Getting your IA (Internal Assessment) ready

If you are a May session school, it’s that time of year again. You have been teaching your current IB 2 class for 18 months or so and have had lots of ups and downs (more up than down I hope!) Syllabus material has been covered and in this respect you are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. You have also been carrying lots of fun lab work and this process is also drawing to an end. You may still have a few labs left (and maybe you intend to use some of these for assessment as well) but it is worth staying one step ahead of the game and start preparing for the sample that will need to be sent to the moderator.

Here are a few pointers for you to start the ball rolling.

Have you got a copy of the students lab reports that have been assessed? If not, you need to start collecting them in as you can only send work to the moderator that you have a copy of. If the student needs the work to help write up another IA, give them a photocopy (originals need to be sent off).

Are your 4/PSOW’s up to date? There is nothing more stressful than having to run around, trying to get thee up to date the day your sample needs to be sent off. Have the students signed them? Have you signed them?! Have the lab reports been dated? Have you filled in the correct number of hours for each lab report? And filled in the appropriate column to show what parts of the syllabus have been covered? If there are any gaps, shortfall of hours, etc, now is your opportunity to get things sorted out while you still have some time.

Once you know what work needs to be sent off, spend some time organising your sample of work. Make sure the order it appears is the same order as is written on the PSOW. Ensure that the sample is fully annotated. Remember, the moderator is looking to support you in your marking – so give the moderator some notes and justification as to why you awarded the grades so the moderator can support you. Use the IB criteria (eg, D, aspect 1 = complete). Moderators are regular teachers like yourself, they have day jobs, so ask yourself, ‘If I were receiving this work through the post, how would I like to receive it?’

All this is worth thinking about if you are May school, but what if you are a November session school? Well, if this is the case I suggest you bookmark this post, sit tight for another six months and then revisit it!

Good luck!

As ever, if you do have any questions or concerns regarding this post, please post them below and I will get back to you.