IB Matters

Send us Fan Mail Our teacher guide for Visual arts is Abeera Atique Links:  Visual Arts SL Subject guide Visual Arts HL Subject guide Email IB Matters: IBMatters@mnibschools.org Instagram (IB_Matters) Twitter @MattersIB IB Matters website MN Association of IB World Schools (MNIB) website Donate to IB Matters Podcast: Education by Design with host Phil Evans IB Matters T-shirts (and other MNIB clot...

Send us Fan Mail Our teacher guide for Language and Literature is Georgia Larson . Links: Language A: Language and Literature Subject guide Note: Literature and Literature & Performance are still to be recorded. If you teach one of these courses and are interested in sharing your expertise please reach out at IBMatters@mnibschools.org . Email IB Matters: IBMatters@mnibschools.org Instagram (IB...

Send us Fan Mail In this series, which I’m calling the IB Course Description Project , we’re building an audio catalog of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (DP) courses and Career-related Programme (CP) core experiences for students, parents, counselors, teachers, and colleges around the world. Each episode brings the syllabus to life by exploring the learning, teaching, and student ex...

Send us Fan Mail When an experienced IB DP teacher like Rohit Vaswani becomes the new IB coordinator, they bring a certain set of tools to the job. They might know the nuts and bolts of the position: deadlines, exam prep, and compliance issues. But, it takes a special leader to examine the system in place to see where the philosophy of the IB structure and the culture it is meant to create can be...

Send us Fan Mail Taryn Moir is an educational psychologist focused on bringing research-backed best practices into the classroom. In this episode she describes some of the research she has done and has studied that led to her book, ' How to Create Autonomous Learners: Teaching Metacognitive, Self-regulatory and Study Skills - A Practioner's Guide .'  She shares several examples of r...

Send us Fan Mail Leah Thayer has spent a lifetime supporting people in transition. From her work in conflict zones, developing public health supports, and now in counseling students, Leah has been there to meet the needs of the people she serves. Young people exiting the Diploma Programme are understandably anxious about what comes next for them. What if they don't pass the exams? How do they...

Send us Fan Mail Gavin Kinch has been on an IB journey which began as a classroom teacher and has led him to be appointed the IB School Leadership Council chairperson. Along the way, he has developed a philosophy of mentoring younger teachers through their own professional journeys. He talks about the 'classroom teacher' to 'school teacher' transition. Gavin is the Principal of...

Send us Fan Mail The IB educational framework is designed to provide students with knowledge, skills, and attributes that will serve them throughout their lives.  Our guest, Arjun Malhotra , is a high school junior (DP year 1) who has experienced an IB education since elementary school. Our conversation touches on the many ways Arjun has developed his sense of place in the world, honed his academi...

Send us Fan Mail Maksud Alam is a dynamic young IB leader working at Swostishree Gurukul IB World School in Kathmandu, Nepal. His school is only the second in Nepal to offer the MYP and one of 7 schools in Nepal to offer the IB, so far. There are several others in the candidate phase right now. We talked about the challenges and the rewards when building a programme from the ground floor in a new...

Send us Fan Mail Michael Dunn, known as the man behind Theoryofknowledge.ne t is our guest on this first episode of our 5th season.  Michael grew the most popular TOK website on the internet, organically, from a wish to share what he was doing in his own classroom in Peru. It eventually became what it is today, a highly respected, and much used, resource for teachers around the world. You'll...

Send us Fan Mail Returning guest, Rezuan Chowdhury and the head of his school's governing board, Rifat Abedin , speak about becoming one of very few PYP schools in Bangladesh. They detail the rationale from the parent's perspective and the process from the PYP coordinator's perspective. We also learn about the training their teachers have undergone and the plans for expansion and ev...

Send us Fan Mail While this is, technically, a quickcast to promote speakers and vendors at the #IBGC2025 in NOLA, its really an introduction to the IB North Americas' excellent initiative designed to encourage greater IB DP and CP participation. So, please use the overview shared by Phil Evans and the numerous links, to begin exploring how your school community could embrace a philosophy tha...

Send us Fan Mail Continuing our series of quickcasts leading to the 2025 IB Global Conference in New Orleans, we feature Kognity , an IB partner organization. Chris Barres and Sian Steggles tell us about Kognity and their digital teaching and learning platform.  Kognity will also host a session entitled, ' Digital Dilemma! What do we really want from digital resources? ' at 2:00 on Wedne...

Send us Fan Mail This is the third of several 'Quickcasts' to introduce listeners to vendors and presenters at the 2025 IB Global conference in New Orleans. Here, we speak with Amnah Ejaz of Kialo Education , an online discussion platform. It's available free and will be featured in a booth at the upcoming IB Global conference in New Orleans.  They are also hosting Michael Dunn of T...

Send us Fan Mail This is the second of several 'Quickcasts' to introduce listeners to vendors and presenters at the 2025 IB Global conference in New Orleans. This episode features Robert Kohnert, a coordinator of advanced programming in Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). Robert uses his experience in MPS to drill down into what is working and what could be improved to help students who ta...

Send us Fan Mail This is the first of several 'Quickcasts' to introduce listeners to vendors and presenters at the 2025 IB Global conference in New Orleans. This episode features Rachel Bodily, co-founder of Eblana Learning. We did a full podcast with Rita Bateson the other co-founder a few months ago. Check that out here . Rachel gives a sneak peek at the session they are offering at th...

Send us Fan Mail Returning guest Novadene Miller is a skilled and motivational teacher. She draws from her experience earning a doctorate in Geography to bring multiple perspectives and resources to the classroom.  In this episode she shares how her Humanities students build cross-disciplinary skills like critical thinking, collaborative skills, and research skills while engaging in many different...

Send us Fan Mail Do you need to get your teachers official IB training that doesn't break the bank? Did you know that schools can request specific subjects and categories of training that come straight to you? In this episode, Casey Strecker of Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) and I go over the advantages of in-school workshops. We talk about how to order them, the responsibilities of the hos...

Send us Fan Mail The MAGIC-T model is at the center of education at the Prem International School in northern Thailand. Creative director of the school, Alex Soulsby explains how using arts and culture as a focus works so well in an IB continuum school for all ages and IB Programmes. He shares how visiting arts and culture practitioners bring their perspectives directly into the curriculum and the...

Send us Fan Mail Rita Bateson has been part of MYP evolution since the days of the 'Next Chapter'. Today, she is still engaged in the Enhanced MYP and has researched how AI is going to influence the Approaches to Learning (ATLs) in all IB Programmes. Along with Rachel Bodily , they have co-founded Eblana Learning which is a central repository of resources, training, consultancies and bot...

Send us Fan Mail Our guest, Chaahat Dhall, from Fountainhead School in Surat, India has some great ways she engages her MYP students. From human libraries, to silent debates, to advisory circles and beyond, Chaahat shares some of the many resources she uses throughout the year. Chaahat was also one of Jiana Shah's MYP teachers, so you can learn from one of the teachers who influenced Jiana as...

Send us Fan Mail Jiana Shah is back, two years after we first spoke. Then, she was a 14 year old 9th grader looking forward to the end of the MYP and the beginning of her Diploma Programme journey.   Jiana began in the PYP as a kindergartner and is now a Diploma Programme junior well on her way to completing her entire school experience as an IB student. This makes her an excellent person to talk...

Send us Fan Mail Smriti Sajjanhar from Genesis Global School shares her expertise in using Play-based Learning (PBL) with students in her PYP school. She shares great anecdotes telling how PBL has transformed the way students learn and even think about their learning. Teachers, students, and parents engage in open-ended explorations without preset objectives for the children. These sessions result...

Send us Fan Mail We are releasing several quick casts featuring presenters at the IB Global Conference in Washington D.C. July 25-28, 2024   Use the hashtag #IBGC2024 to see what's happening on social media Session title: Optimizing the IB Personal Project with student-led mentorship       This session is on Saturday, July 27th at 2:00 p.m. in Chinatown M3 Our guest, Hoonseok Ho (a MNIB MYP C...

Send us Fan Mail We are releasing several quick casts featuring presenters at the IB Global Conference in Washington D.C. July 25-28, 2024   Use the hashtag #IBGC2024 to see what's happening on social media Session title: Humanizing Personalized Learning in the MYP.  - This session is on Saturday, July 27th at 11:15 a.m. in Georgetown M1 Our guests, and MNIB teachers, Sami Peterson and Daniel...