3.1 Learner Profile - Discussion
"A ship is always safe at the shore - but that is NOT what it is built for." - Albert Einstein
"Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals of R.W. Emerson, with Annotations- 1841-1844
There are a number of ways to use quotes or images as stimuli for class activities. For example, with reference to the image above, 'fish breaks free from shoal' one could ask students to make a connection to their own life or with a character in history or in literature (especially in terms of peer pressure). For another example, with reference to the Einstein quote, one could discuss metaphors and their value in expressing the essence of an attribute, particularly in a language & literature class. The quote from Emerson might be used as an opener for looking at innovations and innovators in any number of contexts or disciplines, e.g., science and technology and the idea of 'positive failure'.
In your group discussion forum/topic:
With reference to the IB Learner Profile (see course modules for full instructions and resources), respond to each of the following prompts in no more than one paragraph and then post one reply to another participant:
i) choose one attribute that you feel you currently foster well with students and explain how you do so
In my practice I work really hard to foster the reflective attribute the most with regards to my students. I do this through the assessments I choose, the flow of lessons and the questions I ask when we are just building rapport through conversation. However, what I find happening in many cases with regards to my students is the development of two attributes most holistically as a bi-product of my practice, the first being, communication, students excel in communicating their needs/concerns as well as deciding when not to communicate as they may feel their concern is unwarranting of argument, they can identify they difference between what they feel and what is with regards to submitted assignments. The second attribute being in thinking, where the thinking takes place is often in regards to assessment and evaluation, the students imagine in their mind where the stand academically and utilize the teacher feedback to adopt changes as needed in order to achieve their desired outcome. Students present me with holsitic thought in regards to carrying out process quite often, and its very inspiring, but there is still a gap that our school observers in the area of creativity.
ii) choose one attribute that you feel you would like to better foster with students and explain how you would do so.
Ultimately, I would like to see more creativity on my students end rather than just "mathing-out" the work, and it is for this reason that we need to align, limit too much variaiton from classroom to classroom in terms of content by independent teachers and evaluation practice from department to department. To foster great emphasis and appreciation for the attribute, "Reflective", I believe what needs to be done is create more responsibilit on the the student as the learner to experiment and rely on their own understandings of their assessments/evaluations rather than report detailed rubrics and structure to tasks. There in lies the rub though, in order to create more independence to foster growth in this area, I need to sacrafice the comforts of expert guidance that so many rely on to develop othher attributes.
iii) to what extent do you think that the IB learner profile is key to fostering 'international-mindedness'? To what extent does the IB Learner Profile in any substantive way set the IB apart compared to other educational programmes?
The IB learner profile is not so much the signular key but a key to a degree in that it reminds educators opportunities to make adjustments to leanring that speaks directly to these attributes on a more focused level. The IB learner profile is in many regards, beyond what other educational programmes might fathom under their own scope of a learner profile in that, many educational programmes create a learner profile with the holistic prupose of it in mind, but not the practical application of the implementation. The IB learner profile in comparison to other educational programmes is a substantive documentation of the students learning that takes place in assessment and evaluation on a direct level. Although students' attributes are not being directly assessed or evaluated their ability to speak to those strengths in reflective practice is. In choosing CAS activities, students come into contact with the question of how these activities will either strengthen through the activity or be improved through the current attributes that the learner is in possession of. With regards to TOK presentations, students come into direct discussion with regards to their attributes.
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3.2 Personal Reflection - Discussion
Please respond to each question in no more than a paragraph (and one reply to another participant) in your group discussion.
1. Describe a powerful personal learning experience. What made it so powerful?
2. Describe a powerful professional teaching and/or learning experience? What made it so powerful?
3. In your experience, what makes for effective teaching and/or learning? How do you know it has been effective?
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3.3 IB Standards and Practices - Individual Assignment
Read through the IB standards and practices guide (see 'resources/module 3 resources'), in particular Standard 0403, 'Approaches to Teaching' and respond to the following prompts in a MS Word Document you create in your assigned OneDrive folder. n.B. For those with little or no teaching experience, please answer in terms of what you envisage (to the best of your ability) 'would' figure prominently, etc. If you don't find anything that resonates in Standard 0403, you may draw upon Standard 0402, 'Students as Lifelong Learners'.
1. (i) Identify from Standard 0403: one practice that currently figures prominently in your repertoire of practices and you find to be particularly effective. Be sure to cite the specific practice (with numbering) (and if helpful, sub-practices, i.e., 1.1). For this practice explain how/why (in several sentences).
In Standard 0403 of the IB's Programme Standards and Practices, currently the course I am teaching, EWC4U requires a great deal of workshopping to occur. Through my practices, one prominent connection regarding Approaches to teaching 4.2 (0403-04-0200), would be the timeline document that I created and employ in my classroom for each project. This document is a core document that outlines the entire process of creation that occurs with regards to a students' original composition. See the following link (see exemplar) for an example of a timeline document created wherein the student demosntrates their learning as it took place on a procedural level; peer-editing and peer-assessment. Through this practice, I can not only collaborate more with my students, but see what their perspective on the project or process is as they are working within a fairly lax timeline that we establish the overall beginning and end together as a class.
(ii) Identify from Standard 0403: one practice that you would like to see in the future become more a part of your repertoire of practices. Be sure to cite the specific practice (with numbering) (and if helpful, sub-practices, i.e., 1.1). For this practice explain how/why (in several sentences).
One substandard from the IB's Programme Standards and Practices that resonates with me as a substandard I would like to see applied to my practice and repetoire more would be Approaches to teaching 5.4 (0403-05-0300). An aspect that I would like to incorporate more effectively into my professional practice is agreed upon expectations that the school maintains and supports wherein a serious attitude towards student behaviours that are not academically honest. Currently I am trying my best to support English Language Learners, but the school hopes that we can provide continued growth opportunities, I understand and carry a growth mindset of my own. I do hope that that the expectations would be driven enough that I wouldn't need to show my students that I know they cheated or plagiarized, granted this happens a lot less frequently than it used to, but the point remains, if there is a strict guideline in place for teachers to align, and it is supported by local administration, we can expect it would be an effective and swift response thus creating an impact on how students treat their work.
2. Reflect on teaching and learning in non-IB (Ontario or otherwise) schools, as you've experienced it as teacher and/or student. To what extent are practices similar/different from IB practices (as found in guide)? Explain with specific examples (in one paragraph total).
Although there are similarities between teaching OSSD curriculum content tot hat of the standards and practices supported by the IB program, there are also significant differences. For example, it is optional for teachers to incorporate inquiry-based learning, however according to the IB's standards, "Approaches to Teaching 1: Teachers use inquiry, action and reflection to develop natural curiosity in students. "(0403-0100), the actual practice of this in the classroom is largely based on the willingness of the teacher, as many don’t have the time to be trained through professional development. That being said to a degree one can argue that the Ontario Curriculum holds many examples of where in inquiry is expected in the classrom, from the English Curriculum, "LITERACY,MATHEMATICAL LITERACY,AND INQUIRY/RESEARCH SKILLS"(2007, p.34), to identify how it is embedded into the framework itself. Again though, without it being required by teachers it endorses an apathetic approach towards that standard, in this the IB takes an active approach.
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Interesting find through research:
https://prezi.com/p/g5dznk3nujrj/approaches-to-teaching-0403/
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