IB Matters

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Jonathan Bradley and Phil Evans who both serve the IB as development managers in the US. We caught up with them outside the conference rooms at the IB Global Conference in New Orleans. Jonathon and Phil talk about the role of the development managers and they express the philosophy of the IB as they describe their work.  We think you’ll hea...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Trevor Bergman of We Help Two.  A central component of IB education is turning learning into action at all levels - pre-K to 12th grade. There are various ways schools do this and We Help Two is an organization we have worked with in Minnesota. We took a few minutes at the IB Global Conference to talk to Trevor about his work. As Trevor exp...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode of IB Matters we talk to vendors at the 2019 IB Global conference in New Orleans.  Each vendor briefly describes their products or services and gives you an idea of what expect when you visit their booth. Each vendor is also a good friend to IB educators and brings a set of experts to this conference willing and able to answer questions and help you better...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, we interview presenters at the 2019 Global Conference in New Orleans. We will also hear from vendors in Episode 20 (coming Thursday evening) who will preview the products they feature in their booths. We launched this episode with just three presenters but we are adding them every day - with nine sessions now included. We will update the audio with each ne...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Matthew Scheidler, a newly designated IB coordinator and a principal on special assignment about the process of becoming an IB school. We have the good fortune of having a nearby school about to become a multi-programme IB school. Rockford High School located about 30 miles west of Minneapolis is a medium sized rural school adding the MYP,...

Send us Fan Mail Many of our listeners are teaching in schools across the globe. In this episode, Jon Eversoll talks about teaching in four different schools in four different countries outside the US. His experiences include government schools, international schools and two IB schools. He shares how the adventures varied with and without children and how it has been an invaluable experience for h...

Send us Fan Mail Assessment in the Diploma Programme is a combination of multiple measures of a student's progress and capabilities over the entire course of study. Most courses include a final examination but many do not. All have some form of internal assessment conducted during the course. These internal assessments may be laboratory investigations, research projects, or text analyses. Man...

Send us Fan Mail The MYP Personal Project is the capstone experience for MYP students who have completed the final year of the programme in 10th grade. Jon Eversoll, an experienced MYP coordinator and IB Educator, takes us through the requirements of the Personal Project while also explaining the process each student must complete individually. He shares several examples of memorable projects so l...

Send us Fan Mail With Diploma Programme examinations wrapped up in the northern hemisphere, we thought this would be a good time to talk to an examiner to hear how the process works. Mike Cassidy, an HL Film teacher and IB Film examiner, shares a behind the scenes look at how examinations are scored by a team of expert teachers across the globe. He talks about the vetting process to become an exam...

Send us Fan Mail This episode, hosted by Kurt Carlson, features noted author and workshop leader, Julie Stern speaking with us about her work in conceptual teaching and learning. Julie is a keynote speaker for our 2019 MNIB Summer Conference at Bethel University. Registration can be found at our website .  Their conversation, recorded over Skype, is filled with examples of students using concepts...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, hosted by Angela Wilcox, we hear from two 9th grade students who describe their MYP Community Project. As Angela tells listeners, the Community Project is the culminating activity for students in MYP schools that do not include the 10th grade - in this case Hopkins North Junior High - a 7th through 9th grade school. The students featured are: Haiti Romero-Ruiz and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Leon Wang of Firebird Design Lab about his work helping students through the design process. He has been a favorite trainer for our teachers here in Minnesota for his thoughtful and effective devopment of a design mindset in both teachers and students in our local IB schools. We thought our listeners would especially appreciate the way he c...

Send us Fan Mail Humera Riyaz, a PYP coordinator at Eastern Public School in Bhopal India, (and one of our early listeners) spoke to us by Skype about her work. We focused on the role of inquiry in IB education and on teaching and learning through inquiry in the PYP. Humera is an experienced PYP educator and she talks about how she guides her teaching staff through training to be inquirers themsel...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we talk to Kurt Carlson, a trainer in the IB Educator Network - known as IBEN. We will hear how the IB uses a cadre of current teachers (who take part in continuous professional development) as trainers for the entire network of IB teachers in schools across the globe. It is their work as IB Educators that ensures the IB principles and practices are in place in ev...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Kurt Carlson (MNIB President and IBEN trainer) takes us through the framework of assessment used in the Middle Years Programme to guide teaching and learning. He draws from his experience as a Science and a Design teacher to provide examples and to help us understand the MYP assessment strategies. If you are a parent or a teacher, this podcast will help you answer...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we tackle the newest IB Programme, the Career-related Programme known as the CP.  Chris Baker Raivo from Champlin Park High School describes the CP, detailing the overall framework and focusing on the core aspects of the programme. He also talks about how the CP is different from the more established IB Diploma Programme and how it serves students in a different bu...

Send us Fan Mail In this Episode we talk to Max Athorn, Diploma Programme coordinator at Thomas Edison High School in Minneapolis.  Max explains the nuts and bolts of how the IB Diploma Programme works including the six subject areas and the core of the DP: Theory of Knowledge (TOK), Creativity Activity, Service (CAS), and the Extended Essay (EE). Max also talks about how the role of Diploma Progr...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Kirsten McPherson talks about the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP). Kirsten is the PYP coordinator at Matoska International School, a public school in the White Bear Lake school district near St. Paul, MN. Kirsten explains how the learning for PYP students is conceptual and contextual with examples of how students and teachers approach teaching and learning in her...

Send us Fan Mail Nine students from Champlin Park High School in Champlin, Minnesota describe how the Diploma Programme helped them to be prepared for University. Each talks about their readiness for the challenges of college and how they were often better prepared than their university classmates. Thanks to Chris Baker-Raivo (IB Career-related Programme Coordinator) for creating the video on whic...

Send us Fan Mail Angela Wilcox, the MYP coordinator at Hopkins North Junior High (and MNIB board member) explains for parents and others what makes the IB Middle Years Programme such a good fit for adolescents in this important age group. The MYP is the bridge between the PYP and more well-known Diploma Programme. Angela helps us understand how this bridge is built using concept-based teaching and...

Send us Fan Mail Part of a series of interviews with IB practitioners, this episode features Martina Talic of St. John's Prep School in St. Joseph MN. This brief visit with Martina is just a taste of what she brings to enhance IB instruction all over the Americas. As a member of the IB Educator Network (IBEN) she is trained by IB to deliver official training to Language teachers across the gl...

Send us Fan Mail Introducing a new podcast, IB Matters, which brings listeners content related to International Baccalaureate (IB) education. It is for students, parents, and teachers interested in learning more about IB and for those working in IB schools wanting to access pedagogical support for their teaching. The podcast is hosted in Minnesota by the MN Association of IB World Schools (MNIB) b...