This weekend was most fruitful.
Saturday went to SIS, got Elvin to send SIS Progress Report to Nilesh . A tinge of strangeness crept up when we got to school. No one was around short of the cleaners and security guards and Dr Vanitha. So only the 3 of us Singaporeans were in the office. Not a single office staff was around…a strange phenomenon? Back home in Singapore, even though we also operate on a 5-day week, inevitably, there will be teachers and office staff around tending to school work! So in SIS, 5-day work week is strictly working Monday to Friday only with one catch though...Parents' Teachers' Meetings are on Sundays (as on the past 3 Sundays!)

We waited in school till a car was arranged for us to fetch us to Malad. It was a fruitful wait as I managed to clear not only my edumail but also my hotmail backlog !
The car came only at about 12pm and the 3 of us planned to have lunch at the food court at Inorbit and then to HyperCity to top up our groceries. Lunch was a superb stir-fried chicken noodles from…where else but China Pot again. Yes it was delicious…tasted like our hor-fun without the gravy… hahaha.

At lunch we decided to watch a movie. So we ended up with The Bourne Ultimatum, a Bond-type of movie..very fast moving and action-packed. Storyline was unusual. We got to know the plot somewhere in the middle of the film……Just before the start of the show, I was taken by surprise when we were asked to stand for their national Anthem and the past greats were seen singing phrases of the anthem on the screen. This reminded me of the time - as a teenager my kampong buddies and I went to the British Army barracks to watch movies and were made to stand and sing 'God Save The Queen' before the movie is shown. But this time in Mumbai there are no military police personnel to see that you are up on your feet. Yet the whole Hall stood up in respect of the national anthem. I would have expected the audience, mostly Indian nationals, to have sung along with the stars but none did. So Singaporeans, we are no different when it come to singing the national anthem in public…..stand still and keep the mouth shut! ..so much for nationalism.. hahaha.

At the supermarket, we picked our week’s supply of foodstuffs. Got my usual - fruits, bread and eggs. This time around got some tomatoes too and a packet of marinated chicken…hope to simply cook this in the oven back in the apt - quite tired of the veg meals already….Frankly I miss all the meat, fish and salad, not forgetting the family’s western which I usually prepare for my family over the weekends.
Again we treated ourselves to a sumptous dinner again at the foodcourt. This time around I had the Tandorri chicken and rice Combo…delicious spread of authentic chicken curry and a huge piece of tandorri chicken breast all for Rs155 (S$6)…great meal indeed!
Today was our group outing to Lonavala at Khandala, about 2hours by car from Mumbai. Again, I must thank our great Chairman and CEO of SIS, Mumbai, Mr Nilesh, for his kind and wonderful hospitality which words cannot describe. On Friday while waiting for the car to go home, I met Nilesh and asked him if we could visit Lonavala the next day as the resort was highly recommended by our teacher friends here. Not only did Nilesh suggested that we go on Sunday but he also got Sukrithi, our HR Manager, to make the necessary arrangements for us. If this is not kindest to the hilt, I really don’t know what is when not only a beautiful 7-seater MPV came to pick us up, we even had 2 escorts (Siddarth was one of them) as well !! Wait, there is more! At the toll booths and service posts for refreshments, our escorts refused to allow us to pay for the charges, saying that all have been taken care of and just to enjoy ourselves. This must be Nilesh’s magnanimous spirit again. I salute you, Nilesh, sir. We, Singaporeans can never thank you enough for this wonderful hospitality and generousity. Although we were supposed to start at 6am to beat morning traffic the 7am arrival was instantly forgiven.
The drive north-westwards of Mumbai was an eye-opener. There are clean and wide highways here lined with greenery in Mumbai! Also there are beautiful apartment buildings and condos set in clusters, similar to our HDB estates. Had thought the whole of Mumbai was like what I have seen so far…unfinished highways strewn with gravel, pot-holes everywhere and slums lining the streets. So SIS is situated in the poor part of Mumbai! No wonder the students commute to and from school specially arranged MPVs each school day. They are from these rich areas I suppose.
The drive up to the hill resort seems like a drive up Genting Highlands in KL. The air is cool and fresh and you can see clear skies with clouds rolling by. However, the place is poorly maintainedwith rubbish strewn indiscriminately by the mainly local population, whom I heard throng the resort during weekends. Lots of photos were taken. Lunch was at a typical Indian restaurant. We had the usual chinese noodles, fried rice which tasted similar to the ones we had at the Inorbit food court and chicken tikka….simply delicious curry stuff downed with naan! On the way down, we stopped at Tiger Hill, a huge open look-out area where families, friends and loving couples gather for a picnic. There were camel rides for kiddies and adults alike. Yes, Elvin took the ride !
The ride back to Mumbai was quiet for obvious reasons. All of us were flat tired and were to be in dreamland while our great driver, Tiwari, negotiated the roads with aplomb and speed.. It was indeed a most relaxing and stress-free day for 3 Singaporean teachers accompanied by 2 SIS ancillary boarding staff and one driver, whose driving skill is simply just out of this world!

Compared IGCSE Add Maths syllabus and ours.....The former is actually our syllabus up to 2006 where we teach topics like set theory, permutations and conbinations and relative velocity. From this year onwards, these have been removed. The IGCSE has all the topics as we have in our Additional Maths syllabus. Students in IB will also cover this syllabus plus a few other topics like Arithmetic and Geometric Series. So a student who does IGCSE Add Maths will actually simply sail through the IB Maths paper as he would have covered all the topics but for the few.

Greenviewans, if you want to try the IGCSE paper, then go try the June papers in your TYS. It is the same paper ! And many of you find the June paper easy to handle! so getting a distinction at IGCSE level is not a problem for you "O" level people.....haha.

This afternoon I briefed the PD teachers on the format of the coming CA paper. I will have to vet all the Maths papers to make sure they conform to Singapore standards...haha. Anyway, at least I get to learn first hand how the teachers here set questions based on the Singapore syllabi. They should be Ok as they have been given a hard copy of a typical school paper as a guide. Some complain that they may not be able to meet the dateline set by the school...yes, they are feeling the pace of the Singapore-style assessment!

My eyes have improved..I could feel it....so decided not to go to the doctor. Brave ah?

Staff Meeting today. I made my contribution towards SIS first Progress Report. Greenviewans must be proud today as I have also shared how we implemented the Students' Pass when this was put up by the Principal for implementation here. The school will be using our model - Each teacher will be given two passes for students who wish to leave class during his or her lesson. I have told them the usefulness of having the teacher's name on the card and to have a lanyard attached to the card for visibilty from far. In fact the teachers clapped and fully agreed with our model. Three cheers to Greenview !!

As for the Progress Report, Dr Vanitha and I had suggested to Elvin, the MD Coordinator, who had been tasked by Director, Mike Thiruman, to outline it, that SIS adopted the A1 to C6 grading system as it more or less meets the IB criteria. We decided not to have D7 and E8 and to have only one Fail grade, F. The report also has a section on the IB Student Learner Profile as all students will eventually end up with the Diploma. I have taken a snapshot of this chart which is displayed in the IB classroom.

The Year 11 (IB Diploma) students are learning Logarithmic and Exponential Functions and have been helping the students solve the problems in their texts. They used the recommended IBO textbook. They will be taking the IB exams in May, 2009 and many are eyeing universities overseas. Like I had mentioned earlier, some of the parents want to send them to NUS or NTU. They have not heard much about SMU though.

The Middle Division teachers met in the afternoon and I briefed them on the format for the coming CA test papers, following closely our Singapore standards.

I made arrangement for the HR Manager to send me to consult a doctor tomorrow as I feel that my eyes are not healing fast enough. I understand that for normal sore eyes to heal fully, it takes 7 to 10 days with proper care and here I am, still red on the 9th day, tsk tsk!

Take a look at the SIS Core Values:

Went to consult SIS nurse at the Infirmary on Monday morning as to why eyes were still bad in its 7th day, she said.. rest your eyes...no computer...no TV...no sun...no nothing except close your eyes and go to sleep!! No wonder it took too long to heal...I have been on the comp all the time with CNN, CNBC or BBC World hoping to hear anything on Singapore every night (no marking lah so quite free) but no nothing again! I suppose we are a very peaceful country...no problems with a good government in place and a satisfied and happy community of 4 million people, foreigners included.
Oh dear digressing a bit....ok today, tue 25 Sep and I have been in SIS, Mumbai for 17 days already! I have gathered some info on their IGCSE and IBD programmes and want to share with all back home.

Sunday woke up bright and cheerful. So started to blog…and the unexpected happened …all got wiped out…yes what you are reading (from Friday's post) is painfully recalling what I had typed for two hours earlier !!

Frustrated, I went out for a walk….destination: the newly opened Thakur Mall just outside SIS. The walk was like a walk past our roads 45 years ago…there were shacks selling cooked food, car repair stalls, old and dirt vehicles parked all over the place, workers resting under lorries, two groups were playing cards under the shade of lorries!!. The path was littered with debris, garbage, unpaved road, mud and water but I was game to all this having lived through that age.. hahaha!
Reached my destination and went straight in MacDonald’s, ordered a McChicken meal (Rs92, that’s less than S$4 !!). Looks like I will have to be here more often. Sat upstairs overlooking the Hotel Sun Shine Inn (3-star?), the hotel which I was supposed to be housed and which Vanitha and Boon Long were staying.

That's all for the day.

On Friday 21 Sep, my eyes were still in bad shape although I was optimistic the redness should have gone away by today. Anyway still reported to school and helped SIS downloaded the SSS Timetabling software brought over by Boon Long. Seemed that SIS had timetabling problems just before it started. I had worked on this software more than 10 years ago during PMS (Pupil Management System) years when I was the PMS Coordinator. Not a problem installing it but I am trying to recall the steps involved churning the school timetable. Suddenly, the past seems to rush back. Yes I think I can manage it and will help the school with the program.
Here are some insights into life at SIS, its’ set-up, teaching culture, teachers and their methodolgy, the students and life at SIS in general:
SIS adopts Singapore textbooks and education format for Years 1 to 8, equivalent to Primary 1 to Secondary 2. Years 9 to 10 students prepare for the International General Certtificate in Secondary Education (IGCSE) whereas our Sec 3 an d Sec 4 are prepared for the GCE “O” Level exams. Our JC1 and 2 are equivalent to their Years 11 and 12 respectively but our students sit for the GCE “A” Level here as they sit for the International Bacclaurette Diploma.
All teachers here are Indian nationals except for 3 Aussies, 1 American and 2 Singaporeans.
Teachers need to pay close attention to class disruption by students moving in and out of class when lessons start..which Singapore teachers are particular about
Class management skills can be improved further.
The teachers here do not set lots of homework, if any is set at all...which by our standards, is too few and far between.
The students are mostly of above average ability and they speak their minds which Singapore students can learn from.
They treat the class teacher as their mentor and friend and are respectful of them at all times.. our students must adopt this.
They participate actively in class, engage the teacher in active discussion, unlike the passiveness of Singapore students.
I have not seen any student walking to school here. Most are fetched to SIS by the fleet of cars (mostly MPVs) belonging to the school. A few of them are driven to school by their parents or drivers. Many students are boarders - they live on the top floor of the classroom block!
All students have a morning break at 10.20am (like our recess), have lunch at 12.20pm. On top of these, boarders have breakfast at 7.20am, tea at 4.20pm and dinner at 7.20pm after which they have a 2-hour study time. Students are served all their meals which are prepared by specially hired chefs. Dr Vanitha remarked it looked similar to what she saw in Harry Porter films.
Teachers are more concerned that students know the formula and how the answer is obtained rather than teaching students to understand what and why they are learning the concepts.
There is a lack of clear-cut standard procedures in going about getting things done. I suppose the school has just started and these are gradually being put into place.
Students do not have co-curricula enrichment programmes in the afternoons as yet.
The school is huge. Rooms are all air-conditioned. Each has a projector and a desktop computer on the teacher’s table. Besides the usual library, science and computer laboratories, it has a kindergarten, a swimming pool, tennis courts, a game-room, a huge playing field and lots of greenery.
Teachers do not have much resources to help them carry out creative and innovative lessons.
Pace of life as a teacher in SIS is pretty slow. Maths teachers find the Singapore syllabus very demanding and know that they will not be able to completely cover all aspects.

Late morning, BoonLong and I went to the airport to pick up Mr Suparman Adam, a retired principal who is on a look-see mission and most likely be taking up position at SIS Mumbai. Mr Suparman and I had worked together in the National Schools’ sepak takraw Sub-Committee many years ago when I was Head of PE. In the evening after school, I brought him over to my apartment together with Dr Vanitha and BoonLong. We made plans to go for an outing at the safari park here the next day which is Saturday.

So, today, the four of us (the two Singaporean teachers were not free as one (Elvin) is still down with fever and the other (Sumi) had to meet the datelines for the maiden SIS newsletter targeted to be issued end of next month) set out for the Sanjay Gandhi Park. Deer and monkeys roam freely in the park. Visitors are allowed to feed the animals! BoonLong and I went up the Kanheri Caves. Kanheri means black mountain. There are 109 rock-cut temples and are dated from 1BC to 9AD, lining the sides of the mountain.. Most of them are Buddhist Viharas meant for residence, study and meditation. The climb was steep and at times slippery. We even had to trudge through “lallang” (tall grass). We could see Mumbai city skyline at some points. The four of us and some local school students went on a specially-protected bus to view lions and tigers roaming the area. But all we saw was a white Sumatran tiger and two majestic lions lying by the fork of the road during the 45 minute ride.... couldn't expect much for the Rs50 (S$2) ticket to ride on the bus and the ride was bumpy too!

The group then headed for the “Orchard Road” of Mumbai. Had lunch at a huge shopping centre, much like our Plaza Singapore. At the food court (much like ours with clean seats and wide-screen LCDs), I had my best Singapore dish since I landed in Mumbai – Singapore Noodles, cooked like maggi mee and Hokkien mee with chicken and vegetables and yes ! there were lots of green chilli and red chilli paste.

Then we crossed over to HyperCity , which is a huge supermarket comparable to our Carrefour. Bought some bread and fruits for the week.

Returned to apartment at about 4pm and had a short nap which did wonders to my eyes…the redness is clearing away! Yippee!

BoonLong and Suparman left for the airport at 8pm for their 12.30am flight back to Spore.

Sore eyes are still in a bad state. Director/SIS, Mr Koh BoonLong brought Dr Vanitha Saravanan to SIS. She will be helping the teachers in the teaching of English for her short stint here. After lunch, the five of us, including Sumi and Elvin, had some dicussion in my office. Dr Vanitha gave her inputs on the Progress Report that Elvin had drafted. SIS would like to issue this report to parents at end of October. In the late afternoon, they dropped by at my apartment. I am so dead tired now, what with my eyes in such poor state....will continue tomorrow....will share how the teachers here go about teaching their subjects (actually in my earlier postings I did touch a wee bit on this!) and also what we can learn from the SIS set-up (guess I also did mention in earlier postings but will elaborate).

Woke up today feeling lousy...now both eyes are sore. Had to slow down quite a bit. Suddenly the zest disappeared...must be the fever and sore. Anyway, still take the car to SIS.

Teachers are also also slightly relaxed today with the hectic preparation over the past few days for the IB validation. The Primary Division Coordinator wanted me to conduct a training session for the PD Maths teachers and I did that a few days ago. The teachers here are really short of resources and are not too clear about what the Singapore syllabuses entail. So armed with the syllabuese and our COE@ZE website I managed to enlightened them. They were very pleased when I showed them what our Singapore teachers have shared in the website. They were tasked to come up with these resources.

I have also found out their House System. They have divided the student population into four Houses, namely Wimbledon, PGA Tour, Grandmaster and Formula 1. Even the teachers are assigned. They have just completed their Cross Country Race and prizes were given away last Monday during morning flag-raising (just like in Greenview..haha).

In spite of my sore eyes, I had to conduct a similar training for the Middle Division teachers this afternoon at 3pm. This was postponed from last Friday as a result of preparations for Mr Keegan's visit.

Yesterday, Monday 17 Sep, was a hectic day. Teachers and students were preparing for the IBO representative, Mr Steve Keegan's visit. The VP asked me to help teachers in their preparation of lessons. Mr Keegan will be observing the Years 7, 8 and 9 classes during lessons. Assisted some teachers in downloading some lessons from Maths COE@ZE for their use and vetted some lesson plans for tomorrow.

Mr Mike Thiruman, Director/SIS and President of STU, flew in this morning and dropped by the school in the afternoon with Chairman and CEO of SIS, Mr Nilesh. We had a short chat in one of the classrooms.

Mike called over at my apartment to take a look, together with the other two Singaporean teachers, Miss Sumi Kalidas and Mr Elgvin Goh. Together, we went to a nearby restaurant. It's located within a small hotel and it's air-conditioned..quite upmarket considering the area we are in. We ordered fish curry, vegetables, Chinese noodles, steam rice, and some side dishes and downed with ice-cream. Food was delicious and comparable to Singapore fish curry, if not better. Thanks to Mike, he footed the bill..I think he gave two Rs500 bills, that's Rs1,000 (about $25) ...a steal really....dinner for four! Must go back to this place again soon to try other dishes.

Today (Tuesday, 18 Sep 2007) went very well. I managed to read and answer some emails before the car arrives for SIS.

Mike dropped by at the Year 11 class when I was with Mr Chander who teaching the class Exponential and Logarithmic Functions ( hey, 4E1 and 4E2 add maths students, note this--- I haave taught you this topic is taught here at Yr 11, equivalent to JC1. Actually you can all sit for the International Baccalaurette Diploma in Education Mathematics paper and pass well as most of the topics are covered in Sec 3 and Sec 4 maths and add maths!! )

Mr Keegan arrived at about 9am and the team went round the school observing the students and teachers going about the lessons. He also visited the school facilities, had tea and lunch with the school community in the dining hall. After lunch, the students put up a performance in the morning assembly area. Later he spoke to the IB students and we get the impression that he was pleased with what he saw.

During the course of the day, my right eye was very irritating...went into the SIS infirmary to consult the nurse and she said it's conjunctivitis! Two students were also down with it and were resting on the beds there. Got to see her every hour for eye drops. Borrowed a pair of dark glasses from the clinic (see the clinic is prepared for such cases!) Went for lunch and tea in the dark glasses and got rave comments that I looked like some celebrity...one Indian male teacher said I looked like erh...chow...er ..fat...and he said YES when I said Chow Yan Fatt!
Made my day, lah he! Even the students showed their concern....like I mentioned in my earlier postings, the students here are exceptionally open and show care and love for people (greenview ppl, we need to learn from these youngsters lah!). I simply adore the very young ones when they come to you to shake hands and said, "good morning, sir!" or "sir, can you please pass me the bowl of rice?" at the dining table. Ya, these kids have lots of moral courage... real cute ones, whether indians, taiwanese or angmos!! One morning I was just taken aback when this little cute K1 Indian boy in the front row simply walk up to the Principal, an Australian, to shake his hands. The principal, pleasantly surprised, had to stop what he was preparing just before singing of the national anthem. So delighted was he that he just had to caress his cheeks.

On the way back home, the driver was asked by the Chairman and CEO to stop by to get a a new bottle of eyedrops for me...such care and concern money cannot buy, man! Thank you, Mr Nilesh, a million times over! Tell you the truth.....I kind of love the school for it's set-up, the teachers and especially the students!

Till tomorrow then....

The second Sunday in Mumbai is another working day. The Years 7, 8 and 9 had their Meet The Parents (here they call it MTP) from 9am. Many parents consulted yours truly on what the Singapore curriculum entails and life in SIS compared to a Singapore students' life. They know we are tops in Maths and wish to see their kids excel in Maths as well. SIS does not encourage teachers to set homework as the pupils must participate in the co-curricula activities till 4.30pm every day. No time is allocated for extra lessons or remediation. However, parents wish that the Maths teachers set homework for their kids as they know that in order to excel in Maths, lots of practice is needed, homework included. The management of SIS has to sought this out.

We were in school till 2.30pm before the last parent left. Lunch was taken in the school dining hall. On the way home, we stopped at the newly opened Mall just outside SIS.....there's a supermarket and a MacDonald's restaurant there, just great! The teachers and students in the school are fed vegetarian food (strictly no meat!) for all meals. I have got used to it after a week and I am doing very well adapting to life here in Mumbai.

Above are some pictures of the Timber Green Homes apartment where I am staying for my PDL stint in Mumbai.

Saturday is not a school day at SIS, Mumbai. Anyway today is a public holiday in celebration of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. (hey ppl there is no make-up for this holiday in India...Monday is a school day!) My Singaporean friend at SIS, Elvin, and I took the opportunity to see the city. The SIS car arrived at 9am. The highway to the city is littered with debris, half-constructed roads and structures, dilapidated buildings and slums. Traffic is more orderly but still the brave will have the right of way!

The journey took about 45mins. The grand Victoria Building is quite imposing. The Bombay Stock Exchange cannot be compared to SGX Building in terms of modernity. We spent half an hour at the Gateway To India, a monument next to the sea where people take a cruise to Elephant Island to see what else! Next to the Gateway is the magnificient Taj Mahal Hotel, a 5-star hotel comparable to any in Singapore. Then itwas to the World Trade Centre (really cannot compare to our WTC now HarbourFront, looks more like our Singapore Conference Hall). Anyway, there was a Thailand Exhibition selling handicrafts and delicacies. We made a round of the stalls.

For lunch, we visited a Chinese restaurant. Menu is Chinese but staff are all Indians. The servings are huge...each dish was good for 4 people! We were not able to finish the noodles and rice. Food was quite tasty and cheap. Rs 420 (abt S$16) for a posh restaurant and good Chinese food. ( yes there was red and green chilli like in our Noodle House!)

We then stopped by the beach. It was very crowded being a holiday. Believe it or not, vendors were selling cooked food on the sandy beach. There were also pedlars of tourist wares and kiddy rides..that's when I found the Mumbian Flyer! Haha. This you got to know....there are no toilets on the beach...the males simply stand on a line facing a wall where the sandy part ends and do their business in the open! Frankly I don't know where the ladies do theirs!

before we headed back, we dropped by at the "Orchard Road" of Mumbai at Marllet. Yes the usual huge supermarkets (comparable to Careffour) and shopping centres (as big as Tampines Mall and Century Square) are found here...Hub City, Innobit Shopping Centre,... It took us another hour to reach our apartment.

At last, the data card for internet connection anywhere has been succeessfully configured by the IT guy we called Som. In fact he had been trying to fix it on my laptop since yesterday afternnoon.
Teachers teaching the Middle Division (Yrs 7, 8 and 9) were busy preparing for the IB certification visit by IBO Rep next Tuesday. I was consulted on to help the teachers do a short write up on how the Singapore curriculum, a model which SIS, India wants to emulate,
helps students think critically and develop an inquiring mind. The Vice-Principal then asked for my assistance in vetting the final version. She was indeed grateful for my inputs. I was indeed embarrassed at times when she kept telling the Indian teachers to learn from "Sir" how we have done that.
This afternoon's meeting for teachers in the Middle Division had to be postponed as the teachers were not available as a result of this preparation. I was supposed to do some training for the teachers on examination requirements and procedures for the Middle Division mathematics papers and the setting of examination papers. This has been carried forward to next week.
This evening, I was able to connect to my family members on msn. It was an international chat across 3 countries - my daughter, Joanne in Perth, Australia and my wife and sons in Singapore. All were on their laptops or desktops and were chatting like there was no tomorrow...updating each other on our side of the world.
Ok now more on SIS....There are only about 180 students in SIS from Kindergarten to Year 11.
As the school had just started in August , they do not have Years 10 and 12 as yet. The school follows the Singapore curiculum from Primary 1 right up to Sec 4. The IGCSE program starts from Year 9. The IB program is for Year 11 and 12. Classes are indeed small in size ranging from 2 students in the IB Maths Studies class to 18 students in Year 8. There si only one class at every level. Though the class size is indeed small, the classrooms are huge. There is no fixed arrangement of desks and chairs in class. Pupils are seated in small groups or in a semicircle for teaching and learning. Each classroom has a desktop, a projector (which is wireless like the one we have in the meeting and conference rooms), a huge whiteboard running across the front wall. The higher classes have 3 Lenovo laptops wired up for students use on one side of the classroom and they are connected to the internet!
The students are highly motivated and are quite out-spoken. They are able to communicate effectively with the teachers are not shy to speak to teachers. In fact, they respect their teachers 100% and talk to teachers in a matured manner...something which Greenviewans got to learn, you do not hear shouts along the corridors or talking loudly when walking as a class. There is just this quiet that you can feel as you move about...reminds me as if I was walking about in a university campus. The students have yet to receive the full set of uniforms and they now dressed smartly to school in civilian clothes. Friday is a special day for SIS. The students come in casuals yet look smart. They are must wear shoes though. Male teachers also are allowed casual wear on Fridays..We put on a tie Monday to Thursday.
SIS is on a five-day week like us in Singapore. This Sunday, though, it's the Middle Division teachers to meet the parents of their students and i have to be around to answer parents queries on Singapore education. So this will be my second Sunday working in Mumbai! Cheers!

Data card will come tomorrow so got to write today's happenings and learning points before going "home".

First thing in the morning on my way to my room in the office, a Year 8 student stopped me on my tracks when she said, "Sir your explanation was very clear, thank you." Such is the joy being a teacher. It makes my day!

I learnt more about the IB(Year 11 and 12) and their IGCSE(Year 9 and 10) programmes today. The school IB programme is going to be validated by an external examiner next week and students and teachers have to do some preparation like what we did for external validation, I suppose but not so "siong" la. Most of the topics in their IB Maths textbook are in our Add Maths for "O" level. The IGCSE Maths syllabus is also much easier that our "O" syllabus. In fact, the IGCSE Maths teacher mentioned that as the Years 8 and9 are following the Singapore Maths syllabuses, by the time they present Years 8 and 9 take the IGCSE it would be plain sailing for them! I suppose so as our Sec 2 and 3 standards are more demanding.

This afternoon, I sat in with the Primary Division teachers, as the coordinator wanted me to speak to the teachers on Maths resources for the primary classes. I showed them the resources in our COE@ZE and they were overwhelmed as to the resourcefulness of out primary school teachers. I emphaisied that Maths in the primary school entails lots developing and exploring mathematics ideas in depth. Students are given a variety of learning experiences to help them develop a deep understanding of mathematical concepts, and to make sense of various mathematical ideas, as well as their connections and applications. The teachers use lots of concrete materials, practical work and use of technological aids as part of the learning experiences of the students. Alamak, transport here already...got to go..bye folks!

So busy at SIS these past three days so no time to update blog..further no internet connection given yet. Anyway, here's what happened since I last wrote....

Sat 08/09/2007
Arrived Mumbai at 10.30am (Spore 1pm) after 5.5 hr flight. Yes, met by Miss Sumi (our Singaporean EL teacher and Head, Public Relations at SIS) and Miss Sukrithi (SIS Head, Human Resources). We just hit it off. I was surprised when they presented a bouquet of roses to me outside the arrival hall! Checked into apartment where I would be staying. Then it was straight to SIS where I met John(the principal), Vinay & Nilesh (Chairman and CEO of SIS), Sal (like our AM) and Mullick (the VP). Had lunch in SIS dining hall (too huge to call it a school canteen). It was 5pm when I returned to the apartment.

Sun 09/09/2007
Yes, Sunday I was in SIS as they have Meet-the-Parents for the Primary Division which our two Singapore teachers, Sumi and Elvin, were put in charge. Was introduced to some parents and their kids. One is the CEO of Rolex, another an industrialist, ....and some other high-profiled personalities....the ones who would send their kids to SIS.

Left SIS in the afternoon and Elvin and I went by "motor ricksaw" (like the Thai 'tutuk' but more rundown la) to a huge supermarket 20mins away (a little smaller than our Century Square and not so modern). Got the scare of my life...the traffic is chaotic, there's no traffic lights and it's " survival of the fittest...the bravest one will have the right of way!!"

Mon 10/09/2007
First school day at SIS. School starts at 8am with Assembly just like ours. The principal addresses the students and say the prayer for the day, followed by announcements and then the singing of the national anthem. Believe it or not, the hundred odd students sang with gusto without any accompanying music!!...that's patriotism for you, Greenviewans...oh by the way, this blog is dedicated to students and teachers of GVSS!

First period, I attended Mr Chander's International Baccaluarette (IB) class, Year 11 ( like our JC1 class in Spore). The class was tackling AP and GP series which we taught in AddMaths some years back but it's now in the JC curriculum. The IB lessons are of one hour duration while the other levels have 30min periods.

A rep from Mount Allison University, Canada spoke to IB students and parents on admissions using the IB. A counsellor later addressed teachers and parents on handling teenage kids. When the counsellor spoke that what the Indian students are facing is what students in S'pore are facing too, I had to speak up and they were glad to hear from a Singaporean, yeah! Some parents during the tea break expressed their wish to send their kids to S'pore unis after IB. So Greenview students, you had better work doubly hard as ppl from India and elsewhere are coming to compete with you for places in the our unis !!

All students are served lunch prepared by the school cooks ! I suppose with the high fees they pay, they deserve that. Anyway, a class is assigned to help with setting the tables for meals. Before the "makan", the principal will say grace before all students.

After lunch, I met all the Maths teachers for a discussion. The teachers spend long hours in lesson preparation and wish they have heymath which the school is looking into. As we had heymath before I was able to share what heymath encompasses. They were glad that it covers the Spore Maths syllabuses.

Later the IT guy (like our TA) wanted to install the datacard into my laptop but was unsuccessful as it was not WinVista compliant ! He had to get it changed at the telco. and will be here only on Wed or Thu. Alamak, more nights without internet/msn ! Anyway, can watch TV, they have about 100 channels here....similar to what we have and more ! ....

Wah ...long story...."boh-pian" as this is the first opportunity I have before publishing my blog to you all.

TODAY Tue 11/09/2007
Yes, September 11 ! ......but no worries.. .very peaceful here.
As usual, the school car fetches the 3 of us Singaporeans to SIS each morning. Sumi and Elvin stays in the same block whereas I am in another block of the condo. Will post some pics of the apt later.

Today, I sat in with some teachers teaching the various levels. The students here are not shy like Greenviewans; they ask questions when they are not sure...yes they stop the teacher teaching by raising their hands. I had to help the teachers manage some of the classes. The students are really fun to teach as they really show their appreciation later when they meet you again. OK, it's about 4pm now and I am going to see some teachers and later meet up with the principal for some discussion on Maths activities for the kids.

Bye for the day!

Hello people!
Welcome to my blog, which I shall name as MUMBAI STAR!

This morning I will be on a journey to Mumbai to be attached to Singapore International School, India. Will be taking flight SQ422 departing Singapore at 7.30am. The journey will take five and a half hours, and minus two and a half gained hours, and I will be at Mumbai Airport at 10.30am (local time).

I will be received by two Indian beauties ... ha ha! Miss Sukriti, the Head of Human Resource and Miss Sumi, Head of Public Relations. Really looking forward to be brought to the school, which I heard is ten acres in size! Note: 1 acre is about 4,047 sq metres.
I promise to post some pics of the school. Ok people, it's 3am now....gtg catch a nap before setting off to Changi Airport at 5am. Till then, Cheers !