VIVA VOCE! Advice From the IBDP Seniors to the Juniors

For this Tuesdays community event, the AISG seniors will have its annual Viva Voce. The definition of Viva Voce means to give voice, in other words, express ideas and give advice. In October, the deadline for the IB Extended Essay finally came for The Class of 2019. In addition to writing the Extended Essay, IBDP candidates are expected to write 3 Extended Essay reflections on ManageBac. The first reflection is about planning and how they came up with the question, the second being on the process of writing after they’ve met and gotten feedback from their EE supervisor, and the third one after the Viva Voce. This week the seniors will be expected to begin and hopefully finish writing their third and final Extended Essay reflection. In total, the word count for all three of the reflections is 500 words.

In one of her most recent emails to the seniors, Ms. Martin-Bauer explains that “the Viva Voce event is a celebration of the completion of the essay and a reflection on what the student had learned from the process.” In addition, it is an opportunity to ask open-ended questions on the senior’s essay writing and planning, an opportunity for the EE supervisors to affirm the legitimacy of the student’s ideas and research process, and for the seniors to reflect on the success and difficulties they’ve faced throughout the  EE process. Seniors were assigned and separated into rooms according to their EE subject. Guiding the seminar and discussion will be an EE supervisor of that particular subject. Though the Viva Voce might be an event that some students might not be so excited for, it is a great opportunity for juniors to ask questions and tips as they will soon begin writing their own extended essays.

The Viva Voce is an extremely important event for the seniors as their reflections from this event count towards their EE marks in the Criterion E section of the rubric: engagement with the process and engagement with their research focus. The Viva Voce, therefore, gives them an opportunity to reflect post-essay, and plan what they want to say in their final reflection. As a senior, and I’m sure this may be true for many other seniors, I faced a lot of difficulties while writing my extended essay over the summer; many times I had writer’s block, and had a tough time looking for sources online. I encourage juniors to ask questions and even after Viva Voce to ask for tips as it could very well help and be useful to you when the time comes for you to start writing.