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Please feel free to provide additional commentary, questions, or constructive criticism to any of my posts!

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All formative assessments will be posted in orange!

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All summative assessments will be posted in blue!

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Hi, all!

My name is Neil Hetrick, and I am the IB Coordinator and English language teacher at the East Bay German International School (EBGIS) in Emeryville, California. We are a relatively new school (~3 years old) that has just embarked on the IB journey. We are currently in the candidacy phase for the Diploma Programme, and we hope to be authorized by next year. It is a lot of work, and it often feels like we are building the airplane while flying it, but I am excited to be embarking on this journey with my team.

In regards to the Language A: language and literature course, I am most interested in receiving support in developing the course outline. The detail required in the documentation is overwhelming, and I hope to gain further insight and support throughout this workshop.

I hope to foster positive online professional relationships throughout this workshop by exemplifying the characteristics detailed in the IB learner profile. I believe it is vital to remain a curious thinker looking to engage and collaborate with my digital peers. This can only be done by remaining open-minded, caring, and reflective in my practice.

After completing this workshop, I hope that I have successfully achieved the following outcomes:
1) creating concise and tangible products that I can implement in my own program;
2) gain the knowledge on how to navigate and utilize the numerous resources provided by the IB;
3) building confidence in my ability to support my colleagues and students as they continue through the IB program.

I look forward to working with and learning from you all inf the coming weeks!

Best regards,

Neil

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1) Inquiry
2) Remove barriers to learning
3) Local and global contexts
4) Teamwork and collaboration
5) Conceptual understanding
6) Assessment

This was a difficult exercise. I ultimately put inquiry-based teaching at the top because I feel engagement and relevance in a topic is necessary for any learning to take place. Through inquiry, students are able to connect with and begin to delve into new topics. This point can only happen when the content has been adjusted to meet students at their current level of understanding (i.e., ensuring material is properly scaffolded and incorporated appropriately). Moving from the individual to the societal level (i.e., from the local to global), helps with scaffolding, as interest and curiosity are maintained as the concept is extended. In expanding concepts to the global level, teamwork and collaboration will be inherently necessary. Throughout this entire process, students are hopefully working towards developing a conceptual understanding of the larger topic, which then can be assessed at the end to determine level of understanding and mastery.
As mentioned above, I found it difficult to tease these points apart because I do believe they are inherently linked in the complex process of learning.

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1) Thinking skills
2) Self-management skills
3) Communication skills
4) Social skills
5) Research skills

I organized this list based on how I believe deeper learning takes place:

I believe that the first two ATLs are intricately entwined. The initiative and perseverance required for effective self-management allow students to begin thinking more critically about the concepts and topics encountered in a text. After they have formulated their own ideas, it is important to refine these ideas through effective communication and collaboration with others, which naturally requires developed social skills. Afterward, students can synthesize all of the information collected throughout this process to answer research questions with a sound interpretation and valid claims.

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IB Mission Statement:
I believe that the most prominent ideological bias found in the IB mission statement is the assumption that this educational paradigm has the power to change the world. The word choice used in the first sentence highlights the deficits of our global society (i.e., the lack of intercultural understanding, respect, and ultimately, peace). The mission statement further posits that the solution to such deficits comes from the interaction and collaboration between diverse and benevolent actors (i.e., future generations of students) who have developed knowledge, skills, and attitudes through an IB education. By including words such as "challenging" and "rigorous," the mission statement indicates that this process will not be easy or effortless but instead requires students to engage and participate actively in the dynamic program. The inclusion of hedging phrases such as "aims" and "encourage" indicates that participation in the IB program does not guarantee a particular outcome but merely asserts what is possible. Overall, this mission statement optimistically sets high goals (perhaps even unrealistic for some). Still, I know that I, for one, do subscribe to the belief that a better world is possible through education. Thus, I eagerly incorporate the practices and principles of this paradigm into my own classroom.

IB learner profile:

This text highlights the various qualities and attributes that IB students should demonstrate throughout the program and beyond. The dominant reading of the text illustrates how the diverse and manifold traits work together to help students embody and achieve the mission of IB. An oppositional reading to the text would bring up the hypocritical juxtaposition of expecting students to value individualism and autonomy while stipulating that they all adhere to prescribed guidelines. As the different attributes of the learner profile are so broad, I believe that there is enough flexibility for individuals to honor their uniqueness while still achieving these goals. As such, the standpoint of the oppositional reading does not hold much water.

Course aims and assessment objectives:

The tone of the aims and assessment objectives is demanding, pragmatic, but also optimistic. The sheer number of expectations detailed in the two lists exemplifies the ambitious nature of the program. The inclusion of the last bullet point in the program's aims indicates that the skills learned in this course are not for the classroom alone but instead intended to help students succeed in further endeavors throughout their lives. Additionally, although the course expectations may seem intense, including "enjoyment" in the last bullet point hints at the positive experience that curriculum designers hope students have in class.

Standards and practices:

The use of "democratic" in this text is highly charged and can generally have positive connotations for readers. Democratic societies are typically viewed as ideal because everyone can share their ideas and perspectives as equal stakeholders. Due to some of the more recent socio-political events of corruption and misuse of power, "democratic" may have negative connotations for some people. It is my impression that people are now more skeptical of the longevity or effectiveness of democratic systems of government. For this text, however, I believe that the use of "democratic" conveys the authors' intended meaning (i.e., students can contribute to and shape classroom discussions).

Creativity, activity, and service:

I believe that some of the words or phrases that best demonstrate the ideological perspectives of the text are: 'connections,' 'projects,' and 'raise awareness.' These words highlight how content discussed in class should be utilized to create tangible projects that can be implemented in communities outside the classroom (e.g., school, local, or global communities).