A Critical Friends Group is a selection of students, maybe 3-4, who take the same subject and level that you do (e.g. Psychology HL) that you want to work with. They should be students who work hard, take the subject seriously and seem to have some insights into how to be successful in the subject. The Group is called Critical Friends, because they are the kinds of friends who are critical to your success in that subject, not friends you have for socializing and relaxation. Select a new Critical Friends Group for each of your subjects so that you don't wear out the relationship and so that you learn new skills and new perspectives from a variety of peers.
Taken directly from 167 IB Secrets by Tim Williams:
Roles in a Critical Friends Group
A manager – someone whom you all choose, to keep it all together, hold people accountable
A recorder - who makes notes of what you decided or need to remember, keeps track of the agenda
A guide keeper – someone who keeps checking how what you’re doing is fitting the assessment criteria, subject guide, etc.
Who should I work with?
Not your best friends. It’s easier to work with your closest friends, but not the best idea. You know you’ll likely end up just being social / complaining about teachers / gossiping / playing GTA.
Not the same people all the time for all subjects – you’ll learn more from new people and their working styles.
You actually may want to work with the (other) quiet people, preferably ones who obviously have been paying attention in class.
Preferably if they get pretty good grades.
A good sign if they have big school bags.
People you have talked to in the past, but hardly know.
If you’re in your first year, you could choose one project to work on (like a practice TOK presentation) and just go talk to a couple of people about working together on an idea that you propose. You’d like it if someone said to you that you seemed like the kind of person who’d be good to work with, and gave you a starting idea as well – so will they.
If you’re in your second year, you might suggest working on revising a particular topic just for three sessions. If it works, carry on. If not, it’s not been a high risk...
Where should we work?
Work at school (if you possibly can). Much easier to arrange, less time spent getting your mother to drive you, more likely actually to do it, no TV / games / coffee / pool to distract.
Teachers are actually very happy (and surprised) to see you working together quietly in their classroom after school, and may even help.
When should we work?
Work for deliberately limited sessions. If you know you just have 20 minutes to do something, it’s much more likely you’ll all just get on with it.
Fix times for several sessions in advance . So they don’t get shuffled / forgotten / overtaken by football practice. And so you can plan what you’ll study.
Plan backwards from your deadline.
Remember you’re not just working on what you feel like. There’s an external world to deal with.
Get a calendar. Strike off all the days you can’t work on a project, the days you can’t meet, the lessons when you can’t get work done. See how much time you really have. Guess how many meetings you need. Schedule them – and stick to the schedule.
How should we work?
Don’t just ‘have a meeting’. Be clear what you have to achieve in a meeting.
Short projects to start. Say ‘Let’s meet twice, and produce note-cards on the unit on Acids and Bases’ or ‘Let’s brainstorm ideas for three of the TOK essays’.
Get a bit nasty. If someone misses a session, be a bit horrible. It’s good for them (helps them see they’re useless...) and for you (therapy). And it means you may both / all actually in future stick to a schedule of studying, and get it done.
Many things are more fun and more productive if you do them with someone else.
Here are examples of the kinds of things you can work on together:
Essays:
Develop ‘for’ and ‘against’ ideas.
Brainstorm examples and case studies.
Share research - both the work and the results.
Point out each other’s prejudices (TOK : ‘Knower’s perspective’).
Identify ‘counterclaims’.
Define words used in the question.
Grade a partner’s work by the relevant Criteria.
Give feedback, identify ways to improve.
Presentations :
Divide up the jobs
Brainstorm ideas for topics.
Argue against everything, then swap round.
TOK: Describe each of these for your presentation in one sentence to each other:
the ‘Knowledge Questions’
your ‘Knower’s perspective’
the ‘Sequence of your argument’
the ‘Real life situation’
Be a practice audience, and listen to your partners presenting. Laugh if / as appropriate.
Video each other in practices.
Grade partners’ work by the relevant Criteria.
Give feedback, identify ways to improve.
Revision
Make note cards to copy and share.
Explain concepts to each other.
Summarise Examiners’ Reports.
Get past papers to look at.
Identify problems you both / all have, to ask teachers about.
Write summary posters of units / topics on A3 paper, copy them and exchange copies.
Test each other on the definitions in science syllabuses.
Write post-its to put round your houses.
Learn two quotations per exam text per session, and test each other.
Test each other on understanding the Assessment Criteria.
Williams, Tim. 167 IB Secrets: Tips, Hints and Cunning Tricks for Getting Better IB Grades. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Oxford Study Courses. Web.