Written task 1: Topic or text?
I recently had an interesting discussion with a group of teachers about a specific written task 1 and the terms 'topic' and 'text'. In the rationale to this particular task the student claims that the...
Specimen Paper 1s
I've recently received requests from several teachers to develop some specimen Paper 1s. As you may know the official specimen papers can be found on the OCC under 'assessment'. Practising with these...
New Handbook
As some of you may be aware, the new Handbook of Procedures (HoP) came out last week. For the less-experienced teachers out there: the Handbook of Procedures is a document for administering the IB Diploma....
Persepolis
It's back to school (see image) and hopefully everyone has read the books that we have assigned the students. I know a popular one this year is going to be Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. That is why I've...
Fewer forms, more uploading
At my latest IB workshop in Brussels, we had the pleasure of having a curriculum manager on site. We had the chance to ask her several questions about the ways in which schools must administer the language...
Group 1 parity
The new Group 1 courses for the DP are no longer hypothetical concepts. Now that the first year of teaching is behind us, many teachers, coordinators and students are starting to realize what they entail....
WT1, the 'imaginative piece'
I am currently examining the last batch of written tasks from the old A2 course, and I'm coming across a lot of issues that are relevant for the new Language and Literature course. Essentially the core...
The girl playwrights
I took a critical look at the drama trio - dead, white, men - and decided to look at the female playwrights listed on the Language A list. First of all, there are only six of them. Second of all, I went...
Benetton is at it again
Many of you may be familiar the Benetton ads from the 1980s and 1990s. Their ads have always been controversial and bold, exploring themes of race, AIDS, poverty and religion. In November 2011, Benetton...
Written task 2: debunking the myths
At workshops some questions have arisen about the nature of written task 2. I put these questions to the IB and received answers that I'd like to share with everyone here. These questions about the written...