Are you an IB DP student worried about ‘The Individual Oral’, commonly known as the IO? In this blog post, we’ll share core information you will need to know to ace your IO. Read on…
What is the Individual Oral?
The Individual Oral or IO is an important part of the IB English A Language and Literature’s internal assessment. Teachers mark and the IB moderates internal assessments. In the IO, a student has to choose two texts – one literary and one non-literary text; and then prepare and present an oral response. In short, it is an oral exam. The most important part here is that the student has to connect both of the chosen texts with a common global issue.
Some important points about the IO
Exam Duration
Compulsory for whom
Weightage (%)
Marks
15 minutes is the total time duration. 10 minutes is allotted for the student individual oral and the remaining 5 minutes is for the teacher to ask questions)
The IO is compulsory for both HL and SL students.
Internal assessment contributes 20% to the final assessment of the HL course and 30% of the SL course.
Total marks for IO is 40.
Let us understand the IO process
As it is an oral exam, the IO will be an interaction between the teacher and the student. Initially, the student will present the prepared topic, and then the teacher will ask questions based on the presentation and how the chosen topics connect to a common global issue, also selected by the student. Another important thing to note here is that the extract that the students choose should not be more than 40 lines. The grading system for the IO depends on four major criteria –
Criterion A: Knowledge, understanding and interpretation
Criterion B: Analysis and evaluation
Criterion C: Focus and organization
Criterion D: Language
Which works can the students choose?
Students must choose one literary work and one non-literary “body of work”. These extracts that the students choose will not be from anywhere else but from their syllabus/course. But a thing to note here is that for the SL Students, the literary work that they choose cannot be used for their Paper 2 and for the HL students the works that they choose cannot be used for Paper 2 (literary) or the HL Essay (literary or non-literary).
The Global Issue
The student cannot just choose any global issue. He/she needs to follow the prompts given by IB, which are: “Examine the ways in which the global issue of your choice is presented through the content and form of two of the works that you have studied.” and “The global issue chosen for consideration should be significant on a wide scale, be transnational in nature, and be an issue that has an impact felt in everyday local contexts. The issue should be clearly evidenced in the extracts or texts chosen.”
What these prompts mean in simple language is that
— Both texts should center around the common global issue.
— The global issue should have significance on a wide/large scale.
— It should be transnational which means it should not be limited to one nation or city but extend across national boundaries.
— Last but not least Its impact should be felt in everyday local contexts i.e. it should be relevant to the current society.
Another important thing is that the global issue should belong to one of the following five themes
Culture, identity and community
Beliefs, values and education
Politics, power and justice
Art, creativity and the imagination
Science, technology and the environment
Conclusion
So, these are the important points that an IB student must be aware of before taking the IO or the Individual Oral. Along with these students must also know how to properly prepare for the IO. They need to know which extracts or global issues to choose that will help them to score better.
And for this, we are here to help you. We at Young Scholarz not only help students choose their extracts or understand IO properly but also teach you how to use your skills to deliver your IO presentations in an effective, purposeful, and nuanced manner.
Time management is like that one friend in your group who’s quiet as a mouse but their presence is only felt when they’re not around. It’s a skill that everybody strives to achieve but very few hone and accomplish. Procrastination, being one of the biggest enemies of time management, takes over like a plague for most of us. When it does, we’re usually left with self-disappointment and a void in the end.
But with some pre-planning and mindfulness, we can effectively combat this and emerge victorious – not in the eyes of others but for ourselves. To help you regulate your time and work more effectively, we have introduced an amazing tool in this blog post. This is a commonly known work management tool that has been in the rounds for more than half a century!
That’s right – the Eisenhower Matrix was introduced in the 1950s and continues to be employed, referred to, and thanked for in the present day.
The Eisenhower Matrix
Also known as the Eisenhower Box, the Urgent-Important Matrix, or the Time Management Matrix. It is named after President Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States. This tool was not just created by him but also manifested itself in his professional career. Before he became president, he was a 5-star general in the US Army during the Second World War. Throughout his professional life, he brought about many changes that were helpful to the nation.
During his presidency of two terms, the Interstate Highway System was brought into play. NASA was created, and the first-ever civil rights legislation was signed into law. In addition, Alaska and Hawaii were brought into the union, and the Cold War with Russia was, well, maintained as cold. All of this was done with an efficient and calm hand – a solid example of prioritizing tasks. All in all, Eisenhower was a pretty productive guy. That’s a swell reason for having him get the ‘most admired man of the year’ title 12 times by Gallups.
This matrix was made even more popular a few decades later by the self-help genre author Stephen Covey. In his book, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People“, he refers to this matrix as a powerful tool to prioritize tasks and manage time well.
What the Matrix does
Cutting back to the matrix, it is a large square divided into 4 smaller squares. These quadrants are your workboxes, where you divide and segregate tasks in a manner of urgency and importance. Penned down by the president of Northwestern University, Dr. J. Roscoe Miller, Eisenhower quoted in a speech,
“I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important.The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
Against the popular misconception, urgent and important do not mean the same, nor can they be used interchangeably. The urgent tasks are those that need to be done right away, or else they’d have significant consequences for your long-term goals. On the other hand, some important tasks are not urgent but they should be done to achieve your long-term goals. To understand this better, we will break it down into quadrants as seen in the image below:
Understanding the Eisenhower Matrix
Quadrant 1
As the first quadrant mentions, this box would contain all those tasks that you need to DO right away. Filling out a university admission form or signing up for school drama may have tight deadlines. On a personal level, responding to a fire caused during unsupervised cooking demands immediate attention.
At work, it’s crucial to time yourself with urgent tasks. Spending too much time on them can leave little room for other quadrants, resulting in a messy situation.
With the exams coming up, we’re sure you have a lot of tasks to fill into the first quadrant! But, if you schedule them beforehand, you can avoid getting into a last-minute panic mode that would eventually burn you out. So choose wisely!
Quadrant 2
The second quadrant, also known as the SCHEDULE box, holds tasks that are important but not urgent. For instance, exercise is crucial for health, but not doing it in the next hour won’t turn you into a lazy blob instantly. Well, if you never do it then you might just.
Another example is prepping for your upcoming mock exams – extremely important for next week but so is the urgent assignment that you have to submit in your private tuition class today. You get the drill, don’t you?
Scheduling tasks for the day, week, or month helps prioritize and manage them in advance. This prevents last-minute shifts to the first quadrant.
Quadrant 3
The DELEGATE box, or Quadrant 3, is the section where you add tasks that are urgent but not important. They are not necessary to be done by you, and may not adhere to your skill set. For those delegating tasks, assign them to someone else to ensure timely completion. Examples include having a teacher review assignment feedback or having a sibling walk the dog. If your mother needs urgent help in the kitchen while you’re studying, direct a sibling to assist, and don’t hesitate to ask for help when needed.
Quadrant 4
This box is neither urgent nor important – hence the apt name given to it is DELETE. This is the procrastination inducer, a major distraction, the purple little devil ruining your planned day. Mindlessly scrolling through TikTok at dawn, ending with your mother screaming from downstairs – you know what we’re talking about.
These would also include binge-watching shows on Netflix or Rakuten Viki or being glued to your gaming consoles for hours on end. Although a short break is essential and rewarding for your long-term goals, this is a tricky and sticky trap that you need to control. A break that lasts very long would end up hampering the rest of the quadrants and giving you unnecessary panic and anxiety to complete your tasks in time.
You might think it’s easier said than done, hence we have listed down a few pointers to help you make use of this powerful tool to its best.
Effectively Applying the Eisenhower Matrix to Everyday Life
Code your tasks with some color or numbering
Make use of colors to separate the boxes and reduce the time given to the matrix itself. For example, quadrant 1 can be green, quadrant 2 yellow, quadrant 3 blue, and quadrant 4 red. Some might find it easier to swap the first quadrant with the color red, as red signifies danger and urgency.
Once you’ve got the hang of the colors, you begin to associate tasks more effectively. You may not always have the means to sit and make boxes all the time, but you can always draw up a list and highlight the tasks according to the colors. Alternatively, you can use numbers. The numbers are synonymous with the quadrant numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Take a look at the example below:
Limit your tasks
If you’ve got too many tasks to do, and if you fill one box with 10 + tasks, there’s a good chance you’re going to flip, plonk up on your bed, and end up doing nothing due to the overwhelmed. An easier solution is to limit the number and focus only on what you can do in the next 12 hours or so. Some work is better than none, hence you must always be realistic with your goals.
Separate the personal from professional
When you have a lot of tasks to do, mixing them all up could be catastrophic to you on a physical as well as mental level. There would be a few days when you’re overloaded with tasks in school as well as at home. Take, for example, a few guests coming over during the term end for a festival like Eid or Diwali to celebrate when you’ve got a main exam the very next day.
As we mentioned before, planning and prepping in advance reduces the workload, but separating your matrices into home chores and schoolwork can make a lot of difference.
Use the power of deduction
To reduce the number of tasks ending up on your to-do list, the first thing you do after making a list is strike off tasks that are unnecessary and insignificant. Why draw them up in the first place? That’s because they consciously help you eliminate actions that would hinder the rest of the tasks. For example, when you know you have to prepare a presentation after 2 days at work or at school, you might end up watching silly videos as a result of procrastination. If you cancel it in advance, you know what you’re not supposed to do.
We hope that this helps you plan and prepare your tasks more efficiently. We’re not saying that the Eisenhower Matrix is perfect, it has its flaws (for e.g. what if you’re an only child?). Whether you’re an adult who has just begun her new job or a grade 10 student who wants to achieve an A grade in their IGCSEs, this matrix is suitable for all ages and we’re sure it would help you well.
Economics is a social science that aims to understand and describe how wealth is produced, distributed, and consumed. Thus, economic issues are a focus of the discipline. It aims to provide systematic answers to a wide range of issues involving the economic behavior of people, society, and the economy.
Definition
Numerous adjustments have been made to the definition of economics over time. Numerous economists have contributed to the subject’s increasing depth of meaning. Starting with Adam Smith, who is regarded as the founding father of economics. According to him, “Economics is the science of wealth” His theory emphasised materialism and had a narrow view of wealth.
Then came Alfred Marshall, according to him “Economics is the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life”. with his conception of welfare. His definition featured key points such as:
Study of mankind.
Study of the ordinary business of life.
Study of material welfare.
Emphasis on requisites of well-being.
Exclusion of Non-economic activities.
However, despite all the improvements made to his idea, it was still criticized. This was due to the materialistic and unrealistic categorization of activities.
After Marshall, Lionel Robbins proposed his definition- “The science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses”
For his definition, Robbins got both praise and criticism. His work was praised for providing a reasoned justification for economic issues. He even said it had a universal nature. He said that it was a human and positive science. The term gave a broader perspective on economics.
Finally, Paul. A. Samuelson’s definition is the one that many economists still accept today. The Growth-Oriented Definition was his idea. Economic issues were emphasized in the definition. It had a long-term outlook and a flexible strategy. His theory addressed a wide range of issues. It covered all bases and took a wider angle.
Thus, even as a topic, economics has had a hard road to building its foundation.
Real-world examples of economics
To better understand economics, some broad or real-world examples can be used.
Example 1 – Opportunity Costs
Opportunity costs are the advantages that a person or corporation forfeits by selecting a different course of action. Typically, not all possibilities are taken into account while choosing, which results in a number of opportunity costs being missed or overlooked.
Consider a company which had extra capital that they could either invest in the stock market to earn an annual return of 15% or update its equipment to earn an annual return of 12%. If the company chooses to upgrade its equipment to make higher-quality items instead of investing in stock it will forgo a return of 3% (15%-12%). The opportunity cost to the company is this 3%.
Example 2 – Sunk Costs
A sunk cost is a cost that the company has already invested and cannot recover. It is a prior expense incurred by the company that is not taken into consideration while making future business choices. When making decisions for the future of a business, sunk costs remain constant.
Imagine you go for a movie, and it turns out to be terrible but since you have already paid for the ticket, you tend to sit and watch the whole thing. Through this, you don’t realize that watching the movie is not going to get your money back. However, we end up wasting our time.
Example 3 – The Trade War
Every country makes an effort to safeguard its own economy, companies, and industries. They would protect the interests of the businesses in the country as local industry generates jobs. As a result, when commodities/goods are imported from other countries, they impose greater tariffs and taxes. In response, the other nations impose even greater duties. This creates a conflict known as Trade wars.
The best example of this is the ongoing trade conflict between the United States and China, in which the US imposed higher taxes on commodities/goods imported from China and China responded by imposing comparable duties on US goods.
Example 4 – Supply and Demand
Economic theory is based on the rule of supply and demand. Demand is the quantity that market participants are willing to purchase, whereas Supply is the number of items that producers float on the market. The equilibrium point is the location where supply and demand are equal enough to satisfy one another, it is where the supply and demand curves meet in an efficient market.
For example, Farmers lower the price of the crop when corn production rises in order to sell more of their harvest. When there is an excess of supply compared to demand, the produce is wasted and the farmer is at the loss of their cost of production.
Conclusion
The above examples give an overview of a few of the concepts of economics, which include the law of supply and demand, opportunity costs, sunk, and trade wars. Though they do not cover all types of variants; it does give a fair understanding of real-world economics. For more understanding of Economics, register with us at Young Scholarz and book 1:1 sessions with our certified Economics tutors for IB and IGCSE.
Exams can be intimidating. Students often complain that they lose marks even after having put in a lot of effort and hard work. They find themselves not being able to complete the paper on time. Some didn’t know the pattern very well and wished they learned a proper strategy for the paper. A tried and proven solution to practice well is a mock exam. Mock exams are considered practice exams before you appear for the final one. These are very important for IGCSE and IBDP students who wish to improve their grades. In this blog, let us understand why and how these mock tests are useful.
1. Familiarises us with real exam conditions
Mock tests are like the actual exams that are purely based on the latest exam pattern and syllabus of the respective examinations. They are designed in a way that helps the students feel that they are sitting at an actual exam. If a student practices with ample mock tests, no question will be too daunting.
2. Boosts confidence
Mock tests help the students check their level of preparation. It helps them know if they are on the right track and check if they are lacking anything so that they can work on them. This boosts their self-confidence which helps them to be successful in their examinations. Plus, it also keeps exam fear away.
3. Helps to analyze our mistakes
Analyzing one’s performance in mock tests plays a very important role. After each test, students should spend time understanding and analyzing their performance. One must go through each section carefully to understand what and where they went wrong and what could have been done in a better way. In this way, they will not repeat the same mistakes in the actual exams which will help in upping their grades.
4. Helps develop the right strategy
Rather than just learning the concepts and formulae, preparing the right strategy helps the students crack and clear these tests, and also get good grades. As the students keep taking mock exams, they develop the right strategy through a proper analysis of their performance in each mock. They will not only understand the test pattern but also use the mastered strategies for tackling the actual test.
5. Helps with time management
It becomes very difficult for students to attempt all questions in the given time if they don’t take time management seriously. This is where the role of mock tests is crucial. As we know now, mock tests are like actual tests. So when students sit for any mock test, it not only helps in enhancing their performance but also tracks their speed which helps them know if they will be completing their actual exam on time.
6. Helps you practice and prepare
We all know the phrase “Practice makes a man perfect”, and mock tests help us with just that. The more mock tests we take, the more we get better at that particular subject. What happens is that with proper practice and conceptual understanding, we tend to solve the problems that we are facing during the mock tests, which in turn helps us avoid those problems in the actual exams.
To conclude, if a student is serious while sitting for the mock test, they will also perform well in the actual exams as it will help them learn from their mistakes. If any student is lagging, he/she should start the preparation by understanding the concepts and learning the basics. Then apply those concepts while they are appearing for mock tests. Surely enough, the student will start seeing positive changes in his/her grades. If you need help and guidance, we at Young Scholarz are here to help you with mock tests and so much more. You can opt for mock texts or book a class (group and solo sessions). Our detailed feedback system will make sure that you know where you err, and help you improve well before the exams.
We are bringing back the exam preparation classes for IGCSE and IB exams to all students to gear up for the May 2023 main exams. These sessions will provide you with much-required practice and guidance to succeed in your exams. The exam prep sessions are important to help you prepare and assess your performance in a controlled environment.
We begin with brushing up on all the subjects, ranging from IGCSE language to IB Literature, so if you haven’t signed up with us, this is your chance to get an in-depth understanding of the papers. These sessions will be conducted online as well as in-person, so if you’re far away you need not worry!
The exam practice sessions will be timed and in an exam-induced environment so you will get to review your performance beforehand and improve before your finals. All the papers done during the sessions will be thoroughly marked with detailed and personalized feedback from our expert teacher, Sunita Sharma. We will guide you through any difficulty you may face in timing, planning, or executing your paper to help you achieve your desired result.
We have limited sessions and slots available starting the 14th of Jan and running through May 2023 to help our students prepare and get an edge. Check out the links below to view our schedule!
“I wanted to say a big thank you for all the time and hard work that you put in during the course of our sessions. They were life-saving lessons for me during IB and had a big impact in achieving a level 7 for English and Physics!”
“I’ve scored a 7 and it would have been impossible to achieve it without your help. Your teachings will continue to inspire me further as well. Thank you so much, miss!
These are the responses that we strive to receive after the exams, and a reinforcement to put in the same hard work every year.
We’ve done it again, and together! Our IB students have scored excellently with 7s in their English papers, both HL as well as SL. This is a proud moment for the Young Scholarz team, led by Sunita Sharma. Her constant guidance, support, and detailed feedback have helped our students succeed in their exams, with confidence that they would take these learnings ahead in their academic lives.
Group classes as well as 1:1 solo sessions have borne their fruit. We support IB English programs including IB LangLit, IB Lit, IB IO, and ToK throughout the year. Other than English, we provide support for other subjects too. You may take a look at the Courses page as well as the Events page for a timely update on the upcoming workshops. You can also take a look at our Paper Marking section for information on getting detailed feedback and assessment on your assignments.
Join our weekly IB English classes to prepare for the mocks and the main IB exams happening in May 2023. Sign up for our classes for a smoother and enriching learning experience and score well in your exams!
Once again, kudos to all of the IB students who scored excellently, and congratulations!
We all know studying the International Baccalaureate (IB) isn’t easy; scoring that perfect 7 takes enormous work, but it’s not impossible. Did you recently receive your mock results and were not pleased with them? We’ve rounded some key tips from our IB toppers on how you can improve your IB scores.
1. Avoid distraction
Most of us are used to listening to songs while studying or doing homework, some even prefer to relax and watch TV while revising. It often happens that unknowingly we reach out to our phones during study time and start texting friends on WhatsApp, or scroll through reels on Instagram. We all enjoy activities that can brighten up uninteresting work. However, the problem is that it takes up all your attention leading you to complete distraction. Studying while being distracted will definitely not help you score better. In order to increase your concentration, try mild soft instrumental music in the background.
2. Plan your day for studying
It is important to develop an efficient and productive strategy that helps reduce confusion and give a clear direction for studying. Here is what you can do –
1. Spend equal amounts of time on each subject. Avoid making a mistake of using all of your time on one subject.
2. Be specific with time. You can spend one hour each on three to four subjects per day. This gives you a specific four hours of study time. The easier subjects can be given less time.
3. Put up an organized time table. Having a proper routine scheduled for your study is really important.
3. Practise tests
When studying, you probably might choose a study method that suits you. But what really helps is testing yourself. Practising questions from past IB papers will prove to be more helpful than all the other study methods. In fact, self-testing is the fastest way to learn anything you study. Pick up those past papers and practice, practice, practice!
4. Avoid cramming
Don’t rely on long study sessions, cramming won’t help you remember more of what you’ve learned. The majority of us believe that studying for more hours straight might improve and help us recall the material. However, it might just confuse and make you mentally tired. The best way to remember is to space out your study and take pauses. Studying all night is not worth it, no matter how much you decide to stay up all night studying, it is a bad idea. Being up late doesn’t just leave you exhausted, it also affects your concentration, leaving you tired with no idea what to do.
Bonus Tip
Acknowledge that you need help. Seek expert guidance from a tutor who can give you the individualized attention you need. IB is quite demanding and rigorous and a little nudging, supporting and guidance can really help improve your IB scores.
Conclusion
Plan your study early, you don’t want to study two months of content in two days. Try to be proactive and ask for help. While you can study and practise by yourself, it is always good to have someone help you understand the concepts and monitor your tests. If you want an expert’s guidance to help you with their strategies to ace your IB exams you can read our IB page which shares details about our courses.
Another year has gone by. Disappointment, regret, anger, love, peace, joy, contentment – here’s a range of emotions laid out for you that you’ve probably felt in the past year. Is there any single emotion that you can describe 2022 in? How would you put it? We’d use the word ‘blessed’. It’s been an incredible year at Young Scholarz with new team members, new teachers, new students, and new learning experiences. We were able to travel more, survived another year through the corona, and welcomed the new year with straight As and A*s from ecstatic students. This blog post today is about reflections and resolutions on the year before and a cheerful welcome to the new year.
Was 2022 a good or bad year?
365 days is a large number when it comes to remembering things. You may not remember what happened last week! But there are many important events, instances, and feelings that stick around simply because they made a difference in your life. Ask yourself if this year was good or bad. Let’s reflect on all the things that happened in the past year. You can journal them down as well. This really helps close chapters that were either written well or ended roughly, and we can start again on a clean slate for 2023.
These are some questions that could help you reflect on the past year:
Which moments seem special from the past year?
The best moments would still be at the top of your head, write them down, reminisce, and in retrospect think about what made them special.
Which moments were not so special in the past year?
Think about events that were not worth remembering, and brought in sad or negative emotions. Don’t just think about how you overcame that event/feeling. Also, think about how far you’ve come since that experience. This helps deal with any unearthed emotions so you can start anew.
What did you do right?
As humans, we’re born critics and tend to always pick out the flaws in ourselves. But we need to appreciate the little achievements and the goals that we’ve accomplished so far – they seem little but may impact us in ways bigger than we imagine. So, ask yourself what you’ve done right last year and how it makes you feel today.
What did you do wrong?
This could fairly be an easy question but the goal here is not to feel regret or self-deprecate yourself. Remember that you only learn when you make mistakes. So remember the things you’ve done wrong and what you did, or can still do, to make it right.
How do you feel you’ve grown up in the past year?
Are you the same person as in January 2022? Definitely a no; nobody is. But how have you changed? What changes do you notice about yourself? Would the “2022” version of you make this comment or have this opinion? A good change is a positive welcome and an achievement in itself. Pat yourself on the back for getting through the year, you deserve it!
Reflect on how you would have done certain things differently
Thinking about your past actions and experiences, you need to think about possible choices or decisions that you could have made – had you done so then the consequences would have been different. Consider them as alternate endings to your story. But don’t think about them with repentance, but take them as learning experiences for the future.
What are you thankful for?
This is something that we must always, always do. We must always feel grateful for the things that we have and yet strive for the things that we don’t. We often only look at the glass half empty and that’s where most of the problems begin. Gratitude is essential and so you must think about all those things that you are thankful for to have in your life.
What can you do to improve yourself?
Looking back at the errors you’ve made, the goals that you haven’t accomplished, a wrong decision, or even something as small as something you said or did that wasn’t right – how would you change yourself? How would you improve yourself so you don’t do it again? Think about it.
The importance of self-reflection
A new year is a great way to reflect on your past so you can work on your future. It’s like a term-end report or a year-end mark sheet that you receive after every exam. Just like you’d like to improve your grades, and we’d like to help you do so, you can also assess yourself and work on your errors to live a more fulfilling life.
But that does not mean that when you fail midway you give up and wait for the next year. The idea here is to motivate yourself every single day and not just when you’re given a reminder to kill it.
New Year resolutions and what you plan to achieve this year
There was a time when New Year’s resolutions were just a joke and a one-off event; that was before the pandemic hit the globe and had us stuck at home for a good few months at a stretch. It was exactly at that point that we had time to reflect on ourselves, and were given a chance to work on ourselves and make a few changes.
Since then, people have become more self-aware – some have gone the extra mile and accomplished insane goals like acquiring multiple degrees and starting successful businesses in their garages. Others may have achieved smaller goals like decluttering that attic which they wouldn’t have done in another decade due to lack of holidays and leaves.
Your goals don’t have to be physical, they can also be inner goals. Everybody makes goals to eat healthily and exercise regularly – but these are a given.
Instead, consider trying to be a better person, a kinder, hardworking, a more giving person – these are qualities that you can instill and accomplish as goals. These are all lifelong changes that you can begin with at any time, and not wait a whole year to be a better version of yourself.
We hope this piece has helped you and wish you a wonderful, joyous new year ahead!
