2008

Personality type theory helps students understand how they learn best and how they communicate. By understanding how they process information and make decisions, students can better advocate for themselves and for what they need in order to learn.

Teacher expectations, the hidden curriculum, and self-fulfilling prophesies can impact student achievement. Learn how an urban high school went from not meeting its AYP to being nominated for the US Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award through an inquiry of the school's practices and an exploration of research-based ideas and staff development.

How can a school communicate the Areas of Interaction and the IB Learner Profile characteristics to every staff member and every student? That's the proverbial challenge that faced Fridley Middle School.

What does a child possess that can be freely given to other children across the world? Ideas, thoughts, and stories. Children's (and adult's) writing has the potential to provide reading materials for those who do not have books, as well as to spark an examination of differing cultures from across the world.

Teachers attending this session will learn how to incorporate Socratic seminars into units as a means of self-discovery and expansion of holistic learning. Socratic seminars and cross-curricular teaming are fundamental components of MYP classes which effectively incorporate the IB assessment criterion.

The University of Tulsa (TU) received 60 full IB Diploma students in August 2007.

Recent changes in CAS ask coordinators to expand the definition of "reflections" and create a team of CAS advisors. This session will explain the CAS changes and offer practical suggestions on how to implement them and evaluate the new reflection process.

The title of Charles Dickens' novel is an appropriate segue to begin the discussion of how the IBCC is being implemented in two high schools in two different countries. Educators must begin to think about how they are preparing students for the future, a future that one can only begin to envision with the advances in technology and global terrorism.

Corresponding to a national need to focus on content in professional development programs, Rice University has implemented a unique workshop model to connect IB teachers to higher education faculty. In each workshop, teachers experience four presentations that focus on current content and research in the field.

The session will illustrate the use of performance-based practices at the International Community School in Decatur, Georgia and encourage participants to engage in their own improvisation exercises. Performance-based activities can be used in any classroom in which individuals learn and grow by adopting new roles.