International Baccalaureate
What is the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP)?
St. Louis Park Middle School is an IB World School offering the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP). All 6th - 8th grade students participate in the MYP.
The MYP accommodates most national or local curriculum requirements, builds upon the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), and prepares students for the challenges of the IB Diploma Programme (DP) or the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC).
IB-MYP provides a framework of academic challenge that encourages students to embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world, and to become critical and reflective thinkers. In the final year of the MYP program at the Middle School, students also engage in a Community Project, through which they will demonstrate the understandings and skills they have developed throughout the program.
How is the Middle Years Programme Unique?
-
We encourage international-mindedness in IB MYP students, starting with a foundation in their own language and culture.
-
We encourage a positive attitude to learning by challenging students to solve problems, show creativity and resourcefulness, and participate actively in their communities.
-
We reflect real life by providing a framework that allows students to see the connections among the subjects themselves, and between the subjects and real issues.
-
We support the development of communication skills to encourage inquiry, understanding, language acquisition, and to allow student reflection and expression.
-
Through the learner profile, we emphasize the development of the whole student – physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically.
IB in Action!
One line from the IB mission statement is the following: “The International Baccalaureate® aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect". One line of evidence of how we bring this mission to life is our engagement with learning during Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, October 13th. The Individuals and Societies teachers collaborated on lessons that honor Indigenous histories, sovereignty, traditions, values, and identities in alignment with grade-specific standards and benchmarks. Here are some images of our classrooms including: student self reflection, investigation and inquiry, classroom discussions, use of maps, etc.
Our teachers collaborate on internal standardization of assessments and interdisciplinary units. They reviewed the summative assessment description, the rubric, and had student work out to compare how they would score the work to ensure they were standardizing.
As they were engaging in that work, they recommended that we interview a few students about their experience with the unit/summative assessment. Here are a few student responses regarding their experience with the summative assessment for the Changemakers unit: "It helped me to be more open-minded because I was able to hear/see all the issues that my classmates were interested in and why", "I was hoping to change how people think; the issue I was interested in was medical debt in the United States".
An IB standard/practice is that the school provides time and other resources for teachers to collaborate effectively on the implementation of IB programme(s). (0203-03)
Evidence of this practice includes 7th grade science teachers having a collaborative time slot to meet and plan each week. Teachers were reflecting on th current unit and discussing how to support students in writing testable questions and identifying independent and dependent variables.
A working group from the Student Advisory Board met with our district nutrition specialist, Tami Borgen. The students wanted to have further clarification around the systems related to our a la carte items (aka Snack Bar) in the Middle School cafeteria. The students offered many perspectives on these issues as well as ala carte offerings for the future.
How else is this IB? IB World Schools focus on the whole person; besides academics we elevate development of “Approaches to Learning (ATL) Skills”. Here are two that were necessary for this group today:
- Collaboration Skills
- Problem-Solving.
Having opportunities to elevate student voice, build agency and move into Community Engagement and/or action are hallmarks of World Schools.
Our climate action summit involved our 6th graders at SLP middle school who have been working in teams to create climate action plans in their science classes. They presented their ideas to their classmates and other adults throughout the district. This project has been rigorous with many components. We always encourage students to use their voice to drive change.
Ms. Noble’s 6th grade writing students celebrate writing! Students each contributed to published classroom anthologies. IB World Schools value developing thinking, both critical and creative thinking.
One student interviewed was beaming about their published work and had published both a poem and a short story. Excitement filled the air as students read their published work to others.
Ceramics and Sculpture students collaborated on creation of a large scale paper mache sculpture. Students continued to develop in the learner profile attributes of thinker, communicator, risk taker and open mindedness.
Not only was this unit developing artist techniques, it also helped to build the approaches to learning skills of collaboration, creative thinking, organization and problem solving. The unit was set in the context of personal and cultural expression.
The final Student Advisory Board meeting of the year included reflection on our accomplishments. With student voice, we moved from paper agendas to using our Schoology calendar. Students continue to work on an improved snack bar systems and offerings. And finally students advised us on the topic of tardies. The IB learner profile attribute of being Reflective was part of this meeting.
|
Interdisciplinary learning offers real-life context along with other numerous benefits, including fostering critical thinking, promoting collaboration, enhancing creativity and providing a broader understanding of complex issues. These past weeks 8th graders worked on an interdisciplinary unit in their Science and Individuals & Societies classes, called "Here Comes the Sun" where they engaged in understanding a global health issue that needed solving in order to "make the world a better place". This unit involved a REM5 on-campus field trip where they were engaged in a case study that was a communications challenge where they were inquiring on the question "What do YOU think the solution is?" |
Real-Life context learning in an IB World school often connects a students' personal lived experiences and/or a real life context, either local or global. 7th graders are currently engaged in their Ecology unit. Students learned these concepts in class but were also able to apply their learning in an outdoor context.
Three Approaches to Teaching in Action
7th and 8th grade Student Advisory Board members gathered to share their perspectives on tardies and suggest ideas for a Middle School policy.
Students built on each other’s experiences and offered thoughtful, critical feedback. “They were amazing!” said staff, impressed by the students’ collaboration and insight.
Contact Information:
Mia Waldera, IB-MYP Coordinator
Phone: 952-928-6349
Email: waldera.mia@slpschools.org