This week I was given the opportunity to visit an IB public school and move around a variety of classrooms. It was really good for me to see how IB was displayed in the school in general as well as in the classrooms. I have attached some pictures which showcase some of my observations.

I also noticed that most of the classrooms had an “action cycle” on the walls. It is based on the simple idea of: Choose – Act – Reflect. This theme was shown throughout the classrooms in the public IB school while the focus in my practicum school is on the profiles and attitudes.

The one thing that I really enjoyed about visiting the school was to see all the grades and their learning levels. I went down from the 6/7 class down to Kindergarten by each grade level and got the chance to watch their capabilities each year. The interaction with the students has reaffirmed my decision to become a teacher and makes me wonder which grade level I would eventually like to teach (if I am even given the opportunity to choose in the current job market). I really interacted well with the older grades and had a bunch of good connections within the 5/6 split class that was taught by my IB cohort colleague.

I also got more exposure to the different environment in regards to parental involvement, special needs students, unions, and funding issues.