Becoming an IB School - Episode 4 - A new to IB teacher & More parent questions

Send us Fan MailThis is the fourth in the “Becoming an IB School” series.We were at Rockford High School to record another set of parent questions with Rockford parent, Maris Ehlers, and Dr. Matthew Scheidler - the IB coordinator. But we were also able to capture an interview with one of Rockford’s experienced teachers who is just beginning his own IB journey. Ben Pennings, formerly a Middle school History teacher has been tasked with moving to the High school along with the freshman class at Rockford. Together, he and his students are getting to know MYP as they practice implementation ahead of their authorization visit in about a year. I was impressed by his observations as a new-to-IB teacher. He speaks eloquently about the philosophy of IB  and some of his early impressions of the assessment schemes. Rockford is also applying to become a Diploma school. Mr Pennings will be teaching TOK for the first time with the cohort he is now teaching in 9th grade. In preparation, Rockford has created a “Theory of Logic” class as a precursor so staff can practice the TOK elements. Ben shares his enthusiasm for this as well.The parent questions revolve around the student load in the DP, college credit, and some of the transition questions parents have about already popular options at Rockford such as AP and College in the Schools (referred to as CIS throughout the podcast).We have created a webpage for this podcast with all our episodes organized by programme and topic.  IB Matters websiteFollow us on Twitter @MattersIB.Learn more about becoming an IB school: Become an IB World SchoolEmail IB Matters: [email protected] (IB_Matters)Twitter @MattersIBIB Matters websiteMN Association of IB World Schools (MNIB) websiteDonate to IB MattersPodcast: Education by Design with host Phil EvansIB Matters T-shirts (and other MNIB clothing) To appear on the podcast or if you would like to sponsor the podcast, please contact us at the email above.