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A Student’s View of the IB
This essay was written by a ISP fourth grade student as a special assignment for English class. “PYP” is the IB’s Primary Years Programme, the part the IB designed for preschool to fifth grade. ISP became the first authorized PYP school in the Northwest in March 2010.
Each one of us is an individual, and we learn in different ways. Each year the PYP unit deepens and gives us a bigger challenge. Some of the interesting ways of learning are through computers, books, field trips, experiments, and guest speakers. One of my favorite ways of learning is teaming up with classmates and working together.
You might think, “how can you learn while working in a group on a project?” The answer is that we learn by listening to others because they share their perspective and ideas on the subject. Sometimes you learn in different ways depending on what you are studying. For example, if a class is studying chemistry, it is probable that they are going to learn by experimenting. In my case, I am studying government and I took a big field trip to Salem, the capital of Oregon. My class and I collected information from books and computers about the theme of the unit, government. Some students have preferences for how to work and learn such as doing experiments, investigating on the internet, reading books, taking field trips, or listening to guest speakers. Working on the PYP unit helps us get prepared for later in life because we practice a variety of ways to learn while working together as a team.
The PYP unit gives us a chance to be creative thinkers and become knowledgeable. The best thing about PYP is that the final assessment is always a big project such as a big poster or an experiment. A PYP project helps us recognize many careers (jobs) we could have when we grow up. For instance, if we are studying chemistry, we learn about being a scientist. In another case, we might study medicine and prefer working as a doctor. Writing about PYP make me feel like I am the voice that speaks for every student of ISP, because I love PYP!