IB News At The End of Quarter 1

Cassie Armstrong | September 30, 2016 | AP/IB Info | No Comments

Time passes so quickly for both students and for teachers. The end of Quarter 1 is upon us as is Learning 2. Predicted Grades and the university admission process is also fast approaching.

Last week, the IB Team held an IB Night for all full-IB Grade 11 students and parents. Parents and students were introduced to a more detailed explanation of IB philosophy, pedagogy, and habits of mind and action in order to better support their journey through the IB Program. For a roadmap, Grade 11 students were provided with the SSIS IA calendar that will cover their assessments over the next 18 months. A copy has been posted on Moodle and can also be found here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NYgfL37R5nc3n_Ni3um2DYTX3J8rHsqp1k43zKxZITk
As a reminder of IB updates, be sure to look over the latest information released in the September 2016 Coordinator’s Notes:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwPDNWShT_P1Qm9hVlR0TXhIeHM

IB teachers are to submit Predicted Grades to the IB Coordinator by October 6th. The Google spread sheet has been shared with you to complete. The columns will automatically tabulate final scores that will merge into individual Predicted Grade forms for each student.

I will then conference with each IB student about his or her predicted grade in each class. The student will then make decisions about university options with their respective guidance counselor. Predicted grades are subject to change between October and December based on a student’s performance. Students need to know where they stand in a particular class based on the IB grade descriptors (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwPDNWShT_P1UHhjVGdrRkw2Skk) regardless of university admission requirements.

At the end of Grade 11, students should be able to provide the teacher with his or her status in the class based on IB grade descriptors and also know their strengths and weaknesses in the class. Further, a student should be able to describe what they don’t know and what steps that they need to take in Year 2 to be fully prepared.

Extended Essay News

By Lara Keller:
During the 3-day DP Librarian workshop, a group of 20+ librarians from international schools around the region gathered to learn more about the changing and dynamic role of a librarian in a school that offers the Diploma Programme. In addition to learning from each other, we had many formal sessions on a wide range of topics. We looked deeply at the Standards and Practices and determined the ones that have direct and indirect implications for the library and strategies to support their implementation. We discussed academic honesty; using TurnItIn to enhance writing; digital resources; and ways to increase international-mindedness in the collection and the library space.

We also did a session on the new guidelines for the Extended Essay which take effect for the class of 2018. A sneak peak of a few of the key changes:

-Formal reflections will be an assessed requirement

-Reflections are completed after 3 required formal meetings/supervisory sessions with the EE Supervisor

-The EE topic must be in the form of a question

-An abstract will no longer be required

-Examiners will stop reading at the 4,000-word limit; stricter guidelines are in place regarding the use of footnotes/endnotes/appendices

-The number of assessment criteria has been reduced to five: four criteria are about the essay itself and one is about the reflections

I will be attending a one-day Extended Essay workshop in October and will be back to you then with more information.

CAS Retreat For Grade 11 IB Students News

By Jay Prodger:
Last week, Year 1 CAS students started their IB journey with a CAS perspective where Creativity, Activity & Service came alive in a real way. You can see Jay’s photos and report here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1By31KQhq_RO2i2Ryd0kTXsCMbKd_CqK8ldzxUwkZfo0/edit?ts=57eccbb3