Reflection Journal 02/18/08

After attending this level 1 IB training, it is my opinion that our school is already well on it's way to achieving many of the goals, ideals, and even criteria for the IB program.

There are several issues I see our school needing to address as we push forward.

• Learning and utilizing the newest MYP planner
• Building a whole school vertical plan
• Establishing the five year goal of implementing IB to the 9th and 10th grades years at the high school so student have the opportunity (although very expensive) to earn the MYP certificate.
• Collaboration with the academy to find out where students are in the whole process. Maybe even a presentation on the current primary years program at the middle school, so teachers are aware.
• Establish a planning retreat for teachers
• Make sure our plans the program are appropriately verbalized to the parents of our community.
• Begin using the IB vocabulary and terms right away with our students.
• The technology component is not just computer literacy. Technology is the tool you use to get the job done.
• Redelivery the Design Cycle to the entire faculty.
  

Areas of Interaction

Areas of Interaction provide connections among the disciplines and are a lens by which to view the subjects. These are the areas of interactions through technology. Approaches to learning will probably always be in your unit, but then one of the others should be in one of the others.

1. Approaches of Learning: Ability to communicate
a. Teamwork
b. Investigation/research
c. Time management
d. Reflection
2. Community & Service
a. Inspire projects
b. Learn to work as a community (safety)
c. Real world task
d. Support projects around the school
e. Technology use in different communities around the world
3. Health & Social (using email)
a. Risk Factors
b. Safety issues
c. How behavior may affect others
d. Ergonomics
e. Cyber safety
f. Privacy law
g. How technology affect society/business
4. Homo Faber (Human Ingenuity)
a. Creative
b. Using the design cycle
c. How products affect people
5. Environments (natural, built, virtual)
a. Classroom environment
b. Cooperative
c. Recycling packaging
d. Waste disposal
e. Use of resources

Students must know these and be able to apply the Approach to Learning and one other Area of Interaction to their personal projects. As well, teachers should always focus on one other Area of Interaction to each unit plan.

Personal Project

Each section of International Baccalaureate: Primary, Middle and Diploma requires a culminating project at the end. For Primary it is an Exhibit of inquiry, Middle school students it is a personal project (with a written component), and Diploma is an extended essay and test.

The middle school students find a mentor teacher to oversee their project. It should be a subject or project of their own idea. The student project is primarily completed on their own time. The example that was provided was for students to decide their topic or guiding question during the spring of their 9th grade year.

The writing portion should be 400 words or more, but the project is primarily focused on the work. The work should also address the Area of Interaction (AoI). Students are to approach the project from this designated Area of Interaction. Sample forms of work might be a piece of art, music, original science experiment, invention, business or organizational plan, movie or photo exhibit.

The Design Cycle

Along with the required 50 hours of technology, students must know and engage in the Design Cycle. The Design Cycle is at the heart of IB Technology. Students may learn stages of the Design Cycle in pieces and over time. For example, the technology teacher may focus on the Investigation/Research with the 6th grade by researching and investigating an interrelated topic such as, To what extent can humans impact the global warming issue?

Components of the Design Cycle:

1. Investigate
• students investigate the problem and research topic
• students create questions that will be answered by solving this problem
• They formulate the design specifications in this stage as well; listing the actual requirements for the final product or project; the design specs must detail the function, material, erognomics of the final product
• establish how this product or project will benefit others; impact society
• and students must develop the evaluation tool or establish how the final product will be assessed or evaluated.
  
2. Plan
• generate several feasible designs that meet the design specs formulated in the investigation portion
• evaluate the designs
• select one design and justify choice
• construct the product plan or compose the logical steps for the plan
• make effective use of resources and time for plan; create timeline
  
• evaluate plan and justify any modifications to design
  
3. Create
• use a range of appropriate techniques
• keep journal of steps complete with photos or screen shots
• document any changes
• ensure a safe working environment
• follow the plan
• evaluate the plan and justify changes
• create the product or solution
  
4. Evaluate
• carry out tests to evaluate product or solution
• evaluate success using the evaluation tool created in the investigation section
• explain how the product could be improved
• suggest ways in which their performance could be improved
5. Attitudes
• This is an add-on to the criteria that goes above and beyond
• involves the students' development as caring and responsible individuals and contributing members of society

As stated above, the Design Cycle could be implement with a variety of content areas or implement sections of the cycle for certain projects. Overall, students show know the cycle and apply it holistically for their final Personal Project in year 5 (10th grade).

How can our school become more International-Minded?

George Walker presented the following characteristics of International Education :

Communication - knowing how to access information
Negotiation - the skill of persuading people to compromise
Political awareness - understanding why nations have particular priorities
Cultural understanding - recognizing that different groups have different mindsets
Global issues - studying issues that impact across nations
Criteria for truth - how do we judge what is right or wrong

Currently, at our school we are:

• Promoting our own international students with a display of their flags along side their photo;
• Creating movies documentary style in 6th grade on the topic of Global Warming
• Creating movies in 7th grade social studies comparing significan events of the developing countries in Africa and our own lives.

Ideas from other schools at the Kansas City training:

• Students create a family tree in their social studies class and present it at a "science fair" event inviting community.
• Teacher exchange programs where teachers go to partnered school.
• Students attend study abroad programs.
• Video streaming of students' personal vacations--sharing photos and tips for visiting the country.
• International lunch were students of other countries bring a dish and the parent comes to celebrate with the students.

The key to being more Internationally Minded is a grand understanding of your own culture. If students know their own culture and celebrate it, then it is easier for those students to understand and accept other cultures.