When talking to people about what is MYP, the first thing that comes to mind is the way students are assessed. Not only the criteria, but all the rest.
Despite the changes, the NC offers the same type of assessment philosophy (aside of the eAssessment). And again, is not that rather an evolution than a change ? That is why the assessment pilosophy is unchanged, because this was not a change but an evolution for the best.
vendredi 25 octobre 2013
When we learn by doing, we remember
As a Maths teacher I could not more agree on this. Marcus du Sautoy said on a TED conference on 29th October 2009 "I am a great believer that mathematics is not a spectators sport. And you have to do some mathematics in order to really understand it"
This is true for mathematics but also for most academic subjects. It is also true that reinvesting what you learnt in concrete, fun and challenging projects you will remember it.
If you prepare scenes of a play in Drama class, there are more chances you will remember if you act your scenes in front of a real audience and not just in front of the class.
When you learn by doing you seize the learning and make your own, and once it is yours it is difficult to take it away from you.
This is true for mathematics but also for most academic subjects. It is also true that reinvesting what you learnt in concrete, fun and challenging projects you will remember it.
If you prepare scenes of a play in Drama class, there are more chances you will remember if you act your scenes in front of a real audience and not just in front of the class.
When you learn by doing you seize the learning and make your own, and once it is yours it is difficult to take it away from you.
jeudi 24 octobre 2013
The inquiry questions initiate the students’ inquiry.
Inquiry questions should awake curiosity out of the students just like a movie teaser.
Even the factual question should be vague enough to allow, at least at the beginning, diverse interpretation and debate.
Even the factual question should be vague enough to allow, at least at the beginning, diverse interpretation and debate.
Learning through global contexts helps teachers and students answer the important question Why are we learning this?
I do believe that the most important answer will be : How are we learning this ? If we are realistic 95% of the content we teach is useless in everyday life and will be useless when our students will go to college. However, how we are going to learn is going to make the difference.
On the other hand, global contexts will provide opportunities to link our teaching to the outside world and to other subjects, through interdisciplinary projects or not, and most of all NOT depending on the content.
So, we will not link Maths and Experimental Sciences because Physicians use Maths, but we will link Maths and History because the concepts match.
On the other hand, global contexts will provide opportunities to link our teaching to the outside world and to other subjects, through interdisciplinary projects or not, and most of all NOT depending on the content.
So, we will not link Maths and Experimental Sciences because Physicians use Maths, but we will link Maths and History because the concepts match.
MYP students have an opportunity to develop conceptual understanding they will retain in the future and to form a foundation for future learning.
When I taught in California in a French school, many of our American students left the schools after the eighth grade to fully live their American High School experience and also because they had enough of the good French education to succeed anywhere. This is no longer true. That will be (it is already) true with the MYP.
MYP doesn't teach a different content. Maths are the same all around the world, it is THE universal language. But good conceptual understanding in Language Acquisition will actually help the students in Maths even if the concepts are different.
Concepts are going to help the students to remember during their Masters Degree what they did in MYP3 even they stopped doing Maths after IBDP. That is what will remain after they will have forgotten everything.
Again : Give a man fish, you'll feed him for a day ; show him how to catch a fish, you'll feed him for a lifetime.
MYP doesn't teach a different content. Maths are the same all around the world, it is THE universal language. But good conceptual understanding in Language Acquisition will actually help the students in Maths even if the concepts are different.
Concepts are going to help the students to remember during their Masters Degree what they did in MYP3 even they stopped doing Maths after IBDP. That is what will remain after they will have forgotten everything.
Again : Give a man fish, you'll feed him for a day ; show him how to catch a fish, you'll feed him for a lifetime.
Successful change is built on enhancing existing strengths, involvement of all stakeholders and clear communication
Natural selection is possible because the best remain to build better species.
To be able to make changes, radical or not, it is important that at a certain point, all the stakeholders know clearly WHERE we are going, WHY we are going there, HOW we are going there, WHEN we are going there. It is important so we can get all the moral support we need but also we can get the distance we don't necessarily would have by receiving EVERYBODY's feedback.
I think it resumes well the importance of enhancing the strengths, involvement of all stakeholders and clear communication.
To be able to make changes, radical or not, it is important that at a certain point, all the stakeholders know clearly WHERE we are going, WHY we are going there, HOW we are going there, WHEN we are going there. It is important so we can get all the moral support we need but also we can get the distance we don't necessarily would have by receiving EVERYBODY's feedback.
I think it resumes well the importance of enhancing the strengths, involvement of all stakeholders and clear communication.
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