As a K-5 international educator it’s not often that we’re discussing ways to promote safe spaces for LGBTQ members of the community. It’s almost as though it’s a taboo subject for elementary educators and you only start to see Rainbow flags appearing when students enter middle school. Where does the teaching of Diverse Family Structures…
Is it ever ‘too soon’ to take the training wheels off? “Change Tomorrow Today” is the 2017 title for our Grade 5 Exhibition at UWCSEA. But I’ve been wondering…how might teachers use this mantra in our own pedagogy? Can we change TODAY to better prepare students for TOMORROW? Although I’ve been teaching for ten years, this was my first…
Last two weeks of school…enjoying reading and preparing for Grade 6! As our Grade 5 students prepare to exit the PYP and enter the MYP, we are focusing more on narrative books and literary devices. The last few weeks of school are often the most difficult for students to feel motivated…teachers as well! To…
Week 4: PUBLISHING on iMovie Since we are not yet 1:1 with iPads, students needed to upload their iMotion HD videos from the iPad to their macbooks. Students used the microphone feature to record their written explanation. There were many challenges in recording the timing of their voice with the video…especially since 90% of…
We are partway through our mini visual learning project (for EAL students) to support learning in the homeroom classrooms. Grade 5 students are currently learning about Migration in our UOI “Where we are in Place & Time”. During EAL pull-out time (40 mins each day) we’ve been revisiting vocabulary and concepts on this theme. iPads…
We’ve now had a week’s buffer to think and reflect on our Grade 5 Exhibition How the World Works. What a journey it was! It seems miles away now that students and teachers have had a week’s holiday to ‘decompress’ from the long but rewarding journey! Some Challenges in review… This was definitely a challenging…
With just one day left for kids to put up their boards and displays for this year’s PYP Exhibition, there is serious madness happening all around! Here is a photo summary of the last 2 weeks (week 8 & 9)… Instead of Exhibition T-Shirts, we had Science Lab Coats designed! Here is Tristan modeling…
MYP pair up with PYP for Literacy Week! To celebrate literacy across the school we hosted a collapse day for students in grades 1-9. Classes were ‘buddied’ up for 2 hours after break to engage in a variety of literacy activities planned by the homeroom teachers. An example of the buddy schedule can be found…
For EAL today you will work independently. You can watch the video again on Brainpop: http://www.brainpopjr.com/math/data/tallychartsandbargraphs/ 1) Finish your TALLY CHART 2) Survey (ASK) each other and collect TALLY MARKS. 3) Use your TALLY MARKS to create a BAR GRAPH of your results 4) With a partner or by yourself, use COMIC LIFE…
For EAL homework tonight your task is to…Have Fun! 1) Create a Catapult. Video yourself on Photobooth using a catapult. 2) Take a photo of yourself and the three kinds of levers. Be creative! Watch this video again if you need reminders: Bring on WEDNESDAY to EAL class (Printed Photos)
Innovative Learning 