Spanish Prekindergarten Head Teacher Leticia Gonzalez recently joined teachers from all over Mexico to attend an IB Network PYP workshop at Tecnológico de Monterrey in beautiful Mexico City.

During this conference, Leticia attended many workshops to dive further into one of the themes she is focusing on this year: inquiry. These IB Network conferences are some of the many ways that ISB teachers are able to build upon their expertise and to develop themselves as educators.  

“The conference was truly wonderful. It was very interactive, and it involved many group activities that focused on the way that we, as teachers, can generate student inquiry in our classrooms. I had the opportunity to meet teachers from Mexico City, Puebla, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.  While I was there, the Mexican Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) announced that it has adopted the IB to be implemented in all the public schools in Mexico, which is very exciting!” – Leticia Gonzalez

Leticia said that her biggest takeaway from the workshop was how important it is to emphasize the connection that students make with the unit of inquiry.

“We, as teachers, need to be sure that the students have made this initial connection, the connection between themselves and the unit. If they don’t understand the connection, they won’t be curious to investigate. When the students find their own connections to the unit, they recognize that they also have a role in the investigation process. The students will ask questions, do research, share their research with others, and reflect on what they have learned. Having that connection is a very important first step to launch the inquiry process. The workshops at this conference made me feel more confident about how to implement these steps of the inquiry cycle.”

Being able to travel back to her home country of Mexico was also an important part of her experience.

“Having the opportunity to attend an IB conference in my home country of Mexico was incredible. I cannot describe the difference that this made for me. I felt that I was able to go deeper into the learning process. The learning experience that I had at this conference was totally unique. The instruction was in my native language, the language that I teach in at ISB, and this enriched my overall learning experience. There are some terms that you just cannot give an exact translation. But beyond the language, the cultural interaction was also completely different. Mexico is very different culturally than the United States, and this had an impact on my learning environment in terms of how I interacted with my classmates, with the way that we read each other, our body language, and the way that we show respect for one another. I felt that the atmosphere of this conference truly reflected the learner profile and attitudes of the IB program: the speakers and my classmates were all so caring, respectful, and empathetic. I felt comfortable, relaxed, and so happy to be learning!”

Leticia returned to Brooklyn feeling inspired to share with her colleagues what she had learned and eager to bring her contagious enthusiasm for learning into her classroom. We look forward to seeing the connections that she will help her students make throughout the year!