Green v orange bars

How do determine where you have reflected and where you have not

Frustratingly, candidates and coordinators cannot easily see exactly which experiences they are missing reflections for, so they need to review or know their worksheets in depth. My suggestion is to click on "View all Reflections and Evidence" on the right-hand side of the screen and then review each Learning Outcome to isolate what you have reflected on. 

Further suggestions to move forward

One of the goals of CAS is to work on varied experiences rather than dive so, so deeply into 1-3 that you neglect the others. All of this said, though, remember that we focus on the quality of your written or recorded reflections rather just the number of them, so check out some of the better exemplars here.

I also suggest using the dropdown menu on my Learning Outcomes page and reviewing the bulleted list of descriptors to determine where to match an experience with a Learning Outcome. Below, you will see one of the more difficult Learning Outcomes for all candidates, Ethics of Choices & Actions. Using the specific descriptors that IB wrote, candidates often find matching their experiences with what IB wants from each very broad and often overlapping Learning Outcome. Check out this list below and just think: how am I already practicing these ethical skills? Then, set and goal and designate an experience where you can work on, reflect on this skill. Done.

Sample views of students’ CAS worksheets on ManageBAC

Strong work with reflection + evidence for all 7 Learning Outcomes

Many students want to earn the Golden Trophy, or an indication that they are strongly engaging in CAS over the course of the junior and senior years (and they earn a grade boost for TOK if they do). 

By the end of the junior year, students should have reflected on 2 experiences for each Learning Outcome. Again, this approach helps to vary the focuses of reflections, but it does indicate the number of reflections. This student reflected 2x all 7 Learning Outcomes but also added the requisite evidence, or videos of him working on his science projects, pictures of his work cleaning up the Potomac River, and PDFs of his plans for an outdoor garden. Therefore, the number 23 demonstrates that he has 23 reflections and pieces of evidence. This number does not match the 16 that the green bars total, which demonstrates that he has reflected on 16 goals for the 7 Learning Outcomes for all of his listed experiences.  He is working more on some experiences and offering different evidence for different experiences in addition to his reflections. 

The orange bars listed with the number 3 indicate that the candidate needs to work on his goals in Initiative & Planning, Commitment & Perseverance, and Collaborative Skills but has yet to reflect on the 3 goals he listed in different experiences. 

Good work with reflection + evidence for all 5 of 7 Learning Outcomes

This student may completed the requisite number of reflections for the junior year (14 + media, evidence), but he has not completed 2 reflections for all 7 Learning Outcomes, missing a 2nd experience for both Strength & Growth and Ethics of Choices & Actions. Again, the orange bars indicate that a candidate set a goal and designated a Learning Outcome in a certain experience but has yet to reflect on it. 

The orange bars indicate that the candidate designated other experiences to work on 4 of the 7 Learning Outcomes but has yet to reflect on those experiences. 

Missing both reflections and further experiences 2 of 7 Learning Outcomes

This candidate has started to reflect or add evidence for 5 of 7 Learning Outcomes but is missing any reflection or evidence for Collaborative Skills and Ethics of Choices & Actions. For this reason, this candidate sees orange bars in these 2 Learning Outcomes. The remaining orange bars indicate that the candidate designated other experiences to work on 2 more of the 7 Learning Outcomes but has yet to reflect on those experiences. I suggest using the dropdown menu on my Learning Outcomes page and reviewing the bulleted list of descriptors to determine where to match an experience with a Learning Outcome. 

Failure to reflect and designate Learning Outcomes

This candidate has only started to reflect or add evidence for 2 of 7 Learning Outcomes, which shows up as a green bar with a 1 for Commitment & Perseverance and Collaborative Skills. The 2 orange bars listed as 1s indicate that the student designated Challenges & Skills and Ethics of Choices & Actions for 2 experience but has not yet reflected on or added evidence for these Learning Outcomes. The bigger problem comes in the absence of any bars in Strength & Growth, Initiative & Planning, and Global Engagement, meaning that the candidate has not yet chosen any experiences to work on these Learning Outcomes. Again, I suggest using the dropdown menu on my Learning Outcomes page and reviewing the bulleted list of descriptors to determine where to match an experience with a Learning Outcome.