The Individual Oral Presentation (IOP) is one of the most terrifying things on AHS juniors’ minds today.

The IOP is a mandatory 10 to 15 minute oral presentation which every junior IB English student must complete. The IOP requires a thorough and analytical comparison between two books that the IB English juniors have read so far.

Even though it is achievable to do very well on the IOP, many students are still quite intimidated. The students will have to present in front of their classmates and IB English teacher while referring to a few three-by-five note cards. According to IB English teacher Niki Holmes, the IOPs’ scores “get sent to IB outside of school.” So, not only does your teacher have to thoroughly grade you, but so do the assessors within the greater IB community.

Junior Kyle Rayo said, “Ugh, man…I think it’s really difficult because of the whole aspect of going there and speaking for a long period of time.”

IOPs will begin on Monday, Jan. 25 and not end until Friday, Feb. 19. Junior Katie Panther said, “I’m not too worried as of now, but I know when I get closer to my presentation date I’ll become nervous.”

Though many students are feeling like Rayo and Panther, this nervousness is not entirely warranted. They have been preparing for the IOP since the beginning of the school year. They have gone through five other oral presentations and were taught everything they need to know about how to prepare for the IOP. Holmes said, “I expect students to feel more confident about their delivery because we’ve practiced and after a semester’s perfection of analysis I expect to see the use of a variety of literary features and that no student will be under timed.”

In the end, it is up to the student to use everything they have learned and use it to their advantage during the IOP. Once they can do that, then they should feel fully prepared for the IOP.