Toddle - Your Teaching Partner

What if the PYP Exhibition could move beyond tradition, and become a launchpad for genuine innovation, agency, and future-ready thinking? I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be unpacking this at the 2026 PYPx Pop-Up with Toddle - Your Teaching Partner

In my session, I’ll explore how, using concept-based inquiry, and real-world problem-solving whilst leveraging the use of AI, we can transform the Exhibition from a culminating event into a powerful engine for deep learning. Expect practical strategies, frameworks you can use right away, and a rethink of what our learners are truly capable of when the Exhibition becomes theirs, not ours.

I’m honoured to be presenting alongside Cindy Blackburn and Ashley Eames who will each bring powerful lenses on learner agency, authenticity, and impact.

If you’re ready to reimagine PYPx and elevate the learning experience for your students, join us. This is the professional conversation you don’t want to miss.

How do we design units that respond to the world in which students live? What structures support voice and agency in concept-based classrooms? My session will not only showcase an engaging unit based on advocacy, but will also serve as a call to action to further develop ideas on Inner Development Goals and practical ways to incorporate current events into a busy curriculum scope and sequence.

Join me at the CBI Learning Labs Conference to explore this together in a hands-on, practical way.

📍 CBI Learning Labs Conference 2025
Luxembourg | November 13–16

🎟️ Registration closes October 31 - secure your seat today
 

In this 1-hour session, Sana Alavi and Aimée Skidmore guide you through a calm, hands-on reflection to help you close the school year with clarity—and carry what matters into next year with more intention, ownership, and connection. 

You’ll walk away with:  

-A moment to pause and recognize your impact this year  

-A Positive Outlook Card to carry forward  

-Some simple, high-impact strategies for building student ownership and strong relationships  

-A goal-setting tool to align what matters to you with what your school requires  

Come as you are. Watch when you’re ready. This space is for you. Here are the links to the resources from this session: 

Positive Outlook Card

PEERS Goals Planner

About the talk

Do your students need a boost of inspiration for their PYP exhibition? Are you finding that their passions don’t align with real-world issues or that their goal setting needs more work? Tune into this session with PYP Coordinator, Sana Alavi, to discover the power of questioning and the value of agency in inspiring your exhibition group to achieve their full potential. Learn how to be an inspirational mentor to your exhibition group, in the context of in-person, blended and online learning.

Highlights you don’t want to miss

• The power of provocation questions to help your students make connections
• How students can look at their exhibitions through the lens of Sustainable Development Goals 
• Helpful resources to spark critical thinking around their exhibition
• Ways to introduce the 7 PYP concepts to work backwards and start thinking with an end goal in mind 

How Prioritizing the Right Things can Help with a Successful Start to the School Year

This video is a recorded International webinar (hosted by Fourth Generation for Education) filmed during the COVID-19 school reopening period, featuring Sana Alavi and Abdul Khan sharing practical guidance and reflective insights on back-to-school priorities in uncertain times.

The discussion centers on what schools should prioritize “post-COVID” (or during reopening phases), starting with establishing safety and trust through clear, consistent communication and protocols aligned with local health/education authorities. From there, the session highlights the need to elevate children’s emotional wellbeing, emphasizing empathy, deep listening, and the idea that “all behavior is communication.” The speakers also address the importance of social interaction after prolonged isolation, offering creative ways to build connection even with masks and distancing—such as warm body language and the “button project” idea (showing a smiling photo of the educator).

A key takeaway is that schools should begin the year by prioritizing relationships, agency, and play, rather than rushing into academic catch-up. Participants reflect on how learning extends beyond classroom walls and how the pandemic revealed both vulnerabilities and opportunities—especially around flexibility, blended learning models, and strengthening home–school partnerships. Overall, the webinar provides a hopeful, human-centered roadmap for reopening schools with compassion, clarity, and community at the core.