So, You’re New to the PYP? If this is your first year teaching the PYP, let me start by saying: you’ve got this. I’m genuinely excited for you—because while the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) can feel like a whirlwind of new acronyms, planning templates, and philosophical quotes from Dewey and Piaget, it’s also one […]
First Year Teaching the PYP: What I Wish I’d Known at the Start Read More »
Let’s be honest—handing over any part of unit planning to students sounds like a fast track to chaos. It sounds like one of those lofty, Pinterest-worthy goals that real teachers with real time laugh nervously at during staff meetings…That being said, I would like to share with you why having students help plan a unit
Students help Plan a Unit: How Real-World Skills Can Help Engage and Motivate Students Read More »
What do most 3rd graders know that most Ivy League grads don’t? (…or at least, for as long as the unit is being taught…) I was sitting in a teaching science methods class in university when my professor showed us a video of Harvard and Yale graduates being asked a very basic science question: “Why
Tackling Student Misconceptions Read More »
The Dizziness of Teaching Business Let’s be honest—teaching business to kids sounds intimidating. Like, am I suddenly supposed to have gotten an MBA alongside my teaching degree and be prepared to give a lesson on quarterly earnings. This was the anxiety I faced the first time I had to teach a business unit to 5th
Teaching Business to Kids: Unit Plans Read More »
So you know that moment when you start a new unit and you want to find out what your students already know about the topic…just to find out at the end of whatever preassessment you decided to give – discussion, mindmap, etc. – that your students know absolutely nothing (or just about). The plan you
The Power of Provocations: Starting Units & Sparking Curiosity Read More »