Motivated students learn on their own.

Many educators around the world have said this before. Learning should have a purpose. This young boy from Malawi was facing starvation. People around him were dying. He had many siblings and they ate one meal a day. He had stopped going to school.
He learned because he had to find a solution to a problem. And so this young man visits the library (his teacher) and learns how to build a windmill from scrap (creativity)!
As i watched this video, I saw a confident, young black man facing a sea of white people, or 'wazungus', as he calls them. That confidence came from the fact that he took charge of his learning and scoffed at all the criticism that came his way while he set about making his dream come true.

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Unravelling the inquiry cycle in a PYP class room

“ People can make choices to support the sustainability of the Earth’s energy resources .” Me to students : Does that make sense? Students to me : (after a while)...not really... Their understanding of "energy" during the pre-assessment task also reflected a superficial knowledge of the term. And thus our unit of inquiry started. As I was browsing the net, I came across this picture prompt- a map, which I thought would serve as a great provocation. The annual energy consumption per person . Kids love guessing where countries are, so it was a great way to address some geography at this point. I had also been reading Craig Dwyer's post which inspired me to change my inquiry cycle and use a simpler one. Wonder (while exploring)- Explore (while wondering)- Create (while reflecting)- Reflect (with subsequent wonderings). I was feeling more at ease now. The map allowed the students to make a lot of inferences based on patterns whi...

Reflections of a Workshop Leader

Source: Cariyon.com I was nervous about flying down to California to lead a workshop that I dreaded the most. I remembered that not-so-very-successful workshop in Vietnam a decade ago. I knew I didn't deliver as I should have. My problems had been compounded by an over-zealous Field Rep who kept popping in and taking over my sessions. Though she apologized later (a little too late in my opinion), my confidence as a fledgling leader was at an all time low. That failure (I will call it that for now) seemed to have found a place in my psyche, shaping my identity. I had done an upskilling course on this workshop. But to be honest with you, it was a blur and though I ticked all the checkboxes for the course, deep down I felt I was far from prepared. But one thing I realize about myself is that I like to face my fears. When the email invitation popped up in my inbox, my heart sank because I knew I would take up the challenge. I had done this workshop several times but they ...

Famous and the infamous

A reflection: It's funny how people start addressing women as Sir in India once they do something heroic! A step by step process of my inquiry lesson. I think I'll keep updating the same post in order to keep this on one page! 23rd August My class is learning all about heroes, and I have created a short but provocative video ( I hope! ) using Animoto. What a wonderful tool :) Famous and the infamous This was my provocation. I decided not to tell the kids what they were going to inquire into. By carefully watching the video they will have to identify the characters they know. I posted a power point of the famous and infamous characters on the new class blog (The kids are absolutely thrilled and amazed to see themselves on it) so that they can go home and show their parents the ones they had trouble identifying. 24th August The following day we made a Venn diagram. A three way one. I used http://billsteachingnotes.wikispaces.com/Graphic+Organisers to make copies ...

Learning Never Stops

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