Approaches to Learning
Approaches to learning skills are central to the learning experience in the MYP. This area of interaction is concerned with providing opportunities for the development of skills and attitudes to learning. ATL skills should enable students to become competent in identifying, monitoring and managing their own learning. It goes far beyond study skills, having to do with “learning how to learn” and with developing an awareness of thought processes and their strategic use. This area of interaction recognizes that learning is more than the acquisition of knowledge. It involves application, critical thinking and problem-solving, both individually and collaboratively. It takes place not only in the AISJ classrooms but also in the field trips and the extra-curricular activities like MUN.
This year a booklet on Approaches to Learning, Study like a Super Star, was given to MYP 1 to help them with their organizational skills.
A course in Critical Thinking is offered to MYP 5 in preparation for TOK.
Academic Honesty has been an issue school-wide but has had special attention in MYP 1 and 2 with an inter-curricular poster project.
Experiential Learning
AISJ encourages experiential learning through its field trips, which are scheduled to support the learning goals of curriculum units and supplement classroom learning. The thrill of actually being at a site helps students become more involved so that they are better able to integrate, retain and manipulate information.
The MYP 3 Humanities trip visited Beit Shean as part of their learning about ancient civilizations. Located at the meeting point of the Jordan and Jezreel valleys, it stood at a major intersection of trade routes. Under the Romans it became part of the Decapolis, the league of the ten most important cities in the Eastern Mediterranean. Students found evidence for the ancient city’s prosperity by examining the Roman amphitheatre.
The MYP 5 Hebrew trip to the Russian Compound, the high security prison during Mandate times, focused on the intense struggles of Jewish underground organizations against the British authorities in a determined attempt to establish an independent state. Students examined both sides of the conflict.
MUN
Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about civics, effective communication, globalization and multilateral diplomacy. Its goals are to increase international understanding and develop the art of peaceful negotiation among potential national and international leadsers. In MUN, students are assigned a country that they will represent in a simulated General Assembly session Participants research a country, take on roles as diplomats, investigate international issues, debate, deliberate, consult, and then develop solutions to world problems. MYP 5 students join DP students in representing the school at conferences in Tel Aviv and abroad.