PYP Presentations of Terakki Teachers
IBPYP teachers of Terakki gathered together with the IB educators in Turkey at the 15th IB Day Biennale on Saturday, March 23 and gave a variety of presentations. The biennale organized at the Istanbul Kültür University which had the theme IB Approaches for the Future hosted Dr. Siva Kumari, the IB Director General and Fidelis Nthenge, the Global Head of IB World Schools as its guests.
The PYP Coordinator of our Tepeören Campus Ebru Karakaş Düzyol and our Homeroom Teacher Didem Çiçek Erdoğan gave a presentation titled “Making Student Actions Visible at the PYP” within the framework of the children’s right of participation. At this presentation our teachers provided information about the action ladder they prepared using Robert Hart’s Ladder of Participation and they use together with primary school students. They showed examples of student actions and how they use the action ladder.
The teachers from our Levent Campus gave the following presentations:
Our PYP Coordinator Hülya Salt Aygün inquired about action within the framework of the renewed PYP curriculum in her presentation titled “Constructing the Future: Action in the PYP”. She emphasized the fact that action is related to being an agent, the learner profile, and international-mindedness. Moreover, she reminded the participants that action could be initiated by students and it can be individual or collective. She stated that with the renewed PYP action is categorized as participation, advocacy, social justice, social entrepreneurship, or life-style choices.
Our IB Academic Coordinator Donna Hancox, an IB Workshop Leader, explained the renewed PYP practices and the basic elements in her presentation titled “Student Agency: Voice, Choice and Ownership”. She talked about various teaching and learning strategies. By taking into consideration teachers’ current knowledge and experience she carried out a wide variety of pair-work and group-work. At the end of the presentation teachers shared how they are going to integrate what they have learned with their schools individually.
Our Kindergarten teachers Gözde Saruhan, Natali Seyrek, and Özge Ak Ünlü shared the basic drama concepts, examples of body warm-up and stretching exercises, and acting exercises which are covered in our Drama Programme in their presentation titled “Talking Toys”. In addition to these examples they showed how they used the stage set-up, sound, videos, costumes, and short story maps in the “Talking Toys” drama. They explained how PYP basic elements and the art scope and sequence are covered in the programme.
Our librarians Günay Yılmaz and Nurcan Zenginer gave a presentation titled “Terakki Schools’ Library Approaches towards the Future”. They shared how they support students from Grade 2 up to Grade 4 in terms of carrying out research and writing bibliography in their information literacy classes and how they explain universal rules and values of honesty by providing examples of practices for each grade-level.
Our Physical Education and Sports teacher Osman Atılan provided examples of transdisciplinary cooperation and interdisciplinary activities that are being carried out at Terakki in Grade 4 Physical Education and Game class within the framework of the PYP programme in his presentation titled “PYP and Stand-alone Unit Planning in Physical Education – Examples of Curiosity and Interests”. In the first part of the presentation he talked about the activities carried out in all units within the framework of transdisciplinary cooperation. In the second part he dwelled upon the activity that is carried out within a stand-alone unit plan and the Basketball unit related to the attitude of Curiosity, the most crucial attitude for learning within the framework of the PE and Game class and the PYP.
Our primary school homeroom teachers Begüm Morgül and Fidan Adanç gave a presentation titled “The Eco-system in the Journey of Learning” on a unit within the context of “Sharing the Planet”, one of the PYP themes over the cycle of inquiry.
Our primary school homeroom teachers Nilgün Ataolur and Evşen Akalın Unan gave a presentation titled “The Chicken with the Red Comb” they employ in the Turkish class using different writing techniques. They shared how they created a class material they did voice-over for using the cartoon titled “The Chicken with the Red Comb” and how they differentiated the process, content, and the product using this class material. They showed examples of student work and detailed lesson plans.