Ask students to explain their choices and ideas; ask follow-up questions. Your questioning helps students move through each stage of the process, and aids in their reflection. 

Talk about what would be appropriate research in your subject. This can be something you cover in class or in meetings with advisees. 

Be direct when a student has gone way off-course - this is a time when clarity and urgency are important. 

Indicate when a student may be able to go further with an idea (without saying what they should do or write.) Most students have never written something as long as the EE, so this is uncharted territory for them; they may be accustomed to shorter assignments. Simply indicating where they can do more will clue them into the work that could be done, and help set them on a path towards figuring out what to do. 

Highlight both strengths and weaknesses of students' ideas, research, and written work

Try to talk with students more than reading their work (we're allowed to give feedback on one written draft, but we can use works-in-progress to guide us in in our meetings and conversations with advisees)

Think of ways that you can support the EE in the day-to-day work of teaching your classes -- e.g. Are you teaching something for your subject's IA that is also relevant for an EE in that subject? Make that clear! A formative task where students practice fundamental research skills in your subject? Make it clear to them how these skills could be applied to an EE in that subject. 

Enjoy yourself - for the most part, this is a low-pressure process for supervisors. You get to talk with students about a topic they are interested in within a subject you both enjoy. 

Do not directly edit students' work - highlights and comments on a document are fine, but do not make changes to the text itself. Drafts should be submitted as a PDF, so you should not even be able to edit them in any event. 

Do not make many, many notes on students' drafts - we want to avoid giving too much direction to students, as it is important for them to reflect and make their own decisions. Turning your comments into a series of questions is a helpful way to avoid this issue (e.g. instead of "Your description of this term is incorrect" you could write "Does this description line up with what we learned in class?" The student should then revisit what they learned and make the necessary changes.) 

Do not give feedback to more than ONE written draft of the EE!!! this is a set-in-stone IB guideline. As much as we want them to get a high score, there is a "sink or swim" aspect to the EE. Avoid the temptation to look at a second or third draft. If the students ask, tell them it is an IB regulation: you are not being heartless or unhelpful, you're just following the rules. Even if a student's submitted draft is incomplete, that is the draft. Period. 

• As a caveat to the previous point, if a student has a late submission and is being required to re-work their first draft before comments, make sure you are looking at the last submitted piece of work. 

Do not take ownership of students' essays! It's THEIR work. It can be particularly tempting to do more for, or give more to, students who lack agency or who have fallen behind. Don't. They need to own the process, for good or ill; their shortcomings offer opportunities for reflection and improvement. The final result is their result, not yours.