As I have mentioned many times in this course, the Studio 4 teaching team is extremely collaborative. Because of this, I was having some delays in brainstorming options for my course 5 project. I have chosen two and outlined them below. Hopefully some readers can provide me with some feedback and suggestions. I also begin my Masters in January, a Master of Arts in Learning, Design, and Technology with Central Michigan University. So it will definitely be a busy time, but full of learning.

Overview - explicitly a 3 week unit about visual media and media representation with a focus on the concepts of purpose and audience. The purpose of this is to prepare students with skills for the later units, Sharing the Planet (STP) and possibly How We Organise Ourselves (HWOO). Knowing how to create infographics and use CARP in different apps and websites will be useful for them in these units.


What will your students be able to do? Create visually appealing media in multiple digital forms - infographics, presentations, etc. using different tools - Keynote, Canva, Sketches School, etc. for different audiences and different purposes


What will they understand? Media has a purpose and an audience. Creating for an audience has some consistent rules, no matter what tool you are using. Personal styles still apply.


What skills will they build? Creating, perspective, communication
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What ISTE Standards for Students will you prioritize? Creative Communicator - 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, and some of Innovative Designer when we get to the STP part of the unit

Overview - all 5 atl skill areas - students reflect on strengths, weaknesses, create goals, lead workshops, etc - CAR Times


What will your students be able to do? Reflect on and lead workshops on IBPYP ATL skills, set goals for themselves and work towards these goals themselves and help others reach their goals


What will they understand? How ATL skills help us with life


What skills will they build? Thinking skills, research skills, communication skills, social skills, self-management skills


What ISTE Standards for Students will you prioritize? 1C, 3D?, 6A, 6D, 

Which would you like to see developed? If you have done COETAIL before, what would you suggest?

This week I have decided to dive deeply into one of the many resources we were provided with for the week. I am really interested in things like Challenge Based Learning, Project Based Learning, Design Thinking, and Game Based Learning, however, I was drawn to this one infographic from New Pedagogies for Deep Learning the most. All images are theirs.

Because of this, my idea for this post is to use each section of the infographic and relate it to Studio 4 / my situation. I am actually going to start at the bottom of the infographic with general connections to Studio 4. Then I will look at the 6 C's and link some old blog posts of mine that fit with each of them. Some of these links will be from ISHCMC Studio 4, some will be from my grade 3 ISBerne class (when I was first experimenting with agency more), and some will be old COETAIL posts.

Partnerships are important in Studio 4. The students have a good chunk of their week given over to them to plan and implement strategies to work towards their goals. Without strong partnerships with their teachers and family members, this would not be possible. Their learning goals are shared on Seesaw each week, along with daily reflections and evidence of their learning. This keeps them accountable to more than one person.

In addition to the notes above, Studio 4 is physically an awesome learning environment. We have 6 classrooms that are connected by huge sliding walls and doors. We have whiteboard space and paint galore, and a variety of working spaces. My classroom only has two tables in it, and usually only one is in use. Students prefer sitting on the floor using personal mini-desks, or lounging on benches/sofa areas to complete their work.

The teachers and assistants in Studio 4 are always flexible. We are continually monitoring whether something is working for the students in front of us or not. Do we need to pivot? Can the students persevere? Should they? Why? How can we help them succeed right now? Flexibility and open-mindedness are important.

Students have 1:1 access to iPads and some iMacs. This means that authentic learning can take place when and as needed. Apps are used for knowledge enhancement/reach, sharing and collaborating. Consistent internet safety and tips for productivity is modeled, and creativity shines in the ways that students can communicate their new understandings.

Note: Some of these links may be weak connections to what they are talking about, but I feel that the activities and actions that happened within them relate to the competency.

- (we definitely have a unit incorporating this coming up. We planned it last year and could not implement due to COVID restrictions).

- Agency on School Trips?

- Personalising Understanding with Multi-Modal Learning
- HWEO/WWA in Studio 4
-Making Student Agency Visible with GoogleEDU

-My First Week in #Studio4
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- Studio 4 Inquiry Groups
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- Voice and Ownership in Assessments​
​- Facilitating Collaboration

From looking at this balance of blog posts, my gut can see where we might need to focus a little more on. Of course, it doesn't mean that it isn't happening... maybe I was just not inspired enough to blog about it. Communication and Collaboration seem to have a larger balance of posts written about them.

How do you think your grade level/subject area does with these competencies? Do you have any blog post links you can point me towards for the ones I am lacking in?

Courage. Failure. Shame. Vulnerability.

Listening to Brene Brown is always thought-provoking. It reminds me that stripping the classroom to basic human need and interaction is necessary. That teaching some sort of social emotional lessons are vital. In Studio 4, we are grateful to have the first and last period of the day set aside to be with the homeroom teacher. We all know in our hearts that this is the best situation for students. But some schools do not make this a priority when creating timetables. Our school is large, and we are very thankful that this timetabling has been carefully organised for us.

In Studio 4, we call this time "C.A.R. Time." C.A.R. stands for Choose, Act, Reflect - the Action Cycle which is outlined by the IBO in Making the PYP Happen. These times not only allow for meaningful planning and reflection to happen in a timely manner, but also create space for us to connect with our classes. Since Studio 4 have the opportunity to learn from many experts and teachers, these times are precious.

I am now thinking about how I can infuse the words of Brene Brown into these times a little more.

Courage
ISHCMC teachers are possibly the most courageous teachers I have ever worked with. They are not afraid to talk about "what if..." or "why" of an activity or a new idea. How can I create this same environment for my students? It makes me wonder if some tasks are still too structured, even if the "how" is open. Does having an end point, or a backwards designed unit even, create too much of a non-risk-taking environment? I have had these thoughts before, which you can read here if you are interested.

Failure
I have noticed during my time in Vietnam, that even though my students are at a fairly progressive school, they are afraid to fail. They are afraid to have nothing on their page in a pre-assessment. They are afraid to get an answer wrong. They are afraid to show their work, and most times will only show me their final answer/product. I am not positive about where this comes from, but a lot of them do go to after school learning centers with very different pedagogies than ISHCMC. How can we work even harder to break these barriers? We definitely try. Could using design thinking help us with this? Applying cyclical understanding to multiple subjects, including ones that are a little more cut and dry, like math? Do "final" post assessments hinder this cyclical process? hmmm....

Shame
In C.A.R. Time, choice words is something that often comes up. Choice words is one of our pillars from Cultures of Achievement that we use school-wide. It is important that students understand that this really also applies to self-talk. The words you choose to say and think about yourself affect who you are as a person, and how you behave with others. Even though this comes up a lot, and the students know what to say as "the right answer" when we are talking about this... how deep is this understanding? Are they actually putting this into action or are they just talking about it?

Vulnerability
One quote this reminds me of is "no secret teacher business" from the origins of Studio 5. It may not link 100% but it definitely makes me think about it. Being vulnerable and open with students is important. It is their learning - can we model vulnerability by showing them that sometimes we are unsure? That sometimes we don't agree with the things we need to do, but we need to do them anyways? That sometimes we are taking risks, and if we need to pivot, we will? My hope is that by speaking these thought processes out loud with students, we are modeling vulnerability. We don't always have the answers. We don't always know where things will lead. We might fail.

My hope is that C.A.R. Time is a time for deep reflection - both about students' learning and social-emotional needs. My hope is that by learning about these concepts, they will become better humans moving forward into the future. More confident. More courageous. More vulnerable. Failing more. And learning to grow from all of these experiences.