International Baccalaureate Organization Primary Years Programme Asia-Pacific In-school Workshop: Assessment in the PYP.

Teachers in Victoria, Australia use the first three days of the school year for Professional Development. My school completed the International Baccalaureate Organization Primary Years Programme Asia-Pacific In-school Workshop: Assessment in the PYP. Our presenters were David and Bec.

‘Assessment is integral to all teaching and learning. It is central to the PYP goal of thoughtfully and effectively guiding students through the five essential elements of learning, the acquisition of knowledge, the understanding of concepts, the mastering of skills, the development of attitudes and the decision to take action’ (MTPYP, 2007)

The two days were engaging due to a mix of thinking activities, videos and discussion. Discussions centred on the ‘principles of assessment’, assessment for learning, assessment as learning and assessment of learning.

Our professional development also included ‘the impact of sharing learning intentions’ with students, ‘the impact of process success criteria’ and ‘assessing for improvement’. We also spent time discussing and building our understanding of authentic assessment, and the ‘Backwards by Design Process’

And finally we spent time understanding reflective thinking, purposeful rubric development and the various types of conferences.

I’ve included this video shown to us: Take a look and have a laugh! It’s about curriculum.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank David and Bec for a fabulous two days. 

Cheers Nina