SPIRIT. MIND. BODY. CORDECHO 11 A TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE TEACHER: Mrs. Katie Kittleson ’05 DEPARTMENT: Math What have you done differently since adopting the IB pedagogy? In previous years, I would come in and work through a couple example problems on the board and then send the students off to work in groups. This year, we’ve been building “thinking classrooms”—or classrooms where the process of thinking is emphasized over the outcome. I’ve put the students up at a whiteboard, which is a vertical surface so students have to be a bit more engaged. They have one marker to share and everyone in their group of three has to contribute. If someone wants to write something, they have to ask to borrow the marker. The result is students really collaborating —and it takes the pressure off each individual to be “perfect.” They’re not worried about making mistakes because they see that we can fix it together. They learn by doing the math, playing with it and taking risks, and I’ve seen that they’re definitely more actively involved in their learning. You’re an alumna and now a teacher at SHA. How is the IB approach a continuation of what SHA has done in the past? We’ve always worked in groups and learned collaboratively with our classmates, so I think a lot of this isn’t really new or different. Now we can be more intentional about it. Faculty have been given more time and resources to collaborate, and the result is a lot of really creative ideas that are geared toward the students’ interests. We have a new vocabulary that gives specific guidelines about how we can develop students who are critical thinkers, who are engaged, who are doing group work and collaborating with their classmates instead of just practicing independently. Ultimately, I think it’s just good teaching. A STUDENT’S PERSPECTIVE STUDENT: Rosaly Rosa ’24 IB Diploma Program Tell us about a project you completed that exemplifies the work you do in your IB classes. In my IB World Religions class, we’ve learned about Christianity, but also Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and other religions, along with how other people view certain issues. Ms. [Meghan] D’Andrea, who is an amazing teacher, helps people understand the information instead of just throwing it at us. For our Internal Assessment,* we were supposed to ask a question about a religion of our choice and do a deep dive to find out the answer. This project immediately interested me because I’m Puerto Rican and I’ve been curious about Santeria, which is a religious tradition in Puerto Rico that’s kind of been ostracized. I used a lot of different sources including books and online resources, but I also interviewed both of my parents about their knowledge of Santeria and their feelings about it. I made some really interesting discoveries, not only about the relationship between Christianity and Santeria, but about my own family and my own culture. * In IB vocabulary, an Internal Assessment for World Religions is a written investigative study of an aspect of the religious experience, practice or belief of a group and/or individual adherents. Why did you choose the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program? I came to SHA from a public school, and I decided when I got here that I would put myself in situations that forced me to learn and that made me work up to the level of classmates who might know more about a subject or a topic than I did. I took as many honors and AP classes as I could, and then I was able to enter the IB program—and I’ve loved it. My teachers have built up my confidence and helped me to really love subjects that I never would have enjoyed before. In class, we have incredible discussions, and we can express our ideas and know that they’ll be respected. I just think you need to keep pushing yourself, to put yourself in environments where you might not be the best or the smartest, but you can work toward doing better, being better all the time. Group 1: Studies in Language and Literature • English A: Literature and Language HL Group 2: Language Acquisition • Spanish B SL • French B SL • Latin SL Group 3: Individuals and Societies • History of the Americas HL • Psychology HL • World Religions SL Group 4: Sciences • Chemistry HL • Biology HL • Environmental Sciences SL Group 5: Mathematics • Mathematics: Analysis and Interpretations SL • Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA COURSES AT SHA
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