It Started With A Tweet…

It started with a Tweet:

We are looking for other single-subject teachers who would like to share in a a discussion with our teachers about transdisciplinary learning and the single-subjects. Anyone interested? Are there hastags out there for this? #pypchat #ibpyp @terSonya

— Kristen Blum (@Namastececi) March 27, 2018

Kristen and I worked together at Yokohama International School. She has a wicked sense of humor, a reflective stance on her role as a teacher, and plays a mean game of Settlers. She is also a PYP Coordinator in India, looking for ways to move teachers forward in transdisciplinary learning with specific focus on single subject teachers.

Kristen followed this initial tweet up with another offering a link to a google doc for single subject teachers to ‘sign up’.  For what? We weren’t sure…yet. Then we started to chat, and, in the spirit of teacher agency, we thought it best to turn it back to the teachers via a Twitter chat: #pypsst

We know Twitter isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but we hope this will be a start and will at the least, connect some teachers with colleagues in similar situations in different parts of the world. Having been both a homeroom teacher and a single subject teacher, it is definitely a different position and one which needs some navigating and tweaking to “get right” – however that might look for you.

The first questions for the first chat are below. Take a look. And feel free to join in – single subject teacher or not (lurkers welcome too!). We look forward to seeing where this might go.

UPDATE: I signed up on the google doc early on. There are now more than 60+ names and a bunch of questions/areas of interest that people want to pursue. Take a look and see if there is anyone you or someone at your school might connect with!

A note on student agency…

Recently, a new blog “Educator Voices” has started. A blog designed as “a place to share and celebrate how we are pushing the boundaries, shaking up the system and challenging the status quo.” It is a blog focused on making school different and there is a lot to say about student agency. I encourage you to check it out and engage in the comments on blog posts. This is a tipping point in education and in “school” as we know it. None of us have all the answers but if we keep sharing our ideas and championing each other, we are likely going to get closer to serving our kids in the best ways possible.