The ideas within this guide can be found in Principles into Practice: The Learner.  To get your own copy of this guide, please look below for directions. ​

​​This guide is only available for educators who currently work at an IB candidate or authorized school.  They must have an active My IB account.  

To register for MY IB and IB Exchange, follow this link for detail directions.  Have fun with this guide and the rest in this series. 

Part One:     Action in the PYP
Part Two:     Action Continuum
Part Three:  Action through Participation
Part Four:    Action through Advocacy
Part Five:     Action through Social Justice
Part Six:       Action through Social Entreprenuership
Part Seven: Action through Lifestyle Choices
​Part Eight:   Action Extensions

Additionally, this guide unravels the difference between individual and collective action and how to approach it in your context.  The ideas within this guide can be found in Principles into Practice: The Learner.  To get your own copy of this guide, please look below for directions. ​

This guide is only available for educators who currently work at an IB candidate or authorized school.  They must have an active My IB account.  

To register for MY IB and IB Exchange, follow this link for detail directions.  Have fun with this guide and the rest in this series. 

Part One:     Action in the PYP
Part Two:     Action Continuum
Part Three:  Action through Participation
Part Four:    Action through Advocacy
Part Five:     Action through Social Justice
Part Six:       Action through Social Entreprenuership
Part Seven: Action through Lifestyle Choices
​Part Eight:   Action Extensions​

At the end of the first week of school, our team decided to travel around the heart of Brussels to welcome the new staff and show them hidden places in their new home.  This was such a fun night to get to know each other and the city.  

It's moments like these that help you to build bonds as a staff.  I'm so happy to be here and start anew.  This year has so much promise. 

One thing I have been passionate about is getting learners to take daily action.  I think when we speak about action, we tell learners to create an action project.  This is more like service learning, which is not the same.  

​I wanted my learners to take meaningful, bite-sized action each day to change the way they think, feel, speak, and act.  About four years ago, I created the guide using agency daily to explore this idea.  The cover looks like this and you can find it here for free. 

Within the guide, I created a poster that guides away from doing concrete actions to changing dispositions.  I believe this is more powerful than saving the rainforest.  When a child internalizes big ideas into their practice, they are creating a disposition of what it means to be a learner.  To me, this is more important.  Here is one way to achieve this goal. 

This idea is not new.  About 11 years ago, I heard teachers bring up these practices in our unit planning sessions.  They were revolutionary to me, because it went beyond the physical act and internalize how I might change the world in a small way.  Mind blown.  

​Essential agreements are usually one of the first things that I implement in my classroom.  They are the "rules" that the class lives by and reflects upon on a regular basis.  

One thing I learned from Kath Murdoch is to keep them short and few in number.  Put them in language that kids will understand and be able to apply.  This is imperative. 

Then, learners vote for their favorite ones.  The top five go on my essential agreemnts list.  Because my learners created and voted for them, they are more than likely going to follow them.  When they make mistakes, they will more than likely accept the consequence.  Why?  Because they had agency in writing them. 

I heard: Rules before relationships equals rebellion.  This is a tool that helps to build the class relationship.  The learners do all of the thinking and decision-making.  I am just a facilitator of the process.  I have no voice. 

​Truly genius. 

This is my list of essential agreements from my classroom.  They are posted on my door.  

One thing I learned from a great leader: always provide snacks, drinks, and time.  This is has stayed with me as I've gone throughout my career. 

After several days of intense training, my school provide a lovely lunch of pizzas that just hit the spot.  We could have eaten regular cafeteria food, but this made the staff feel valued.  

These little things make all the difference in a professional development.  Let's invest in our people. 

Who decides? 

This is a simple, but powerful question.  Who decides how a classroom will be designed? 

The simple answer, the learners decide and the teacher complies.

This is how my classroom looked when learners walked through the door.  

This is the first time I had the courage to do this.  What helped was a supportive school leader that trusted my vision.