collaboration for an exhibition

Alan's Notes

BCIS

April - 16

Year 1: Exhibition experience… with through guidelines, to establish exhibition culture

Year 2: Exhibition: Some staff members had attended Exhibition workshop

Mapping and linking all units of inquiry to lead up to exhibition skills and concepts

Semi regular basis (once a week) meeting as grade level to prepare

Year 3: establishing the knowledge component of each unit as a build up to exhibition

Ex Multiple Intelligences unit – learning style how best will they learn, how best can they gain knowledge

Ex “space” unit – presenting information to audience, what does a visual learner need, what does a auditory learner, etc…

1 Overall central idea: based on action description from MTPYPH

Students then design their own central ideas and lines of inquiry based on their issue

Issues: explicitly looking at what are issues, global and local, using guest speakers to inspire and cause spark of interest. Using issues within the school was great for primary source data.

Transdisciplinary Theme : Sharing the planet

Coins – one side what is happening, other side what is ideal picture… links how to get there?

WAB

April 23

Take two units for the exhibition – 1. Sharing the planet – guest speakers, who is local community, guards, ayis, quick visit to community village, old age home, migrant school, etc.

2. How organize selves: who to organize selves to reach a goal. Making meaningful choice based on previous unit

What is an issue vs difference

Staging versus process..

Breaking down language barriers of students and host country

Raise money for organizations at first then finding out other ways to take action, giving time for example. Much more authentic action… making connections

Chinese language department helping with making links to host country community

Plans to use smaller groups to “jigsaw” issues in community feedback to larger group – video, interview, etc.

Mentors: pull from all areas of school (27) through drinks and food, introduce issues to mentors and mentors chose issue groups to help out. Mentors encouraged the issue groups to be independent. Good opportunity to have bridge to High school. Good opportunity to build school community. – articulation between exhibition, personal projects and extended essay links made between trans skills and approaches to learning in MYP

Students use process journal, and mentors used mentor journal.

Starting point “what is the exhibition?” taping in to what the students know or think they know..

Recording guest speakers on video

BISS

G5: May 20-22 G6: June 4-6

Running two exhibitions as school transitions grade 6 to MYP for 08.09

G6 How we express ourselves - how do we maintain dialects being lost, changing scenery of Beijing, using guest speakers, looking at changes happening here in Beijing. Makes it fresh to change transdisciplinary theme. In grade 5 build on experience of presenting to audience in how we express ourselves as ‘practice’ for those students in grade 6. raising awareness of issue and getting people together who can help to solve problem versus actually finding the solution themselves.

How to communicate with local community and exhibition?

Culturally – issue or difference. Whose perspective sees it as an ‘issue’.

Looking within the school community as well as outside in host community is possibility as well

ESOL students being involved to help future ESOL students to succeed in exhibition – creating resources in other languages

G5 –transition year taking Leader unit and modify for Exhibition – How we organize ourselves

Mentors: looking at how to structure mentoring system as there is a higher number of students completing exhibition this year. Use of transdisciplinary skills to meet and communicate with mentors.

Parent involvement as resource

Could you use diploma students in some way as resource?

Plans to have Chinese Language department support exhibition one lesson a week to help support issue groups with language issues. Helping with writing letters, communicating with community, etc.

Video Reflections – of students as a way to record and reflect the process.

Explicitly teach how to inquire, how to learn, etc.

IST

29-30 April

Grade 5 – each year has been structured differently

High turn over in grade 5 new to PYP, high numbers of ESOL students

Year level designs the Central idea based on Transdisciplinary theme. Lines of inquiry (3) are designed. Students then rotate through the three lines of inquiry groups. Looking to add a performance component...

Mentors used across the school.

Sending grade 4s to visit other schools’ exhibition

Involving Specialists with Units

IST – Art teacher driving one of the units over the entire semester

WAB – How we express ourselves led by the art department

BCIS – balancing language and UOI, maximizing integration as much as possible

Agreeing on common language to be used by teachers (music, vis art, home room, etc)

One page unit of inquiry overview sheet as a group summary… one page summative assessment sheet showing links of the unit

Share created planning documents on .ning

Health related issues

Unit of inquiry about body change.. Question box

Considering cultural background of students and parents