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02 February 2016
19 January 2016
OneNote Class Notebook
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16 December 2015
Reflection on practice: Provoking inquiry into energy
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14 December 2015
Integrating public speaking, peer assessment, and data handling
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19 October 2015
Making the arts make a difference
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24 September 2015
Negotiating rubrics
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10 September 2015
Designing a new classroom
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15 July 2015
CLMOOC Unmake: Unintroducing inquiry learning
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22 June 2015
Wonderful example of action: Band promotion
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Introducing myself | CLMOOC 2015 Summer Unschool
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09 June 2015
Creativity = Motivation + Discipline
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24 April 2015
Exhibition rubrics & Global Issues Expo
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10 April 2015
Elements of the PYP Exhibition
This week, my class of fifth and sixth graders began the culmination of their IB Primary Years journey, the Exhibition. A self-directed and collaborative project, it is my favorite part of the year and a deeply enjoyable challenge to facilitate.
Before setting out, I organized a meeting with all Exhibition stakeholders including students, parents, teachers, and administrators. We discussed everyone's ideas, questions, and concerns in order to draft our Essential Agreements.
The Exhibition Guidelines provide clear expectations, which I have synthesized for the students to provide support for their projects. One helpful practice I have chosen is to clarify five required components of the project. Specifically, every student must choose a global issue, deliver a persuasive speech, write an expository essay, create a work of art, and engage in community action. Among our first activities was introducing the organizer below.
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Before setting out, I organized a meeting with all Exhibition stakeholders including students, parents, teachers, and administrators. We discussed everyone's ideas, questions, and concerns in order to draft our Essential Agreements.
Components
The Exhibition Guidelines provide clear expectations, which I have synthesized for the students to provide support for their projects. One helpful practice I have chosen is to clarify five required components of the project. Specifically, every student must choose a global issue, deliver a persuasive speech, write an expository essay, create a work of art, and engage in community action. Among our first activities was introducing the organizer below.
In this way, each student has a clear map of expectations, yet is empowered to pursue their project along their own path.
25 March 2015
Composite skills in the PYP
Preparing students for the Primary Years Program Exhibition, a self directed and collaborative culminating project, has been a rewarding challenge this year. In a sense, I've been thinking of the entire school as a long term project with the Exhibition being the 'deliverable' product.
The process of developing capacities and competencies in my students has led to analysis and evaluation of Transdisciplinary Skills in the PYP.
I like the list of skills and the categories into which they are organized (thinking, social, research, self management, communication), and I have been developing a model for composite skills. These are skills that require fluency in other fundamental skills and attitudes.
[This post was initially titled Hybrid skills in the PYP. After further consideration, I realized that 'composite' was a better description than 'hybrid'. Hybrid connotes that only parts of the fundamental skills are utilized, while 'composite' connotes that each skill is integrated in its entirety. I took the liberty of substituting the terms throughout the post.]
The first composite skill I conceived at the end of the last school year was Conversation. My reasoning was that conversation requires a combination of the Listening and Speaking communication skills together with the attitude of Empathy.
During the year, I have introduced a few other composite skills to our classroom toolbox, and am now in the process of organizing and codifying them in the MindMup below. If you would like to collaborate, the Composite skills mind map is shared via Google Drive. Use MindMup to open it and get started.
The process of developing capacities and competencies in my students has led to analysis and evaluation of Transdisciplinary Skills in the PYP.
I like the list of skills and the categories into which they are organized (thinking, social, research, self management, communication), and I have been developing a model for composite skills. These are skills that require fluency in other fundamental skills and attitudes.
[This post was initially titled Hybrid skills in the PYP. After further consideration, I realized that 'composite' was a better description than 'hybrid'. Hybrid connotes that only parts of the fundamental skills are utilized, while 'composite' connotes that each skill is integrated in its entirety. I took the liberty of substituting the terms throughout the post.]
The first composite skill I conceived at the end of the last school year was Conversation. My reasoning was that conversation requires a combination of the Listening and Speaking communication skills together with the attitude of Empathy.
During the year, I have introduced a few other composite skills to our classroom toolbox, and am now in the process of organizing and codifying them in the MindMup below. If you would like to collaborate, the Composite skills mind map is shared via Google Drive. Use MindMup to open it and get started.
08 March 2015
Twitter: Promoters, connectors, and why I unfollowed you
I have something to confess: I finally did it: Something I've been meaning to do for a long time, but haven't mustered the courage until now:
I committed twittercide.
I committed twittercide.
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