Category: planning

Press Start, Pause or Stop? 3 Ways We Can Approach Launching a Unit of Inquiry

Press Start, Pause or Stop? 3 Ways We Can Approach Launching a Unit of Inquiry

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Bewildered by my outburst, my sleeping dog popped up her head and twitched her ears when I giggled out a “hmmm”.  But I couldn’t help it. I was so immersed in a recording of the Town Hall discussion with fellow Google Trainers. They asked a question about concept testing that made me make a connection with a recent topic that we had been discussing during our grade level meetings, the cycle of learning and teaching.

What was the question they use during their iterative process of concept design?

“What would you expect to happen ...?”

Their research shows that this puts algorithmic thinking into motion, generating potential scenarios that could be incredibly powerful in articulating the effect of our decisions.

What if we applied this same question as we approach a launching a unit of inquiry? I think this could be and effective way to start a familiar unit of inquiry, creating the impetus we may need in order to contemplate and debate alternative approaches with greatest impact for our learning and teaching.

Entry points in The Cycle of Learning and Teaching.

Where do you begin with learning? Do you launch a unit with TEACHING, picking up your PYP planner from last year and “copy and paste” what you did last time? Do your reflect on your past PYP planner and adjust the learning expectations or reinvent the unit with PLANNING provocations and activities to launch new concepts? Or do you pick up your PYP planner and think about how you might ASSESS the learners to figure out what direction you might need to go to support strong concept development and bringing out the best in the Learner Profile and Atls?

I would argue that there is no “right answer” to this because every unit of inquiry is unique and we have to look holistically at the grade level Programme of Inquiry (POI) and the whole school Programme of Inquiry (POI). It might also depend on if the UOI is a single subject or if it is transdisciplinary. That said, I do think that teachers need to sit down and re-read the planner from last year to reflect on what is relevant and meaningful to their current learners. They need to unpack the central idea and lines of inquiry before determining where they are going to jump into this cycle of learning and teaching.

Decisions, Decisions!

Press Start: Teach 

There are some very valid reasons why we might just start teaching. Time may play a significant factor, especially when we know this unit will introduce never explored content in the school-wider programme of inquiry. Also, if there is a project that the students will work on during the unit and the goals of the unit are more about the process of learning so we have to focus on teaching into the Atls such as the self-management or social skills that will be developed throughout the unit. For example, collaboration or time-management may need to be developed right from the word Go so that groups can effectively do research together. A great example of that is during the PYP Exhibition. Teachers might need to start teaching into stress management or technology skills in order to ensure that students can work independently and effectively.

Teachers who are also single-subject specialists may also jump into the cycle of learning and teaching here, particularly if they have younger students who they feel can safely assume that they have no prior knowledge of the concepts. For example, a music teacher who wants to teach the concept of melody to their kindergarten students or a language acquisition teacher who works with newcomers to a language.

However, we really want to think critically about this approach because research suggests that we need to value our learners more than teaching our content, so we need to carefully consider our students when planning and assessing.

Press Pause: Plan

It is good practice to review previous planners for a familiar unit. As you re-read the planner, it’s important to read the reflections first before digging into the resources, learning activities and assessments that you created in the past. I know that this part of the planner often gets neglected, but it really can be critical to understanding how and why you might make changes to a unit, especially if there are new members of a team who may not be as familiar with a unit. It is especially for this reason why you would want to start with planning. Not everyone interprets units the same way, especially when a central idea is broad. So team members need to “unpack” the unit’s concepts and think about how it could be approached differently, particularly when considering the students you have in your class. I’ve written about the importance of this before in this blog post.I think this is the most common way that teams approach the learning and teaching cycle–Teachers getting together and discussing what might be possible during this unit.

However, you can share the central idea with students and unpack it with them in order to co-construct the unit. The questions and ideas that emerged during those discussions with students then become the fodder to re-write aspects of unit in order to develop more student interest and agency. Sometimes that means we go back are re-write lines of inquiry, change learner profiles or switch our Atls. And sometimes it means that the content shifts. It really depends on what happens during the “unpacking” with students.

For example, consider this unit:

Central Idea: 

Circumstances impact opportunity and the ability to achieve.

Lines of Inquiry:

  1. The attributes of empathy(form)
  2. How opportunity is enabled (causation)
  3. The measurement of achievement (perspective)

A team of 4th grade teachers were going to approach this as a “copy and paste” type of unit, in which the focus has typically been on the role of social class in creating barriers or opportunities to success in life. However, when they unpacked it with students, it became clear that they were fascinated with disabilities and inclusion. It required the team to get back to the drawing board and re-design the unit with student interests in mind. Although the key concepts might stay the same, the related concepts shift from Poverty, Social Class, and Opportunity to Diversity, Innovation and Inclusion because students were keen to learn about how disabilities and neurodivergence lead to developing new technology to help people feel capable and involved in their lives.

When teachers respond to students like this, learning is more dynamic and student action can organically evolve from their enthusiasm. I’m sure you can see how responding like this can change the trajectory of a unit.

Press Stop: Assess

Before putting the car into drive, some teachers choose to stop and assess before beginning a unit. Pre-assessment is always a good idea, but since the pandemic, this approach seems like the most sensible for many units. We just aren’t sure where the conceptual and skill gaps may be, so we may need to do some formal assessments to see where students knowledge base lies. Once we have an idea of what students know, understand and can do, teachers can sit down with the data and then examine what concepts and skills make sense before launching a unit. Again, they may need to adjust content, change Atls and/or learning expectations.

“What would you expect to happen ...?”

I think predicting and reflection are 2 key superpowers that a PYP teacher needs when we consider how we can build strong units. As I continue to mull over this question, I think this question can be an important tool to help shake up unit planning and instigate critical thinking in our approaches. Whether it is asked 2 weeks before a unit of inquiry begins or as a strategy to provoke reflective thinking, this question can help us explore new ways that we could approach the unit.

What do you think? Are there other questions that we need to consider when determining the why and how we jump into the cycle of learning and teaching?

The Role of the PYP Coordinator: 5 Dos and Don’ts When Working in International Schools

The Role of the PYP Coordinator: 5 Dos and Don’ts When Working in International Schools

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It’s a time of year that we are always prone to reflect and come up with wish lists for the new year. There are projects that remain unfinished, books you want to read, and pedagogical challenges that we continue puzzling over. Often this time of year we renew our enthusiasm and commitment to at least some of these things.

That said, whether this is your 1st year or 15th year of being in curriculum coordination, there are always things that come to mind as opportunities for improvement.  I think of these like Boomerangs, items of good leadership practice that I must return to if I had become sloppy over the course of the year. So I’d like to share the 5 Dos and Don’ts that I have to constantly check in with myself each and every year.

DON’T use acronyms, but DO create a common understanding of key principles within your program.

I think we can often assume that we all speak the “same language” in the PYP. We don’t. Using acronyms adds another layer of confusion for new staff (or even old staff who never got the jargon to begin with). Sometimes brevity is unhelpful. Here’s what I mean in a possible email to teachers:

Let’s meet in the LSR during CPT. We will work on our UOI’s KUDs and create SC. Ts need to add them to MB.

Maybe you know what the goals of the meeting are, or maybe you don’t. And that is the point! If you are left scratching your head, then maybe you need to inform what certain acronyms mean or just spell them out. Seriously, acronyms are not that much of a time saver anyway, and can really handicap some teachers who may not be native speakers of English (or whatever language dominates your school’s professional discourse). It’s better to be clear, especially in written communication.

Let’s meet in Heidi and Gustav’s learning support room (annex room 3). We will work on our upcoming unit’s KUDs–what we want our students to K.now U.nderstand and D.o; then we will create success criteria. Teachers need to record these in ManageBac (MB)

Until acronyms are internalized, it is better to write them out so that everyone is in “the know”. Moreover, when new teachers join the team, you will have to be mindful, even providing a “glossary of terms” for those brand new to the PYP of the jargon you use at your school.

DON’T solely have collaborative planning meetings but DO have a variety of focused planning sessions that have a purpose and goals.

Many schools have regularly scheduled meeting times such as a “late start” or “early release” days that are perfect to allocate for collaboration with grade level teams and specialists. These meetings with specialists are “tried and true” ways to promote collaboration for unit of inquiry planning, but they are not the only kinds of meetings that we can promote collaboration. Using these moments to discuss other topics such as assessment practices, how we are promoting student agency, or looking at inquiry practices can also help promote collaboration. Personally I have been thinking about flipping the focus of the collaboration meetings away from the homeroom teachers’ units and instead provide opportunities for specialists to be the focus for support of their non-integrated units. In that way, we can start broadening our ideation for agency and concept development in more supportive ways across our whole school, and in every subject.  Never the less, straying from doing “meetings-as-usual” could help foster creativity and innovation but it’s important to have the purpose of these collaborations clearly stated with intended goals communicated so that teachers feel that the time is well spent and helpful.

DON’T go into classrooms for “special moments” but DO create a schedule of classroom visits.

I realize that not all coordinators have time in their schedule to frequent classrooms, which is why I am suggesting that it gets built into one’s personal timetable. If it is baked into one’s personal calendar, then it is easy to get into classrooms. This could be a 10-minute walk through or you could spend a full period. Moreover, popping into a variety of classrooms is preferable, so this goal might be to visit certain classrooms on a bi-weekly or even monthly basis.

I also want to be clear the the purpose of these visits aren’t just to capture special learning moments (ex: guest speaker, end of unit activity, community action project, etc..) to post on social media, nor should they be “gotcha” moments to find fault with teachers. It should be an intentional moment to observe students during the learning. Write down notes about the conversations that they are having, or any interesting interactions you observe. Teaching is complex and there are lots of things that they don’t observe so having another educator in the room, no matter how brief your visit is, might unearth some data that could help teachers support student learning. It also might provide more helpful information when you sit down in the planning meetings. So, take notes or photos so you can capture some anecdotes to share with teachers later. If those anecdotes are useful to share in the larger learning community, that would be great, but it shouldn’t be the only reason why you come into classes.

DON’T assume you know how to support teachers but DO ask them how they would like to be supported.

You may read all the books and do all the trainings but you know the saying that  “to ASSUME it to make an ASS out of U and Me”– even though this wit and wisdom sounds cliche, it is something that needs reminding regularly. For example, there are times when you go into a classroom and you feel like you are being “supportive” but when you start “co-teaching”, it may be very disempowering or even insulting to the teacher to interfere with the lesson. I think it’s important to ask teachers individually and as a team what are some ways in which they can best be supported. And although you may have asked that question earlier in the school year, it’s important to ask it again in case the needs have changed over the course of the year. For example, I will definitely be asking teachers what needs to STOP, START and CONTINUE with the level of support I have given as we re-boot the school year after our holidays. And I want to add that this feedback will be communicated as their “wishlist” because I have to balance school priorities with their needs, but I will definitely do my best to meet their requests.

DON’T have too many initiatives but DO remind your team what goals were set for the year

Initiative overload is endemic in most schools across the globe. I think the new evaluation process is helping to transition our approach in our IB programs to action-research might alleviate this phenomena. However, it is not an easy habit to break. Wen we try to do too much in too little amount of time, I think the goals become shallow and not a lot of traction can occur. I don’t think it matters if you are a new-to-PYP school or an established school. Having a focus and remaining on track is vital to the long-term growth of your school’s development.

Personally, I have been thinking a lot about this as we jump into the 2nd term, and considering what milestones we might reach at the end of the year if we remain concentrated on the initiatives we set out at the beginning of this year. I want to share this vision with our teachers and get a sense of what their expectations might be as well. In that way, they can feel that they are making headway with their effort, as small changes can make a big difference in the trajectory of our students’ learning.

Although 5 things are hardly an exhaustive list, I do hope these Dos and Don’ts provide some inspiration and ideas to reflect on the ways you can improve and grow in your pedagogical practices. Did any other Dos or Don’ts come to mind as you read this post? Please share in the comments so this community can glean from your wisdom as well.

Wishing you a marvelous 2023!

The PYP Planner: The Challenges in Designing an “Enhanced” Collaboration Tool

The PYP Planner: The Challenges in Designing an “Enhanced” Collaboration Tool

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Ever since we decided to give one of the “enhanced” planners from the Programme Resource Centre a try, we have been reflecting on our planning process. Do these planning templates actually “enhance” our planning process? Moreover, how might our planner be a reflection of Who We Are? Between our frustration with the “enhanced” template and our school’s own initiatives, we thought it would benefit our planning if we co-constructed our own PYP planner.

The Process

In order to approach these questions, we used design thinking to navigate our discussions and our guide us on this journey. As you can see from the graphic below, it is not really a linear process but one that involves constant dialogue and reflection along the way.

Empathize and Define

We launched our discussions during teacher in-service days when we had a fair amount of time to explore and worked in mixed grade-level groups. As you might know already, schools can either use one of the planners provided by the PYP or develop their own planner based on the collaborative planning process. We started by examining the current “enhanced” planner that we had adopted earlier that year and had groups discuss its Pros and Cons, carefully considering…

  • The different elements of the PYP framework in the planner
  • The amount of “boxes”
  • The layout
  • Visual elements like colors and icons
  • The leading questions
    • Do they help your planning conversations? Why or Why not?

These conversations lead us to think about what is the purpose of the PYP planner and its role in collaboration. We took some time re-reading and reflecting on the IB’s document about the collaborative planning process before we researched different templates that other schools had created. Groups analyzed the templates and took notes on what they liked about each planner. Based on these conversations, we came up with some criteria that we wanted to in our own planner:

  • The essential elements of the PYP UOI planner.
  • Color coding for collaborative phases to help them know when they needed to be dipping back into the planner.
  • Some links to helpful documents or terms in case people had doubts about what to put in boxes.
  • Sections that clearly defined what the specialists were doing in their classes.

Ideate

Groups began to sketch out ideas and started to create their own versions in their teams. They could use either Google Docs or Google Slides to create their template. Their creations lead to many interesting conversations and lively debates. Eventually, we came back together and teams analyzed each other’s potential prototypes and we voted on one.

Prototype and Testing

The purpose of a prototype is to provide a representation of what a “final” design could be like. It gives the opportunity to analyze potential flaws and where there might be improvements. With this in mind, we gave the agreed-upon prototype a spin during our upcoming UOI planning. After the teams had a chance to use it, I met with them to discuss what they liked and didn’t like about it. I took notes and then made adjustments to create a final draft planner. I shared the draft planner and got feedback on its elements again. I created an exemplar and through that process, I continued to make revisions that supported our school’s goals.

Implement

During the course of this year, we have been using this final version. There are things that have worked and didn’t work with it. So even though we went through many iterative cycles, it’s not easy to create a planning document.

Do Betters

If I had to do this all over again, these are the areas that I think deserve more “air time” in the overall design of the planning document.

Collaborative Practices: To think that a one-size-fits-all planner is going to improve collaboration is naive and, in hindsight, I think an examination of our collaborative practices would have been a better place to start. Not only would it address the EMPATHIZE component better, but would have helped us DEFINE what we really needed in order to truly personalize our planner.

Connecting the head with the heart: Although our template definitely supports more understanding of the content in different subjects, supporting transfer is really tricky. Thinking through how we can get students to acquire knowledge and skills throughout the inquiry and make transdisciplinary connections is really a big goal of our learning framework. Moreover, how might their learning transfer into action? This is definitely something that we have to put front and center in our re-design.

Cultivating and Curating Curiosity: Evidencing the learning on the planner has been the hardest part of the planner to fill out. During the inquiry, teachers rarely remember specific questions that students asked unless they are captured on sticky notes or posters. Using digital platforms to upload pictures or learning artifacts is often a better source of documentation than our planners. This is an area that we must unpack more and consider how we can support assessment practices that develop learner-centered approaches and inform teachers.

I’m sure more ideas and reflections will emerge as we work to co-construct a meaningful PYP planner that supports our goals. I’m wondering what other considerations might be out there, but am hopeful that they will emerge as we move forward during the re-design of the planner.

Creating Machines or Mathematicians? How Might We Use the Learner Profile as a Math Planning guide in the #PYP

Creating Machines or Mathematicians? How Might We Use the Learner Profile as a Math Planning guide in the #PYP

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How would you finish this sentence? Math is…..

  • practical, a part of every day life
  • happening all around me.
  • fascinating
  • a language
  • a mindset
  • an opportunity to build relationships
  • a form of creative expression

These are just a few of the ideas that pop into my head as I reflect on what Math means to me. But I wouldn’t say that I felt that way all my life. There was a time when I wouldn’t answered it as boring or hard. It really wasn’t until I studied Calculus that I realized that the journey to getting an answer was actually where “math” happened. The solution wasn’t as rewarding as the struggle. And puzzling over a challenge can be fun. 

But no one has to wait until high school or college to experience joy when doing math. I feel strongly that we have an obligation to use our PYP framework to intentionally develop mathematcians. Lately I have been thinking, reading and reflecting on how to support New-to-the-PYP teachers in shifting their practices. More than I care to admit, I’ve heard these fledgling PYP teachers retort, “It’s okay to ‘do the PYP’ for Unit of Inquiry time but for literacy and math? Nah?!”

I fight to keep a straight face when I hear them say things like that, while inside my heart goes

The PYP isn’t some jargon-filled, philosophical mumbo-jumbo, it’s designed on best practices. I know that the framework is a lot to take in for newbies, and, as a PYP coordinator, I must be patient. They are learners. And I am a learner too….and sometimes I am learning how to get teachers to not only “drink the kool-aide” before they can serve it to others. 

But I digress…..

Examining the research and approaches to rich math learning experiences, it’s obvious to me that our PYP standards and practices are grounded in not only what is joyful but what is powerful in math learning. Take a look at this chart–doesn’t it just scream our Approaches to Learning?! 

From the book, Everything You Need for Mathematics Coaching: Tools, Plans, and a Process That Works for Any Instructional Leader, Grades K–12

I love how this chart clearly articulates what competant mathematics do and how teachers can create the culture and opportunites for engaging in learning to solve problems through math. For teachers who struggle without a textbook or scripted curriculum, transforming their practice takes a lot of support and compassion. I think we all can acknowledge that most teachers who fear to stray off the pacing guide or curriculum resource is really just trying to do their best to ensure that students get the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. They are not trying to be defiant or stubborn, they are just don’t feel competant enough in their own decision-making abilities to support learners. To call them robots or machines because they can’t teach without a script would be cruel. Chances are they never had an authentic experience in which they embodied the spirt and curiousity of a true mathematician. Whether you are in leadership or just a peer, we have a duty to encourage them to take baby steps and take risks. 

The Learner Profile isnt just for the Students

Since we are in the throes of our IB Review Cycle, I’ve been reflecting on the new standards and practices. In particular, I’ve been thinking about the Learning standard practice:

Approaches to teaching 4: Teachers promote effective relationships and purposeful collaboration to create a positive and dynamic learning community. (0403-04)

Approaches to teaching 4.1: Teachers collaborate to ensure a holistic and coherent learning experience for students in accordance with programme documentation. (0403-04-0100)

Approaches to teaching 4.2: Students collaborate with teachers and peers to plan, demonstrate, and assess their own learning. (0403-04-0200)

The “PYP” isn’t something we do during our Unit of Inquiry time, it’s how we approach EVERY aspect of learning content to ensure a holistic and coherent learning experience for students. Moreover, it’s not something that the students do. EVERYONE DOES it!! Teachers promote….a positive and dynamic learning community. To think that teachers work outside of the jargon is to miss the point. We provide students with an everyday example of living the Learner Profile. But do we use it when we are reflecting on our planning?

As a PYP practicioner, do you ever ask yourself…..

How am I using the Approaches to Learning (Atls) to do math?

Who are the students becoming as I create opportunities to develop the Learner Profile in the context of solving problems using math?

Those questions need to be asked on a daily basis, as an individual teacher and within our teaching teams. When we live and breathe the values and philosophy, it’s easy to communicate it to other members in our learning community. 

Since I am working on supporting teachers who still learning how to shift their mindset and approach to designing learning experiences through the lens of the PYP, I’ve been thinking about how I might try to kill 2 birds with one stone:

#1: Elevate the implementation of our IB Standards and Practices

#2: Use the Learner Profile as a filter/checklist as we plan.

After a lesson, we might reflect, how did I create…

Risk-taking today?

Open-mindedness today?

Thinkers today?

Communicators today? 

etc…

Circling back to the “baby steps” a novice PYP practicioner might take could include embracing one or more of our Learner Profiles as we approach planning math, whether it is a stand-alone unit or transdisciplanary.  For example, perhaps they want to set a goal and become more of an INQUIRER in their math practices. I can help them then paint a picture and start to describe what kind of evidence they might see, hear or feel in the classroom environment to demonstrate that they are achieving this professional goal. Moreover, when I come into the classroom and see the teacher honoring the kids questions about math on a Wonder Wall, I need to acknowledge and provide accolades for their effort to shift their practice. Change isn’t easy and becoming a competant PYP teacher requires intention and a desire to be a creative educator. And, at the end of the day, I want them to experience the joy of engaging in math, not as a machine, but as a real mathematician–even if they have to live vicariously through the students.

I’m curious, can you think of other ways might we help support the development of PYP teachers through explicitly developing who we are as educators through naming and noticing the Learner Profile?  Please share in the comments below! 

What To Do When We Don’t Know What to Do

What To Do When We Don’t Know What to Do

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What do we do when we don’t know what to do? This question summarizes the chronic condition that we are facing these days: VUCA, an acronym used to describe the state we are living in: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity.

If I am being honest, my head has been flooded with all the recent events happening in our world. There is no doubt in my mind that our world is not only globally experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic but also our hearts are being awakened to the paradigms of power and its embedded systems that are beginning to crumble.

For me, these last 14 months have been intense and have made me have to confront myself, questioning my personal beliefs and values.
What do I believe about health and medicine? 
What do I believe about media and truth?
What do I believe about race and equity?
What do I believe about the environment and the consciousness of living things?
What do I believe about structures and systems in education?
What do I believe about personal choice and freedom?
What do I believe about gender?
What do I believe about money and financial well-being?
What do I believe about friendship and connection?
What do I believe about the purpose and life meaning?

I am still very much in the throes of self-reflection as I recognize the complexity of the issues that are rising to the surface. I feel very much like a chrysalis in a cocoon. Unfinished but preparing to emerge. I believe that many of us are in this state of ambiguity and transformation. I am reminded of a Native American Indian Teaching:

Message from the HOPI Elders

“There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift
that there are those who will be afraid.
They will hold on to the shore;
they will feel they are being torn apart
and will suffer greatly.

Know that the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore,
push off into the middle of the river,
keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.

And I say, see who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history,
we are to take nothing personally,
least of all ourselves,
for the moment we do,
our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The way of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves.
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner
and in celebration.

WE ARE THE ONES WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.”

For me, this captures this moment in time in which a great shift is upon us and provides a lot of useful advice. Because we are in the midst of change, a new timeline of possibility is being created. We cannot see the road ahead because we are building the road into this new future with every thought and action we take now. Despite the precariousness of the situation, nevertheless, I feel optimistic and enthralled with the changes that are yet to come. I resonate with the opportunity for celebration.

So as I think of the school years ahead, I consider the message of the Hopi Elders. What wisdom, keys and insights are contained in this message as to how to approach uncertainty:

Know that the river has its destination.
The discomfort we feel right now is temporary. We should embrace the challenges and trust that they will lead us to a new place, personally and professionally.

We must let go of the shore
We must accept the change. We must update and upgrade our ways of teaching and learning. Using technology to teach is no longer an option–it is a new normal in how we approach pedagogy.

Keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.
There are systems that are antiquated and can even be oppressive in our schools and we must not only draw awareness to them but have the courage to challenge them.

The way of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves.
Silos within our schools and communities can no longer exist. We must improve our ability to collaborate and strengthen our relationships. We NEED each other.

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

Our trajectory is determined by our mindset. We can no longer view change as a problem, we have to reframe this crisis as an opportunity to innovate and accelerate new possibilities for humanity. Growth is a good thing. 

These are some phrases that stand out to me. What ideas stand out to you? I think many cultures and civilizations have had to contemplate handling serious threats to their way of life. So, reflecting on their wisdom can help us to navigate change.

I would like to suggest that the only reason we view this moment as a “crisis” is because we feel surprised and unprepared. But what if we perhaps viewed this moment as an amazing turning point in which we started to expect the unexpected and developed strategies and solutions that make us more creative and resilient. What if we became comfortable with being uncomfortable? And what if we became more curious about challenging our fears?

Although I feel so much disequilibrium and confusion, I am choosing to embrace VACU. In my mind, that’s the only thing we can do when we don’t know what to do.
Chaos to Clarity: PYP Practitioner Checklist for Synchronized and Asynchronized Learning

Chaos to Clarity: PYP Practitioner Checklist for Synchronized and Asynchronized Learning

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Six months. Half a year. 

That’s been the length of this experience, and, as the Covid-19 numbers are not abating, the “finish line” is not in sight. Shutting ourselves up in our homes and pivoting suddenly has been quite agonizing. When schools all had to suddenly go online, we scrambled to figure out the technology to continue learning.  Very few schools had the systems in place to support a smooth transition and while we trained teachers, we also had to train families and students. But here we are. 

I think about the gifts that are “wrapped up in sandpaper” from this collective experience. The prize chief among this is developing resiliency, in which I can build mental and emotional strength. There is a real possibility for ‘Post-traumatic’ growth. So when I look at that graphic, I can reflect on all the domains and see how I am for the better due to this pandemic.

And, although this has been hell, there has a great opportunity to turn this into a positive experience for us professionally. This is really a powerful moment when we are being confronted with what we truly believe about student learning and the role of the teacher. So we are really grappling with how to figure out how to create self-directed learning and do online learning really, really well. 

So, I feel one of the most important things I can do as a leader is to create clarity out of this confusion, provide structure despite the backdrop of turmoil and ambiguity.  Thus, when our school revised our online learning plan, I really wanted to define how we can do the PYP online because what we would have done over the course of a day now must be condensed into a handful of learning experiences.  I’ve developed an architecture around lesson planning for our teachers in order to support a meaningful and engaging learning experience for our students. For my new-to-the-PYP staff, I really wanted them to be able to name and notice the key areas of learning that we need to be planning for in our online learning program. Here is some of that thinking:

PYP Practitioner Checklist for Synchronized Learning

During this lesson, have I ….?

  • Lead with a Guiding Question so I can start with an inquiry stance
  • Developed a Concept 
  • Provided opportunities to grow one or more Approaches to Learning (Atls)
  • Cultivated the Learner Profile (in the guiding question or as a part of self-reflection)
  • Taught through interaction in order to honor Social Constructivism (dialogue brings new understanding)
  • Embedded Assessment

Structuring our lessons intentionally to “cover” this checklist will eventually lead teachers to develop “muscle memory” with practice. It’s important that teachers can name and notice these aspects of the PYP in daily synchronized lessons, which we conduct through the Zoom platform. We continue to reflect and refine how we teach our live lessons. 

But we also do a fair amount of learning through activities posted on SeeSaw. So, again, I have created another concise structure to delineate the elements that are important to cultivate self-navigating learners:

PYP Practitioner Checklist for Asynchronized Learning
  • Guiding Question (start with an inquiry-stance)
  • Concept Development
  • Success Criteria
  • Timely feedback

Here is an example of what a post looks like:

Although not stated in the checklist, teachers also have to include video, audio (translated into Portuguese), and visual instructions so that they can be successful in their learning. This is also included in our school’s online learning plan. 

As we continue to reflect and review our practices, I think these structures will serve us post-pandemic because it helps to develop teacher efficacy or as it is more commonly known as “competance”. They say that Practice makes progress, so I am hopeful that these structures facilitate the process of progressing from incompetence to competence as a skillful PYP practitioner.

So, in my heart, I want to support my teachers with this clarity and design frameworks for online learning that will help all our teachers, new or experienced into refining their ability to “make the PYP happen” online. Although this is not perfect, I believe it is a step forward in helping teachers and can act as a catalyst for the mindful practice of our pedagogical principles. 

 

The #EnhancedPYP Planner: Who Gets to Plan the Learning?

The #EnhancedPYP Planner: Who Gets to Plan the Learning?

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They say that life begins at the end of your comfort zone. This couldn’t be truer when we consider the full impact of bringing the Primary Years Programme (PYP) enhancements on board. Making AGENCY front and center of what we do is a major paradigm shift, and if you don’t think so, then your school is either on the cutting edge or so far from the edge that the thought of empowering intelligent children with the capacity to self-direct their learning is downright heresy. Most of our schools fall somewhere in between–in our hearts, we want this, but in our heads, we aren’t sure how to make it happen.

Recently we got together in Sao Paulo to discuss how the Primary Years Programme Enhancements were rolling out in our schools. So much to talk about…so little time. But planning was a topic that we kept coming back to. There are quite a few schools that are developing their own planners, and their teams had a lot of discussion about, not only what elements need to be on the planner, but also where they wanted to begin their focus on the planner.  Here are some of the ideas that were shared that were Must-Haves and potential starting points of “The Planner”:

Reflection: Where are we now and where do we want to go?

Learning Goals: The purpose and conceptual focus of learning.

Language: Using the language of the PYP and developing academic language in meaningful ways.

Students: Their passions, interests, and resources that they can bring to the unit.

Assessment: Co-constructing success criteria and developing a continuum using solo taxonomy.

Tools and resources: The people, places, and tech that can be used to invigorate and engage learners.

Approaches to Learning: Ways in which student-initiated learning and agency can be nurtured.

Through these conversations, my mind wandered back to a blog post that I saw a few years ago: “We’re Going On An Expedition” and I keep wondering how we might make learning more like a journey for all students–not just during the PYP Exhibition–but for all grade levels. Moreover, asking the students who they want to become (Learner Profile Alert) as a result of their experiences this year and how teachers could be their guide through this journey. What if THAT was our starting point for planning?

comfort zoneAlso, if I think about “The Planner” like the map of this journey, then I am wondering how we might open up the planning of a unit to the students themselves. Instead of “The Planner” being a teacher-directed document, what if we had our official “Planner” for student-created which became the basis of the inquiry?  We flip the responsibility of this document so that students got to direct the learning. Hmmm….How might we structure the document in order for students to authentically co-plan with us teachers? I think THIS is the type of PYP planner that I want to create with my team. But what teacher team is so courageous to do this?

Now as someone who has co-constructed units of inquiry with students, I can attest that this made me uncomfortable. These kids don’t know about THE STANDARDS, so it’s not what guides them when we co-construct units. They think about what THEY want to learn, not what some educational body has mandated for them and outlined in THE STANDARDS. So I wonder how we can have true AGENCY if we are the ones telling them what they should know and when they should know it?

In my mind, Who gets to plan the learning? seems like the foundational question to ask when we develop new planning documents. Because if we, as teachers (bless us), get to plan the learning then I think we are the ones who “own” the unit. And if we define Agency as Voice, Choice, and Ownership, then clearly it will be a challenge for students to really take authentic action.

I’m am thinking about how we can use our Exhibition documents as the basis of creating an Enhanced PYP Planner, but I’m afraid that I have more questions than answers in how to approach this. However, the pursuit of these answers is something that I want to explore in earnest.  The process of this Enhanced PYP Planner will be a journey unto itself, but I am willing to engage in going deeper into how we create genuine student plans for THEIR learning rather than documenting OUR teacher plans.

I’m curious if anyone else has embarked in this direction or would be keen to go what has-been into what-could-be? What approach would you take?

 

 

#PYP Déjà vu or Jamais Vu? Approaching Familiar Units of Inquiry in Unfamiliar Ways

#PYP Déjà vu or Jamais Vu? Approaching Familiar Units of Inquiry in Unfamiliar Ways

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Picking up the strand of LED lights, I felt overwhelmed at the Chinese Hardware Market, I had this disorienting feeling that I’ve been here before, discussing the color of lights in broken Mandarin. As I walked out with 2 meters of lights, I felt like I was in a dream world, realizing that this whole experience was a  déjà vu.

But having the luxury of teaching a unit of inquiry year after year creates the same experience.  You read over last year’s planner, reliving the experience and ready to proceed in the same way. Easy, right?  Then you can tick that off your To-Do list and move onto other things like setting up your classroom or having meetings. But this year, I can’t do that. I’ve promised myself to take myself and the students “where the streets have no name” and that means that I have to approach units of inquiry from a stance of jamais vu, selectively having amnesia about what provocations and activities we used in this unit.

So why on Earth would I toss aside all the thoughtful planning of the past? Because it’s the past. And we’ve grown professionally a whole year since our team originally designed that unit. Yes, we may be re-inventing the wheel a bit, but our experience and knowledge require us to develop more dynamic and empowering units of inquiry. We know more pedagogically. Moreover, we have a whole new group of students, with new interests and questions. We need to readjust our sails because we are going on a whole new adventure.

So when we examined our current Who We Are unit (Our choices and actions define who we become as a community), we decided to use “the end”, with a water-downed version of our summative task, a “learning fair”, to begin our current unit. It made sense that they needed more practice making learning choices so they could cultivate their self-identity and self-management skills. Now we can use this data to reflect and refine how we might use this jumping off point to have them become leaders in their own learning.

5_album_photo_image
Making choices helps us to appreciate how they see themselves as learners.

I think using the end as the beginning is an approach that we may use again in future units because it provides the context for all the skills and knowledge that we would have “front-loaded” on the students in past units. For example, last year we did several lessons on Kelso’s choices and How Full is Your Bucket?  before we gave them the agency to make learning choices. How silly, right? It’ll be so much better having the context of conflict as a provocation to really engage in deeper conversations. If we bring these resources into the unit, it would because the students needed it, not because we wanted it, because it was on LAST year’s planner.  In fact, coming from this angle has really helped us to see how capable and eager our students are to be in control of their learning. Maybe we don’t have to waste time on the previous year “staple activities”.

As we embark on another year of learning, I intend to embrace the jamais vu, putting old planning aside and coming at familiar units from unfamiliar approaches. And I wonder what insight the children we give me about how I can amplify learning and empower them. This is what I look forward to so much: I grow as they grow. How fun is that?

#Inquiry in the #PYP: From Paper to Practice: 5 Approaches for Provocations (that “Stick”)

#Inquiry in the #PYP: From Paper to Practice: 5 Approaches for Provocations (that “Stick”)

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Even though we all use ‘the framework’, we have all sorts of curriculums in our schools.  Some schools use the PYP Scope and Sequences, others use their national curriculums and yet others look at curriculum like a buffet- take a bit of AERO Standards, some of this from the Common Core and a portion of  NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). (Nevermind that most schools don’t even acknowledge any Technology Standards) Whatever approach you take to the “Written Curriculum”, you have to bridge what you put on paper with what is the “Taught Curriculum” is going to look like and how on Earth are you going to let student agency influence it.

This sort of tension is what I am really thinking about and concerned with–how are we going to shift our thinking about the “Written Curriculum” being the driver into it being the “map” that we can use to go on divergent paths created by student’s interests. And I think solid provocations are the “starting line” from which are learning journey begins. Although I have written about provocations before, I wanted to come at from a different angle from the ideas presented from the book, Made to Stick. (I am a huge fan of the writing of Dan and Chip Heath). Because at the heart of a provocation, we want it to leave an indelible mark and make a real impact on students’ thinking in order to create action and authentic agency.  They would call this type of learning “sticky”. (Don’t you love that?)

But the challenge of creating a provocation is that you know too much. The Heath brothers term this, the Curse of Knowledge. Here’s what they mean:

It’s a hard problem to avoid—every year, you walk into class with another year’s worth of mental refinement under your belt. You’ve taught the same concepts every year, and every year your understanding gets sharper, your sophistication gets deeper. If you’re a biology teacher, you simply can’t imagine anymore what it’s like to hear the word “mitosis” for the first time, or to lack the knowledge that the body is composed of cells. You can’t unlearn what you already know. There are, in fact, only two ways to beat the Curse of Knowledge reliably. The first is not to learn anything. The second is to take your ideas and transform them.

Stickiness is a second language. When you open your mouth and communicate, without thinking about what’s coming out of your mouth, you’re speaking your native language: Expertese. But students don’t speak Expertese. They do speak Sticky, though. Everyone speaks Sticky. In some sense, it’s the universal language. The grammar of stickiness—simplicity, storytelling, learning through the senses—enables anyone to understand the ideas being communicated.

(From Teaching, Made to Stick, by Dan and Chip Heath)

I can really relate to this, especially when I taught older students because I thought they already “knew stuff”. With that in mind, provocations can really reveal what students are thinking and feeling.  So now that you have the context of why provocations can be so powerful and transformative for student learning, I’d like to share with you 5 approaches for provocations (that “stick”):

1.Unexpected: Create curiosity and pique interest with unexpected ideas and experiences that open a knowledge gap and call to mind something that needs to be discovered but doesn’t necessarily tell you how to get there.

Example-Central Idea: The use of resources affects society and other living things.

Take out all the classroom resources that are made from petroleum products after school one day. The next day,  have the students come in and be shocked?-where did all those resources go? Then have them consider what these resources have in common. And then have them consider the impact on society if these non-renewable resources went away.

2. Concrete: Ground an idea in a sensory reality to make the unknown obvious.

Central Idea: Economic activity relies on systems of production, exchange, and consumption of goods and services.

Create a classroom economy by “printing” money and having students create businesses. Turn all of your classroom resources into “commodities” or by providing services (like sharpening pencils) to illustrate the conceptual understandings. This provocation goes on for weeks, by the way, so that they can experience the related concepts of scarcity and marketing.

3. Credible: Demonstrate ideas and show relationships to “prove” a point.

Central Idea: Informed global citizens enhance their communities.

CRAAPgraphicGo through news articles either on a social media news feed or through an internet search on a topic that is relevant and interesting to your students or controversial (ex: climate change). Have the students examine at least 3 websites or sources of information and put them through the filter of the CRAAP test.

4. Emotional: Powerful images, moving music, role-play–anything that incites either strongly positive or negative feelings.

Central Idea: Homes reflect local conditions and family’s culture and values.

Using images from photos of children’s bedrooms from around the world have the children try to match the picture of a child with a picture of a bedroom. Why do they think those images go together? What evidence in the photo might suggest the values and culture of that child’s family?

5. Story: Use a story, whether from a book, a video or from your own life, to illustrate a challenge or provide a context worth exploring.

Central Idea: Our actions can make a difference to the environment we share.

Share the story of One Plastic Bag and have students reflect on the impact her small action had made in her community. What would you do with a plastic bag? (During our  1st-grade classes’ personal inquiry time, students were invited to take some plastic bags and play around with those materials. It is interesting to see who and how they took action.)

So there you go. These are just 5 approaches to 5 central ideas. Crafting provocations are probably one of the best things I love about the PYP and when we share insight into how we can approach these central ideas, I think it elevates everyone’s schools because of the insights gained.  I’d love if others could share and post ideas for provocations to further illustrate the importance that they play in deepening our students learning and inspiring authentic connections and action.

#PYP : 5 Things You Should See in a Successful Unit of Inquiry

#PYP : 5 Things You Should See in a Successful Unit of Inquiry

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Sometimes I wonder why we spend so much time discussing and deliberating Central Ideas and the nit-picky debates over the conceptual understandings. Why not just copy the sample Programme Of Inquiry that is inside the Making the PYP Happen document or other go-to places to find tried and true units of inquiry? We would be done and dusted, right?  But then we would lose the magic of the PYP–the ability to shape our curriculum based on the students’ interests and culture of our schools! That’s the challenge of every school–Who are WE and what defines our community of learning?

Well, as we wrap up our current How the World Works unit, we are reflecting on how much time and energy we put into creating our Central Idea. As teachers, we brainstormed ideas based on scientific concepts that the students need developing and cross-referenced science standards from a variety of sources (like national and independent curriculums other than the PYP Scope and Sequence for Science). We then pitched the ideas to the students with a general interest survey using a Design Thinking approach and then did some pre-packing of the Central Idea. We knew after all of that effort that we had a solid unit of inquiry ahead. What we ended up with was:

Understanding light and sound can transform experience

  • How animals hear sound and see light
  • Transformation of Energy
  • Ways we use the scientific process

Although our central idea was ironically very similar to a unit at NIS, the lines of inquiry and adding the word “transform” made it unique to our students because of what we had been learning about in performing arts and visual art classes. We really wanted to make a strong link to go beyond this being a “science unit” and make it transdisciplinary. This sort of intention really showed in the learning.

In the Enhanced PYP,   there is a shift in developing learner agency, and I can appreciate how it might build upon the idea of Action as we reflect our the design of our school’s Programmes of Inquiry.We spent a few lessons on gauging student interest and “pre-packing” the Central Idea of our unit before we even launched it to capture student voice and choice involved.

So really it shouldn’t be a surprise that when we examined whether students were really engaged and invested in their learning, we found several tell-tale signs. This was some of the evidence we saw:

  1. Students challenging each other’s ideas, particularly when they were generating their scientific questions and hypothesis.
  2. Students bringing in outside resources that added to the conceptual understanding of the unit.
  3. Parents reporting that students are reading and researching the concepts at home.
  4. Students wanting to extend their learning, either at home or at school.
  5. Students asking deep questions and a compulsion to test out their conjectures.

These are just 5 things that we observed throughout the unit. I hope others can add to the list because I think identifying what success of a unit is an important component of every school’s Programme of Inquiry. We need to take a look at our Central Ideas and begin to wonder who is this unit for? And will student action naturally and authentically develop? And when you think about it, the word inquiry means “a search for knowledge” and “a request for truth” so student initiative isn’t really the high bar we should expect in learning, but truly the bare minimum of a successfully designed unit. If we touch a nerve and truly spark interest, then a commitment and motivation to learning should ensue. If I was to be truly critical of whether or not we nailed student agency in this unit, I would say that tuning in and shaping units around their needs and interests were only the tip of the iceberg and we need to challenge our team a bit more to develop this feature in our community of learning.

However, I hope sharing this experience will help ignite some deeper thinking and reflection about designing units of inquiry. If you have any more “symptoms” of a successful unit, please share below. The more conversation we can have around this, the stronger our school programmes will become because we put our learners first. Please add your perspective in the comments below.

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