I believe this is the most important one because all good results start with asking the right questions. 

Inquiry is the basic step in the learning process. First you inquire, then we take action and later we reflect.

Asking questions and finding answers is the way to engage students in the learning process.

2. Teaching focus on conceptual understanding

Part of inquiring is going beyond the superficial/ concrete understanding of the texts into deeper conceptual one.

This will help students connect different texts, and form the base for global issue discussions.

3. Teaching developed in local and global contexts

Contextualized teaching and learning helps students see connections between ideas and aids the development of international-mindedness because it allows students to move between their own situations and situations of others.

It is a broader lens by which students can read texts thoroughly and build connection between them.

4. Teaching designed to remove barriers to learning

Choosing texts, or rather giving students the chance to choose among different levels according to their abilities and needs will help them perform confidently and communicate better with the texts they study. 

5. Teaching focused on effective teamwork and collaboration

Collaborative discussions, peer and group work activities help students better understand the texts they study and provide them with different perspectives. 

I personally believe that discussion is an effective way to foster open-mindedness. 

6. Teaching informed by assessment (formative and summative)

We tend to act better when we know what exactly we are expected to do. 

I think using assessments is helpful for so many reasons.

It helps students get over their fear by making them familiar with the kind of questions and the criteria used for assessments, and how to plan a perfect answer.

Interactive learning, trial and error, I believe, is more effective and will give students the chance to reflect in a better way than just giving comments and feedbacks.

I thought thinking must come first.. This is what the IB system is all about. As I had the inquiry teaching first, it only made sense to have the thinking skills first as well.
Then comes the communication. The first thing that comes into my mind when I mention communication is the communication students have with the text first, then with their peers and that's why social skills comes right in third place.
Self management should come naturally after.
Last comes research skills. Not that it's not important, but I always advice my students to think critically and test themselves while reading a new text, write all their thoughts and share them with peers before they run to the internet.

The statement claims that by developing inquiring, knowledgable, and caring young people we can create a more peaceful world. It claims that by understanding and respecting cultures peace can be achieved. 

The statement then mentions the rigorous assessment which I think is irrelevant.

The last sentence made me feel that IB students are superior to other people. It divides people to IB students and “other” people. The sentence implied (or that’s how it made me feel) that IB students are by default right while other people with their differences “can” be right too. I prefer the sentence with the word “other” omitted. 

Reading the Ib learner profiles is like reading a utopia manual.

They encourage students to be the number one responsible for their own learning. They highlighting how important integrity and honesty are which are two things I personally appreciate

 

However, the learner profiles put a frame for a perfect student and expect each and every student to follow, not bearing in mind personal and psychological differences.

They also assume that students (mostly children and teens) understand there own personalities, cultural identities, and expect them to show balance. 

The tone is neutral, objective and instructive.

It is clear from the author’s use of infinitive, repetition of verbs such as develop, engage, communicate.

Author’s use of short, or relatively short, direct clauses and arranging them in points form and not paragraphs is another method he/she used to create the tone.

The use of neutral, objective, and instructive tone highlight the importance of the text and gives feeling of seriousness.

The author’s word choice and the way he/she organizes the text highlight its importance and gives feeling of seriousness.

The word “celebrate” by definition means to:

1 acknowledge (a significant or happy day or event) with a social gathering or enjoyable activity

2 perform (a religious ceremony) publicly and duly

3 honor or praise publicly

The use of such word implies a festive, or joyful meaning. The statement implies that working together to make sense of the world should be a joyful process not a tedious one.

“interplay”, “constructivist”, “open”, “democratice” all have positive connotations which supports to the pervious use of the word “celebrate”

Placing both “IB student” and “teacher” , “independently” and “in collaboration” next to each other assert the idea of lifelong learning and highlights the need for both individual and group work.

Q 5. What words or phrases demonstrate the ideological perspective of this text?

“Create”, “participate”, “plan and host”, “raise awareness about a global issue”, “develop and run”, “connect” are all verbs/ phrase that  represent the CAS ideology.

  2. Poem “ Standing Female Nude” by Carol Ann Duffy

Global issue: presence and portrayal of misogyny through power discrimination and sexual objectification in patriarchal society.

First text:

Demeaning women in a blunt manner

Male dominance:

Woman standing lower

 Man’s standing in a higher position- face is not seen

Clothing:

Woman not wearing much

Woman in a vulnerable position

Man wearing formal clothing

The body language:

the woman : Arms behind her back - submission

Male gaze

Women are extremely sexualized and shown as submissive

Using magazine covers and the titles label women as objects

Serena Williams reduction for her physical appearance not her talents

woman is shown as materialistic

The lyrics suggest that women are in control by using physical appearance to gain money

Told from the perspective of a woman being painted by an artist

Model objectified 

Window light suggests that Model position is very exposed 

No conjunction or punctuation use of the sentence

Belly nipple arse is a blunt way of talking about physical appearance

Volume and space links to how she is reduced to an object

Reversal of power:

 Lines 22- 24 : Don’t talk : man has more control than woman

26- 28: the woman gets entire power by rejecting the painting as a portrait of herself

The speaker’s voice and attitude

The use of taboo language “the river whore”

Model is shown as having no identity

Model mocking it in lines 6- 7

Teacher’s questions:

Sum up different approaches both texts seem to take towards the global issue.

How typical is it of Kanye West?

How typical is it of Carol Ann Duffy?

How effect the video 

How more/ less effective the video is?

Which text is more powerful?

My comments:

Candidate seems to understand the topic in discussion. She seemed to have prepared well for her IO. She shows good knowledge and understanding to the texts. References she makes to the works she used are relevant and supports her ideas.

Her analysis and evaluations are insightful. They show good understanding of authorial choices and how they connect to the global issue.

The oral is very clear and focused on the task. I felt she dedicated more time for the first work though.

The language she used is clear, accurate and varied. Having in mind the stress she must have been under while presenting her oral or while answering her teacher’s questions, she did great.

Criterion A: 8

Criterion B: 8

Criterion C: 8

Criterion D: 9

Picking a global issue doesn’t seem to be a problem (or that’s how I see it) because DP global issues can somehow be related to MYP global contexts.

The varieties of texts students will study in different areas of explorations will be tracked to different global issues, helping students to make links between different texts and global issues.

Lucky for us, students are responsible for selecting their own work. As teacher, what I can do to help my students is to pre plan my course outline to make sure it includes a variety of non- literary texts that tackle the global issues in a way that deepens students’s understanding and makes them confident discussing it.

I think choosing one topic that falls under a global issue will be a starting point to find a literary text or excerpt that aligns with the non literary text they chose.

My part will be discussing and asking questions that will help students figure out if the texts they chose are related to the global issue.

Preparing for the oral will be part of my every unit plan. I’ll make sure students have their individual oral presentation first analyzing and discussing one topic, then two topics. That’s when the learner portfolio comes handy. Students will be encouraged to keep their portfolio updated with all the new material, topics they read and discuss. 

I’ll encourage them to have a vlog/ podcast  where they can keep their oral work.