IBSOM Fall Symposium 2019
IB Schools of Michigan
Fall Symposium
Monday, Nov 25, 2019, 07:30 AM
Macomb Intermediate School District, Garfield Road, Clinton Township, MI, USA
8:00 am: Welcome and Introductions
8:15 am: Breakout Sessions
11:15 am: Lunch and Networking
12:00 pm: Breakout Sessions
2:45 pm: Conclusion of Symposium
3:00 pm: IBSOM Board Meeting, All are welcome!
Design Your Thinking!
Dr. Kynan Robinson, Chief Executive NOTOSH, INC (USA)
For educators from ALL IB programmes!
We want students to challenge the status quo, to have confidence in their research, to “problem-find” as well as solve problems with ingenious flair. This is what the NoTosh Design Thinking process sets out to do, with a simple, common language with which to frame learning. In this session we will give guidance on how teachers and leaders can embrace design thinking in the classroom.
- Do you want to learn (by using) new techniques for getting the best ideas, language use and higher order thinking out of students?
- Do you want to experience how design thinking process can be used as a curriculum planning tool from K-12?
- Do you want to see real world examples of wholly student-led learning leading to more creative outcomes and better attainment, from PYP to DP?
By the end of our day you’ll be able to answer ‘yes’ to all these questions.
Along the way, you’ll be challenged, tested and entertained in equal measure with exercises like:
- How well do you listen?
- How Might We…
- Triptech prototype
- Building a Project Nest
Dr. Kynan Robinson
Website: https://notosh.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoToshLearning/
Twitter: @NoTosh
Student-centered Learning in MYP and DP Classrooms
Jeffrey Watson and Roger Winn
International Academy
For DP and MYP Educators
"Are you tired of the lecture format? Does it feel like the information goes in one ear and out the other? Do your students sit and stare with no processing happening? Is “sit and get” really “sit and not get”? If so, then this is the session for you. Join us for an interactive session as workshop leaders and participants create strategies to increase collaboration and student thinking in the classroom. During this session we will focus on the role of the teacher in the classroom through the implementation of restructured learning activities. Participants will have the opportunity to revise a lesson and explore ways to leverage a culture of thinking in the classroom. By the end of the session, participants will leave with concrete ideas to utilize daily in the classroom and will gain experience with restructuring lessons to increase student thinking."
Goal 1: Practice revising a lesson (or lessons) to be more student-centered and less teacher-centric.
Goal 2: To experience what it feels like to be in a student-centered classroom.
Roger Winn has taught chemistry for 12 years in Boston, New Orleans, and Troy, Michigan. For the last 6 years Roger has taught both MYP and DP Chemistry. In the past 3 years, he has focused on the Cultures of Thinking framework in his classroom, with a focus on meaningful interactions and collaboration.
Jeffrey Watson has taught for 16 years, with 12 of those years teaching IB MYP and IB DP courses at the International Academy. Over the past 4 years, Jeff has incorporated the Cultures of Thinking framework in the classroom, which focuses on a student-centered, collaborative environment.
Using a Strength-Based Approach to Enhance ATL
Dr. Jennifer Mitton-Kükner
Associate Professor and Chair, IDAC
St. Francis Xavier University
For educators from ALL IB programmes!
The primary focus of the interactive session will be on the use of this strength-based approach as a way to address professional learning regarding ATL, and how IB Coordinators, Teachers, as subject leaders, and Administrators may employ this approach to make ATL a palpable presence. This session reviews the findings of an IB-funded study which investigated the ways in which a strength-based approach to professional learning, known as Appreciative Inquiry (AI), fostered the understanding of IBDP Coordinators and Teachers regarding Approaches to Teaching and Learning (ATL). Over of period of 10 months in 2017-2018, data was gathered using four main methods: Individual interviews, focus group interviews, observations of participants during ATL workshops, and artifacts generated during ATL workshops. Overall, participants in the research study characterized their involvement in the three workshops as both reaffirming and clarifying regarding their knowledge and abilities to establish pedagogical practices to enhance ATL in DPs. Following review of the research study, attendees will gain experience with Appreciative Inquiry through interactive activities and learn how this approach may be applied to their school’s professional learning goals as a way to target and actualize ATL in their IB programmes.
By the end of this session, attendees will be able to:
- consider how this approach can inform collective buy-in across a school in making ATL a palpable presence.
- ascertain how a strength-based approach to professional learning can be adapted to the context of their program to support the ATL pedagogical leadership of its Coordinator, Teachers, and Administrators.
- identify the 10 design principles of this strength-based approach to professional learning to enhance ATL.
- create a draft of a professional learning plan for the purposes of enhancing ATL understanding and presence in their school.
Dr. Jennifer Mitton-Kükner
Dr. Jennifer Mitton-Kükner is an Associate Professor of assessment, literacy, and qualitative research methods in the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Alberta, her Master of Education Degree from St. Francis Xavier University, her Bachelor of Education from Mount Allison University, and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of King’s College. Jennifer previously taught in the School of English Language and Graduate School of Education at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. Prior to university teaching, she taught in secondary schools in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Turkey. Her research interests include adolescent literacies, disciplinary literacies, classroom assessment, pre-service teachers and LGBTQ education, teachers as researchers, and teacher/student experiences in in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. Her research articles are published in various journals including articles in Professional Development in Education, Learning Landscapes, the McGill Journal of Education, and the Australian Journal of Teacher Education. Jennifer has co-authored articles in Pedagogies: An International Journal; Language and Literacy: A Canadian E-Journal, the Canadian Journal of Education, the Alberta Journal of Educational Research, Thinking Skills and Creativity, the Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Teacher Development: An International Journal of Teachers’ Development, Teaching and Teacher Education, and the Canadian Journal of Higher Education. In addition to her scholarship, Jennifer works closely with Nova Scotian teachers as part of professional outreach initiatives.
Email: jmitton@stfx.ca