I attended a three day MYP Humanities (Category 2) workshop in Melbourne, 24 – 26 Sept 2012. Below are my personal notes. I am sure there are many more elements that I missed or should have written down, but these are just my take-aways. As usual, I met some wonderful people. Special thanks to Jessica, Lana and Alexia; my ‘table mates’, such a privilege to work with them.

Monday 24th of September 2012
Day 1

Session 1

New Criterion: difference between KNOWLEDGE and Knowing and Understanding.
Going from a noun to a verb.

Session 2:

“Real world understanding is ever changing”
Often heard moderation comment: “The activity did not give students the opportunity to achieve the highest band.”
Make sure you moderate your marking with colleagues.
Does the task allow for differentiated learning? There is always a wide range of abilities in Humanities classes.
How do you create different types of assessment tasks which assess the criteria?

Comparing old guide vs the new guide, looking at the objectives.
Old guide here: http://www.columbuscityschools.org/IB/Humanities_SG.pdf
New guide here: http://internet.savannah.chatham.k12.ga.us/schools/jhs/MYP/

IB MYP emphasises the process of inquiry, rather than facts.
Inquiry cycle, could use elements of IT & Technology Design cycle.

Historical inquiry
Historical inquiry is the process of investigation undertaken in order to understand the past. Steps in the inquiry process include posing questions, locating and analysing sources and using evidence from sources to develop an informed explanation about the past.
Source: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Glossary?a=H&t=historical+inquiry

IB is trying to create more of a continuum between the MYP and the DP. To prepare students for the EE, it is important that they are trained to create their own research question.

It’s important kids are well prepared for the Personal Project. It’s hard to do that.

You have a lot of freedom in implementing MYP Year 1 – 4.

Assessment:
You cannot change the Criteria (Knowing & Understanding, Investigating, Thinking Critically, Communicating) but you CAN (and perhaps should) change the descriptors, i.e.

Criterion A: Knowing and understanding

(Year 1 MYP) Students should be able to:

• use humanities terminology in context
• show knowledge and understanding of subject-specific content and concepts, using descriptions, explanations and examples.

Achievement level Level descriptor
0 The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors below.
1–2 The student: • recognizes some humanities vocabulary • shows basic knowledge and understanding of facts and ideas through some descriptions and/or examples.
3–4 The student: • uses some humanities vocabulary • shows knowledge and understanding of facts and ideas through simple descriptions, explanations and examples.
5–6 The student: • uses relevant humanities vocabulary often accurately • shows good knowledge and understanding of facts and ideas through descriptions, explanations and examples.
7–8 The student: • uses relevant humanities terminology accurately • shows detailed knowledge and understanding of facts and ideas through descriptions, explanations and examples.

General question: How do you teach evaluation, analysis, and criticism?

By the end of Year 7:
Choosing relevant info

• Paraphrasing
• Organising
• Map reading
• NSEW
• Different types of text
• Critically analysing sources
• Creating a reference list, basic bibliography
• BOLTSS
• PQE

Concepts have always been part of the MYP

Real world situations and problems rarely represent only one discipline or can be solved through application of discipline’s skills.

Create a progressive mind map to expand on a concept

Fundamental concepts of MYP:

• Intercultural awareness,
• communication,
• holistic education

o Respect
o Language
o Reflection
o Interdisciplinary
o Expression
o Understanding
o Objectives
o Cultural identity
o International mindedness

Concepts:
• Broad and abstract
• Usually represented by one or two words
• Universal
• Timeless
• They are not themes which centre around a topic and may be foind in multi-disciplinary units. I.e. Units which have many disciplines exploring the same topic: Eg Dinosaurs vs Extinction

Day two

Concept based learning
Idea-centred and not fact centred

Formula:

• Students understand that
• No proper nouns or personal nons
• No to be or to have
• Consider levels: Level 1= How
• Level 2=why
• Level 3 = What

How = War affects society
Why = War creates conditions for social change
What = War creates inevitable social change which impacts on all levels of society.

Strategies for teaching concepts:
• Project based learning involves individual problem solving investigation
• Student centred, cooperative learning small group projects
• Service learning – practical application of newly … knowledge and skills to meet a need in the community
• Work based learning work place activities are integrated with classroom content.

Service based learning:
Make the concept real through an activity in the community.

Sample 1
Global inequalities can be reduced through global interactions
Kids take some of their possessions and find out where they come from.

Students understand that global inactions can make a difference.

Globalise me: Take 12 personal objects, picture of them, picture of the product and MAP
Where bought?
Where was it manufactured?
Where is the head office?

Plot patterns on a class map.

Compare and contrast:
Sweat shops, living conditions for themselves and living conditions of child workers who work in sweat shops.

Different groups:
Different workers / countries
What is being done to make a difference?
What can be done to make a difference?
Students come up with strategies to find solutions

Pros and Cons of their strategy.

Case studies; research countries, birth rate, death rate, GNI, GDP

Tie it back to the concept: Global interactions can make a difference
Has this learning changed my understanding in gl

Sample 2
CAUSATION: Students understand that every action has a reaction.

Dominos or deck of cards, CD cases.
Create a domino effect, using Murray Darling:
Degradation, land clearing, water rights, irrigation, droughts etc.

Sample 3
Power
Guided discussion; what do students know? Making connections to familiar knowledge.
Role play.
Feudalism
Revolution

Sample 4
Globalisation
Global interactions
Students understand that global interactions shape local communities.

Sample 5
Sustainable development is a way of safe guarding the future.
But make sure that you tie it back to the concepts.

Key concept: Global interactions
Related concepts: sustainability, development

You have to use the content to lead the students to the concepts.

Note:
Can we plot on Melbourne map where and when people migrated to and from? Richmond Vietnam, Greek, Italian, German??

Sample 6:
-Isms
Concepts: Change
Weimar republic to Nazi
What are the forces of change? (Good to ask for IB)

Sample 7:
Globalisation
Start with where have you been.
See Think Wonder
Post questions on blog
Guest speaker with business connections

After coffee break session:

What does Inquiry look like in your classroom?
• Discussion
• Frustration
• Baby steps
• Brainstorms
• Graphic Organisers
• Mindmaps
• No inquiry without engagement
• Questions
• Natural curiosity.

How do you spark students?

Prior knowledge?
Graffiti exercise: Write down everything you know about a subject on a piece of paper, then rotate.
Or you have four different questions and students (in silence) write answers on sheet and rotate.

Student activity:
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who

Students think about a topic (or their favourite thing in the world)
Use this poem to write questions.
Then find the answers and present to class.

An inquiry classroom:
• Open ended, divergent questions
• Give students time to think
• Repeat students responses without praise or rejection
• No statements telling students what to do and praising, evaluating, rejecting, or discouraging students ideas and behaviours.
• Good classroom management skills because talking and listening is necessary.

Activity:
MYP “Jenny must write an essay about child labour during the IR”
Make this into a task which can be assessed with Criterion B.

Students investigate how life changed in the period in depth through the study of ONE of these major developments: the Industrial Revolution or Movement of peoples or Progressive ideas and movements. The study includes the causes and effects of the development, and the Australian experience.
The Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1914)
1. The technological innovations that led to the Industrial Revolution, and other conditions that influenced the industrialisation of Britain (the agricultural revolution, access to raw materials, wealthy middle class, cheap labour, transport system, and expanding empire) and of Australia (ACDSEH017)
2. The population movements and changing settlement patterns during this period (ACDSEH080)
3. The experiences of men, women and children during the Industrial Revolution, and their changing way of life (ACDSEH081)
4. The short and long-term impacts of the Industrial Revolution, including global changes in landscapes, transport and communication (ACDSEH082)

Sample 1
Concepts: Change > Revolution
How does revolution change the life of people?
Students will understand that revolution changes peoples lives.
How did the experience of children change during the industrial revolution?

See Think Wonder, Blow up photographs. Try to make them quite shocking / evocative.
Use wall wisher or any other online method of aggregating questions.
Find commonalities
Form groups
Each person creates their own research question.
Document the research process.
Create a summary of their findings (or write an essay)
Or write an abstract.

Sample 2
Use extracts from Dickens
Interview / Role play
Civics: Laws, parliament
Action plan should be scaffolded.

Sample 3
Indus Rev film festival, students create a film

Sample 4
General ideas:
Give students a photo or object in an envelope.
Create a first person diary that explains that particular primary source.
Research war memorial names.

Keep in mind: Investigation is a process, so don’t play too much emphasis on the final project, also look at the journey, research process.

Tiny.cc/groupzaptry

Sample 5
Compare child labour in Indusrev with current child labour.
Justify: Would you rather be a child working in Indus Rev or in modern day India? Why?

Ideas from the room

Socrative.com; love it.

Questioning technique: lead in a question by framing it. “I am about to ask you a question, afterwards, do not stick up your hand, but think about the answer.” Then I am going to pick THREE people and ask for their answer.

Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate = a nice thinking routine.

Paragraphs ideas:
TEXT paragraph
• Topic Sentence
• Explain
• Xample
• Tie-in

SEXY paragraph
• Statement
• Explain
• Xample
• Y?

Day 3

Assessment

Here is a great document which contains a summary of the Assessment section of the ‘Principles into Practice’ document, created by the workshop attendees: tiny.cc/mypassessment

Note: Every teacher should have the subject guide

Every teacher needs the From Principles into Practice.

My section = Page 42, From P into P:
A whole school agreement on assessment
Everyone should understand what, how, why things are assessed. Students and parents should understand how to achieve success.

• CRITERION itself should not be changed.
• Task specific DESCRIPTOR can be created for each task
• End of term / sem should be reported using the OBJECTIVES.
• Each CRITERION should be assessed twice a term.
• The task should be designed so that each student can achieve the highest band.
• Use the MYP command terms
• Stick with the words in BOLD, they are the key terms.
• FORMATIVE assessment should not have a grade, but only feedback.
• Do not over-assess.
• Assess each criterion ONCE per semester (but could be done differently) and TWICE per year.

After coffee break session
Assessment FOR learning.
Formative = process that intends to promote student achievement

Make sure librarian is deeply involved, check the From Principles into Practice.

After lunch, we moderated tasks and looked a task development using assessment criteria and concepts.

Discussion followed about the importance of having really clear and strong assessment criteria + rubrics. Make sure that students can access the highest markband, but avoid simple tick the boxes. Include reference to concepts as well.

Writing a great rubric is really hard!

Make task specific rubrics.

 

Great story:

Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, “Hey, there is an elephant in the village today.”

They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, “Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway.” All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.

 “Hey, the elephant is a pillar,” said the first man who touched his leg.

“Oh, no! it is like a rope,” said the second man who touched the tail.

“Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree,” said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.

“It is like a big hand fan” said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.

“It is like a huge wall,” said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.

“It is like a solid pipe,” Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.

They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, “What is the matter?” They said, “We cannot agree to what the elephant is like.” Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, “All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said.”

“Oh!” everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.

The moral of the story is that there may be some truth to what someone says. Sometimes we can see that truth and sometimes not because they may have different perspective which we may not agree too. So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should say, “Maybe you have your reasons.” This way we don’t get in arguments. In Jainism, it is explained that truth can be stated in seven different ways. So, you can see how broad our religion is. It teaches us to be tolerant towards others for their viewpoints. This allows us to live in harmony with the people of different thinking. This is known as the Syadvada, Anekantvad, or the theory of Manifold Predictions.