Philpot Education

Yes, the rumors are true… I’m offering a free one day seminar on IB English A: Language and Literature at Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest. While the day is primarily meant for DISS teachers (Dutch International Secondary Schools), the invitation is open to TTO teachers as well. After teaching the new Language and Literature syllabus for a few months, there are questions. Besides answers, I’ll provide a workbook and some online resources. Register now!

The IB of Americas Annual Regional Conference in San Antonio was excellent all around. I had the opportunity to give a talk on media literacy in the IB Diploma Programme. Teachers have a lot of questions on how to teach new text types such as graphic novels, blogs and tweets. We did a hands on activity with tweets and biographies, and teachers came away with a sense of confidence. These texts are not so complicated to understand and analyze. If you missed me in San Antonio I’ll be giving the same seminar in The Hague on 28-29 October and at the CLIL day in Ede (The Netherlands) on 1 November. Look forward to seeing y’all!

It’s official. English Language and Literature for the IB Diploma is in production now as I write! We will have an launch party at the Amsterdam International Community School on July 15th from 4 – 5 pm. I’ll have 100 copies and order forms for class sets. All sales on this day will receive 25% discount. For more information check out the Cambridge IB site. Looking forward to seeing you there!

The Teacher Support Material for English A: Language and Literature went live on the Online Curriculum Centre (OCC) recently. This long awaited document is now a website! It offers sample assessment, course overviews and a rewording of the guide. There are tips on how to organize your curriculum and teach the aims of the course. Some reviews have already been critical, but I suggest you look through it carefully to find what works for you. Good luck creating your course.

As many colleagues may know, my wife and I have been building a kind of Facebook for bilingual educators in the Netherlands (TTO -Tweetalig Onderwis). We’ve gone live! Check it out at www.tweetalig.net. Create a profile, event or group. Join the discussions, share resources and find out more about what’s going on in the world of TTO. I look forward to seeing you on this platform.

As an examiner for English A2 HL Paper 1, I’ve noticed that the IB has once again selected types of texts that either have to do with food or family. It’s a curious trend. The texts for comparison are often introductions to recipe books, travel guides, infomercials or memoirs about childhood. I’ve noticed in the specimen papers for 2013 that this trend will not change: tabloid articles about Bollywood stars, comic strips about gender stereo-typing and again, yes, a memoir about someone’s childhood.

This makes we wonder. When we teachers select our texts for Parts 1 and 2 to help our students prepare for Paper 1, what is more important: a) we confront them with a range of important themes, i.e. war, gender, environment or racial conflict, or b) we confront them with a range of different text types. As far as the exams are concerned, I would say ‘b’. As far as meaningful education is concerned, I’d say ‘a’. As we hunt for texts, I suggest we try to find a combination of both.

The writing workshop at Ulenhof College in Doetinchem was a big success. We focused on the mechanics of good writing, unscrambled a scrambled essay and wrote a Paper 1 Comparative Commentary collaboratively in Google Docs. I just finished marking their Paper 1s and gave them feedback they can build on. The students were a real pleasure to work with, and I’m looking forward to working with Ulenhof College more in the future.

IB English Language and Literature teachers will be happy to hear that the textbook I am writing is nearly finished. We are dotting our ‘i’s and crossing our ‘t’s. Cambridge University Press will publish the book in August. You can receive a sample chapter as PDF or pre-order copies for your students from Cambridge’s IB website. I think you will find the book very useful for this new and exciting course.