I’ve always been a dreamer. My husband is a dreamer too. I think that’s why we see the world in the same way and I know that’s why we both got into teaching. We’ve always felt a calling to change the world – to somehow leave it in a better state than we found it. We saw teaching as a way to make this happen.
And then we started teaching.
8:00-8:30 learning about long vowels
8:30 – 9:00 using a period at the end of a sentence
9:00-9:30 reading facts about sea creatures
Somewhere in our first few years of teaching we got so wrapped up in the standards, the expectations, the skills – that we forgot why we got into teaching in the first place.
And then we found the PYP.
We packed up our lives up and moved overseas to a new country, a new school and (for us) a new approach to teaching. We had landed our first jobs at an IBO World School and our original passions for making the world a better place was rekindled. Our first year in the program we were equal parts excited and overwhelmed. We survived. And now we are back for our second year – twice as excited and twice as overwhelmed.
This year, I am the PYP Coordinator at my school and this blog is my small attempt to continue to make sense of the PYP, of inquiry and of how to make a real difference in the world through education. Please bear with me as I muse, struggle, make mistakes, take risks and reflect on my own understanding and the things we are trying at our school… and hopefully along the way we can grow, share and build a better understanding of the PYP.
I look forward to your contributions, your challenges, and your ideas.
Because after all…
Like I tell our new staff, when they ask what they PYP is all about…
It’s all about making good humans
Making Good Humans 
Hi all,
I believe his video is worth watching, as it is related to the same topics of your nice blog: https://vimeo.com/128539582
An introduction to transdisciplinarity. It has been greatly appreciated all over the world from International institutions of social/anthropology/transdisciplinarity scholars.
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Hi Fabio,
Thank you so much for sharing this video! I have never come across it before and I look forward to sharing it with my colleagues next school year.
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I am glad you liked it! I have also some english posts in my blog you may be interested in: http://www.fabiomarzocca.com/blog/category/english-posts/
Cheers.
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Hi Tara, I value all of your posts and you are teaching me to be so much better at letting go and allowing more student choice. I’m even doing it at home with my 2 children which is a new me! Thank you.
May I ask you a question, I was in the classroom yesterday as a parent helper and I noticed that the teacher had a list of what they were doing for the day – E.g Literacy Groups, Recess, Unit Of Inquiry, Lunch, Japanese, PE.
Can I ask, is it right to schedule UOI visually on the board for students like that? Or does that send the message that it is stand alone and ‘done’ after recess. I guess I’m confused because she is allocating that part of the day to Unit of Inquiry work e.g a summative task this is true, but this sends the opposite message of a transdisciplinary approach.
What do you think about this?
Sorry wanted to e-mail you instead but cannot locate your e-mail
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Taryn,
I’m sorry about making an error on your name, bad typo xx
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Good Morning! What an amazing resource! Thank you! I am a first year IB teacher and am looking for some books to read, do you have any recommendations? I did find some of your other blog recommendations. I come from a very standard based “teaching” background, so the unlearning of what I have done for the last 10 years is definitely a shift. But I am very excited, I just am unsure if where to get started. Our school is in the first year of IB, we are not officially approved yet.
Emily
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Hi! I just came across your blog and I think it is wonderful. I am a kindergarten teacher from Canada (taking a sabbatical and travelling the world to find my place). We are still learning how to effectively use the inquiry process in my school system. I am really inspired by child-centered learning, reggio-emilia approach and the inquiry process. Thank you so much for sharing! Your blog is full of information! I hope to one day make the leap, as well.
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Hi Vicki!
Thank you for the kind and supportive words. It sounds like we are similar in life style (I’m also a Canadian abroad) and in philosophy! I’m glad we’ve connected – if (and hopefully you do) start your own education blog, please share it with me so I can learn from you as well. 🙂
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Hello 🙂 my school is BRAND new to Kath Murdoch’s inquiry! I am trying to write a Kindergarten (Early Stage 1 in NSW, Australia) inquiry unit about living things! I have NO idea where to start! Any chance you could offer some guidance of how I start planning it etc?
Thank you SO much!
Alexandra 🙂
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Hi, I am amazed with your ideas, and hope you dont mind that I’ve taken some into consideration! They are all so fantastic!
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Hey Taryn! I just want to say you are awesome!! I check in on your blog and twitter all the time for new inspiration! I’m starting to get out of my shell a bit more these days and lead discussions about inquiry based learning. Question for you- would you be available to provide some PD at my school? Your PD sessions are amazing and I think it would really help SJA move in the right direction regarding inquiry based approaches. Let me know what you think!
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Hello! I just came across this- sounds just like me and what I would love to do! What exactly is a PYP coordinator?
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Hi there, I have been following your blog for a long time, and I really admire what you do. I have been asked to put a team together to write sample curriculum units for a planning platform, well a PLC that will support teachers all over the world, teachers with less training and world experience than us, if you would be interested please find me on facebook, kirstendurward or on linked in, I don’t want to post my email address here. I think it is a great opportunity to contribute, raise visibility, and also build beautiful collaboration across the world
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