Block 4: Saturday 11:15 to 12:30

Save instruction time, incorporate standards, and increase high-level thinking by using open-ended learning experiences with multiple applications. This practical session invites participants to select from a repertoire of modeled strategies and activities that encourage students to excel while minimizing teacher preparation time.

The IB began in 1968, one of the most tumultuous years in recent history. For four decades now, the core values of the IB have been tested. Time and time again they have been validated, and the IB has thrived while many other educational movements have come and gone. But there is much more to do.

This session will consider current developments in Web 2.0 technologies, e.g. blogs, wikis and social bookmarking, and how they have been implemented by practitioners to improve teaching and learning in the classroom. The session is aimed at teachers and school leadership new to the Web 2.0 paradigm, but who want to know more about how educational technology and social networking are impacting

As part of IB's professional development offerings, the American Museum of Natural History provides accessible and innovative online courses in the life, earth, and physical sciences. These courses, which are also available for graduate credit, connect teachers to working scientists, forefront research, classroom resources, and each other.

iEARN is a global consortium of NGOs, government representatives, and educators working together toward a common vision: a future in which people engage in a dialogue of respect and collaborative action to tackle global issues.

Summit School District is in the process of implementing IB programmes for all students at the pre-K through 12th grade levels. The high school and middle school are currently authorized to offer the Middle Years Programme and the Diploma Programme and all six elementary schools are in the process of becoming authorized Primary Years Programme schools.

The IB continues to improve efficiency in the delivery and administration of assessment for the Diploma Programme. Increasingly, emphasis is placed on the use of technology, in addition to making changes to procedures that assist both coordinators and the IB in the delivery of two examination sessions each year.

This session will demonstrate ways in which the IB Learner Profile enhances character education in the Middle Years Programme. The presenters, both experienced educators from a National School of Character, will discuss the connection between the attributes of the Learner Profile with the development of students as active global citizens within a diverse school cultural environment.

Located in the 6th highest urban poverty area in the U.S., Fresno High, in 6 years, has expanded its IB Diploma Programme from 8 students to 430. Find out how to get IB students to reflect the diversity of the neighborhood, how to recruit non-traditional students, and how to train staff to believe that all students can learn at the highest levels.

Over the past decade, IB programs have been established in thirteen Chicago Public Schools. What are we learning about the academic performance of these students? How many of them are progressing to college, and how well are they doing once they get there?