IB Thursday

As I’ve mentioned I teach at an International Baccalaureate (IB) school.  For a majority of teachers that I’ve met, the IB is something they have heard about in passing but have little understanding of what makes it differ from their experience within the public or charter schools system.  

It is my goal to make my Thursday posts – IB related.  I should start by saying that understanding a little of what the IB is about might help most teachers regardless of what type of curriculum they teach.  Today I’m just going to tell you a little about the Primary Years Program (PYP).

The IB concept or goal (very simply put) is to develop young people who care and help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.  The attributes of such a learner are listed in the Learner Profile.  The Learner Profile is at the heart of what it means to be internationally minded. 

IB leaners strive to be:

Inquirers

Knowledgeable

Thinkers

Communicators

Principled

Open-minded

Caring

Risk-takers

Balanced

Reflective

 Along with concepts and tools the curriculum is planned to develop this type of student.  It is a different approach to how I taught in my previous school.  My students know these words and have known them since they were in pre-k.  They know that they mean and they identify the type of attributes they believe they most represent.  

When I have a visitor to my class I always have my students introduce themselves by sharing their name, age and home country as well as their learner profile.  They usually pick two to three of the attributes to convey who they are.  

The IB also believes it is vital that there is focus on the development of personal attitudes towards people, towards the environment and towards learning. Attitudes, that contribute to the well-being of the individual and of the group. 

In PYP schools, students should demonstrate:

Appreciation

Commitment

Confidence

Cooperation

Creativity

Curiosity

Empathy

Enthusiasm

Independence

Integrity

Respect

Tolerance

These are words, again, that my students know and understand. I am impressed daily by their examples of these attitudes and I strive to always reflect them in my teaching.

What I think I’ll do starting next week is to break down one attribute or attitude at a time.  That way we can open a dialog about how we help our students to internalize and embody these life long skills and attitudes.

Till next time!

Miss Pam

Camp Verbier

One of the most obvious difference between schools in the States and schools here in Switzerland is the legal culture regarding school outings and trips. Going to camp and on over-night field trips is part of the culture and is valued as an essential part of the curriculum.

My class got the chance to go on Camp for the first time as it is only for grade 3 and up. The excitement was palpable and the kids were so eager and excited.

We went to a camp in Verbier, Switzerland. Verbier is in the French speaking part of Switzerland and nestled in the Alps. The views are incredible as is the hospitality of the locals. The camp we attended is called Les Elves and the staff was brilliant with the children and the staff. In fact, they provided a couple bottles of Wine every night after lights out for the teachers to enjoy. Of course the culture with regards to Alcohol is much more relaxed in Switzerland. It is not uncommon to have alcohol at staff events after school.

We were at Camp for 5 days. We met at the train station Monday morning and said goodbye to parents and proceeded to take four trains and one bus to make it to our destination. The trip was great but very hectic as we left during rush hour. It was difficult getting 56 children and 8 adults with all the luggage onto the train in the few minutes it stops at the station.

Our week was filled with lots of fun. We went hiking and had bbq's. We visited a local Zoo and saw wildlife from the area (including a Lynx which connected wonderfully to our endangered species unit). We had fun game nights with staff, rock climbing and ropes course outings. The entire week was a total smash!!

One of the PYP learner profiles is to be a Risk-Taker. It was fabulous to see my kids really getting a chance to be risk-takers in new situations. Some had never been away from their parents over-night, or been in a situation that was so new and foreign. But they all did brilliantly.

As part of the curriculum we try to make reflection on learning a daily habit. Camp was no different and kids took time to write in their camp journals and reflect while the events were still fresh in their memories. Here are some of what they said:

"Today I rock climbed for the first time ever! I got to try the easy, middle and challenging way up. The man was very nice and helped me a great deal. I can't wait to come here next year."

"The ropes course is my favorite thing I ever have done. I was so scared at first but after I tried it then it was so much fun. The zip line was sooooo scarry. I was thinking that I would fall but I was a risktaker and did it and it was good."

"Camp is the funnest camp I have been going to. I hope I get to be going again next year."

"Miss Pam helped us in the music game last night. She knew most of the songs and we almost won. Then we played musical chairs and I got out right away. It was so much fun but the food is not so good."

How We Learn

Our first Unit of Inquiry in Grade 3 is How we learn and more specifically an inquiry into how people learn differently depending on where they live. I'm so grateful that we picked this unit to teach first as it is a fantastic vehicle for my students, and myself, to be reflective about how each of us learns and analyze what that truly means for our classroom community.

In the first 4 weeks of school we discussed in detail what type of learning environment we wanted in our classroom as well as our school as a whole. Through this process we created our classroom agreements and the kids were able to take real ownership in decisions made. My partner teacher, Alma, guided our students in discovering our central idea by having each student write about who they are and where they come from. After this was completed we each sat with our own class in front of our world maps and had each child read what they had written. As each student came up I marked the world map with their home countries. I then guided the discussion with questions about school in their country of origin. Through the questions and answers the kids started to make the connection that school is different depending on where you live. From this we were able to discuss what we thought different learners needs are depending on where they live. The connections that my kids made through this lesson was amazing to watch. I am awestruck almost daily by the thinking that my students engage in by discovering knowledge on their own.

Here is the map that hangs in our classroom. Each student's picture and self written profile is hung around the map as well.

In our next unit lesson I read to my students about Hellen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan. I used the book Hellen Keller (her life in pictures) by George Sullivan. My students were fascinated by Hellen and her ability to learn to communicate through her hands. The cover of the book has a wrapper that is printed in braille. The kids passed it around and took turns trying to identify different letters. Later that day during Maths, two of my boys were done early and asked if they could get on the computer to look up braille and sign language. They spend several days going back to the internet to read as much as they could find. As part of the IB curriculum we look for evidence that students are applying what they learn and are taking ownership of their own knowledge. It was delightful to see the boys get so curious about Hellen Keller and different forms of communication. The next morning I found two students reading books about Hellen Keller, including one that I didn't even remember that I had. They had found it in our classroom library and were reading it to each other.

The great thing about the Hellen Keller lesson is that it led to another wonderful discussion about how we learn and what each of our individual needs are.

A few days after the H.K lesson I introduced my students to the different learner profiles. We talked about visual, auditory and kinesthetic leaners. As soon as we started talking about them one of my students raised his hand eagerly to tell me that he was certain that Hellen Keller was a kinesthetic learner. The connection between the two lessons was amazing to see. It feels so great to know that my students are taking in what we learn together and constructing their own knowledge. For the first time I think I understand exactly what Vygotsky really meant.

On that note...I know it was a long and boring one today, I'm off to sleep and eagerly await tomorrow with my amazing class!!!

But I'll post some more pictures of the classroom just to give you something to look at. =0)