Language therefore becomes more than simply a means of conversation. We are teaching a language, about language and through language and we do all of this with that authentic, inquiry-based approach that we truly believe in. In this article, I will be sharing a recent video from a conversation I had live on Facebook with grade 4 teacher, Maria Vidal. ( @bilingualising on Instagram) [caption id="attachment_2738"...
I do not profess to be an expert with this age-group. Having never taught in an early years classroom, it amazes me when I see creative early years teachers working their magic and bringing the elements of the PYP seamlessly into practice with our youngest learners.
I often hear from early years teacher-facilitators that their challenges include questioning and developing this skill with the children. Such struggles include:
Perhaps you can relate to one or a few? Well, I am...
When I consider those definitions in relation to mindfulness in the IB PYP classroom, the key words that jump out to me are:
All very similar to being reflective, don't you think? Since we have a whole child approach to teaching, this makes perfect sense that we would help to develop awareness of self as an approach to learning. If we think about how many attributes within the the Learner Profile align with mindfulness, we can then see how, through taking time to explicitly teach mindfulness...
Research. The ability to help ourselves to find an answer to a question or the solution to a problem.
Developing research skills includes explicit teaching of the skill, leading to implicit practice. This resource does exactly that with task cards targeting the research sub-skills.[/caption] The research sub- skills that our IB PYP students need, right from the earliest years include:
We want to ensure that the children's research inquiries are...
When it comes to being an inquiry teacher and an IB PYP teacher, there are a bazillion articles and blog posts and podcasts and books telling us what we can do: become an effective facilitator, research new curriculum,changes to practices, to assessment etc. etc. and on and on, all while making sure we follow through with the latest buzz words -this is all well and good and no doubt valuable. But sometimes it becomes, and I'm speaking from personal experience, totally and utterly overwhelming. Well, to add a variation to the theme, I'm here today to tell you what you DONT have to do! :) Ready? Here goes. You DON'T HAVE TO.......
But how will I know if they are meeting the objectives? How will I know they understood the concepts? What if they are falling behind? These are a few of the questions that I used to ask myself back in the days when I was rushing around in a stressed out state, trying to ensure that I had enough evidence of...
No matter whether your inquiry is happening online or in the classroom, setting the scene of the inquiry and tuning in to the possibilities requires sparking curiosity, triggering background knowledge and provoking wonder. This is where the magic begins and the student-led inquiries stem. This is the art of the provocation. But what exactly does it mean? What is this thing we call "a provocation"? These synonyms from the definition of the noun (provocation) from the Oxford English Dictionary are indicators of what we are aiming for:
We want the provocation activity to be familiar yet unfamiliar.
Anyway, the most common queries I receive from teachers new to student-led inquiry and the IB PYP is that they are seeking clarity as to how their job ( the content) may differ from their previous teaching positions and what their new role ( the context) , will look like.
Well, rather than simply providing a list like a job description, I created points that summarise what happens as we make that shift from the traditional classroom teacher, to that...
Student engagement is a challenge that each of us has encountered at some point within every year. It’s a lot to expect children to devote their full attention to school for eight hours straight. It is natural that they will lose focus at times, but there are strategies we can use to help them to increase this Self-Mangement skill of maintaining their focus. It’s also important to remember that engagement also involves interest, curiosity, and motivation. Are you familiar with Phillip Schlechty's five levels of engagement? His...
Using simple thinking routines with the children, as the one below, I would work up to each of those skills: observing,...
I’m often asked how I integrate maths into our IB PYP units of inquiry. I won’t deny that depending on the unit, it can sometimes be easier said than done. However, I’ve found over the years, that it’s best to keep it relaxed and, if necessary, simply focus on concepts in maths rather than content. Often, especially within the public IB schools in the USA, we are expected to meet certain maths standards by a certain time. This often results in a clash of math units and units of inquiry and a creative juggle ensues. But hey, who doesn’t love a challenge? The rest of the IB world? You’ve got it luckier, I assure you! Anyway, a great resource for math in the beginning of the year is https://www.youcubed.org/. It encourages a maths mindset and is centred around collaborative thinking. It does require signing up for a free account but, once you’re in, you can view...
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