85-member Up with People cast which represents 20 countries and more than 25 states. “It is a great opportunity to experience other cultures while sharing your own,” explained Cheryssa Jensen.
The opportunity to stay with local families during their stay in each community is a centerpiece of Up with People’s 22-week program. The giving goes both ways…while families share their traditions and local attractions; the cast members share their experiences and cultures.
Local host families are asked to provide a bed, local transportation at the beginning and end of each day, as well as breakfast and most dinners. During most evenings, cast members will be home with the family to participate in their activities and interests.
In addition to many wonderful experiences with their new “son” or “daughter,” each host family will be invited to a special Up with People Show on Friday, November 13th.
Host an Up with People Cast Member
“I can honestly say that the dozens of families who have opened their homes to me during my time with Up with People is one of the most meaningful and memorable experiences I have had,” said Cheryssa Jensen. “I still stay in contact with many of them and I believe they will become lifelong friends,” she added.
“Those with smaller children or young teens in their home often find that the Up with People cast members are wonderful role models and provide a glimpse into other countries, cultures and traditions they might not often experience in Kolding,” Jensen added.
Local families in the Kolding area are being sought to host the cast members between November 8th and November 14th. Those interested in hosting are encouraged to contact Cheryssa Jensen on the Kolding Advance Team at cjensen@upwithpeople.org or by calling 27 99 75 84.
Up with People’s visit to Kolding is sponsored by Aperian Global, Business Kolding, Kolding Realskole, and The Cosmo – International School of Southern Denmark.
Up with People is an independent nonprofit, [501(c)(3)] organization without any religious or political affiliations. It provides young adults an international and intercultural experience that teaches service leadership and uses the performing arts to deliver messages of hope and goodwill throughout the world. Up with People exists today to spark people to action in meeting the needs of their communities, countries and the world while building bridges of understanding as a foundation for world peace. For more information visit www.upwithpeople.org.
Dear parents and students,
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009Welcome back after the autumn holidays. We have nine weeks and two days left before the Christmas holidays, starting December 22nd.
In week 46 – from November 9th to 13th – we will be visited from Up With People. And week 47, we have the school parties from Monday to Thursday evenings. There will be separate posts on the blog about these events.
December 1st all students at the school will make Christmas decoration for the classrooms and December 13th, we celebrate Lucia, which is a Nordic tradition.
Simon Mosekjær
Out With The Teacher’s Desk…
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009Proximity, flexibility and manoeuvring room are the key words for classroom management
What is really important and decisive for whether a student participates in the classroom teaching, talks to the student with whom he or she shares a desk or is lost in reverie?
The answer to that question is the distance to the teacher. And that is why it is utterly important how a classroom is organized and furnished.
Classroom Management
The better the organization and furnishing of the classroom, the higher the quality of the teaching and the students’ participation. Professor Fred Jones, who is one of United States’ leading experts in classroom management, which is the art of controlling a class of students while teaching, says that “To place the students’ desks in a good way from the very beginning is the cheapest form of classroom management ever invented.”
The distance between the individual student and the teacher is of great importance, if the teacher is to be as close to the students as possible, when he or she needs to write on the blackboard or show something on a whiteboard. If the teacher has a desk, it should never be placed between the students and the blackboard or the whiteboard – whether board might be in usage in the classroom in question – but it should be placed at one of the sides of the classroom or even amongst the students’ desk, so that the distance between the students and the board is as minimal as humanly possible. At the same time the classroom should according to Fred Jones be organized in such a way that the teacher can move around freely between the students and with only a few paces can reach any of his or hers students.
Move the desks
Professor Fred Jones
“The best teachers are those who move around amongst their students, not only when the students work individually, but just as much when it is the teacher, who is teaching or explaining a given matter”, Professor Fred Jones emphasizes.
But it is not always that easy
The ability to move freely around the classroom, while one speaks, engages and motivates the students, is an ability which needs to be trained. And it is imperative that each separate teacher is conscious about the typical pitfalls. The American Patrick W. Miller has written several books about the teacher’s body language and unconscious behaviour, and his studies show that teachers unconsciously station themselves closest to the students, they like the best. For that very reason it is important to be aware of how the teacher moves about in the classroom and to make sure that he or she moves as much as possible and is familiar with the shortest route from one end of the classroom to the other. That secures the highest degree of flexibility and attention from all students to the teacher and vice versa.
But one thing is classroom teaching, another is group work. When the students are engaged in group work it is obviously an advantage to place the students’ desks in smaller groups reflecting the work groups. When the group work is over and done with, it is crucial that the desks are returned to their previous stetting. This rarely happens according to Niels Egelund, who is Professor and Leader of Denmark’s Pedagogical University. He thinks that the organization of desks and chairs in rows just like we know it from churches and the like is the best one, when the students’ attention is to be directed at the teacher.
Classroom Management
“I observe so much teaching that I have stopped counting, and I do believe that the students in around half the classrooms, which I visit, are constantly sitting in group work formations. If each school and each teacher was sufficiently aware of and attentive to how much the students disrupt each other with both verbal and non-verbal communication, when they are sitting in group work formations all the time, they would never allow it. It is rather problematic that this group work formation of students’ desks is used as a common standard”, Niels Egelund adds.
Due to the fact that classroom organisation and management should depend entirely on the subjects and contents of the teaching at hand, the possibility for quick and flexible rearrangement of the desks and chairs is important, when classrooms are being organized. And we need to take the organization of the classroom into account for each single lesson, even if it means reorganizing the desks and chairs several times a day, and even if we need to use the first five minutes of every lesson to do so!.
“It is without doubt worth the effort”, Niels Egelund confirms.
Read more about Professor Fred Jones’ methods at http://www.fredjones.com and/or watch this video.
In the introduction to Classroom Management by Fred Jones, the students call themselves Mrs. Garcia’s Freedom Writers thereby refer to the book and film by the same name.
Erin Gruwell
Assigned the thankless task of teaching English at a gang-infested high school at Long Beach, a 23-year-old teacher Erin Gruwell, played by Hilary Swank, resorts to unconventional means of breaking through to her hardened students in the best-seller film The Freedom Writer’s Diaries: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them. The film is based on the novel The Freedom Writer’s Diaries by Erin Gruwell.
The students at Long Beach High School that the young, idealistic teacher tried to move had been written off, and her chances of succeeding scoffed at, but Erin Gruwell wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Long Beach is a place where a new war is waged with each passing day, and when the hardened students who walk those dangerous hallways sense an outsider attempting to understand their plight, their cynical resentment threatens to keep a deadly cycle in motion.
Some of the "Freedom Writters" from the Film
Despite the initially hostile reaction she receives in the classroom, Gruwell uses the writings of Anne Frank and Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo to teach her students not only the basis of the English language, but compassion and tolerance as well. Later, when the time comes to tell their own tales in a project specially designed to explore the daily violence that the majority of students have grown numb to, the barriers that had once stood so strong gradually begin to crumble. When the only chance for survival is to befriend the person who was once your mortal enemy, the world is opened to a whole new realm of possibilities.
Zero tolerance of bullying at Kolding Realskole and at The Cosmo
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Bullying can be stopped if students, parents and teachers work together
The Cosmo and Kolding Realskole have a moral obligation to reduce bullying. Furthermore, the charter agreement lay down by the school board specifically states that the school strives to “provide a safe physical and emotional environment”. At school, teachers are doing their best to keep an eye open for potential bully situations and if possible stop them before they take place, though this is not always possible.
That being said, parents also have an obligation to help stop bullying, and we are not able to help and take action, unless we are informed by the students and/or the parents, so please inform the class room teacher, if there is anything we should be aware of.
If bullying occurs, we will have a serious talk with the student or students, who bully, and thereafter the parents will be informed. Should such an incident arise a second time, we will consider suspend the student in question for a shorter period, and if the bullying does not stop hereafter, the final step will be to expel the student from our school.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me…”
Do you remember that old nursery rhyme? Honestly, it wasn’t true when you were in school, and it isn’t true now. Teasing, taunting and other forms of bullying can cause serious emotional harm to children, and it may last much longer than a bloody nose or scraped knees.
Before the summer holidays a 12-year-old Danish boy committed suicide by hanging himself in a tree after having been the victim of excessive bullying from other students of his own age. Due to an Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, popularly called ADHD, this young boy proved to be an easy target for bullies at his school, and according to the Danish newspapers “…these bullies drove him over the edge of what he was able to endure”.
Even though the dead boy’s mother was well aware that he was having problems at school, she was totally taken by surprise by her son’s suicide. The dead boy was due to move to a new school, where his brother had already moved, because of the persistent bullying. The school has been criticised for not having done enough to stop the incessant bullying.
What can we do to prevent something as horrible as this from happening ever again?
Before trying to answer that question I believe it is necessary to explore what bullying really is and how we can stop bullies and bullying at school?
What is bullying?
Bullying can be defined in many different ways, and even though many countries do not have a legal definition of bullying, it can generally been seen as peer abuse. The reasons for bullying might be many; but most students have a tendency of bullying those who are in some ways different.
Bullying is every intentional act aimed at harming others, through verbal harassment, name calling and use of foul language, physical assault or other more subtle methods of coercion such as manipulation, threats or the like.
A definition of bullying can be when a person is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more persons. The negative actions are, when a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person, through physical contact, words or in other ways.
Electronic bullying also known as cyber-bullying
Bullying can also happen on-line or electronically. This form of harassment is known as cyber-bullying. It occurs when someone bullies through the Internet, over mobile phones or via other electronic means of communication. Examples include sending mean-spirited text, e-mail, or instant messages; posting inappropriate pictures or messages about others on blogs or on websites; using someone else’s user name and identity to spread rumors or lies about someone and finally lying to hurt internally and externally.
Some facts about bullying
A rough estimate made by the Danish Children’s Council (Børnerådet) says that 7% or every 14th child will experience being bullied once a week.
According to the survey from the Danish Children’s Council:
- 55 % of all students experience being called names;
- 46 % are bullied because of their appearance, clothes, glass and the like;
- 44 % are excluded by their peers;
- 30 % are being hit or pushed around;
- 13 % receive obscene text messages.
Other facts about bullying:
- There are just as much bullying in classes with many students as in class with few students;
- The number of students being bullied is the same all over the country from Jutland, Fyn and Zealand;
- It is mostly students in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th classes, who bully each other.
Stop bullying
Please help us to stop bullying by informing us about any incidents that might be classified as bullying.
Lunch
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Please bear in mind that it is very important for the students to remember to bring their lunch every day. They all have rather long school days, and we see a clear difference in their concentration before and after they have eaten.
They are sometimes able to borrow money from a teacher, if they forget their lunch, but of course they like their own lunches better, which are healthier and more nutrient than the food which they are able to buy at the school.
Automatic link to mail addresses
Monday, September 21st, 2009As we spoke about at the parents-teachers’ meeting we would like to make an automatic link to your mail addresses, when we post news on the blog. This way you will always be updated on news written on the blog.
In order to be able to do so, we need your mail addresses. Please send a note from home or mail it to the headmaster info@thecosmo.dk Simon Mosekjaer or class room teacher Synne Lindum Haagensen synne.lindum@kolding-real.dk with mail addresses on every parent in the family, who would like the automatic link.
Moreover you also have the possibility to subscribe to new posts published on the blog. This subscription is called RSS feeds. Read more about RSS feeds at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS.
After each post on the blog you will find the following text: “You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.” If you press RSS 2.0, a new page will appear, and on this page you need to click on “Abonner på dette feed”; “subscribe to this feed”, in English. Thereafter you will receive all updates from the blog.
International Public Speaking Competition winners’ reports
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
Creating Global Understanding through English
In this month’s newsletter from English Speaking Union of Denmark (ESU) there are two reports from the two young winners of the Danish Public Speaking Competition, Philip Chartell and Sofie Strunch, on their exciting week in London where they competed in the ESU international competition.
The main objectives of the English Speaking Union are to:
Provide a forum for international friendship and understanding through our support of the worldwide network of ESUs and the provision of secretariat facilities for the International Council at our headquarters at Dartmouth House, London
Facilitate and assist the establishment and recognition of ESUs worldwide
Focus on key current affairs issues through regular international conferences, seminars and meetings
Promote English in international public speaking and debate for the support of worldwide communication and dialogue
Encourage the enjoyment and constructive use of English through educational programmes
Initiate and administer international youth exchange and work experience schemes
Provide and create cultural activities
Ensure the coordination and coherence of our activities through the skill and dedication of our staff and voluntary helpers
Work in close and innovative partnership with our corporate members and sponsors
Read more about the English Speaking Union at http://www.esu.org/branches/international/branch.asp?b=471 and http://www.esu.org/branches/international/branch.asp?b=471
Report from Philip Chartell-Høyer
In May of 2009 I had the honor of representing Denmark at the ESU International Public Speaking Competition in London after advancing from the national finals in Copenhagen. I did not imagine when writing my first speech about hate speech that I would have the opportunity to speak in front an acclaimed audience at the ESU’s international headquarters.
The first day we had an informal gathering during which the basics of the program were explained to us. We were given name tags and programs which we eagerly looked through to see what we lay in store. At this event I was struck by the fact that the organizer, Annette Fisher, was a young woman just out of university. Everyone seemed very friendly, including the organizers, and we were all pleased that the atmosphere was relaxed and hospitable. Naturally all the participants were a little uptight and nervous among so many unfamiliar people, so many decided to go out that evening to get to know each other a little better and see a bit of London.
On the Tuesday we were introduced to the debate we would have the following day. We were put into groups who had to lobby for or against the construction of a second airport on a make believe island. During this process we had to form alliances with other groups and lobbies in order to stand stronger as a united front for or against the construction. The actual debate was performed in old-fashioned House of Commons style which involves putting one’s left hand on one’s head and extending one’s right arm to present a point of information. Everyone got very into the debate and despite some attacks from both sides the tone remained friendly – everyone from the Penguin Protection Agency to the Local Business Organization had a good laugh. In the end my side, the opposition, won the debate.
Tuesday afternoon we had the opportunity to visit the House of Commons to watch a live debate. The debate was quite heated because of discussions at the time of the extreme expenditure of certain ministers in England. It was interesting to see how they have maintained certain old customs of debating and traditions such as the use of wigs still persists to some extent for their nostalgic value. In the evening we went to watch the play Woman in Black. Before the play we had a talk with the director who explained the approach he had to the play and what he tried to achieve. I was amazed by how scared we were during the play – many of the scenes made me shriek. I think it was the simplicity of the plot and set, furthered by the fact that there are only 3 character, one of whom you aren’t certain whether is really there, was what made the play so effective. The play definitely made me look at plays differently, making me realize that plays don’t need to be pompous presentations of 300 year old plays.
Everything, however, came down to the Thursday when we presented our speeches. Both the other Danish competitor Sofie and I were assigned to the native English speaker heat because of our high level of English. This obviously posed more of a challenge but I felt that the level in our heat was one of the highest which meant that all the speakers held extremely interesting speeches. I spoke about how the English language is asserting its dominance as a world language which some are afraid will cause other languages to become obsolete. Unfortunately I did not make it to the finals but I received compliments from many of the ESU patrons including a Social Anthropologist which I am considering as a career path.
Overall I had an amazing trip and I would like to express my greatest gratitude to HE Alexandra Christina personally and the Joachim and Alexandra Fund for their sponsorship.
Report from Sofie Strunch
After having won the English Speaking Union’s Public speaking competition with my speech entitled “The facebook generation”, I went on to represent Denmark with the other winner Phillip, at the ESU public speaking world finals in London, where I changed my title to “let’s get physical, as well as some of the focus points of my speech.
Before going to London, I was honestly a bit nervous about meeting so many people from all over the world who shared the same goal as me: Winning the ESU finals. Luckily, everyone shared my nervousness and excitement, and this experience fully lived up to my expectations, and was by far, one of the most thrilling experiences that I have ever had.
The trip was not centred around the actual speaking competition alone, but on encouraging us to forge international relationships, and over the next days we had a very busy schedule in front of us.
Monday: All of the competitors were lodged at the President Hotel in central London. Due to an exam, I arrived too late to make it to the introductory meeting, but thanks to Phillip, I got all of the information I needed. We had to share a room with one or two of the other competitors, and as I got my room key, and headed for my floor, I had no idea what to expect. I quickly found out that I only had one roommate, and she was Hungarian. Luckily she and I really bonded and had a great time together.
Tuesday: We had introductory meeting, workshops, and lunch at Dartmouth House (ESU world headquarters), which was situated only a few stops from our hotel, by the London underground.
The following afternoon we had a tour of the House of Commons, where we were lucky enough to witness a debate. The evening concluded with a visit to the Fortune Theatre to meet with the director of the play “The Woman in Black”, and later on we got to see the actual play. This was like nothing I had ever seen, a play consisting of only two actors. Even though I had my doubts at first, it turned out to be one of the best plays I have ever seen – and a very frightening one indeed.
Wednesday, we had a very cultural day as well. All of the participants met in Trafalgar Square, where we were divided into three large groups. In these groups we had to see the National Gallery, and do a quiz. The following afternoon, we went to the Dartmouth House, to prepare for our public speaking workshop, based on the preparation from the day before. In this workshop we were all divided into political parties and had to put together a political program and afterwards discuss it. Even though there was lack of structure in the debate, this was a very fun event, because everyone really opened up, and was really into it.
Thursday: The days quickly flew by and the day we had all been waiting for had finally arrived: The Semi-final. At first when I arrived in London, I thought of nothing else but winning, but after the last couple of days, I considered a lot of the other participants, my friends, and was therefore just as exited for their performance, as well as for my own.
All of the participants were dressed in their best suits and dresses, and all ready for battle. The heats were held at the Dartmouth House, and only two from each heat was selected to go to the finals.
Sadly, neither Phillip ore I were placed in the top two of our heat. However, I know I did my best, and was not that disappointed, because for one, I was very impressed by the other speakers, and second, I never expected that I would ever get this far and therefore remembered, that we were all winners of our own country.
After the 8 finalists were selected, we were escorted by bus, to the grand final, which was held at the HSBC (the official sponsor of the ESU competition). This was an amazing building, and could not be more suitable for this event.
Over all, this experience has really given me something I can use not only now, but also later on in life. It has given me confidence and self-esteem, and most importantly friends from all over the world. Even though none of the Danes won, I am so glad I made the choice to attend this competition, and it is something that I will never forget.
The photos used are borrowed from the ESU website.
Swimming lessons beginning Wednesday September 16th.
Friday, September 11th, 2009The oldest students in Primary class will start swimming lessons next week.
Please note that Wednesday the 16th, which is the first time, they will meet at the school at 7.50 am and the teacher will escort them.
From then on they will meet at Slotssøbadet every Wednesday at 8.00 am.
They also have PE lessons at the school on Wednesdays so please remember to bring clothes and a towel for this as well.