Vorablog: Sharing knowledge (by Jana Rovira)

I'm sure you have a lot of IB survival tips, you only need to enter ‘IB’ on YouTube to find people from all over the world talking about their experiences and giving pieces of advice for the future students about how to organize your time, the best way to keep your notes organized… but today I am going to tell you about what I feel that has been the most useful thing in order to more or less deal with the IB in a decent way.

In my opinion, the best thing you can do to succeed in IB, apart from obviously working hard and in a constant manner, is sharing your knowledge with the people who surround you. In the first days of class, you will be next to a group of strangers that will soon become the people with whom you spend more time at the end of the day. All of you have different abilities and flaws and all of you have had different experiences that probably made you learn something. So my tip is to pick up all these defects, skills and experiences and put them together so everyone can take profit from everyone’s experiences.

Maybe you feel as it is a nice idea with little relevance in daily life but from my own experience, I can tell you that this shared knowledge has been there in almost every school activity I did, and also it has made me learn not only in the academic aspect but also about cultures, about other people and about myself. This sharing information is present in the class without taking into account the transfer of information from teachers to students, which is essential but is not what I am talking about. I mean that in class we have the chance to say what we know from our points of view and experiences. For example, in Global Politics, we usually discuss the topic form our own perspectives, so we see how other ideologies' influence our positions.

We are also used to sharing knowledge beyond the class time, in my particular case, as I live quite far from the school, I have lunch there, where it is usual to talk about something related to class and mix it with a more fun aspect so it’s on your mind although we are not working. But after eating we spend the afternoon doing our homework next to other classmates, which has been incredibly useful as you can work together or just check each other’s work, which is really useful to make sure you are explaining yourself in a clear way. Working together also helps to balance the skills and flaws of each student as we can help each other and, honestly, it is the best thing you can do to deal with stress as it can also be amusing and you get to know closely your classmates, that can eventually become friends.

In conclusion, I think that making the most of everyone surrounding you will be your best strategy to deal with IB in academic and personal aspects and sharing what you know will, apart from helping others, be a good way to know yourself better.

VORAWORLD BLOG (by Keyli Idrovo)

Are you going to start doing the IB in Voramon? Do not know how to start? Are you getting stressed just thinking about it? Are you reading this as an announcer? Don't worry, here you will find some little tips to avoid panicking and you can give your best this year for your beginnings as Voramoniense IB. And a pioneer tells you that she has been able to overcome all obstacles. So, Let's start!!! First of all, let me tell you that you are going to do it successfully, I know! · Don't give up · Don't look back and… · Let your mind expand

Tips 1. Stay organized with your notes Keeping your notes in a folder throughout the year, separated by sections of each subject will help you a lot. The moment you have to study for an exam or something similar, you will have everything at hand and in one place, without complications and ready to study. 2. Take notes of what you consider important To avoid keeping your mind in blank, don't forget to write everything down! The dates of presentations, exams (for this, you could create your calendar and hang it on the wall of your desk) important data of each class, etc. so not to forget and walk lost. 3. Let your mind expand Opening your mind allows you to develop and increase your knowledge, different points of view in a situation, perspective (mainly in ToK). It will make you see that things do not have a single angle. 4. Learn to learn Do a lot of research. As I mentioned earlier, it allows you to expand your mind and you can share that knowledge with others. 5. ¡Read a lot! Reading will be the key to success. If you already read a lot, now read more. For all subjects, literature (books), ToK, Mathematics, ESS, etc.

6. Keywords When I had to do a presentation, what helped me a lot was to write down the keywords in the PowerPoint, understand the topic that I am going to present, and know how to handle it easily and achieve the objective of giving that information that I want to transmit. I recommend you to do this technique and ... you will notice the difference. 7. Be curious at all moment ¡Ask! Investigate! 8. Stay informed of everything around you (Global Politics) Following the news (neighborhood, city, country, even internationally) for example, will help you, if you choose the Global Politics subject, for case studies. 9. Imagine it like a movie (History) History is another world; you will know what happened in past times and how they’ve marked the present. 10. Be careful with the sources! Not all are legit Not all sources are reliable. Check the sources you use; you will find the same themes but with different content (distorted content). Likewise, when using a source, citing it in APA format is essential, don’t forget it. 11. You will have fun with CAS! Everything is CAS… Creativity (get the most creative out of you, let your imagination fly), Activity (stay active and busy, practice, try new things, propose challenges) and Service (help others, try to do actions that benefit you, participate in volunteering) 12. Participate Participate in everything, in each class, participating will make you contain more information and understand better (mainly in English, to be able to practice it) 13. ToK will seem scary at first, but it will become easier later ToK is not philosophy. You will learn about the famous PdC. A tip for the PdC: try to globalize a topic as extensive as possible, that does not have a single answer, that has more than one answer! This type of question generalizes a large-scale topic. 14. Organize your time Create a schedule for your day to day hours (apart from school hours) for homework, study, rest, exercise, etc. 15. Ok, I know it sounds crazy but… ¡watch series! When I say watch series, series in English with English subtitles. It will help you to improve your English, get your ear used to the language, improve the ability to understand (listening) and know how to write (subtitles) 16. Ask for help if you need it, with your classmates or a teacher

When you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask your tutor or the teacher of the subject, ask them right away so as not to forget (personally or by email)

17. Keep your books in a suitable place

I recommend keeping your books close at hand, I mean, for example, keeping all books at home will not help when using them in class. In the case of doing work at home and having books at school, neither. Therefore, organize yourself when you have to carry such a book. Write it down, so you don't forget!

18. Find out about the way of working in each subject the moment when you are choosing the HL and SL

The difference between HL and SL is on a large scale, therefore, before all, ask the teacher of each subject so that you know, when choosing your HL subjects you, how to handle them

International student

Hi! my name is Keyli, I’m from Ecuador and I’m an international student

Advantages

· Mixed culture

· Language

· People

· New experience

Disadvantages

· None

Believe in yourself

More than a school, we are a family

¡WELCOME TO VORAMON!

Advice on IB (By Martí Puig)

If you are reading this blog, you might be considering the option of joining the International Baccalaureate, Voramón.

First of all, let me introduce myself: my name is Martí Puig Sampera and I have just finished my first year as an international student at Voramón and it has been a really good year.

If I am writing this it’s just because I want you to know that I understand the feelings that you may have about choosing the IB, since I have been in that situation as well.

By one hand, I would like you to know that the IB requires a lot of work and that it won’t be easy, since you will have a year and a half to prepare yourself for the final exams, but by the other hand, you will live experiences that will be really important for all your life, like going to demonstrations with your classmates or working on your CAS projects.

This year, as I said before, has been a wonderful year, even though we haven’t been able to end it properly, because of the COVID19, since I have met new and amazing people that, hopefully, will be lifelong friends. I have learned a lot of new things and new ways to do them.

Finally, I would like to give you some, hopefully, helpful advice. The first one: if you don’t want to get killed the first week by @heeidi.420, you better lower the toilet lid. The second one, use usefully the time that you have because there isn’t a lot. And finally and most importantly, don’t be afraid of who you are, because Voramón is a place where nobody is judged for being themselves.