As math educators in the IB Diploma Programme, we often face a familiar hurdle: the "Abstraction Gap." For years, functions were taught from a purely conceptual starting point - memorizing domains, ranges, and the generic "parent shapes" of graphs. This year, I decided to flip the script. Instead of starting with the concept  and searching for a context , we started with the Winter Olympics  and allowed the math to emerge from the movement. The Pedagogy: Contextual Grounding

Many IB DP Mathematics students view the Internal Assessment (IA) as a daunting mountain of spreadsheets and abstract formulas. But last week, my Applications and Interpretation class found that the best way to understand the pitfalls of mathematical modeling and collecting data is on the beach; dodging a rising tide, while your carefully planted ruler floats away. Here is how I used a blend of experiential learning, AI-generated critiques, and digital collaboration to transf

The "Mock Season" for Year 2 IBDP Applications and Interpretations (AI) SL  students is a unique kind of pressure cooker. They are transitioning from learning new content to synthesizing everything they know under timed conditions. I noticed a recurring theme in my classroom: students weren't getting stuck because they didn't know the math; they were getting stuck because they were missing some of the technicalities. Which hypothesis test do I use? How do I find the p-value o

As a mathematics teacher, I often find that the biggest hurdle for my Year 1 IBDP  students isn’t the math itself—it’s the communication. They are comfortable with formulas, but when it comes to the Internal Assessment (IA), they are suddenly asked to be technical writers, a modality many haven't explored in a math context before. This week, I decided to tackle this "writing anxiety" by using Gemini to create a "perfectly imperfect" learning experience. The Strategy: Designin