Our Exhibition. It’s coming. This Tuesday, April 23rd. Students have worked hard for many weeks preparing. They’ve had to stay organized. They’ve written essays and summaries. They’ve prepared a speech and a video. They’ve researched and dug into their passion. Here’s what they have been thinking about.

What makes you excited? What concerns you about Exhibition.

IBPYP Exhibition Voices from YIS Academics on Vimeo.

What an experience we all had today. We talked to Mark Wood, explorer, who is climbing to the top of the world. Mark spoke to us today from around Mt. Everest and told us about his journey so far. He plans to make it to the summit of Mt. Everest, 8, 848 meters, in another month. So far, he said he’s doing well, feels healthy and is exploring his passion: exploration.

Students asked him questions about his passion, the challenges so far, the gear he’s using. He even shook Kai’s hand–virtually. He also showed us the YIS logo and discussed how he will bring it to the top of the world.

Four reporters and Skype’s publicity person were here to record the event, so we’re looking forward to seeing the news and magazine articles about the conversation.

The connection was crystal clear, and students communicated amazingly. Thanks Mark!

A Skype Trip Up Mt. Everest from YIS Academics on Vimeo.

Please respond by Wednesday. We all look forward to hearing what is important about your passion and your issue connected to that passion. Make a case. Tell us about it.

Welcome back everyone. Spring is here, and we’re springing forward into our IB PYP Exhibition. Our Parent evening is April 23rd from 6:30-8 p.m. Students look forward to presenting what they have learned to their parents. They’ve been busy before the break and continue on with their goals for Weeks 3 and 4. They look forward to sharing everything with the world very soon.

Thanks parents for joining us for Student-Led conferences. We could tell the students are excited about their passion journey and know quite a bit already. It was nice to hear students telling parents what they knew and explaining their process of choosing their passion. It was also great to hear so many different languages flowing through the room. It reminds us all of what amazing learners everyone is.

Students and parents, how did you feel and what did you learn from our Student-Led conference on the Exhibition? Please comment

“Passion is what drives us crazy, what makes us do extraordinary things, to discover, to challenge ourselves. Passion is and should always be the heart of courage.” — Midori Komatsu

This week, we took photos, decided on our learning style, and got a jump into Exhibition. Check your goals. How do you think you are doing so far in Exhibition? Be specific. How’s it going?

We just found a great site that will be of use in our PYP Exhibition. It’s a site called DIY or Do It Yourself. It’s made for kids through adults and has a lot of projects and skills to learn. There are videos teaching you how to do anything from programming a computer to making sourdough bread to mountain biking. It’s perfect for getting ideas and exploring ideas we already have. Remember, though, you need to ask your parents permission to join. It’s easy. We’ll spend some time in class exploring so get this set up at home. Add a comment below to let us know what you think and that you are in.

Vienna, Shion, Wonkyung, Hana C., and YuJin

Action is underway already in 5B. Vienna, Shion and Wonkyung had an idea to help animals. Vienna loves animals and was talking to her mom about how she could help. We had been watching some videos of inspiring kids who took action from a passion that they had.

The girls were inspired by a video, unrelated, about boys who really wanted to play soccer so they built themselves a soccer pitch.

Vienna and her group thought, “we want to do something too.”

So, they found a shelter for animals and discovered what they needed. The shelter is a local one, and they need blankets and warm things for the dogs as well as dog food and money to help buy supplies.

The original three girls have grown into a group of 5 including Hana C. and YuJin.

They are knitting scarves and bracelets to sell and asking people to donate blankets and money for dogs. They’ll present their idea at assembly tomorrow, have a donation box set up, and it’s already jingling with change.

Great action inspired by passion!

Here’s the video that inspired them:

Taking apart a computer

Today, we continued to dig into Exhibition by spending some time thinking about something we’ve been wanting to think about but didn’t have time.

We’re calling it Passion Hour. Actually, it’s more like three hours.

The goal: Create or inquire into something you really want to know.

Time: 3 hours this week

What can students do: Anything they are excited about and want to learn more about.

We differentiated between “free time” and inquiry time where they can look into their own ideas and investigate what they want.

We were inspired by Google, Apple and now LinkedIn who give time to their employees to create. See Wired magazine’s article about this:

We were inspired by this video introducing Genius Hour (we’re calling it passion hour). Thank you to Gallit Zvi:

We also watched the Ellen show about young inventors. Students were beginning to get ideas.

Some initial planning and students were off exploring. By Friday, students will present their inquiries. They’re pulling apart computers and calculators (all old ones), searching out things they can do with felt and yarn, starting a novel, figuring out how to make a stop-motion movie.

We all can’t wait to learn more.

All finished with this year’s PYP Exhibition, but the action continues. Here’s a snapshot of the final night. Also, check out the school’s SmugMug.

Congratulations to all. What did you think? Please leave us some feedback!

5B Exhibition 2012 from YIS Academics on Vimeo.