What final advice can we give our students?

May 13, 2014

The IB exams are just about upon those of us taking May exams, and we have reached that point in time when students come by for last minute advice.  The usual throng of students in our classrooms has been alleviated a bit as the exam is relatively late in the session,...

Why mock exams are useful

April 21, 2014

A week  from Friday, the IB exams begin; while Lieutenant Kilgore might “love the smell of Napalm in the morning” what IB teacher does not love the sound of the word ‘invigilate’?  For those of us not in British-based systems, it is a...

Paper 1 – the source-based test

February 19, 2014

This examination is where students demonstrate their skills as historians in a very clear and concrete manner.  This exam is not a lottery – the students know precisely the potential subjects of the sources they will be asked to evaluate. The class has a designated...

Paper 2 20th century world history

January 8, 2014

  Paper 2 is an examination that is required for both HL and SL students. The exam is the same and the students are graded using the same markbands – the only difference is in the weighting of the exam for the final IB grade – it consists of 25% for HL students...

Introducing the Internal Assessment in History

November 26, 2013

In the southern hemisphere the students are completing their IB exams; those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are beginning the preparations for the IB, often including a draft of the Internal Assessment. Students complete some form of internally assessed work in all...

May 2013 Subject Report is available now

October 23, 2013

Since the May 2013 Subject Report was released in September I was asked to write this month’s teacher’s blog on it.  It is available on the Online Curriculum Center (OCC) on the home page of the history site. In the subject of history there are so many configurations...