Facing up to the IA assessment: the dreaded oral

August 15, 2016

This is a tough one, and there’s no doubt about that.  Here are a few bits of good advice selected from various teachers. Collaborative advice from teachers for HL/SL candidates facing the IA for Part 2 Preparation through the year Take good notes in class, mark...

Handwriting counts in exams

July 20, 2016

With the May exam session behind us by nearly six weeks, and most exams marked by the examiners, it is time to address an important issue with regard to IB exams: your handwriting. In much of life, your ability to hand write work clearly may not seem that important,...

Existentialism in brief

Just in case you’re not willing or able to take on the whole of Sarah Blakewell’s At the Existentialist Cafe, (New York, 2016) I thought I’d provide you easy access to some points from her summary on page on page 34.  Sometimes it’s good to...

The New Extended Essay

June 24, 2016

Were you aware that a new EE guide was out? It has been live for around three months and is for first examinations May 2018, so that will be students whom you start to teach this coming August / September. Now that things have got quieter with IB teaching (IB2...

The Halogens and the Sea

June 17, 2016

There are a few references to lab work in this post – I do need to stress that any labs you carry out need to be under the supervision of one of your teachers (and risk assessed by the teacher) and carried out in school. I have always been fascinated by the link with...

Studying for Success on HL Paper 3

May 13, 2016

KEY IDEAS for May 2016 HL Paper 3 exam Online help for students Students must refer to both their secondary research and any primary investigations, visitations, interview or any other first-hand experiences they have had related to the  2016 Case Study SMART HOMES....