Teachers Make A Difference Teachers at the Lehigh Valley Academy are very dedicated. Their role is more than teaching. They facilitate the learning in the classroom and support the students by providing the scaffolding necessary to ensure students make connections between the new information that they are studying and their prior knowledge. Application – It’s Hands On As educators, they are excited about the opportunity to teach in an environment where they can apply their own creativity to the lessons. Although each of the teachers understands that the Pennsylvania State Standards and the IB curriculum guide the learning outcomes, they relish in the fact that the process of how the students learn the skills is left up to them. Through daily classroom activities, PYP, and MYP, these teachers are incorporating creative hands-on methods of learning for the students. The basics of bookwork are taken to the next level, when the teachers are able to show the students and allow them to apply what they have learned in real life. Team Teaching The teachers have common planning time built into their schedules so that they can plan the curriculum either as a grade level team or with their cross-grade level partners. At LVA, older students work with younger students as mentors and helpers. This reinforces community and the IB and LVA Way. The teachers have partners in their planning, but also have a voice in deciding how a unit (PYP and MYP) is to be taught. After the teachers develop the foundation of the Units of Inquiry, then the students have input into the planners as well. This allows each of the units to take on a different direction as it is taught year after year.