The primary goal of the GLP English Department is to help students communicate in as effective and sophisticated a manner as possible in their writing and speaking. Like the top college prep schools in America, Bugil GLP focuses on reading entire works of literature (novels, plays, poetry, and essays), discussing them in a seminar-type atmosphere, and writing about them at length and in depth. By doing so, students develop skills in critical and creative thinking that are the hallmarks of the program.
Unlike other schools in Korea, Bugil GLP expects all students to collaborate actively with teachers in creating a literary community. Our students drive discussions and challenge assumptions - of both classmates and teachers. They write creatively and use their own works as texts for analysis. They regularly stop their teachers in the hallways to extend the class discussion or to ask for advice about good books. Sometimes, teachers ask students for recommendations, as we incorporate books from western and eastern literature into our courses and make sharing our different cultural perspectives a regular part of class. Augmenting the English Department (and all other academic departments) is the GLP library—one of the best high school English-language multimedia libraries in South Korea.
Overview:
This full-year course combines two related though distinct areas of study: non-fiction writing and speech communication. Each course unit will focus on a different general theme and questions through which students will strengthen their writing and speaking skills. First, students will focus on the building blocks of writing, using these to construct meaningful compositions. The building blocks include mechanics, parts of speech, sentence construction, sentence variety, and sentence sophistication. Next, students will work on constructing organized, clear paragraphs on different topics for different purposes and/or audiences. Finally, students will expand single-paragraph compositions into full-length essays, written for a variety of audiences and purposes. Types of essays include description of a place, explanation of a process, editorial, an essay that tells a story, and a mini-research essay. In addition, students will practice writing in the major disciplines of math, science, and social sciences. Since the class will be taught in conjunction with English 10, in which most essays are forms of literary analysis, this form will not be covered in Effective Communication. Assessments include grammar exercises and quizzes, projects, and, most importantly, compositions and essays.
During the second part of each unit, students will learn and practice the basic principles of effective oral communication. Students will practice the mechanics of physical delivery, including both verbal and non-verbal cues that influence an audience by controlling and integrating physical behavior and tonal variety. Next, students will write and/or perform different types of speeches, such as informative, persuasive, and entertaining, as well as impromptu speaking and the oral interpretation of literature. Throughout the course, students learn to demonstrate basic proficiency in speech preparation, tonal variety, audience analysis, research, motivation, and organizational.
Learning is the best gift we give ourselves. Mathematics is particularly valuable because of its immediate application to real world problems as well as the logical thinking skills it helps to develop. The gift of mathematics is particularly profound because it reveals the fundamental connectedness in the structure of our physical universe, from the drift of the galaxies to the orbit of an electron. What is gained from mathematics is directly proportional to the effort applied towards mastering it.
The Bugil GLP math curriculum emphasizes mastery at all levels of the critical thinking spectrum, with particular emphasis on application, analysis, and synthesis. Unlike many other programs in Korea and many test-prep programs around the globe, the Bugil GLP math curriculum goes beyond preparation for standardized tests, which barely scratches the surface of students' mathematical potential. Unlike many high school programs in the U.S., the GLP math curriculum begins with pre-calculus and continues through calculus, statistics, computer science, and discrete mathematics to develop an ever deeper, broader, and more versatile capacity for posing and solving mathematical questions.
Overview: Pre-Calculus is a year-long mathematics course for students who have completed algebra and geometry. The course is designed to prepare students for Calculus. The subjects covered are functions and their graphs, polynomial and rational functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, trigonometry, analytic trigonometry, systems of equations and inequalities, matrices and determinants, sequences, series and probability, and topics in analytic geometry. Topics will be investigated using four representational structures: analytical, graphical, numerical, and verbal.
The GLP Social Science Department offers students the opportunity to master skills and content through a variety of college-preparatory, AP, and more advanced courses. Students will learn to digest material, ask questions, perform research, think critically, and defend their reasoning both in class discussions and through written and oral assignments. In addition, students will learn to appreciate the value of acquiring knowledge and developing analytical skills as the basis of life-long learning. For the Social Science Department, the process of learning is as important as the content acquired.
Although students at the GLP are expected to take a combination of history and social science courses, the variety of offerings and flexibility in scheduling allow students to tailor their social science curriculum to fit their particular strengths and interests. By the end of senior year, the department expects that each student will have mastered the requisite skills necessary for success at western colleges and universities as active, informed global citizens.
Overview:
AP Human Geography is a year-long class that is meant to replicate the experience of taking an introductory college course in human geography. This class will go beyond memorization of facts and require students to employ higher-level thinking skills such as evaluation, synthesis, application, comprehension, and application. In this course students will be introduced to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth's surface. Students will employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human social organization and its environmental consequences. Students will also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice. The course framework includes understanding the history of human geography as a discipline, exploring cultural patterns and political processes, analyzing political organization of space, gaining familiarity with agriculture and rural land use, investigating industrialization and economic development, and examining the development of cities and urban land use. At the conclusion of the course, students will be prepared to take the Advanced Placement Exam in Human Geography.
Goals/Objectives:
• To understand maps and spatial data sets
• To understand and interpret the implication of associations among phenomena in different places
• To recognize and interpret at different scales the relationships among patterns and processes
• To define regions and evaluate the regionalization process
• To describe and analyze changing interconnections among places
The GLP Science Department introduces students to both the content and critical thinking skills required for advanced, college-level study in the sciences. Students will have the opportunity to develop a deep curiosity about the physical world around them and an appreciation for the scientific method as it pertains to approaching and understanding that world. Laboratory and inquiry-based instructional techniques are integral parts of all science classes offered in the department.
Students are challenged to develop and evaluate models describing the structure and functioning of the natural world through experimentation and data analysis. This process is often facilitated through small study groups, oral presentations, and formal written reports.
Overview: AP Physics B is a math-based college level course designed to provide an understanding of the concepts and principles of physics, emphasizing creative thinking and the development of problem-solving ability. The course covers Newtonian and fluid mechanics, electricity and magnetism, waves and optics, and thermal, atomic, and nuclear physics. The math prerequisites are algebra and basic trigonometry.
The focus of the GLP Foreign Language Department is communication, rather than translation, memorization or test-taking. Students will read, write, speak, and listen to the target language, as well as study the vibrant, unique cultures of the Chinese or Spanish-speaking societies.
The key GLP academic outcomes of research, critical thinking, writing, and presentation skills are incorporated into the courses through creative and engaging in-class activities and daily homework, as well as long-term research projects on Chinese or Spanish-speaking cultures.
Overview:
Spanish I is for students who have had little or no experience with the language. The focus of the course is communication. Students will communicate using basic Spanish vocabulary and simple grammatical structures by reading, writing, speaking, and listening to Spanish within the cultural norms of Spanish and Latin American society. Course content is based on the educational outcomes of Bugil Academy as well as the specifications for the (U.S.) National Spanish Examinations, also known as "the National Standards." Some of the vocabulary themes are food, shopping, clothing, school, home, medical care, families, and sports and pastimes.
Students speak through partner conversations, skits, and games. They listen to teacher-speaking, videos, music and audio recordings, and they read graded-level selections, textbook selections, and cartoons. They write short compositions, outlines for oral presentations, and conversations for specific contexts. Included in the study of culture is geography, immigration, customs, holidays, food/beverages/meals, courtesy, bargaining, and vacation destinations. Students complete research projects on topics of their own choosing that are related to Spain or Latin America, and they are assigned projects and activities that require the use of technology, including Power Point presentations, video, and online homework practice, all of which are coordinated with the textbook program. By the end of Spanish I, all students should be approaching the Intermediate-Low level of proficiency in each of the four skill areas (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).