C56: Communication Skills for Specialist & Support

Confessions of a PYP Teacher

Communication is a complex process, so how do we capture it in a specialist classroom or while receiving additional help with supporting teachers? Just like a homeroom teacher, it requires continual practice in new ways, so students can have those aha moments. This process will take years to develop, so it requires us to constantly chip away at it.

When thinking of a specialist class, it’s about making the vocabulary come to life in your context through visuals and experiences. What does it mean to have form in PE, Music, or Visual Arts? This will look completely different, but exploring the variables that affect form over again will help to reinforce this concept.

As a supporting teacher, it’s about getting students to use the language of learning at their level and slowly growing the learner’s capacity and access. Your work is repetitive. We appreciate this work, because it’s during the small group sessions with you that students are able to make connections in their communication development.

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