by Suzanne Giacotto

GEMS World Academy Chicago, an International Baccalaureate school, provides exciting and engaging learning opportunities in our curriculum that are student-driven and innovative, reaching well beyond the classroom walls. This is not only our standard of learning prior to distance learning, but has been “kid-tested” this month with the Grade 5 Primary Years Program Exhibition that was well underway prior to our school closure. GEMS teachers are invited to mentor students as they delve into an exploration of a topic they are passionate about.

First, here's a bit more about the Grade 5 Exhibition from the International Baccalaureate Organization itself:

In the final year of the PYP, students carry out an extended, in-depth, collaborative project known as the PYP exhibition. This involves students working collaboratively to conduct an in-depth inquiry into real life issues or problems. Students collectively synthesise all of the essential elements of the PYP in ways that can be shared with the whole school community. It also provides teachers with a powerful and authentic process for assessing student understanding. The exhibition represents a unique and significant opportunity for students to exhibit the attributes of the IB learner profile developed throughout their engagement with the PYP. It also provides schools and students with a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the transition of learners to the next phase of their education. Read more here.

When I saw a "palm oil" project on the list, I was thrilled and signed up to mentor Grade 5 student, Ferdinand. I had no idea I would be mentoring him from Germany, where his family moved back when our distance learning initiative went into place. The seven hour time difference meant we would be meeting in the morning on my central standard time following his late family lunch, at 4:30 PM in Germany.  

Ferdinand, a passionate, young environmentalist, has never missed a meeting, he is on task, ahead of plans and committed to research, data collection and advocating for this important cause. For our first long-distance live Zoom, he came prepared with a Scratch coded quiz he designed for his classmates to interact with to assess their level of knowledge of palm oil in snacks they like to eat. We discussed his prior knowledge, which was vast, he shared how long he had been learning English, since the entire project is in his second language. We continued to work together online over the next few weeks.

He was incredibly self-directed in his work, creating a Google Form Survey to collect data from our GEMS faculty about their palm oil awareness. From that survey, preschool teacher Joe Cella reached out to us to connect us with his family member who works for a sustainable vegetable oil company in Chicago to provide a real connection with the industry to further Ferdinand’s research.  He continues to research reputable websites, organizations and articles about sustainable versus unsustainable palm oil in foods and other consumer products. Each week, when we meet to discuss his “to do list” he has not only completed each line item, but he has collected more information showing his true passion for the topic he chose.

My experience mentoring Ferdinand is just another reason I have such deep appreciation for my colleagues for continuing to facilitate amazing learning, even with the distance. In particular, I am appreciative of the GWA Chicago Grade 5 teacher team of Mary Talbot and Christina Snailum for organizing digital tools that allow mentors and students to work seamlessly in collaboration in this new virtual platform. During our planning meeting today, I asked Ferdinand how he felt about distance learning at GEMS all the way from Germany. Turns out he loves the time zone difference as he can sleep in and he likes seeing his friends online.

Look for his project as well as his classmates' projects at the Grade 5 Exhibition in June. If you would like to add to Ferdinand’s data collection, please feel free to click on the link: Palm Oil Product Quiz.