Confessions of a PYP Teacher
Episodes
C61: Self-Management Skills for Early Years (PK-K)
28 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textI believe self-management is one of the hardest ATLs to “teach” in the PYP. It’s at the root of who you are as a learner, simila...
C60: Social Skills for Specialists & Support
09 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSocial skills are so pertinent in the specialist and supporting classes. They reinforce what is being done in the rest of the school, ...
C59: Social Skills for Elementary (1-6)
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we are trying to examine the social skills that learners need in order to operate in the elementary classroom. As you e...
C58: Social Skills for Early Years (PK-K)
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we are trying to examine the social skills that early learners need in order to operate within the world. Every time ...
C57: Juneteenth (Giving a Voice to the Voiceless)
20 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn our last episodes, we were talking about the ATL Communication Skills. Communication is about finding our voice and helping others ...
C56: Communication Skills for Specialist & Support
06 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textCommunication is a complex process, so how do we capture it in a specialist classroom or while receiving additional help with supporting...
C55: Communication Skills for Elementary (1-6)
05 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, I am going against the norm and choosing a different ATL than the early years. It spoke more to me as an upper elementa...
C54: Communication Skills for Early Years (PK-K)
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhen I think of communication skills, I can’t help but think of you early years teachers. Our youngest learners are so curious about...
C53: Research Skills for Specialists & Support
08 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we will look at elements of traditional research skills and adapt them to our needs as a specialist or supporting teach...
C52: Research Skills for Elementary (1-6)
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we will explore the ways we make research come to life with our elementary/ primary aged learners. We will delve into...
C51: Research Skills for Early Years (PK-K)
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we are looking at the unique ways that early years learners research the world around them through play. It's an...
C50: Thinking Skills for Specialist/Support
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textHello to my friends who work with learners in the entire school. You have such a special role in touching many, if not all, of the stude...
C49: Thinking Skills for Elementary (1-6)
25 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to this episode my friends who teach primary/elementary aged students. We are going to take a deep dive today into the thinkin...
C48: Thinking Skills for Early Years (PK-K)
24 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to this episode my early years friends. I’ve long thought about how to create for you my early years teachers. I think goi...
C47: Understanding the ATL structure
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFor this episode, I thought I would do a deeper dive into the IB documentation to get a better gauge of the ATL structure. To be hones...
C46: Approaches to Learning Overview
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to our new series on the approaches to learning. My brain is a bit toasty after the transdisciplinary challenge, but don’t y...
C45: Putting all the Pieces Together
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we will wrap up our transdisciplinary challenge and provide suggestions on how to plan for next steps in this school ...
C44 (Challenge): Performing a SWOT Analysis
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to the fifth and final transdisciplinary challenge! Wahoo, you made it!Evaluating TransdisciplinarityEvery process becomes bet...
C43 (Intro): Evaluating Transdisciplinary Learning
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this final transdisciplinary challenge, we will focus on evaluating our practice even deeper. To prepare for that experience, we are ...
C42 (Challenge): Transdisciplinary Learning Across the School
14 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to the fourth transdisciplinary challenge! Only one more to go!When we are trying to make transdisciplinary connections, we of...
C41 (Intro): Connecting with Specialist Teachers
13 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to the fourth transdisciplinary challenge overview!We can’t chat about transdisciplinary learning without connecting to the sp...
C40 (Challenge): Creating Transdisciplinary Connections with Standards
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to the third transdisciplinary challenge!In this challenge, we are going to further examine how to make connections with our sta...
C39 (Intro): Looking at Standards Differently
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to the third transdisciplinary challenge introduction. One of the greatest challenges as a PYP educator and coordinator has be...
C38 (Challenge): Unpacking the Themes in the POI
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to the second transdisciplinary challenge!In this challenge, we are going to examine the connection between the themes with your...
C37 (Intro): Understanding the Transdisciplinary Theme Descriptors
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this challenge, we are going to explore understanding and unpacking the transdisciplinary theme descriptors. It took me a long time...
C36 (Challenge): How Transdisciplinary Looks and Feels
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to the first transdisciplinary challenge. We are delving into what transdisciplinary looks and feels like in our classrooms ...
C35 (Intro): Transdisciplinary Learning 101
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to our new series on transdisciplinary learning! Now that we’ve had a chance to look back and apply our thinking, it’s tim...
C34 (Application): Agency and Action
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to the third and final episode of our application series. If you haven’t had a chance to apply your learning of the learner ...
C33 (Application): International Mindedness
03 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIt's time to apply our learning!In this episode, we will look at our practice of building international mindedness in our classroom...
C32 (Application): The Learner Profile
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to our application series! What is the application series? It’s a time to reflect on all of the learning we have shared so f...
C31: Building Relationships with International Mindedness
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThis episode, we are going to discuss the deeper connections we make when building relationships founded on international mindedness. W...
C30: Creating an Internationally Minded School Mission
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we will explore the power of a school mission statement in creating culture and shaping the learning and teaching. We...
C29: Connecting Agency with International Mindedness
06 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNow that we’ve received some ways to incorporate international mindedness into our daily practice, how will we use them? Let’s go ...
C28: Fostering International Mindedness Daily
01 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe second layer of the foundation in our PYP house is international mindedness. It helps to cement our school culture with building rel...
C27: Connecting the Learner Profile with International Mindedness
25 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textBuilding international mindedness in ourselves and in our learners takes time, because it is a process that can't be rushed. Throug...
C26: Using the Learner Profile to Build School Culture
18 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe number one mistake I made as a new coordinator was building the curriculum framework first. If you are a coordinator, please heed ...
C25: Guiding Behavior with the Learner Profile
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThere is no magical tool to stop undesired behavior, just love for your students. When you don’t like your students, they know. Th...
C24: Embedding the Learner Profile into the Learning and Teaching
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNow that we’ve established the learner profile in our school community, we can take the next step of explicitly teaching it in our uni...
C23: A Time for Giving Thanks
26 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textHappy Thanksgiving to you and your family and friends. For many Canadians and Americans around the world, today is a special day we ce...
C22: Embedding the Learner Profile into the Learning Space
21 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textYou’ve unpacked the learner profile attributes, now what? Do you just use them whenever time permits or can you plan with them in mi...
C21: Learner Profile First Steps
03 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe learner profile attributes are one of the tools you can use to get students to make transdisciplinary connections with your content....
C20: Tackling Learner Profile Misconceptions
30 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe learner profile attributes are sometimes overlooked or misunderstood in our units of inquiry. Some people look at them as a list o...
C19: Framing of the PYP
26 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe PYP curriculum framework can be compared to the structure of a house. There are many different layers that make it withstand the t...
C18: Assessing Agency and Action
23 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSome people can't imagine assessing agency and action, since they are driven by internal motivation. Yet, how can students move f...
C17: Taking Simple Actions Now
19 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textTaking authentic action is difficult and requires a lot of of dialogue with our students. To help you with this process, this episode ...
C16: Putting Action Together with the Golden Circle
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textHere's my attempt to make action easier, which means its about (MEDIUM) on the easy to hard scale. I try to break it down, but I ...
C15: Unlocking Action at its Highest Level
09 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAction has gone through a major upcycle since the days of saving the whales and owning a piece of the rainforest. Now, it requires us ...
C14: The Road Between Agency and Action
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe road between agency and action requires collaboration between the teacher, student, and school community. The student takes the wh...
C13: Start Agency with 5 Easy Steps
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNow that we've explored agency in-depth, it can be difficult to know where to start. This episode, we will look at five simple st...
C12: Agency Can Go Deeper with the SDGs
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we will explore how to bring the three parts of agency (voice, choice, and ownership) together to create a deeper resea...
C11: Agency Deepens When We Take Ownership
26 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we will break down the complexity of taking ownership in our minds and our hearts. We will unpack the various stages ...
C10: Agency Thrives When There is Choice
25 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we will examine the dynamic relationship between VOICE and CHOICE in student learning and how it creates independent th...
C9: Agency Requires our Unique Voice
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textVoice is the the means in which students express their ideas, passions, and wonderings. In this episode, we will explore the different...
C8: Agency Drives Inquiry
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAgency and Action are so intertwined that it's difficult to determine where one begins and ends. This podcast will examine this u...
C7 (Challenge): Inquiry is a Process
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this episode, we will discuss multiple considerations when implementing inquiry-based learning in your classroom. We have created I...
C6 (Challenge): Evidencing the Inquiry
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAs we are looking to assess student understanding, are we considering the entire journey and not just content objectives? Things to co...
C5 (Challenge): Guiding the Inquiry
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAs we gain more understanding of the inquiry and how to ask quesitons, we can then examine the various stages of inquiry. These are im...
C4 (Challenge): Asking the Right Questions
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe types of questions we ask will determine how deep the thinking goes in your classroom. Oftentimes, teachers as low-level comprehen...
C3 (Challenge): Inquiry Takes Careful Planning
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNow that we have engaged with inquiry thinking through engaging, challenging, relevant, and signficant, it helps us to think about plann...
C2 (Challenge): Defining our Focus in Inquiry
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn our last episode, we spoke about how to find our focus as teachers, especially when we encounter uncertain times. One of the things...
C1 (Challenge): Teaching Requires a Purpose
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWelcome to our first confession of a PYP teacher. in this podcast, we will explore the power of the Golden Circle by Simon Sinek. He...