2 New Paper 1s

This week I’ve published two new paper 1s.  You can find them here and here.  They both score poorly overall. In the past, we haven’t published many examples this low, if at all.  I think that’s my own mistake.  After several subscribers asked for samples on the lower end, I realized not all students or teachers see “success” as doing incredibly well on exams.  And then I thought, how foolish of me to have played into that worldview! 

While I know this already, and I do think I advocate for this at my current school, it’s a worthy reminder to myself: for some students, just taking IB English A Language and Literature is a huge success!  I need to remember to celebrate the differences I have in my classes while also helping students achieve their potential.

So, to the subscribers who reached out, thank you!  We appreciate your honesty in what you need from us and the critical feedback you gave in how we can help you and your students even more. 

Finally, as I was putting this work all together, I also realized these exemplars are important to share with students.  For example, you can be “wrong” in English as one of the exemplars proves.  The student didn’t really answer the guiding question; they didn’t have a valid interpretation supported by evidence and a sound reading of the text; and they did something other than what the exam requires (like talk extensively about what the author should have done instead). 

It’s important that we share with students a wide variety of exemplars so they can keep getting better as thinkers and writers.

Best,

Tim