Welcome to PYP Parents’ NightAugust 26, 2010

A brief introduction to PYP and our implementation of the PYP Framework

Rebecca GrayA few words regarding the reasons PYP was chosen as a framework at IWIA

Chinese in the PYP

• Presented by the Chinese Department

1. PYP Chinese curriculum

2. Assessment

3. Chinese Cultural extra-curricular Activities for School Year 10-11

4. YCT(Youth Chinese Test)

The timeline – Phase 1, completed

Phase 2 – Current Phase

Phase 3 – Completed by October 2011

Successful completion of Phase 3 is Authorization

PYP Newsletter

• At the end of each month I will send home an electronic newsletter which will show case best practices of PYP occurring in the school.

• It will also show case some student work and pictures from field trips.

• Parent collaboration for this newsletter is not only welcomed but enthusiastically solicited.

PYP Professional Development

• 12 teachers attended official IB workshops in Atlanta last July 2010.

• Teachers from each grade level to visit Atlanta International School in October 2010.

• School Leadership team to go to PYP workshop in Cincinnati on December 10-13, 2010.

• In school official workshop by the IB to train all new teachers or teachers who have not received official PYP training on January 3 & 4 2011.

• Around 10 teachers will attend workshops in July 2011.

Unit of Inquiry letter introducing each unit to parents

• Every six weeks your child will begin a new PYP unit of inquiry.

• Grade levels will send home a letter detailing the unit, proposed activities, and field trips for each new unit.

• Letters for this first unit will be sent home by August 27 at the latest.

Resources

• Primary resources (artifacts, clothing, tools, plants and even animals and people) that are related to the unit of inquiry are key to provoking inquiry learning in the students.

• Please review the school’s POI in the hallways and see if for any of the units you can lend any primary resources that you have to the grade for a few short agreed upon time.

• The POI will also be sent as a pdf to all parents on the e-mail list.

Ideas & Field Trips

• PYP is Collaborative! Please don’t be shy to share your ideas for learning activities relating to the unit or of really good field trip ideas related to the unit your children are studying.

PYP Concerns

• For class specific concerns first see the class teacher. Should additional assistance be needed I maybe reached as a secondary contact by e-mail or phone. Please cc all correspondence to me to the class teacher.

• For whole PYP program concerns I may be contacted directly.

Field Trips

• Each grade level in the PYP will have a minimum of 6 field trips per year. Grade levels are encouraged to have as many field trips as possible given the importance of experiential learning in the inquiry proccess.

Report Cards

• Current numbering system on report cards is an application of an MYP program element.

• The emphasis in PYP is not marks or numbers, but formative comments that can inform the learner and parents on what was done well and how the student can improve.

• Our reports will be modified by removing numbers and adding more formative comments.

Student Led Conferences

• At the end of the year the last parent teacher conference will be a “Student-Led Conference” where your child will take you through his PYP portfolio of work and reflect upon what she/he did well, what she/he learned and her/his future learning goals. Grade levels are encouraged to adopt this format throughout the year where feasible.

Student Portfolios

• All students in the PYP program will have a portfolio of their work done throughout the year. They will have self reflective evaluations for each piece of work in their portfolios.

• Portfolios must remain in the classroom at all times, but they will be placed in a prominent visible place where parents can feel free to quietly look through their child’s work in the classroom.

Art, PE & Music

• Will be thoroughly integrated into the unit of inquiry for each class and activities will carry over from and to specials and the homeroom class.

Inquiry Learning

• Based on constructivism proposed by leading educational psychologists such as LS Vygotsky.

• Is learning through doing, students actively construct their learning to better understand their world.

• Inquiry learning in PYP takes the form of observation, experimentation, play, dialogue, art and experiential learning and some research in the upper grades (with a focus on the process of researching rather than the product).

Transdisciplinary Themes

• Are the 6 themes organizing themes that go across the subjects in each grade level. Each grade level does one unit of inquiry per theme each academic year. • Who we are• Where we are in place and time• How we Express Ourselves• How the world works• How we organize ourselves• Sharing the Planet

Central Idea

• The central idea is the enduring understanding that we want our students to learn, understand and remember not for a day, or a week, or a few years, but for the rest of their lives.

• There is one central idea per unit of inquiry, so there are a total of 6 central ideas per year per grade level.

Key Concepts

• Are the vehicle by which we want our PYP students to approach inquiry learning for the entire experience in the PYP program.

• Each unit of inquiry will focus on about two key concepts. Students will learn how to frame questions according to key concepts and classify the questions of others along the same lines. This can take several years for the students to fully acquire this skill.

Learner Profile

• The Learner Profile is the corner stone of the IB and it is one element that exists in all three IB programs (PYP, MYP and DP).

• It is our main goal and mission to educate students who are:• Inquirers• Knowledgeable• Thinkers• Communicators• Principled• Open-Minded• Caring• Risk-Takers• Balanced• Reflective

Attitudes

• We strive to help and teach our PYP students to have or to show:• Appreciation• Commitment• Confidence• Cooperation• Creativity• Curiosity• Empathy• Enthusiasm• Independence• Integrity• Respect• Tolerance

THANK YOU!I will be available for your questions during the refreshment and social time beginning now.