English B Grade 11

Got a bit carried away with all the excitement in the last few weeks and then the holidays did not help either. I don't know how others do it. When I'm at home and I have the kids around I'd much rather spend time with them than work for school. An then there is the running and the reading...
Anyways, So today's English Class with the awesome Grade 11 will be still about Media and communication.
From the articles given to the students we have only discussed 2 (WikiLeaks and Markus Persson)

Students will have to give short summary of their text and then they have to state their own personal opinion about it. They will also have to submit the words they have chosen in the Google Form.
First vocab test to be based on these on Thursday (October 1)

Day 10: English B (11)

Reading: Communication and media

Each student is given a text - Homework: give a 150-word summary, choose 10-15 words and phrases you'd like to remember

Day 10: History 11

Lesson 5:
Case Study 1:
Part 1: Political changes during the reconquista

Summary of the spark notes page - visualisation, finding questions

Students get a page from the book and have to produce a brief summary of it.

Using the sources in the google document students reasearch each source


By the end of the lesson studenst should be able to: 

- describe the key characters and events in the re-conquest of the Iberian peninsula until the fall (reconquest) of Granada (1492)
- explain the significance of the reconquista in laying the foundations for the Great Discoveries


Homework: Research handout 

Day 9: English B 12

We are going to look at vocabulary related to sports and leisure.
Students will also try some of the activities posted on Edmodo and choose 10-15 items of vocabulary they want to remember.

Assignment:
Writing:
Describe your personal opinion about this statement:

"Work-life balance is a thing of the past - we must all do jobs which are also our hobbies"

Part of the class will be dedicated to discussing issues related to the Written assignments.

Day 8: English B (11): Literature 1

I am the messenger
We are going to look at a series of quotes from the book and discuss them as well as try to decipher some key information about the book from them.

Day 9: History 11

Part 1: Spain 711-1212: The Moors

Excellent summaries and great discussion about the period leading up to the first Case Study about the final stages of the Muslim occupation of Spain.

Well-researched, well-prepared presentations - students made an effort to understand the background and we can now move on to the next stage of the history of Spain and we are going to look at the actual case-study.

We are going to break it down to 5-hour chunks and discuss each aspect?

Day 8: English B (12)

Today's double lesson will be dedicated to:
1) Finishing up on the topic: communication and media
2) Signing off on the rationales

Last lesson each student was given an article and they had to write a 150-word summary of it (i have doubts whether they have done this so the first part of the lesson (15 minutes) will be dedicated to them writing their summaries in Edmodo:
1) Who is the author and what is his/her intention?
2) Who is the audience?
3) What new information/knowledge have you acquired?
4) How successful is he/she in conveying his/her message?

Choose 10-15 key words/phrases from the text and put them on a poster.
These texts will be basis for the assessment of this topic.
Students will have to talk bout their articles for 3-5 minutes

In the second period students will share and discuss their rationales.

Day 8: TOK (11)

Students were asked to find a sentence or paragraph from a text about knowledge which they find interesting or important in in understanding what we are talking about.
In today's lesson they will share their sentences and and discuss them.
Next we shall look at some visualisations of knowledge and the knowledge society and discuss the historical development to today's society and the need for knowing about knowledge.

Day 7: History (11&12)

Well this wan't much more success either.
I am coming to the point that I agree that their laziness is the main obstacle in their learning. Everything is out there and we should be having meaningful, interesting conversations about what they have found out but they seem to be less and less interested and the lessons are sinking in a general abyss of hopelessness and an occasional whimper about the exam.
I wonder how many of them will actually sign in to Edmodo and look at the stuff I have prepared for them.
I never claimed to be a History teacher but I have a life-long passion for the subject and I am willing to learn and this is all the students really need to acquire too. Interest but how do you teach someone interest!?
The attempt with grade 11 seem s to be quite promising. They have done serious work on the Moors and I am looking forward to finding out more about them.
In our class we will look into what happened, and some of the key characteristics and try to discuss some key questions.
(Class 11 started a bad habit of complaining about their grades, which I find ridiculous as these grades have no bearing on their final results so there is no point in whingeing about them. It's just a student thing.

Day 7: TOK (12)

Didn't write down the plan this time because it was all laid out in the Edmodo classroom.
I thought I had put together a relatively comprehensive and interesting step-by-step guide to the TOK Presentation for grade 12. It didn't seem to work. I'm not sure there is anything that woks in this class at the moment.
Interesting - I sort f expected it to be more harmonious and effective the way we work together but we don't.
I don;t want to teach in the sense that I don't want to tell them what they need to think, I jyst need to help them find their thoughts - well that's not happening.
Introducing force and strictness - I don't believe in it and they know it and I couldn't consistently maintain it anyway.
We're only two weeks into the school year and I already feel like I'm losing my grounding and resolve and all my efforts seem to be wearing thin pretty fast.
I'm not sure where all this is leading.

Day 6: English B (12)

Communication and media
Lesson 5-6
Reading
Walk around the classroom and choose 1 of the articles posted on the wall. - 1st come first served

Read the article
Highlight 4-5 key sentences in the article
Write a short (150-word) summary of what you have read on the Edmodo classroom.

Prepare an oral response to what you have read and share your opinion with the others.

Choose 10 words you find important, useful, interesting, unique and write them on the board.

Day 6: English B 11

Lessons 4-5: Core topic 1: Communication and media
Following last Thursday's brainstorming session and discussion we are going to look at the 
vocabulary lists created for this unit and we are going to use these lists to prepare a short in-class group writing task.

Vocabulary

Find the envelope with your name on it
Take out the slip of paper and try to remember as many of the 8/9 words and phrases as possible
Write them down in two columns: I'm sure I know what this means and I am not sure I know what this means
You can go back to your list as many times as you want to.

Use a dictionary to find out the meaning of the words you don't know

Write/find a sample sentence with each world/phrase

Concordance:
On your own
Look at a page from the British National Corpus fro the word "communication" read the sentences and try to decide what kind of text the sentence comes from:

- Written/spoken
- Formal/informal
- Non-fiction/fiction

Choose 1 of the examples and try to write the sentence before and after it (focus on the tone , jargon, etc)
Get into pairs and share and discuss your solutions, suggest better ones if you can

Writing task:
- Choose one of the examples of your classmates and write a short (150-word) response to it
-  Post your answers on the Edmodo classroom.

Day 5: English (9)

Lesson 2
Well, I didn't get round to writing this down before the lesson so the reflection is coming here together with a summary of what they were supposed to do.
We started with students' experience with working on the homework. It was very nice to see that many of them actually made it to the Edmodo classroom and posted their answers there.
In cl;ass they had to share the facts they had chosen and prepare a group poster (4s) and then talk about their posters and share the additional information.

They did quite well but I don't think they were engaged enough or there was enough for them to do.
This is something I seem to need to work much more on: designing tighter and more challenging lessons in order to make students realise what they are getting out of the classes.

Day 5: English B (11)

Lessons 2-3
In today's class we start with the first core topic: Communication and media.
In todya's lesson the main focus will be the meaning of the two words and their relationship.
We are also going to look at themes and topics that determine media and communication. We are going to focus on
- Communication
Look at the examples and try to guess the word. What is the function and meaning of the word in the different contexts

- Write a list of sentences with the word "media" how many different contexts and meanings could you list? Compare your list with your partner.

- Look at the different meaning of the word "media" from the OED. Did you have all of them?

- Tell us about the source you chose and explain to the others why you chose it and what aspect you found most interesting?

- We'll watch and discuss the exerpt from the Network.
- We'll develop a set of vocabulary related to and organised in a spider gram

- Homework: Write 250 words about ONE of the topics below:

a) The role of communication in human development
b) Human communication is far superior to the communication of animals.
c) We need the media to keep us informed about the world
d) Media is a means of mass manipulation
e) There is no more freedom of the press - Advertisers and owners are in charge of the media and they supress everything that is against their interests
f) The new media is much more rel;iable than the old media


I'm looking forward to this lesson I see a good chance of a lively and interesting discussion.

Day 4: English B 12

Revision: Topic 1:
Communication and media
Today's lesson is a revision of the topic: communication and media
We will collect as much vocabulary as possible and try use them in context.
I don't expect this to be particularly difficult but it's a good parctice for the students and gives them some focus.

We'll end up with a list of vocabulary we will be able to use and organise.
We'll see howe much cooperation I can get.....

Day 4 English (9)

Done the planning for the whole year. I know when my exams are and how many vocab tests we are doing. I need to grab this class and get some work done this year. Sometimes I wonder why I have done this to myself but then admitting defeat is not my strong point.
I feel last year was a rteal disaster and I don't want that to be my lasting memory of this class.
I am excited to talk about Australia and I hope we can turn the otherwise really boring book into an interesting discovery of this fascinating country.

After discussing the yearly plan and the platforms we are using we will barinstorm about our existing knowledge about Australia - don't expect much but there may be a few interesting ideas.

The homework will be on Edmodo to get them used to it.

I am looking forward to woerking with this class again. Hopefully it will be a mutually better experience.

Day 3: English B (11)

Lesson 1

What is English B?
Core 3 topics

• Communication and media (Year 1)
• Social relationships (Year 1)
• Global issues (Year 2)

Options 2 selected topics (Year 1: 1 Year 2: 1)

• Cultural diversity
• Customs and traditions
• Health
• Leisure
• Science and technology

How is it assessed?
Individual oral (20%) Autumn 2016 Based on options
Interactive oral (10 %) Spring 2016 Based on core
Written assignment (20%) February 2017 Based on one of the readings
Paper 1 (Reading comprehension 26%) May 2017 Based on core
Paper 2 (Writing 25%) May 2017 Section A Based on options Section B based on core

Reading in English B.
2 works of literature:
Semester 1: Markus Zusak: I am the Messenger
Novel discussion lessons: Tuesdays
Semester 2: Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451

Ongoing assessment

• Students get a monthly written task based on the topic being covered in a variety of genres, which will be assessed according to the assessment criteria for Paper 2 Section A
• Students will get a monthly reading exam (in class) based on a variety of text types and assessed according to the assessment criteria for Paper 1
• Students will prepare at least 3 written reasoned arguments (Paper 2 Section B) to be assessed according to the assessment criteria for this paper.
• Three times a year students are given a predicted grade 1-7 based on the summary of their written work and 20 class contribution.

Topic 1: Communication and media

In this first lesson we will brainstorm the topic and students will have to submit 1 minimum 300-word article, blog post related to the topic.

Day 3: English B (12)

Lesson 1-2
- Progress report on Written Assignment (20%)

Written assignment HL: Students are required to adhere to a word limit of 500–600 words, plus a 150-word rationale. Students who fail to write the minimum number of words or who exceed the maximum will be deducted 1 mark from criterion A: language. If the word limit is exceeded, the assessment will be based on the first 600 words and the rationale. 

The orals
- Progress report on Individual Orals (20%)  1-5 November 2 students / afternoon (13:30-14:30)
Based on options:

• Leisure (May 2015)
• Science and technology (October 2015)

- Progress report on Interactive Orals (10%) - one more to do (November 24)
Based on Core: 

• Communication and media (September - October 2014)
• Global Issues (November 2015)
• Social Relationships (September 2015)

Day 3: TOK (11)

Lesson 1-2
There is nothing better than having another chance at doing something better than before. I am very excited to start teaching TOK again and looking at it with the experience of the previous year.
We will spend more time focusing on real tasks and less on just talking - not that there is anything wrong with talking - we have forgotten the art of conversation.

In this first lesson we will try to see how much we are influenced by the way we perceive the world.
In the first few weeks we are going to have a critical look at ways of knowing and discuss how they help and hinder us in understanding the world around us.

• reason
• sense perception
• emotion
• faith
• intuition
• imagination
• memory
• language

We will start with students' own knowledge and they will try to come up with a series of things that they know - we will organise these according to the different areas of knowledge and look for ways of proving/disproving their knowledge by presenting the sources and the evidence of their knowledge claims.

Task: Think of something you used to think to be true.

By the end of the lesson students will hopefully understand what the subject is about why we are studying it and what it's role is in the IB curriculum.

Here are few posts about things we used to believe
Smashinglist
Thoughtcatalog
Businessinsider

Day 2: History in English (12)

Lessons 1-2
Yeyyyy, I am history teacher - a dream come true? Definitely.

It's perhaps the biggest challenge of the year - one that I was very enthusiastic to accept. I will have 3 periods a week talking history and helping students prepare for the 3 papers and the Historical Investigation. It's a lot to get my head round and I have been working on it ever since I found out about this opportunity.

The first couple of weeks will be a look at the students' preparation for their Historical Investigation (due in January-February - just like everything else in IB). This is a major challenge for the students whose attitude to history is less than favorable. They need to find a historical event, come up with a knowledge question and write a 2000-word essay, using extensive bibliography and research.

This paper will be written in German but I will be able to help the students to work on their research and ask them challenging questions to nudge them in the right direction.

Source: TOK Guide

The main body of work in the next few weeks is a revision of the two topics they covered last year: Peace making and peace keeping - International relations during the period between the two wolrd wars, and the causes and consequence of wars.
The four (!) new topics to be covered this year:
Topic 2
- The Cold War
Topic 3
- French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars
- German and Italian unification
- Imperial Russia and the rise of the Soviet Union

In today's lesson we are going to talk a little bit about wars and history in general as well as discuss the plans for the Historical Investigations.

I am excited and scared at the same time but it's a wonderful feeling to start doing something new.

Day 2: TOK (12)

Lessons 1 - 2

Although I met the group briefly socially yesterday, today will be our first day together. I planned a lot for the summer and did very little and I sort of expect the same from them.

We will start with a short activity based on current news items - and see what kind of knowledge questions and TOK concepts we can draw from them. The refugee crisis is such a massive issue at the moment that I think it will be important and interesting to discuss from the perspective of 4 Areas of Knowledge: history, ethics, arts, religious belief systems (although we  don't have RBS as part of our TOK curriculum)

We'll try to do this by applying the Ways of Knowing and the Knowledge framework.

• Emotion
• Faith
• Imagination
• Intuition
• Language
• Memory
• Reason
• Sense perception

At the end of the session we'll have individual discussions about the students' plans for their TOK presentations.

Welcome to 2015-2016

A momentous year has just began and I would like to keep as thorough a record of it as possible to allow for reflection, planning and learning as well as a repository of materials and resources I have used.
This year I am teaching
IB Diploma:
English B Grade 11 and 12
Theory Of Knowledge Grade 11& 12
History Grade 12
I am also the Extended Essay and CAS coordinator
General English
I also managed to keep 4 periods of English in Grade 9, where the coursebook (Cornelsen English G 21) story-line is based in Australia, which will give us a lot of opportunities to discover this amazing country and its people.

There are also plans for an AG (extracurricular activity), which will focus on journalism and we would hopefully develop a student newsletter/magazine and the Yearbook. - We'll see how much interest we can garner.
 
I got my timetable yesterday. I have long accepted that there is no such thing as an ideal timetable but I think I can live with this one, very tough hump day and Thursday but on the whole it's not too bad at all.

I will try to keep the long-short lesson plans coming and post a short reflection about them at the end of the day. Ambitious, I know but it will keep me organised and focused - I hope.