RPHS IB Newsletter
October 2015 Issue
Happy Halloween!
What to Say When Your Student is Frustrated with a Class:
Whenever your teen is having an issue with a class, we strongly encourage you to ask, "Have you talked to your teacher?"
Students are often reluctant to speak with a teacher because they do not want them to know they are struggling or give the appearance they are needy or incapable. Sometimes teachers don't even recognize that there are problems because students are so good at covering them up.
We encourage parents to help their teens see their teachers as a resource and another asset they can use for support. Students may not always get the answers or solutions they want to hear from a teacher, but try to help them understand that their teachers have their students' best interest at heart. The IB department wants to see our students succeed and sometimes this means allowing them to struggle along the way.
Intro to the Extended Essay (it doesn't have to be the most terrifying part of students' October)
We have a lot more information to provide students, but these are the key points we emphasized:
- The EE is not due until the spring semester of their senior year, so they have the time to put together something great. Unfortunately, they also have a lot of opportunities to procrastinate. Setting goals and then working along the way is going to be crucial!
- Students will have an EE advisor who will help them set goals, brainstorm topics, guide them in their research, and support them in completing the final draft. This must be a school faculty member who has some background in the topic that students choose, but it does not have to be an IB teacher. IB requires/limits EE advisors to spend between 2 to 5 hours total working one-on-one with students on the EE.
- Students must choose a topic that connects with one of the IB classes they are taking.
- A well-written EE is one of the components diploma candidates must complete to earn the IB Diploma.
- The first step for the EE is for students to do an inventory of their interests and career plans and then see if they can start building a topic from there. Students do not have to develop write their EE on their intended college major nor do they have to do it on something they have a passion for, but they are going to be spending quite a bit of time with this topic, so they might as well have some level of interest in a topic.
- The second step is to start developing a research question that students will answer in their writing. This is the step that most students are currently on, and it is one of the most important. We emphasized that their research question must be specific, and it must be be on a topic that they can actually research. No matter what their topic is, students must create their own original topic and use others research, as well as their own, to answer their research question.
Here are some examples of some quality research questions broken down by IB classes:
Literature:
How is the subject of death treated in selected poems by Emily Brontë and Emily Dickinson?
What is the literary function of the dialogue between language and nature in David Malouf's An Imaginary Life?
Spanish:
To what extent have differences between formal and informal usage disappeared from the language used in the Rio de la Plata region?
History:
To what extent were Hitler’s educational aims fulfilled in the Uhland Gymnasium, 1937-1939?
How and why have explanations of the Cuban Missile Crisis changed since 1962?
Psychology:
How does participation in team sports influence the development of social skills in 12-16 year old school students?
What are the effects of the disruption of the circadian cycle by jetlag and how can the effects be avoided?
Biology:
Are commercially available antibacterial cleaning agents effective in controlling the growth of E. coli on nutrient agar under laboratory conditions?
Can a program of training at high altitude have an impact on the fitness of an athlete?
Chemistry:
Do strawberry jellies in different countries contain the same red dyes?
Math:
How many square numbers are also triangular numbers, where are they, and what other problems lead to Pell’s equation?
What was the role of mathematics, and geometry in particular, in navigation when we relied on the stars?
Visual Arts:
Picasso: individual genius or cultural thief?
What is the impact of transcultural experience on the art of Gu Xiong?
Theatre:
How does the personification impact each of the characters in the play Little Shop of Horrors?
IB Teacher Interview
Mrs. Hellums is in her 15th year of teaching, the last 9 years at RPHS. She has a BFA in Painting from Kansas State University and a teaching certificate and Masters in Curriculum and Instructions from the University of Central Missouri. She enjoys camping, coaching youth volleyball, and spending time with her husband and four children.
Describe your IB Class, Mrs. Hellums:
In art, students are encouraged to challenge their own creative and cultural expectations and boundaries. It is a thought-provoking course, in which students develop analytical skills in problem-solving and divergent thinking, while working towards technical proficiency and confidence as art-makers. In addition to exploring and comparing visual arts from different perspectives and in different contexts, students are expected to engage in, experiment with, and critically reflect on a range of contemporary practices and media.
What do students need to be able to be successful in IB Art?
IB art students should be empowered to become autonomous, informed, and skilled visual artists. In addition, the aims of the visual arts course are to enable students to make artwork that is influenced by personal and cultural contexts. Students should also become informed and critical observers and makers of visual culture and media. IB art students will need to develop skills, techniques, and processes in order to communicate concepts and ideas through their artwork and reflections.
What do you like most about IB?
Students have completed a four-week comparative study for which each student had to compare the cultural contexts, materials, and function or purpose of each piece of artwork. Each of their comparative studies have been turned in with the understanding that they can add to them as the year continues since they each have to use themselves as one of the three artists being compared. The students are now working on a series of 5 anatomy drawings and a couple of the students have already been brainstorming on how they can incorporate these drawings to enhance their Comparative Studies. The fact they are thinking about how to improve the Comparative Study shows me that they have the ambition it takes to be in IB