Building a programme
On allocating 'bi-linguals'
The term 'bilingual' has been an ongoing puzzle for the IB for many years, because it bears on the distinction between the subjects Group 1: Language & Literature and Group 2: Language Acquisition. The...
Blog
To B or Not to B? Free
The IBDP is notoriously tough, and for good reason. Perhaps understandably, students (and their parents) will look to game the system if they can when it comes to course selection. After all, they want...
Blog
Prejudices Free
A teacher recently posted a Comment expressing concern about how certain students expressed homophobic/transphobic views in their written texts and also sexist/racially inappropriate /offensive comments...
Building a programme
May 2023, reviewed
The Subject Report system has changed from May 2023 onwards. There are now two subject reports for each exam session, since IB exams are now produced with separate papers for different Time Zones - Timezone...
Assessment
Leaflets & pamphlets
Brochures, handouts, fliers, pamphlets, leaflets, ... call them what you will - what they all have in common is that they should be concise and communicate efficiently. The ability to write succinctly...
eBook
TASKS AI Digital Clones
I'm willing to bet (figuratively, not literally!) that many of you have seen videos by social media influencers. Perhaps you even regularly watch content from a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) on TikTok, Instagram,...
Blog
Handwriting Free
How do we write? Or, to be more precise, how do we expect, or require, our students to write? I have recently read an article in El Pais on the issue of how handwriting is gradually being side-lined by...
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Assessment
Social media sample
There has been significant discussion about what exactly is meant by the text type 'Social media posting' (see the blog Text types & Themes ). In the hope of moving the discussion forward a little, I...
Assessment
Student film review
This sample of student work is a very well-written Film Review, which can serve as a model. It has been provided Angela Njoroge of Ecole Oasis Internationale, Cairo - my thanks to her and her students....
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Assessment
A sample report
It is hard to find good models of 'Report (official)' as the list of text types puts it, rather ponderously. This is because most real reports are much much longer than the 400-600 words expected for...