Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we return to talk to Vikas Pahwa from India. Vikas is an experienced DP History teacher and great person to talk about how he implements the ATL skills in the high school. While we often think of ATLs in the earlier grades, Vikas makes a great case for their natural inclusion in higher level courses. We even talk a bit about how teachers should be ready for new ways of teaching as they move on in their careers. Email IB Matters: IBMatters@mnibschools....
Dec 06, 2022•35 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Send us a text In this episode we talk to Afroza Kazi from Dhaka, Bangladesh about her role as a Diploma Programme teacher. While she specifically teaches Language B - English, we get a better understanding of what makes the IB work for so many students. That is, how we put the international in International Baccalaureate. Afroza makes several great suggestions for how to prepare students of all ages to be more internationally-minded and better prepared for life in a global community. Afroza exp...
Nov 29, 2022•48 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Rezuan Chowdhury from Daka, Bangladesh. Rezuan, who is a returning guest, has recently moved to a new school as an assistant PYP coordinator. We follow-up our popular ATL series from this summer with some specific ideas from Rezuan. His examples bring the ATL's into focus for those of you working with younger children. Links shared by Rezuan: "Best Practices and challenges in school based professional development in the schools of Maldives ...
Nov 15, 2022•43 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Send us a text The IB student experience is much more than the Diploma Programme student completing exams and heading to university with a strong resume of academic accomplishments. The entire IB framework begins preparing students in pre-school and continues to use age appropriate practices to encourage life-long learning, inquiry, conceptual understanding, and global awareness. Our 14 year-old guest, Jiana Shah , has been an IB PYP student since kindergarten and is now a year 4 MYP student pre...
Sep 15, 2022•42 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Send us a text This episode is the eighth and final episode in a series of podcasts we are doing on the IB Approaches to Learning Skills (known as the ATL’s) which are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes. This episode is a sort of panel discussion looking at the big idea of using approaches to learning as a framework within IB to deliver the promise of an IB education as captured in the IB mission. My guests are Adrian von Wrede-Jervis , Nigel Gardner and of course Joh...
Sep 08, 2022•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 8
Send us a text This episode is the seventh in a series of 8 podcasts we are doing on the IB Approaches to Learning Skills known as the ATL’s that are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes. It is our goal to give you a coherent, sustainable, values aligned strategy to implement ATL Skills in your school. This episode features teaching Self-management Skills . In the podcast, John Harvey described how he moved some of the Self-management Skills around to optimize teaching ...
Aug 30, 2022•34 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Send us a text This episode is the sixth in a series of 8 podcasts we are doing on the IB Approaches to Learning Skills known as the ATL’s that are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes. This episode features teaching Social Skills . My guest is John Harvey , an experienced IB coordinator who has led this work in multiple schools. It is our goal to give you a coherent, sustainable, values aligned strategy to implement ATL Skills in your school. We are also offering an op...
Aug 23, 2022•40 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Send us a text This episode is the fifth in a series of 8 podcasts we are doing on the IB Approaches to Learning Skills known as the ATL’s that are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes. This episode features teaching Communication Skills . My guest is John Harvey , an experienced IB coordinator who has led this work in multiple schools. It is our goal to give you a coherent, sustainable, values aligned strategy to implement ATL Skills in your school. We are also offerin...
Aug 16, 2022•35 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Send us a text This episode is the fourth in a series of 8 podcasts we are doing on the IB Approaches to Learning Skills known as the ATL’s that are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes. This episode features teaching Research Skills . My guest is John Harvey , an experienced IB coordinator who has led this work in multiple schools. It is our goal to give you a coherent, sustainable, values aligned strategy to implement ATL Skills in your school. We are also offering an...
Aug 09, 2022•35 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Send us a text This episode is the third in a series of 8 podcasts we are doing on the IB Approaches to Learning Skills known as the ATL’s that are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes. My guest is John Harvey , an experienced IB coordinator who has led this work in multiple schools. It is our goal to give you a coherent, sustainable, values aligned strategy to implement ATL Skills in your school. We are also offering an opportunity for interaction. In our podcast notes...
Aug 02, 2022•40 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Send us a text This episode is the second in a series of 8 podcasts we are doing on the IB Approaches to Learning Skills known as the ATL’s that are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes. My guest is John Harvey , an experienced IB coordinator who has led this work in multiple schools. It is our goal to give you a coherent, sustainable, values aligned strategy to implement ATL Skills in your school. We are also offering an opportunity for interaction. In our podcast note...
Jul 26, 2022•38 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Send us a text This episode is part of a series we are doing on the IB Approaches to Learning Skills known as the ATL’s that are at the core of all four International Baccalaureate Programmes. John Harvey and I will, in these eight episodes, try to give you a coherent, sustainable, values aligned strategy to implement ATL Skills in your school. We want to help you build your team of coordinators, teachers, librarians, and support staff. We are also adding an opportunity for interaction. Below, y...
Jul 19, 2022•36 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Dr. David Webb about his time as a leader in IB schools in Minnesota and about his book called ‘ Homerun Leadership: Your Guide to Better, Faster Team Decisions ’. If you have a leadership role in an IB school - whether it be an IB coordinator, department head, or school adminstrator this podcast is for you. Dave has put together a strategy - based on research - that gives you the tools to make decisions which will have the support of your ...
Jul 14, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 40
Send us a text In this episode we talk to four DP students from Shiv Nadar School Gurgaon . All four are in their second year of the Diploma Programme and have done a great deal of reflecting upon what they have learned so far. They have determined that mental and emotional health are tied together and can be best maintained through communication among students, teachers and school leaders. While the Diploma Programme is definitely challenging, all four of these students have found ways to be su...
Jun 15, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Send us a text In this episode, we talk to author, Jason Ablin. His book, The Gender Equation in Schools: How to Create Equity and Fairness for all Students will be published in June 2022 and features many tools for teachers to use in beginning to create classrooms where all students feel empowered to be their best selves. Jason shares some of these tools and we hear stories of how he has worked with schools around the world on gender-aware teaching practices. Links: Twitter: @jasonablin Faceboo...
May 25, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Send us a text In this episode we return talk to Vikas Pahwa . This time the conversation centers on leadership in IB and International schools. Vikas has recently contributed an article for an upcoming book on this subject and we found this to be a good opportunity to share our thoughts and experiences regarding great school leadership. By the way, if you are in Minnesota, our MNIB Leadership Award nomination form is available on the MNIB website and nominations for this year close on June 15th...
Apr 13, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Send us a text In this episode of IB Matters we talk to Dr. Aarti Baksh i of Pathways School in Noida, India. As you will hear, she is a very enthusistic counselor who has used every resource available - and few she conjured up - to create a positive school culture which brings the full nature of an IB education to fruition. Dr. Bakshi describes how she, along with teachers and school leaders, have created a model for building a culture which supports inquiry and student well-being. Be sure to c...
Feb 28, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Send us a text In this episode, we talk to Era Dogra about her role as a coordinator of the social emotional learning programs in her school. Listeners will hear how she and her team have implemented necessary supports for students experiencing a lack of personal connections while they are learning in isolation from home. They have found that, by making the programs customized to their school context, the changes they have made will actually be useful even when they return to in-person classroom...
Feb 11, 2022•33 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Send us a text In this episode, we talk to Shradha Narayanan from Toddle about the upcoming Inquiry Educators Summit (TIES) . This will be third time they have offered this event but there are many changes in place for this version. In particular, this time there will be pre-conference meet-ups and then ongoing follow-up sessions for several months after the main event. TIES is back for its third and largest edition yet. Designed to be a festival of learning like no other, TIES 2022 will feature...
Dec 04, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Send us a text In this episode we talk to 5 students from Ebenezer International School in Bangalore, India and their Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) teacher Bhavya Prabu. These students have created a CAS Project based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (known as the UN SDG’s). They mentor younger students to learn about particular SDG’s and then help them develop TED Talk format speeches for their peers. To make it even more challenging they have done this while never setting fo...
Nov 04, 2021•49 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Send us a text In this episode of we return to talk to Vikas Pahwa about the IB approach to teaching Geography. His experience with both the MYP and DP makes him a good ambassador for the subject. Vikas has a deep respect, understanding, and appreciation for Geography and he makes a great case for including the subject as one of your options in Group 3 of the Diploma Programme. Some of Vikas' links: Geography Pods The Geographer online National Geographic Geography All the Way Open Geography Boo...
Sep 29, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Send us a text In this episode we talk to Lucia Figar and Barry Cooper of The Global College in Madrid, Spain. They are two of the principal figures in the startup of this brand new IB School based on entrepreneurship. It will be a unique member of the IB community but it has all of the key attributes every new IB school requires: a rigorous and well-planned curriculum, a caring and dedicated staff and a mission aligned to the principles guiding all IB Schools. You can learn much more about The ...
Sep 20, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Send us a text In this episode we talk to Bhavya Prabu about the IB approach to teaching and learning science from MYP to DP. Bhavya has experience teaching in both the Diploma Programme and the Middle Years Programme so she has an excellent perspective for this discussion. We talk about the structure and requirements of a couple of DP science courses, specifically Biology and ESS. But we also get into the philosophy of the IB approach and how the skill building seen in the MYP leads to success ...
Sep 12, 2021•45 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Send us a text In this episode we talk to Lisa Maren Thompson from Sejong Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota. Sejong Academy is an MYP candidate school nearing the end of the candidacy phase to become an official IB World School. Like the other podcasts we have done in the “Becoming an IB School” series, the keys to a succesful IB school candidacy are the people in the school community. They need to be knowledgeable, passionate and above all, caring. Lisa and the staff at Sejong have all of these at...
Sep 06, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Send us a text In an effort to promote equity, excellence and inclusion in IB programs, Tim Kane and Asheesh Misra from IBSchoolImprovement.com help schools develop strategies to maximize success in the Diploma exams. These strategies lead to more students enrolling in the classes, taking the exams, and benefitting from the exposure to challenging curriculum. These benefits have been shown to follow students throughout their lives as they pursue further education and rewarding careers. To this e...
Sep 01, 2021•40 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Send us a text This is be one of the more personal episodes in this podcast series, as I speak to Jake Rosch . Jake’s parents have been close friends for decades and I’ve known Jake since he was in pre-school. Jake is now Director of Educational Technology at College du Leman , an IB school in Switzerland. We speak about international teaching, blended learning, being an Apple Distinguished Educator , and the philosophy of teaching as a life-long mission. I’m sure you will be as inspired, as I w...
Aug 27, 2021•39 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Send us a text In this episode we speak with Joelle Amuah who is a 17 year old student beginning her second year of the Diploma Programme at Aves International Academy in Ghana. She wrote a blog (" My awesome IB experience so far ") recently sharing her experience in year one of the DP. She described all the ways she grew as a person and as a student in just one year of the Diploma Programme. I reached out to see if she would share this story and she agreed. She also gives advice to students jus...
Aug 22, 2021•24 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Send us a text In this episode of we take a close look at the DP History course, one of the key aspects of any Diploma student’s experience in the IB. Our guest is Vikas Pahwa who is an experienced DP History teacher in the city of Gurgaon , India . What I loved about this conversation was the universality of the DP History approach he describes. I felt like I was talking to one of the teachers in my own school because the IB History approach can be applied in any geographical or societal contex...
Aug 16, 2021•53 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Send us a text In this episode we talk to Wendy Heydorn and Susan Jesudason who have recently revised their TOK texts pubished by Cambridge University Press . They give us a great tour of the newly revised TOK curriculum which could serve as a primer for anyone returning to the classroom this fall to teach the new TOK course with first exams in the Spring of 2022. They also share a tour of their books including the TOK Course Guide , Decoding the TOK , and the Digital teacher resources set in ca...
Aug 09, 2021•53 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Send us a text In this episode we talk to Guru Charan Kumar of India about his work teaching the IB Diploma ESS Course but mostly we talk about taking his students on exciting trips to support the classroom teaching with real life field experiences. Guru makes a great case for getting out there but he also has tips for those of you wanting to plan for such a trip. He even tells a couple harrowing tales which have created life-long memories for both he and his students. If you have a favorite pla...
Aug 03, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 23
