If you're teaching and preparing for the upcoming deadlines for second-year IB Visual Arts students, your head is likely swimming with to-do lists. Once the two-month mark arrives before exams, students will be in high gear, preparing for their mock exams or studying for their finals. Some students are still scrambling around, finishing up their TOK or Extended essays, catching up on incomplete IAs for other subjects, or moaning about their university applications, while likely everyone is griping about the lack of free time. Even though the winter is waning, the hours of daylight, good health, and energy are in short supply. It's in times like these when it's up to the teacher to "create the weather," as Haim Ginott suggests.

Staying organized and ahead of the curve is crucial for us as teachers, as we buoy our students. As crunch time approaches, let's address upcoming needs and deadlines by breaking them down into manageable steps:

Ruth Asawa installation at the Venice Biennale 2022, courtesy David Zwirner gallery

1. Review the Requirements & Important Deadlines: Take a moment to double-check the different quantities for HL and SL students across the three components. These are in the IBO Visual Arts syllabus and on our site as an overview.

   1. Comparative Study Upload: 

      • May session: 15 March

      • November session: 15 September

   2. Internal Assessment  (Exhibition) marks:

      • May session: 20 April (recommend uploading by 10 April)

      • November session: 20 October (recommend uploading by 10 October)

   3. Exhibition documentation:

      • May session: 20 April

      • November session: 20 October

   4.  Process Portfolio & VACAF6 Upload: 

      • May session: 30 April

      • November session: 30 October

2. Upload the Comparative Study: The deadlines for this component arrive first, and all documentation must be submitted as e-coursework (read more: Comparative Study e-submission). Hopefully, at this stage, everything is wrapped up and ready to go, but a student or two might still need to submit their sources separately. Here are a few key points to consider:

   1. CS files cannot exceed 50MB. Supported files: PDF only

   2. A separate list of sources must be at most 1 MB. Supported files: doc, docx, pdf, rtf

3. Prepare for the physical Exhibition: The IA deadlines are close to the date of the Process Portfolio; however, organizing predicted grades and IA marks, plus images and text for students, and the upload process takes a considerable amount of time. 

   1. Mounting a Public Exhibition: Only some schools have a public-facing exhibition, but if yours does, look at our new, handy checklist.

   2. Documenting the Exhibition: You'll need quality documentation of your students' artworks and at least two overall exhibition images for electronic upload. Ensure accurate documentation (i.e., remove the glass in frames) to avoid editing headaches.

      • Image files cannot exceed 5 MB. Supported files: JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIF

      • Video files cannot exceed 5 minutes/500 MB. Supported files: F4V, M4V, MOV, MP4

   3. Assessing the Exhibition and Preparing Comments (IA): The Exhibition component is internally assessed. We recommend you assess the work using the relevant criteria upon artwork installation. A firsthand viewing will aid in making connections you may have previously missed, directly analyzing your students' work quality, and evaluating the criteria in person. Prepare your marks and supporting comments for each criterion well before the deadline schedule.

4. Uploading E-documentation to IBIS: You will enter IA predicted grades before uploading exhibition artwork, which should be coordinated with your Diploma Coordinator. Until the DP Coordinator "approves" the grades, you cannot proceed. (Read more about the Exhibition e-submission). Here are a few additional points:

   • Next, you'll submit marks for each IA criterion and a comment (max. 2000 characters, including spaces).

   • Once you enter your IA marks for all students, IBIS will generate a "sample" from your list of students.

   • After this, upload can begin.

   • By default, students can upload content to IBIS, but you will have a chance to review their submission before the work is submitted.

5. Upload the Process Portfolio: Typically, teachers upload the PP after the time-consuming exhibition concludes, especially as there may well be time for students to revise this work following the Exhibition. (See more: PP e-submission). Keep in mind:

• PP files cannot exceed 50MB, but slightly smaller is recommended. Supported files: PDF only
  • TIP: We recommend Tiny PDF for Mac or Windows for downsizing files. Double-check the quality, as grainy images could disadvantage students.
• One screen listing sources is required, but does not affect the number of screens.

6. Completing and Uploading the 6VACAF:  You, or a previous teacher, will have begun the CAF (Coursework Authentication Form) at the start of each candidate's first year in Visual Arts, noting three phases in an editable PDF for the Comparative Study and Exhibition. This form must capture dates and comments (around 350 characters) summarizing interactions with each student. The phases—Inquiry, Action, and Reflection—lead to a declaration authenticating the student's work.

   • The CAF (Coursework Authentification Form)  must be completed, saved as a PDF, and uploaded along with the Process Portfolio on 30 April (May session) and 30 October (November session). More information can be found here.

And by the way, after all this hard work we hope you are able to enjoy the exhibition and find some sense of accomplishment. It is a moment worth celebrating!