Every once in a while, we have a moment where we pause and ask ourselves, "Has my vision for my life changed the in the past few years?" The answer is usually "YES!" As we grow into mature humans, our vision of what we want changes. As a young 20 something, I wanted to be married to a man with good hair, a kind soul, and looked like Christian Slater. Now, my dreams are focused on what I can control. I look at the balance between my physical, social, spiritual, and mental health. Am I meeting all my needs? If not, what do I need to change to have them met? Something that added greatly to my life is a vision board. It doesn't have to be fancy. It's just a place to put your dreams, hopes, and desires. By looking at the vision board, you are activating your subconscious mind to change. I can't tell you how many times I've met my goals, because I placed them in front of my daily vision. Now, I use a canvas with printed pictures and post-its. It's not perfect, but it has my hopes and dreams for my future. I've grown so much in the past three years, because of a vision board. I hope you will find the courage to start one too.
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I've known Mondrea Mitchell for the past eight years. She was my first work colleague and friend that I met in Houston after spending a decade teaching abroad. After a few months, I knew that she was a kindred spirit, because she was equally excitable about the PYP and constructivist teaching. I am beyond excited to work alongside Mondrea at the Igniting Inquiry conference happening next month, because I know she will bring a wealth of experience and excitement to the conference. My best friend Anthony could sense that my creativity was quite drained due to overworking and giving my energy to other people, instead of myself. As a Christmas present, he gifted a set of spirituality cards, goal-setting cards, and a drawing pad. As part of my daily practice, I was advised to shuffle each deck separately and choose one card that spoke to me. Then, I read both cards to discern their meaning and created a drawing on my pad. Just like you, I was skeptical about this process, because I wondered how drawing pictures would help me on a daily basis. Little did I know that it would heal old wounds, help me to recognize my truth, and inspire me to make changes. Everyday like clockwork, I reflected using my card sets and my drawings. It's hard to explain, but I read the words and let the pictures come together in my mind. I begin drawing and the next thing I know, I've created an entire image. It's kind of like driving home from work and pulling into your driveway a few minutes later, but you don't remember the journey. The most surprising thing was the amount of visuals that came about about my childhood, past relationships, my regrets, my challenges, and my greatest accomplishments. In some way, it became like therapy for me. I travel a lot for my work as an educational consultant and I started to travel with the cards and journal. I found that it recharged me after a long day of training teachers and sparked new ideas for the next day. After some time, I needed a wider variety of cards to choose from to round out my reflection process and to keep the process fresh in my mind. Here are the cards that I have. Mystic MondaysThe Mystic Mondays card deck is one of the original decks given to me as a gift. For someone who is religious, this might be an instant turn-off. I totally understand. I want to you look beyond the card deck being used and consider how you might use the strategy with other cards that provide enlightenment to you. I use my tarot deck as a mindfulness tool to examine all parts of my life, behavior, and thinking. These cards help me to see beyond the immediacy of my actions, but long-term effects. The deck comes with a magical little book that tells you what each card means when it is facing right side up and upside down. Crush Your GoalsAs it sounds, the Crush Your Goals cards are focused on developing your goals and not giving up when it gets tough. These cards really helped me to get out of my funk and to see beyond my current moment. We all need this at various times in our lives. We do not judge ourselves, because we aren't motivated to go for our dreams. Dreams change. Mindful MessagesMy Mindful Messages cards are similar to my tarot cards. They provide different messages about where I am in my journey and possible things I can do to grow. We all need sizeable action steps to help us to get from one place to another. These cards are my go to when I want to think deeper and make and action plan. Happier MeThe Happier Me deck is self-explanatory. It explores different ways to be happier with ourselves, others, and living in the world. I really appreciate this deck, because there is a simple message on the front, which I often use to guide the big picture thinking. On the back side, there is a message that gets you thinking about your practices and provides a manageable action step. The long-term effects from this reflection process has been a more centered spirit. I express my feelings, frustrations, accomplishments, and joy in pictures that make sense to me. Each drawing captures a moment in time and helps me to correct behaviors and patterns that I keep repeating. When it is in print, you can no longer deny its existence. Join me as I begin a sketch club via Zoom. I will posting information shortly on social media. I hope to see you there! I'm a naturally curious person, which is why I'm in trouble half of the time. I can't help myself, because I still have that innate question bubbling inside of me, "WHY?" I want answers. In preparation for Igniting Inquiry, I was very curious about the surroundings of Middletown, CT itself. Denise Kraft has assured me several times that it's quite adorable, but I wanted to see it for myself First of all, look at this Hallmark movie setting of a downtown district. I so can see a Christmas tree lighting happening at the end of the street and local citizens gathering to solve a major obstacle to the town's annual festivities. Then, I wanted to see the relative location of the city to anything else. I didn't realize that a river ran through it, which makes it more interesting in my eyes. I love being near any body of water. I adore New England towns, because they have a quaint atmosphere. I can't wait to explore every nook and cranny of this community and NYC. Who will join me? For the past four days, I've had the pleasure of working with this fabulous group of educators around the United States, who are trying to making the PYP happen with fidelity despite major obstacles. It's not easy to being open-minded to a process that requires a lot of work and a mindset shift. Even with their challenges, this group was open to new ideas and embraced how they can adapt the process to their context. This is all we can ask.
A big thanks to Alexis and Ahmad from UWC-USA for their encouragement, support, and systems to make this workshop a success! This past week, I was fortunate to lead an online workshop through UWC-USA. They are a dynamic team that is dedicated to making authentic connections to IB workshops. My team of grade 5 teachers and school/district leaders were honest about their current context. We spend 3.5 days exploring ways to make the PYP Exhibition come to life in their practice. We began with shaping learner identity through making careful observations, questioning, and connecting to themselves. What a wonderful way to begin this fantastic journey together! Today, I said see you later to the Magnificient 007s. We spent two months together on a new pilot of IBEN development. It was a lot of work for both coaches and participants, but there was tremendous growth as a result. I saw participants transform from presenters to facilitators of learning. As you can see in this picture, we like to have fun. There were so many different personalities in this group that made me laugh and pulled at my heart. The final facilitation was such a celebration. They truly grew into wonderful facilitators. Was it perfect...No. It's all about growth. During this session, I took on the role of Lead Coach for IB Americas while serving as a coach in Asia-Pacific. This meant that I lead sessions from 5-7 am and advised from 7-9 pm for once or twice a week. It was intense, but I learned so much. I worked side-by-side with my mentor and friend Anne Grisham, my guide Dalit Halevi, and my inspiration Kawther Saa'd Al Din. I can't wait for the next one! Like most educators, I have been muddling through my journey trying to put the pieces together to make sense of what is best for learners. I'm continuously trying to stretch myself through various trainings, engaging with thought leaders, and trying out new strategies. I just think this good teaching practice...nothing usually special. One day, you are asked to help co-facilitate an inquiry conference and you are stunned. Why would anyone want me to help them? I'm just a normal person. I'm not published or particularly gifted...or am I? These have been the questions that have floated through my mind as I've prepared for the Igniting Inquiry conference this upcoming April. I can't believe my face in on a poster featuring some big inquiry thought leaders. I believe we are our own worst critics. We all have unique gifts to share with the world. I may not be a published author or a famous person, but I do have my own unique perspectives to share. I'd love for you to join me, so I know there will be friends in the audience. Who knew that an online IB workshop would completely change my life. I met Denise Kraft while leading the Your Exhibition workshop with her team. That group of educators was so special and I've made bonds with several of them since the event. Sometimes, you just meet people who put in a smile in your heart that stay for a long time. Move forward a year, Denise meets my friend Mondrea Mitchell through her school's verification visit. One thing leads to another. I'm invited to help plan an inquiry conference with Kath Murdoch. Everyone is on a different part of their inquiry journey, so if you haven't heard of Kath Murdoch, it's okay. Legend is a word I'd describe her. When I first began my PYP journey, I was completely lost. I can still hear my colleague Karen Roddis tell me repeatedly to make learning more inquiry-driven and to use more conceptually driven questions. I didn't know that any of that meant until I took a workshop with Kath in the fall of 2014. Within two days, the shackles of confusion left my eyes and I finally understood what this inquiry-based learning was all about. No surprise, I had been doing it wrong, but it was part of my journey in becoming better. I'll never forget that learning opportunity, because it began the change within my mindset of how education could look and feel. Since that moment, I've had a chance to be guided by Kath and her books, The Power of Inquiry and Getting Personal with Inquiry Learning. This past summer, Kath gave me permission to podcast my thought s and reflections about her book after participating in a book club. To have a listen, click here. I've had the pleasure to engage with Kath online and meet her in-person at the Crafting Inquiry conference in Portland in October 2022. What a treat! In 2021, I received a message on Twitter from a woman named Misty Paterson. She had seen some of my posts and wanted to connect with a like-minded person. Soon, our friendship blossomed and I knew that she was a keeper. Pedagogically, I realized her brilliance when I received a copy of her book Pop-Up Studio: Responsive Teaching for Today's Learners. I participated in a book club, which opened up my eyes to Misty's ability to weave ideas together to share a unique story. A couple weeks ago, I was able to participate in an Edu-retreat with Misty in Brussels. This was a transformative experience, because I saw ideas from the page come to life in real practice. I know that I will continue to learn new ideas at the upcoming conference. I've had the chance to learn and explore with the two other inquiry leaders, Mondrea Mitchell and Michael Medvinsky in a variety of capacities, but mainly as good friends and thought leaders. They are both modest in their abilities to craft ideas that make me pause and reflect. Every time I engage with these two, I walk away feeling full of new ideas that I had not considered before. Truly blessed. I'm a little late the game, but I showed up just in time! Nicola Millward, an instructional coach at IPS Hilversum @Nicola_EduCoach, shared on Twitter about her team's literacy planning through Kath Murdoch's inquiry cycle. I love Kath's cycle, because it provides shared language for learners and teachers new to inquiry teaching. Check out they approached inquiry learning through the cycle. I'm eager to delve deeper into the process. This episode came from a question that was posed by Nirali Parikh, a transitional kindergarten teacher, originally from India that works at the Creation Village World School in Celebration, Florida. I’ve had the pleasure to work with Nirali on several occasions and she makes me think differently about the capabilities of an early years child. If you haven’t already, consider following Nirali on Twitter @NiraliParikh7. What are the expectations of a school? This simple question spreads its tentacles into every aspect of the school building. If the expectations of a school are unclear, how can the teachers deliver a purpose-driven curriculum? The two go hand-in-hand. When the leadership team has no vision of where the school is headed, it impacts how and what is taught. Let’s consider that the school has a clear vision. How are the expectations seen throughout the campus? One way I believe a school has clear expectations is that its practices align with the PYP transdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching. It’s visible as you walk through the campus within and beyond the classrooms. Transdisciplinary learningAt the heart of everything we do is the transdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching. As a PYP educator, we are dedicated to teaching our subjects together in a cohesive way, so that it makes sense to our learners. In real-life, we do not address complex issues by separating them into various subjects, rather, we look at how all of the parts work together to solve the problem or issue. If this is the reality, why do schools still teach subjects as separate ideas, instead as factors to problem solve? The answer: it’s hard It takes a lot of time, effort, and collaborative planning to teach in a transdisciplinary approach. Every teacher on the team must be unified in the same purpose and be on board to teaching in the same manner. This does not mean you can’t show your unique flair or teaching style. You can still guide your learners based on your preferences, but the end goal is the same. Creating young learners who can think, do, and act. Simple. To do this, we must approach how our classrooms look differently too. In the last episode, we talked about the importance of the unit wall. Now, we are going to begin to unpack what does and why it matters. Unpacking the Transdisciplinary Theme Descriptor Upper Elementary/ Primary At the beginning of the unit, I give one word/concept from the theme descriptor and ask my learners to unpack it into kid-friendly language. They use devices to discover synonyms, images, and other references. This helps them to identify the big idea, similar to the bundling exercise described in the last episode. Then, my learners are tasked to choose one picture from a group found on a back table. For the second part of this engagement, I would ask learners to describe their words using Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER).
After they presented their CER to the group, we would evaluate if the argument was valid and if they required more evidence to prove their claim. Once the evidence was satisfactory, we would post the CER and photo around the transdisciplinary theme descriptor, which was above my smart board. The theme descriptors would stay up all year long, so learners could refer back to these concepts on a regular basis. Lower Elementary/ Primary How can I do the same process with my early years learners? One possible way is to choose only one concept from the descriptor that you will be focusing on during the unit of inquiry. Ask learners to share what the word(s) mean to them. Then, choose a picture that shows it in action. Use the CER routine to help them unpack it into a real context. For example: you are beginning the WHO WE ARE unit of inquiry. Your conceptual focus from the transdisciplinary theme descriptor is beliefs and values.
By completing this process as a whole group, you are able to guide the process while establishing deeper conceptual connections with your learners. It provides a focus to your learners of what they will be exploring within your unit and how they will be evaluated. Unpacking the Central IdeaOne of the ways to show expectations of the learning is to unpack the central idea with your learners. Since the central idea shapes the understanding of the unit, it’s important that learners know it in their kid-friendly terms and that they can apply it to their own lives. How can we make this happen easily? Upper Elementary/ Primary I present the central idea to my learners and ask them what they think the individual words mean and as a whole. We unpack each concept and verb separately into separate word banks, so they can find words that resonate to them. Here is the process that I use with upper elementary/ primary aged children.
After learners re-write the central idea in their own words, I have them write it down for their portfolios. I have them create a picture of what it means in their mind and brainstorm what types of actions people can take. Remember, the entire purpose of the central idea is to build a learner understanding of what the unit is about and the various ways they can take action. Lower Elementary/ Primary With the little ones, I still use conceptual language in the central idea, but I break it down into words that they know. At my old school, Foster Elementary, the kindergarten team used the central idea: Awareness of self drives choices. We knew this central idea would be too big for our learners to understand on their own. Here’s how I helped the team to bring it down to early years
Once we unpacked the central idea together, we had them play a matching game of good and bad choices. We had a discussion about how we know if we are making a choice or if it’s a mistake. The difference is that we KNOW that we are making a bad choice on purpose. For the action, learners were asked to consider some choices that they had made that week. They were asked to think about how they could make their choices even better. This was the summative assessment. Year-long DisplaysA question posed by Emmanouil Zerai: @E_zerai, a PYP homeroom teacher at the International School of the Stockholm Region (ISSR) made me think about year-long displays.
What aspects are worth staying longer on the wall? It’s all about preference. What do you value the most? What do you think learners should know? Here are some of my preferences. Theme Descriptors After unpacking the transdisciplinary themes, I would leave them posted above my dry erase or smart board. I wanted them in a prominent place where my learners would see them regularly. As we proceeded through the year, I would use them as a teaching tool to revisit ideas and called on my groups that were the “experts” to remind us of their meaning in kid-friendly language. Miniature Unit Walls Many years ago, I had the opportunity to attend an IBEN development at the Frankfurt International School in Wiesbaden. I noticed that many of the classrooms put their big unit ideas on poster boards and placed them in their rooms. This allowed learners to see the progression of the big ideas and how teaching and learning was connected throughout the year. Key Concept/Learner Profile Boards Another thing that might be of value is to collect evidence of the key concepts and the learner profile attributes in action during each unit of inquiry. Create a running display that will last all year. As you revisit a concept or attribute, you can add more evidence of what it looks like in practice. I hope these ideas helped to shape the expectation of the school into practice. Join us next time as we explore what transdisciplinary learning looks like through the lines of inquiry. My undergraduate program was in Organizational Communications, which explains my need to express myself. During one of my degree courses, we were challenged to engage in the power of self-talk. My professor encouraged us to walk around for a period of two weeks and speak of future goals as if they were happening today. I was very committed to the challenge and engaged whole-heartedly. When people asked me how I was doing, I would reply, "Wonderful! Next year, I am going to live in Australia." I did this until the day my mentor professor asked me, "How will you pay for it?" I immediately followed up with the comment, "I don't know, but I know the universe will make it happen." Fast forward a year and I'm a finalist for the Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarship with Rotary International. I was granted one of five spots granted out of 2,000 applicants. It was meant to be. We all have dialogue that runs around in our mind that holds us back.
The messages that we say to ourselves directly impact our achievement. Two years ago, I was offered a position that would add 20% more stress, but not 20% more pay. I knew my power to affect change was limited. I looked at myself in the mirror and asked myself, "Are you brave enough to do this?" The response was a resounding, "Yes, I know I can do this. It may be a little scary, but you will be alright." This is the moment that I envisioned myself as an educational consultant. How are you going to use self-talk to help you move forward? My mom would always remind me that I reflected the company that I keep. Every once in awhile, I'm curious who's company that I'm keeping on social media. It was fun to see so many faces that I already recognize, but new ones that have added a spark of curiosity in my life these past few months. I can't wait to check in six months time to see if there any changes. A big thank you to my professional learning network for add depth to my work and helping me to make deeper connections to yours.
I used to think strength was being aggressive and going for what you want. We see examples everyday of people who are at the top of their game, but they sacrifice their relationships with others to get there. As I've matured, I understand the strength in stillness and humility. It's not always about winning the game, but enduring the long game. Now, my definition of strength has expanded to this... I've encountered some hurtful situations this past year. It's taken all of my strength to forgive and let go. It's not easy by any means, but I think this is the true definition of strength. It's easy to hold a grudge, but it's harder to let it go. Welcome to our new series on a PYP classroom success criteria. I am so excited for this series, because I feel like it’s been so timely with things I have learned recently from the Pop-Up Studio Edu-Retreat in Brussels with Misty Paterson. In this workshop, Misty took items around the school to create a welcoming gathering place that was flexible and driven by learner use. This made think about this question post by Shailja Datt, the PYP Coordinator at the Horizon Japan International School in Kanagawa: How do we help in tickling the student’s brain?What a wonderful way to think about learning, which is more centered on curiosity, wonder, and awe. This episode, we are going to examine how we can tickle our learner’s brains through our school day and within our walls. I’ve had to sit with myself for a moment to think about how I tickle the brains of my learners. It’s a lot more difficult than it sounds, because we are considering how we provoke our young people to become excited about what they are learning. Sustaining this passion takes a lot of collaborative planning with our learners and peers, testing out practices, and reflecting on the process. Here are some of my ideas. Please share some of yours on Twitter @thinkchat2020 and LinkedIn @lugerlach. Teacher ProvocationsNothing massages the thinking muscles more than a wonderfully thought out teacher provocation. They don’t happen everyday, so when they do occur it's an event and time to pay attention. As an educator, I would regularly pose a teacher provocation to spark dialogue and assess prior knowledge. When I was teaching fifth grade at Al Mizhar American Academy for Girls in Dubai, I taught math and science in middle school. One day, I came to class with a 2 liter soda bottle filled with water and two nails stuck into the bottle. I had a bucket below the soda bottle, because I knew things would get wet. You could have felt the electric energy in the room as I took out one nail. I heard gasps of disbelief when nothing happened. A nail had been removed, but the water remained in the bottle. When I put the nail back inside the hole, I asked my learners their predictions of what would happen if I removed the second nail. As I pulled it out, nothing happened again. Equal amazement buzzed around the room in disbelief. As I put the nail back, we discussed what might happen if both nails were removed. Everyone was so confused by this point that they didn’t know how to answer. When I removed both nails and the water gushed out of the holes, there were squeals of surprise and confusion. This is what it means to tickle our learner’s brains with a provocation. Interactive bulletin board designThere are many ways to create a bulletin board, but if we want to tickle the brains of our learners, it’s going to have to look differently. It needs to be designed with the learner, so they can use it as a learning tool. A purposeful bulletin board allows for re-design, flexibility, and multiple-usage. Ms. Wiltz, a kindergarten teacher from my former school, created many interactive bulletin boards in her learning space. If it could not be manipulated by learners, it wouldn't go up. She had one for jobs, goal-setting, and learning stations. One of my favorites was in the hallway where she created an interactive letter/sound board that allows learners to engage in different ways during differentiated center exploration. She had picture and sound card match up games that learners could remove and use in their exploration. It tied with her educational goal of letter sound inventory, but the target was to get learners to authentically engage with language acquisition. Talking Points between DisplaysAnother idea may be co-creating talking points between displays. What do I mean? In between displays, have learners write reflections on how the two displays are connected together. This allows them to make connections between subjects and big conceptual ideas. Whoa, this might change the game in your classroom, because learners see the connection between each engagement you are teaching, instead of thinking they are “fun” or “cool”. I don’t know about you, but this is tickling my brain with new possibilities. I can see learners making visual and written connections, which the PYP calls learning stories. Learner WorkThis is the one that is the most controversial. I am very passionate about displaying learner work, but what is the main purpose? Is it to make your walls look pretty? Is it to show tons of “GREAT WORK”, so others can see that you are doing a great job? Think about that one for a minute. Something that has been tickling my brain has been how to display learner work that is co-created in design and display. This is more than a bulletin board, it’s about celebrating the learning journey. As such, I think we should have examples of work in progress, so all learners can share in the journey and growth. It’s not about being perfect or copying the teacher’s ideas to be displayed. If I see one more reproduction about a country leader or notable person, I think I might just turn into Rumpelstilskin…hopping up and down in a rant. Learner work is messy, developmental, and transformative. How are we tickling our learner’s brains to see the difference and strive for growth? How are we showcasing the process of seed to finished product, so they can see it requires work and multiple revisions? This to me is authentic and we need to see more of this as we display learner work in our rooms. Lu Gerlach 4th Grade Classroom (2016) The Unit WallHere’s another question by Siba Shekhar, the PYP Coordinator at GEMS Modern Academy Kochi made me ponder: I would like to know different ways to display the progression of the learning throughout the unit. This made me connect to the importance of a well-planned unit of inquiry wall. How do you consider all of the ideas to tickle the learner's brains while creating a unit of inquiry wall display? There are numerous possibilities, but you have to find the right way for you and your learners. Something I used to do is just laminate the titles: theme, central, lines of inquiry, ATL, and learner profile in English and the second language of the campus. We would unpack the central idea in their home languages (with the parent’s help) and use the Bundling strategy by Kath Murdoch to unpack the rest of the language. Lu Gerlach 5th Grade Classroom (2014) For the Bundling strategy, I would have learners work in small groups and I would give them one word to unpack. I tasked them to look up their word through pictures, videos, music, to get a sense of what it meant. On an index card, they wrote down synonyms that helped them to better understand the term and draw it in action. When the drafts were being made, I would circulate through the groups to clear up misconceptions. Each group presented their ideas to the group and they became the “expert” for that concept and I would frequently ask for their help as we explored it further. As we went through the unit, we would add to our unit of inquiry wall with similar activities to help unpack the big ideas and make relevant questions. For Siba, she may feel that her wondering has not been fully answered. The rest of this podcast series will go into detail on how to evidence the journey of the unit of inquiry. Just hang tight…it’s going to be a bumpy ride! Common MisconceptionsPart of our PYP journey is to authentically make the program come to life in our classrooms. After visiting many schools throughout the years, there are earmarks of different types of educators.
The LAMINATING QUEEN literally laminates everything, so they are ready for next year. They usually have the central idea, lines of inquiry, concepts, ATL, and learner profile attributes upon a wall like beautiful wallpaper. It’s usually typed, visually pleasing, but lacking any personality and student voice. Many times, it’s on the smallest possible bulletin or cork board in the room, so the rest of the walls can capture the real teaching. After the fourth year of being a laminating queen, I gave up. Each year like clock work, something within the unit of inquiry would change and it would throw out the rest of the unit focus. We would tweak the central idea, which meant the lines of inquiry were rewritten, which impacted the selection of everything else. I finally realized that the unit of inquiry will change year to year, because our learner needs, interests, and curiosities change each year. I stopped laminating everything and just stuck with the headers. Meanwhile, the BUSY BEE is so focused on doing a lot of activities that they fill their bulletin boards and classroom walls with a lot of work. Usually, it is work from curriculum materials or worksheets that is artfully displayed. When you take a step back, you realize there is no real substance or connection between the learning. It’s just a lot of isolated facts that are randomly taught at the same time. As a former Laminating Queen and Busy Bee, I can say that my teaching was not the deepest at times. I hid behind all of the materials on the walls, because I was scared and didn’t know what I was doing. If you are here, it’s okay. This is one small step in your learning journey. There are many more ahead. After attending the Pop-Up Studio EduRetreat, I was on a mental high. The number #1 lesson that I learned is the old adage, "less is more." We all know it, but do we live by it? In preparation for the Making the PYP Happen: Implementing Agency workshop, I knew I wanted to transfer my learning. Coupled with my recent IBEN development experiences, I knew I could make it so much more meaningful to my learners. In preparation, I followed some common steps over again to guide each session. It always began with an experience, question, or open-ended task. Here, we are using the materials mingler that was modeled by Misty while in Brussels. The directions were simple: Use the materials to show line and shape. Some participants took it quite literally while others created abstract works of art. We picked up our papers and angled them differently so the ink would run together to create new shapes and lines. Something so simple, but so needed to get our thinking to come alive. To support the thinking, we took random Dollar Store materials and sorted by use. This was done through this question: What scientific principles do you see? Concepts are the hardest things for new teachers to the PYP to grasp. This is natural, since it's the moment abstract. By sorting materials using scientific principles, we were then able to label the grouping with a related concept. Poof...the light bulbs went on. To help us synthesize the big ideas of the workshop, we used the PYP Nano Resources to gather new ideas about inquiry, transdisciplinary learning, or central ideas. Each group chose their topic (agency) and captured their notes on the back of seven strips from our materials mingler with lines and shapes. Each group was able to capture the big ideas and weave their strips together. I modeled how you can highlight the words that are peeking out to create a big idea of the Nano engagement. Here is an example of a teacher's summary statement: "In the PYP school, students are not restricted to standards and have a peaceful learning environment." One major aha moment: teachers realized that they had created a central idea for their PD Nano engagement. We discussed how to deconstruct the process, so we don't add so much pressure on ourselves to have the perfect wording. We are striving to create central ideas that are thoughtful, provoking, and worth researching. One of the best parts of this experience was reducing the number of extra slides that I had incorporated into my facilitation. In all, I cut about 100 slides. Less is definitely more.
I can't wait to try it again! I was so inspired and motivated by the edu-retreat that I had to post it everywhere on social media. I couldn't help myself! I've been contemplating my mental, physical, social, and spiritual health as a result of my frequent travel schedule. I have made numerous goals that never quite materialize and wonder what it will take to change my habits. Only I can make the change. While creating the change, I need to honor both my body and spirit by giving myself some grace. I will make mistakes, because I am human. When moments of weakness occur, I pick myself up and try all over again. After an amazing first day, I was didn't think anything would top my experiences. It's amazing how you can be proven wrong so quickly.
One benefit to my material mingler was having time to chat with Sean Walker. I've been following him on social media and have been impressed with his work within early years. He's all about the free use materials, play, and inquiry. As a wannabe early years teacher, I rather marvel at the ease in which he creates art and puts ideas together. I may have fangirled just a little. One of the highlights for me was revisiting our watercolor paintings from yesterday. Misty cut them into strips and we had to write down impressions, sentences, words, or phrases from a reading passage within Pop-Up Studio: Responsive Teaching for Today's Learners. We took our ideas and wove them together into a tapestry of knowledge. Every culture weaves together ideas and stories that shape their understanding of the world. In this engagement, we reused materials from prior engagements in order to synthesize our ideas to create summary statements or found poems. The biggest takeaway is using less engagements and reusing materials from prior learning. I plan to use these ideas in my future workshops. The sweetest part of the day was a chocolate lesson from Youri, one of our hosts from Bogaerts International School, North Campus. He studied to be a professional chef and master chocolatier. We tasted from a range of chocolates - American to high grade Belgian - which I did not mind at all. The highlight of this experience was seeing the complete joy on Debbie's face as she chose the chocolate covered cherry. We all were dying to get that one, but she was the lucky winner. She was all smiles after that! Here's the final group picture from the edu-retreat. What a treat to meet so many wonderful new friends from around Europe and the world. I can't wait for our paths to cross someday soon! A big thanks to Misty Paterson for giving us her passion, ideas, and excitement for inquiry and concept-based learning. I walked away with even more clarity on how to lead my own professional development.
We always hear less is more. This workshop reminded me to create less activities and reuse materials to extend the learning. I can't wait to get started! Within a few hours, I felt a kinship with Rafael and Youri, the heads of school of Bogaerts International School, North Campus and founds of Ampers and Consulting Group. They are my kind of people. Jovial, passionate, and open to new possibilities. Together, they have lived all around the world and now they bring their passion to their learners in Brussels. After an amazing weekend of learning, the dynamic duo took us around Brussels and treated us to an authentic Belgian meal. I know this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship and many possibilities ahead! Everyone needs to be nourished, challenged, and to think anew. My opportunity came in a bespoke training by Misty Paterson at the Bogaerts International School, North Campus in Brussels, Belgium. This workshop focused on ways to POP UP our teaching practice through inquiry, concepts, materials, and experiences Material Mingler: we entered an inviting room to find a long table with eyedroppers full of different colored liquid and watercolor paper. We were invited to create using the materials and our personal styles.
This was a beautiful creation from my new friend Debbie. She put ink on both pictures and smashed them together. To be honest, it reminded me of two lungs searching for the breath of life. What do you see? Misty brought us together to create a shared experience around objects and concepts. We created a dynamic web of connections using related concepts to share the connection between objects and ideas. Afterwards, we were put into small groups to make a model of our thinking. Here, we are examining the concept of grounding learners, teachers, and evaluators to the concept of identity. We created a strong conceptual based that was watered by inquiry and it's roots were evidence of learner agency. We grounded our identity through the lens of authenticity, purpose, and cultural connections. During our learning journey, we discovered a magical supply cupboard to add to our new creations. I made a connection that there is a difference between a US supply cupboard to a Belgian one. Can you spot the difference? To synthesize our thinking, we walked around the learning spaces to find authentic evidence (our rubbings) of learning happening. I thought of post-it notes and how they help to find our voice within the learning context. Even with jet lag, the amount of movement, thinking, dialogue, and doing kept me awake. I felt rejuvenated by the experience of learning with and from Misty in this workshop. I can't wait for day 2!
In the past six months, I have visited a lot of schools through official IB workshops, independent workshops, and curriculum development. One repeating theme that came from these encounters is this simple question: What does a PYP classroom look and feel like in practice?On the surface it seems like an easy question to answer. But, as you unravel the layers, you discover that there are many parts to making a PYP classroom come to life. Here are the two main parts that I have identified. The Physical SpaceWhen we walk into a PYP school, you can learn a lot about the culture by simply looking at the walls. These are the questions that instantly pop into my mind.
Lu Gerlach 4th grade classroom (2016) Over the course of this podcast series, I hope to address these questions and more. The physical environment does matter. It tells that story of what is valued and by whom. When I see a lot of worksheets on the wall, I know that inquiry is not happening, which means learner agency is not being modeled or guided. When I see a dominant culture represented around the campus, there is limited opportunity to explore a variety of voices about issues that impact all of humanity. Now I have a question for you: If I were to come into your classroom tomorrow, what would your walls say about you as a teacher, counselor, EAL teacher, coordinator, and principal/head of primary to name a few? To answer this question, I want to self-evaluate your classroom and office walls. Consider what the walls say about you by answering these questions.
As an educator, I really had to ask these questions to myself on a regular basis. When I was tempted to control the narrative about the learning in my classroom, I would have to take a hard look at my practice. Let’s be clear, it’s not easy to do this process, especially when you have teammates who have Pinterest worthy learning spaces. It can be intimidating to keep up, so you don’t look like “that classroom.” I had to stop competing at some point and examine what was more important: a beautiful classroom or one that was busy but authentic. The Independent SpaceThere is something magical about walking into an early years PYP classroom and young learners are self-regulating and managing their practice. They are driving the learning by making choices, collaborating authentically with others, and making decisions on a regular basis. Why is it that we lose this sense of wonder and awe in the upper-primary grades? As a teacher in public/state, private, and international schools, I’ve seen it all. In private and international schools, we had ample freedom to operate our classrooms. Some might say that it was too much leniency at times. While in public/state schools, the level of control can be so intense that the PYP program is barely visible. The question lingers, “Despite the physical space, how do we build up learner independence? A big part of this is building young, independent thinkers who can solve problems and resolve conflict on their own. We’ve heard this a thousand times. How is it done?
Nirali Parekh Transitional Kinder (2022) Modeling the ProcessWelcome to this master class on how to establish an authentic learning environment that reflects the elements of the PYP while supporting independent thinking. This process is filled with tried and true strategies that work. I’ve used them many times as a teacher, coordinator, and within IB workshops.
The ideas and strategies in this series are aligned with the PYP philosophy and approaches to teaching and learning, but they do not provide a recipe for how to be successful for a verification or evaluation visit. They represent my personal thoughts and feelings. Being human, I may miss some opportunities, so I’d appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Before beginning this series, I asked PYP fellow educators on social media what they would like to learn more about. In response to their wonderings, each episode has been shaped to provide ideas and strategies to answer their questions. As a result, this series has expanded in directions I had not intended, but so necessary for today’s culturally responsive classrooms. Let’s take a journey through creating thoughtful and meaningful walls in our PYP schools. |
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