Christelle Thompson's Blog – March 2011 Archive (5)

The first mentor meeting already came and went.  In an odd coincidental manner, we were able to schedule all the meetings for the students on the same day, at three different times.  In this way, as PYP coordinator, I am able to go drop in the meetings, the homeroom teachers have an easier time organizing their day and the mentors all know it's always going to be on the same day, except when they decide to meet more.

Actually, I reluctantly decided not to be a mentor this year, in…

One thing we learned from last year's students was that they would find articles, books, resources, print them out/mark the pages...but they would not always read them!  So, this year, we are making sure that the students READ what they are finding as soon as they are finding it, making notes, using sticky notes to jot down ideas/questions... 

The process of finding information is only valuable if the students read what they are finding and are critical about it.  Soon, we will ask…

Earlier this week I held a mini "mentor training" over morning coffee.  It was a nice way to touch base with the mentors who are all teachers at the school and volunteered during their off time to work with a group of students.  I valued their help and them giving up some of their planning time, as you know, there is never enough time in the day to do everything needed at school. 

So, each mentor received their Mentor Log, , a collection of information; what is the PYP Exhibituion,…

Right after Exhibition last year, after students completed their reflection and their planners,  I sat with the grade 6 teams and we did our own reflection, for our own planner. We went over the good, the bad and the ugly, made notes for this year's exhibition as well as went over the resources we used, the organization of Exhibition day...

So, fastforward to start of the school year and we picked a day for the Exhibition, that would be the 5th unit of inquiry for the year and…

Hey there!  This is a new thing for me, to blog about my role in the PYP exhibitionl.  I'm going to try and keep this going throughout the process this year.  My role as PYP coordinator is different from the Grade 6 homeroom teachers, as I don't usually have daily contact with the Grade 6 students nor do I spent the majority of my time with them.  But, I am part of the Exhibition and help the students and their teachers very regularly. So, in a way, I am backstage, away from the spotligths…