FOUNDER'S NOTE

I am not a teacher

Overwhelmed by the celebrations of Teachers’ day, and more so by the number of people who greeted me, I was forced to think…..

– do I really teach anything?

My aim is always to stimulate the mind, make others think, and come out with their own ideas, decisions, directions – and to build their own skills.

In fact I often learn from my students, I get so many insights from their questions, comments, feedback etc.

 They are MY teachers.

The mind is not an organ (like the brain). It has no physical boundaries, and no mental boundaries either.  If my body is constrained, my mind can roam free. 

We learnt this as children when we would dream, fantasize, and allow our thoughts to take us anywhere.  That is what made childhood adorable.

Even now there is nothing to prevent us from day-dreaming. We can visualize anything we want, travel virtually to any part of the world, meet whoever we want. Even our President Dr. Abdul Kalam had asked us to “dream, dream, dream.” 

Do you…….?

At times someone we trust or love hurts us badly.

The person may have let us down, cheated us, humiliated us or ignored us.  When outsiders do the same we are upset for some time but we recover and move on.  But if the person was (or is) very dear to us then it becomes difficult to get over, and the emotional hurt persists for a long time.

Here are some simple tips to reduce the pain and thereby become more relaxed or functional:

1. Acknowledge and Accept Your Feelings, label them
2. Practice Self-Compassion
3. Challenge Negative Thought Patterns
4. Cultivate Forgiveness
5. Spend time with those who have been good to you
6. Do Healing Activities
7. Set Boundaries in to prevent hurt in future

Don’t expect quick results.  The above have to be practiced regularly for a long time before you feel lighter.  Best of luck!

International Boards of study:

How they compare

Many international Boards of exams, notably IGCSE and IB, are getting more and more popular in India.  Let us see how they fit into the Indian education system:

The Cambridge Board (IGCSE) AS and A levels require the student to take three subjects each year and study the subjects in depth. On the other hand in IB, the student takes 6 subjects three at a higher level and three at a standard level. To be awarded the IB diploma one has also to study Theory Of Knowledge (part of the IB program assessed through an oral presentation and essay) , submit an extended essay of 4,000 words on a researched based topic and submit written assignments and projects in all the six subjects. In International Baccalaureate, 25 marks in each subject is kept for internal assessments just like in our own ICSE and Indian School Certificate (ISC) making it easier to score marks here than in A levels , which is completely an external examination.

Minor hiccup  

The International School academic year calendar is a few months behind the Indian School Almanac, making the transition from school to college at times difficult if one wishes to study in India. Sometimes students are forced to take a year’s gap and have to wait till the next academic session commences .

IB students get their results in the first week of July while A level students have a slightly longer wait till the second week of August . While Indian universities do accept students from international curriculum admissions become a little difficult since all our colleges start in June or July.  

7 Habits of Highly Effective People - by Stephen Covey

Habit 1- Be proactive: take responsibility for your attitudes and action, take initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.

Habit 2- Begin with the End in Mind: start with a clear goal; understand where you are now, where you are going, and what you value most.

Habit 3- Put First Things First: organizing and managing time and events, managing yourself, organizing and executing with priorities.

Habit 4- Think Win-Win: an attitude of seeking mutual benefit. Starting with a commitment to explore all options until a mutually satisfactory solution is reached.

Habit 5- Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood: because understanding builds the skill of empathic listening and inspires openness and trust.

Habit 6- Synergize: bringing different perspectives together in the spirit of mutual respect and creating cooperation or teamwork.

Habit 7- Sharpen the Saw: preserving and enhancing your greatest asset, yourself, by self renewal of physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional dimensions of your nature.