Send us a text We talk with Toddle Co-founder, Deepanshu Arora and colleague Chris Overhoff about the PYP support platform and how they are adapting to online learning in this time of the COVID-19 outbreak. They describe the many ways Toddle supports PYP teachers as they transition to online learning. We also talk briefly about the recent Toddle Planathon where over 450 unit plans were submitted in a global collaboration among PYP teachers. We will add the link to the Toddle Talk webinar taking ...
Mar 27, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Julie Stern and two members of her training team, Trevor Aleo and Kayla Duncan. They recently published an Online Learning Template for teaching online that ensures teachers consider a conceptual framework when using distance learning. They walk you through the template and also share many great ways to think about effective teaching and learning as we experiment with new ways to teach in the coming weeks during the COVID-19 Virus outbreak....
Mar 25, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Send us a text As we record this episode, thousand’s of schools around the world are closed and teachers and school leaders are scrambling to create the means to teach students of all ages in remote settings. In this episode we talk to Sara VanDerWerf, a national leader in math education and a former IB teacher, about how to use modeling to prepare students for learning from videos - a common platform being used by teachers when creating E-learning opportunities. Her suggestions were posted in h...
Mar 19, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Send us a text Why would a Head of School want to add IB? We hear from a new high school principal, with IB experience, describe the advantages he sees in leading an IB school. We were recently at Rockford High School to help them record a podcast for their local community about becoming an IB school and I had a chance to meet their new principal, Paul Menard. Administration changes are inevitable at any school and IB Candidate schools are no exception. When Rockford HS found themselves in need ...
Mar 02, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Jenny Magdal about maintaining students’ wellness as they try to balance the IB Programme, extra-curriculars and their active social lives. Jenny has led several workshops in her own school and district and for the MNIB on this topic and we think you’ll find her ideas applicable not only to Diploma students but to younger children and even staff who face increasingly busy and sometimes distracted lives in a technology infused world. Link to...
Feb 25, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we speak with Trevor Aleo whose recent post was featured in the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Blog. After reading his post called, “Reading the World: The Case for Multimodal Literacy” we reached out to see if he would speak to us so more of you could hear about this intriguing trend in literacy teaching. Trevor also does work in support of another well known educator in IB circles, Julie Stern. You’ll hear many refences to her work t...
Jan 29, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Send us a text This episode of IB Matters was originally recorded at Rockford High School for the benefit of the Rockford Schools community. We edited this version to serve as a more universal example of how families see the role of IB as part of a comprehensive education which still dovetails with traditional expectations of parents and students for the entire high school experience. If you have listened to previous episodes from Rockford, you will remember that Rockford High School, located ab...
Jan 18, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we return to speak with Humera Riyaz of Eastern Public School in Bohpal, India. Humera was a guest in our 12th episode several months ago and we are bringing her back to share the highlights of her recent article in IB World Magazine on Design Thinking in the PYP. You’ll get some practical ideas from her and you can learn more by checking out the article itself which is linked here . We have created a webpage for this podcast which is organized by pro...
Dec 31, 2019•29 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Send us a text This is the fourth in the “Becoming an IB School” series. We were at Rockford High School to record another set of parent questions with Rockford parent, Maris Ehlers , and Dr. Matthew Scheidler - the IB coordinator. But we were also able to capture an interview with one of Rockford’s experienced teachers who is just beginning his own IB journey. Ben Pennings , formerly a Middle school History teacher has been tasked with moving to the High school along with the freshman class at ...
Dec 14, 2019•46 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Send us a text In this episode, we talk to Peter Muir of Melbourne, Australia. Peter is currently an MYP coordinator but he also has extensive experience with CAS - that’s Creativity, Activity, Service - a key component of the Diploma Programme core. We focus on the role of CAS in developing the Diploma student’s awareness of themselves beyond their academic capabilities and more on developing those characteristics which will make them lifelong contributors to a better and more peaceful world. E...
Dec 05, 2019•55 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Send us a text This is a sponsored episode with Toddle , a new PYP-focused platform that provides resources and a place for PYP teachers to collaborate. We speak with Deepanshu Arora - one of the co-founders of Toddle who tells us about the many ways Toddle supports teachers and students in the PYP Programme. Toddle just launched in early 2019 but is already becoming a leader as a PYP resource option and is finding a lot of “love” across the world. As an example, They are holding the first ever ...
Nov 21, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Send us a text This episode is another example of the global reach of the IB. Here, we talk to Loredana Giovanelli of the Beijing World Youth Academy (BWYA), a continuum school which includes the MYP and the DP. It is one of the oldest IB World Schools in the Asia/Pacific region. Our discussion focused on the Service as Action (sometimes referred to as SA) component of MYP. Loredana has some great ideas that she has put into practice at her school and she shares many practical ways that her stud...
Nov 01, 2019•47 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Send us a text In this episode, we talk to Asnaha Farheen in Bangladesh. Asnaha is the Head of Primary and the PYP Coordinator at Abdul Kadir Molla International School - a PYP candidate school in Narsingdi, about 50 km outside the capital city of Dhaka. We talk about the process of training the entire staff in the common practices found in all PYP schools across the globe. We think you'll be impressed by the similarities no matter where the PYP school is located and the nature of the local educ...
Oct 30, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Send us a text This sponsored episode serves as the launch of a new partnership between MNIB and Kognity; an excellent online platform for teaching and learning that provides real-time resources for IB students and teachers. Kognity is an award-winning digital publisher that combines the power of technology and textbooks to create a vastly elevated learning experience. We speak with Karin Bjerde, the head of strategic growth for Kognity, who tells us about the many ways Kognity supports teachers...
Oct 17, 2019•26 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we return to speak with author and conceptual teaching and learning workshop leader, Julie Stern. Julie was featured in an earlier podcast focused on conceptual teaching and learning. In this episode we turn our attention to assessment and Julie helps us see how we can use assessment of conceptual learning in our classrooms at all grades and in all subjects. You can learn much more about Julie's work by checking out her website and her YouTube Channel...
Oct 09, 2019•52 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Send us a text This is the third in an ongoing series of episodes featuring a local Minnesota school (Rockford High School) as it goes through the IB authorization process to become an IB World School. They are currently a candidate for MYP, DP, and the CP. This episode is actually a question/answer session recorded as a podcast for the local parent Facebook group. We weren't intending to make it an IB Matters episode but the conversation was so compelling and the content so universal, it is now...
Sep 21, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Send us a text Chantell Wyten is one of the most experienced Career-related Program educators in the entire IB network. She started implementing the CP at a high school during the trial period before it was even an official part of the IB. She now works for the IB in their global office in The Hague, as a senior curriculum manager for the CP. It is particularly gratifying for her, and for us, to see how the CP has become the fastest growing part of the IB and how it is transforming schools and t...
Sep 03, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Send us a text Sometimes one good idea acts as a magnet for other good ideas. Such is the story told in this episode of IB Matters. We talk to Irena and Howard Burton who have taken an unconventional path to their work with the IB Diploma Programme. They do not come to the IB as former Diploma Programme teachers or school leaders. As filmmakers and academics from the areas of law and theoretical physics, they have been gathering video of leading thinkers and practitioners in a broad array of fie...
Aug 28, 2019•28 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Send us a text ManageBac, a very IB-oriented vendor, has partnered with IB Matters to produce an exclusively ManageBac centered episode, making this the first sponsored episode in our brief history as a podcast. You may have a heard us talk to Kari Davidson briefly at the IB Global Conference in our IB vendors podcast (episode 20). Here, Kari has the chance to expand on that discussion and tell us more about the recent changes in the ManageBac interface and the enhancements for the coming school...
Aug 21, 2019•22 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Send us a text This is the second episode of a special series of podcasts which will take you through the IB school authorization process. We have a nearby district working to add multiple IB programmes to their high school. Rockford High School, located about 40 miles west of Minneapolis is a medium sized rural school adding the MYP, DP, and the Career-related programmes all at once to their 9-12 building. Over a series of podcasts - taking about two years - we will talk to Rockford stakeholder...
Aug 15, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Asheesh Misra and Tim Kane about their work helping Diploma Program teachers build their DP courses in such a way as to give all their students the best chance to succeed. In other words, they show teachers and coordinators how to significantly improve Diploma scores. They are both experienced IB teachers with a long track record of doing just that and Asheesh worked for the IB Organization as the former directer of their Access, Equity and...
Aug 07, 2019•53 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Send us a text 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 hear the passion they share for the work of building educational systems. Systems which will pay dividends...
Jul 20, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Send us a text 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 explains, they work with schools (many of them - IB schools) to support service learning and student proje...
Jul 19, 2019•15 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Send us a text 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 serve your students. Please visit these and other vendors at the conference - their participation susta...
Jul 19, 2019•25 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Send us a text 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 new interview so come back (re-download the episode) to hear from new presenters. The table of contents ...
Jul 15, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Send us a text 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, DP, and the Career-related programmes all at once to their 9-12 building. Over a series of podcasts - ...
Jun 20, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Send us a text 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 his family. He also compares teaching in smaller international schools with large US public schools. If...
Jun 10, 2019•24 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Send us a text 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. Many courses have oral commentaries conducted, recorded and uploaded by the IB teacher. With all these differe...
Jun 07, 2019•30 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Send us a text 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 listeners will get some idea of the variety and personal nature of this culminating MYP experience. Stu...
Jun 04, 2019•29 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Send us a text 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 examiner and the ways in which being an examiner help him to be a better IB teacher. Mike also talks about...
Jun 01, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 14
