1. Connections - I can make the connection between IB and AVID. WICOR strategies are very similar to that of the IB approach to learning.

2. Challenges - I do not have any challenges with the text, but just the challenge of our teachers to implement, with fidelity, rigorous lessons, while allowing freedom of learning, and keeping classroom management in check as well. Another challenge will be the marriage of IB and AVID throughout the school, without the staff feeling like they are in competition and "one more thing to do".

3. Concepts - The concepts appealing to me, is the concept of engaging students in higher order thinking skills. Allowing for deeper understanding and showing what you know versus just showing recall and rote memory. The higher order critical thinking allows for original thought and deeper dives into teaching and learning. It will also allow for students to carry that knowledge forward and apply it when needed.

4. Changes - I am curious on how we can integrate IB and AVID in the same school with a unified instructional focus?

Challenge: IB is known for its rigorous academic demands. While it offers many benefits, I wonder if it can cause challenges for students with learning differences. Some students may have difficulty with managing their time effectively.

Concepts: I really don't have a problem with any of the concepts. I am excited to learn how to use these concepts in my Reading classes. Several of these ley concepts are vital for reading comprehension. These concepts could help students more beyond surface-level reading and engage with text on a deeper, more meaningful level.

Changes: MYP and AVID have similar goals and high standards. Both are concerned with helping students have responsibility for their own learning. Each has its own vocabulary. It is not clear to me how all of the pieces can fit together in a meaningful and practical way.

Challenge: I read Alfie Kohn's "Punished By Rewards" 20 years ago and was certain I would be a teacher that would use intrinsic motivation. Alas, I still cave to handing out Jolly Ranchers or offering snacks or other tangible rewards to get students to participate. I would love to see how we work as a whole faculty to encourage self-motivation.

Concepts: Organization skills seems to be an incredible challenge for middle school students. I would like to build a library lesson that assists students in breaking down assignments into achievable steps.

Changes: I have been using FCPS POG language and I will start using ATL language and making this more visible to students. Having the ATL icon associated with the objective of the lesson and making it a part of the reflective tool before, during and after the lessons.

Challenge: The text points out that there is a relationship between media and communication skills, then later points out statistics of the "Social skill deficiency". But does not offer valid suggestions on a way for IB to resolve the issue.

Concept: The development of affective skills is essential for self-management, helping students gain control over their mood, motivation, and resilience in facing challenges. Key affective skills for MYP students include resilience, self-motivation, and mindfulness. Resilience brings qualities like mindfulness and perseverance, enabling learners to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth, thus fostering risk-taking and learning from mistakes, which seems to be foreign to many of my students.

Changes: This text has a lot of good ideas that could be used in the IB science classroom. However, I am learning to eat an elephant one bite at a time. The concept I will embrace and change in my classroom is to establish the routine of reflection. Thus merging the prior knowledge with the recently learned knowledge.

Challenge: One idea I would challenge is the assumption that research or communication skills development is more relevant in academic classes. In PE, I see how vital it is for students to communicate clearly, resolve conflicts, and collaborate. These are often underestimated in the context of sports and physical activity but are essential life skills.

Concepts: The concept of resilience really stood out to me. It’s something I see in students during physical challenges, whether it’s learning a new skill, improving fitness, or dealing with losing a game. Helping students recognize growth through failure or setbacks in PE is a great way to support their social-emotional learning.

Changes: I want to be more intentional about teaching and highlighting ATL skills in PE. For example, using routines that build reflection or collaboration can become a regular part of class. I also want to give students more structured opportunities to set goals and assess their own progress in areas beyond physical performance, like communication or emotional regulation during team play.

Challenges: I do not have anything in particular I want to question. I would be curious how well some techniques work versus others. I know many students learn differently and there is no one best way. I believe communication is most important and the most in need of practice.

Concepts: Communication and metacognition are most useful. Communication to understand concepts and metacognition to actively reflect on content.

Changes: I would like students to be more aware of their reflections. I believe when students actively reflect, they will remember content more effectively. Reflection also act as a recap so content is not easily forgotten.

Challenges: How effective is IB in Health Education with students (how will it challenge them)? Communication, in class the students generally are quiet with the teacher and when working in groups.

Concepts: I'm looking forward to applying them in Health Education. Concepts for middle school students (being able to use their own words and apply the concept in real time).

Changes: Reflections - having students to be able to state or write (paper and pencil\pen) at the end of class what was taught and what they learned in class.

Challenges: I can't say that I do not have challenges. Everyday is a new experience and I learn from them to help me face another day. In my learning experiences, I see myself more equipped and ready for the next day.

Concepts: Understanding concepts in PE, students have to be actively engaged with movements, connecting those experiences to broader ideas and reflecting on their learning.

Changes: I will like students to participate more in other activities to have more experience and learn new sports when we introduce them to other activities, so that they can have more exposure to activities that they can eventually get to like and not just participate in only what they know. They need to be more open minded and earn new sports.

I think reflecting is important in any lesson that we teach as my former principal would state, when you do a lesson you always give students the time to reflect on the process and the final product. I usually do this by using exit tickets or peer evaluation checklists.

Challenges

Some of the challenges in Health and Physical Education may include creating an IB summative assessment at the end of every quarter, along with trying to getting my students to understand the concepts within the IB framework. We usually use a common assessment with a grading rubrics. When I think of IB I think of making connections worldwide trying to get the students to understand the connection is difficult at times. I want my students to not be afraid to explore are be critical thinkers. It's so important to make learning relevant, challenging and engaging.

Concepts

Trying to implement those concepts, in PE and health will be a bit challenging. trying to get the students to put the concepts into their own words and elaborate on their thoughts will probably come with some difficulty. I think the more familiar the students become with concepts the comfortable, they will feel the concepts

Changes

The changes I'd like to see will be having an IB coordinator come and speak the Students directly helping them bridge together IB and Avid. It is not clear to me at times how all the pieces fit together.

Challenges: While IB offers many rigorous and academically demanding benefits, I know it can cause challenges for Multilingual learners.

Concepts: Self-management is the skill I desire to integrate into my classes. Helping students to complete task on-time, make corrections, and reassess (when needed) to ensure they understand the concepts and content needed for success.

Changes: I will do my best to consistently integrate IB language and skills into each lesson to ensure my Multilingual students are exceling.

2. What do you want to change in the text or challenge? I would challenge the idea that simply including reflective activities in lessons guarantees deep thinking. From my experience, it only really works when there’s a safe environment and when the reflection feels meaningful. Sometimes it becomes a checklist rather than a chance to really think. I think the text could have emphasized more how important the classroom atmosphere is for developing those critical thinking habits.

3. What key concepts do you think were important in the text? Two big ideas stood out to me, thinking and learning how to learn. The focus on metacognition and critical thinking really connected with what I’ve seen in IB classes, where we’re always encouraged to ask questions and think deeper. It reminded me of how being a “thinker” is part of the IB learner profile, and that it's not just about solving problems but understanding how I approach learning itself.

4. What changes or ideas are suggested by the text? The text really encourages a shift in how learning works. Instead of focusing only on memorizing information, it suggests we build curiosity, creativity, and reflection into everything we do. That makes me think differently about school, like it’s not just about getting answers right, but about growing as a thinker and a person. It made me want to be more aware of my learning process and try new strategies when something doesn’t click.

Challenge: I noticed that most of the research was quite dated which made me challenge some of the information presented in the article. I’m curious to know how much of the information has changed throughout the years and if the consideration of SPED students was ever taken. 

Concept: A key concept worth holding on to was, “Model a good conversation, particularly with students who struggle conversationally,” regarding communication skills. Having MYP students who are still struggling to find the vocabulary to express their thoughts and feelings, its important for us as educators to demonstrate the appropriate way to communicate.

Changes: The text suggested changing the way we allow children to think in our classrooms. The suggested to “plan time for students to think about their answers to questions, rather than engaging in rapid “ping-pong” questions and answers that do not give students time to think deeply about their responses.” Sometimes the pressure we have to meet unit/standard deadlines limits the time we give students to think deeply about their learning.

Challenges: I think a challenge that I may face is marrying the two (AVID & IB). IB is so new for me and as I am learning about it I have to learn how to incorporate and think of them as one and that they are both here to help students. Not just another thing to do on an already full plate.

Concepts: Two key concepts that I believe that is worth holding on to is self management skills and organizational skills and these go hand and hand with AVID practices and beliefs.

Changes: This training and the reading makes me think to keep an open mind and that the goal is to help all students be successful. In order to do that I have to be open for change and embrace the new.

Challenge: It can be potentially overwhelming for new teachers and presupposes teachers themselves know how and practice these skills. Needs to ensure teacher are well equipped and trained.

Concepts: A concept or idea that I really relate to is that of a holistic approach to student development. Recognizing that these skills contribute not only to academic achievement but also to students' social-emotional well-being, self-confidence, and future success in the workplace and life.

Changes: Skills need not be taught in isolation or in specific subject areas but rather need to be embedded explicitly and implicitly across all subject areas. It also advocate for a change from recognizing mistakes as something negative to being a learning experience. It encourages students to be risk takers and to understand that "failing well" is part of the learning process.

As a Language teacher, I see clear connections between the Approaches to Learning (ATL) and my daily classroom practice. Specifically, ATL skills like communication, organization, and critical thinking directly support language learning, where students must express themselves clearly, collaborate in discussions, and analyze texts. I also connect this to my experience of teaching writing, where explicitly teaching ATL skills like self-management (time management for writing projects) enhances student success.

2. Challenge

One challenge I see is the lack of teacher confidence in embedding ATL skills meaningfully into lessons. Many teachers, as reported, focus on listing ATL skills in planners without fully integrating them into class activities. I would challenge the idea that ATL can be effective without continuous reinforcement. In my experience, language learning requires constant modeling and practice of ATL skills like collaboration and reflection to truly become embedded in student behavior.

3. Concepts

The most important concepts to hold onto are:

• Learning how to learn: ATL skills empower students to become independent, reflective learners.

• Real-world application: Both the ATL and the MYP framework stress making learning relevant, which is essential in language classes where we explore cultural and global contexts.

• Student agency: Giving students the responsibility to reflect on and develop their own skills is crucial for their growth.

4. Changes

Reading these materials encourages me to:

• More explicitly teach and revisit ATL skills in class activities, not just in unit planners.

• Provide more opportunities for student reflection on their skill development, especially using student-led discussions and peer feedback in language tasks.

• Plan across year levels with my department to ensure students progressively develop ATL skills that will support them in the Diploma Programme.