IBGC: Pre-Conference in Budapest

I had the pleasure of attending a session with two men that I admire so much, Ali and Ali.  They have varied backgrounds, but add so much to the PYP landscape of teaching and learning. 

During their pre-conference session, we explored how we can personalize learning, so our learners are engaged and feel heard.  It was wonderful to engage interact with others whom I have only heard about online.  ​

Here are some of my highlights from the pre-conference with this dynamic duo.  Although we engaged through inquiry and used some tools, I didn't feel overwhelmed by the content.  I think this is a valuable lesson when creating a conference session that might include a broad range of people that serve in various roles and come from different countries. 
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The workshop was framed around three important questions

• What is personalized learning?

 

• How can we use personalizing learning

 

• How do we transfer learning to our context? ​

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Personalized learning is focused on the learner.  When you think about this, it's all about agency, differentiation, and inquiry wrapped into one.  I really appreicated this list of features, so we can know if we are on the right track.  Oftentimes, it feels like we are winging it until some validates us.  
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The thing I appreciated the most is that the workshop participants created most of the tools and did all of the thinking.  Can I remember exactly everything, no.  But, I can recall how I felt during this session about personalized learning.  

Ali and Ali were amazing presenters and I can't wait to attend a session with them again in the future.