THE TRANSDISCIPLINARY PLANNERS

In last week’s article, steps to leading your IB school’s unit planning meeting like a boss were provided alongside a proposed plan of action – the Transdisciplinary Framework, as shown below:

While the previous article focused on the educational framework in its entirety, and on the Team Transdisciplinary Planner (the 9-frame on the left), this week’s article will concentrate on the individual teacher planners depicted on the right side of the diagram, because as mentioned, in order to cure the “brainstorm hangovers” your team may be suffering from, these planners must link to the ones in the 9-frame Team Transdisciplinary Planner. The simplest way to depict this is in the diagram below, which illustrates how the planners could connect to your team’s brainstorming session:

Here are links to the detailed Team Transdisciplinary Planner and individual boxes that were discussed in the previous article:

The Transdisciplinary Team Planner – General Overview
The Mainstream/Specialist Teacher Transdisciplinary Planner Box in Detail
The ESL Trandisciplinary Team Planner Box in Detail
 
Let’s say it’s the Performing Arts teacher who is planning their week. As you can see in the above diagram, the first column requires them to refer back to the brainstorming session where team members shared what they will be teaching for the upcoming week, and draw connections from the ideas for use in their future lessons, thus ensuring transdisciplinary planning. The above diagram provides you with a general idea of the concept, but what could the actual teacher planners look like? We have provided you with three different samples, each catering to a specific teacher’s individual needs (specialist, mainstream, and ESL), along with explanations of how each team member would go about filling it out.

Specialist Teacher Planner

The first planner would work for a specialist teacher who teaches a subject such as Performing Arts, Visual Arts or Physical Education (PE).

COLUMN 1 – Transdisciplinary Links – Week 1

Starting from the left, the first column begins with Transdisciplinary Links – Week 1. It is this column that requires the specialist teacher, in this case Performing Arts, to refer back to the Transdisciplinary Team Planner (9-frame) and note all the links they could potentially make in their class. Things that could be jotted down are Standards, Provocations, Learning Experiences, etc., from other subject areas.

COLUMN 2 – Planning - Week 1

The second column is for Week 1 planning, which should be easy enough since most of the required information would have been discussed during the brainstorming meeting and documented within the boxes of the 9-frame (Team Transdisciplinary Planner).

• The first box would require teachers to list Standards (transdisciplinary and concurrent), Lines of Inquiry, Key Concepts, Learner Profiles/Attributes that may be covered during the week.
  
• The next set of boxes requires the Performing Arts teacher to list any Transdisciplinary Links (by referring to column 1), Prior Connections and Global Connections that could be made.
  
• The box for Student Driven Inquiries and Supporting Agency would be left blank during the initial planning stages of Week 1, and after a lesson or two, would be filled in based on what transpired in class. These notes would ultimately impact the boxes below, Learning Assessments and Ongoing Assessments, and changes could be made to these boxes accordingly.
• The next two rows of boxes require the teacher to list possible Learning Experiences and Ongoing Assessments alongside resources they may require for the week based on ideas they noted during the team transdisciplinary planning meeting (9-frame).
  
• The last row, which is split into 3 lesson columns, is optional, and you may choose not to be this specific; however, some teachers may like to plan out their individual lessons in detail to keep track of where they are, especially if they have multiple classes to prepare for or if they are new to the IB programme. If you choose to have teachers plan this way, then for each lesson they would be required to list their Provocation(s) for the day, Learning Experiences (differentiated), Ongoing Assessments (differentiated), and required resources. At the end of the lesson, the teacher could go back to their planner and write down teacher/student questions that came up alongside any reflections. Any relevant notes could be added to the box in the 3rd row, Student Driven Inquiries & Supporting Student Agency, to inform future lessons .
  

 COLUMNS 3 & 4 – Repeat the Cycle for Week 2

For the second week, columns 3 and 4, the Performing Arts teacher would follow the same steps as Week 1 – starting by listing Transdisciplinary Links from Week 2’s team meeting, and continue planning from there. Imagine the planner extending sideways, and the same planning cycle repeating itself over and over again for the duration of the unit.

Mainstream Teacher Planner

The second planner we have designed is for a mainstream teacher who teaches Language Arts, Math, and Unit of Inquiry. Instead of creating three separate planners, we have opted to go with one so that the teacher can easily make cross-connections between these subjects, but there is no need for you to do the same.

COLUMN 1 – Transdisciplinary Links – Week 1

Similar to the specialist teacher’s planner, this planner also starts by requiring the mainstream teacher to refer back to the brainstorming session and make connections to as many other subjects as possible.

COLUMNS 2, 3 & 4 – Unit of Inquiry, Language and Math – Week 1

The subject area columns all follow the same pattern for planning, and rely on information from the Team Transdisciplinary Planner (9-frame) completed during the brainstorming session to begin.

• In the first row, the teacher would be required to fill in their Standards (transdisciplinary and concurrent), Lines of Inquiry, Key Concepts and Learner Profiles and Attributes. Because the three subjects (UOI, LA and Math) are next to each other, it will be easy for the teacher to see where overlaps and cross-links can be made.
• The next row requires the teacher to list any Transdisciplinary Links, Prior Connections and Global Connections.
• Once a few lessons in the new unit have passed, the Student Driven Inquiries and Student Agency box can be filled in and used to inform the direction the Learning Experiences and Ongoing Assessments will take.
• The following two rows are to list ideas for Learning Experiences, Ongoing Assessments, and any resources that may be required based on the Team Transdisciplinary Planner.
• Lastly, if you would like your mainstream teachers to map out their lessons, space has been provided, and the days of the week would extend vertically (Tuesday’s planning would go underneath Monday’s). For the day-to-day lesson, teachers would need to indicate the Provocation(s), Learning Experiences (differentiated), Ongoing Assessments (differentiated) and resources required. At the end of the day, teachers could go back and add any teacher/student questions and/or reflections that would then serve to guide future lessons.

 
REPEAT

After the first week, the mainstream planner would extend sideways allowing the teacher to continue planning following the same pattern – Transdisciplinary Links Week 2, Unit of Inquiry, Language Arts, Math, etc.

ESL Teacher Planner

The last sample planner we have designed caters to an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher – your school may have chosen an alternate name for this department – EAL, ELL, etc. This planner is made for an ESL teacher who is assigned to one specific class, and not someone who is a floater offering support to students from multiple classes.

COLUMN 1 – Transdisciplinary Links – Week 1

Like both the specialist and mainstream teacher planners, this planner also starts by requiring the ESL teacher to begin by referring to the brainstorming session (9-frame) to see in which areas they could offer support.

COLUMNS 2 & 3 – Unit of Inquiry and Language Arts – Week 1

Like the mainstream teacher planner, all subject areas follow the same steps in planning.

• Firstly, the ESL teacher must indicate the subject Standards they will be supporting. These Standards can be selected from the Team Transdisciplinary Planner (9-frame). From there, the teacher must indicate the Vocabulary and Grammar they will be covering. It should be noted that if you have not required your specialist and mainstream teachers to indicate these during your brainstorming session, it will make it difficult for your ESL teacher to complete this section.
• The next row of boxes is to indicate ideas for Learning Experiences the ESL teacher could scaffold, and for which groups of students, CEFR standards (or equivalent) that could be met, and finally possible required resources. The ESL teacher will then move on to the next row and complete the same information for Ongoing Assessments.
• The lesson planning portion is arranged similarly to the mainstream teacher planner, whereby the days will extend vertically. For each lesson, the ESL teacher will need to indicate Provocation(s), Vocabulary/Grammar that will be covered, Learning Experiences, and Ongoing Assessments and Resources. At the end of the day, the ESL teacher could discuss teacher/student questions that arose alongside any reflections with the mainstream (or specialist) teacher, and then from there form a detailed plan for the following day.

COLUMNS 4, 5 etc.  –  Week 1

This planner only shows Week 1 Unit of Inquiry and Language Arts; however, it can be extended horizontally to accommodate other subjects, such as Math, PE, etc. 

REPEAT

For every week, the ESL teacher would continue in a cyclical fashion, beginning by indicating Transdisciplinary Links and then planning for the week based on this information.
 
No matter which way you choose to design your planners, and what information you would like to see in them, as long as there is a clear connect between your team unit planning meeting and your individual teacher planners (as we have shown), you will be able to eradicate “brainstorm hangovers” and the symptoms that accompany them. By requiring your team to refer back to ideas organized within a team planning template like the Team Transdisciplinary Planner, and then providing them with the proper tools to implement those ideas, there is nothing your staff can’t accomplish!

Are you wanting to get started on your own framework and planners but feel you need a little more guidance? Contact us!

Further Reading

Where is the IB's Transdisciplinary Framework?
The Transdisciplinary Framework
How to Run Your IB Team Planning Meetings Like a Boss
Creating Transdisciplinary Assessments and Rubrics
A Reggio Inspired Approach to the IB's PYP
Thoughts on ManageBac

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