One area of the IB program that I personally have a great deal of respect for is the concept of 'Actions'. IB believes that teaching children is one thing, but to have true understanding of a concept students should be able to put the learning into action. This is a theory that I have come to strongly agree with myself and since becoming a part of a school working towards its IB certification, I have started to be on the look out for students showing actions based on their learning.
One simple example of this would be a student who has learned about capitalization in their SK class. Over many days this student has heard how important it is to use capitals at the beginning of every sentence, and how it helps readers to better understand their writing. After a few days of listening about and practicing their capitals while writing, this student goes home and notices her mom hasn't used a capital in her note on the counter and mentions to her mom how important capital letters are in writing. This is action! This student has taken her learning and put it into use in the real world.
This example may seem like just small progress but the concept of action eventually leads to bigger things like a student learning about poverty in Toronto and helping to start a community food drive, or a student hearing about discrimination against another student and organizing a school awareness assembly. Action can be big or it can be small but either way it helps us to see that the students' learning has 'stuck' and that it is helping to make a difference in their lives and possibly the community. This is the number one goal of a teacher.
If you witness any actions taking place from your child that you find interesting, exciting or inspiring please let us know. I am looking to feature students in the monthly newsletter who have shown actions at home or at school. Please send me an email at cnelson@stjudesacademy.com or speak with your child's teacher.
Have a great week,
Mrs. Nelson
