The International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme places on emphasis on developing Attitudes which will support the children’s learning across all curriculum areas.  This week, as we continued our inquiry around the theme of Sharing the Planet, we had a Grade 2 student come and present to us his beloved ‘Scaly’ – a garter snake he has been caring for over the past three years.  His passion for snakes became evident during his SK year at Richland, and on learning we were studying endangered species, he decided to come back to SK to share his knowledge about endangered snakes.

In the process, he showed the positive attitudes of enthusiasm and confidence, and the current SK’s strengthened their attitudes of curiosity and empathy.  Many were initially scared – “I don’t like snakes” many shared.  Yet as the day went on, and Scaly took up residence in our atelier, the more they observed him closely, the less frightened they became.  Many children demonstrated the learner profile trait of ‘Risk Taker’, as they observed how he moved. One student commented, “He uses his tongue to smell.  Look it has black on the end of it!”. Another student commented that the snake seemed to be observing us as much as we were observing him.

In other areas of the classroom, new habitats were being created, as part of our current inquiry work, using a variety of materials.  This involved much problem solving, research, and collaboration.  The children worked independently with a great deal of concentration, and excitedly shared what they had created.  Here the children were showing the  attitudes of creativity, independence and cooperation.

FACETS OF THE LEARNER PROFILE ATTRIBUTES ARE REVEALED AS WE BEGIN A NEW MATHEMATICAL INQUIRY
This week we began to explore 2D shapes as part of our ongoing mathematical inquiry work.  We began by charting our current knowledge as a whole group, and then many children chose the math provocations that had been set out, to explore this idea further.  As they used the manipulatives provided, they wanted to share what they had discovered. This short video shows them being Thinkers, Communicators and Reflective learners.

​The photos of the children in the piazza, show just how much joy they felt as they constructed their own understandings of 2D shapes.