Maintaining Perspective: My 5% Rule

Travis DixonGeneral Interest

This post is adapted from an earlier post. At the start of the school year I like to remind myself about My 5% Rule: I should expect IB Psychology to make up less than 5% of my students’ lives. About 98% of the time that I see my kids is when they’re in my classroom. I’d love to reduce that % …

C.H.A.C.E.R: The Themantic Lesson Plan

Travis DixonAssessment (IB), Curriculum, General Interest, Themantics

Our goal at TE is to make teachers lives better by making them simpler. Do less and do it better, getting back to basics, yadda, yadda. If we can help you reduce stress, it will have positive impacts on your kids (see this article about the correlation between teacher burnout and cortisol in students). Get all your lesson plans and …

Building Blocks: The Foundation of the Themantic Model

Travis DixonAssessment (IB), Curriculum, General Interest

Now that we’re beginning to launch the themantic model of teaching and learning, it’s probably a good idea to begin elucidating what the model is all about. But before you think that this will just be another bunch of edujargon or abstract pedagogical theory, it’s important to note that at Themantic Education we realise that any theory is only as …

SAQ Writing Guide

Travis DixonAssessment (IB), Curriculum, General Interest, Revision and Exam Preparation

Updated Jan 25th, 2021 I’ve spent over ten years trying to devise good advice for students about how to write exam answers. You’ll see below an original post I wrote a few years ago (in 2017) with an attached “SAQ Writing Guide” as a word.doc that I thought would revolutionize teaching of SAQs. I was wrong. I’ve learned that specific …

Understanding Research “Methods”

Travis DixonCurriculum, General Interest

Frankly, sometimes I get a little peeved when distinctions are made between research “methods” and “techniques.” This is a pedantic distinction and one that doesn’t have any influence on the broader conceptual understandings we want students to acquire in this course. From the May 2013 exam mark scheme the appropriate “methods” to discuss at the biological LOA (now called an …