Friday, 25 October 2013

At Diwalli - Remembering my IB English CLASS 2011-2013 - I taught all 66 students English HL and SL - I also taught 19 of them in TOK class - a total of 85 IB Assessments.

A small section of this year's IB graduates - they personified the warmth, intelligence and drive of young Indians at BD Somani International School Cuffe Parade Mumbai. We prove that students can enjoy learning and achieve great results.

Here is link to last year's prom http://mrctok.blogspot.in/p/bd-somani-prom-more-photos.html

It was an hounour and pleasure to teach all 66 students, the entire year group in English and a further 19 in TOK. They combined charm and wit with industry and performance. This group contributed greatly to the life of the school. As Student Council Mentor I helped them set up our first Student Council. As Theory of Knowledge Coordinator, I found 8 excellent student speakers for our Theory of Knowledge Forum on "Being Indian and Internationally-Minded in an IB School". They proved that we are all life-long learners as I learned so much from them. This post carries with it respect, affection and remembrance of many happy days and many blessings for their future.
 Fortunately, this new academic year has provided me with 2 fantastic groups in Grade X1 IB HL and a group inherited in Grade X11 HL. Teaching is fun when you enjoy it as much as I do!

I dedicate this rendition of Tagore's "Unending Love" to all our students, teachers and families and friends at home and abroad during the Festival of Lights - Divalli.



What about the IB Results in English and ToK in 2013?
Some statistics:
  • In my Higher Level Group 1 English Literature A there were 38 students.
  • 15 students scored a Grade 7 or 6. 
  • The IB global average in English is 2% for Grade 7 and 14% for Grade 6.
  • The IB average is therefore 16% 
  • 40% of my BD HL students scored a 6 or 7 in May 2013. Well done students!

  • Out of total of 66 students in my English Higher and Standard classes - exactly 22 out of 66 achieved a 6 or 7. That is exactly 33% of  my entire group. That is well above the global average.
  • Theory of Knowledge  - the IB average for combined Grade A and B is about 40%
  • BD SOMANI TOK STUDENTS - exactly 50% of our students scored GRADE A or B - 33 students from a total of 66 in the whole group.
  • BD SOMANI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - What is the bottom line?
  • As a result of our outstanding academic reputation, BD SOMANI students are gaining admission to some of the best universities in the world, including (in the UK) Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Imperial College, UCL and Warwick and (in the US) Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Duke, U-Penn, Cornell, Wellesley, Northwestern, Michigan and NYU.
  •  Visit our school website here:
  • http://www.bdsint.com/ib/index.htm 

  • Posted by
  • Mr Callahan
  • IB ENGLISH LITERATURE TEACHER AND THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE COORDINATOR 


Wednesday, 23 October 2013

William Butler Yeats - 2 love poems



THE WHITE BIRDS
I would that we were, my beloved, white birds on the foam of the sea!
We tire of the flame of the meteor, before it can fade and flee;
And the flame of the blue star of twilight, hung low on the rim of the sky,
Has awaked in our hearts, my beloved, a sadness that may not die.
A weariness comes from those dreamers, dew-dabbled, the lily and rose;
Ah, dream not of them, my beloved, the flame of the meteor that goes,
Or the flame of the blue star that lingers hung low in the fall of the dew:
For I would we were changed to white birds on the wandering foam: I
           and you!
I am haunted by numberless islands, and many a Danaan shore,
Where Time would surely forget us, and Sorrow come near us no more;
Soon far from the rose and the lily and fret of the flames would we be,
Were we only white birds, my beloved, buoyed out on the foam of the sea!

· From WB Yeats: Collected Poems 

FASTEN your hair with a golden pin,
And bind up every wandering tress;
I bade my heart build these poor rhymes:
It worked at them, day out, day in,
Building a sorrowful loveliness
Out of the battles of old times.
You need but lift a pearl-pale hand,
And bind up your long hair and sigh;
And all men's hearts must burn and beat;
And candle-like foam on the dim sand,
And stars climbing the dew-dropping sky,
Live but to light your passing feet.



Tuesday, 15 October 2013

Mira Nair interview on the challenges of turning books into films - "The Reluctant Fundamentalist"


Q. You have made films on the works of sub-continental writers like Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake) and Mohsin Hamid (The Reluctant Fundamentalist). Are there others that you want to work with like Amitav Ghosh? In fact, I believe you and Amitav Ghosh were contemporaries in Delhi University. You were in Miranda and Amitav Ghosh was in St Stephen’s?
Ya, we are close friends, Amitav and I. I would love to but right now, I am doing ‘Monsoon Wedding’ on stage as a musical on Broadway. I don’t have a plan to adapt another book in the near future but I keep reading and my eyes are open and it could happen again without a problem. http://in.movies.yahoo.com/blogs/firstcut/conversation-mira-nair-115152089.html

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Wilfred Owen List of Poems for Grade 12 Students IOC MOCKS NOVEMBER

PART 1  Wilfred Owen - detailed commentary of a poem from the list.
Here is the list of poems for the mock IOC in November.
The book below is available on Flipkart or poems can be sourced online through e-books etc
I will also give handouts of individual poems.
The first 7 poems on this list are our immediate priority for the next two weeks
Part 2
General discussion of 2 texts requires overall knowledge but not detailed knowledge of every page.
Also students need to read "Othello" - key passages will be discussed in class.
Martin Luther King: 3 speeches

  "I have a dream", "Beyond Vietnam" and "Eulogy for the Martyred Children"



  • WILFRED OWEN LIST
  • 1.       DISABLED 44
  • 2.       EXPOSURE 40 LINES
  • 3.       DULCE ET DECORUM EST 28 LINES
  • 4.       THE SENTRY LONG POEM
  • 5.       STRANGE MEETING 40 LINES
  • 6.       SPRING OFFENSIVE 46 LINES
  • 7.       MENTAL CASES 27 LINES
  • 8.       A TERRE  40 approx
  • 9.       WILD WITH ALL REGRETS
  • 10.   THE SEND OFF – SL
  • 11.  Apologia Pro Poemate Meo  36 LINES
  • 12.   BEAUTY 26 LINES
  • 13.   O WORLD OF MANY WORLDS LONG POEM 4 LINE STANZAS
  • 14.  ASLEEP 21LINES
  • 15. Anthem for Doomed Youth - short  poem
  •  
  •  
  •  Buy The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen Revised edition Edition               
    Book Details
    Publisher New Directions Publishing Corporation
    Publication Year 1965
    ISBN-13 9780811201322
    ISBN-10 0811201325
    Language English
    Edition Revised edition
    Binding Paperback
    Number of Pages 192 Pages

Martin Luther King - intro to civil rights struggle - compulsory viewing for IOC