Spicewood Elementary School As teachers and students are getting to know each other at the start of the school year, they are primarily working to set up systems and structures with their new community of learners. The unit of inquiry, Who We Are, is a natural start of the year for most grade levels on our campus. This unit primarily focuses on different beliefs, values, and human relationships. The past two weeks, our students have explored these ideas (in relation to their classroom and school community) through a variety of read alouds, classroom discussions/meetings, and other team building activities.
What’s unique to an IB classroom is the role that the teacher plays. As a guide or facilitator, the PYP teachers provide learning experiences that allow students to construct their own (more valuable) meaning of concepts explored in the classroom. In order to participate in this innovative and effective learning environment, however, the classroom must first establish Essential Agreements, or guidelines that all students agree upon. The creation of the Essential Agreements is one of the first ways that teachers provide students with an opportunity to share their thinking. It models the framework for the learning community, displaying the value of student input and feedback as part of the learning process. The Essential Agreements are visited throughout the year, being added to and/or edited as the learning community sees fit.
As a campus each year, we mindfully choose a handful of attributes and attitudes to be a central focus of our essential agreements, uniting our community at Spicewood Elementary. This year we have chosen:
Balanced Caring Empathy Reflective Open-Minded
Below is a quick look at how just some of our classrooms have interpreted these attitudes and (Learner Profile) attributes!
Essential Agreements are not only limited to school environment. These agreements may also extend to the home (you may already have some of your own, or perhaps chose to focus on the same five we have here at school)! This would be a great dinner “table talk” idea as we are all getting settled into new routines being back at school.
Ask your child about their classroom Essential Agreements and what part they played in creating this living document in learning even more about Who We Are and be sure to find these in your child’s classroom on Open House next Thursday!