Category Archives: Reflections

12/11/14

The IB Handbook of Procedures

During class today, we collaborated together in our subject area groups and went through the different sections of the IB Handbook of Procedures for 2014. The purpose of the activity was so that we could become familiarized with how the IB Diploma Programme functions. Isobel also mentioned that we may be asked certain questions during interviews such as what conditions need to be met in order for students to receive their diplomas. Although, admittedly, most of us in the class were confused as to why we were spending time in the class doing this exercise.

I think it would be more useful if I were to read through the handbook by myself one day; it was hard to understand some of the points people were presenting about what they had read in the handbook because there are still a lot of terms that we are unfamiliar with (e.g. “school based curriculum” came up several times in my group’s sections and we were unable to quite understand what it meant until we did some research). However, the questions that Isobel asked all seemed to be quite relevant, and it would definitely be helpful to have more sessions in the future where we can learn more about the program after we’ve had a chance to learn some teaching strategies and had time go through some of the details about IB on our own.

 

The following are some notes that I took during this activity on section A11 of the handbook, which is all about the reporting of results:

A11.1 The Schedule

  • Established schedules every May and November for issue of results data, as well as times when enquiries are allowed

 

A11.2 Issue of Results to Schools

  • IB marks released on IBIS (IB Information System) July and January 5th to IB coordinators
  • stats on global and school results available a few days later (9th)
  • IB coordinators are the intermediary between IB candidates and the IBO; the IBO does not directly issue marks to or discusses marks with candidates and their parents

 

A11.3 Issue of Results to Candidates

  • IB marks available on https://candidates.ibo.org to IB candidates on July and January 5th
  • PINS for accessing website only issued once, and should only be used by the candidate, they are not to be given to universities or admissions centres

 

A11.4 Candidates and the IB Alumni Network

  • alumni of the IB programme can register at https://candidates.ibo.org, using their personal code and PIN
  • receive newsletters and invitations to conferences, and can provide feedback to improve the programme

 

A11.5 Issue of Results to Universities and Admissions Centres

  • the IBIS can send a candidate’s results directly to universities and admissions centres in both electronic and paper format
  • a candidate can request for results to be sent to 6 institutions (however, of these, only one can be in Canada and one in the US)
  • transcripts for anticipated candidates who do not continue on to complete the DP can also be request by an IB coordinator

 

A11.6 Early Session Entries

  • when a candidate completes all session components six months prior to a subject not currently available in their diploma session, the results will be issued but no certification will be rewarded until the next session

 

A11.7 The Interpretation of Results

  • if a candidate retakes a subject/level, only the highest grade contributes to their diploma
  • diploma will not be rewarded if a candidate’s results contain a requirement code
  • candidates cannot change their combination of subjects in order to receive their diploma (i.e. cannot switch an additional subject for one of the 7 that contribute to their diploma)

A11.7.1 Diploma Awarded

  • all conditions of “General regulations: Diploma Programme” met

A11.7.2 Bilingual Diploma Awarded

  • awarded if the candidate fulfills one or both of the following conditions:
  • scores greater than a 3 in two languages from group 1
  • scores greater than a 3 in their group 1 language and greater than a 3 in a group 3 or 4 subject that is not taken in their group 1 language

A11.7.3 Diploma Not Awarded (Letters given rather than a score)

  • “P” indicates the IB Assessment Centre does not have sufficient information to issue a grade
  • “N” indicates that no grades have been issued for the following reasons:
  • withdrawal from exam
  • absence from one or all of the exams
  • failure to meet one or more exam requirements
  • breach of regulations (letter will be sent to IB coordinator with details)

 

A11.8 Diploma Requirement Codes

  • diploma will not be rewarded if a candidate’s results contain a requirement code (i.e. indicate what requirements for the diploma have not been met)

 

A11.9 Candidates Affected By Special Circumstances

A11.9.1 Candidates with Learning Support Requirements

  • candidates eligible for inclusive assessment arrangements (e.g. learning difficulties, emotional or behavioural difficulties, physical, sensory or medical conditions, or mental health problems) can have reasonable accommodation authorized

A11.9.2 Candidates Affected By Temporary Circumstances

  • any circumstances during the two year programme or the examination period that could negatively affect the student’s performance will not be recorded in the candidate’s documents

 

A11.10 Candidates Suspected of Academic Misconduct

  • an “N” will appear on the IBIS, but will not be recorded in the candidate’s document that is sent to universities and admissions centres (this information is regarded as confidential)

 

11/7/14

IBeyond Conference

Some of us in the IB cohort visited the IBeyond Conference today. It was quite an amazing experience to have, and I was really impressed to learn that the entire conference was organized by the second year IB students at Churchill secondary. Although the conference was not at all aimed for those of us who are learning about the IB programme itself, it was good to see how excited and motivated the Churchill students were. This would definitely have been an event that I would have benefited from when I was a graduating student myself.

I didn’t learn quite as much as I had hoped to by attending this conference, but it was also inspiring to listen to the different speakers present at the conference. It was reassuring to hear that in this day and age, people have the ability to excel in more than one field; I love teaching, but there are also many different things I want to do in the future as well!

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Joni Mar was one of the speakers that Minhe and I listened to, and she has gone through so many different amazing careers already (news reporter, interior decorator and executive coach to name a few).

11/6/14

“The Big Picture” – My First Full Teaching Experience

The act of preparing for, versus actually carrying out a lesson plan proved to be very different experiences. Today, I finally taught my first full lesson, and there were various aspects of the lesson I had prepared for, but also many others that I had not anticipated. The eighty minutes of the two lessons I taught were both the longest and shortest eighty minutes of my life. Certain parts of the class appeared to drag on forever, but I still found that I couldn’t cover everything I had spent hours on hours preparing.

In the first class that I taught, there were only 16 students, but even so, I was still very nervous. I naturally speak in a very small voice, and sometimes feel uncomfortable speaking louder because it always feels like I’m shouting. However, this turned out to be a problem when we moved into the super lab for the students to work on their DNA extraction lab. It was difficult getting their attention in such a large space when they were all quite spread out. It was difficult to keep all the students focused on their tasks because some finished earlier than others, and I had to run back and forth between the group that had moved on to the next activity and the students who were still working on the lab. The entire thing eventually became a great big mess when all the students were gathered around the activity I had prepared for after the lab, and almost no one understand what they were supposed to do. I learned that my written instructions have to be a lot clearer in the future; I can’t assume that what I’m thinking in my head will always translate well into written instructions that the students will understand. This class obviously ran out of time before I could explain what the purpose of the activity was.

In the second class I taught, I immediately took my SA’s advice and tried to speak louder, especially because this class was a lot larger in size. I found out right away that different classes have very different demographics and cannot necessarily be taught in the same way. This second class asked a lot more questions, and the students were more likely to “goof off”. I also realized that I have to work on my presence as a teacher in the classroom. There were still students who were approaching my SA to ask questions, although I was technically in charge of the class that day. Something I think that I handled fairly well was taking care of a situation where some glassware was broken in the lab; I was able to remain calm and took care of it quickly. However, the biggest mistake I made was applying what had happened in the last class to the second class. Because we had almost run out of time earlier, I ended the second lab too early, and ended up with some extra time with the second class, during which I awkwardly tried to fill in the dead space.

There were many things that I learned today, but I don’t think that these mistakes will cause too much of an issue for me during the long practicum. This was my first classroom teaching experience, and I hope that I will only get better at it. Some things that I think I will definitely have to work on are presenting myself as a teacher in the classroom, and focusing my lessons so that I can ensure that the students can understand what the purpose of the lessons and activities are. And finally, I need to remember to actually implement some of the different strategies that we are being taught in the program to the classroom.

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The extremely large super lab where I had to project my voice as much as I possibly could.

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At least the DNA extraction was a success!