PYP Course Reflection

Wow! This course went fast, and it is a bit hard to believe that it is already finished. I was a bit nervous for this course initially (it seemed very intense and with moving part-way through the course, I was concerned about being able to fully immerse myself in the material and learn as much as possible). However, it all turned out well. I am so excited for the new school year to begin and to put my new learning into use! However, the learning doesn't end here. I am still enjoying learning from the PYP book I purchased at the start of this course. I know I will continue to learn from that resource. I also have started to follow a few PYP blogs that are full of so much knowledge. In addition, we have an amazing curriculum coach at our school, and I believe she is going to be an invaluable resource as I begin teaching PYP for the first time.  As this class comes to a close, I would like to focus on these capabilities with the new school year: I will integrate transdisciplinary and ...

I haven't started teaching PYP yet, as the school year hasn't started. However, this module brought up some questions I would like to collaborate with my coworkers on in the coming school year. This year, I will be teaching second grade. I know choice and interests are a huge part of inquiry, and I feel equipped to do that in my teaching. The part I am unsure of, is the self-directedness of inquiry at that young age. I have read about it, but theory is different than practice. I would love to watch an experienced inquiry teacher teach a lower elementary lesson so that I could watch and learn how they differentiate this type of learning for the younger students.  I have already reached out to a few of my colleagues at my new school to arrange this for next year. Hopefully this will help me to feel more confident!

Even though this class has only occurred for a little over a week, I feel like I am learning a lot. In addition to this class, I bought an e-book on my Kindle about PYP to supplement what I am learning. Together, I feel like I am developing a lot of ideas for the upcoming school year. Before this module, I thought that transdisciplinary learning was simply inquiry based learning with a new name. I was wrong! It does include inquiry, but transdisciplinary learning is more intentional and seeks to include ALL subject areas, rather than isolating just one. This was probably my biggest learning.  I haven't begun to teach PYP yet, but gaining this new knowledge about what transdisciplinary learning really means has brought me down into a deep rabbit hole of exploration of other teachers' blogs. I have really been enjoying looking at how other teachers of PYP are creating units that spread across learning and have open ended, yet specific goals. I will definitely have some good ideas...