Edarabia's Podcast

Classrooms should reflect the students and teachers who inhabit them. Everything from the posters on the walls to the books on the shelves, to the toys in the room, and even to an adult's body language can send subliminal messages. We want those messages to say, "We all belong here." This How-To will offer a few simple strategies for ensuring inclusivity. For example: learning to pronounce every student's name correctly, daily and weekly check-ins, developing rapport with parents, provide a space for questions, understanding one's own values, biases, and ability to empathize. 

About the Speaker:
Ms. Fussell grew up in the Panama Canal Zone and brings over twenty years of experience in teaching and administration to the Lower School. 
She also brings a wealth of in-house knowledge after serving as Associate Director in the preschool and kindergarten division of Dwight in New York where she collaborated with parents, faculty, and staff to ensure a rich learning environment. Prior to joining Dwight, Ms. Fussell taught elementary school at the United Nations International School (UNIS) in New York, and at international schools in Switzerland, Zimbabwe, and Guatemala. 
Ms. Fussell received leadership training at The Harvard Graduate School of Education and the New York Association of Independent School’s Emerging Leadership Institute. In addition, Ms. Fussell has been an adjunct professor in literacy at Hunter College since 2017. 
Ms. Fussell shares her passion for IB literacy education, the PYP, student engagement, and responsive learning with community members. Ms. Fussell is the Head of Lower School at Dwight School Dubai.

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Learn how you can create a lifelong love of reading in your child (from very young to Upper Primary age). Neil Hopkin, Principal of Sunmarke School Dubai, gives tips on how to help your child catch the reading bug.

Here are some of his tips for parents:

1. Understanding the 'technicality' & 'passion' of teaching reading 
2. Sounding & blending words 
3. Scrolling your finger under a word 
4. Expose them to books early 
5. Make it a fun & magical activity
6. Take a book wherever you go 
7. Show passion for reading 
8. Be a good role model 
9.  Establish a reading tradition 


Dr Hopkin, the Principal of Sunmarke School Dubai, brings over 25 years of educational experience and has worked in schools in the UK, Canada, Australia and America, and most recently from schools within the Nord Anglia Education network, in Singapore and China. 
 
Before moving overseas, he was also an advisor to the UK Deputy Prime Minister's Office on Early Years education, ICT and the UK's DfE Curriculum Review.
 
He is recognized as a visionary leader in the education industry, and throughout his career, he has played a key role in transforming the quality of teaching and interactive learning at international schools to spearhead them to outstanding.

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Helping Parents to understand the emotional phase of Toddlers during transitions and providing them with tips and techniques to prepare during the pre-separation stage as well as the most effective techniques to follow during the process to deal with the anxiety smoothly.

The process can be divided into 3 steps:
1. Preparations to be made before starting the transition of the child
2. Supporting child during the separation procedures
3. Boosting the confidence and independence

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Mr. Barry Cooper is the Deputy Head at Brighton College Dubai. Originally from Kent, Barry attended University in Scotland and spent 10 years of his career in Edinburgh before moving with his wife Hilary overseas. He has over 19 years of teaching experience and joined Brighton College Dubai after three years at Wellington College Shanghai, following a successful career at leading British boarding schools Loretto and Epsom College.
Barry has a breadth and depth of experience in senior roles, including Director of Studies, Director of Marketing and Admissions, Housemaster and Head of Department. He is a History specialist and has also taught English, Politics, Classics and Philosophy.

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Mr. Barry Cooper is the Deputy Head at Brighton College Dubai. Originally from Kent, Barry attended University in Scotland and spent 10 years of his career in Edinburgh before moving with his wife Hilary overseas. He has over 19 years of teaching experience and joined Brighton College Dubai after three years at Wellington College Shanghai, following a successful career at leading British boarding schools Loretto and Epsom College.
Barry has a breadth and depth of experience in senior roles, including Director of Studies, Director of Marketing and Admissions, Housemaster and Head of Department. He is a History specialist and has also taught English, Politics, Classics and Philosophy.

Support the show

Mr. Barry Cooper is the Deputy Head at Brighton College Dubai. Originally from Kent, Barry attended University in Scotland and spent 10 years of his career in Edinburgh before moving with his wife Hilary overseas. He has over 19 years of teaching experience and joined Brighton College Dubai after three years at Wellington College Shanghai, following a successful career at leading British boarding schools Loretto and Epsom College.
Barry has a breadth and depth of experience in senior roles, including Director of Studies, Director of Marketing and Admissions, Housemaster and Head of Department. He is a History specialist and has also taught English, Politics, Classics and Philosophy.

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The home environment plays a critical role in a child's oral language development. We know from research that oral language development is the foundation for learning to read and write. 
 
The conversational turns and verbal interactions parents have with their children have a far greater impact on language skills than simply reading to or with a child. Students who have quality conversations with their parents or grown-ups build their vocabulary and this, in turn, leads to stronger predictors of future reading success. 
 
The How-To will include what parents need to know about quality conversations for language development: authentic praise and encouragements v. discouragements or negations, thinking out loud, etc.

About the Speaker
Ms. Fussell grew up in the Panama Canal Zone and brings over twenty years of experience in teaching and administration to the Lower School. 
She also brings a wealth of in-house knowledge after serving as Associate Director in the preschool and kindergarten division of Dwight in New York where she collaborated with parents, faculty, and staff to ensure a rich learning environment. Prior to joining Dwight, Ms. Fussell taught elementary school at the United Nations International School (UNIS) in New York, and at international schools in Switzerland, Zimbabwe, and Guatemala. 
Ms. Fussell received leadership training at The Harvard Graduate School of Education and the New York Association of Independent School’s Emerging Leadership Institute. In addition, Ms. Fussell has been an adjunct professor in literacy at Hunter College since 2017. 
Ms. Fussell shares her passion for IB literacy education, the PYP, student engagement, and responsive learning with community members. Ms. Fussell is the Head of Lower School at Dwight School Dubai.

Support the show

The home environment plays a critical role in a child's oral language development. We know from research that oral language development is the foundation for learning to read and write. 
 
The conversational turns and verbal interactions parents have with their children have a far greater impact on language skills than simply reading to or with a child. Students who have quality conversations with their parents or grown-ups build their vocabulary and this, in turn, leads to stronger predictors of future reading success. 
 
The How-To will include what parents need to know about quality conversations for language development: authentic praise and encouragements v. discouragements or negations, thinking out loud, etc.

About the Speaker
Ms. Fussell grew up in the Panama Canal Zone and brings over twenty years of experience in teaching and administration to the Lower School. 
She also brings a wealth of in-house knowledge after serving as Associate Director in the preschool and kindergarten division of Dwight in New York where she collaborated with parents, faculty, and staff to ensure a rich learning environment. Prior to joining Dwight, Ms. Fussell taught elementary school at the United Nations International School (UNIS) in New York, and at international schools in Switzerland, Zimbabwe, and Guatemala. 
Ms. Fussell received leadership training at The Harvard Graduate School of Education and the New York Association of Independent School’s Emerging Leadership Institute. In addition, Ms. Fussell has been an adjunct professor in literacy at Hunter College since 2017. 
Ms. Fussell shares her passion for IB literacy education, the PYP, student engagement, and responsive learning with community members. Ms. Fussell is the Head of Lower School at Dwight School Dubai.

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Why are some children fussy eaters? There can be a number of reasons why a child can develop picky eating habits. Vera Antunes, Centre Manager of Hummingbird Nursery Bay Square, walks us through some useful tips for parents.

She recommends:
1. Roleplay 
2. Feed your child at the right time 
3. Help them explore 
4. Have patience
5. Make it a fun activity 

Vera Antunes is the Centre Manager of Hummingbird Nursery Bay Square. 
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge”, Albert Einstein. Educating children is both a skill and a habit for me.
Graduating with a degree in Primary Teaching as well as English Studies, Vera has been developing her career throughout the primary and secondary stages, and for the last 7 years in Early Years beginning in her native country Portugal, and then exploring England and Dubai. 
She joined Hummingbird Nursery as a head teacher right at the opening of the Bay Square branch and, currently, she is the Centre Manager.
Having a Communication and Language background, she sees Speech Development and Literacy as a mission, to give children confidence and cognitive tools to express themselves, learning new languages and, in particular for our little ones, giving them the first steps in reading skills. 
During the course of the past 5 years at Hummingbird, she’s had a great opportunity to meet amazing children and families and it has been her honour to see many babies becoming amazing little people ready to go on their next adventure to big school. For her, it’s very rewarding to be part of every family learning journey and see children and parents facing and overcoming challenges together, every single day. 
She is very lucky to work in Early Years as my days are never boring, she has lots of fun with children and do get lots of hugs and cuddles! Being a passionate reader, she is frequently spotted in bookshops and libraries and she takes every opportunity to travel around the world to learn about new cultures and languages.

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Were you or are you still a big fan of animated movies, video games or shows? Remember how you used to (or still do) spend hours and hours glued to the screen watching Snow White or Frozen? If you do, great! Now, how do you think these characters or animations came into being?
 Yes, through animation. Typically, Animation is the field of study that focuses on transforming written words into entertaining characters to create the illusion of emotion, thought and personality.
If you wish to transform your love for animation into a lucrative career, then a degree in animation is exactly what you may be looking for. Watch this video by Amit Naval, Head of Animation Department at SAE Institute Dubai, for more information about the course, possible career paths and specializations.
About the Amit Naval
Amit Naval holds a Master of Fine Arts from Himalayan University India, A Diploma in 3D Animation and Visual effects from Vancouver Film School (Canada) and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai (India). 

He comes from a versatile industrial background and has experienced different sectors of the animation industry such as industrial design, visual effects, architectural visualization, game designing and ad films development. His clientele includes Adidas, Nike, HP, Accenture, P&G, Unilever, Shell, Camouflage (Canada) Fun Element (India) and many more.

He brings his industry expertise to the classroom and shares the latest techniques with our students. In addition to animation, Amit teaches photography and is an avid event and travel photographer.

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