Claudia FayadPYP Coordinator

Colegio Colombo Británico

Being a Mentor at The Exhibition

*STUDENTS *Follow a more teacher– *Structure & plan structured approach independently

*TEACHERS *Grade teachers mostly*Other teachers in school—mentors

*TIME *Regular planning times *More prep time throughout school year

*CLOSING *A more modest celebration *A bigger event with the whole community

*REFLECTION *More teacher-structured *Done via Journaling & learning logs

*TRANSDISCIPLINARY *One-to-one correspondence *All can be applied— THEMES regardless of topic

*CENTRAL IDEA *Created by teachers *Created by students*KEY CONCEPTS*Some are selected *All must be included*SKILLS *Some are selected *All groups included*ATTITUDES *Some are selected *All must be included*PROFILE *Some are selected *All must be included

ATTRIBUTES *THE PLANNER *The official one, by teachers *An adapted one, by

students

Unit of Inquiry The Exhibition

Personal Inquiry model It elicits meaningful

connections in students It has the benefit of tapping

into students’ interests and ensuring that they are fired up on the issue

It is more student-centred, therefore more conducive to differentiation

The challenge is being able to find a common, underlying theme—one that encompasses a single, big idea

It stresses significant concepts

It is much easier to manage because of its narrower focus

The advantage is to have everyone centred around an issue that is important to the school

It tends to be more conducive to action

BUT it is school-centred, not student centred

Our choice: Personal Inquiry

Collaborative Inquiry Model

The Exhibition should be a celebration of learning— so, unless we take

into account students’ interests, there’ll be nothing celebrative about putting in that much work

You can see ANY issue or student interest under ANY Transdisciplinary Theme!

There is nothing wrong with leaving Sharing the Planet (or any other Transdisciplinary Theme, for that matter) as the common one for all students, since concepts do not belong to any particular Theme but are Transdisciplinary—therefore, ALL can be made to relate to ONE common Theme!

Our Theme: Sharing the Planet

Knowledge of the elements of the Programme is CRITICAL –so we’ll ‘stick within the programme’ (just try to imagine yourselves “explaining the inner workings of the PYP” to a Bach teacher!)

Some of us should be left out—this could unjustly favour some group in terms of time and/or resources—plus, they should work with ALL students

We are not that comfortable with the idea of allowing parents to mentor—just yet

Our Mentors

Prepare bilingually—to be ready for any audience

Depending on the issue and M.O.—for instance, if interviews in Spanish are going to be required

Presentation in one language and display or slide show in another

Have students prepare 3 presentations: In English, for school visitors In Spanish, for parents—most of them, anywayA simplified version for First & Second graders

Our Languages

In little stands, and also with a big audienceBoth approaches are mixedDifferent venues allow everyone in the

community to see everything about The Exhibition during that week

Our choice of venue

Opening as a whole group with motivation by drama club to ‘prime’ the audience for what they´re going to see in the gym

Mentors are there, encouraging parents to go elsewhere after seeing their child’s presentation —Coordinator & Head nicely make sure parents don’t wander outside

Gather everybody together at the end—a chance to celebrate and thank mentors

Ebb-&-flow approach in the evening

Use the time to show ‘emotional’ video summarising the process—make sure shots from the actual night are included!

Have a huge mural for parents to write their feedback

But additionally send a slip home for more formal feedback

More ideas for staging

What is the role of mentors in The Exhibition?

HART’S LADDER OF PARTICIPATION

This happens when projects or programs are initiated by young people and decision-making is shared between young people and adults.

These projects empower young people while at the same time enabling them to access and learn from the life experience and expertise of adults.

8) Young people-initiated, shared decisions with adults

This step is when young people initiate and direct a project or program.

Adults are involved only in a supportive role.

7) Young people-initiated and directed

This is somewhat controversial an issue for many people working with and around young people.

Essentially, the debate is which of these levels of participation is actually the most meaningful?

Both arguments have merit; ultimately, it is up to us to determine which form of decision-making best fits with our needs.

Roger Hart's Ladder of Participation shows young people-initiated, shared decisions with adults as the top form of young people's participation, followed immediately by young people-initiated and directed.

The 7/8 Debate

MENTORING FOR THE EXHIBITIONWhat is it and it is not

A tutorAn editorA proofreaderA guardianA disciplinarianAn expert in the topic chosenAn advocate for the group

An Exhibition Mentor is NOT

An inquiry consultant for a group of youngsters

who meets with them on a weekly basis to provide not only feeback

but “feed-forward” in order to guide them

towards a successful Exhibition

AN EXHIBITION MENTOR IS

The Inquiry Cycle

1

2

4

35

67

Planning

Focusing and Preparing

Finding Information

Using Information

Synthesis

Evaluation

Action

Meet with your assigned group each week for a double period (block)

Dedicate yourself to guiding your group’s inquiry to the best of your knowledge and ability, according to guidelines given, and within the PYP framework and IB philosophy

Maintain frequent and open communication with your student’s classroom teacher

You will be required to

As a mentor you don’t need to be an expert in the chosen topic—conduct your own inquiry if necessary!

The main purpose in The Exhibiton (or any transdisciplinary unit of inquiry) is quite different from achieving topic expertise

Quote by Mel Levine: “an affinity can bring on expertise.”

The issue of ‘expertise’

Community Theme www.ibo.orgThe OCC http://occ.ibo.org

IB Exhibition Guidelines (e-library)Forums (green bar on the left)View Resources (search)Home Page (exhibition samples grid)

Google it! You-tube it!

Resources

Communication mentor-teacher is VITAL—the teacher needs to follow up on what the mentor is doing

Log for information exchangeAgenda for each mentor meetingAims for the following meeting must be clearAll goes in the folder kept by the class teacherKeep things simple, quick

INFORMATION to teachers andFEEDBACK to mentors is crucial

Mentor-Teacher Communication

Classroom teachers should keep a folder for each group to keep track of work done by mentors

Guidelines and forms must be clear to avoid confusion, overlapping and misunderstandings

The PYP Coordinator needs access to all those folders to supervise progress

Folders

Everyone in school needs to understand the importance of The Exhibition in order to make valuable contributions

Collaboration:Among teachersAmong students Among teachers and students

Wikis—use is compulsory this year!

Collaboration

ASSESSMENTPlanning for Evaluation of the Exhibition

Assessing individual student learning within The Exhibition

Assessing The Exhibition as a processAssessing the elements of the PYP within the

school using The Exhibition as a toolAssessing the implementation of the

Programme

Assessment

PYP EssentialElements

Assessment: The Student

CONCEPTS

ACTION

ATTITUDES

SKILLSKNOWLEDGE

Understanding

Content to find out

Some application

Feelings and Interactions

To do independently

Even though it formally appears as a DP consideration, students need to start learning about making sure they avoid plagiarism

Agreement on a single format for bibliography for the entire school, and training Exhibition students in how to use it is crucial: APA

Academic Honesty

Policy can be found in the green, left-hand column at the OCC

Reflect on it, share it with studentsWhy do students cut & paste? Because they

lack the skills to process information—so they take the easy way out

The key is really in the prompt—don’t say ‘bring info on…’—instead, ask for a product which requires processing of information

Model it—WALK THE TALK!

Guiding BookletThe PlannerTimeline

More Documents needed

Thank you for volunteering!