As the 2008-2009 school year begins, each class has its own obstacles. For sophomores that obstacle is getting used to the Skyline and figuring out where the bathrooms are. Seniors are busy getting their college applications underway. Meanwhile, many juniors at Skyline High are awaiting their first tastes of International Baccalaureate (IB) classes.
While many students have taken advanced courses through middle school and the earlier years of high school, at Skyline, IB classes can only be taken by juniors and seniors except for special circumstances. Therefore, whether or not they are interested in pushing for the Diploma or individual Certificates, this year is the beginning of their achievements or lack thereof, in IB.
Members of the class have been told various things from the seniors, many comments elaborating on the intensity of the classes, the workload and the stress. Internal Assessments are a major player, and those who went through them last year enjoy remarking on their colorful experiences during the months of March, April and May.
But the Junior class isn’t letting those stories phase them. Future IB Diploma Candidate John Gerlach remarks that he “walk[s] in everyday waiting to be assigned a big assignment that [he] won’t be able to do well, but it hasn’t come yet.” Instead, Gerlach states the positives of the classes for the advanced students, mentioning that “it’s nice for the most part to have kids in your class who want the same things as you do” and who move at the same pace.
Fellow Diploma Candidate Yoga Mukkamala had a similar opinion, remarking that the homework other than that in history is easy, and that there haven’t been any real challenges yet. Unfortunately for Mukkamala and the rest of the students, the beginning is soon to come.
As F. Scott Fitzgerald said in Great Gatsby, they “beat on, boats against the current”, taking each assignment as one step at a time, learning how to master Tindall and Shi, performing their first recordings in IB languages, and awaiting the Internal Assessments. Good luck to them all.
Comments
I definitely did not walk out of class in the middle of internal assessment month. I have no idea what you’re talking about when you mention colorful experiences…
I’ve always thought that aside from humanities, IB classes move at a very comfortable—if not somewhat slow—pace. IB humanities gives the IB program a worse reputation than it deserves.
My colorful experiences would include having Ms. Heldt say that she hates me right in front of Mr. Krogstad, as well as fighting with Ms. Heldt about point deductions on the Latin America assignment, resulting in threats of increased deductions (which she ultimately did not pursue—thanks!). Oh, and making Makin laugh twice during my IOC recording was good, especially since she was supposed to be a silent witness.
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention doing my entire IOP the night before, and then promptly forgetting most of what I had prepared, yet still somehow managing 18 minutes of material. The walkout was the big one though, and will be IB legend at skyline for years to come.
My IOP was done in three chunks. One-third was done two days before, one-third done the day before while at school, and the remaining third that night. I performed it with a full copy of my script printed on notecards. I did a lot of improvisation and although I only got like an 84 or something, I thought it was dramatically a really good presentation. I think everyone was pretty interested.
I definitely wrote a note to Emma saying, “Can they just go die?”, that Ms. Heldt found and read to the class. We all have our stories.