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Triple A Learning IB Blogs

August 18, 2011

balance

Filed under: CAS — Tags: , , , — Steve Money @ 4:04 am

The beginning of a new school year, semester or term is driven by changes and challenges. It’s an intensely busy time, often associated with things “new” – faculty, administrators, students, curricula, professional development plans, buildings, classrooms, and open houses. This stress and strain of this time of the year will often lead to a desperate plea for help and the need to find more balance in your life.

An important counterbalance to academic pressures for yourself and also your DP students might be a realignment of your cognitive and physical and emotional activities.

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February 12, 2011

Design and Technology Manifesto 2011

Filed under: Technology — Tags: , , — Kathy Snow @ 4:10 pm


“Design and technology is about making things that work well. Creating these things is hugely exciting: it is an inventive fun activity.”
Sir James Dyson


DT Manifesto

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March 25, 2010

‘Doing philosophy’ and blogging

Filed under: Philosophy — Tags: , , , — triplea_plstach @ 12:40 pm

The current IB Philosophy Subject Guide clearly indicates: “The emphasis of the philosophy course is very much on “doing” philosophy.  Doing philosophy requires a willingness to attempt an understanding of alternate views by applying intellectual rigour and cultivating an open mind.  It also invites the development of perspectives that encompass cultural pluralism and an awareness of the international context within which it unfolds.  This constitutes a new challenge for students doing philosophy within a worldwide perspective.” (page 3 of the current Guide)

It is, perhaps, no coincidence that the activity of “doing philosophy” as this activity is understood by the IB finds rich, inviting and challenging connections with the activity of “blogging”.  I think that several of these connections can be directly indicated here:

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March 24, 2010

“Doing philosophy” = “Being a philosopher”

Filed under: Philosophy — Tags: , , , — triplea_plstach @ 10:31 pm

My teaching of IB Philosophy has always been inspired by a vision, a vision that I share with my students in the very first minutes of their very first philosophy class.  I explain to them: You enter this classroom on this first day as young philosophy students but you leave this classroom on the last day of the two year philosophy course as young philosophers. This vision has guided me in everything that I do in the classroom and I believe that it is a vision that has helped make a difference in the lives of my students.  For me — and hopefully for each of my students — philosophy is much more than a course to study for an examination.  Philosophy is a way of life.

I can add some substance to my vision by turning to the current Subject Guide.  The objectives of the IB Philosophy programme are made clear on page 8 where we read that students who have followed the Philosophy course are expected to:

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