001[Music] Every student here at Simis is an IB student. And it's really a way of learning, a philosophy. Students naturally wonder and they're curious and so we want our students to, we encourage that wondering. The IB framework is designed in such as way that the skills they gain through inquiry, through collaboration, through problem solving and constructing knowledge, those are skills they'll take with them into their careers and ultimately into the world. The teacher poses a big question, related to a concept. For example, we just did one where the big question was, who has the better life: invertebrates or vertebrates? And without teaching those two concepts, my students went on devices or looked in books and they taught themselves what vertebrates are and what invertebrates are, and then they were able to form their opinion after
002researching. We help them learn how to design their own questions, so that they're not just accepting answers. There's no yes or no answers anymore. Students here are learning by making connections and then also to think deeper. So, not just that surface level, ok, here's the answer, but why is that the answer and how does that connect to them personally. At Simis we teach the whole child. We care about every part of them from their social well-being, their emotional well-being, their academic well-being. We know that the whole picture matters. So, there are 10 words, 10 attributes and you see them posted around campus as a reminder to all of us of really character traits. Kids are learning what those words mean and then personally how can they become those attributes. I would describe myself as knowledgeable,
003um, and inquirer. I work really hard and I dig deep. I would describe myself as a strong learner. Caring because I have lots of friends and I care for them and people really think I'm nice and funny! As a leader I need to do good things so that other people will do good things. Caring and knowledgeable. Children are capable of much more than we give them credit for. Often times it's just a matter of giving them a few tools and then stepping out of their way and seeing where they go from there. They start, I mean, thinking of questions that are amazing; that blow me away! And I just get so excited myself! And then when you see one of the kids get excited, the other kids just start to soar. IB encourages all learners
004to be self-reflective, even us as educators. Each year we continue to refine our units, do more research, attend more trainings, and our units just get better and better. It's not a curriculum, it's a framework. And so teachers, starting with the standards, write the curriculum, write the units, and we can tailor it to our students and our needs. It empowers me to empower my students to find their own passions. When students are passionate about something that they've researched; something they've been wondering about, and they've researched it, I love that! My favorite thing about IB is probably doing the fun projects. It's not just learning about the state that you live in, it's learning about the whole world. Learning about animals and learning about explorers. We get to do a lot of fun projects, not just boring
005old stuff. They're excited to be at school and to be a part of the inquiry process and they feel like it's theirs, it's not their teacher's. The kids are gonna come out so well-rounded and passionate for learning. We see it, we see in their eyes. It's really nice to be able to be a part of that! [Music]