IB Learner Profile Poster Set

Clean and Simple Visuals

This IB Learner Profile poster pack comes with a full set of colored posters, a full set of black and white posters, and 3 pages of mini posters to use as teaching aids. You can place them on a key ring, use them in lessons as manipulative or within thinking maps and graphic organizers, or pass them out to recognize a students character traits.

Check out my new IB Learner Profile Poster set at my TpT store.

The posters are written using the full IB descriptor for each learner profile. encouraging a strong use of vocabulary and opportunity for vocabulary discussion.

Please send me picture of them posted in your classroom. I would love to see how they look!

IB Learner Profile and ClassDojo Poster Pack Freebie

It Takes Two

When two great programs are being utilized in the classroom, it only makes sense to combine them! Check out my FREE International Baccalaureate Learner Profile Posters that incorporate the beloved ClassDojo monsters at my NEW Teachers Pay Teachers Store, Lovin' the Learnin' with Mrs. Crosby!

Download the free poster pack at my TpT store:
Lovin' the Learnin' with Mrs. Crosby

Keep your eyes peeled for more IB related material in my TpT store. If you have requests, let me know.

Aligning Digital Citizenship to Your Units of Inquiry

How can teachers incorporate digital citizenship instruction without overflowing their already full glass?

I get it...
It's just One. More. Thing. in the eyes of a teacher. Just one more lesson. Just one more box to check. Just one skill to track and monitor. Digital citizenship, it is something we must do both for the mental health of our students, as well as the digital literacy graduation requirements many schools are being asked to adjust for.

Image Source, ISTE.org

I am currently on the lead team for designing a digital citizenship program for our building, which will be pushing out a BYOD 1-1 program next year. One thing we quickly realized is that most teachers are not equipped with a working understanding of digital citizenship. Our very first task quickly became centered around educating our teachers on digital citizenship.

In regards to curriculum for students, we have chosen to use Common Sense Media's free digital citizenship PK-5 curriculum as our foundation. Common Sense has designed some easy, low-prep, high engagement lesson plans that cover all of Mike Ribbel's 9 elements of digital citizenship.

Now, for the hard part...the how. After much discussion, we determined our best course of action was to align the lessons to the IB transdisciplinary themes, providing an open-ended framework for teachers to incorporate the lessons as they apply to their Unit of Inquiry. We are currently in the process of creating a roadmap (or google doc spreadsheet) for teachers to pull from. Instead of simply following Commons Sense Media's scope and sequence, we are working to embed the lessons into our current learning activities and experiences to design parallels and real world applications. 

For example, we have identified the following lessons from Common Sense to align with How we express ourselves:

• PK-2 Unit 1 Lesson 4, My Creative Work
• PK-2 Unit 1 Lesson 5, Sending Email
• PK-2 Unit 2 Lesson 3, Screen Out the Mean
• PK-2 Unit 3 Lesson 2, My Online Community
• PK-2 Unit 3 Lesson 4, Show Respect Online
• PK-2 Unit 3 Lesson 5, Writing Good eMails

• 3-5 Unit 1 Lesson 3, The Power of Words
• 3-5 Unit 1 Lesson 5, Whose Is It, Anyway?
• 3-5 Unit 2 Lesson 2, Digital Citizenship Pledge
• 3-5 Unit 2 Lesson 5, Picture Perfect
• 3-5 Unit 3 Lesson 4, What is Cyberbullying
• 3-5 Unit 3 Lesson 5, Selling Stereotypes

We shall see where this new journey takes us and how it impacts our students.

Earlier this year, I wrote a reflection on a discussion I had with a colleague on the importance of digital citizenship and why teachers should not ignore technology and ban it from their classrooms, but embrace it, learn about it, and use it as a tool of creation rather than a tool of consumption. You can read it here: When Digital Citizenship Really Matters

Reflections of an IB Teacher on Reflecting

This month, I am participating in an online International Baccalaureate class for global educators. We are improving upon our global education skills through activities that support the following:

• collaboration
• authentic learning activities
• digital citizenship
• and global connectedness

I have been asked to do a little reflecting along the way, a practice I do very well as a think-a-loud, in the shower (where all my brilliant thoughts occur) or at 2:00 am when I can't sleep. Blogging about my reflections has been on my goal list for years. It was even on my district performance plan last year.

Image Source

Thus far in my teaching career, I have mostly used blogs to connect my students with other classrooms via global projects. For years I have attempted to use blogs to be a reflective teacher, an educator that finds the time to share her learning and reach out to those that will help me grow. I have not had as much success in this area as I would like. I think it is because I put forth so much effort into getting my students connected, that I just "squeeze in" the time to connect myself beyond classroom projects. Twitter (follow me @crosbyscoolcats) has been a better tool for me in terms of connecting. Perhaps it's because everyone is just "squeezing in" 140 characters. The chat or comment is quick and to the point. The resources are archived and you can go back to your Storify at any time.

Image Source

A resource that was provided to us included, "How to Craft a Blog Post - 10 Crucial Points to Pause" by Darren Rowse. I find his thoughts on post promotion to be a helpful nudge in the right direction. Perhaps one of the reasons I am more apt to connect with and for my students is because I have a greater buy-in and response from other classrooms. I know I should Tweet and share my blog posts more often, but it feels a little too narcissistic to me to do so, at least to do it more than once or twice...

Image Source

So, perhaps I set a "share" number and aim to share my posts a little more often, with comfort. I think I may also consider sharing posts that I consider to be a "old" with the idea that they could actually be new learning for others.

I am curious as to how other educators share their blogs. I would love your feedback...

• Do you share them during chats? 
• Are they distributed via your school's professional learning department or PLN in your building? 
• What advice can you share with me in terms of growing professionally through my blog beyond enhanced classroom learning experiences?