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US Counseling & Advisory Newsletter
26 February 2021
Dear Students,
Documentar is a world wide art based movement where young people, like you, are encouraged to document and express their experiences, concerns, ideas, and actions taken because of the pandemic, systemic racism, climate change or whatever is on their hearts and minds. It can be based on photos, words, digital, visual or any other type of artwork, and it was conceptualized and developed by CBK Associates and is included in our Advisory Curriculum.
You represented your school very well. You showcased a spectacular variety of artwork, theatrical pieces, documentaries and the like. Some of which will be highlighted in this newsletter, others were submitted directly to the Documentar instagram page, and some of you have decided to keep your pieces private and only share them with your loved ones.
Whatever your decision may be, the most important thing is that you were engaged, you reflected and you participated to the fullest. It was quite an amazing process and for some of you it was quite therapeutic and cathartic.
Please do enjoy and celebrate the work of your fellow Lancers who shared their work here and look out for a wonderful SURPRISE documentary at the end of this newsletter featuring ASM students and their work.
Tessa John-Guerra
US Guidance Counselor
"...we concluded that what we had to do was deciding which were our emotions and someone proposed to make a silent video acting in them. The result is what you see… plus a bit of postproduction."
Fernando Liroz
Grade 9 Advisor
Depto. de Español (Lengua nativa)
Helena & Milla
"This drawing was inspired by the persistence to stay in contact with friends and the multiple voice calls we were able to share over the weekends. We decided to mix drawing and collage to symbolize how we felt out of place. It was a real life experience for us as friends!"
Grade 9 friends
Students in Advisor Walker's grade 10 class thoroughly enjoyed creating what you see below
"We looked at examples, we then took some independent silent time to reflect on how we feel about life right now, thought about our emotions, our interests, our pressures, the environment around us. Students brainstormed independently and wrote down these ideas and then shared their thought process, to see who in the group had similar concerns about life at the moment. The following week students were provided resources to create and tried to express their initial brainstorm into a visual representation. "
Grade10 Advisor
US IB Business / World History Teacher
SENIORS EXPRESS THEMSELVES THROUGH DOCUMENTAR
"My documentar expresses the admiration I have for these two powerful women, Whitney Houston and Christina Aguilera. Music has been a very important part of my life and thanks to these these two unreal singers, my passion has only increased."
Senior
"I believe that this photo accurately represents the ability that we as a society, specifically who we affiliate ourselves with, are able to adapt to any given environment, to pursue normalcy and strive for a better tomorrow."
Senior
"What we worked on is about the difficulties students are facing in school let alone during COVID-19. Furthermore, it is more of a depiction of students in the IB that have been told to take the exam whilst still feeling that they are not prepared."
Senior
"I chose this quote because I saw it on Instagram when we've been almost two months into the 2020 lockdown and were unable to go out of our houses for something as simple as a morning run. When I read it then, it struck me because I found it to be so simple and yet so genuine regarding what was going on at the time. I believe it still relates to a different kind of reality that we find ourselves in now."
Sasha Markhuliia
Senior
STUDY SKILLS
Color-coding your notes can help you organize information more effectively and study more efficiently. Optimize your color-coding system and make it a highlight of your study strategy.
This is a strategy that you can use to remember important points in your notes. Look up the past newsletter editions (linked at the end) to see the previous Study Skill strategies.
WHAT IS A LINGUIST?
DOCUMENTAR
SUMMARY
Through DOCUMENTAR students identify what matters most in their lives right now. They choose their medium (photos, visual art, words, audio, collage, and video) to tell their stories, voice their opinions and show actions taken. They learn from and with their peers, and adults learn from them.
The KEY SKILLS that students learn are:
- Reflective Thinking
- Analytical Thinking
- Creative Thinking
- Self-Expression
Follow the Global Documentar program on Instagram @documentar_ (yes, with an underscore) and #documentar[your city] and on Facebook and Twitter @documentarNOW
Click on the green button above or the play button below to see Advisor Sissons' Grade 9 class in action!!!
"The students drew up a list of questions and worked in pairs, with the idea that they were each presenting their partner's experience during lockdown and quarantine. Their reflections were enlightening to themselves and to me - as they talked about a range of factors, emotions and effects that related to their individual situations."
Grade 9 Advisor
Middle/Upper School Visual Arts Teacher
REMEMBER to please watch the AMAZING FILMS by Advisors Liroz and Sissons Grade 9 classes
You matter, your voice matters, your opinion matters, what you bring to the table matters, your happiness and wellbeing matters.
Thank You for coming to the end of our Fifth Upper School Counseling & Advisory Newsletter.
Please send us your feedback and ideas here on topics to cover in future editions.
Did you miss the other Newsletters?
- Please go over all the past newsletters where you will find different study strategies under the sub-heading of Study Skills.
- Then go over all the different professions explored under the sub-heading of Career Guidance.
Email: tessajohn@asmadrid.es
Website: asmadrid.org
Location: American School of Madrid, Calle América, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain
Phone: 34 917401902