Wrapping up school year 2016-2017 at ISE Library

Enjoy the ISE library antics through the below photo show. Our library is a busy place where learning, socializing and fun in general happens.

Let's start off with a regular state of the library on any given Wednesday, period 8, when almost all middle school, well except year 4 is in having a class, group investigations or independent work.

Our IT Integrator Ms. Glyka introduced books including augmented reality during our last PYP literature circles meeting. Grade 3 students were eager to make connections on how innovation changes the ways we read, and access books and information, something that we have been discussing in the library in conjunction with their Innovation UOI.

Meet the Gruffalos in Reception. Students loved Gruffalo stories by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, as well as the lovely film based on Gruffalo book that gave a sneak and peek in "behind the scenes" of the story.

In February Year 5 students hosted the Human library on their Personal project topics. We has 12 exciting and knowledgeable Books sharing their learning stories with the community.

Visitors from the youngest to the oldest of our students.

 And then this happens... I told you...

... fun ...

... sometimes sorrow ...

... and love.

Till the next year! Have a great summer holidays! Päikest!

Reflecting on the Personal project showcase

As a community we took time to reflect on the Human library showcase format that we used for Personal projects showcase for the very first time. This evaluation served the purpose of reflecting on common experiences to improve the planning, implementation and running a successful event for all partakers (books, readers and librarian) during future events.

The reason for using the Human library format was to engage in personal, deeper level conversations on mutual topics of interest. We addressed the following questions.

     1. What did you find most enjoyable? Responses included-
Books (students) were very knowledgeable about their topics. Books enjoying telling their stories. The setup where a Book (student) was in a separate place which allowed the full attention of the audience and valued and honored their work. The smaller venues, set up in different classrooms, where everyone had a chance to ask questions and comment the work. It was particularly nice to see year 4 students engaged, clearly starting to think of what they might do.
Readers (parents, teachers, fellow students) were supportive and interested in the stories.
Getting to know some of the students from my child's class a bit better. Also having time to talk to some of the teachers and parents.
I appreciated the last round in the end, with all books present, that allowed seeing everyone's project.

     2. What were some challenges, if any? Responses included-
Books had to tell their 20 minute story 6 times to different audience. One student commented that she felt like a college lecturer and was surprised that this is the way the lectures are done...).
Having mixed feelings about the 20 minute session, not being sure  what would work during that length of time.
Readers wanted to read more books.
Year 5 students wanted to read their classmate stories.
The last round, with all books present, was chaotic and readers tended to chat with each other rather than with books.

     3. What would you do differently next time as a Book/Reader? Responses included-
Pay attention to go to a correct room. The mistake turned out to be a happy one though:)
Learn about the stories and books more thoroughly beforehand.
Try to visit all Books even if during the last "speed" round.

     4. What improvements would you like to see in the set-up of /managing the library? Responses included-
Host the Human library on two days. First for the school community (during/at the end of the school day), second to the families and friends (in the evening) to ease the tension and manage stress of presentations.
Find a way how year 5 students can read their classmate stories.
Have a clear guidelines for the book about the expectations for the presentation.
Review rules for the readers for guidance for the last round.
More noticeable labels on the classrooms.

Personally as a Librarian I have always struggled with the check-out process. This year we tried pre-choosing books which saved a great deal of time during the event but took a considerable amount of librarian's time to manage this type of check-out. Nevertheless it was a worth trial which I will applied during the future events. One area to consider how best to remind the Readers Books they chose.

Overall everyone thought that the Human library format was a huge success and worked well, was engaging and allowed the students to be in the center of the attention and shine. All partakers Books, Readers and the Librarian learned a lot and were happy but exhausted at the end of the event. Some things to consider for the future events are spreading the event onto two days, giving clearer guidelines to Books and Readers to be prepared and confident and find a way for year 5 students to participate as Readers.

MYP Personal projects showcase 2017

I am exited to share the MYP Personal project showcase 2017 event.

Personal project is a cumulative project each student is required to complete during their final year in the MYP. It provides an opportunity to investigate a topic of interest (RESEARCH), produce a creative piece of work (PRODUCT) and reflect on the project process (REPORT) with a specific focus defined by one of the six the global contexts.

Since September Grade 10 students have been engaged in self-led, in-depth study on a topic of interest - a Personal project. During the showcase they shared their products developed based on their project goals, along with their learning journeys to show the new knowledge and understandings of the topic, and their growth as an independent IB learners. This showcase recognized and celebrated year 5 students' efforts over the past 6 months. It offered grade 9 students and families great examples for when you will engage with the Personal Project.

     Although the students’ learning has been largely independent and self-led each student was supported and guided by a project supervisors whom I would like to recognize and applaud for Ms. Beth, Mr. Dan, Ms. Reelika, Ms. Kuhn, Ms. Sandhya, Ms. Triin, Mr. Paulo, Ms. Karolina, Mr. T, Mr. Smith, Ms. Maren and Ms. Anais.

     This year the showcase followed the format of a Human library. Books in this library are human beings and the Books and Readers enter into a personal dialogue. Grade 10 students became Books on their project topic and guests became Readers who borrow a “Book” for a limited period of time to learn and converse on the mutual topic of interest.

We opened the Human library for two sessions-

• afternoon session at the end of the school day for the school community (grade 5 up) ;
• evening session for grade 10 and 9 families, friends and supervisors.

Below are 12 thrilling titles and summaries from year 5 students from the Human library catalog.

     Title: Ragga style in dancing

Summary: Have you ever heard about ragga dance style or dancehall? If you feel like you are interested in dancing or you would like to know more about Jamaican music/dance culture, then this book is just for you. Be ready to let your hips loose!

Create a ragga dance routine, make a video
and use it to inform and inspire audience about that dance style.

Title: The Young Screenwriter                                                                            Summary: Have you ever wondered what a tough job do screenwriters go through? It's their brains, where the ideas of directors gain adequate and interesting shape. It's their nerves, which go wasted on writing dialogues and describing the settings. It's their passion and will, that make a movie a masterpiece. Screenwriting is art, and not a single good movie has a bad script. In this human library, I, the simple student will share my personal experiences with how screenwriting is done.

Write a quality, 20-40 pages, script.



Title: Humanization of Death

Summary: Have you ever thought how death would look like if it were a human? Is it possible to collect different human beliefs and values in one painting? We will be talking about how the humanized death would look like based on the philosophical, religious and psychological beliefs of people.

To understand trough research, why people are afraid of the concept of death.
How the humanized Death would look like, based on psychological, religious and philosophical beliefs.



Title: Medieval armor and HEMA tournaments                                        Summary: Learn about blacksmith work nowadays and during medieval times. Hear about three aspects of armor: defense, mobility and firepower and learn about HEMA (historical European martial arts) tournaments. See the armor I made.

To show how three aspects of armour can affect the outcome
of a (medieval melee) tournament



Title: People pushing our progress up

Summary: Have you been thinking how the ideas can change world? Do you know who the people who bring these ideas into real life are? Can we meet a new Leonardo Da Vinci nowadays? Interesting? Come and read!

Ideas , technologies and innovations of humanity.

         

      Title: Portrait Photography

Summary: Come see the unique and diverse personalities of the 10th grade shown through portrait photography! The photos were taken this fall at ISE to help me achieve my objective of learning how to use my camera.

To learn the technical aspects of my cannon rebel camera in order to take high quality portraits that reflect the personality of the subject.



Title: Wisdom and Knowledge through the Eyes of the Owl

Summary: We will be learning about creating our own toys, through crocheting. We then make our own owl out of paper cups. Can’t wait to see you there, hoot hoot hooray!

Acquire the skill of crocheting, to become more experienced
in hand made work, to help me to extend and enjoy my creativity.

        

      Title: What is a micro controller

Summary: What is a Micro controller? How to use them? What is programming? If you wonder about these questions my book is good for you :)

How I can program a micro controller

by learning c++ programming language ?

         Title: The Vegan Life

Summary: Explore the world of veganism through recipe ideas, learning about the lifestyle, and an opportunity to relish some vegan food.

To research about healthy, eco-friendly, and vegan diets/foods and video making,
creating blogs/websites in order to produce a website with nutritious and vegan cooking videos
for people that would like to follow a healthy diet and reduce their carbon footprint.

         Title: Clothing and fashion design

Summary: This book is about how to design and manufacture a few pieces of clothing connected together by a the look, aesthetics and specific theme (music album).

What are the possibilities of implying Abstract Expressionism into fashion?

  

      Title: Electrical motors

Summary: This book is about the electrical motors, how they work and are built. I built my own to use this motor control for turning a solar panel.

Electrical motor turning a solar panel.

Title: Animated music video

Summary: Come and learn how to animate a music video digitally.

I was truly blown away with the diversity of the projects, the knowledge and expertise students demonstrated of their project topics. An evaluation to reflect on common experiences to improve the planning, implementation and running a successful future events for all the parttakers (books, readers, and librarian) will follow soon.

IB Learner profiles in the library - MYP

Grade 6-8 students goal for understanding the IB Learner attributes was to explain these for younger, PYP students, using simple language and to find a picture book about that profile. Grade 6 students extended this activity into a read aloud in PYP classes during Library Days as the students wanted to share their explanations and books. They also made a picture/poster to go with the profile to take into the class they read the book to. The books chosen by all grades will be displayed in the library Lower school area for an IB Learner profile show.

"First, all of us picked one profile, and then we needed to explain it in an easy language (for PYP students). I picked Open-Minded. After that we pick one picture book, that was about that profile. Also we did a poster about it. Then Ms Kadri said, that we will read this book for lower school. I needed to read to grade 1. When I went there, I was a little bit nervous, but then it was okay. When I asked for questions, one boy asked  why we need to be Open-Minded? I answered, that so we won't have fights." Dominika grade 6

Further explanations 

• Inquirers

Ask questions to learn (Mihkel gr.6)
Wanting to find out more and asking questions (Rebeka gr.7)

• Thinkers

Think before you act (Danil gr.8)

• Communicators

Tell each other one’s ideas (Anna gr.6)
Talk with each other. Listen to one another. (grade 8)

• Risk-takers

Take on challenges and never stop (Daniels gr.6)
Try new things (Donovan gr.7)
Making mistakes is OK. (Sandor gr.8)

• Knowledgeable 

Know a lot of things about many topics (Vilja gr.6)
You are smart. (Archer gr.8)

• Principled 

Know the right and wrong things to do (Philippa gr.6)
Always do the right thing (Gustavo gr.7)

• Caring

Show respect and concern for others (Seth gr.6)
Respect humans/other people (Shahaf gr.7)
Be nice and helpful. Be kind. (grade 8)

• Open-minded

Wanting to know everyone’s point of view. (Dominika gr.6)
Understanding everyone’s point of view.

• Well-balanced

Play, learn and rest well. (Ms. Kadri)

• Reflective

Think about how things work. (Graham gr.6)
Think about stuff and yourself.

MYP Personal projects 2016-2017

Image source: http://alannamunro.com/blog/the-power-of-personal-projects

For the third year year 5 (grade 10) students are busy developing their personal projects. For the third year I am busy coordinating the process:) This school year we have a substantial group of fourteen adolescent learners with a range of interests that lead their explorations and projects. I am very happy to have a team of supervisors supporting the students during their journeys, all of whom are not MYP teachers but ISE staff members.
Students have submitted their project plans, completed initial research and product criteria and are working on creating their products. I am very excited to see their products and reflective reports as we move on with the projects process.

Below are brief introductions of year 5 projects

Topic: Ragga style in dancing
Goal: Research about roots and origin of ragga dance style, ragga music, dance elements. Create a ragga dance routine with its elements, make a video, film and edit it, and use it to inform and inspire audience about that dance style.

Topic: Electrical Motors
Goal: Research about electrical motors (how they work and how to build your own), creation of demonstrator of a precise motor control, use this motor control to create something to show how to use it.

Topic: Fashion in the last century
Goal: To find out what fashion was like in the last century and what influenced it, and from that knowledge infer, what will future fashion be like.

Drawn by Elisabeth Roden

Topic: Film-making
Goal: Create an animated music video.

Topic: Screenwriting
Goal: Write a quality, 20-40 pages long script.

Topic: Programming
Goal: Learn how to programming a micro controller using c++ programming language.

Topic: Art, Psychology, Religion and Philosophy
Goal: To understand trough research, why people are afraid of the concept of death, how the humanized Death would look like, based on psychological, religious and philosophical beliefs. To create a painting, communicating the learning.

Topic: Medieval Armour and Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) Tournaments
Goal: To show how three aspects of medieval armor can affect the outcome of a (melee) medieval tournament.

Topic: Clothing and Fashion Design
Goal: To design and create few pieces of clothing that are connected together by a specific theme and manufacture few of them into actual pieces of clothing.

Topic: Ideas,technologies and innovations of humankind.
Goal: Learning information about my topic through research and creating website or YouTube channel to communicate my learning.

Topic:Website with Cooking Videos
Goal: I will research about healthy, eco-friendly, and vegan diets/foods, video making, and creating blogs/websites in order to produce a website with nutritious and vegan cooking videos for people that would like to follow a healthy diet and reduce their carbon footprint through dietary choices.

Practice video by Anjali Venkatsubramanian

Topic: Portrait Photography
Goal: To research and learn the technical aspects of my cannon rebel camera in order to take high quality portraits that reflect the personality of the subject. To take photos of my classmates, my family members, myself to demonstrate my knowledge.

Photo by Gwyneth Dodson

Topic: Making a vlogg about how teenagers act in different societies, and their reactions to different types of questions.
Goal: I will research movie making, in order to create a vlogg that shows differences between teenagers in different societies and cultures, to show to people in order to broaden their views and beliefs about other cultures.

Topic: Acquire the skill of crocheting
Goal: To acquire the skill of crocheting, to become more experienced in hand made work, which will help me to extend and enjoy my creativity.

Grade 6 highlights from their summer readings

In their MYP Language and literature class the 6th grades shared the highlights from summer readings through the attached banner book recommendations. The class, their teacher Ms. Kuhn and I agreed to display these in the library during the MYP Open house and keep these up for their peers to read and get inspired. Some of the titles are also available in the library and a few will arrive in the library order very, very soon. Well done grade 6! Thank you for sharing your ideas on book!

Come and take a look!

What makes an IB library?

I couldn't agree more with the author, Stuart Crouch's, view on inquiry based learning and collaboration in between IB Librarians and teachers. I am glad to notice that I am on the way as I teach in collaboration at PYP and MYP level. As Stuart writes "The increased role of approaches to learning skills, such as information literacy and media literacy in our curricula, have meant that librarians are in demand like never before." 

I have had great collaborative classes with our MYP Science, Humanities, English and Music teachers. Connecting learning skills to the actual classroom experiences makes the benefits of acquiring and applying these clear for the students. And librarians can help out with developing other skills as well. Talk about organization in the library context. It's all about it. Our year 5, grade 10, students are about to complete their Personal projects, an engagement I as the Coordinator have guided, pushed and pulled them through.

Bits and pieces have happened with DP students as well. Mostly introducing the quality scholarly resources in and outside our library for their Extended Essay and TOK papers. Also, library being a place to crash at for studying and/or relaxing:) 


Some latest collaborative activities include PYP grade 3 innovation unit and exploring e-books, PYP literature circles, MYP information literacy classes on search techniques, plagiarism and citations workshops, and DP visit to the Tallinn University Academic library.

ISE IB Collaborative activities

Thanks for the great insight! I still have a leg of a journey ahead but I know where I want to get to. 

Read the full article How do you build your library to support inquiry-led learning? by Stuart Crouch.

Wrapping up first semester 2015-2016

The busy first semester is coming to an end soon.
Below are some high lights, accomplishments and exciting events that took place in the library.

Smart surfaces

Lego nook

Library days

MYP Projects

PYP classes

New homeroom for grade 8

Visiting students