Interview with Mr Weber!

Shany Ebadi April 2014

 

In this short Q&A with Mr. Weber, we discussed the general workings of IB and what the junior cohort can expect in the future. Mr. Weber was able to offer up valuable insight into the global matters at hand, as well as provide readers with a couple life lessons on the way.

 

What are your thoughts on the upcoming IB newsletter?

I think it’s a great idea. If students in the US research and write a piece on a global issue, but students around the globe also write on the same topic, then you can have this very open dialogue of perspectives to see how opinions, perceptions and news media cover things differently around the globe. I think it’s probably one of the best learning experiences to have.

What was the process of integrating IB into Granada like?

When I came on, it had already gone through the whole approval process. The reason I got behind it was because there’s a unique thing that IB does that no other program does. There is a focus on experiential learning, so that almost everything is grounded in experience. From the CAS project to instances where you have to design your own project, you have to get out there and do things that normally aren’t covered in a text-book.You need to research. You need to problem-solve. There’s a heavy public-speaking component in it. There’s a research component. There’s the intimate small-group setting, so there is a discussion element. There are all these opportunities for authentic learning in IB that are hard to get in other academic environments. When you pick up a textbook, you’re getting this one-sided biased opinion. But in, say, Theory of Knowledge, there’s not even a text-book to have that biased opinion.

Did you have any expectations for the first cohort?

Oh yeah. One of the quotes I always use is: my expectation for all students, IB and non-IB, is that as teachers, we need to create environments in which a student can keep as many doors open for as long as possible. That means not pigeonholing a student into some choice of major or saying to a student, “you’re not good at math”, or “you struggle at writing and you’re good at theatre so let’s do lots of theatre”.I want students keeping as many doors open as they can. My expectations were simply to make sure that all of the students cross the finish line, and are empowered at the end to think, act, and feel – all on their own.

Now that the seniors are finishing up, is there anything special you’re looking forward to for the junior cohort? Anything you’ve noticed that’s distinctly different from the seniors?

As hard as your 11th grade experience might be, it’s considerably easier than what the 12th graders went through. We made a few mistakes in our first year of seniors, where a lot of the internal assessments were put off until way at the end. But in the junior class, one thing that I hope will help you guys is the assessments being moved up. Already in your Science, English, and Math classes, you’re starting the dialogue surrounding your internal assessments. You’re going to have more of a seamless transition into senior year.I also want to bring in more outside speakers, whether that’s parent speakers that have experience in professional areas, or professors from local colleges. I want to find cool field trips for you guys to go on, like the Dalai Lama. Now that the teachers and I are more comfortable with the structural part of IB, we now are more comfortable in dedicating time for you guys to do other things.

If you could leave our readers with one message, what would it be?

For IB specifically, don’t be afraid to fail. Fail often. It’s probably the best way to be successful. If you’re not afraid to fail, then I think you’ll be the most successful IB student, and probably the most successful person too.