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Working at the IB is always exciting, but meeting IB teachers, students and coordinators always gives me a clearer purpose for the work I do every day in the office.

Last week I visited a beautiful IB World School in the south of Germany, Munich International School (MIS). Video director Mikael Brain (Social Grinder) and I interviewed and filmed teachers, students, parents, and coordinators to create one of the four videos to be included in the Middle Years Programme (MYP) Coordinator support material, to be published later in 2016.

The footage from MIS will be used to create a video on approaches to learning (ATL) in the MYP and will help coordinators understand how to organize a school-wide progression of ATL skills using different strategies, for example by creating horizontal and vertical ATL planning charts.

The school personnel welcomed us warmly; the ambitious filming schedule included interviews and also some ATL-related students' activities. During one of these, students worked in groups and reflected on the ATL skills developed in specific subject groups; they talked about how they transferred these ATL skills and used them in other subject groups and even outside the school. The students then used some coloured triangles of paper, each colour corresponding to a different subject, to write about the ATL skills they developed and why they were proud of it. The students then attached their notes to the "ATL wall" next to the appropriate skills posters.

At MIS, ATL progression and planning is a whole-school activity. The vertical ATL planning chart is aligned with horizontal planning charts developed specifically for each MYP year by teachers of all subject groups collaborating together. Moreover, there are two ATL coordinators, one for MYP years 1-3 and the other for years 4-5 - this ensures that ATL skills are integral part of the students' holistic development throughout the years.

The whole experience has been inspiring. Seeing MYP students being so engaged with their learning experience and very aware of their skills development was rewarding. The efforts and good work of MIS teachers, coordinators and parents have succeeded in creating a positive and nourishing environment for students, where they can identify their strengths and weaknesses and work on improving their skills every day. Thank you MIS!

Key facts:

MYP Coordinator Support Material, the first MYP digital publication, is expected for publication in the third quarter of 2016. It will become part of the new MYP programme website which is currently being developed.

Four videos to support MYP coordinators are currently being developed and they focus on:

ATL progression

Internal standardization

Language policy

Service as action

The topics of the videos were chosen in collaboration with MYP coordinators and IB educators and feedback was gathered also through social media

The schools selected for filming are:

All three official IB languages will be used during filming and the videos will be subtitled into all IB official languages

Lucia Capasso is the IB's Academic Coordinator, Middle Years Programme Development and currently studying for an MBA.

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MYP approaches to learning skills in action

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Working at the IB is always exciting, but meeting IB teachers, students and coordinators always gives me a clearer purpose for the work I do every day in the office. Last week I visited a beautiful IB World School in the south of Germany, Munich International School (MIS).

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MYP ATL Passports

The documents below are MYP ATL Passports covering every sub section of the Approaches to Learning within it:

Communication

Research (Information Literacy Skills and Media Literacy Skills)

Self-Management (Affective Skills, Organisation Skills, Reflective Skills)

Social

Thinking (Creative Thinking Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Transfer Skills)

The Passports are “Think-Pair-Share” activities that ask to students to either make targets or reflect on the ATL in question.

The sub sections for each ATL on the forms come from the International Baccalaureate’s website.

The activity can be done at the beginning or end of a lesson based on the day’s learning. It can also be done with students consider the ATL over longer period of time, which can also be used as a form time activity.

Each form is set out the same for consistency. The form is set in 3 columns, which students used to create sentence stems based on the sub section of the ATL they want to focus on. The final column requires students to explain their goal , or reflect on their performance within it.

The pictures on the forms are designed by Chris Mills, an artist who used to be in my form. If you would like him to create designs for you, his email is cjm1391@hotmail.co.uk

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD ALL THE MYP ATL PASSPORT DOCUMENTS:

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

RESEARCH: INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS

RESEARCH: MEDIA LITERACY SKILLS

SELF-MANAGEMENT: AFFECTIVE SKILLS

SELF-MANAGEMENT: ORGANISATION SKILLS

SELF-MANAGEMENT: REFLECTIVE SKILLS

SOCIAL SKILLS

THINKING: CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS

THINKING: CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

THINKING: TRANSFER SKILLS

If you are a member you can download the document below. If you have not yet become a member, please do so today in order to be able to gain access to all 350+ resources on this website.

MYP and DP Approaches to Learning Target setting (new)

These new Approaches to Learning Target Setting documents are for MYP and DP students.

Each document includes a separate page for each Approach to Learning skill (communication, research, self-management, social and thinking).

For each ATL skill, I have chosen eight subsections taken from Principles into Practice for the MYP and the International Baccalaureate’s ATL website for the DP.

Students have to choose one subsection to focus on as a target. They then have to consider strategies that will enable them to meet their target. At the end of the time period (I usually give half a term), students must revisit their targets and write a reflection on the extent to which they feel they have met them.

I have, at times, got students to set one target for each of the Approaches to Learning skills, and at other times, got the class to focus on one agreed Approach to Learning skill to focus on for the half term.

The target setting handouts are cross curricular so can be used for any subject. As Coordinator I used them in my IB Core class.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE MYP & DP ATL TARGET SETTING DOCUMENTS

If you are a member you can download the document below. If you have not yet become a member, please do so today in order to be able to gain access to all 350+ resources on this website.

ATL Self-Assessment

This Approaches to Learning Self -Assessment document includes all five of approaches: communication, research, self management, social and thinking on one page.

The indicators and assessment criteria  are taken from the IBO Approaches to Teaching and Learning website.

The document can either be used holistically across the programme or for each individual subject.

It gives students the chance to note when they have met the skills in each indicator, and to what extent,  over an agreed period of time, which can then be discussed with the DP Coordinator and / or subject teacher, depending on how the initiative is set up.

The document can be used by teachers in conjunction with the reporting the Approaches to Learning to help them assess the student`s performance against the approaches to learning.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE SELF-ASSESSMENT FORM

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Approaches to Learning Target Setting Documents

In order to share the Approaches to Learning goals with students, I have created student Approaches to Learning Target Setting documents, which can be seen below.

These documents are used for students to create targets based on the Approaches to Learning: communication, research, self-management, social and thinking skills. These targets will be applied to all of the subjects the students are studying, as well as the core of the programme.

Students can choose one or more of the sub sections for the approach to learning they are focusing on. Each of the sub sections for the approaches to learning come from the IB`s Approaches to Teaching and Learning website.

In order to make it clear to students that the Approaches to Learning are cross curricular, I go through the handout with students in the DP Core class, checking that their targets are relevant, challenging and achievable and then scan them and send them to every teacher. The teacher can then check their students` progress against the targets, which helps them when reporting on the approaches to learning.

These targets can be approached in a variety of ways:

Students can focus on one approach to learning per month / term

Students can set targets for more than one approaches to learning at a time.

The DP Coordinator can work with the students in setting the targets, which they must then meet throughout all of their classes.

Students can work with each subject teacher to set a different target for each class they take.

We revisit the goals in future DP Core classes, discussing each student`s progress and reflect upon any issues they have faced—this can help the DP Coordinator find common issues across the year group.

These document show all of the approaches to learning, which can deleted as appropriate depending on which one(s) you are going to get your students to focus on. The document asks students to consider how they can meet their target and how they can evidence that they have met their target. Example 1 also has a reflection section where students consider what went well, how they could improve and how their performance has changed since setting the target(s).

This document is linked to the IB’s Approaches to Teaching and Learning criteria with targets the students can choose from also taken from the IBO website on the Approaches to Teaching and Learning.

If teachers require, they are able to use this document on a subject for subject basis. I have used it in the capacity of the Coordinator to raise the students’ awareness of the Approaches to Teaching and Learning being cross curricular skills and that they should be using throughout their six subject areas and the Diploma Programme Core.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE ATL TARGET SETTING EXAMPLE 1 & 2 DOCUMENTS

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Approaches to Teaching and Learning Page Footer

These handouts have got the Approaches to Teaching and Learning and the IB Learner Profile attributes on the footer. Teachers can edit the handout depending on which of them the lesson is covering. Alternatively, the handouts could include each one, and students could be asked to circle the ones they think they have covered at the end of  the lesson.

As a plenary, students could be asked to justify which of the learner profile attributes they think they have met during the class.

The handout helps to raise awareness of the approaches to teaching and learning and the IB learner profile throughout the Diploma Programme.

There is also a document with an example of the page footer being implemented on a Theory of Knowledge lesson handout.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE ATL / LEARNER PROFILE FOOTER & TOK ATL FOOTER EXAMPLE DOCUMENTS

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MYP Approaches to Learning Framework

In the International Baccalaureate’s Middle Years Programme, the Approaches to Learning skills categories of communication, social, research, self-management and thinking are extended into 10 developmentally appropriate clusters, as shown in the International Baccalaureate’s Principles into Practice guide:

Approaches to Learning Skills | Approaches to Learning Skills Clusters
Communication | I. Communication
Social | II. Collaboration
Self-Management | III. Organization IV. Affective V. Reflection
Research | VI. Information literacy VII. Media literacy
Thinking | VIII. Critical thinking IX. Creative thinking X. Transfer

This document below has put the framework into tables which enable teachers to see what is expected for each cluster. Each framework can be used by teachers and departments help them plan activities, and units which allow students to apply the skills needed to become an ‘expert’ in each approach.

A concept-driven curriculum that uses ATL skills effectively enables all students to become stronger, more self-regulated learners.

The framework also gives guidance to teachers on how to assess each ATL, as well as helping students self-assess themselves.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE MYP APPROACHES TO LEARNING FRAMEWORK

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Research Methods

Research is one of the Approaches to Learning in the MYP and DP. As well as this, it is a big part of investigation criteria in I&S, where students have to choose research methods to show evidence of the information they have found.

The document below contains an example of the following seven research methods designed to help students with their investigation.

Mind Maps.

Colour Coding.

Cornell Notes.

Bullet Points.

Putting information into your own words.

Graphic Organisers.

Lists.

While the example of each research method has been created from the same piece of information from this rainforest website, the examples are cross-curricular and can be used to support students in any subject.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE RESEARCH METHODS DOCUMENTS

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Reporting the Approaches to Learning

I created this document to support staff when reporting their students’ progress in the approaches to learning of communication, research, self-management, social and thinking skills for both the MYP and the DP. In a school I previously worked at we assessed students against the International Baccalaureate’s expectations every half term.

Our report included an explanation of each approach to learning and how the International Baccalaureate judges students against them. Reporting on the students’ progress on reports raises the status of the approaches to learning both with the students and with their parents.

The approaches to learning reports are based on the student`s ability to demonstrate each approach to learning rather than give them an attainment level. The document below is used to support staff as they build up a picture of the students` approaches to learning skills through a range of tasks throughout the term.

The document explains the rationale as to why it is important to report on the approaches to learning.

The document includes a variety of different ways teachers can find evidence of the students` performance in each approach. These can be used to help teachers plan activities throughout the term to help students put each approach to learning into practice.

I have never had the expectation to every one of the strategies is used for each approach, as they may not all fit in with the working being done in each subject every half term. I made it clear to teachers that they should use at least one strategy for each approach to learning each half term.

The document uses information from the Pedagogical Leadership section of the International Baccalaurate’s Approaches to Teaching and Learning website to show how to determine a student level for each approach to learning and includes the International Baccalaureate’s assessment criteria of “below, approaching, meeting or exceeding expectations”.

This reporting document can work in conjunction with the student`s approaches to learning target setting.

Teachers can work with students to set targets at the start of the term which will help guide them when they come to report the students’ progress against the International Baccalaureate’s expectations for each approach.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE REPORTING THE ATLS DOCUMENT

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Peer and Self-Assessment Forms For All Subjects

In order to support staff in giving students opportunities for assessing their own and their peer`s work, as well as setting achievable targets, I have created a document for staff based on the strategies I use in my Theory of Knowledge classes, which can be found below.

The document includes six peer and self-assessment techniques I use in Theory of Knowledge, for both formative and summative assessments. It also comprises of ideas for teacher feedback on classwork, homework and assessment tasks.

I created the document to support staff across the whole of the programme as these techniques can be modified and applied across all the Diploma Programme subjects. This document is a guide for staff, who are encouraged to share their own ideas with teachers both in their departments and in other subjects.

These documents are based on the Theory of Knowledge essay and presentation but can be edited to meet the rubrics of any lesson.

The four handouts included in the document are:

1. Essay Self-Assessment: This form is a yes / no checklist and then allows students to comment on how they can make improvements. Each comment is designed to relate directly with the assessment rubric.

2. Essay peer and self-assessment: This form allows students to comment on peer`s essays against the assessment criteria. The form allows students to write good points and give targets. It also allows the essay owner to comment on the advice they have received. There is a box for the teacher to make comments. The completed handout can be given to both the essay writer and the teacher, with a follow up meeting at a later date to see if the student has followed the targets and advice.

3. Presentation peer-assessment: This is set out as a checklist where the observer can tick how often the presenter is meeting different parts of the rubric. There is a box for summary comments and the presenter`s response. Again, this form can be used at a later meeting or the next presentation to see if the presenter has followed advice and targets.

4. Formative Assessment: Teacher and Peer feedback: This form allows both the teacher and peers to give good points and targets based on watching a Theory of Knowledge presentation. There is a box for the presenter to respond to the comments.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE PEER AND SELF ASSESSMENT DOCUMENT

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Staff Presentations on ATLs

I have worked with the MYP and Assistant MYP coordinators to introduce ATL training into staff meetings.

Every other week a department gives a presentation on teaching activities they have done which are connected to an agreed approach to teaching or learning. The department can present by way of getting staff to do the activity that students had to do, explain activities and their outcomes, bring examples of student work, discuss research they have done / read on the subject.

After the presentations staff have a discussion in group about the issues that have been raised—the presenting team can create questions for them to discuss. Staff can also create questions based on what they have seen.

The presentations are designed to be cross-programme and cross-curricular, and teachers are purposely put in cross programme and curricular groups as far as possible to give them a wider understanding of the different learning experiences happening across the MYP and DP and within different subject areas. Indeed, after taking up his position as MYP Assistant Coordinator, my college, Aidan Leach took these presentations into MYP meetings with great success.

As DP coordinator I volunteered to present first, focusing on the ATL of Self-Management. Before the meeting I created an overview of the work I had been doing with Year 11s based on homework and peer assessment, which can be seen in the document below.

After presenting, teachers put their resources into a Approaches to Teaching and Learning folder on the DP Library to share good practice.

As well as this initiative, I have used whole staff meetings to go through the new Approaches to Teaching and Learning website.

I have led activities which included examples from mine and other teachers` lessons (that I had observed) and watching videos from the IBO Approaches to Teaching and Learning website, with teachers having pre-read the website`s information on the approach to teaching or learning we were studying and commenting on the video using the IBOs Approaches to Teaching and Learning self-reflection tool.

Before teachers watched the video they looked at the this tool, which was used as a point of discussion when working in their groups after watching the video.

I have also used staff meetings to give teachers time work work on the other ways we incorporate Approaches to Teaching and Learning at our school through: Teacher Trios, Lesson Observations, Sharing good practice in meetings, ATL Target Setting and Reporting the ATLS.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE ATL SELF MANAGEMENT DOCUMENT

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Staff Activities

Staff Activities for ATLs

Departmental and whole staff meetings are an excellent time to go through collaborative planning activities to get staff opinions on a wide range of issues.

It is a good idea in whole staff meetings to get staff to work in groups with teachers from a range of subjects and year groups. This allows staff to gain new ideas as well as a greater understanding of the approaches to teaching and learning across the curriculum. By working with teachers from other subjects, teachers will be able to understand the connections between the ATLs across the programme and can work together to compare and contrast how they teach them. This could lead to teachers improving their knowledge and understanding of teaching certain command terms, for example, as shown here.

Once staff are aware of the connections between the ATLs in the subjects, they can highlight it to the students. One way of doing this is through teaching TOK within their subjects, as shown here.

The following are ATL activities that I have used in meetings. Click on the name of each activity to find them within this website.

Approaches to Learning across the curriculum.

Approaches to Learning IBO website activities.

Exam questions.

Find someone who: Approaches to Learning.

Homework.

Language issues.

Further information on using staff meetings for presentations on ATLs can be found above.

Teaching Strategies to support EAL / ESL Students in the Mainstream Classroom

Many classes in both International schools, Private schools and State schools will include students with a range of abilities in the English language. In order to help teachers meet this challenge and differentiate classroom activities, I created the document below to support them in their teaching of English as an Additional Language (EAL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) students in the mainstream classroom.

The teaching strategies in the document are designed to be cross curricular and are able to be transferred across a wide range of subject areas and come from my experiences of teaching the Middle Years Programme and the Diploma Programme in the International Baccalaureate as well as Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 in England.

The document helps teachers in both the planning and delivery of lessons and shows eight different sets of classroom activities used to support EAL and ESL students in the mainstream classroom.

Each set of activities starts with an explanation of the techniques used, explaining how they can help second language learners. The examples shown in this document can be transferred to a wide range of subjects and age groups and are not just for ESL students but as the techniques can also be used to support differentiation for students who require extra support.

I have used this document when I have worked with English Department to lead one of the language workshops highlighting the fact that every teacher is an English teacher.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE TEACHING STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT EAL STUDENTS DOCUMENT

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Student Language Profile

I work with the English department and students to create a student language profile for each student in the Diploma Programme.

The aim of the profile is to give all teachers an overview of the students` language level and history, as well as build up a picture of the students` use of English and other language outside of school.

The profile focuses on:

Year and grade of entering Tamagawa:

Year and grade of entering the IB (if different to above):

English phase when starting Tamagawa IB:

English phase at the end of year 10:

CEFR at the end of year 10

Final MYP IB and Tamagawa English class and grade:

DP language classes and level.

Year 10 final Cambridge English Exam

External English Language tests and results–type of test, level achieved, year taken.

Time spent abroad:

Previous education in the English language, overseas or in Japan:

Parents/guardians non-Japanese language proficiencies–include language spoken to each parent not including Japanese language.

Other languages studied apart from English or Japanese.

Language or learning concerns / issues in Japanese.

Other personal connections to foreign countries and/or languages.

PAID MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE LANGUAGE PROFILE DOCUMENT

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Language Learning in the DP

I created this document based on the IBO Publication 'Learning in a language other than mother tongue in IB programmes 2008'.

It summarises the main ideas of the publication, focusing on the philosophical underpinnings of language and learning and what differentiation looks like within the classroom.

I use the document to support staff in differentiating their lessons and resources in order to support students in the classroom whose mother tongue is not English.

The document states, and gives examples of four ways to differentiate for students who are second language English learners: activate prior understanding and build background knowledge, scaffold meaning, extend language and affirm identity.

I hold whole staff DP meetings where I ask teachers to bring examples of each way one, so staff from other subject areas can look at them, ask questions, and build the examples into their lessons. I also get staff to present on how they put each differentiation strategy into place in their subjects.

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IB Teaching and Learning | IB Coordinator Resources

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IB Teaching and Learning - These new Approaches to Learning Target Setting documents are for MYP and DP students. READ MORE HERE!

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Answering big questions about the approaches to learning (ATL) | IB Community Blog

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Write a compliment you'd like to give/receive.

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1. Listen silently to a colleague COMPLAIN for 2 minutes.
2. Ask clarifying questions
3. Explore the value behind the complaint (the back story/hidden story).
4. Change roles and repeat steps 1-3.
5. Finally, discuss the challenges and opportunities presented when complaining, listening, and exploring 'value'.

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Emotion and Cognition: A Neuroscientist's Perspective - Annenberg Learner

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Teachers' questions and answers with neuroscientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

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ACTION: Advocate
Communication - Need the ability to clearly explain the issue of poaching and why it's bad
Social - Collaboration; need to work in the group to give and receive feedback in order to create a successful project
Self-Management - organization skills. long range plans to meet deadlines;
-effective skills- perseverance to push through to the end;
-reflection skills self-motivation and mindfulness on learning
Research - information literacy- students need the ability to collect and organize information, package the info into a suitable format to share
-media literacy-need ability to id suitable sources
Critical thinking- need ability to  synthesize the information form the research
Creative thinking - designing a creative way to present

Prevost/Gilbreath

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This article illustrates how to use social media to include approaches to learning skills in a Primary Years Programme (PYP) classroom.
Social media runs on all devices, influences our thought processes and guides this generation of students in making decisions. To avoid use of social media in making learning more authentic and contemporary would be a mistake. As educators, we can guide our students in building better skills for using social media in more meaningful ways than just as a tool to chat and for a casual search.

We used the following steps to create an enriched learning environment in our PYP classroom using social media.

A "How we express ourselves" unit was planned for year 5, with the central idea of "Technology is the modern language of human expression". The key concepts supporting this unit were: form, function and perspective.

It was important to identify which social media tools have more influence on this age group and which tools could be introduced to build their skills further.

The first step was to have our students reflect on what they knew about social media. We used the strategy of scenarios to challenge their critical thinking skills and to add real-life connections to their learning. Here are two simple scenarios that worked well.

Sonia wants to travel to Europe from Japan. She wants to organize a trip for her family independently. How do you think she will be able to do this? Where can she find authentic feedback?

Ria has learned taekwondo for self-protection and feels strongly about training other children her age. However, she has no time to hold classes regularly. How do you think she can reach other students on a regular basis?

To make these scenarios more interesting for students, we created QR codes and pasted them in the classroom. QR codes bring a little adventure to the information someone wants to communicate. They can be scanned using an online app and are used to connect the user directly to the information available online. The students moved around the classroom and inquired into as many scenarios as they could.

The second step was collaboration. Social media itself promotes collaboration and communication of ideas. To bring everybody to the same level of understanding, we printed images related to various social media. The students were divided into groups according to their different levels of understanding so that support could be provided to those who needed it. The students were asked to sort the images. Those who knew, led the group; those who did not know, learned through this process. After sorting the images, we asked them to annotate:

What is a post?

Why do we tweet?

What is a timeline?

The students were asked to add questions that came to their minds as well. Discussions in their groups on these questions kept them involved and helped them form an understanding around social media and its usage.

In the next step, we used the power of a selfie to enhance creative thinking skills. We asked our students to move around the school and take a selfie. However, to make it more interesting, they were asked to choose a background for their selfie that would convey a message. Some students created posters and banners to add a message in the background. Other students simply chose backdrops with messages written on the whiteboard, 3D printer, mobile devices, trees and handshakes. Since the purpose of this activity was to make them understand the function of social media and its far reaching effects, some of these selfies featured on our class blog and some on our class boards. Our blog drew reaction from parents and students from other grades, and class board drew like or dislike comments.

Final step: the previous activity gave us the idea to have a debatable topic on using social media responsibly for communication. We asked our students to collaborate with their peers to bring their point of view forward on "Is social media a blessing for or a burden on communication?" through Padlet, an online collaboration tool. This activity brought forward the perspective that on social media, one must be careful of what they express and how it will influence others.

As teachers, we support our students to become careful digital citizens in the 21 st century where social media holds an influential position. Helping our students to use social media with care and build a better society will play a major role in their lives. Our classrooms should lead the way in preparing them for the challenges of the future.
Ekta Singh is teaching ICT in PYP and design in MYP at DPS International, Gurgaon which is an IB continuum school in India. She is also an approaches to learning coordinator and enjoys planning strategies to empower students with 21st-century skills. She is passionate about the integration of technology in units of inquiry and always on a lookout for creative technology tools for students. You can follow her on twitter @ektadsingh.

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The use of social media and approaches to learning skills

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This article illustrates how to use social media to include approaches to learning skills in a Primary Years Programme (PYP) classroom. Social media runs on all devices, influences our thought processes and guides this generation of students in making decisions. To avoid use of social media in making learning more authentic and contemporary would be a mistake.

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This article summarizes how reflections help learners choose how they want to act. It shares a real-time example and utilizes an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the PYP and how implementing it ties together all the elements!
As a committed PYP practitioner for five years, I keep appreciating the uniqueness of the programme. However, moving from theory to practice is not always an easy journey. The PYP stresses achieving a balance between acquisition of essential knowledge and skills, development of conceptual understandings, demonstrations of positive attitudes, and taking of responsible action. Making this a realty in a classroom and making it meaningful for learners will bring the outcomes of the programme to fruition.

The IB approaches to learning are unarguably the most important to acquire not only in the units of inquiry, but also for any learning and teaching that occurs within the classroom and in life outside the school. The five categories and their respective sub-skills encompass what is needed for a learner in the 21st century. In this dynamic, fast evolving world we need people who are not just knowledgeable but are critical thinkers and problem solvers.

Year after year I work with a new set of learners, each of them unique in their own way. This year I am working with learners who are highly energetic, curious and incredibly open-minded. We often engage in reflection sessions during which we discuss how we are learning in classroom, what is going well and what is not. Learners come up with sincere reflections including that we often fall short at displaying our skills.

Learners reflected that if they could work consciously towards displaying all the sub-skills, they would resolve most of the problems they face in and out of the classroom. In tandem with this thought process we as a class managed to develop a means to help assess our commitment to display these skills in classroom - The skills wheel.

This assessment model is based on Carol Dweck's theory of Growth Mindset and the idea of "NOT YET" (Dweck, 2014).

Learners set up a skills goal for a period of 2 weeks. We display all the sub-skills of that category in an accessible area so that students know what they will be assessed on. After the observation period, the class meets up to discuss how they displayed each sub-skill. Learners provide each other feedback and those learners who have consistently made efforts to display the particular skill will be placed in the pink circle and those learners who have "not reached there yet" will be placed in the yellow part. Gradually, learners who try to work on their goal areas will be moved to the pink area too.

I have experienced a positive change in learners' thinking and learning behaviour in the classroom while utilizing this tool. Learners evidently show more ownership to their actions as they are a part of this solution. It also encouraged learners to show commitment to their choice and be more open minded to feedback.

Although small, I feel this model acted as an effective means for me to make approaches to learning categories and sub-skills more meaningful for my learners. It gave our learners the opportunity to choose to act; to reflect and decide the course of their actions. That, I believe, is responsible action.

References:
https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve

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Rachana Kothapally is a PYP facilitator at Silver Oaks School Bangalore, India. She has been an IB practitioner for 5 years and is passionate about developing critical thinking and problem-solving abilities of learners.

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This article summarizes how reflections help learners choose how they want to act. It shares a real-time example and utilizes an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the PYP and how implementing it ties together all the elements! As a committed PYP practitioner for five years, I keep appreciating the uniqueness of the programme.

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Making the approaches to learning happen

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This article explores one school's journey to ensure the approaches to learning, an element of the PYP, are planned for in order to strengthen the transdisciplinary nature of their programme. A few years back I shared a post on the PYP transdisciplinary skills, including reflective questions on the role of these skills in your school's programme.

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Every MYP school needs to create a clear plan for implementing students' ATL skill progression over the five years of the MYP. This is referred to as vertical articulation of ATL skills. The purpose of vertical planning is to sequence learning so that it progressively continues from year one through year five of the MYP and beyond. Teachers can work with one another, alongside librarians, to ensure that ATL skills are planned vertically (across all units in each subject group from year 1 through 5) and horizontally (across all units within a single subject group for one year).

In this blog, I will walk you through two methods I adopted along with my teaching team at Pathways School Noida, India to develop a robust process of tracking the progression of ATL skills at our school. I have broken these methods down into a simple step-by-step process so that you may follow the same at your school. I have also supplemented the steps with various templates which we designed as a part of the process. It is important to consider that there is no 'right way' to map and articulate skill progression for a school. This can vary across school contexts; these are simply some of the many possible ways in which this can be undertaken. And, as with all good things, this continues to be a work in progress for us! So let's get started?

Mapping and articulating ATL skills for a school curriculum

Method 1: Using 10 ATLs for each subject group aligned with subject objectives

In this method, each department selected 10 of the most relevant skills for their subject group and worked towards articulating skill progression. Here are the steps we followed:
Step 1: Understanding the ATL framework and reflecting on why it's important
Before we began our task, we thought it was important for everyone to be on the same page when it comes to some of the key vocabulary associated with ATL skills. This included:

ATL categories: The five main ATL categories are communication, thinking, social, self-management, and research. You can find a list of all ATL skills here.

ATL clusters: Within each category, there are individual clusters that further break down the kind of skills each category includes.

ATL skill indicators: Within each cluster, there are multiple indicators that reflect students' ability to choose and perform the right technique/behaviour at the right time.

At this stage, it was also important for everyone to understand the difference between ATL mapping and ATL articulation. This can be understood better as:

Mapping: Identifying when and where chosen skills were explicitly taught

Articulation: Identifying how skill progression will play out

We wanted to develop a culture where teachers don't just select ATL skills or treat them as 'tick-boxes' in their planners. Instead, we wanted to focus on what they actually teach and skills that are linked to the objectives. How would we make sure our vertical articulation chart is an actual reflection of what is going on in the classroom and not something that sits on a shelf/in a folder? How would we share best practices and inquire into how ATL mapping allows us to innovate as a school? To map ATL with a clear purpose usually stimulates an exciting shift from perceiving the ATL as a framework to only support teachers' work to placing greater emphasis on students using the framework for their learning. As such, it was important for everyone to understand why creating a vertical articulation chart was important. To align everyone to the same purpose, we got into small reflection huddles, mixing up teachers across all subject groups and roles. We focused on the following prompts in our discussions:

Apart from the documentation of ATL skills in unit planners, where else should the progression be documented? Why do we need a vertical ATL articulation chart?

Are we focusing on explicit ATL development in the classroom for students?

What are the systems to track this in each subject? Do we need to track this? Why?

Are we building the collective capacity of our teachers to understand the pedagogical need for ATL skills for better learning? How so?

What will be the outcome in terms of a mapping chart and resources?

During our reflections, we realized that balance and the purpose of these skills across subjects were missing. We then moved on to our next steps to get a closer look into what ATL skill mapping across our subject groups currently looks like.
Step 2: Mapping existing ATL practices
As a next step, we began exploring how they are currently aligning ATL skills with taught content. We formed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) with five teachers from different subject areas. These teachers collected data regarding what is already out there. At this stage, the team wanted to understand which ATL skills are being explicitly taught and how this was being documented across subject groups. We used this template to complete this step of the process. You can use the same (you will be prompted to make a copy), and get your teachers to select the ATLs currently being taught in their subject groups.
Step 3: Data collection and analysis
After the initial mapping was conducted through the PLCs, teaching teams got together to analyse the data collected. An important consideration at this stage was to check to see if relevant learning experiences were actually being designed to support the development of the identified skill indicators. Teaching teams were quickly able to identify gaps and the lack of balance across year and subject groups as per the requirements of the MYP. When analysing the data gathered by the PLCs, here are some pointers we used to check for a balanced distribution of skills:

Is there a repetition of the same ATL skill indicator in each subject?

Are there any skill indicators that have not been addressed at all?

Are there opportunities for explicit teaching of identified skills?

Are we distinguishing between implicit and explicit teaching of ATL skills in the classroom?

Step 4: Plan of action
PLCs then moved on to identify at least ten skills that are core to a specific subject and began working on develop an action plan to prioritize teaching these skills. We took inspiration from the work of Lenny Dutton and utilised the spreadsheet Lenny has shared in this blog to begin working on our action plan. In the spreadsheet here, you will see how we began creating an ATL mapping chart at Pathways for a few subjects. You'll observe that we've includedten ATL skills for each subject which are, in turn, linked with the subject objective, unit information, and the learning experiences planned to develop the ATL skill. This continues to be a work in progress for us, as it should for you. As teams, we should continuously reflect on our ATL plans, using feedback we receive from teaching and learning processes to fine-tune as we go along.
Step 5: Creating subject-specific ATL unit maps
Once this plan of action was in place, educators began creating subject-specific ATL unit documents so that they could track their progress and activities within departments, and across year groups. An example of how teachers from the language and literature subject group completed this activity can be found below:

Samples for other subjects can be found here.

This structure helped teachers track their own plans and helped them be more aware of the learning objectives, connection with the SOI, and assessment planning. It impacted assessment as learning positively for us.
Step 6: Developing ATL rubrics for students
As the next step, we wanted to ensure that students are able to set goals based on these ATL skills and measure their growth, document, and self-assess through a portfolio. To measure if students have picked up the skills that we are teaching explicitly through the course of our units, we created a rubric for our learning expectations. Here are two examples:

Method 2: Create a monthly theme for ATL Skills

In this method, the entire school followed a certain set of skills on a monthly basis. This way, all MYP students would have covered the categories and clusters throughout MYP years 1-5. We attempted to create a version of this map, which you can find here. You can utilise this map to design one for your own teaching teams and utilize it for your own school's context.

Conclusion

I have tried to summarize a process that works for us at our school. As I mentioned earlier, there is no one way to develop an ATL mapping chart. It usually depends on the school context, culture, and pedagogical approach. This journey for us has been an ongoing one, and we are trying to explore various ways to make this change a part of our school culture. We aim to create a culture where students can independently evaluate their own strengths and areas of growth, and teachers can innovate with ways to develop explicit ATL experiences in the classroom, or outside, and enable students to learn effectively.

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Creating Skill Maps for the MYP Curriculum

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Every MYP school needs to create a clear plan for implementing students' ATL skill progression over the five years of the MYP. This is referred to as vertical articulation of ATL skills. The purpose of vertical planning is to sequence learning so that it progressively continues from year one through year five of the MYP and beyond.

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The ATLs are integral to our student's development throughout the MYP and all of the IB programmes. Though there are focus ATLs for each unit and summative assessment which we explicitly teach, there may be other skills that students develop implicitly over the course of a unit. It is important to create opportunities for students to discuss their skill acquisition and progress as they make their way through the MYP. Here are some reflection prompts that can be used to help students think specifically about the ATLs and their goals in relation to skill development in each skill cluster. Many of the activities can be modified slightly to look at different skills, but the idea is to have students and teachers reflecting regularly on the success of ATL skills development.

Show me change
This activity asks students to reflect on their use of various communication skills. The instructions below address the concept of change, but this could be changed to fit with any concept. The students must show understanding of an important concept in their unit without using only words. Asking the students to act out something or communicate in a non-traditional way not only shows their understanding of the concept, but also develops their communication skills. You can have the students reflect after the activity and discuss how to improve their communication skills overall.

Change is something that is all around us, all the time. In order for us to better understand change and our ideas about it, we are going to show each other change.
Ask students to:

In pairs, you are to think up an interesting way to communicate change

You may use language or interaction, but the idea is to show us, not just tell us.

Once done, write down a brief reflection:

How did you feel communicating in a different manner? Was it effective?

Is there anything that you'd like to work on or add to your goals to communicate more effectively?

Two Stars and a Wish
This activity is helpful in having students identify key areas of success, as well as areas that they need to work on. You can provide students with a list of the chosen skill indicators for your unit to have students reflect more deeply in one area. You can also print out a copy of the collaboration skills posters provided here.
Ask students:

Write down two things that went well in your collaboration that you'd give yourself a star for

Write down one thing that you wish to do differently next time

How would you change this?

What do you need to put into place?

Think about the skill indicators provided to direct your reflection and which areas you were stronger in than others.

Is there a particular area that you would like to focus on moving forward?

Tweet your understanding
Have students write a tweet - 280 characters or less - to summarise the critical thinking that you did in this activity/lesson/unit. They would need to focus on one particular issue and identify how they are thinking critically about it in a way that they were not before. This could be used at the beginning and/or end of the unit or even as an exit ticket within a particular lesson.
Ask students:

Think about how your view changed?

Consider if you are feeling critical about any one particular area?

KWCLP
This is an adapted KWL chart to help students think of creative ways of finding and presenting information for their classes.
Ask students:

At the beginning of the unit: Fill out the first three columns in this table individually

During the unit: Get into groups and list out new learnings in column 4. Then think about creative ways you can present these new learnings and list them in column 5.

How do my skills transfer?
So much of what is learnt at school can be applied in different contexts, but students often struggle to apply their knowledge in different situations. To help the students identify opportunities for transfer you can have them identify other areas where they have already used this learning. They then brainstorm ideas of new applications of the same knowledge and skills.
Ask students:

Think about what you've learned in your current unit - both skills and knowledge.

Brainstorm where you have used this in other subject areas already:

This can be in previous years or units

What about outside of school? Have you used these ideas before?

Now think about different ways that you think that you can apply these new skills/knowledge:

Is there another subject area that might work?

Could you use/apply any learning outside of school?

Let it flow!
Seeing a process visually can be incredibly powerful for students. This activity asks them to reflect on their progress towards a particular goal. They can identify the areas that helped them to be successful and also the areas that inhibited progress. The questions can be modified as needed. The key focus is that students are not just writing goals for themselves and forgetting about them, but thinking about their goals throughout the process and after in order to improve their outcomes moving forward.
Ask students:

Reflect on the goal that you had for a unit or project to put systems in place which will help ensure that you are successful and always growing.

Create a flowchart like the one below. Fill in your goal and respond to the questions indicated based on your responses to the prompts

Managing state of mind
The impacts of state of mind are seen in all aspects of school life. This activity can be completed as part of an advisory or social-emotional discussion, or within specific classes. Students can think about how these areas can affect their learning and examine different strategies that work for them. It would be interesting to look at the impact of self-management skills at the end of an assessment to understand how focus, perseverance, resilience, etc. helped or hindered the student in achieving their best.

Ask students:

Take note of the skill indicators listed below, and reflect on the following questions:

Did you feel successful in any of these areas?

If yes, why? What strategies did you use to achieve this?

If no, why? What didn't go so well?

What can you do to improve?

What strategies might you try?

Journaling Reflection
This activity is a reflection that could be used to think about the use of skills for any class at any level. You can focus on particular areas or skills or look more generally at a unit.
Ask students:

In small groups, come up with prompts as a class to brainstorm on your skill progression: For example:

What skills did I use during the unit and what could I do to improve in future?

What questions do I still have about these skills?

How/where would I find more information?

What areas did I struggle with?

Write continuously for 3-5 minutes to get as many ideas down as you can. This can take any form - it could be a paragraph or a mind map - but there should not be any editing or erasing; continuous writing only.

Organise your notes afterward into the ATL categories - by colour or into a chart.

Discuss as a class if there are common areas that can be a focus for a future unit.

Ranking my skills
This activity can be used to help students highlight the skills that they have used within a unit and assess their use of the same.
Ask students:

Use the table below to identify the skills you may have used or been introduced to during the unit.

Rank your use or application of each skill from 1 to 5. Based on your personal ranking, think about what you can do to improve or maintain success in different areas.

The table could also be used as a baseline assessment to have students rank themselves at the beginning of the year or unit and then assess their growth at the end.

Media Reflection Questions
In today's digital, interconnected world, ensuring that our students are media literate is essential. With this activity, you can have students reflect on their understanding of how they are selecting, consuming, and utilising various media sources.
Ask students:

Use the questions below to think critically about your use of media in your current work and how you can improve these skills in future units.

Did I use a variety of sources and media (including digital social media and online networks)?

Did I analyse different interpretations of the event/idea that I researched?

Have I analysed the mode of presentation?

Have I found different perspectives? How do I know?

Have I sought out a range of sources? Is there any area missing?

Did I use an effective mode of communication for my audience? Would another format have worked better?

Can I make connections between the media resources that I've used?

Thinking about my responses above, what do I need to put into place for next time?

There are so many skill indicators to focus on throughout the MYP that it can be overwhelming for both teachers and students. Hopefully, a few key reflections for each skill cluster can spark discussion about skills and lead to positive growth. These are just some ideas to get you started. You can always tailor them to suit your context, or even use them as starting points for reflecting on your own teaching processes.

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10 Student Reflection Prompts for ATL Skills | Toddle

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The ATLs are integral to our student's development throughout the MYP and all of the IB programmes. Though there are focus ATLs for each unit and summative assessment which we explicitly teach, there may be other skills that students develop implicitly over the course of a unit.

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How to Integrate ATL Skills into the DP Curriculum - Toddle Learn

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Skills are the need of the hour in a fast-paced, dynamic world. It comes as no surprise then that content planning for the DP curriculum is increasingly calling for a greater focus on incorporating ATL skills with taught content. Building relevant skills help students keep up with real-world problems and identify solutions for a rapidly [...]

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The ATL skills are interwoven throughout everything that we do in the IB continuum. Teachers are building skills both explicitly and implicitly at every opportunity, but designing meaningful learning experiences aligned with the long list of skill indicators is no easy feat! There are so many options and skill-based activities are not always at the forefront of the planning process.

This set of five ATL skills playbooks is designed to help you target specific skill indicators in your teaching and learning processes. The playbooks collate exciting ideas for skill-based activities that can be aligned with subjects or used independently for homeroom and other learning spaces.

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ATL Skills Playbooks | ATL activity ideas | Toddle

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The ATL skills are interwoven throughout everything that we do in the IB continuum. Teachers are building skills both explicitly and implicitly at every opportunity, but designing meaningful learning experiences aligned with the long list of skill indicators is no easy feat!

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Embedding ATL skills in the MYP Unit Planner
How to craft a robust ATL statement

The key to making any unit planner an authentic one, is ensuring that all of the components in the planner align with one another. ATL skills are more effective when they are linked to content knowledge that is relevant, engaging and transferable. Although ATL skills are not assessed, they are still incorporated into the planner, in order to build on skills that not only support the student within the subject matter but also allow him or her to transfer the skills into other subjects as well.

In this Educator Tips video, learn about crafting robust ATL statements with MYP workshop leader Nadia Abdallah. Use Nadia's method to embed ATL skills into your unit planner!

What you'll learn:

How to craft an ATL statement

How to link ATL components and subject-specific objectives (strands)

How to combine ATL components to create meaningful learning experiences

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Nadia Abdallah holds a B.A in English from Montclair State University, an M.A in Adult Education from the University of Phoenix and is currently working on a doctorate in TESOL Education at the University of Exeter. Nadia is also an IB workshop leader and examiner and a team visitor for the Council of International Schools (CIS). She has published articles regarding standardized testing and bilingual education, and is a firm believer in equal access to education. With over 15 years of teaching and coaching experience, Nadia has held positions such as IB English teacher, IBMYP Coordinator and most recently, K-12 Director of Teaching and Learning, Chair of the CIS Committee, Head of the English Department (K-12) and MYP Principal.

Disclaimer: This resource has been produced independently of and not endorsed by the IB. Toddle's resources seek to encourage sharing of perspectives and innovative ideas for classroom teaching & learning. They are not intended to be replacements for official IB guides and publications. Views and opinions expressed by the authors of these resources are personal and should not be construed as official guidance by the IB. Please seek assistance from your school's IB coordinator and/or refer to official IB documents before implementing ideas and strategies shared within these resources in your classroom.

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Embedding ATL skills in an MYP unit plan | Toddle

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Embedding ATL skills in the MYP Unit Planner How to craft a robust ATL statement The key to making any unit planner an authentic one, is ensuring that all of the components in the planner align with one another. ATL skills are more effective when they are linked to content knowledge that is relevant, engaging and transferable.

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What are the approaches to learning skills?

The IB's approaches to learning (ATL) skills framework outlines skills that are deemed important to students' learning and are interwoven through all of the IB programmes. In the MYP, students build on the skills they began developing in the PYP, demonstrating progression through each year of the programme. ATL skills are divided into five major categories:

Thinking

Social

Research

Self-Management

Communication

These categories are further divided into clusters and skill indicators. The indicators clarify expectations for each category and outline specific ways that students can show mastery in each of these areas. This can be better understood with the visual below:

Why are ATLs important?

ATL skills are important for the development of autonomous, engaged, lifelong learners. In an increasingly unpredictable world, as Margaret Heffernan suggests, we need messy human skills - imagination, humility, bravery - to solve problems. Teaching skills, then, is not just about helping students develop disciplinary or functional competence; it involves shaping students' attitudes to become proactive changemakers. Here are four key reasons why ATLs play a significant role in teaching and learning in the MYP.
Click on the cards to know more!
Introducing students to ATLs using interactive posters

As suggested above, including ATLs in our everyday classroom language helps students become more attuned to the skills they are building, define their own processes, and set their own goals. We've created this packet of posters to help you introduce your students to ATLs and bring skill-building to life in your classrooms!

These posters are not designed as mere decorations for the walls. They are meant to be integrated into the activities taking place in each classroom to further the conversation and the application of skills in the learning environment. Here are some activities that you could do in any classroom using these posters to get talking about the skills:
1. Connecting skill categories and indicators

Cut out the ATL skill indicators listed in each of the posters and divide them between your students.

Students can work in groups to decide which of the categories/posters the skills belong to.

Once done, they can pin up the appropriate skill indicators on each poster.

This is a great opportunity for students to develop their understanding of each category and the components that they might want to focus on for a given class, unit, or activity.
2. Skill development

Cut out the ATL skill indicators and put them into envelopes

Students can examine the skills that they think they will develop during a given unit or assessment.

Once done, they can tack the skills they've identified onto the posters to create a visual reminder of their focus.

This activity can be used at the beginning of a unit to look at skills that students believe will be useful to complete their work during a unit. They can revisit and modify/add to the skills that they find themselves using through the course of the unit. The posters will not just provide a focus for the students but also remind teachers to refer specifically to the identified skills during the unit.
3. Skill reflection

Students can identify an area of focus for a unit by sticking their names on one of the posters at the beginning of the unit.

They can post a brief reflection on their progress against their targeted skill at the end of the unit

This allows students to target specific skills that they feel they need to work on. The visual representation of their focus and their reflection on progress holds everyone accountable, including teachers who will be able to create activities to help students meet their targets.

Using "I can" statements for ATLs

It is always interesting to see how the students evaluate their skill development and discuss their goals to move forward. This is key to students creating specific and detailed goals both academic and personal. This poster pack also contains a set of posters with "I can" statements that can be used by students as reference points for skill proficiency across MYP subjects. The statements have been designed using the four criteria in each subject area, showing how ATL skills and the subject objectives are linked.

The specificity of the statements allows for a clear understanding of what skill targets can look like in a given subject. Students will be able to reflect on how the class activities and assessments allowed them to develop a particular skill as well as set goals for continued improvement moving forward. The posters can also be used in conjunction with a table like the one provided below. This table gives students a chance to think through a range of skills and decide whether they are rarely, sometimes, often, or always implementing the skill indicator. From there, they can identify areas of focus and set some goals for their growth and development.

These statements are not meant to be prescriptive; they are simply one way in which to interpret subject-specific skills. You can also invite students to create their own "I can" statements as a part of their goal setting process. Or add your own to the mix!

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Toddle streamlines planning, assessments, reports, projects, portfolios, and family communication - all from one place!

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Disclaimer: This resource has been produced independently of and not endorsed by the IB. Toddle's resources seek to encourage sharing of perspectives and innovative ideas for classroom teaching & learning. They are not intended to be replacements for official IB guides and publications. Views and opinions expressed by the authors of these resources are personal and should not be construed as official guidance by the IB. Please seek assistance from your school's IB coordinator and/or refer to official IB documents before implementing ideas and strategies shared within these resources in your classroom.

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Introduction to ATL Skills in the MYPWhat is the ATL framework and why is it important?

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Get started with understanding the ATL skills framework. Download interactive posters to introduce ATLs to your students!

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Mindfulness as a strategy for promoting ATLs in the PYP - Toddle Learn

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Overview: In this introspective session with mindfulness coach and educator, Karen Myrick, deepen your understanding of mindfulness and what it could do for your classroom and students. Dive into how it can foster the ATL skill of self-management and promote opportunities for reflection and self-assessment.

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About the talk

Content or skills? A debate as old as time in MYP classrooms!

In this session with MYP and DP Coordinator Hema Rai, explore how the Approaches To Learning skills can be taught, implicitly and explicitly in the MYP science classroom. Weigh in on the importance of knowledge and facts in the classroom while considering what research says about skills vs facts. MYP Science teachers are sure to take away strategies to balance the two in the classroom through the lens of the ATL skills.

Highlights you don't want to miss

Explore helpful frameworks that will aid your unit planning by mapping ATL skills to objectives

Grasp the art of incorporating ATL skills both implicitly and explicitly in your Science units

Disclaimer - This event is organised independently of and not endorsed by the IB. Toddle's events and webinars are organised to enable an exchange of practices and ideas within the educator community and are not a replacement for official IB workshops. Views and opinions expressed by the speakers are their personal views and should not be construed as official guidance by the IB. Please seek assistance from your school's IB coordinator and/or refer to official IB documents before implementing shared ideas and strategies in your classroom.

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Integrating ATLs in the MYP Science classroom - Toddle Learn

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About the talk Content or skills? A debate as old as time in MYP classrooms! In this session with MYP and DP Coordinator Hema Rai, explore how the Approaches To Learning skills can be taught, implicitly and explicitly in the MYP science classroom. Weigh in on the importance of knowledge and facts in the classroom [...]

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6. MYP unit planning_ Approaches to learning, content

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Copy of [Toddle] Initial ATL Mapping Chart.xlsx

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Mapping Approaches to Learning in the PYP

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Appreciative inquiry is about seeking the best in people - in the way they work, they live, and they behave.

Initially, appreciative inquiry (AI) was a " fundamental shift in the overall perspective of organizational development that took into account the entire human functioning - including strengths, possibilities, and success."

The contemporary concept of AI came into focus after the article by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastava in 1987, where they coined that problem-solving is 'overused' in organizational contexts and that active inquiries would perhaps be more helpful in creating innovations and ideas in the industry.

According to them, appreciative inquiry helps in:

Building the core strengths of an organization.

Shifting the focus from organizational weaknesses to organizational strengths.

Letting individuals as well as the industry stick to its fundamental principles.

Bringing a wholesome change that benefits every aspect of the firm.

AI aims to explain how human growth and organizational success flow in the direction of constructive change because of positive and persistent inquiry, and it works around five core principles:

The Constructionist Principle
Which states that our beliefs shape our actions. We do what we feel is right, and this forms the organizational culture as a whole.

The Simultaneity Principle
States that appreciative inquiry or the way we question our internal and external systems help in bringing about the desired change.

The Poetic Principle
States that performance culture in an organization grows based on expressions and communication within the human personnel. How we talk to each other, the stories that we share at work, and the emotions that attach employees is what counts for success or failure.

The Anticipatory Principle
Proposes appreciative inquiry happens when we raise questions on things that have meaning to us now, or that will have some value for us in the future.

The Positive Principle
Appreciative inquiry evokes positive emotions like hope, inquisitiveness, and motivation, all of which collectively contribute to changing the work environment for the better.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Strengths Exercises for free. These detailed, science-based exercises will help your clients realize their unique potential and create a life that feels energizing and authentic.

This article is an in-depth exploration of how we can use appreciative inquiry tools and exercises for individual and organizational growth.

Let us start the discussion with a short introductory video on AI:

What are Appreciative Inquiry Tools and Exercises?

Appreciative inquiry typically undergoes four stages, which is more popularly known as the 4-D cycle of AI (BJ Seminars International, n.d.).

Discovery - Acknowledging and appreciating what 'is.'

Dream - Imagining and appreciating what 'will be.'

Design - Deciding what 'should be,' and how we can move from reality to the ideal position that we have imagined.

Delivery - Creating or building ways to achieve the 'dream' and applying the strategies to practice.

Appreciative inquiry tools and exercises come into the picture at the third and fourth stages of the 4-D cycle. Broadly, AI tools are a set of rules or practical hacks that we can use individually or as a team to aim for a positive change at an organizational level.

AI tools are strategic plans and practices that create an impetus toward large-scale corporate ventures. They give shape to the company's ethical standards, codes of conduct and improve client satisfaction from all aspects.

Appreciative inquiry tools also help in:

Bringing together individuals who share similar traits and behavioral patterns within an organization.

Providing quantitative analysis and feedback that fosters organizational growth.

Capacitating and inspiring people to initiate the development process.

Facilitating each other with skills, knowledge transfer, and training to maximize productivity as a whole.

Benefits of Using Appreciative Inquiry Tools

Appreciative inquiry tools work great as icebreakers and communication exercises in professional meetups and discussion.

Some of their benefits include:

Open communication

More engagement and work responsibility

Scope for developing new skills

Scope for improving existing skills

Better decision-making power

Attaining a positive learning environment

Fostering a conducive environment at work.

4 Tips and Techniques For Application

As mentioned before, appreciative inquiry is the skill of asking relevant and positive questions (see Appreciative Inquiry Questions) that strengthen individual and organizational strength.

AI is collaborative and impacts several areas of functioning, including:

Education

Healthcare and mental health

Small business, micro-business, and start-ups

Overall job satisfaction and work motivation

Interpersonal relationships of individuals both at personal and professional levels

Collaborations and global transactions in companies.

AI tools and applications are realistic and straightforward. They are flexible and easy to use, and here are some practical tips on how we can make the most of them:

1. Select positivity as the prime focus

An efficient appreciative inquiry model focuses more on what has worked best for the company rather than what did not work out. For example, individuals or teams who rely on a positive AI approach would replace negative questions with more positive orientated ones. For example: " why were clients unhappy and complained about us?" could be replaced with affirmative inquiries such as " what made our clients happy earlier? Can we improvise on the same line? "

A positive shift in the questions we ask ourselves and the company as a whole is the first and a significant step to bringing about the desirable changes in the workforce. The main idea here is to attend more to what 'we want' and less on what 'we don't want.'

2. Explore the exceptionality of the methods

Positive questions rewire our brain to filter only the fruitful pieces of information and focus on our internal strengths. An excellent way to ensure this happens is to investigate and ask ourselves what went particularly well after applying appreciative inquiries.

Exploring the advantages of the questions helps in discovering their unique capabilities. It also helps with understanding which areas of functioning they facilitate the most. For example, we should understand whether it is the tone, or the language, or the content of the AI that brought about the positive consequences and identify those areas as the exceptionality of it.

3. Share to gain perspective

Appreciative inquiries extend to involve numerous individuals, and work wonders in creating a positive organizational change. When we share our life incidents, inspirational stories, and exchange perceptions with each other, the likelihood of creating a productive AI structure increases manifold.

Besides, it also allows for the smooth transmission of positive energy from one person to another and positively impacts our professional development (Capra, 2002).

4. Keep room for innovation and improvisation

Whether the AI was successful or not, it is always good to continue improvising them. We can do so by regularly monitoring the outcomes, communicating with leaders about new ways of implementing the strategies, or by developing Appreciative Inquiry workshops to spread awareness about the inquiry systems.

Whatever way we choose, the whole idea is to keep moving forward and explore the endless benefits of using appreciative inquiry.

4 Appreciative Inquiry Tools

And speaking of moving forward, the following four tools can provide practical ways to implement and improve AI at work.

1. Appreciative Inquiry in Evaluation Practice By Hallie Preskill

Hallie Preskill is a Doctorate and a Professor of Behavioral Sciences at the Claremont Graduate University. She is a renowned author and has done great works in the field of appreciative inquiry and organizational learning. Her workshops and research publications are used by professional and educational organizations to alleviate the inhibitions related to asking the right questions, at the right place, and to the right person.

Her workshop on Appreciative Inquiry is a collection of principles and AI research-backed techniques to conduct positive AI sessions with more efficacy.

Her manual is suitable for individuals of all ages and includes tasks such as:

One on one interview sessions with co-participants.

Taking turns to narrate each other's stories.

Asking appreciative interview questions such as 'three things you value the most,' 'best experience with clients so far'.

Building listening skills by actively paying attention to each other's stories and taking notes while doing the same.

Collaborating in the workshop to build a joint vision of the future and discuss ways to get there.

The workshop by Preskill guarantees a positive shift in the mindset of the participants from a deficit viewpoint to a strength-based approach.

2. Appreciative Inquiry Coaching Toolkit

This toolkit is based on the 4 D's of appreciative inquiry - discovery, dream, design, and deliver.

It follows a step-by-step approach and discusses practical strategies of AI that work best in each of the four stages of the 4-D cycle.

For example, the relevant AIs in the discovery and dream phase would be asking 'what' to the existing systems and getting the right answers where participants wish to see themselves in the future.

In the design and delivery phases, the AIs would focus more on the 'how' aspect of it, exploring better ways to implement the thoughts and gathering knowledge on how to put ideas into actions.

3. KS toolkit

The KS toolkit for AI is an adaptation of the Appreciative Inquiry Commons Model. It is a brief model containing the most relevant information that we can successfully apply in personal and professional fronts. The KS toolkit overviews the basics of how and when to use AI.

It is a great resource to ensure that the participants have a clear insight before they take the plunge. Besides, the toolkit has additional sources like examples, stories, and useful hacks that participants can follow to optimize the benefits of AI.

4. The Do It Now Appreciative Inquiry Toolkit

The Do It Now Appreciation Toolkit is a collection of appreciative inquiry exercises used in an AI workshop in Nepal, 2000. The tasks are varied and explained in details in the downloadable resource in the toolkit. The Do It Now Toolkit is a highly recommended set of exercises that individuals at any stage can use to build their skills thoroughly.

It is research-backed, successfully tested, and provides an excellent base for companies who are planning to implement AI as a part of their organizational system.

You can learn more about the research and download the exercises from the link above.

10 Exercises and Activities for Applying AI

Appreciative inquiries are flexible and applied in a variety of ways (see our article on How To Apply Appreciative Inquiry). The AI tools and exercises mostly vary depending on the target population and the contexts in which they come into play.

Here are ten AI activities that are more or less versatile and work equally well for all people and settings. Some of these exercises were also a part of the Do It Now toolkit mentioned earlier and proved to be extremely useful in the workshop it was first used in.

1. Appreciative meditation exercise

Appreciative meditation is a short yet powerful exercise to build a firm intention for appreciative inquiry. Usually used as the first exercise in most AI programs, the task merely involves collecting ourselves for a moment.

We can do this by breath control, thought monitoring, or attending to an external focal point and immersing ourselves entirely into it for a while. Appreciative meditation as the initial task makes the participants aware of their internal feelings and helps them realize why they want to invest in AI.

2. Individual self-discovery

This is a fun activity and works exceptionally well with kids and youngsters. The practice involves giving paper and pen to each participant and asking them to recall and sketch one of the happiest moments of their lives. The sketch need not be too elaborate, just a simple illustration that the respondents would then take turns to describe.

In the discussion part of this exercise, each child comes up with a brief narrative of the story they have sketched, and others are encouraged to listen to the story and inquire more about the details.

The task benefits the respondents and the audience in three main ways:

They relive a happy moment of the past and experience the positive emotions related to it.

They can reflect on their inner feelings and emotions while they narrate the stories.

By listening to others asking, individuals gain insight into what an AI session looks like and how they can make the most of it with their narratives and questions.

3. Group discovery

This is an interactive AI exercise used in many organizational setups to promote employee engagement and team spirit. The activity is to form groups and discuss the achievements of each member of the team.

The administrator presents each group with a bunch of pens and a single sheet of paper and urges each team to represent their achievements pictorially.

4. Appreciative storytelling

Storytelling encourages participants to come up with their life stories that have some meaning to them and can inspire others. The aim is to make participants realize their experiences can be of value to someone else.

By sharing their stories and listening to others, participants build a sense of cohesiveness among themselves and motivate each other to keep going. As a result, they do not hesitate to express their concerns, ask for advice, and give their suggestions wherever appropriate to do so.

5. Appreciative acknowledgement

A positivity booster, this short exercise fills the respondents with energy and appreciation about each other. One or more persons are randomly chosen to come up and share one good thing that they like about each person present in the room.

Appreciative acknowledgment can be one long session allowing all participants to get their chance or it can be a daily component in an AI workshop where respondents take turns to appreciate each other every day for a few minutes in between sessions.

The aim is to build a mutually benefiting relationship among participants so that they can see and bring out the best in each other.

6. Morning news exercise

The morning news exercise was used with participants of the Kathmandu workshop. It is a group activity where participants are assigned to groups and work as a 'Press Team.'

Their tasks involve collecting useful bits of information from the daily newspaper and reading it out at the workshop session every morning. Members take turns to present each piece of news so that each person gets a chance to be the presenter as well as an active listener.

7. Dream exercise

As the name indicates, this is an imagery-based exercise where the participants close their eyes for a couple of moments and imagine themselves returning home after an extended stay outside.

The administrator guides the respondents to think about everything they would have wanted to achieve by then and try to feel the emotion of returning home after so long. After the session is over, participants take turns to come up and share in detail what they imagined, how they saw themselves, and what changes they desired to see in their lives after so long.

8. Appreciative communication exercises

Susan Gaddis, a certified life coach and wellness guide, coined a manual for positive communications systems and appreciative inquiry. Her works focus on building awareness on the benefits of clear communication and appreciative introspection.

In the 'Good Communications' manual, she has put forth some simple, scientific, and objective AI measures that are easy to understand and provide a quick analysis of how appreciative we are towards ourselves and others.

Learn more about her exercises here.

9. The problem to opportunity exercise

Mac Odell proposed this exercise for fostering appreciative inquiry through challenging the existing problem areas and replacing them with potential opportunities.

The first part of the task is about ruling out what is currently lacking and then replacing the deficits with the scope of new possibilities.

For example, if the problem is a weak social connection within the organization, then the participants would first chalk out what has led to the challenge and what they may think can solve it. After that, they would draw a separate map or chart with the solution part - string interpersonal connections in this case, and formulate the causal factors and ways to attain the goal.

You can learn more about the administration and application of this exercise here.

10. AI advertising exercise

An adaptation of the Open Space Technology used by the APA framework, this exercise invites participants to form an advertisement with words, pictures, or graphics on any aspect of the dream they aspire to fulfill. After completing the sketch, the members come up one by one and present their advertisements as though they are 'selling' them.

The response and feedback they get from the audience during the presentation, as well as the intuitions that work while they are delivering their advertisements, serve to provide an understanding of how they should plan on achieving it in real life.

The facilitators develop interactive sessions for discussing the design and execution part of the mock-ups, and participants encourage and appreciate each other's efforts throughout the practice.

AI Team Building Activities

Appreciative Inquiry for building successful teams is the new choice for smart businesses today.

Many successful firms of different fields rely on professional group activities that are incredibly solution-focused and guarantee success in the majority of the times.

If you are looking for some great ideas for incorporating AI in your organization, these tips can get you started:

1. AI team activities involve a large number of individuals

The more individuals in a team-building AI, the better the results. Whether we are the facilitators or the participants of the AI program, we must ensure that more people join the activities and each of them feels important as a part of the group.

When more people work together, there are more significant exchanges of positive energy and more inputs come up in the form of personal stories and experiences.

2. A sense of trust is vital for success

AI group activities can create a sense of trust in the team by introducing trust scales in the program and asking participants to score their level of confidence in themselves and others.

Marking the trust level allows open communication among members about what influence their trust in themselves and why they do or do not trust someone.

3. Set up talk-circles

Talk circles are open spaces where people are free to talk with others and share their views on customer service, organizational leadership, and team building at work.

Talk circles work best when they are amalgamated within the AI team activities and practiced daily.

4. Encourage groups to dream together

Groups that imagine together work better as a team. To promote this, we can set up brief sessions during each activity, say for five minutes, where members would visualize a dream and share their feelings.

This could be a group goal, any personal achievement, or imagery of what the ideal workplace would look like. Communicating every tidbit of the visualization helps the members connect and agree on a single goal (dream) that they could then seek to achieve.

5. Promote the exchange of knowledge and information

Exchange of information can happen in different ways, such as 1-minute wisdom bites where each member gets one minute prior or post the activity to share the most relevant information they got that day.

Knowledge transfer creates a cultural shift in the organization as a whole and drives the employees to engage in a valuable exchange of positive news that can create a better ambiance at work.

Appreciative team-building activities create a conducive work environment where employees can feel good about themselves and others. Efficient and compassionate leaders today believe that a healthy and highly functioning team is a primary requisite for success.

Team building AI exercises ensure a sustainable and positive performance culture that invites long-term gains and ensures satisfaction at all levels of functioning.

5 Appreciative Inquiry Games

Although one would typically expect Appreciate Inquiry to only apply to the work environment, it can also be practiced at school. The following section includes games as well as research findings.

1. Thumb wrestling game

Many of us have thumb wrestled in our school days and must have so many fond memories attached to this game! But did you know that thumb wrestling is also a great AI tool for team building and performance enhancement?

The game is simple:

Ask the participants to choose a partner to thumb wrestle with and let them lock their finger once they are ready to start the game.

Explain the rules clearly to all the participants so that they do not end up hurting each other.

Start the game by asking the participants to wrestle with each other for one minute and give shoutouts for each time they score.

Make multiple pairs who compete in the game and let them collaborate as a team for scoring higher.

The best part of thumb wrestling as an AI tool is that is can be used for all populations and is a great way to promote team spirit within individuals.

2. Appreciative learning games in schools

Appreciative inquiry, when started earlier, yields the best results. For example, students and youngsters who learn to use AI exercises and activities in their educational institutions can internalize the practice better than others. They are likely to show similar positive traits in all other walks of life more spontaneously than others.

Studies have shown that children who went to schools that promoted AI through daily activities and games were more competitive and self-driven than others. They were more creative, positive-minded and regardful of others they work or study with (Eow, Wan Zah, Rosnaini, & Roselan, 2011).

3. Appreciation cards, kudo cards

Praise words never fail! Appreciation or Kudo cards is a popular AI game that enhances employee satisfaction and happiness.

Expressing 'Kudos,' meaning appreciation or acknowledgment is the key factor in this game. Appreciation cards can be small thank-you notes or simple words of recognition from the team leader or supervisor.

Managers and leaders often use this game as a means of acknowledging the employees' hard work and appreciating their efforts. Positive feedback from superiors and co-workers brings an instant feeling of happiness and provides a positive thrust to keep working hard.

4. Agile games

Agile games are used as appreciative inquiry instruments to solve authentic business issues and manage conflicts. They are a collection of activities and exercises that focus on manifesting positive workplace actions such as group cohesiveness, multitasking abilities, time management, etc.

The tools used for these games involve teaching, role modeling, and interactive games and the collaborative nature of the exercises helps the participants in understanding, discovering, and executing their dreams.

5. Action learning games

Action learning games are mostly group activities that facilitators regularly conduct with other appreciative inquiry techniques. In action learning games, there is a presenter who narrates an incident, a problem, or a life experience.

The others in the group are active listeners who fully attend to the story, take notes while listening, and comes up with relevant questions after the narration is over. The facilitator motivates each person to come up with at least one question and explain how the answer would help them in their lives.

The discussions participants have with each other during the session unlock the thought blocks and make way for positive self-reflection.

Appreciative Inquiry Icebreakers

Icebreakers have a pivotal role in making AI interventions successful.

They are simple, catchy, and relevant tasks that the facilitators introduce in the group session to promote appreciative inquiry in the group (Silberman, 2011).

Hogan (2005) pointed out that icebreakers play a predominant role in an appreciative inquiry by:

Making participants accustomed and well-adjusted to each other.

Creating space for open communication and equal responsibility among all members of the organization.

Promoting positive interpersonal relationships in the workplace.

Icebreakers are mostly practiced in groups, where many individuals work together. Tuckman (1965) said that there are four stages of group development, namely:

The Forming Stage - where members come together and create the team.

The Storming Stage - when they discuss and explore the group goals and the means to achieve them.

The Norming Stage - where the rules and group standards come into the picture.

The Performing Stage - where the group members embark on executing the plans and achieving the targets.

According to Tuckman, icebreakers work best when they are used in the early stages of group development (i.e., the forming and the storming stages).

Introducing them earlier ensures less performance anxiety in the participants and more excitement at being a part of the performing team. And once the members become familiar with the icebreakers, they can use them repeatedly to instill energy at different levels of the AI sessions (Chlup & Collins, 2010).

Types of AI Icebreakers

There are three broad categories of icebreakers in appreciative inquiry.

1. The Just for Fun Icebreakers

These make participants comfortable and provide an initial energy boost to know and communicate with each other.

2. The Introductory Icebreakers

Introductory Icebreakers make the participants familiar to new topics, new group agendas, and also new members of the group. They may be funny and informal, but usually aim at achieving a group goal.

3. The Topic-based Icebreakers

They are more specific, detailed, and focus on the ultimate goal of the session.

There is a vast range of icebreakers to choose from. While some of them are more suited to organizational contexts, other icebreakers may be more relevant for educational institutions, or counseling and rehabilitation purposes.

Here are three appreciative icebreakers that are more generalized and can be incorporated in AI across different spheres:

i. Friends Indeed Icebreaker

Friends indeed is an introductory icebreaker that helps people get to know each other in a group. It uses physical name cards that make the task more fun and enjoyable, and suitable for using with kids as well.

The job is to write their names on the name cards and stand in a circle with the facilitator in the middle. The facilitator would then call out statements, and those for whom the statements hold true will go and stand with each other, maintaining the circle.

In each round, the odd person or persons would come to the center of the ring and call out the next statements aloud. The comments are usually simple and easy, for example - 'friends who have pets at home', 'friends who are late-risers', 'friends who love chocolates', etc.

The game is an excellent way for participants to know each other, participate in a group task, and realize that they have something in common, which makes the bonding easier.

ii. Storytelling AI Icebreaker

Storytelling techniques are very common AI icebreakers. They are flexible, don't require any special arrangements for administration, and help people voice their thoughts and emotions.

The task involves allowing some time (usually 2-3 minutes) to each group member to share one story with the group. The stories can be personal experiences, or the facilitator can provide cues such as 'a story about the best manager you have worked with so far', ' a story about your biggest professional achievement and why you think you could attain it.'

The only rule of this icebreaker is that the story participants choose must have some value and a positive note in it. Storytelling sessions usually take longer as there are many individuals involved, and each person gets a fair chance to tell their story.

Once all the stories have been shared, the person in charge of the session recapitulates the critical elements of each story and discusses how the group can use them for learning purposes.

iii. Strength-based Icebreakers

Strength-based icebreakers combine creativity and positive imagery into the team for getting the desired outcomes. Strength-based icebreakers are a recent phenomenon that came up as a part of an experiment to explore how appreciative learning and appreciative inquiry can help training and orientation programs.

Researchers promoting these more intellectual and individualized strategies argue that if icebreakers can build individual strengths and potencies, they can be more useful than the traditional AI icebreakers.

Undoubtedly, the strength-based approach gave a new dimension to the application of AI icebreakers, but whether it can take over the conventional interventions is still a matter of investigation.

If this is something worth considering for your next AI session, take a look at this strengths-based therapy article for ideas.

4 AI Worksheets (Incl. PDF)

Make use of these worksheets to ensure Appreciative Inquiry is implemented in your workspace.

1. Appreciative Inquiry Worksheet For Personal And Organizational Use

A short and straightforward worksheet for charting the four D's of appreciative inquiry. This worksheet is the perfect option for self-exploration and introspection of where we are and how we can reach the final destination. It encourages reflection on being more regardful and considerate of ourselves and others.

The task is self-directed, comes in a two-page form, and works equally well as a personal or group AI intervention.

2. Appreciative Inquiry Worksheet by Change Activation

If you are looking to start an AI program in your workplace and expect many individuals as potential participants to the program, then this could be a one-stop go to for you.

Change Activation is an online resource that has it sorted for people and organizations using and promoting appreciative inquiry, and their worksheets and manuals are great to have in the collection for a successful AI program.

3. Appreciative Inquiry Workbook for Children

This set of worksheets and exercises was used in a school program in Houston, Texas, and has valuable content for building AI in school children.

The workbook includes simple illustrations of the 4D cycle of appreciative inquiry, followed by tasks for self-reflection, positivity, and self-expression. It is undoubtedly a powerful resource to help kids understand and explore success through an appreciative inquiry from the very beginning of their lives.

4. Appreciative Inquiry Quiz

The AI quiz is a short exercise focused on building knowledge application, information exchange, and reading comprehension. The test consists of multiple-choice questions on the basis of appreciative inquiry and is easily scoreable.

The quiz is suitable as a follow-up measure for participants of an AI program to ensure they have internalized the concept and are ready to use them in their personal and professional lives.

Appreciative Inquiry Survey

Dr. David Cooperrider, the founder of the AI methodology, mentioned the Appreciative Inquiry Survey in his research publications and appreciative inquiry books. The survey gained immense popularity and was later used in different professional setups to introduce the concept of AI in employees.

Dr. Cooperrider noted about this first at the annual meeting of the ONL (Organization of Nurse Leaders of Massachusetts), in 2014, and previously used it as a part of the AI certifications he provided to professionals.

The survey is now used in healthcare, educational, and organizational sectors and offers comprehensive knowledge and suggestions of how appreciative the respondents are, and how they can be trained to enhance their AI skills.

Other Resources

There are no limits to the ways we can embrace and apply AI in our lives. Whether we practice them individually or enjoy its benefits from the group activities, the result of using AI is nothing but heightened motivation and achievement.

We have already seen a few exercises and games in the previous sections, and here are some more riches on appreciative inquiry to get the ball rolling.

Appreciative Inquiry: A Conversation with David Cooperrider

Playful inquiry by Robyn Stratton-Berkessel

How to Do An Appreciative Inquiry Interview by Lindsey Godwin

Appreciative Inquiry In Organizational Life by David L. Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva - a PDF.

Appreciative Inquiry and the Power of Positive Question by Ludema, Cooperrider, and Barrett - a PDF.

A Take-Home Message

John Lubbock said, " What we see depends mainly on what we look for."

Appreciative Inquiry is about discovering the root causes of success rather than exploring the causes of failure. It builds the power to create our world with the questions we ask and the way we apply the solutions in our lives.

In a nutshell, AI is calling for a positive shift of energy from repairing the old to creating something new. It allows us to discover our strengths, acknowledge the efforts of others, and build the spirit for squeezing innovation with dreams. And as we know, " Positive actions, combined with positive thinking, results in success " (Shiv Khera).

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don't forget to download our three Strengths Exercises for free.

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4 Appreciative Inquiry Tools, Exercises and Activities

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Appreciative Inquiry Tools can discover the root causes of success rather than failure, allowing us to apply the solutions to our lives.

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Our group consisted of 2 kindergarten teachers, a first grade teacher, a 3rd grade teacher, a fifth grade teacher, and a librarian.
We all agreed making a purposeful mistake is a great teaching tool for "resilience."
We can thank the students for catching the mistake to boost their confidence. Celebrate it. We could ask questions about the teacher's reaction to making a mistake.  Did I cry?  Did I get angry for being called out on it?  Did I give up? Did I get offended?
Then we would ask, "what's next?"  I can ask for help. Can we have peer agreement on how to fix the problem?  Are there any resources we can use to fix the mistake?  How can we use thinking skills?  Is it okay to make mistakes?  Does failing mean it's over?  Acronym for FAIL: First Attempt In Learning.
Together, we can discuss how the mistake can be corrected and come to a consensus. Ultimately leaving the students with the knowledge that making mistakes is NOT A BAD THING! :)
Ms. Anna, Ms. Ros, Bourgeois, Pecoraro, Prevost, and Marchese

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Homeroom Activity:
1. Students take 5 deep breaths.
2. Students write down 4 things they notice.
3. 3 things they're grateful for
4. 2 things they're looking forward to.
5. 1 positive self-talk statement.
6. Finally, have students ID a glow and a grow. Then choose which ATL would help them address them.

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Students in 3rd grade have a difficult time delaying gratification. It is the root of the impulsiveness, anger, and frustration that we see when expectations are not met. Our team discussed ways to practice delaying immediate gratification for students in order to teach them patience, perseverance, and resilience. The teacher would begin by allowing students to watch a video of toddlers being asked to restrain themselves. Then would follow up with a discussion with "What Would You Do? Why?" The teacher would create a mystery prize, wrapped in beautiful, shiny paper and present it to the students. She might say, "You will earn this prize at the end of the day. However, if anyone in the class asks the teacher about the prize, you won't receive it today." The teacher would follow up with an outline of the expectations for student conduct. If students make it through without questions, they will receive the prize. The same could be done with mystery shout-outs or compliments.

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Introduction to Class

-class expectations and procedures (what the class entails)
-student set expectations (what they expect out of the class)
-students set short term/ long term goals

Implementation of Teaching Material (ex. projects and assignments)

-Students will assess their work through self evaluations (critiquing their work)
-Students will be instructed through self-evaluation to give more positive statements of their work than what they can improve on.
-Students will self reflect on previous set goals (did they meet their goals)

Use of Environment

-praise wall ( Students may leave a positive note about something that they learned or improved on on)
-gallery (highlights students work)

Global Inspiration

-Students will seek out quotes from artists that motivate them.
- Great comes from trial and error

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Telephone Game Activity:

1. Getting Started. Players must sit in a circle or stand in a straight line. They need to be close enough that whispering is possible, but not so close that players can hear each other whisper

2. Begin the Game. The first person in the line or circle whispers a word or phrase into the ear of the person sitting or standing to their right.

3. The Game Continues. Players whisper the phrase to their neighbors until it reaches the last player in line.

4. The Conclusion. The last player says the word or phrase out loud so everyone can hear how much it has changed from the first whisper at the beginning of the circle or line.

5. Finally, allow students to hold a discussion in an attempt to determine where the communication breakdown occurred.

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Active listening and working collaboratively are both big struggles for 3rd grade students. The learning engagement that we decided would be best to teach these skills is an activity Mrs. Johnson likes to call "Draw What I Say". One student will hold a map (for 3rd grade it would be a Louisiana map). Another student will have a blank sheet of paper, a pencil, and markers. The student holding the map will describe to the other what the map entails. At the end of their time together, the students will compare their work. Students can reflect on how well they communicate with each other based on how similar their products are.

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Social Skills: Exercise leadership and take on a variety of roles with groups

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Social Skills: Exercise leadership and take on a variety of roles with groups

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Our group consist of 2 kindergarten teachers, a first grade teacher, a third grade teacher, a fifth grade teacher, and a librarian.

In the earlier grades this social skill will first be taught through classroom jobs.  For example, team captains and co-captains take care of their teams by completing specific daily tasks.  In addition, students earn points for their team based on behavior each week.  The team with the most points would be crowned the winning team and receive classroom jobs for the following week to help the classroom run smoothly (example: notes person, living things, teacher side kick).

As students move up to higher grades, this social skill would translate to students being given roles to complete academic assignments.  An example of this would be, literature circles with roles such as illustrator, reader, writer, and speaker.  Each student in the group would be given the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in each of the roles through the course of the assignment.

Mrs. Marchese, Mrs. Pecoraro, Mrs. Prevost, Ms. Ros, Ms. Bourgeois, Ms. Anna

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Project Example
Concept:
-Students will choose a country
-Students must represent that country through visual art
- Visual art may include sculpting, architecture, painting, and mixed media
- Groups will have to create 3 pieces that represent their country

Communication:
-Students can collaborate as a group expounding on the many areas and styles of art within that country.
-Students can study the theme, subject matter, and representations in the art and how they differ from culture to culture
-Students must apply their social and communications skills through open dialog among their piers.
-Student will create job titles based on strengths
ex. Students with good math skills may be in charge of designing the architecture design piece

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Identifying Primary and Secondary Sources

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Identifying Primary and Secondary Sources

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Students in 3rd grade are often asked to evaluate the difference between primary and secondary sources in Social Studies, as well as identifying when what source is needed. The teacher may introduce the concept of primary vs. secondary sources by watching an interview of a first-hand account and then read a newspaper article about the same event. The teacher would then ask the students what was different between the two sources, and organize the responses on an anchor chart. Once this learning engagement is complete, the teacher can go into the ELA guidebook curriculum to the story of Sacagawea via "Lewis and Clark and Me." This book is presented as a secondary source of information about their journey. Next, the diary entry of Lewis can be presented as a primary source of the adventures of the trio. The teacher may ask, "What do you notice that about the point of view in the primary source vs. the secondary source?" Hopefully, the students will recognize that the primary source has first person POV and greater detail, while the secondary source is somewhat removed.

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3rd graders are requested to identify the challenges and obstacles that characters may face during a journey. This concept is reviewed during each of the ELA units. It requires students to think of circumstances that may be difficult for characters (or themselves) and transfer that knowledge to the story. For example, the teacher may ask, "What challenges did Lewis and Clark face when crossing the Pacific Ocean and navigating the West?" The students should point out that Lewis and Clark faced wild animals, winter, starvation, Native American attacks, etc. The teacher can then extend their thinking by asking, "What would happen if Lewis and Clark gave up and did not face their challenges?" If scaffolding is needed, the teacher may first ask, "If you are going on vacation, what are some things that you need? If you didn't have those things, how might that change your vacation?"

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Use critical-literacy tools to analyse and interpret media communications

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Use critical-literacy tools to analyse and interpret media communications

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Students need to practice the ability to recognize appropriate sources of data. This activity teaches and reinforces this.

To begin, have students watch the BBC spaghetti tree video and show them the dihydrogen monoxide website. Explain these are both fakes.

Next, student's go on a web hunt and complete a website credibility tool.

Together, whole class will review the questions to ask to verify a website's credibility.

Students then, after choosing another topic, present to the class what website they chose and whether it is trustworthy or not.

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Research - Access information to be informed and inform others.

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Research - Access information to be informed and inform others.

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Example:
Research Project (animal, libraries, Louisiana crops, Indian tribes, etc.)
At the elementary school level, students would reference nonfiction texts already read in the curriculum.  Students would also look at prior knowledge and experiences.
They would look at different resources such as maps, internet sites, facilities containing examples like zoos, museums, libraries.  Educational videos (Worldbook Encyclopedia) are a great resource for information. Other online sites might include Epic Books, NatGeo for Kids, Trueflix, Discovery Ed, and many more.
Ways students can share their research with their peers are: PPTX presentations, books, posters, dioramas, flip books, sharing through song, and other multimedia varieties. Depending on the research subject, food may be brought in, dressing like a particular historical figure might be appropriate, collaborating with peers to perform a skit showing what they've learned might be a way to present. Early year students may have a loose guideline which they would work on at home with a lot of parent involvement and help. As students' skills grow and evolve, in later grades they would be expected to do much more independently, but with a much more detailed and rigorous rubric type of guide to follow.

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https://sites.google.com/tangischools.org/tpss-student-resources/research-tools

Here is the link. If you have more questions, ask Anna :)

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Safe Search Engines

KidRex - Kid Safe Search

Google Custom Safe Search Engine

Kids Click

Fact Monster

Safe Search Kids

Microsoft Academic Search

Sweet Search

Kiddle

Online Research

World Book Online

TrueFlix - Sci/SS

Gr 3-8

Discovery Education

Google Scholar

National Archives

Library of Congress

Science.gov - Government Science Portal

The History Engine

Finding Dulcinea - Internet Library

Internet Public Library

Wonderopolis

Dictionaries

Merriam-Webster: Word Central

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Oxford Dictionaries

Your Dictionary

Spanish-English Dictionary and Translator

Online News, NEWSPAPERS. and Magazines

Refdesk Newspapers

National Geographic Kids

NBC News Learn

News For Kids Real News Told Simply

Time for Kids

Smithsonian TweenTribune

e-books

Great Books Online - Quotes, Poems, Classics, Novels and hundreds more

Citation Tools

Cite This For Me

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Objective
Students develop an appreciation of art from other cultures.

-The appreciation of art is developed through a structured use of anchor charts.

Model 1
4 Steps to an Art Critique
1. Describe
2. Analyze
3. Interpret
4. Judge

-Students will use their resources (articles, videos, and powerpoints) to research the history behind the artists, movements, and the artists' works.

-Students will analyze and interpret the works of art using their art vocabulary (elements of art and principle of design).

-Students will form an opinion based on their findings, their interpretations, and support their opinions.

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Online Books for all ages :) If you have more questions, ask Anna :)
https://www.worldbookonline.com/home/

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Link to OPAC (search for books), Mackin & JLG which is online books

https://hem.tangischools.org/academics/school-library

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OPAC

https://tangischools.booksys.net/opac/hesues/index.html#menuHome

Use this link to search our library collection. Make sure to write down the call number and check to see that the book is in.

Mackin: (digital books)

https://www.mackinvia.com/

School/library name: Hammond Eastside Elementary Magnet

Username: HEEM

Password: tangi

Junior Library Guild: (digital books)

https://jlg.ipublishcentral.com/

Username: HEM@tangischools.org

Password: HEM20212022

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School Library - Hammond Eastside Magnet School

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School Library - Hammond Eastside Magnet School

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Ladder of Feedback Guide for Classroom Observations The "Ladder of Feedback"* is a protocol or structure that establishes a culture of trust and constructive support by sequencing feedback in order that is constructive.
The idea or plan is presented to the group. Then the group moves through the following steps (moving from one rung of the ladder to the next):

Step 1: Clarify
Ask clarifying questions to be sure you understand the idea or matter on the table. Avoid clarifying questions that are thinly disguised criticism.
Step 2: Value
Express what you like about the idea or matter at hand in specific terms. Do not offer perfunctory "good, but," and hurry on to the negatives.

Step 3: State concerns
State your puzzles and concerns. Avoid absolutes: "What's wrong is . . ." Use qualified terms: "I wonder if . . ." "It seems to me . . ." Avoid criticizing personal character or ability and focus on ideas, products, or particular aspects.
Step 4: Suggest
Make suggestions about how to improve things. This step is sometimes blended with step 3: people state concerns and then offer suggestions for addressing them. There is no set time limit for this process: It can be done in a few minutes or over the course of an hour.

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Ladder of Feedback (see Supporting Learning in Groups in the Classroom)

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Create original works and ideas: use existing works in new way

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Create original works and ideas: use existing works in new way

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Students use pictures in a picture book to create their own narrative writing. After completing writing, students add their own personal illustrations. An option is to publish book when completed.

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Create original works and ideas; use existing works and ideas in new way

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Create original works and ideas; use existing works and ideas in new way

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Students will work individually for this experience.

Students will choose an instrument or object to modify. Students may also create an original instrument or invention.

Students will answer questions to create an id of what it looks like, what it sounds like, what its purpose would be.

Students will design/draw their instrument/invention.

Students will then attempt to physically create their objects.

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Visual Representation of Generational Handicaps

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Visual Representation of Generational Handicaps

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Objective
Students will develop a piece based on their views of their generations handicaps. They must identify if their generation is being prepared to become successful leaders in the future.

-Students will develop an opinion  based on generational handicaps, and create a visual piece using representation and the implementation of the elements of art and the principles of design.

-Students will have to think of use of color palettes, imagery, and form, and show how that connects to their emotions and views.

-Students will learn about getting their message across through visual art

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The Backwards Brain Bicycle - Smarter Every Day 133

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Our group consisted of 2 resource teachers, reading specialist, EL specialist, SEL specialist and school psychologist. Our focus is on resiliency and Overcoming the Odds: From Safe Schools Healthy Students
STEP 1: define resiliency.
STEP 2: mistaken inventions (examples and discussion of inventors)
STEP 3: Ask students, what helped these inventors? Why did they keep going? Talk list of can'ts. How do you use self talk.
STEP 4: draw/write 1 challenge you face each day (chores, making friends)
STEP 5: thought bubbles - what would you tell yourself about that challenge to stay resilient. (Keep going, Don't give up)
STEP 6: Post challenges w/ thought bubbles around the room.
Revisit the definition of resilience (personal definition of what it means to you).

A tool to use to assist with resiliency: The Effort Thermometer from: Grow Your Mind Build Resilience. Bottom to top of the thermometer:
(red) labeled - Giving Up.
(orange) labeled - Improving
(yellow) labeled - Concentrating
(green) labeled - Challenging myself

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Organizational - Learning how to stay organized regarding 1. personal items (including take home folders, learning left & right); 2. classroom items.
Affective - Emotional management - 1. strategies for big feelings, 2. asking for help (gestures)

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6th Grade: To be used with the novel Freak the Mighty

* managing self-talk
- character analysis - how Max talks to himself
- what if Max had positive self-talk
- connect to learner profile - Reflective

* students find the relevance
- at the beginning of the novel study
- connect to learner profile - open-minded

* fixed mindset & growth mindset
- character analysis - changes in how Max talks about himself, sees himself, and how he approaches the world

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Mindfulness Awareness

Focus and concentration

Strategies to develop mental focus

Strategies to overcome distractions

Being aware of body-mind connections

Activity:

Read book written by 5th graders “Master of Mindfulness” by Grossman and Alvarez

How would you like to be able to focus better and control your emotions?

Brain science: different parts of the brain (use hand as model “flip your lid”); what happens when you get angry

What each part of brain does

Possible idea: Each child makes a page to make a class book.

Resources:

“What Did Danny Do?” series

“Master of Mindfulness” by Grossman and Alvarez

Brain Gym - physical motions to help with mindfulness

ATL

Thinking skills

Research skills: conduct research on different parts of the brain and what each part does

Communication skills: share a personal conflict and coping strategy

Social skills

Self-management

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-Show Growth Mindset videos on youtube: "Class Dojo Growth Mindset". There are 5 lessons. Show 1 a day.
-(Prewatch videos) Each day, discuss how our brains work and how our mindset affects our learning.
-Day 1: list 20 things that you are good at, give 3 minutes
- share with class, discuss how everyone has different things they are good at. WE are all good at something. How did you become good at those things?
-Day 2: list 20 things that you are not good at, give 3 minutes
-share with partner, discuss how everyone had different things they are not good at. We all have things that we are not successful at.
-Day 3: Choose something you are not good at yet and would like to become good at. Create a class chart listing everyone's goal.
-Day 4: Write a paragraph telling what your goal is. Include why you chose that goal and how you will get better at it. (Writing pretest for the year)
-Day 5: Drawing/worksheet on growth mindset to put around room.

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1 - Give students a scenario:
"What would your body look like?"
"What would your voice sound like?"
"What words would you use?"

2 - Teacher can say words using opposite body language.
"Did my body language match my words?"
"What could I change?"
"How did it make you feel?"

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* Pick a topic off their expert list (list of things that students believe that they are experts in)

* Partner work
- Student shares for 2 minutes about their expert topic
- Partner uses one of the active listening responses (emotional labeling, paraphrase, reflective/mirroring, effective pause/silence, "I" messages, open-ended questions, summarize, minimal encouragers)
- Partners switch and do the same
- Students complete a written reflection including what they learned about their partner, what responses their partner used with them, and how it felt to have someone active listening when they spoke

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* have students investigate different domains and their purpose (.gov .edu .org .com)

* Give  students a topic to research and find information from each domain and discern the difference of each

* Define credible and reliable

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5 Paragraph Essay Using the Key Concepts

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5 Paragraph Essay Using the Key Concepts

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Goal 7 - affordable and clean energy (1st grade)

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Goal 7 - affordable and clean energy (1st grade)

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Action - during our unit on electricity, introduce students to clean and renewable energy resources.  Students will then pick a clean energy to research - solar and/or wind.  They will be able to explain why clean energy is important.

Skills:  Social - work as a group to present their information
Communication - be able to share their information with each other and the class
Thinking - design their project
Research - use skills to collect and organize information about clean energy
Self Management - use time and resources wisely

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Action: Advocacy- raising awareness about protecting water sources

Research skills: observing water sources around them, collecting & reporting data about water sources, learning about clean water issues both locally & globally

Thinking skills: reflection (how do my actions impact this issue?), creative (how can we approach different solutions?), critical (why is this a problem in the first place?)

Communication skills: raising awareness and sharing info with others

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ACTION: Reduce Plastic Use
Self Management: document learning, divide tasks and delegate, participate and stay on task, work through adversity disappointment and change, motivation and perseverance
Research skills: Formulate questions, gather information, use senses to gather information, synthesize and interpret answers, draw conclusions
Social Skills: work in groups supporting peers, accept responsibility, cooperation, listen to multiple perspectives, build consensus and negotiate
Thinking skills: Generate new ideas to solve a problem, transfer learning to context, reflecting and adjusting, recognize the problem, formulate and argument, recognize assumptions and biases and multiple perspectives, identify obstacles and challenges, ask "what if"
Communication: Exchange information, reading, writing, language skills, technology, Listen to multiple perspectives, use images and language to convey ideas, state opinions.

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- Critical thinking ~ Who needs water? Does everybody need water? What does clean water look like?
- Creative thinking ~ How can we demonstrate the issue? How can we resolve the problem?
- Transfer skills ~ What else do we need water for?
- Reflection skills ~ Are there other resources that are endangered? What steps can we take?

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Action: Engineer a solar oven
Research skills to understand different types of energy.
Creative thinking skills to design a solar oven.
Communication and collaboration skills to work together to design and build.
Organization skills to plan and utilize the engineering process.

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ACTION: Advocate - student action will involve sharing information with peers, families and community members around access to healthy food, healthcare, mental health support, etc. through a newsletter format to increase awareness and access for local community.

SKILLS: Self management/collaboration - on task and organized group work; Research/Media Literacy - identifying suitable sources; Critical/Creative thinking - design and presentation of newsletter; Perspective taking

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#16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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#16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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ACTION: Create a strong classroom / school community.

Understand what a community is.

Behaviors and norms that make communities successful

Thinking Skills

Critical thinking - making good/smart choices

Research - using text to determine good or poor choices

Evaluate with smiley faces

Creative thinking - what would happen if scenarios

Transfer skills - where do you see IB happening on the bus, specialist, hallways, lunchroom, etc. (outside the classroom)

Draw a picture of an example positive action you see happening

Reflection / metacognitive skills - what could be different next time

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ACTION- Advocacy- campaigns in the community to promote pollinators in community gardens

self entrepreneurship- connecting with community partner

communication: collaborating with community partners to share ideas

Thinking: Critical thinking towards planning solutions

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Goal 3: Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Well-being for all Ages

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Goal 3: Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Well-being for all Ages

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ACTION: Advocacy through communication and action.
Discussing in Physical Education classes the importance of living a healthy life and how to do so. Teacher can also send home information to parents promote a healthy lifestyle.
- Setting goals inside and outside of the classroom and how to reach those goals.
- Encouraging healthy lifestyles and collaborate with other subject areas to make connection.
- Invite community members into the classroom to discuss the focus of healthy living and mental health and pass out flyers and newsletters.
- Encourage teachers to also have a healthy lifestyle, therefore students may follow.
- In PE, set a goal for a one mile test and healthy lifestyle benchmarks.

Reflection:
- Evaluate whether or not their goals were met for the mile test and healthy lifestyle benchmarks.

Wascom/ Solomone

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Goal 7- Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

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Goal 7- Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

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Action: Understanding the consequences of our actions when using energy resources.
Research: Ways to reduce, reuse or recycle resources to benefit the environment
Communication: Collaborate in groups to share ideas and create a list of goals, roles and responsibilities
Social: Invite community or expert in energy to inform the effects of energy misuse
Thinking: Make a plan of action, Problem Solve, Compare to Undeveloped Countries, Cause and Effect Relationships
Self- Management: Use of resources,  evaluation of goals, make connections

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Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Action:

Reduce marine pollution
Sustainable fishing (overfishing)
End subsidies that contribute to overfishing
Protect and restore ecosystems
Reduce ocean acidification (reduce pH content)
Conserve coastal and marine areas (coastal erosion)
Increase the economic benefits from the sustainable use of marine resources.

Social Skills:
Collaboration-communicate with stakeholders

Thinking Skills:
Evaluation-take data and follow up 6 months later; conduct pre and post survey
Application-How are we going to fix the issue using the technology we have? Developing an erosion control plan.

Research Skills:
Observing-measuring erosion and pH; fish pollution; coral growth

Self-Management:
Safety-protecting the marine environment while we're implementing our erosion control methods

Dyson/Fellows/Dunn/Herrera

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Action: Advocate for peaceful and inclusive societies

Communication: Clearly explain the need for peaceful and inclusive societies

Social: Collaboration by listen actively to other perspectives and ideas; negotiate effectively; encourage others to participate; advocate for one's rights and needs; make fair and equitable decisions; building consensus; practice empathy

Self Management:
Affective skills: managing state of mind, mindful awareness
Reflective skills: identify strengths and weakness for own personal learning strategies; keep a journal to record reflections; consider ethical, cultural, and environment implications

Thinking: evaluate evidence and arguments; draw reasonable conclusions and generalizations; consider ideas from multiple perspectives; use brainstorming and visual diagrams to generate new ideas and inquiries

Transfer: apply skills and knowledge in unfamiliar situations; make connections between subject groups and disciplines

Research: collect, record, and verify data, access information to be informed and inform others; media literacy to understand the impact of media representations and modes of presentations

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Goal 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

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Goal 16 - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

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Action: Students will create a plan to promote a peaceful and inclusive school environment by addressing student-identified areas of concern.

Communication - A.7 Negotiate ideas and knowledge with peers and teachers

Social - B.6 Manage and resolve conflict, and work collaboratively in teams

Self-Management - C.3.9 How can I share my skills to help peers who need more practice? C.3.15 Consider ethical, cultural and environmental implications

Research - D.7 Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and make informed decisions

Thinking - E.2.3 Create novel solutions to authentic problems (Service; Personal Project)

by Tregre, Triche, Liggan, Hall, Bourgeois

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Action: Health and well-being is essential to creating a productive life and quality education. Ways to do this can include implementing goals such as a clean and safe environment, access to food and water, time outside for exercise and fresh air, and access to mental health resources.

Skills: Self Management - Forming daily routine, setting and reaching goals, practicing healthy habits

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Building Self-Motivation in Middle School

Learning Objectives:

1. Define self-motivation and understand its importance.

2. Recognize personal goals and aspirations.

Introduction (10 minutes):

Begin the lesson by discussing the concept of motivation with the students, asking them what it means to them and how it influences their lives.

Explain that self-motivation is a valuable skill that helps them reach their goals, and it is something they can develop.

Activity 1: Self-Reflection:

Distribute handouts with motivational quotes to the students.

Ask each student to choose one quote that resonates with them and explain why they chose it.

Share some of the responses with the class to emphasize the importance of motivation.

Activity 2: Setting Personal Goals:

Have students brainstorm and write down their personal goals and aspirations.

Encourage them to think about both short-term and long-term goals, including academic, personal, and extracurricular goals.

Students can share some of their goals with the class, promoting a supportive environment.

Conclusion and Reflection:

Conclude the lesson by emphasizing the importance of self-motivation and how it can help them achieve success in school and in life.

Ask students to reflect on what they've learned and how they plan to use these concepts in their lives.

-Piazza and Tobin (Middle School Science Teachers)

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Class Activity:
"What's Going on with Me Today" Journal - at the beginning of class, students take 5 minutes to complete their journal. They write down or draw how they are feeling that day. It can be anything - good or bad. This is used to make the teacher aware of any feelings the students are going through. Everyone has a bad day, but using ways of communicating that makes students more aware of the body-mind connections. Creating possible solutions or a list of ways to make their day better helps express themselves and coming up with a solution. Students may share their thoughts if they would like, but do not have to.

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Bellringer (Thinker): Recall and explain types of rigid motions and sequences
Materials: Expo marker, transparency, worksheet
Grouping: Pairs
Expectations: Use idea of rigid motions to determine if angles are congruent
Timing for Lesson: 25 mins
Plan of Action: Once materials are passed out, students will work through the problems using trial and error to map angles to corresponding angles.
Scaffolding: 1. Place transparency on paper and trace over <ABC. 2. Use series of rigid motions to map <DEF.  3. Work with a partner to determine if angles are congruent using trial and error.
Lesson Summary(Reflection): What steps did you take to determine congruency? What challenges did you face as you performed the rigid motions? How did you move forward following challenges?
Exit Ticket (Knowledge): Students will use transparency to create a pattern of two congruent angles. Use rigid motions to explain and prove congruency.

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Skills: Give and receive meaningful feedback.  Understand and use mathematical notation.
Bellringer (Thinker): Review previous Exit Ticket and utilize meaningful feedback from teacher to make changes and rework problem.
Materials: Student Workbook
Expectations: Students will utilize mathematical notation, PEMDAS, to work through solving for a variable.
Timing for Lesson: 25 minutes
Plan of Action: In groups students will follow order of PEMDAS to work through steps to solve for a variable.
Lesson Summary (Reflection): What difficulties did you have in reviewing your exit ticket? Was it difficult to fix your mistakes? What challenges did you face using PEMDAS?
Exit Ticket (Knowledge): Using their knowledge of the mathemical notation of PEMDAS, create a  problem to solve for a variable.

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Skill: Use memory techniques to develop long-term memory.
Expectations: Utilizing multimedia sources and personal knowledge, each group develops a way to grow their long-term memory for multiplication facts.
Scaffolding: Give examples of mnemonics and methods including abacus, written or oral repetition, song, skip counting, pop-it, BINGO and other games, manipulatives, trial and error.
Plan of Action: Research the best memory technique that will increase a student's long-term memory for memorizing multiplication facts. Once researched, groups should be able to model to other groups and explain through a class presentation.
Exit Ticket: Out of all the groups, what method do you think would most benefit you and your long term memory for multiplication facts.

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Skill: Draw reasonable conclusions and generalizations.
Expectations: Students will analyze unit rate word problems and draw conclusions based off the given evidence.
Plan of Actions: Students will work through Practice Set in their workbook that focuses on unit rate. They will analyze the numerical data and draw conclusions based on their knowledge of ratios to determine the unit rate for each question.
Exit Ticket: Students will use generalizations gathered during the lesson to complete unit rate question.

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Apply Existing Knowledge to Create a New Sport

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Apply Existing Knowledge to Create a New Sport

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Students will collaborate and create a new sport with knowledge of all the sports taught throughout the year. They must combine at least 2 sports, but no more than 4. Students must come up with all rules and regulations, as well as all equipment needed for the sport. They have to name it and create a score card or some sort of scoring system. They can either teach the class how their sport is played or create a video with a demonstration. A rubric will be provided for students and they will be able to self evaluate, as well as the teacher evaluate the group.

Wascom, Shelby, Jackson, Fox