My Summer Reading 2020
Decisions, decisions! So many great books. Here are my picks for my professional reading.
Muted? Student Voice during Remote Learning
“Go ahead and remain unmuted during our Zoom meetings.”, Tonya Gilchrist informed our cohort. “I find it’s easier for people to share ideas and ask questions that way. But if you have background noise, then please mute yourself”. At that moment I was confronted with a reality that I hadn’t considered before: what it means …
Why is the Whole World Upside Down? Education After COVID-19 and #RemoteLearning
Lately, I’ve been reading and reflecting a lot about Darwin’s theory of Evolution. Somehow when I feel stressed, I turn to science as my security blanket. I feel comfort in the tested theories and proofs as if all of life’s unsolved mysteries can be explained with science. Surely, during these uncertain times, trying to figure …
#PYP Exhibition: The Role of Mentors
We often say that Exhibition is more about the process over the product, but we rarely recognize or value the relationships that the students have as the foundational piece of that process. In the early weeks of December, we sat down as a team and created an essential agreement about the PYP Exhibition. Two fundamental …
The Role of the Teacher during #RemoteLearning
Indefinite. That’s the word that currently describes the state of our school’s remote learning. What began as a 2-week quarantine has transformed into a vague timeline. It’s no wonder why people have now redubbed this experience as “emergency learning” since the typical planning and preparation that might have gone into this situation was stymied by …
Wabi-Sabi Collaboration in a Time of #RemoteLearning
As we transitioned to remote learning, our struggles have been largely dealing with technology and finding ways to problem solve the glitches that showed up in online lessons. When I saw this graphic shared by Dr. Jennifer Chang Wathall on Twitter, I could relate to where our school’s teaching teams were at with instructional design …
Small Big Things: The Shifting Culture via #Remote Learning
A few years ago, I was introduced to the “Ameoba of Cultural Change” model. I found it to be an interesting way to describe how innovation happens in organizations. As simple, single-cell organisms, amoebas blindly step into the unknown, reaching for “food”; so too do organizations, as innovators and change agents push people towards new …
Professional Learning: Gearing Up for #Remote Learning
As I sit here with my laptop perched in my lap, I hear birds singing and a car tumble down our steep road. I can see the light start to peek out behind puffy clouds resting on the tops of buildings and mountains. Today seems to be like any other day here in Brazil, but …
Is Agency the same as Personalized Learning?
There are two words that are trending in education right now: Agency and Personalized Learning. It’s rather funny that these ideas have been around since the 1960’s and are now emerging as shaping forces in our educational paradigms. However, I hear them used as if they are synonymous, but are they the same thing? Is …
The Journey to Develop an Enhanced #PYP Programme of Inquiry
As a curriculum coordinator, deciding where to begin with the Enhancements has not been easy. I have read through all of the Programme Resouce Materials on the IB’s website and stared at this new re-branding symbol in the hope of greater clarity. When I gaze at the word Agency, I recognize that it isn’t a …
