IB Matters

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we return to talk to Novadene Miller who teaches at the Ecole Privee Bilingue International in southern France.  Novadene was a recent guest talking about the MYP Individuals and Societies course. The feedback was so great we just had to have her back. This time we focus on the MYP Design course and how it fits beautifully into the development of young people in th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Era Dogra about the Microsoft Innovative Educators Excellence (MIEE) P rogram . Even before the pandemic, the use of electronic tools in education had been incresing tremendously. The need for online platforms and communication caused by the COVID restrictions has only caused this trend to balloon exponentially. It is important for teachers to be adept a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Nupur Sinha Agrawal of Genesis Global School in India. She tells us about the Early Years of the PYP which is defined as ages 3 to 6 years old with a focus on the Pre-K from ages 3 to 4.  Many who think of IB, think of the Diploma Program and don’t realize that IB is actually a continuum reaching such young people. Of course, at that early age, it is not...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Novadene Miller who teaches at Institut International Lancy in Geneva, Switzerland - teaching IB DP Geography and IGCSE Geography. Our discussion centers on how the MYP framework specifically addresses the Individuals and Societies subject area. While it has examples from one subject, it serves as an example of how the MYP approach makes any subject more...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to a panel of past guests of the podcast, all of whom teach in India or Bangladesh. They discussed how they and their communities are coming together in this very challenging time as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting much of South Asia. You’ll hear that, even in these difficult times, hope for the future is strong and they are finding wa...

Send us Fan Mail In this brief episode we talked to Deepanshu Arora of Toddle about the  TIES 2021 Conference . TIES stands for “ The Inquiry Educators Summit ” and was held May 14th through May 16th with sessions in different time zones and in both English and Spanish.  Use our podcast links below to register (so you have access to recordings of the event) and to donate to their designated fund t...

Send us Fan Mail We talk to Asheesh Misra and Tim Kane from IB School improvement.com about this year’s exams and the important role of the predicted grades in this and future exam cycles. We also talk about how Internal assessments should be a big focus for DP/CP teachers as they judge their capacity to help students and their IB programs to succeed. Tim walks us through how each  DP cohort has a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode  we talk to my good friend Paul Koenig . I’ve known Paul for nearly 40 years and he is one of the most reflective teachers I have worked with. I thought we could all benefit from talking with him about his work supervising new teachers and what he considers key to improving our profession through thoughful reflection and support. IB Matters Website Email IB Matters...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Asnaha Farheen about her work as the Bangladesh PYP network lead and about IB Pedagogical leadership in a crisis like the one we are experiencing now during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also get a preview of a global PYP networking event ( JAS Live ) Asnaha is hosting in mid-April 2021. Please check out the links below where you will find numerous links to...

Send us Fan Mail We talk to Charles Hopkins at the American School of Kinshasa (TASOK) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo about the MYP Personal Project.  It is Project season across the IB Continuum. From the PYP Exhibition to the DP CAS and TOK projects, IB students across the world are demonstrating their learning in many ways. We will hear three MYP students describe their Personal Projec...

Send us Fan Mail A common thread running through all IB Programmes is the commitment to service learning. From the beginning of an IB student’s education, they are exposed to, and participate in, hands-on efforts to help others through the IB Mission which is, in part, to create a better and more peaceful world.  Years ago Stu Keroff began a service club at a local IB School in Minnesota that coll...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Manisha Rana of Genesis School in Noida India. She shares her vision for education coming out of the pandemic and she also presents some the things she learned at the recent IB Virtual Conference.    IB Matters Website Resources www. Edutopia.org www.ibresources.com Email IB Matters: IBMatters@mnibschools.org Instagram (IB_Matters) Twitter...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Alexis Fuller from Cambridge University Press about the Extended Essay. Alexis has vast experience as a Extended Essay supervisor - she has read and evaluated hundreds of Extended Essays and specializes in the World Studies Extended Essay in her work. I really enjoyed our conversation and I think any Diploma teacher or Supervisor will find...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Monika Kala from the Genesis Global School in Noida, India.  Our conversation focuses on professional development in an IB school. Monika shares some of the strategies they use in her school to keep teachers engaged and challenging themselves to keep learning. There are even some practices which have been made easier with the restrictions o...

Send us Fan Mail Our guest, Bhavna Mathew , from Pathways World School in Aravali, India  is another example of one who makes the time to not only support and teach her own students but to then share her ideas on multiple platforms and in many different venues. She is a certified Montessori teacher, a Flipgrid Educator, a Wakelet Ambassador, a SeeSaw Ambassador and a teach UN Sustainable Developme...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Sonia Singh, a PYP Coordinator at Prometheus School in Dehli India. After talking a bit about her upcoming virtual authorization, we hear from Sonia about some truly innovative and effective ways they build students' socio emotional connections.  I was truly impressed with all the ways they are helping students connect with each other...

Send us Fan Mail in this episode of IB Matters we talk to Angela Jerabek, the founder of the BARR Model and one of her colleagues at the BARR Center, Hannah Scherer. As all IB educators know, there is much more going on in IB schools than just their respective IB Programmes.  Every school needs a strong and collaborative staff dedicated to the success of their students. Angela and her team have cr...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Rezuan Chowdhury. Rezuan discusses how he mixes teaching students while also conducting research aimed at improving teaching in the greater educational community. Rezuan is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh and is a Primary Years teacher in an IB school there. He is great example of a collaborative IB teacher who not only is dedicated to helping...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Paul Campbell of IB Americas about the first ever IB Virtual Global Conference. #IBVirtual This event, created out of necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, is a great demonstration of how important gathering, sharing, and learning continue to be for everone in the IB Community. It clearly illustrates the Global nature of the IB movement w...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Chad Hyatt from Washington Township Schools in Indiana. Chad is an IB curriculum coach in his all-IB District  Our conversation begins with how Chad helps teachers and students to limit teaching to the key points in this online or hybrid learning environment. Some things simply must be set aside when extraordinary circumstances exist. Howev...

Send us Fan Mail Hi - welcome back to season 2 of IB Matters. This episode brings back Tim Kane and Asheesh Misra from IB Schoolimprovement.com with their take on the 2020 IB exam issues and how they have helped schools work with the fallout and results from this unique situation. We did simultaneously video record this episode because Tim shared his screen to illustrate the ways in which the scor...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Oanh Crouch, a director of education at Globeducate Schools working in Madrid. Oanh’s extensive experience working in IB schools, serves her well working for this global consortium of 50 Schools whose mission aligns perfectly with the IB.  Our conversation focused on ways her schools are using the COVID19 crisis as an opportunity to improve...

Send us Fan Mail This is the 7th episode in the series on Becoming an IB School featuring Rockford High School about 40 miles west of Minneapolis, MN.  As you may recall from previous episodes, Rockford is applying simultaneously to become an MYP, DP and a CP school. It’s a big task in any year but it became doubly difficult with the onset of the COVID-19 crisis of 2020.  Local Rockford parent, Ma...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Andy Richardson whose IB journey is an example of, not only the world-wide influence of the IB, but also the personal journey of IB teachers as they realize the value IB teaching brings to their students, wherever they are. We also discuss building a personal network of engaged educators through blogs, social media, and other platforms. In Andy’s case, m...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk with Jon Halligan, an experienced IB educator based in the Netherlands about the unique place of the Career-related Programme (the CP) in the suite of IB offerings.  His recently published article (linked below) challenges the IB to help the CP take itself out from the shadow of the more well-known Diploma Programme. Jon argues that each Progr...