QBs

I've been MLIA for a long time. It's your fault IB, not me. Anyways, here is a nice little sneakity-sneaky trick for some IB diploma students who might not be aware of its existence:
IB QUESTIONBANKS.

/zomg/ lolwut/ Hurr, wossat?/ Oh that old thang?/

As far as I'm aware, there are QBs available for Maths and group four sciences. Only a few are available for the humanities and group two languages. They're extremely useful as you can select questions by paper (eg. 1, 2 or 3), topic and level (SL or HL). Marking schemes (answers!) are included and some times an examiner's report (not useful, but interesting). Only downside is that the one's I've come across are for the old syllabus. But they're still pretty awesome.

You can get your candidate-y hands on these through your teachers (which is unlikely since many use them to compile tests) or download them as torrents.

If anyone actually has the latest questionbanks or knows where they are (hi there fellow IB candidate), me want, please&thankyou. We all want, please&thankyou :)

(leave the torrent link in a comment so that others can also download)


ALSO... For help in internal assessments, it's a good idea to search for teacher IB *insert subject*teacher support material. A result isn't always guaranteed but I know a chemistry, biology and physics one is available. You can view moderator assessed IAs with comments, which can help give a sense of what you're required to do if you're still unsure.

beeteedoubleyou (btw. ha!) for those who can't find a certain paper or marking scheme, search it as a torrent if you already haven't. Or leave a comment with your email. I can't promise to answer ASAP or have the paper you're looking for (especially anything May 2010 onwards) but something's better than nothing, riiiiiight?

Now let's continue to procrastinate. Woo!

How to write an Extended Essay

Some see this extra (yes necessary) requirement as a time-suck. Laborious research, planning, drafting, writing and rewriting. The endless joy of frying your eyes in front of a computer screen!

Here, I'm going to post a brief guide, since there are several extremely detailed guides available in The Land of the Interwebz.

A) Subject
Decide from which subject your EE will be on. It is most advisable that its from one of the subjects you're studying.

B) Topic
Which area in the subject you've chosen are you interested in?
E.g: History: Cold War
E.g: English: Pride and Prejudice
E.g: Chemistry: Acids and Bases

C) Research
Tres important mes aimies! It's through research you will find out what you do like, and what you don't like.
E.g: I rather like World War Two, but I do not like the involvement of the US. This means I will not focus on US involvement in WWII.
Gather as many resources which are relevant, even if it's just a sentence. You never know when your EE focus point might change.

D) Question
The focus point of your essay. In most cases, it continues to change slightly, until a pinpoint focus in a topic is found and liked by both the supervisor and student.

E) Planning
Decide on the relevant subtopics.
Are diagrams needed?
Gather resources.
A basic dot-pointed list of what will be included in the essay for each sub-topic

F) Drafting
Place butt on suitable surface and type/write. There are two ways to go about this:
i) Set a goal and write an x amount of words every 'session'.
ii) Type/write until you can no more!
At this point it is the introduction, background information abour the topic and the body of the essay which is being written.

G) The First Complete Draft
4000+ words have been put to paper. This is an Accomplishment. Reread it and edit. Then show your supervisor, who will provide you with feedback. Do not ignore the feedback (unless your supervisor is clueless and has no hell of an idea what you're doing- which is very bad). It is not necessary that a conclusion and an abstract are written, since they come at the end.

H) Continual drafting
Edit and rewrite and improve your essay as much as you can. Keep track of ALL sources used. The correct presentation of the essay (formatting, font, etc...) can be implemented at this point.

I) The Final Draft
A viva voce (oh, the IBO and its fancy Latin!) is conducted. This is an interview with your supervisor regarding any more changes which can be made. Your supervisor actually records points they've noticed about your essay and other notes about the interview. The essay is checked for plagiarism.

J) SUBMISSION!
Your EE component is done and dusted. The IB warlocks will give you a mark. This mark, along with your TOK essay will contribute your final IB diploma mark, with a maximum of three.
Links
Here are a few much more thorough guides regarding the Extended Essay (in order of usefulness)
IBO official Extended Essay Guide (click on the other pages listed on the right hand side of the page to view criteria, regulations, presentation guidelines, etc...)

City Honours School EE guide
IB Survival EE for Dummies

Notes

i) To track your process, every time you make changes to your essay, either print it out (but don't bother too much if it's only 150 words or less) or save it as another file (i.e: EE edit 1, EE edit 2). This is to ensure that a Process has occurred. If, in some unfortunate case, you've been found to be the ill-omened Plagiariser, a gradual process of your work will be there to show you are innocent.

ii) My supervisor continually advised his students that one of the best topics should be from the syllabus of a subject you're studying. Why? Because it'll be like revision when writing parts of it and it'll also give in depth knowledge in a certain area of the topic.

How to not fail again or receive low marks

No one likes to fail or get ‘bad marks’ at school. But since we’re humans and make mistakes and blah blah blah, there might be a time (let’s say in our high schooling career for the sake of this blog) when we fail on a test, assignment or even a subject. Without really meaning to.
Frankly, some of my marks for some of my subjects have fell after being in the IB program. I know the same has happened to more than a few of my cohorts. The MLIIB posts on My life Is IB is further evidence.

However, this does not mean you should either a) not to IB or b) drop out of IB or c) become a robot and have no fun by working your metallic but off 24/7. Its life, you succeed at some things and can suck (or fail) at others. So the best thing to do is to suck it up and fix up your mistakes.

Here's a very general how-to

Tests

• Get the correct answers for questions you have answered incorrectly. Do this as soon as you receive your test back.
• If you don’t understand your teacher’s method/wording, find a classmate to get the correct answer from.
• Redo the question without looking at the correct answer.
• If possible, redo the test (at least the incorrect questions) at home, either mentally or writing by it all down.

Assignments

• Read the assessment criteria and see where you have lost marks
• Get feedback from your teacher, even if they have given written feedback.
• When doing the next assignment, read the assessment criteria and know where your weakness is, so you can avoid it.
• If a new assignment is similar to your low marks/failed assignment (i.e: commentary for English, lab practical write-up for Biology), refer back to your low marks/failed task to check you're not repeating the same mistakes (e.g: having a poor intro for a commentary, not providing limitations in discussion for Biology write-up)

Subject

• Most likely failed or received a just passing grade due to tests and assignments which have been failed or have received low marks. So do the above do avoid failing them.
• Talk to your teacher about your weaknesses and how to overcome them (either on report collection day or even at recess/lunchtime)

Note: Confidence in yourself is quite important, as well as actually putting in effort. Stressing and being nervous can also be good, since some people work better under these conditions.

How to write a commentary

You need to write a commentary on some random piece of literature. Great, you now know that at least two hours will be spent at the computer typing, deleting and retyping, all whilst you're trying to channel into the author/poet's mind, trying to express exactly what were they thinking when they've written "...the pentacle of sorrow".
Fear not. I shall tell thee how one doth write a commentary (for homework purposes only- where there's no time limit).

1.Read the given piece. What's the pace? What is the piece about overall? What's the format of the piece?

2.Annotate baby! Whatever ideas you have, let them spew out of your mind. Even if it sounds a bit weird, just list keywords and short sentences. What connotations do certain words carry (positive or negative?). Is the author's tone changing?

3.Hunt down those literary devices. Identify what's their point in the written piece. Does it add rhyme or give a continuous flow in reading? Is it to provide greater detail (identify the form of imagery)?

4.Note down the punctuation (more important in poetry than plain ole' text from a novel/play).

5. Start writing!

This is how I usually set out my commentaries:
- Introduction (author's name, the given piece's title, the overall context of the piece, list some literary devices used, the tone of the piece)
- Body (if it's poetry, then I usually do one paragraph for each verse. If it's prose, then each point with it's evidence [a quote from the piece] and affect on reader in a paragraph on its own)
- Conclusion (state the tone at the ends of the piece, the reader's reactions, summarise what happened in the piece, i.e: someone died, a man cried, etc...)


There is no 'perfect formula' for writing a commentary. There are many ways to go about. You can write it sequentially (start from the beginning of the piece til the end). Or you can write it in themed paragraphs (i.e: paragraph one discusses literary devices, paragraph two is about the author's perspective, tone and mood, paragraph three details certain examples of imagery and its affect on the reader, etc...). However, you must remember to be clear and eloquent in your writing, and must remember to explain the affect on the reader. A commentary is not a rewrite, it's an explanation and discussion of the thoughts and language in the written piece.

Here is a much lengthier Wikibook guide on writing a commentary (an excellent resource, no doubt).

CAS: Creation, Activity and Service

Text: It feels lighter today... Did I forget something?

CAS holds a great deal of importance in the IB Diploma. It is necessary for obtaining the diploma, and can turn 'IBers' into selfsih souls who'd do an activity "just to get the CAS points." However, since we are forced to do CAS, we are pushed out of our comfort zones. We might learn a new skill (which can be used on a resume), get healthier, make new friends and just on a whole... be a much more 'globally minded' (yes, a favourite of the IBO). I know this sounds really cheesy, but so far I guess it's kinda working for me.


Anyhoo, if you're short of ideas, here are some.

Creativity

• Inquire about art workshops in your council/shire/local area or a community centre (in Australia it's usually a Neighbourhood house).
• Take a few art classes (yeah, there's a good chance money is involved)
• Create a 'history of the school' book.
• Organise an activity (the planning/design process is counted as creativity)
• Join a bookclub (the activities you do there are usually counted as creativity.
• Write a story(or use one wirtten already, shhhh) enter it in a competiton (give your CAS supervisor the competiton's deets)

Action

• Participate in school sports competitons (inter/intra school sports).
• Get a gym membership (don't forget to take photos of your sweaty self)
• If going to a gym isn't an option, inquire about yoga/pilates/walking groups at your community centre.

Service

• Organise an activity at school. Or even outside of school if you want to get really picky. It could be a bookclub/artclub (+creativity), ex/incursion, an afterschool event for your class or year level.
• Contribute in school publications (+creativity)
• Represent your school at forums or meetings (let the teachers who usually organise these kinds of activities you're eager and interested).
• Fundraiser
• Volunteering at an event, such as ushering at a lecture, festival or even at a community theatre.

Long-term Project

This should continue over a genereally three month period and has to cover two CAS disciplines (i.e Service and Action). You must be part of a team, however the people don't need to be IB students nor anyones from school. It also has to tick off the eight outcomes.

• Organise an initiative, such as encouraging recycling/composting at school.
• Organise a sports tournament.
• Organise a community project (planting trees, vegetable patch, clay/mosiac workshop)
• Start a new publication (a newsletter targeted for Cooking Mama's/Gamers/Bookworms/etc...).

The word 'organise' is the key word here. It's all about getting the motivation to do something.

TIPS:

1. Remember to always be on the lookout for activities for CAS. Be proactive.


2. The best strategy is to complete CAS by the end of your first year.


3. During your vacations, go out and do some CAS. It's even better with friends because you're motivated (and get to have some fun together).


4. School is the best place to start looking for activities. Walking to the destination where the activity would be is the only transport involved. Afterschool activites are great, especally if you're supervising/leading (Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, art/science club, 'Let's Get Fit and Activated' Health Awareness and Encouragement Circle' -made it up, sounds realistic enough, hmmmm).

EDIT: here is an example of a CAS diary with CAS activities (inspiration perhaps?)

Essay Structure: TEEL

This is a pretty simple essay structure to use for most subjects. I've been taught and using it for about three years now, and it's pretty foolproof and simple. The following structure, however, is for the main body of the essay, not the introductory or concluding paragraph of your essay.

Title
Explanation
Evidence
Link

Title
Usually the introductory/topic sentence of the paragraph explaining to the reader what the paragraph will discuss. Avoid making it too lengthy and detailed.

Explanation
Discuss your ideas/reasons/argument regarding the topic sentence (whatever you had mentioned in your 'title').

Evidence
Give support and proof for your ideas/reasons/argument. If this is an essay for a novel study, give quotes and refer to the novel. If it is for a history essay, again, you can use references to back up your explanation. If it's an argumentative essay, give statistics (if applicable).

Link
A sentence or two which refers back to your essay topic or title.



A good paragraph following TEEL will have an explanation and evidence throughout the paragraph. By this I mean a paragraph will not strictly have the explanation and then the evidence in order. You can have an explanation and evidence and then another explanation or the evidence first and then an explanation. However, a good essay will include the TEEL points.