You're (NOT) Doing it Wrong

This weekend, I had the opportunity to introduce my children to the 1980's classic, Mr. Mom. In this movie, Jack Butler flounders with daily activities as he acclimates to life as a stay at home dad. In one of my favorite scenes, Jack tries to navigate the school drop off lane and gets told "You're doing it wrong!".

This scene resonated with me as an educator. In a world where expectations, standards and best practices seem to be constantly changing, I've heard teachers say on numerous occasions "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it!". It can be frustrating to try to keep up and teachers can't help but wonder..."Am I doing it wrong?".

My colleagues over at Carter Lake Elementary are getting ready to launch their very first IB units of inquiry next week and, while there is certainly excitement surrounding this new beginning, there is naturally a bit of panic as well. This post is for you my friends. I'd like to offer a few points to ponder, along with the reassurance that you're NOT doing it wrong.

• Don't reinvent the wheel. So much of what you already do will fit. We are fortunate to work in an innovative district where worksheets, basal readers and teachers lecturing to rows of students who are expected to absorb information are things of the past. Language investigations fits with IB. Collaborative group work fits with IB. Co-constructing anchor charts fits with IB. A variety of whole group, small group and individual instruction fits with IB. IB identifies constructivism and inquiry as effective teaching practices that should be used throughout the day, even when it doesn't fit directly with the content taught in a unit of inquiry (think math! think art! think PE! think music!). Take comfort in knowing that you don't have to chuck your teaching practices.
• The little differences become big. People sometimes visit an IB school, wanting to see how it looks different. They expect to see glaring differences from an IB school to a school that doesn't offer the program, but he changes are subtle. IB identifies the essential elements of concepts, knowledge, skills (a.k.a. approaches to learning), attitudes and action. It's deep understanding of these elements that make an IB student. It's easy to look at these elements and say "of course I do that", but it's the explicit teaching of each of these elements that lead to a deep student understanding, which enable students to transfer these elements to new situations. So, don't forget to post, reference and explicitly teach the concepts, skills and Learner Profile attributes identified in your planner. Share the action cycle and celebrate action. Soon, you will start to see students incorporating these elements into their lives. That is when the little differences become big.
• There are no IB police. Seriously. No one is going to swoop into your room and tell you "You're doing it wrong!" when a lesson isn't executed perfectly. This candidacy phase is your time to muck around with the pieces that are new and to see how the things you are already doing can fit within the IB framework. YOU are inquiring into what works best for you and your students.

So, take a deep breath, have fun, learn, reflect, grow and rest assured that you're NOT doing it wrong. 

Starting Over

Before I update this blog for the first time in TWO YEARS (in my defense, I updated this blog last spring), I have to thank my Twitter friends over at #pypchat for motivating me, inspiring me and pushing me to be better. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be posting today...

For the past 4 years, I have worked as the PYP Coordinator at College View Elementary in Council Bluffs, IA. It's almost scary to think about how much I didn't know when I got started. I had read a little about IB, thought it sounded like something that would mesh with my beliefs about teaching and learning and always enjoyed leadership roles; so I applied and got the job! I worked hard to educate myself about IB and worked with the amazing staff at College View to develop the program.

But the IB coordinator position has always been only half of my job. Throughout the years I worked as a literacy interventionist and classroom reduction teacher during my other half. As much as I tried to balance the two positions, it was tough. Teaching students took up a good chunk of that half of my day, but I also had to think about planning, reflecting, progress monitoring, intervention meetings, conferences, etc.. Inevitably, the literacy portion of my day ended up occupying more of my time than IB.

Last winter, our district decided to move forward with another PYP school at the opposite end of town. While I took part in the feasibility study for this school, when the discussion about hiring a PYP Coordinator came up, I didn't even consider that person being me. I kept thinking about how, if one person took on the role of coordinator at both buildings, they would be responsible for EIGHTY units of inquiry (preK-5) and TWO exhibitions each year. No thank you.

The position for coordinator at Carter Lake Elementary was posted and I didn't apply....but I couldn't stop thinking about the "what ifs". What if they don't get any applicants? What if they hire the wrong person? What if the right person for the job is me??? I pondered those questions in my mind for a while, but I still didn't apply. A few weeks after the position was posted, I got an email from our superintendent, asking me some questions about the position. In my response, I let her know the "what ifs" floating around in my head. I let her know that the biggest concern I had was wanting what's best for BOTH programs. Her response solidified my decision to apply: "This could be good for Carter Lake and College View. And very good for CBCSD (our district) and even for Erin."

You know what? She was right! I am now the coordinator of BOTH programs, splitting my time 50/50. What I love best is that it's 100% IB! The single focus has really helped move the programs at both schools forward. I'm able to take things that we did really well and things I wish we had done differently at College View and share them with Carter Lake. I've also been able to look at our program at College View through a fresh lens. There are things we were on top of at the beginning of our journey with IB that we need to revisit 5 years in.

I'm so glad I was a risk-taker and decided to tackle coordinating both programs. Yes, eighty units of inquiry, sixty plus teachers, two administrators, and two exhibitions is a lot; but it turns out it's what's best for Erin and I'll work tirelessly to make sure it's what's best for Carter Lake, College View and CBCSD.