Quotes, TOK

I am going to collect some of the best ideas and quotations from TOK and elsewhere at EFIA Torquay/Torbay:

Sofia: "Art is an atom bomb and a time machine; it is a way of meeting interesting people."

Sofia in the same class came out with a great analysis of Darwins theory of evolution and the complete works of Shakespeare:

"They are both seriously over-rated"!"

And she justified her views brilliantly. This is great critical thinking! Can you recall her argument? If so, could you ask further questions to allow to get closer to the "truth"?

In TOK it is all about the questions, if you know the answer then someone in the class will have a question for you!

TOK, Art

This is a quick gallery shot at the end of the second TOK session this week. We considered the question: What is Art? We also explored questions: What makes Art good? Can anything be art? And why does Art upset whilst Science re-assures?

Each student brought in their favourite piece of visual art and explained why it was significant to them. We asked if we could establish any guidelines to help us decide what art was and what made certain art good. In typical TOK fashion their were more questions than answers!

November

On the 11th November I was stopped outside the IB office by a group of Film students. They had just been conducting live interviews in Torquay town centre and were asking about the poppy appeal day, rememberence day held in the UK annually evry year on 11th November. They asked me questions about this day and the significance of the two minutes silence held at 11:11 am on the 11/11 month. The interviewer was Dina and she was very smart in the way she asked the questions, she kept the questions very brief and did not interrupt me whilst I spoke. Semyon was taking the shots on the camera. It reminded me of the one time I had been interviewed live on Sky news a few years ago only Dina was better than the interviewer from Sky News in that she did not ask me "loaded" questions. It is good TOK to watch interviewers on TV with their suggestive comments. We all think we are strong willed and certain of our views and feelings but I found that when the camera went "live" with Sky it was a very unique experience and I allowed myself to be led to some extent. So well done Dina and the Film students, I think this must have been a very revealing and interesting experience, showing how real British people live and feel on a special day in the nations calendar.

The Great Gatsby

The SSST group invited me along to observe their final class studying the Great Gatsby. I read this book over the summer and enjoyed it immensely, once finished. I had found it tough going whilst I read it. During this class I was amazed at the depth of analysis taking place and the quality of ideas being expressed. I just had time to make a note of Valerias interpretation of the thme of illusion within the Great gatsby. She said:
"How wasted (are these) illusions that bring a world so colourful, that experiencing this magic, a person has become indifferent to the concepts of true and false."

You should read that again! It's very poetic and from a student who has previously expressed her preferences towards the sciences and mathematics. In fact valeria asked me to thank Liz for bringing these ideas out in her. The session I observed here made me appreciate the book at a far greater level. Importantly as the course coordinator I have already seen what great teaching and learning is taking place in groups 1 and 2. The rate of improvement in English is very good for every student here in EFIA Torquay. In English B Wendy is engaging with all sorts of digital media and stretching the students with fascinating texts to read: Holes by Sachar and Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams.

CAS, christmas boxes

At short notice the IB students helped out with the christmas shoe box appeal and today 7 boxes were shipped off to orphans in the developing areas of Eastern Europe. Each box will be given to a child on christmas morning and inside they will find lots of items donated by students, teachers and home stay family members. The items included practical things like gloves and pens and also small toys and games, I did notice lots of number type puzzles which is pretty smart as of course no translations will be needed. Well done all for giving time and developing your CAS service skills on this project.