We are two teachers that have a design and a traditional visual arts background, and that use sketchbooks as a daily tool. We collaborated closely when drafting lower secondary, IGCSE and IB DP Schemes of Work to ensure maximal alignment in building up sketchbook skills. This is an ideal way to enable students to track and visualise their progress. This presentation aims to equip visual arts educators with practical strategies to transform the sketchbook from a passive notebook into a dynamic tool that directly feeds into IB DP portfolio and IGCSE coursework. Designed for all secondary art teachers, it addresses the challenge of guiding students toward sustained experimentation, meaningful annotation, and reflective practice.
Participants will explore structured sketchbook routines: observational drawing prompts, artist analysis templates, and layouts that can be used to organise information on the page.
Participants will leave with a ready-to-use teacher toolkit and knowledge of the advantages and ways to use a sketchbook as a routine in and outside the classroom.
IGCSE and IB Art teacher, International School of Bremen
I am an IGCSE and IB Art teacher at the International School of Bremen. I hold a Bachelor’s degree with honours from the University of Fine Arts in Lisbon, Portugal. After graduating, I established my own studio and exhibited my work in several galleries across Portugal. One of... Read More →
Saturday September 19, 2026 9:45am - 10:45am CEST 0.229Am Luftschiffhafen 1, 14471 Potsdam
Real-world thinking is complex, showing educators how each of our subjects exist beyond the silo of our curriculum every day. Integrating music into various curricula can support retention, collaboration, creativity, and student confidence in the classroom. This workshop is intended to discuss ideas and ways to implement music into the curriculum for a multi-perspective approach to teaching. Special focus is given on incorporating music for democracy and protest from 1960’s to modern day (in a variety of languages), Jazz and the Harlem Renaissance, and Western Classical music from ~ 1600 to modern day. This workshop is suited for history, languages, and music teachers working with grades 6 through 12.
This session will engage you with adaptable activities that support understanding of musical elements like dynamics, form and tempo. Learn strategies from a grade 1 creative expression teacher that you can easily adapt for pre-school or grade 2. Together we will try out ideas - so be prepared to move and have fun!
In this session we will review an example of a PYP Unit of Inquiry which is intrinsically collaborative between the Homeroom and Specialist classrooms: Film Music. We will reflect upon what makes a strong and authentic transdisciplinary unit, in which students are able to identify connecting themes and transfer key concepts from one subject to another. Attendees will learn about the scaffolding, planning, and execution involved through the lens of this particular third grade Music unit at Berlin Metropolitan School, considering how to make the most of a music teacher's time and resources and promote the elements of the PYP. Related concepts addressed in the unit include music theory, history, expression, culture, and communication. We will discuss related mini-projects and possible extensions, differentiation strategies, technology integration, and assessment and performance opportunities. While this session is geared toward primary teachers, all are welcome as the ideas and concepts can be adapted to fit the needs of your students and school.
This will be a round table setting with some discussion points for teachers of the new DP Visual Arts Curriculum.
For example: - reflection on how the first year has gone - starting points: what we did to introduce the course to the students and how we would change this next year - challenges experienced: possible solutions - biggest benefits of the new curriculum and opportunities it has presented - timing of projects - building an understanding of assessment with the students
This presentation proposes developing ideas through materials as a new pedagogical approach in IB Visual Arts that introduces a new conceptual lens in art making that reframes how media is intentionally approached across media to deepen conceptual thinking. The session will discuss the conceptual growth that provides students with achievable and applicable understanding skill strengths in an IB continuum that is best understood not through skill escalation, but through how meaning behaves as moves between digital and three-dimensional forms. This approach of migrating from media to media is a way to reframe artistic media not as separate units, but as cognitive environments that support the IB emphasis on conceptual understanding and reflective practice across the continuum. Especially applicable to the new DP curriculum that asks students to understand how to situate their BOW.
