Readying year two students for their Independent study

October 24, 2016

https://blogs.osc-ib.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Planning-the-Independent-Study.m4v This post is a transcript of a presentation (above) which I made to my own students following feedback on their first attempts in identifying topics and tackling a rationale for...

Teaching ‘Broken April’ or ‘Leo Africanus?”

October 14, 2016

If by chance you are studying either of these texts–Broken April by Ismail Kadare or Leo Africanus by Amin Maalouf–I’ve two suggestions of supplementary materials that can enhance both your work with students and also with their Interactive Orals. I...

Differentiation with Social Media Tools

September 21, 2016

This week I was notified of a change on a shared Google Spreadsheet I “follow” which is collecting “Differentiation with Social Media Tools”. As I write, there are  109 online social media tools listed, with the type, URL, a short assessment or...

Responsible and Ethical Use of Digital Resources

September 12, 2016

The beginning of a school year is the time when the responsible and ethical use of digital resources in IB schools is presented as policy. However, implementation of the policy tends to be only formally addressed through limited approaches: Integration of IT in...

BREXIT and what it means for UK universities and colleges

August 31, 2016

Well you heard it, the vote is in and BREXIT it is. So what does that mean for universities and colleges and what does it mean for students applying to study in the UK? Take a look at a Times Higher Education article published in 2015, regarding the pros and cons of a...

Cloze exercises with a Twist

August 22, 2016

Here is a little more developed approach to cloze exercises.  I particularly like the aspect of having the students develop their own short contributions.  Many of you probably use this technique with poetry, but here is a nice adaptation to prose.  And possibly short...