13 Mar Xspace Roundup: January & February 2021

As March rolls along, we move slowly into Spring! There were so many important conversations and actions taking place at Xspace in the past two months. Here is a summary of what happened in January and February:

M.O.O.S.E. Elementary: K-7 English Languages Arts – January 1, 2021

The most exciting news we have to share is that we started launching our M.O.O.S.E. elementary program focused on English Language Arts (ELA) for K-7 students of an ELL background. This program is based upon the British Columbia Ministry of Education English Curriculum within a dual-instructor model that equips each child with hands-on and digital skills they need in a blended learning environment. Through weaving technology into learning, young students are able to utilize online tools to respond to a variety of materials, create effective solutions and collaborate with peers.

Full-Time Program: New Student Orientation – January 19, 2021

As Term 1 continued on in January, we were beginning to prepare for Term 2 to kickstart. We were pleased to have Yiming join our Grade 11 class in the second semester. During the new student orientation, Yiming got to know Xspace’s student learning team and reviewed program policies and technology requirements that are important for successful learning outcomes.

“Empower Me” Interview Series: Addis Hou – February 2, 2021

The “Empower Me” Interview Series is an opportunity for Xspace students to share their learning journeys in Canada, while offering an insight into the uniqueness of Xspace’s blended learning experience. The first interview was conducted with Xspace’s student ambassador, Addis Hou. Addis is from Inner Mogolia, China. He came to BC, Canada to pursue his secondary education in 2017. Addis loves sports and singing. He is a football player with NWSS Hyacks and a member of NWSS Chamber Choir. Go check out Addis’ study abroad story here.

Lunar New Year Celebration – February 8, 2021

At the start of February, it brought a feeling of joy and connectedness with Asian communities around us because the time has come to celebrate Lunar New Year! According to Chinese zodiac, February also marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox. The Ox denotes hard work, honesty and perseverance. To celebrate this significant traditional festival, we organized an offline celebration event for Xspace students with a wish for good luck and a promising future in the coming year. Highlights of the event include making dumplings and paper lanterns. Everyone had a great time and was able to strengthen the existing connections and forge new ones.

M.O.O.S.E. Elementary Winter Camp Reunion – February 10 2021

Reflection is an important practice of student learning. It allows students to talk about how their experiences have facilitated their exploration and understanding of what they feel, think and learn about. As such, we organized an offline reunion for our M.O.O.S.E. Winter Camp students in February. During the reunion, we looked back on M.O.O.S.E. students’ blended learning journey at Xspace through a video and had each student reflect on what they learned and accomplished from this unique and interactive winter camp.

Critical Thinking Workshop – February 24, 2021

Critical thinking is one of the most important skills in the 21st century. This workshop is designed to help students improve their ability to evaluate and analyze information and sources critically. During the workshop, students learned how to distinguish reliable information from what they see and read through discourse analysis.

As we head into March, a couple reminders for students:

Spring break is coming soon!

Career Exploration Workshop

How to make a personalized post-graduation plan? In March, we will be hosting a virtual Career Exploration Workshop where students will develop their career planning competencies and be prepared for their post-graduation life.

Written by: Lucas Zhang