Send us a text The IB educational framework is designed to provide students with knowledge, skills, and attributes that will serve them throughout their lives. Our guest, Arjun Malhotra, is a high school junior (DP year 1) who has experienced an IB education since elementary school. Our conversation touches on the many ways Arjun has developed his sense of place in the world, honed his academic skills, and initiated his strong desire to make the world better. He gives much of the credit...

Send us a text Maksud Alam is a dynamic young IB leader working at Swostishree Gurukul IB World School in Kathmandu, Nepal. His school is only the second in Nepal to offer the MYP and one of 7 schools in Nepal to offer the IB, so far. There are several others in the candidate phase right now. We talked about the challenges and the rewards when building a programme from the ground floor in a new school, and in an area without many potential collaborators nearby. Maksud came to his IB coordinat...

Send us a text Michael Dunn, known as the man behind Theoryofknowledge.net is our guest on this first episode of our 5th season. Michael grew the most popular TOK website on the internet, organically, from a wish to share what he was doing in his own classroom in Peru. It eventually became what it is today, a highly respected, and much used, resource for teachers around the world. You'll find teachers in all subjects using these materials to teach critical thinking no matter the age of ...

Send us a text Returning guest, Rezuan Chowdhury and the head of his school's governing board, Rifat Abedin, speak about becoming one of very few PYP schools in Bangladesh. They detail the rationale from the parent's perspective and the process from the PYP coordinator's perspective. We also learn about the training their teachers have undergone and the plans for expansion and even future MYP and DP goals for their very new school. Rezuan has been a regional leader even before his schoo...

Send us a text While this is, technically, a quickcast to promote speakers and vendors at the #IBGC2025 in NOLA, its really an introduction to the IB North Americas' excellent initiative designed to encourage greater IB DP and CP participation. So, please use the overview shared by Phil Evans and the numerous links, to begin exploring how your school community could embrace a philosophy that all students deserve an IB education. Who wouldn't want a student-centered pedagogy with inquiry...

Send us a text Continuing our series of quickcasts leading to the 2025 IB Global Conference in New Orleans, we feature Kognity, an IB partner organization. Chris Barres and Sian Steggles tell us about Kognity and their digital teaching and learning platform. Kognity will also host a session entitled, 'Digital Dilemma! What do we really want from digital resources?' at 2:00 on Wednesday, July 16th in the St. Charles and Lafayette rooms. Links: Kognity.com Free interactive trial of...

Send us a text This is the third of several 'Quickcasts' to introduce listeners to vendors and presenters at the 2025 IB Global conference in New Orleans. Here, we speak with Amnah Ejaz of Kialo Education, an online discussion platform. It's available free and will be featured in a booth at the upcoming IB Global conference in New Orleans. They are also hosting Michael Dunn of TOK.net who will be speaking at a session entitled: 'Critical thinking in a polarized world'. His session will ...

Send us a text This is the second of several 'Quickcasts' to introduce listeners to vendors and presenters at the 2025 IB Global conference in New Orleans. This episode features Robert Kohnert, a coordinator of advanced programming in Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). Robert uses his experience in MPS to drill down into what is working and what could be improved to help students who take up the Diploma Programme. He has three steps to share with attendees: how to get students into the DP clas...

Send us a text This is the first of several 'Quickcasts' to introduce listeners to vendors and presenters at the 2025 IB Global conference in New Orleans. This episode features Rachel Bodily, co-founder of Eblana Learning. We did a full podcast with Rita Bateson the other co-founder a few months ago. Check that out here. Rachel gives a sneak peek at the session they are offering at the IBGC 2025 and talks about the mission of Eblana Learning. We also talk about the free upcoming Eblana sessio...

Send us a text Returning guest Novadene Miller is a skilled and motivational teacher. She draws from her experience earning a doctorate in Geology to bring multiple perspectives and resources to the classroom. In this episode she shares how her Humanities students build cross-disciplinary skills like critical thinking, collaborative skills, and research skills while engaging in many different activities both in and out of the classroom. She also talks about the many resources that can b...

Send us a text Do you need to get your teachers official IB training that doesn't break the bank? Did you know that schools can request specific subjects and categories of training that come straight to you? In this episode, Casey Strecker of Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) and I go over the advantages of in-school workshops. We talk about how to order them, the responsibilities of the host school, and how to use them to get your staff the training that fits your school's needs. Note: The 'b...

Send us a text The MAGIC-T model is at the center of education at the Prem International School in northern Thailand. Creative director of the school, Alex Soulsby explains how using arts and culture as a focus works so well in an IB continuum school for all ages and IB Programmes. He shares how visiting arts and culture practitioners bring their perspectives directly into the curriculum and themselves take advantage of the school's resources available in return. There is resource exchange be...

Send us a text Rita Bateson has been part of MYP evolution since the days of the 'Next Chapter'. Today, she is still engaged in the Enhanced MYP and has researched how AI is going to influence the Approaches to Learning (ATLs) in all IB Programmes. Along with Rachel Bodily, they have co-founded Eblana Learning which is a central repository of resources, training, consultancies and both online and in-person courses. Rita’s LinkedIn Eblana Learning LinkedIn Rita’s Substack Rita Bateson is a res...

Send us a text Our guest, Chaahat Dhall, from Fountainhead School in Surat, India has some great ways she engages her MYP students. From human libraries, to silent debates, to advisory circles and beyond, Chaahat shares some of the many resources she uses throughout the year. Chaahat was also one of Jiana Shah's MYP teachers, so you can learn from one of the teachers who influenced Jiana as she developed her skills as an MYP student. The list of resources Chaahat has shared is too extensive ...

Send us a text Jiana Shah is back, two years after we first spoke. Then, she was a 14 year old 9th grader looking forward to the end of the MYP and the beginning of her Diploma Programme journey. Jiana began in the PYP as a kindergartner and is now a Diploma Programme junior well on her way to completing her entire school experience as an IB student. This makes her an excellent person to talk to about the rollercoaster experience as she navigates the challenges and accomplishments of t...

Send us a text Smriti Sajjanhar from Genesis Global School shares her expertise in using Play-based Learning (PBL) with students in her PYP school. She shares great anecdotes telling how PBL has transformed the way students learn and even think about their learning. Teachers, students, and parents engage in open-ended explorations without preset objectives for the children. These sessions result in often surprising results - and that's the point. Kids learn things and go on adventures, inside...

Send us a text We are releasing several quick casts featuring presenters at the IB Global Conference in Washington D.C. July 25-28, 2024 Use the hashtag #IBGC2024 to see what's happening on social media Session title: Optimizing the IB Personal Project with student-led mentorship This session is on Saturday, July 27th at 2:00 p.m. in Chinatown M3 Our guest, Hoonseok Ho (a MNIB MYP Coordinator) summarizes his session. Hoonseok: Speaks of the journey his schoo...

Send us a text We are releasing several quick casts featuring presenters at the IB Global Conference in Washington D.C. July 25-28, 2024 Use the hashtag #IBGC2024 to see what's happening on social media Session title: Humanizing Personalized Learning in the MYP. - This session is on Saturday, July 27th at 11:15 a.m. in Georgetown M1 Our guests, and MNIB teachers, Sami Peterson and Danielle Vanderlinde summarize the session. Together, they: Briefly summarize the sessionTalks abo...

Send us a text We are releasing several quick casts featuring presenters at the IB Global Conference in Washington D.C. July 25-28, 2024 Use the hashtag #IBGC2024 to see what's happening on social media Towards school-wide adoption: increasing access for all students. This session is on Saturday, July 27th at 11:15 a.m. in Archives M4 Our guest, Melissa Cuculich, summarizes her session with her co presenter Renee Illhardt. Melissa: Briefly summarizes the se...

Send us a text Vikas Pahwa returns to talk about the many roles we play in our careers as educators. From teacher, mentor, colleague and leader to parent, learner, and counselor, we wear many hats throughout our lives. Vikas shares much of what he has learned about finding balance and trying new ways to be effective both in and out of the classroom. Email IB Matters: IBMatters@mnibschools.org Twitter @MattersIB IB Matters website MN Association of IB World Schools (MNIB) website Donate to IB...