End of Unit Projects in the IB PYP

October 27, 2022/in Curriculum, International Baccalaureate, Teaching and Learning /by Tessa School

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) promotes the holistic development of children. In addition to academic skills, the focus is on character building and social, physical and emotional development. Many lessons include problem-solving tasks and projects that encourage students’ creativity. Our students are regularly encouraged to choose creative ways of solving problems, also when presenting what they have learned at the end of a teaching unit. Each End of Unit is concluded by a celebration and/or a project.

End of Unit Project

Last week, all of our primary students met to work on a project together, to conclude their unit of inquiry. At Tessa International School, we have three dual-language tracks: French, Mandarin and Spanish. Students from the different tracks love to interact with each other, sharing the language but also different concepts they studied independently in their classrooms.

Their Unit of Inquiry, Who we Are, focused on the central idea that as responsible citizens, we contribute to our community.

They learned about:

What a citizen is.
Rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Community helpers and their role in the wellbeing of our community.

For this project, they explored the use of community buildings, and the duties of community helpers.

Divided into small groups, they were given a problem: how could they reuse a big pile of cardboard (that they collected in a previous project) and make it into something useful to the community? They came up with the idea to build a city: they needed a hospital, a school, housing, a fire station…

This project allowed them to put into practice various skills such as problem solving, team collaboration, geometry, civic education, literacy and arts- a true transdisciplinary activity!

The Leadership Idea in PYP

The PYP Unit of Inquiry strongly promotes ownership by empowering students to take action at the end of a teaching unit based on what they have learned. During their projects, PYP students are inspired to think about themselves and their world and to solve problems.

Learning centers meet students’ individual learning needs

October 14, 2022/in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning /by Tessa School

When you step into one of our PK or kindergarten classrooms, you’ll likely see small groups of students working intensely at different tables. Whether they’re arranging letters or pattern with blocks, students are clearly focused on their learning.

They are working at “learning centers”; and due to their wide variety of benefits, it’s one of the most popular learning strategies in preschool and kindergarten.

What are Learning Centers?

Learning Centers are several workshops in which students can focus on a specific activity (literacy-based, math-based, science-based etc.), and rotate. Learning centers are an integral part of the learning process. They give the students an opportunity to put into practice what they have been learning. They are an opportunity for students to practice skills both with others and independently. Centers also give teachers a chance to assist students on a more in-depth level using small group lessons.

Why are Learning Centers Important?

Learning centers give students a sense of completion. They are presented with a task, they follow the steps to complete the task. They are able to take the activity from start to finish and complete it.
Learning centers help develop confidence. The activities explored in the learning centers include a transdisciplinary approach.Students are able to complete the centers independently and you can watch their confidence soar!
Learning centers teach children to be independent. Centers allow students an appropriate level of challenge so they can work independently to reach a solution.
Children learn through play. The more an activity feels playful, make believe or game-like the more students will learn. When children feel like they are playing they’ll be more excited to do the activity and it will solidify the skills. They are more likely to remember skills when they are playing with and manipulating materials, than simply doing a paper/pencil task.
In addition to promoting independence, learning centers give the teacher time to work with small groups and give extra attention to students in a smaller capacity. Learning centers offer so many ways to differentiate the instruction.

Centers at Tessa International School

There are two types of centers: Rotating Workshops and Center Time.

For rotating workshops, the teacher will generally create 3 to 4 groups (depending on the size of the class and the needs of the course) of 4-5 students.

At least one group will work with the lead teacher, one with the assistant teacher, and one in autonomy. Students will work for 15 / 20 minutes on an activity and then rotate.

Center times are activities located in specific areas around the classroom. Each specific area is also referred to as a center. Children work in small groups during center time, and they can also work independently.

At Tessa, each class has 5 centers: library, blocks, pretend, art, and discovery (math and science together).

Children choose which center they want to go to, with a limitation of 3 children per center.

These hands-on activities are a lot of fun, and a great tool to ensure students get to practice what they have been learning.

To learn more on our program and pedagogy, contact us, schedule a private tour or join one of our upcoming events!

The Remarkable Advantages of Social Emotional Learning: A Case Study

May 3, 2022/in Classroom Management, Curriculum, Teaching and Learning /by ruben

Educational paradigms are currently undergoing a profound and fundamental change. As we learn more about how children’s brains develop, educators are increasingly shifting away from a narrow focus on content, punctuated by occasional standalone lessons on social and emotional development, and into a new mode of instruction in which these formerly separate realms are integrated into one holistic curriculum. A recent case study demonstrates the success of these principles put into action.

CASEL, SEAD, and SEL

In order to understand the significance of the case study, we must first understand the principles of Social Emotional Learning (SEL). The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has developed a coordinating framework to be utilized by educators, families, and communities to promote intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competencies in students. To that end, CASEL has developed a framework of 5 Core Competencies.

self-awareness
self-management
social awareness
relationship skills
responsible decision-making

The Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development (SEAD) works closely with educators, community leaders, families, employers, and partners like CASEL to fully integrate this approach into K-12 academic curriculum. The goal of SEAD is to compile and release a Report From the Nation, which will outline specific actions intended to usher in a new era of education. This model will support the full development of students, providing them with the skills and emotional maturity to excel not only in academics, but into adulthood.

Case Study: Capital City Public Charter School

SEAD’s first report in the series is a case study of a Washington, D.C. charter school. Capital City provides an innovative learning environment for its 1,000 K-12 students by being part of the Expeditionary Learning network, which emphasizes mastery of academics, production of high-quality work, and development of character.

In practice, this results in “learning expeditions”, such as when 3rd and 4th grade classes compared Washington’s temperate forests with tropical rainforests, incorporating trips to a local park and the National Zoo into the lesson plan. Another example is when 9th graders studied the ecology of local fish, with an emphasis on habitat preservation/restoration and the impact of human activity on fish populations.

This holistic and engaging approach to education makes Capital City fertile ground for the integration of Social Emotional Learning. SEAD’s case study demonstrates this by zeroing in on teacher Samantha Clark’s 6th grade math class. In this lesson, students have been learning geometric concepts by working, alone and in groups, on blueprints depicting their city. Clark calls a volunteer (Brandon) to the overhead projector to display a tightly scripted “peer critique” protocol for the feedback process.

First, Brandon describes exactly what he is working on and mentions problems he is having completing his portion of the project.
Next, Clark asks “clarifying questions” to fully understand Brandon’s concerns.
Then she provides specific feedback, leading with positive comments and following up with helpful guidance.
Brandon is then given a chance to respond before returning to his group to put into practice what they have just learned.

This process keeps students engaged, on task, and working together harmoniously. “I don’t see social and academic skills separately at all,” Clark says. “I don’t think first about designing a lesson and then think next about how to develop students’ social-emotional skills. It’s all one.”

To ensure high-quality instruction such as that provided by Clark, Capital City teachers are supported by instructional coaches, given dedicated time to create lesson plans, and frequently meet with other teachers across all grade levels to discuss overarching concerns and goals.

As a result, this charter school outpaces its overall district in growth of student proficiency (as measured by PARCC), and 100% of Capital City’s graduates go on to enroll in college. Despite these impressive achievements, head of school Karen Dresden is always striving to improve. “Our job is much broader than preparing kids for a test;” she says, “we’re preparing kids to do well in college, in careers, and in life. We want to make sure that they have all those skills.”

Other Examples

Also included in the case study are four other examples of successfully implemented SEL approaches.

San Francisco Unified School District – The pre-K – 12 math curriculum is taught using principles of “growth mindset,” in which students are taught to expect and embrace mistakes as learning opportunities. This approach focuses on enhancing conceptual thinking, problem-solving skills, and procedural fluency, avoiding the strict right/wrong binary that has led so many students to believe they are “bad” at math.
Facing History and Ourselves – This non-profit organization engages students in an examination of social justice issues throughout history with the goal of encouraging students to engage in and understand their role in an active democracy.
New Tech Network (NTN) – The NTN focuses on project-based learning, integrating content knowledge with critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and student responsibility.
Center for the Collaborative Classroom – This non-profit provides continuous learning for teachers to support the academic, ethical, and social development of children.

Integrating SEL into academic curriculum is clearly beneficial for not only students, but for teachers, parents, and communities as well. By utilizing these principles we can raise the next generation to be socially conscious problem solvers, effective communicators, and well-rounded humans, leading to a better future for all of us.

For more information on innovative approaches to learning, contact us!

A Look at the Importance of Differentiation in the Classroom

March 30, 2021/in Classroom Management, Curriculum, Teaching and Learning /by Jamie Kreps

Whether you’re a parent of one or a parent of a dozen, it doesn’t take long to figure out every child has their own pace and approach to life learning. Some children learn best by utilizing trial and error, some by a hands-on approach, and others may be more inclined to grasp concepts they can observe from the sidelines first. There’s virtually an unlimited number of unique ways in which children (and adults!) learn, so it goes without saying that a universal teaching approach is simply not effective. This is where differentiation learning comes in to play.

What Is Differentiation Learning?

Differentiation learning is a teaching technique that is used to reach each individual student through their own learning methods. In short, it is essentially the process of learning professionals getting to know each of their students well enough to understand how each of them learns best and utilize the best teaching approaches for that student. It requires a true understanding by teachers as well as a highly flexible curriculum approach in order to help maximize a student’s ability to grasp education content.

The teaching techniques involved in differentiation learning aren’t a set of magical approaches or workbooks to follow. Instead, the focus is simply on observing the ways in which students interact and learn individually and planning lessons and learning activities around these observations. Put simply, it’s knowing what ways your students are similar and different and organizing lesson plans according to them.

Why Is Differentiation Learning Important?

While differentiation learning requires a deep commitment to truly understand a student’s individual learning approaches, research has shown it to be a highly effective method. According to Waterford.org, “If you can adapt your instruction to reflect your students’ needs and learning preferences, you can make class time more effective and help students become more engaged.”

When children are presented options for exploring and learning new concepts in a manner they are most comfortable or familiar with, it leads to a greater level of involvement – and, by extension, a deeper understanding of the information at hand. Children thrive in environments that encourage learning at their level, and an increase in learning support also leads to an increase in learning focus.

Adaptive Teaching Techniques

It’s important to understand that this approach does not mean coming up with a customized school curriculum that has been tailored to each and every individual student. It isn’t coming up with 20 separate lesson plans for 20 separate classroom students. Differentiation learning does require flexibility with teaching techniques that can be tweaked to reach students based on their own learning capabilities, however, it is more about understanding the needs of students and providing effective options to help support the best possible learning environment as a whole. By providing a diverse set of learning tools and approaches, this technique allows for a high rate of learning success among students because it breaches any potential barriers by finding the right path for educational growth.

Social and Emotional Learning: Understanding Different Learning Progressions

March 29, 2021/in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning /by Jamie Kreps

When it comes to the education of young children, development and learning opportunities do not end (or even begin) with traditional classroom studies. In fact, while book studies are certainly important, they are, by far, not the only learning process children need to be exposed to in order to obtain a well-rounded childhood development. Today, more and more emphasis is being placed on nourishing a child’s social and emotional learning process to boost essentially every other learning process they encounter.

What Is SEL (Social and Emotional Learning)?

According to Edutopia.org, “Social and emotional learning (SEL) provides a foundation for safe and positive learning, and enhances students’ ability to succeed in school, careers, and life.” By encouraging a healthy social engagement from children and outlining positive behaviors, SEL promotes a strong sense of self confidence, perpetuates positive attitudes toward all avenues of learning, and also gives way to improved social actions such as understanding, kindness, and collaboration.

The basis of SEL focuses on helping children develop more core attributes that will work in tandem with virtually every life experience they encounter. Essentially, SEL works by teaching children to effectively work together while having the skills to not only believe in their own abilities, but to also encourage and understand the abilities of those around them.

Emotional Development

With SEL, successful emotional development is centered around helping children achieve not only a positive self-image, but also arming them with the ability to positively and effectively maneuver through life’s challenges. To accomplish this, SEL focuses on the following emotional skills:

Self-Cognizance. This process involves helping children to thoroughly understand their own emotions, including how these emotions are linked to their thoughts, beliefs, and actions. By teaching children how to recognize these internal relations, as well as harness their own unique strengths, kids learn to develop a healthy level of confidence and self-worth.
Self-Control. Expanding on self-cognizance, self-control is focused on helping children learn to manage their emotions and find appropriate reactions for their behaviors. Be it reining in impulses or learning to stay on task to achieve a goal, self-control is about taking their emotional understanding to the next level by mastering their reactions to promote positive behaviors and outcomes.
Being Responsible. Taking emotional development one step further, SEL gives children the big picture by making them aware of the consequences of their actions for negative behaviors, as well as provides constructive pathways to more positive outcomes. This involves helping children to consider not only their own emotions and abilities, but also those of others around them, in order to effectively evaluate appropriate actions across a multitude of differences.

Social Development

The second aspect of SEL, social development, expands on the personal emotional development of children by casting a wider net to include learning how to build healthy relationships, curbing negative behaviors, and being socially aware of the diversities of others. By providing examples and pathways to both empathize, as well as communicate, with others, children gain a broader perspective on life experiences and are able to improve their overall learning capacity.

When combined, SEL is a critical part of a child’s development because it not only arms them with critical thinking skills, self-confidence, and essential communication techniques, but it also encourages an overall positive outlook on both healthy relationships as well as a deep sense of commitment to learning and connection with others. Social and emotional learning is the foundation for a more engaged learning experience that will last a lifetime.