Tuesday, 25 October 2011

ALL GRADE X1 STUDENTS in ALL TOK CLASSES George Orwell 1984

MR.C.'s TOK Blog: January 2012 TOK SPECIAL TOPIC George Orwell 1984

January 2012 -STUDENT WORKSHOP LEADERS NEEDED -
- read the book and lead the group discussion.

The book has been distributed in English class but I will arrange with all Grade X1 ToK teachers to take the whole year group for a special Saturday TOK workshop early next year. Students are invited to read the book now and help me plan a student led workshop on the book and its relevance to literature and Theory of Knowledge. There will be a series of presentations by students on the book and lots of discussion for the whole group. I will prepare a talk on films inspired by the themes of Orwell's Dystopia. Our theme will be "1984-how many ways of knowing are there?"

IB REPORT ON GRADES -percentages of 7s per subject - WOW





http://ibo.org/newsletter_recognition/march_2006/articletwo/

Click on this link to read an IB report on Grades in 2006. Don't worry, the percentages are still accurate.
Can you see the 3 under the Grade 7 beside English? That's right, 3% get a 7 annually.

This is posted to help students and parents understand that on average 3% of all students in the world achieve a 7 in English. It might be argued that this percentage puts a lot of pressure on students, parents and teachers or that it creates a feeling that to score a 6 or 7 in English your skills have to be similar to a university student or graduate. You do have to work hard and it takes two years of that hard work to achieve your potential.
Indeed, 73% of the students in the graph got either a 4 or 5 in English. Only 22% achieved a 7 or 6.  It might be argued that  only 3% got an A, 19% Grade B and a whopping 73% 'only' achieved Grade C. Our English IB results in 2011 were significantly above the global average and will be in 2013, Please bear in mind that the IB is a rigorous programme and that students should expect to develope their skills and knowledge over the course of the programme. The IB demands critical thinking, imaginative response to texts and elegance in writing literary analysis. Clearly the statistics show that this is the hardest subject of the lot to score a 6 or 7. But students can and do improve with teaching which challenges them to think and discuss texts in class, while doing most of the reading at home.
The way students write about texts, including their commentaries will improve with good listening and note-taking in class, ask yourself here - do I take notes in class -the practice  of writing commentaries over the 2 years and by thinking about their thinking. Discussions in literature class should be closer to the model in university tutor groups than in the model of 'teacher tells me the answer.'
IB Literature has more in common with TOK, History, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology than anything resembling a literature course in most non-IB programmes. There is simply no comparison. Read the IB Learner Profile and then live it!

So statistically, 78% of all IB English students do not achieve a 7 or 6 in the final diploma grade - in other words a Grade A or B.  So comparing IB grades in English with other less rigorous systems is simply not going to make you happy or make any sense at all.
I hope this helps put our recent discussions in perspective. Please do feel free to post here if you find this report useful.  This article from the rather sensationalist 'Daily Mail' UK newspaper, suggest that there has been 'grade inflation' in the  A Level system while the IB students achieved grades in the same proportion of the total cohort year after year.
The IB regards the 7 and 6 or Grade A and Grade B in English as an honour grade, worthy of respect and so should we. Only 22% of all the students in the world achieve these grades.
If 73% of IB students attain a Grade 4 or 5 - that is arguably a C in some systems, we should be very very pleased with our recent results. Over the moon, actually.Now let's make sure that we can justify and sustain them in the second quarter.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-394399/A-level-blow-Baccalaureate-given-rating-5-A-grades.html

ORAL TOPICS - feedback in class, not online



Thanks for posting your topics and also being willing to fine tune them after some critical thinking.
If you do not get an email from me by Thursday, then there is no problem, just keep working on it.
It's not possible to send 60 plus emails right now, but I am checking all titles and will contact you if I see you need direction and guidance. So no email from me means just keep going. Your title is ok.





Diwali - Festival of Lights

HAPPY DIWALLI to Everyone from Mr. C

Monday, 10 October 2011

Oral topics must be posted here before Wednesday evening

Well done everyone who has commented!

I will be in Room 9 tomorrow Tuesday if you need to see me  during lunch break.
You can also talk to me in class or after school Tuesday and Wednesday.
You can also email me during the holiday to fine tune your topic.
I will also post some tips on blog during the hols so keep in touch!
GOOD NEWS:
When we return to school after Diwali, you will have 2 weeks to fine tune your presentation. You will have 10 school days and a weekend in between. During that two weeks I will be available to advise you on the criteria and the types of activities. Point you in the right direction, so to speak and tell you bluntly if your heading in the wrong direction.
I cannot be your 'partner' in writing or devising the details of the Oral, that is not my role.

Orals begin on  TUESDAY NOVEMBER 28TH

Wednesday, 5 October 2011

B.D. SOMANI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - Grade X1 students Wishing everyone a great weekend. Remember that the next two weeks are devoted to discussion and analysis of the 3 texts and oral options. You can complete your Oral Presentation Form in class on Monday. Mr C :)

Monday, 3 October 2011

QUOTATION: Treason doth never prosper: what ’s the reason? Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason.............. Where does this quote originate and what does it mean?
B.D. SOMANI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Check out my TOK blog and my youtube page

MR.C.'s TOK Blog: Wednesday October 5th Emotion/Reason/Ethics

B.D. SOMANI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Monday 3rd -Wednesday 5th October and next two weeks in English

B.D. SOMANI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL GRADE X1 ENGLISH Hi everyone - this is a short week and students will write in class on our three novels - Metamorphosis, Of Mice and Men and Persepolis. Week beginning Monday 10th - students will finalise their oral presentation topics and confirm if they are working alone or in a pair. Week beginning Monday 17th - students will carry out practice presentations for 3-5 minutes introducing their topics.
Just a friendly reminder that your oral presentation topics must be submitted to me next week in class on a special form, which I will provide for you. All students will present their formal oral presentation in front of the class, the order of speakers will be decided by lottery except for the new students.