IB Busy! December 2012

ISSUE

03

AIS’S OFFICIAL IB NEWSLETTER

December 2012

IB Busy!

GET IT?

this issue IB Busy’s Treasure Hunt P.1 High School Stories from YOUR Teachers P.2 CAS Opportunities P.3 Make the Most Out of Your Winter Break P.4

Anticipations & Expectations: Seniors Edition We asked some seniors what they were looking forward to and what their favorite memories were and here is what some of them said: “I’m looking forward to graduating, the senior trip, and May 17 ZKHQ ,ÂśOO ÂżQDOO\ EH GRQH ZLWK ,% My favorite memory was the &$6 UHWUHDW VSHFLÂżFDOO\ ZKHQ Noah fell into the water while we were playing soccer.â€?

- Mariam Shash

IB Busy’s Treasure Hunt Announcement to all high school students! Want a fun, new challenge? A big prize? Join AISE’s first Treasure Hunt, held by the IB newsletter, IB Busy! The hunt itself will be held at lunch on Thursday the 13th of December. You have all day to gather clues, and the first person/group to reach the final clue will receive the prize. The prize? A 300 LE gift card from Virgin Megastore and your picture in the next issue of IB Busy!

So how do you participate?

You can receive your starting clue from assigned teachers (mentioned below) at any time during the day. This clue will lead you to three others (the third leading you to your final destination). You have until the end lunch (1:50 pm) to find the final token – so you have all day to gather clues. When you reach the end, you must bring the token you find at the final destination to Ms. Nora’s room where you will receive your prize! All final clues lead to the same destination, so there is only one prize.

“I’m looking forward to graduating and my favorite memory was the ‘Sexy and I know it’ from the CAS retreat and when we went to China for MUN.�

- Engie Ezeldin “I’m excited for graduation, prom and the senior trip. My favorite memories were the CAS retreat, the MUN trip to China, and class outings when we all get together.�

- Nahed Salem “May 21st when our exams are over is what I’m looking forward to. My favorite memories have to be when I was writing my Math EE, and the CAS retreat because we got a well-deserved break from work.�

- Youssef Katamish “I’m excited for THIMUN and the Senior CAS retreat. My favorite memories are from the CAS retreat and the MUN trip to China.�

- Shadin Gomaa Seniors have just applied for colleges and universities across the world. IB Busy! and the IB Busy! team is wishing them all good luck. You will certainly be missed.

Assigned teachers (for the starting clue): The locations of these teachers are marked on the maps WK JUDGH One of the French teachers: 0DGDPH %XFFLDQWL 5P

- Madame Pascale (Rm. 368) 10th grade: One of the Science teachers: - Mr. Anderson (Rm. 345) - Ms. Clements (Rm. 346)

11th grade: - Ms Katherine Gendy (Rm. 247) 12th grade: Ask in the High School Office If you have any questions: E-mail us at aise.ibbusy@gmail.com Contact us on Facebook at facebook.com/IBBusy Tweet us @AISE_IBBusy Ask Marina Milad, Karim Ghassan El-Eita, Maria Azer, or Omar Allam.

Deadlines Class of 2013: December 20: EE Final Draft January 10: EE Done and Submitted January 20: TOK Essay 2nd Draft

Class of 2014: January 13: 1st CAS Deadline

Students: December 1, January 26: SAT & Subject Tests December 1, 7, 8, 14, January 12, 18, 25: TOEFL December 1, 6, 8, 15, January 5,

,(/76 ,(/76 December 15: Christmas One Family Fun Day December 28: SAT Registration Deadline January 31: End of Term 2

Days Off: December 21 – January 7: Winter Break January 8: Staff Development January 24: Prophet’s Birthday *College Board Deadlines expire at SP (DVWHUQ 7LPH 86$ SP (DVWHUQ 7LPH 86$ Dates and deadlines are subject to change. IB Busy! cannot be held liable for any changes.

IB Exams Countdown On the day this was published, the 1st of December 2012, 154 Days were left to the start of the IB Class of 2013’s exams.

Good luck from the IB Busy! and the IB Busy! team.

Thinking the TOK Way What is Theory of Knowledge to For example, western media For example, western media may may perception has a lot to do with you? A class where you get to ask report the new IsraeliPalestinian the media. With many important report the new IsraeliPalestinian questions? An opportunity to lay events in a way that makes events going on, like the Israelievents in a way that makes IsraelIsrael 3DOHVWLQLDQ FRQĂ€LFW (J\SWÂśV 3DOHVWLQLDQ FRQĂ€LFW DQG DQG (J\SWÂśV back after a long day? Seminar? a victim, Middle look look like like a victim, whilewhile Middle TOK is, in essence, a class creEastern media would usually Eastern media would usually ated to be like an epistemology support Palestine. Now, the recourse at university. Epistemolgion you live in actually determines you take. ogy is the study of the nature mines whichwhich side side you take.

No No matter educated you may and limitations of knowledge; matter how how educated you may onmatter, the matter, the media this is what TOK is all about. be onbe the the media will will vitiate opinion and of that of This class focuses on looking vitiate your your opinion and that others around making at things from a TOK point of others around you, you, making you you view; being critical, analytical, a victim of perception’s uncanand skeptical. But what is the ny powers. Therefore, “thinkingTOK the TOK is analyzing TOK point of view? ing the wayâ€?wayâ€? is analyzing 0\ ÂżUVW WKRXJKW ZDV WKDW LW LV WKH everything not just 0\ ÂżUVW WKRXJKW ZDV WKDW LW LV WKH everything you you hear,hear, not just breathing is protection annoying student in your class breathing it in. itIt in. is It protection the denominator evil denominator that stops after every fact and from from the evil that that says, “But, how do you know?â€? is trying to unify our thoughts is trying to unify our thoughts Applying the theory of knowlrobotic in the into into one one robotic brainbrain in the edge to everything we hear hands of theofmedia.

TOK TOK is notis not hands the media. many political changes, one must merely a class, it isanot a speech, shields us from the ideas people merely a class, it is not speech, stop and think. What is the media sometimes try to force upon us. a paper the of end oftiring two tiring not anot paper at theatend two making me think? Simple things For example, one of the secyears, is a of way of alife, a way years, but itbut is ait way life, way like word choice and stressing on tions IB students are studying in of thinking, an ongoing practice. certain words affect our view on TOK is perception. Nowadays, issues without us even noticing.

CAS Opportunities SPARE Animal Shelter Every week a group of students, young and old, take time out of their weekend to visit the SPARE Animal Shelter. The visits to SPARE Animal Shelter take place every other week on Saturdays from 8am – 12 pm. The activity is organized by AIS4Egypt. Volunteers sign up to interact with animals and to make sure that the animals are getting enough human attention. Evelyn Dom, a junior IB student at AISE, explains that by visiting the animal shelter she is making the animals feel more comfortable around people. She adds on by saying, “From my experience, I have learned that the animals are very calm and interact well. I am planning to visit the animal shelter regularly and I encourage others to sign up as it is a great way to give back to these animals.â€? These animals cannot express their pain, hunger or thirst to anyone and so this animal shelter is a way in which humans can give back to the animals in ways they canQRW GR WKHPVHOYHV 63$5( LV WKH ÂżUVW HYHU QRQ SURÂżW RUJDQL]D QRW GR WKHPVHOYHV 63$5( LV WKH ÂżUVW HYHU QRQ SURÂżW RUJDQL]Dtion solely dedicated to the protection of the animals roaming around in the streets of Cairo.

High School Stories‌ From YOUR Teachers!

They may seem strict now, but have you ever wondered what your teachers were like when they were in High School? From embarrassing moments to ridiculous pranks. Ms. Nora Elmarzouky, Mr. Thomas Huebner, and Ms. Susie Belal shared some of their most memorable moments with us.

Ms. Nora Elmarzouky: Ms. Nora’s senior year was approaching its end. It was time for Ms. Nora and her classmates to get their hands on some tailored caps and gowns. At our school, the girls wear white gowns and the boys wear blue ones. Her fellow classmates found that this was the perfect time for them to play a prank on that one friend they always tricked. So, during their IB History class, Ms. Nora’s own husband, who wasn’t her husband at the time, started the prank by telling that friend that there were no more blue robes and that he was one of 3 people chosen to wear a white one.

Everyone joined in, including the teacher, who added, “You have an hourglass shape.� The joke went so far that the boy called his mom and she was on her way to ask the school to give her son a blue gown. By then they had to tell him it was all a prank.

Mr. Thomas Huebner: In our last issue we had an interview with Mr. Huebner and he told us that he was a hippie at some point, and an avid skier at another. But before that, in his sophomore year of high school, Mr. Thomas Huebner was in a rock band! Every month, there was a school dance, and his band finally got the chance to play in one of them. But the unexpected happened just as they were starting their first song: “I took a step in the wrong direction and I fell off the stage with my guitar. It’s one of the things I can’t live down.�

Ms. Susie Belal: Apparently, Ms. Belal was always the smart and organized person she is now, even in high school. Well‌ until her senior year.

The IGCSE program usually concludes at the 11th year, but if you’re planning on attending an Egyptian university, like Ms. Belal and 4 other people in her class, you must complete 12th grade. So, in her senior year, there were only 5 people in her class. Ms. Belal told us: “I had never been yelled at, I was a goodie two shoes. But that year, I planned and initiated to be bad‌ and it was great.â€? Even though she doesn’t remember exactly what she did, she does recall getting yelled at.

Soup Kitchen And now for IB Busy!’s favourite: Mr. Sean Moylan: When Mr. Moylan was was in high When Mr. Moylan in high school, ool, he was on the he was on wrestling the wrestling team.team.

Wrestling teams before Wrestling teams before competitions starved themselves competitions starved themselves in order to lose somesome weight. in order to lose weight.

TheyThey decided to use decided to one use of onetheir of their resources to play a prank.

TheyThey resources to play a prank. took took a Snicker’s bar and it a Snicker’s bar stuffed and stuffed it with with laxatives.

Laxatives are pills laxatives.

Laxatives are pills that are mostly taken to treat constipation, but in case,case, they they stipation, buttheir in their werewere usingusing it to lose somesome weight. it to lose weight.

Mr. Moylan and and his teammates Mr. Moylan his teammates pretended to fight over over it. Then, pretended to fight it. Then, they they left itleftand said said that that they they it and didn’tdidn’t wantwant it anymore because it anymore because it was all squished, knowing that that it was all squished, knowing therethere was was one one kid who would kid who would wantwant to eat So, So, as as to iteatanyway. it anyway. planned, the boy The next next planned, the ate boy it.ate it. The day, day, he told themthem that that “he was he told “he was on the all night.�

Playing on toilet the toilet all night.�

Playing along, they they answered “did “did you you along, answered eat the yesterday?

It eat pineapples the pineapples yesterday?

It mustmust havehave beenbeen that.�that.�

Mr. Moylan Mr. Moylan added that his fell for andit and added thatfriend his friend fellit for that he hasn’t eateneaten any any thatprobably he probably hasn’t pineapples until this day.

WhoWho would havehave guessed that that would guessed thesethese teachers werewere just like teachers just us like us whenwhen they they werewere in high school! in high school!

Stay Stay tunedtuned for next month’s issueissue for next month’s – we’ll havehave moremore stories, maybe – we’ll stories, maybe even one from our very own principal.

During the previous weeks, students including Farahnaz Abdel Bary and Tarek Roshdy have been working at collecting money for a very good cause, feeding the poor and the hungry. These students have been part of the Soup Kitchen program, their objective was to raise at least 15,000 LE (according to Bram Korsten, who is part of the program) to buy meals for the poor.

The meals cost 10 LE each and the chef(s) cooking the meals will be paid 500 LE. The meals consist of food that the poor in Egypt are in desperate need of. The meals contain meat, rice and vegetables. According to Tarek Roshdy, him and his colleagues have collected almost 18,000 LE. This amount is easily going to help feed more than a hundred people. If you wish to help by donating, please go to one of the students mentioned above (if you are not certain as to who they are, anyone from the IB Busy! Team would gladly help). Remember, this is something that will truly draw smiles in the faces of many people. By donating even 10 LE, you are feeding a very poor and hungry person, who is in desperate need of this food.

In the Making Karim G. El-Eita Maria Azer Abdul Aziz El Sabrout Marina Milad Omar Allam Under the Supervision of Ms. Nora Elmarzouky & Mr. Khalid Dinnawi Special thanks to all those who contributed. We could not fit all the names here. You know who you are :) Pictures courtesy of the CAS Photography team, Shehab Fawzy included We hope you find time to read this even though we know that U B BUSY!!

EYE ON IT: Honesty “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important mattersâ€? ĘŠ $OEHUW (LQVWHLQ ĘŠ $OEHUW (LQVWHLQ December is the month of honesty.

How does this word strike you?

Honesty, according to the MerriamWebster Online Dictionary, is “fairness and straightforwardness of conduct.� What does it mean to be honest? How is being honest beneficial?

Well, it is unfortunate to say that there are very few people in this world who are truly honest. It is a mathematical principle that nothing in the universe is perfect. By using deductive reasoning we can deduce that humans can’t be perfect either. Proof of this is that if all of us were honest, there would be no wars and no suffering.

Dishonesty is the corrupting factor of any society and the degree in which it is present determines the society’s success.

Similarly, cheating on a test means graduating with absolutely no benefit, just a waste of time. People would agree to wasting their time, the only catch to this is that you don’t account for getting caught.

In the long term, dishonesty leads down the cliff; it is inevitable.

Therefore, to be successful or rather to contribute to the success of society, you have to do your best to eliminate dishonesty in all of its forms from your life.

To be honest is to strive towards honesty as best as you could, for pure honesty seldom exists if it exists purely at all (according to complex mathematical principles I cannot convey to you in this article).

I feel the need to spread awareness of what this word, “honesty�, encompasses. A word which its antonym in human beings led to World War One, the Holocaust and the hundreds who died in Tahrir and allover Egypt. Being honest now, in “the small matters�, means that when you actually graduate and become a politician handling the “important matters�, you can be trusted.

Thus, since this is the month of honesty, step back for a minute everyday and think to what degree have you been honest? How can you be a more honest human being? Who have you been dishonest to? How has this harmed that person, if not yourself?

IB Opinions Thank you Ms. Nadine Ibrahim.

We will keep up the good work, don’t worry. :) “IB Busy! is one of the few things I look forward to. I am your biggest fan, thank you for being my motivation to go to school and actually stay in IB.� – Shahd Gawish Remember, if you read IB Busy!, you are beautiful.

What do you think of our newsletter?

Send us an e-mail. aise.ibbusy@gmail.com

IB Playlist

Make the Most Out of Your Winter Break Even though it seems like the school year just started yesterday, we are already approaching Winter Break!

This time of year, everyone is counting down until ZH ¿QDOO\ get three weeks off and, if you celebrate Christmas, to when you’ll get lots of gifts.

But as IB students, we must utilize this time, especially since it is so close to Semester 1 exams. Most alarming of all, some teachers use these grades along with your term grades to determine your IB Progress Reports.

So yes, these exams are important!

How, then, are we supposed to manage studying and taking a long-awaited break? Firstly, this is a good time to wrap up your notes before exams. Go back and make sure they’re organized and thorough so that you are capable of studying from them whenever you need to. Don’t undermine how valuable this period of time is, after Winter Break is over, time will pass quickly and you’ll be so busy with new lessons that you may not have time to look back and review except for a few days before midterms. After you make your

QRWHV SHUIHFW ORRN EDFN DQG UHDG RYHU WKHP Âą ÂżQG your weak points, answer some practice questions, and create a list of questions to ask your teachers when you come back or simply just review!

Of course, we all need our valuable break time.

Spend time with your family, catch up on series/movies, relax and go out with your friends! Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, this is a festive and happy time of year, so lay back! Just in case you get bored, here are some suggestions: &DUU\ RXW D ',< SURMHFW 9LVLW ZZZ UHÂżQHU\ FRP for diynetwork.com for ideas (they offer Christmasthemed ideas too!)

- Call your grandparents. We often forget to check up on them in the rush of things even though it would make them so happy if you just made a small call.

- Play with your siblings. From personal experience, I can tell you that they really wish you would. They look up to you, remind them that you love them.

- Catch up on downloading new albums/movies. www.thepiratebay.se is organized and easy to use .

- Organize your room, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m guessing itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about time. %HVLGHV LW ZLOO KHOS \RX VWXG\ DQG \RX ZLOO ÂżQG WKLQJV you have been looking for some time now!

- Pray for Egypt. Whatever your religious beliefs are, whether you support the government or not, Egypt is going through rough times now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from IB Busy! and the IB Busy! team.

IB Busy compiled a list of songs that you should be listening to right now:

IB Teacher Interview: Ms. Nadine Ibrahim

Alicia Keys â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Girl on Fire Bruno Mars â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Locked Out of Heaven Calvin Harris â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sweet Nothing (feat. Florence Welch) Frank Ocean â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Pyramid Frank Ocean â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sierra Leone Frank Ocean â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Super Rich Kids (feat. Earl Sweatshirt) Kendrick Lamar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Good Kid Kendrick Lamar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Now or Never (feat. Mary Blige) Kendrick Lamar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Real (Anna Wise of Sonnymoon) Kendrick Lamar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Swimming Pools (Drank) Kendrick Lamar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Art of Peer Pressure Kendrick Lamar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; War Is My Love Lupe Fiasco â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Cold War (feat.

Jane) Lupe Fiasco â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Heart Donor (feat.

Poo Bear) Lupe Fiasco â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Lamborghini Angels Maroon 5 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Man Who Never Lied The Wanted â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I Found You Two Door Cinema Club â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sun Usher â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Euphoria 50 Cent - My Life ft. Eminem, Adam Levine

Do you enjoy your job as a teacher? What are some disadvantages and advantages? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always loved teaching; it was a choice that I made from the very beginning. Going into university, I studied math because I was aiming to become a teacher; and I have never regretted it. The second I walk into the classroom and start speaking, I feel that this is the place where I would love to be. I just belong in a classroom. Advantages would be its very rewarding when you feel that you have inspired students and you act as a role model towards the students; and when you feel they learned something from you that they did not know about at all. Disadvantages, I would think that our job could be very stressful at sometimes. One thing I really do not enjoy about teaching is the marking itself. I enjoy teaching but marking assessments and IAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s can sometimes be time consuming and very tiring and you have to make sure that you are very fair and follow the standards all the time. So it does take up a lot of time to feel that you have done a fair job.â&#x20AC;?

IB Busy! Issue 03 December 2012

Math HL & SL Teacher

Do you believe IB is a successful program? Why or why not? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve only been teaching IB for four years but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve grown to admire the program. I think it is a very successful program. I love the fact that it is not just focused on content, there is a lot more than content.

Any program has content and the content is more or less the same as any other system, but with IB, I like the CAS idea, I like the TOK idea, and I like the international mindedness idea. I think it is a time management issue. If you manage your time wisely, you would be able to succeed easily. However, I do believe it is not for everyone. Nevertheless, if you ask me if I would like it or not, I would love my daughters to go into IB. But if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get into IB, I will support that because I know not everyone could handle it.â&#x20AC;?

What do you think about the school year so far? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think we started off with a smooth start. It was easy.

My classes were all fine.

I felt comfortable walking into all of my classes. I felt that everyone was excited to start. I think now that it is almost two months into it, people are starting to need a break maybe. But I think it was a smoother start than any year Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been here.â&#x20AC;?

What do you think about the 11 graders? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I actually enjoy all of my 11 graders. I feel they are excited about being IB students. They have a lot of life in them. They ask intelligent questions, they are excited to learn new concepts; they do what they are told. I actually enjoy teaching them a lot.â&#x20AC;?

How about the seniors? â&#x20AC;&#x153;For the seniors, I only teach three seniors in my higher-level math course so I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really speak about all of the seniors. However, my three students are doing really well. Definitely as 11th graders they were more excited and more into it. Nevertheless, it has gone down a bit, but now I think it is just a phase and it is starting to go up a bit. They are excited about almost finishing. The end has to be a run and the end has to be focusing about studying, so it is just because it is a two-year program, you can always feel that the second year is longer and is more tedious.

And they have to constantly know itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a push and that you have to do your absolute best to get there.â&#x20AC;?

Do you have any questions for specific teachers. You know how to reach us: aise.ibbusy@gmail.com