TOK Schedule for the rest of the year (subject to change):

One day per week you will prepare a TOK lesson in a small group.

One day per week you will teach a TOK lesson in a small group.

Three days each week you will work on either your Oral Presentation or your Essay.

This schedule will change when students are presenting their Oral Presentations.

The class will decide on a regular schedule — which days of the week we’ll prepare and teach lessons, and which days prepare for Oral Presentation or Essay.

JANUARY:

Friday, Jan. 13th — Deadline for TOK oral presentation groups to form and turn-in topic.

Friday, Jan. 20th — Deadline for draft outline of oral presentation to be turned-in.  Should follow outline on class blog.

Friday, Jan. 27th — Deadline for draft PowerPoint presentation to be completed.

FEBRUARY

Wednesday, February 1st — Deadline for second version outline of oral presentation to be completed.

Friday, February 10th — Deadline final version of oral presentation outline to be completed.

Wednesday, February 15th — “Guinea Pig” oral presentation given & is publicly critiqued by teacher & class

Feb16th & 17th — Groups make changes based on critique

Monday, February 20th — Presentations Begin and are done through the week

February 27th through March 9th — Groups revise presentations

MARCH

Monday, March 12th — Second Presentations Begin and are done through the week.

Friday, March 16th — Class Celebration!

March 19th — Preparations for Essay Begin — This is a non negotiable date.  We must begin Essay Prep at this time.

APRIL

First Week is vacation

Essay & CAS Check-in

MAY

Essay (Remember, we’ll also have two weeks of state testing this month & San Francisco Field Trip)

JUNE

Friday, June 8th Final Essay Due

Imagine that you have never seen or heard of a report card.

Think about what kind of progress report would offer you the kind of information that would be helpful to your learning. What would it include?

Here are a few examples of what other people have created.

Draw it, and then provide the reasons behind your design. Justify it through the Ways of Knowing: Perception, Reason, Language and Emotion.

This is due on December 2nd.

Theory Of Knowledge Schedule 2011-12

Homework:

Read assigned chapters. For each one, write what you think are the three most important points and why you think they are important (two sentences for each one is sufficient), two short key quotes and at least a sentence explaining why you chose each one, and two questions you have. In addition, you must choose one “linking question” at the end of each chapter and write an “ABC” paragraph responding to it. “A” means answer the question; “B” means back it up with at least one piece of evidence from the chapter; “C” means make a connection — share a personal experience that supports your answer. Homework will be shared in class. Most of this will be done by January. After that time, “homework” will be primarily preparation for TOK Presentation & Essay. However, substantial class time will be made available for you to work on the presentation and essay.

Occasional assignments on TOK Class Blog (https://theoryofknowledge.edublogs.org/)

Group TOK Presentation – give it twice with the higher-grade counting. Each will be videotaped. Substantial time in class will be provided to prepare, but outside time will also be needed.

TOK Essay – At least one practice essay & one final essay where substantial time in class will be provided (assuming we can get access to computer lab), but outside time will also be needed.

This schedule is subject to change in consultation with the class.

SEPTEMBER:
• Introduction to TOK
• The Problem and Nature Of Knowledge, p. 3-40 (homework due 9/16)
• CAS Plan developed
• Knowledge Issues
• Perception p. 88 -105 (homework due 9/23) – also, do the assignment on the blog titled “Why Do People Believe What They See?” by the same date.

OCTOBER
• Language p. 47-79 (homework due September 30th)
• Reason and Logic p. 111-141 (homework due Oct. 7th)
• Emotions p. 145-169 (homework due Oct. 14th)
• Math p. 187-213 (homework due Oct. 21th)
• The Arts p.328- 356 (homework due Oct. 28th)

NOVEMBER:
• CAS Review
• History p. 300-322 (homework due Nov. 11th)
• Ethics p. 363-396 (homework due Nov. 18th)

DECEMBER:
• Natural Sciences p. 220-250 (homework due December 2nd)
• Human Sciences p. 256-288 (homework due December 9thth)
• TOK Presentation Planning – Decide on topic and group by December 12th. Assuming we can get access to the computer lab, you will one class period each week to work on it, plus two periods immediately prior to when presentations begin – a total of eight class periods. Your written plan will be due on January 13th , but I strongly recommend that you review a draft with me prior to December 16th – if not sooner.

You will make this presentation in late January and early February next semester, and then again shortly afterwards. The one with the higher grade will count. Presentations will be video-recorded.

JANUARY:
• Starting this month and going until the end of the school year, small groups will pick from a wide choice of materials for each Way of Knowing and Area of Knowledge. Each week, groups will prepare short lessons on the material they chose to present to the class – either to another small group or to the entire class. You will be provided a guideline, and creativity will be encouraged. You will have one class period to chose and prepare; there will be one-to-two class periods to present; and the remaining days each week will be spent on your TOK presentation or essay.
• Student-created lessons on perception during the week of January 6th
• Student-created lessons on language during the week of January 13th
• Prepare TOK Presentations
• Written TOK Presentation Plan due January 13th
• TOK Presentations begin on January 30th
• CAS Review

FEBRUARY:
• TOK Presentations during the first week of February
• Finish TOK presentations during the second week of February, groups decide if they are going to redo it and, if so, make preparations
• Student-created lessons on Reason and Logic during the week of February 13th
• Student -created lessons on Emotions during the week of February 20th
• Continue to revise presentations and present again during the third and fourth week of February

MARCH:
• TOK Essay Planning during the first two weeks of March. You must pick one of the ten options for your essay by March 16th
• Student-created lessons Math during the third week of March. Work on essay.
• Student-created lessons on The Arts during the fourth week of March. Work on essay

APRIL:
• Essay Outline due on March 30th. Draft is due April 27th. Final is due June 1st.
• Student-created lessons on History during the third week of April
• Student-created lessons on Ethics during the fourth week of April
• CAS Review

MAY:
• Student-created lessons on Natural Sciences during the first week of May
• Student-created lessons on Physical Sciences during second week of May
• Religion p. 404-431 (homework due May 18thth) — We may or may not do this unit depending on how the Essay is going.
• Final essay due on June 1st

Explore TED Talks.

Identify two that you think would be useful for the class to see, and explain the connection each one has to do with Theory of Knowledge topics. Leave it in the comments section of this post.

For information on how to cite sources, to The Best Resources For Learning Research & Citation Skills.

Read a comment posted at Ms. Mercer’s blog at Response to a Comment.

It is not unusual for IB, and TOK in particular, to get attacked.  Read this New York Times article about the opponents of the IB program and explore their website.

Why do they think people are attacking TOK and IB, how does it make you feel, and do you think any of those arguments have any validity?  If you agree with any of them, please say why you do — and it is absolutely fine to say you agree.  If you believe any of the arguments are fallacies, please explain why.

We will watch these two videos in class. They are both about the “Birther” Movement, which claims President Obama was not born in the United States and in reality is a citizen of Kenya. Therefore, they say, he is not eligible to be President.

As you watch these videos, look at your list of “problems of knowledge.” Which, if any, are being used to justify this claim.

Obama ‘Birther’ Row Rears Its Head Again

Theory Of Knowledge Schedule

Homework:

Read assigned chapters. For each one, write four most important points, key quotes (two-to-four), and questions you have (two-to-four) Homework will be shared in class. Most of this will be done by January. After that time, “homework” will be primarily preparation for TOK Presentation & Essay.

Occasional assignments on TOK Class Blog (https://theoryofknowledge.edublogs.org/)

Group TOK Presentation – give it twice with the higher-grade counting. Each will be videotaped. Substantial time in class will be provided to prepare, but outside time will also be needed.

TOK Essay – At least one practice essay (maybe two) & one final essay where substantial time in class will be provided (assuming we can get access to computer lab), but outside time will also be needed.

This schedule is subject to change in consultation with the class.

SEPTEMBER:
• Introduction to TOK
• The Problem and Nature Of Knowledge, p. 3-40 (homework due 9/17)
• CAS Plan developed
• Knowledge Issues
• Perception p. 88 -105 (homework due 9/24) – also, do the assignment on the blog titled “Why Do People Believe What They See?” by the same date.
• Linking Questions

OCTOBER
• Language p. 47-79 (homework due Oct. 1st)
• Reason and Logic p. 111-141 (homework due Oct. 8th)
• Emotions p. 145-169 (homework due Oct. 15th)
• Math p. 187-213 (homework due Oct. 29th)

NOVEMBER:
• The Arts p.328- 356 (homework due Nov. 5th)
• CAS Review
• History p. 300-322 (homework due Nov. 12th)
• Ethics p. 363-396 (homework due Nov. 19th)

DECEMBER:
• TOK Presentation Planning – Decide on topic and group by December 10th. Assuming we can get access to the computer lab, you will one class period each week to work on it, plus two periods immediately prior to when presentations begin – a total of eight class periods. Your written plan will be due on January 14th , but I strongly recommend that you review a draft with me prior to December 10th – if not sooner.

You will make this presentation or one on the same or different topic again next semester. The one with the higher grade will count. Presentations will be video-recorded.

• Natural Sciences p. 220-250 (homework due December 3rd)
• Human Sciences p. 256-288 (homework due December 10thth)

JANUARY:
• Starting this month and going until the end of the school year, small groups will pick from a wide choice of materials for each Way of Knowing and Area of Knowledge. Each week, groups will prepare lesson on the material they chose to present to the class – either to another small group or to the entire class. You will be provided a guideline, and creativity will be encouraged. You will have between one-and-half and two class periods to chose and to prepare; there will be one-to-two class periods to present; and the remaining day or days each week will be spent on your TOK presentation or essay.

• Student-created lessons on perception during the week of January 10th
• Student-created lessons on language during the week of January 17th
• Prepare TOK Presentations
• Written TOK Presentation Plan due January 14th
• TOK Presentations begin on January 31st
• CAS Review

FEBRUARY:
• TOK Presentations during the first week of February
• Finish TOK presentations during the second week of February, groups decide if they are going to redo it and, if so, make preparations
• Continue to revise presentations and present again during the third and fourth week of February

MARCH:
• TOK Essay Planning. You will choose one of the topics from the previous year and write an essay on it. You must select one by March 4thth. An outline will be due on March 11th. A draft will be due on March 18th. A final version will be due on March 25th. You will have six full periods to work on it – some, but not all, in the computer lab.

• Student-created lessons on Reason and Logic during the first week of March
• Student-created lessons on Emotions during the second week of March
• Student-created lessons Math during the third week of March
• Student-created lessons on The Arts during the fourth week of March

APRIL:
• Review and select one of the new topics for your final essay by April 8th. You will have four full class periods (and maybe more) to work on it during the month, some in the computer lab. Outline due on April 29nd. Draft is due May 13th. Final is due June 3rd.

• Student-created lessons on History during the first week of April
• Student-created lessons on Ethics during the second week of April
• Student-created lessons on Natural Sciences during the fourth week of April
• CAS Review

MAY:
• Student-created lessons on Physical Sciences during first week of May
• Religion p. 404-431 (homework due May 13thth)
• Final essay due on June 3rd

Ms. Mercer, who visited our class two days ago, wrote a letter to the students in our class.

Please go to Dear Theory of Knowledge Students and respond to several of the questions she asks you. You don’t have to answer all of them, but please give your most thoughtful responses to which ever ones you choose.

This blog will contain resources for Mr. Ferlazzo’s Theory of Knowledge class.