EY Connect - Apr issue 2024
Morning everyone
I hope everyone had a restful term break 🌞 Let's jump right into Term 3!
1 REFLECTION
Inherent to the PYP is a culture of collaboration and de-privatization of practice, meaning education is at its best when effective practices are shared. This might look like a colleague actively sharing what was successful in their classroom and others adapting it for their students, or teachers visiting each other's classrooms to mentor and learn from each other. As Adaptive Schools puts it:
"Once the classroom door is closed, the teacher is god. In this sphere of autonomy lies both greatness and sorrow. Within the zone of isolation, some teachers still find ways to develop craft knowledge, content knowledge and compassion for their students. All too often, however, this same isolation buffers mediocrity and hides high performers from those who might learn from their modeling, consultation and coaching. Students are the beneficiaries of shared teaching repertoires."
In this spirit of shared practice, the IB community has launched IB Exchange on the myIB platform for educators to learn from each other and also to hear from experts in the field. Recently, Sean Walker facilitated a webinar led by Anne van Dam on documentation where she explained the difference between documentation and pedagogical documentation, the latter which positions us educators as researchers, and how we tell stories of children's learning. This is very different from putting up a display of cookie cutter art!
To get involved, make sure you have the IB Exchange icon on your myIB landing page. Instructions here on how to do that.
1 IDEA
Particularly in Term 3, some children might be able to take on more responsibilities in the classroom! In the recent Truth for Teachers Summit, I attended a session with educator Amalika Jackson on using classroom jobs to maximize efficiency. The types of jobs will differ with every class, but she had some good thinking points to start off with if it's something you'd like to consider implementing.
I thought the 'substitute' job was a great practical idea. Whenever a classmate is off sick, the substitute student would take over their job. If there are multiple children off sick, well, you'll have to get creative 😜
1 RESOURCE
1 WELLBEING
Over the years, I've been in many coaching conversations where the person sitting opposite me is keen to learn how to be more confident. They saw in a linear fashion that confidence is a stepping stone to doing their work better, but they also tended to see it as an incredibly hard first step to take.
What if we turned the whole concept on its head.. instead of waiting for confidence, we simply keep showing up and doing our best work? And in taking small steps every day and doing the work (that you already do every day), you start to realize how competent and capable you are, hence it adds to your confidence bucket?
A mantra I keep in my back pocket: Competence builds confidence.
To see more of these visual insights, visit The New Happy. Their newsletter injects little bits of optimism and wisdom into my day :)
1 QUOTE
“Let's shift the focus from making work meaningful to fostering meaningful connections; they cultivate purpose, leading to meaningful work. Not the other way around."
Until next time,
Brenda
Currently reading:
The Block Book by Elisabeth S. Hirsch
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
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