IB Matters

In this episode we talk to 5 students from Ebenezer International School in Bangalore, India and their Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) teacher Bhavya Prabu. These students have created a CAS Project based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (known as the UN SDG’s). They mentor younger students to learn about particular SDG’s and then help them develop TED Talk format speeches for their peers. To make it even more chal...

In this episode of we return to talk to Vikas Pahwa about the IB approach to teaching Geography. His experience with both the MYP and DP makes him a good ambassador for the subject.

Vikas has a deep respect, understanding, and appreciation for Geography and he makes a great case for including the subject as one of your options in Group 3 of the Diploma Programme. 

Some of Vikas' links:

Geography Pods

The Geographer online

National G...

In this episode we talk to Lucia Figar and Barry Cooper of The Global College in Madrid, Spain. They are two of the principal figures in the startup of this brand new IB School based on entrepreneurship. It will be a unique member of the IB community but it has all of the key attributes every new IB school requires: a rigorous and well-planned curriculum, a caring and dedicated staff and a mission aligned to the principles guiding ...

In this episode we talk to Bhavya Prabu about the IB approach to teaching and learning science from MYP to DP.  Bhavya has experience teaching in both the Diploma Programme and the Middle Years Programme so she has an excellent perspective for this discussion.

We talk about the structure and requirements of a couple of DP science courses, specifically Biology and ESS. But we also get into the philosophy of the IB approach and how th...

In this episode we talk to Lisa Maren Thompson from Sejong Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota. Sejong Academy is an MYP candidate school nearing the end of the candidacy phase to become an official IB World School. 

Like the other podcasts we have done in the “Becoming an IB School” series, the keys to a succesful IB school candidacy are the people in the school community. They need to be knowledgeable, passionate and above all, caring....

In an effort to promote equity, excellence and inclusion in IB programs, Tim Kane and Asheesh Misra from IBSchoolImprovement.com help schools develop strategies to maximize success in the Diploma exams. These strategies lead to more students enrolling in the classes, taking the exams, and benefitting from the exposure to challenging curriculum. These benefits have been shown to follow students throughout their lives as they pursue ...

This is be one of the more personal episodes in this podcast series, as I speak to Jake Rosch. Jake’s parents have been close friends for decades and I’ve known Jake since he was in pre-school. 

Jake is now Director of Educational Technology at College du Leman, an IB school in Switzerland. We speak about international teaching, blended learning, being an Apple Distinguished Educator, and the philosophy of teaching as a life-long mi...

In this episode we speak with Joelle Amuah who is a 17 year old student beginning her second year of the Diploma Programme at Aves International Academy in Ghana. She wrote a blog ("My awesome IB experience so far") recently sharing her experience in year one of the DP.  She described all the ways she grew as a person and as a student in just one year of the Diploma Programme. I reached out to see if she would share this st...

In this episode of we take a close look at the DP History course, one of the key aspects of any Diploma student’s experience in the IB. 

Our guest is Vikas Pahwa who is an experienced DP History teacher in the city of Gurgaon, India. What I loved about this conversation was the universality of the DP History approach he describes. I felt like I was talking to one of the teachers in my own school because the IB History approach can b...

In this episode we talk to Wendy Heydorn and Susan Jesudason who have recently revised their TOK texts pubished by Cambridge University Press. 

They give us a great tour of the newly revised TOK curriculum which could serve as a primer for anyone returning to the classroom this fall to teach the new TOK course with first exams in the Spring of 2022. 

They also share a tour of their books including the TOK Course Guide, Decoding the T...

In this episode we talk to Guru Charan Kumar of India about his work teaching the IB Diploma ESS Course but mostly we talk about taking his students on exciting trips to support the classroom teaching with real life field experiences. Guru makes a great case for getting out there but he also has tips for those of you wanting to plan for such a trip. He even tells a couple harrowing tales which have created life-long memories for bo...

In this episode we return to talk to Asnaha Farheen from Abdul Kadir Molla International School in Bangladesh. This time we focus on the PYP Exhibition - the culminating activity of any student’s PYP experience offered in either 5th or 6th grade. Asnaha talks about how they prepare for the Exhibition and how it has been different under the COVID restrictions.

Links:

First Blog about mentoring the Exhibition from 2016 

PYP Exhibition r...

In this episode we return to talk to Novadene Miller who teaches at the Ecole Privee Bilingue International in southern France.  Novadene was a recent guest talking about the MYP Individuals and Societies course. The feedback was so great we just had to have her back.

This time we focus on the MYP Design course and how it fits beautifully into the development of young people in the Middle Years. Novadene even frames her school's...

In this episode we talk to Era Dogra about the Microsoft Innovative Educators Excellence (MIEE) Program. Even before the pandemic, the use of electronic tools in education had been incresing tremendously. The need for online platforms and communication caused by the COVID restrictions has only caused this trend to balloon exponentially. It is important for teachers to be adept at navigating many different platforms and resources. E...

In this episode we talk to Nupur Sinha Agrawal of Genesis Global School in India. She tells us about the Early Years of the PYP which is defined as ages 3 to 6 years old with a focus on the Pre-K from ages 3 to 4. 

Many who think of IB, think of the Diploma Program and don’t realize that IB is actually a continuum reaching such young people. Of course, at that early age, it is not exams and intense study. It is much more about play ...

In this episode we talk to Novadene Miller who teaches at the Ecole Privee Bilingue International in southern France. 

Our discussion centers on how the MYP framework specifically addresses the Individuals and Societies subject area. While it has examples from one subject, it serves as an example of how the MYP approach makes any subject more enriching for both the students and the teachers.

Novadene gives several examples of how her...

In this episode we talk to a panel of past guests of the podcast, all of whom teach in India or Bangladesh. They discussed how they and their communities are coming together in this very challenging time as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting much of South Asia. You’ll hear that, even in these difficult times, hope for the future is strong and they are finding ways to support their learners and celebrate the teach...

In this brief episode we talked to Deepanshu Arora of Toddle about the TIES 2021 Conference. TIES stands for “The Inquiry Educators Summit” and was held May 14th through May 16th with sessions in different time zones and in both English and Spanish. 

Use our podcast links below to register (so you have access to recordings of the event) and to donate to their designated fund to help students most affected by the current pandemic in ...

We talk to Asheesh Misra and Tim Kane from IB School improvement.com about this year’s exams and the important role of the predicted grades in this and future exam cycles. We also talk about how Internal assessments should be a big focus for DP/CP teachers as they judge their capacity to help students and their IB programs to succeed. Tim walks us through how each  DP cohort has a different challenge moving forward and starts the c...