IB Class of 2013: advice, expectations?

[lilianna009]

I hope we're gonna start doing sth interesting at maths. Cause for now it's easy and boring . I want a challenge .

Everybody says that SL is like higher level in Polish system, so maybe it's just because it's only the beginning.

[Gaby]

I hope we're gonna start doing sth interesting at maths. Cause for now it's easy and boring . I want a challenge .

Everybody says that SL is like higher level in Polish system, so maybe it's just because it's only the beginning.

Hell, what are you doing in Maths, then? We're doing sequences and though most of the time they are pretty nice little things if you pay attention during the lesson, infinite geometric sequence is like the most abstract thing I have ever seen in my life.

But I sit with a very nice guy at maths and we have a looot of fun doing exercises, we're definitely the loudest people in the classroom. Maths is like drinking - it's better in good company.

[Mozz]

We're also doing sequences in Maths, feels like a recap on GCSE to be honest.

[Bradley]

Get a note taking device in the OneNote or GrowlyNote vein, much easier to manage than word.

The teachers are there to teach the class, you're part of the class, if you don't understand something, ask questions.

Become friends with that maths nerd, that English nerd and that history buff in your class.

If you think it's too easy at any point, next week you'll have two essays and an IA to do.

Homework is just a recommendation, just do as much as your can in the time you have.

Don't be afraid to focus on one topic for Homework if it's important (IA), but keep doing the others so you're not a week or two behind.

[usebydate]

The though time has just started for me, but that's what I waited for! Well, the new B language syllabus is not that bad, to be honest I kinda like it, despite the Oral examinations which we (at our school) are suppose to do May/June 2012 God only knows why. My English teacher is disappointed that I didn't take English A1 as it was suggested to me after the oral exam to IB but I absolutely adore Eng B, so much cooler and I can write my dreamt EE thanks to it!

And our Polish teacher (i'm HL) is maaaad, it's barely possible to immediately switch to super sophisticated Polish after 3 hours of English and then once again switch to super sophisticated English for 3 hours of History... But we manage to do it anyway. Most of my class are the MYP graduates so we are well trained, I'm so glad I went to that class.

Hey, I did not think that I'll find here so many Polish IB students! Wrocław pozdrawia (:

Good luck everyone, wish me to stop procrastinate right now and get back to my Hist essay...

[Pepe]

Usebydate - i'm quite surprised that you are doing english B instead of english lit or lit〈 when you are MYP graduate. I think that it won't be a huge challenge for you to do that and you will receive officially bilingual diploma. Can you explain me what the reason is?

If I can add something - I do not know if you have the same impression but English classes in the IB programme are dull as hell. I hope that it will change during lessons on prescribed books. If not, I don't see me doing HL any more.

[usebydate]

I didn't want to overload my schedule - I wanted Maths Studies, unfortunately there hadn't been enough people to do it - so I already had one course more difficult than I would wish - I will pass SL with good grade for sure, but will need actually to do sth... So not IB attitude, I know. I would also have two A languages on HL - having them both on HL would be absolutely mandatory for me, considering my studies choice - that's like 20 or more books to read and memorise. Pretty pretty much.

We have the most amazing Eng B teacher ever, she is really devoted, comes up with excellent ideas and extracts from various literature and she really really likes me - good for me It depends on the teacher, I believe. Where are you from? I only know people from here, Gdynia, Batory and Raszyńska, so it's hard to tell if it is the syllabus itself or you just have a lazy teacher (no offence, so common in Poland...)

Lucky that you have a choice - we have HL in English mandatory - 'we need to be sure that your English is perfect before letting you go outside this school'...

BTW - they didn't say a word about the bilingual diploma to us! Does it change anything?

Edited October 2, 2011 by usebydate

[Blue Alien]

Mathematics SL is surprisingly easy so far O.O

Psychology is amazing, we have the best teacher EVER.

English is interesting enough.

Greek is kind of difficult to get a 7, but it's not that boring as a subject so I'll give it a go.

Biology is pretty easy and highly interesting.

Chemistry is kind of difficult, but still manageable.

ToK is frustrating as HELL.

Well, so far so good

[Gaby]

I agree on TOK. And Psychology. In Chemistry, after a terrible test, we started atomic structure. God, it's DEAD easy! I've had more elaborate atomic structure in middle school, really... Why does IB make us study hard things and the easy things, they just don't care? Basics, people, hello!

Actually, Blue Alien, you don't have the best teacher ever in Psych. I do!

We don't have English HL as mandatory, starting from this year, since the syllabus changed, but it used to be mandatory up to 2012 candidates. Well, I'm taking it anyway. And Polish is UBER-boring. Am I really the only one that thinks Kochanowski wrote just a huge pile of pathetic poems where he wanted to boast that he is oh so educated and mourning after a child no one is sure he really had? I know it's sad and all, but I've had to read it since primary school! God, don't we have any other poets? Really? I'd rather do Szymborska, she's less depressing...

[Pepe]

I think that the level of boredom during the languages really depends on teacher. I would say that I love my Polish lessons because my teacher is so funny, quite young so she understands us as learners very well. We can also say everything what we think without any feelings of awkwardness (: But my English teacher... God, save me...

[lilianna009]

We don't have English HL as mandatory, starting from this year, since the syllabus changed, but it used to be mandatory up to 2012 candidates. Well, I'm taking it anyway. And Polish is UBER-boring. Am I really the only one that thinks Kochanowski wrote just a huge pile of pathetic poems where he wanted to boast that he is oh so educated and mourning after a child no one is sure he really had? I know it's sad and all, but I've had to read it since primary school! God, don't we have any other poets? Really? I'd rather do Szymborska, she's less depressing...

We're doing Leśmian . More of some surreal world, reality through dreams etc. Seems interesting, but poetry is hell difficult for me. I guess I'm too dumb to analyse.

Our English teacher is sooo lovely. We have like 8 girls, including me, and the atmosphere is really nice. Lessons are quite similiar to courses I used to take after classes, but now I don't have to pay and I can finally learn some English in school!

Biology...The teacher is chaotic, her accent is often difficult to understand, I haven't learnt anything since the beginning, and on Tuesday we have a test from cell, so I'm gonna sit with syllabus, all books (pink with lizard, green biology guide, the oxford companion with tiger and one i've got in pdf) and learn it myself. I guess this will be my way of learning for next not even 2 years.

I must start doing sth for CAS . I have just some hours for cleaning a forest.

[Gaby]

I have already done something like 30-something hours of CAS but I don't have motivation to write reflection on them... Horrible, I know, but it's sooooo boring!

[Bartosz jez]

*cough* Kochanowski for literature is like Newton for Physics... You may find him boring, still he was a genious in what he did. Leśmian is not well-known abroad as he tended to create his own words that were impossible to be translated into other languages. Szymborska is fabulous. However, I prefer Herbert. He was the master of poetry. And yeah, CAS is like a piece of cake as all I do for myself can really be counted as CAS. The other subjects seem fine to me, as well. The good thing I am taught only by skillful and experienced teachers.

[Gaby]

I know Kochanowski is great and all that, but really, is he the only poet Polish soil produced? Doing him over and over again is nothing but frustrating. And I've never really liked Polish, tbh. I find it annoying, I'm too straightforward for looking for ninth meaning of some word.

But I totally love Psychology. It's the best subject ever, it's getting more interesting with ever lesson and, actually, I haven't been bored for a single second during Psych. And it has never happened to me with any other subject.

[lauren (:]

Maybe I'm just a little bit of a freak, but I actually adore ToK. I look forward to it all week - it's amazing!

I do English, Design Technology and Visual Art as my HLs, and Maths, French Ab Initio and Business anticipated as my SLs.

I'm an Australian, but my school is kind of strange, being a creative IB school, so I get two years and one term to complete the IB. When I finish, I'll be 17 - is that really young?

So far, things don't seem to bad. I'm stressing over workloads, but the actual work isn't hard - it just doesn't seem to have an end! I'm a major procrastinator, too, so I've already had a few minor panic-attacks in the last four weeks of proper IB. I'm convinced I can survive, though. Every single one of my teachers is absolutely fantastic, and it's a school with largish cohorts, (I think there's about 120 of us in Pre-IB/IB1, and 90 in IB1/IB2. About 80 just completed the course and are setting up for their finals) so I'm actually super excited for the years to come

English - I love it. So much. I have the most amazing teacher in the world. He's the very pinnacle of what an english teacher should be; constantly quoting, sarcastic, ironic, wise and helpful. I adore english and creative writing, but I predicted that I would hate IB's style of English. That isn't so. It's brilliant.

Design Technology - Eh. I wish I could have done Physics, but they don't offer it. I do like the design element, but I'm quite lazy and end up doing little work and still get decent marks (or at least, I did in Pre-IB) with just studying close to the exams and doing things at the last minute.

Visual Art - My IWB seems to be my worst enemy and my best friend. The thought of writing in it chills me to the bone, but when I start, I go on for pages without difficulty. I do a more design-based course; less painting and drawing and more digital media, which is really enjoyable and my teacher is fantastically inspiring, so I enjoy going to class and completing my studio works.

Maths - I've always disliked maths, but I'm decent at it, so I chose to do Standard rather than Studies. I'm planning on dropping down, to be honest, because it's taking up so much time. It isn't particularly hard, it's just really, really intense, and there's no time to catch up if I don't understand something. My class is brilliant, though, really supportive and lovely. We're all going through the same hatred, to be honest

French - I could care less. I hate asking for help, and I seem to have to do so repeatedly. I'm getting into the constant revision and it's helping a heap. I like French, I suppose, it's just annoying.

Business - I love business. So much. I wish I could do it HL and over the two years, but alas, the school said no. I don't know why, but I just find it so enjoyable. The way we're taught is really interesting, and I find that I can grasp the concepts easily.

Edited October 30, 2011 by lauren (:

[Procrastination]

Okay so this may be quite strange but I just discovered this thread for 2013 candidates! OMG, I'm sorry but the title doesnt really fit at all. "Ib class of 2013 advice expectations"? Are you kidding me? We should have created another thread when we started IB since this sounds like we're still in the excited transition period of pre-IB. Anyways, I think we'll just have to stick up to this one as it seems it has been really appreciate it by everyone. So.... This is my life in IB so far:

• English HL: Am I the only one that thinks this subject is subjective to what the teacher interprets from a text and your actual analysis? I love english but I cant manage to get 7s in my essays most of the time, there's always something my teacher thinks I missed. There's always an excuse. GAH.
  
• History HL: I LOOOOVE THIS SUBJECT. I must have the coolest teacher in the world.
  
• Spanish HL: Boring but it was obligatory in my school. The teacher thinks we're reading machines and he basically makes us read a book every week or so.
  
• Math SL: Well, it's not THAAT easy as many people in here have said. I find it challenging, not as much I thought it would have been but still makes it to this adjective. We just finished sequences, expansions and logarithms, (I hate expansions!) However, Im not pretty sure how Ive got so many 7s! LOL
  
• Philosophy SL: This one is supposed to be my "easiest" subject and the teacher is quite cool, I dont really think Im learning a lot of things, the class is basically vague. The teacher always says "I dont give 7s sorry" WHAAAAT? I just made an entire analysis of Mill's first chapter and you gave me a 6 because you dont give 7s to anyone? What are you expecting? A student from Kant's family? You must be kidding me
  
• Physics SL: OH MY GOOOOODDDDDDD!!! I hate this subject! It was my favourite one in PRE-IB but now it seems i've developed an irrational fear towards it! My teacher is freaking crazy, she always leave homework and lab reports, I hate that! Plus, I disagree with a lot of her opinions, like all of my other partners, and her attitude as a whole. She used to be nice but now she is all like . It is basically the class in which I have my lowest grade (6) and have work the most. In the end, I think i'm going to my teacher. I can't just stand her. Anyways, I must accept she teaches pretty good, but that doesnt justifies the way she treats us, she thinks we're slaves.
  
• TOK: This is pure BS. I hate it. No comments, I think I'm loosing my time when I could be doing a Physics Lab Report.
  
• CAS: Easy but quite demanding. I hate reflexions.
  

And that's basically how my life sums up right now.

[Gaby]

I actually discovered that TOK is bearable if it's more psychological than philosophical. Really, as I love Psych (my favourite subject ever), when my TOK teacher (who is a Psychologist herslef) wanders into Psychology, it's great, really, though my TOK class is dreadful, really...

Procrastination, how can you hate CAS reflections? It's totally my very favourite part of IB, to be honest, I write them every Friday so that they don't pile up, and have a lot of fun doing it. Much more than writing an essay in Polish, which I'm supposed to be doing right now.

Are you also thinking about your EE already? I can't decide which subject to do it in. I know I'll do it in either History or English B but I'm not sure just yet. In history it would probably be something about the Tudors or maybe early 20th century Russia and in English it might be Puzo, but still, I'm not sure. How about you guys?

[lauren (:]

I was thinking of doing my EE on Visual Arts - namely typography and the psychological influence - because that's just really interesting for me and I know who would be my supervisor, too, and she's brilliant, so yeah. excited :3

[w0nemi]

IB is a whole different world..

[lilianna009]

Hahaha...I still do actually nothing. I mean sometimes I would learn a little, really rarely I'd do a homework.

Actually I have an English test tomorrow, but I forgot to take my books and copies from my locker, so I'll just look through it during my break. Last time I spent like 15 minutes learning to a test and did pretty well.

Goood...But I have to start doing sth with my CAS ...I've made some movies with my lovely Echelon, so I could take it as creativity, then a few hours for cleaning the woods and the biology classroom for service, but I don't have even a minute for Action .

As to EE, for now I just think I'll do it in Psychology .

Oh, and I think I choose a topic for my OP in Polish (Ferdydurke, coś z powieścią groteskową).

My biology is just horrible. I do not learn a thing from that teacher during lessons. Too bad, I'm starting tomorrow with biology HL .

How late do you come home from school? For me it's 7pm on Mondays, 6pm Tuesdays, 5 pm Wednesdays, 5 pm Thursdays. Sometimes later, if I hang out with sb or sth. On Fridays I finish at 12am but I come back home usually muuuuch later, sometimes even 11pm . I just love to waste my time . Yeah, as now for example . 01:42 am, should go to sleep I think .

Edited November 3, 2011 by lilianna009