"  Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments in your way of living and thinking but a full-on metamorphosis". 

                                                                                                                      

It is that the time of the year again when old moulds are broken and new ones forged.  As a period in their lives, it is probably more important to the students of form 8 than any other form in the middle school.  As they stand on the cusp of pre-adolescence and adolescence, it is essential that their self-confidence is reinforced and old friendships are celebrated in order to prepare them for the next leg of their journey towards adulthood.  It was with this background that the students of form 8 presented their personal projects on 2nd May in front of an increasingly appreciative audience!

 An already enthusiastic crowd was bowled over by the hard work, ingenuity and passion which the students of form 8 had put into their personal projects.  I was personally very warmed to see the reaction of the audience and extremely proud of my students for   making their project presentation a resounding success.

For  the class assembly on 1st May the students chose to focus on the various relationships and connections built between them in the past year. 


http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit?ns=1&feature=vm-privacy&video_id=KjKgI4PFF2w 

The students did an amazing job of highlighting their differences and their transition into a cohesive ‘8th grade family’ despite the presence of such differences.  They displayed a panorama of emotions very ably through their chosen mediums of a skit, a song and a movie.

I wish them all very best for their exam and future. I am sure they will make us proud in the future as well.                                                                                                 

                                                                            -Ms. Gayitri

                                    The first day of school.

  I got up early in the morning of 4th July to get myself prepared. Then I reached school and was feeling a bit uneasy.I reached the classroom and took my seat in the last row. In front of me there was a big whiteboard on the wall. Near it there were descent chair and a table for the teachers.Then a group of boys and girls surrounded me and welcomed me and I forgot all my fears . there was onbe lesson after the other and the teachers were so welcoming ; Then after some interesting period  got over A Bell sounded and  it was time for lunch , we got idli and sambar for lunch. At the end of the day when the  break-off bell rang we had another dose of snacks and left  for home .it was a great experience of making new friends and introducing myself to them and to the teachers.After having such a great first day experience I  would like to say that I am proud of my school and they treat new comers here .                                                                   

                                                                          Aagman Dewan

                       
   
                              The personal experience .....

My project is based on a set of short stories that combine to form an anthology. My book is collection of 5 short stories. Before selecting to write short stories, I had many other options in my mind but in the end I choose this because I have a passion for writing.

In fact, I discovered my love for writing recently when I joined Pathways. I feel that through writing I can express my emotions. I can share my happiness and sorrow with my readers. 

My stories are of different types. Some are based on real events that took place in my life while others are fictional works. Making this project was a wonderful experience. I learnt a lot of new things while doing my personal project and developed a lot of skills. In my opinion I have done a fairly good job however.

 There are quite a lot of lot things I would have liked to improve on if given another chance -  

• I would spend more time doing this project and not 

         leave   things for the last moment.

• Instead of using Microsoft Word I would use Microsoft 

        Office Publisher from the beginning. This would have saved\    

           a lot of my time.

• Read more books so that I have more ideas as to how 

          you   need to write a book.

• Gather people’s opinion about my story and ask them for 

         any improvements etc. 

                                                                           -Parth Kapoor

                                   KIWI’S KITCHEN.

 I chose this project because I love New Zealand, the cuisine of New Zealand and I love cooking/baking because of which I felt that making a cookbook about Traditional New Zealand cuisines was something perfect for my personal project

I had a clear idea in my head of how my book should look. It would be something that stood out and looked professional. Something that you wouldn’t think an 8th Grader could make.

What inspired me to do this as the project is that New Zealand is a country extremely close to my heart, and my favorite country. I also have a Godmother Nicola Fenton who worked as the Hospitality Director for the Parliament of New Zealand, so she knows a lot about food and she taught me some key techniques too. 

My overall experience was really good. In the middle of the process I was doubting if I could actually finish this in time, but in the end I finished it days before the completion date! This project was really challenging for me, and I’m actually really proud of the end product. I think I should’ve spent a little extra time in editing and checking for mistakes.

                                                                              -Aana Kambhoj

                                      A Guide To Draw. 

My Personal Project is a Drawing book, and I named the book as       A Guide To Draw. 

I chose this as my project because my passion was always drawing, but when I was young I couldn’t draw anything which actually looks realistic. When I got a book which showed the steps of drawing cats and I really loved that book because my drawings looked real! Well, with my project I want other people to see this kind of drawing which is very easy and simple to follow.

My inspiration of making this project was a book called, “Draw 50 Cats" by Lee J. Ames and after that I was always following these kind of steps on the internet. I could make the object in no time, and that made me realize how fantastic it would be to make some of my own. I thought that everyone could draw anything if they only knew the key techniques and the proper steps. 

I thought it would be great if I just make my own simple steps instead of copying from the internet. So I looked for the picture of the object on the internet and I would draw it myself, then I thought of making it simpler if I could start off with shapes and lines. And I made someone try to draw one of the pictures and it really looked good.

I would love to repeat making the personal project another time, but I would make some changes which would make the book look better. I would have started this very early so that the deadline timings wouldn’t cause a problem. And add more pictures to the book and I wish I could publish the book properly.                              

                                                  
                                                                    -Swagatalaxmi Aich  

                                                




                                       Manga

My personal project choice was making a Manga . A Manga is a Japanese comic book which is read reverse from American comics. Manga is more popular than Graphic Novels and over  100,000 copies of Manga are sold everyday around the world. ‘POPULAR’ T.V shows like , Dragon Ball Z , Pokemon , Digimon , Naruto , Bleach and One Piece were all once Manga’s before they were turned into ‘Anime’ . Anime is the serialized version of a manga where the comic is turned into an aired TV show . Anime is different to cartoons.

Differences are Cartoons are mostly American and are usually not adapted from a graphic novel . 99% of Anime is adapted from Manga . Anime is for any age , some are not for kids and some are for kids like cartoons. Anime producers usually make more money than cartoon producers. I have made a Manga called ‘The Art of Friendship’ which is about two teenagers that find a scroll and before they get to see what it says, a federal cop catches them and takes them to a delinquent camp. In the delinquent camp their main priority is to escape, so the manga shows their ways of how they escape and what troubles they get into on the way. 

When I first started the Manga I thought I was never going to complete it, I worked at my Manga everyday that I could from when I got home from school till 10:30 at night. Some days I struggled to complete my homework because I felt a lot of stress. On weekends I would work from 10:00am till late at night because I was very determined to finish it. The end result was 54 pages that I was very proud of. This is my very first full Manga.If I would count all the pages that I decided to scrap and throw away I think I would’ve reached at least over one hundred pages.

If I had to do this personal project again I would want to have a more interesting story and my art needs to be better. I would also put more detail in my work so it stands out and make it look more professional. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        -  Aash Fenton
                                     


                                GAME GUIDE 

What did inspire to make a quick game guide? You know what my first idea for my personal project? A model of a respiratory system, second idea a model of the future city and third idea structure of an atom and I didn’t like any of these things. I thought Personal Project is another academic burden project. When I first showed my ideas to my supervisor she was shocked. She told me it shouldn’t be academic and not related to any of the subjects. It should be what you like, what you are capable of. I saw Aash’s project and he was making a manga (Japanese comic) he loved drawing and reading manga so now he was making one, Pulkit was making a model of a stadium and I know he loved cricket, Tanish was making a magazine about NBA and his favorite sport was basketball so why am I not doing what I like? I decided to make quick game guide of the game that I like the most Minecraft.

I think that I learned to be more responsible because no one was there to help or guide except my supervisor who had given me ideas on what to do and I got to know how to use Photoshop because I did my whole personal project on Photoshop. Also I used many other types of software like Microsoft Office Picture Manager, iMovie and Windows Live Movie Maker. So after doing this project I am more familiar with technology.  If I redo my personal project I would opt for better time management because I started late this time so had to work very hard to deliver it on time.   

                                                                                            - Pritish                                                  

After looking back on this project, I think that it has been a good experience because it has taught me more life skills such as time management which was essential in this project and will be essential for any jobs or work for the future. It has taught me how to overlook upon my work and has taught a few things about the printing process such as formatting pages and then converting to PDFs to print properly.

The content overlook has been good because it was only meant for beginners and the easy to understand structure allows the reader to read with a nice flow and with ease. The basics were all included for all the sections that I had included and I made sure that I did not go into too much detail about any section so as to confuse the reader with what the section was about. 

I think that my main weaknesses were that some of my sections might have dragged on a little bit, especial y the History part because I think that I may have gone into a bit. too much detail about it so the reader may lose interest while reading. The same goes for the Laws and Etiquettes because it was very specific about the Laws and Etiquettes.

If I were to a project similar to this, I would probably have more time. Putting that into consideration, I would add in another section on stretches and how the dos and don’ts about it. That would give the reader a full insider on Badminton so they would know the consequences of not stretching and what could happen to your body. I would also print my product slightly earlier because if any problems were to arise, they could be swiftly dealt with.  TO make it better. I could put more effort and time into my back and front cover to give a better and more professional look, this is because it is not the best for a 1st impression. 

                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                 Advitya

                                                     
                                           
                        Thrilled  with my thriller

It wasn’t easy writing a book. It took hours and hours of research and a lot of time to compile the information together. I was always fascinated by James Bond and all those spies. I read the Alex Rider series and took inspiration from the series. When I first started writing the book I had to make character sketches of each and every character. It was tedious work, but I had to so that all the characters were accurate. I then had to work on the scenes and the settings. Creating the scenes and the settings were not easy. I had to research on places. Find out where they are and what is interesting about them. Since my character travelled from places to places, I had to give in and create a small jetlag.  

i would lie to appreciate Aash  here for the help extended ; 

I am proud of myself for completing a book in a few months. And I hope to write another one soon. 

I think I did a good job writing my first book and I am proud of myself. I learnt to be more efficient with my time management, and I learnt to be more responsible with my work. I would like to add more suspense and action in the book.

                                                                                Tanmay                                             

                            I now  love Pathways !

My first day to pathways was very good and I got my buddy that was Arjun. He helped me in everything like getting my laptop configured and telling me about the school.   I made a lot of friends and I was very happy to know that there are no books and I would be working on a laptop and I also got to know that we don’t have to bring our lunch boxes or something like I used to give money and buying eatable things from our canteen and we always got boiled things or any kind of junk food was available there in my old school but it has totally changed now. Pathways  is very different from   my old school and I already like it here. Second day of my joining the school my grade had to organize an assembly for the whole school . here are few clippings of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6tyxNIDxWQ&feature=youtu.be      

                                                                                                         

                                                                             -   Gantavya 

                                                      My experience as the editor
My experience as the editor  to this blog was just great, and I do not want stop doing my job. Looking at the English skills  my classmates have, makes me happy. It’s almost the last time I am going to edit so I just have to try my best.  My writing skills are not that good as compared to Aana the other editor and if I did any mistakes I would send the article to her. It has been a combined effort from the two of us always ;  I am happy to be chosen as the editor because I think that my classmates would have done a better job than me. But I always tried my best to make my readers happy. 


                                                                  Swagata Aich (Grade 8)

Last Month in Grade 8

Yes, I will 110% miss our grade 8. This is the class that taught me so much about enjoying life, staying happy and most of all staying together as a team. I joined this school late, it was midsession of the  first semester. When I went for lunch, I saw all the boys and girls sitting separately, I totally disagreed with that . I didn’t like that at all, it seemed like discrimination. We all are humans after all; all of us are suppose to be together like a team. Well, I went up to the girls and asked why we didn’t sit together? They answered back saying that the boys never sat with us and we don’t talk much. I felt really bad to hear that and that made me kind of angry, sad and just prompted  me  to make a change in the class. I went to the boys’ table and sat. They looked at me as if I did some crime. I started talking to them, it was fun and the best thing was that the girls started to sit with them at one table like a team! I  had done  my work, the class was together, and had no groupism. We are still a team and forever will be. We love, understand, help each other and do whatever it takes to make that bond stronger in us. 

                                                                                          Sohini Singh

.

               OUR FOOTBALL TEAM  
 The middle school had recently been sent a team of 12 individuals to Pathways World School Aravali. The team was unsuccessful in proceeding to the Semi-Finals after the group stages. The team played 3 matches during the tournament. 

 We played  against Amity School Sec. 46, Noida; Pathways X (The Aravali School has 3 teams: X, Y and Z); and also DPSI. Pathways Noida lost 2-0 to Amity; 8-1 to a strong Pathways X Side, but a team now with experience through our losses, converted  the  loss  to a 4-0 win over DPSI.

 Although during the DPSI match, Right-Back, Aash Kambhoj was injured badly after taking a second blow to the ankle after taking a knock in the match against Pathways X. It was discovered that he had damage done to his tissue but is now recovering well.

A team, now with experience and good players, now hopes to play more and more matches, to gain more experience and to also win more matches.

Adoo (Grade 8)

                        Inter-house Board Competition. 

On Wednesday 11^th February, Pathways Noida had an Inter-House Board Competition, in which 4 members (2 from the middle school and 2 from senior) had to participate from each house to design their house board. The house board had to have the theme of an emotion representing their house colour. Air house chose Freedom, Earth house chose Peace, Fire house chose passion and anger, and Water house Calmness. We had a rubric we had to follow, so the 4 judges judged based on the rubric. We had one hour to finish and clean up. I participated for the water house and our board looked really amazing. In the end we won. ;) It was fun and I was happy that we won. J

-Aana (Grade 8)

                                          Friends

Life is a long journey in which without friends, it is incomplete. Friends are like angels in our lives. They guide us when we go wrong and help us choose the right path. Friends are the ones to whom we can share everything with, the ones who gives us a shoulder when we cry. They may make fun of us but if they see the other person doing the same they end up trying their best to protect us. When you have a fight and you want to hide from everyone they know exactly where they will find. In short without friends your life would be like a plant without a flower. And that is what I found with my Gr 8 in Pathways , Noida;

I love you grade -8.

Anshika (Grade 8)

BLEACH

Imagine being able to see ghosts and spirits? Getting mixed up with spirits and reality? A 16 year old boy name Ichigo Kurosaki is a teenager gifted with the ability to see spirits. His life is changed by the sudden appearance of a Soul Reaper (one who looks after the flow of souls between the human world and the afterlife) named Rukia Kuchiki, who arrives in search of a Hollow, a dangerous lost soul. When Rukia is severely wounded defending Ichigo from the Hollow, she attempts to transfer half of her reiatsu  - spiritual energy energy to Ichigo so that he can defeat the Hollow. However, Ichigo absorbs almost all of her energy, transforming into a Soul Reaper and allowing him to defeat the Hollow with ease. With her powers diminished, Rukia is left stranded in the human world until she can recover her strength. In the meantime, Ichigo must take over Rukia's role as a Soul Reaper, battling Hollows and guiding souls to the afterlife realm known as the Soul Society , This is only a hunch of the story , where as the whole story hasn’t finished yet and there has been lots of problems and adventures the characters have gotten into lately. - this manga is still ongoing and is Number #2 in the Top Anime/Manga ‘s in the world

Aash (Grade 8)

                                                       Fairy Tail

                                                 

               

 What is Fairy Tale? People might say that it is a made up story, but it is also a beautiful anime or mange. Now this story “Fairy tail” is about magic and wizards trying to be the best. The main characters are Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, and the whole Guild is called “Fairy Tail” ! Some people might think that wizards have same magic power but they all have their individual different powers. The world is in continuous battle which goes on  between different guilds.

-Karan (Grade 8) 

                                Game Manual for Minecraft

For my personal project I did a game manual for minecraft and everyone loved it. You know what personal projects are right? If not, personal project are an opportunity for students who want to do something beyond the curriculum,  something related to what you really like. I worked very very very very hard on my manual. I reach home at 5:30 and start working. Other kids were doing something like a model or a book or a comic. First I was introducing the game and telling them how not to get killed on the first night. In minecraft you place blocks to survive, its pixilated, I know it sounds stupid but it is the best game ever. After telling them how to survive to survive your first night I told them about the NETHER THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD. I know that’s creepy, I love my personal project and I am proud of it.

                                                                                  PRITISH (GRADE 8)

                        our experience with our Personal Projects !!!

Last year in September 2011 we got an 8 month task of making a product that we like and have an interest in. All the students  opted out for unique things, e.g. a cricket stadium, a soccer stadium, a magazine on NBA that I made, and a cook book, etc... We all thought that there is plenty of time to complete it, so most of us started late, leading to a lot of stress amongst the students as we had lots of other work to do.  But now we all are proud owners of our final products and I  think there were a lot of things that we got to learn from the personal project . I enjoyed  the  work and also  learnt  to develop the skills of the work that we like. So, I think the experience  of  creating our  personal projects was very nice. 

Tanish (Grade 8)

                   How was my preterm … till now

It’s been a week and everything is so different from where I used to be. Well yes ,my school is amazing  !I love it here and people are so friendly. I am very happy to be here. I do want to go back to my previous school because I miss my friends ;but over here also it’s amazing. Thank you for getting me here  and all of you I thank you for accepting me . all you friends are amazing, always willing to help me I wish I could  have been here even earlier ! Teachers and everyone are  so reasonable. Thank you so much for this.
                                                                           Yuvraj Singh 

                                  Our experience in Pathways.

In Pathways, every day we get to learn something new. Each  next day is full of new experiences. The people here are really nice and make it feel like home. The way of teaching in this achool  is really different. Here we discover something new every day. It is not like we just learn something but we also understand it.  The teachers are really understanding and patient. It is very different from my previous experiences. It is great and everybody is together. It is home.

Vishnupriya- (Grade 8)

                                 My Time In Pathways

I have been in Pathways for the last 5 days now and it has been a good ride so far. I like Pathways, and the people here are very friendly and open. It has been confusing for me to change from a CBSE board to an IGCSE one but the time I spend as a pre-termer is helping me settle in the new system. I like the school environment and the classes are very interesting. The Design and Technology class is something new to me and I have already learnt a lot of things in it. The experience has been good!  

Rahdika (Grade 8)

                             My First Day @ School                                                        

My first day in school was awesome, the teachers were good, but the teaching seemed a bit odd.

The number of projects I got were more than I had ever got, but then I realized that this is a different school, with different ways of teaching. It took me time to adjust but I had many friends on the first day itself, so that was pretty awesome. I had joined late, being a pre-termer, so others had reached a different level , ahead of me , but I still somehow managed to cope . We did a lot of activities in subjects like Sports, Pottery, Music and Drama.  I look forward to study hard for a better future and for becoming a great human being.

                                                            Arjun Dadhich (Grade 8)

                                            Fledgling

A young bird that has grown enough to acquire its initial flight feathers and is preparing to leave the nest. Young birds that have left the nest but do not yet have all their adult plumage and are still fed by the parent birds are also referred to as fledglings;Fledglings are capable of flying but are inexperienced and may seem reluctant to fly or may show difficulty with takeoffs, landings or distance flight. As the feathers continue to grow, the birds will gain more flying skill and their plumage will become indistinguishable from adult birds.

 THAT  just about describes our "stock". 

 lets be the wind beneath their wings ....... be there by their side and look to them as they prepare for the  final flight. some times the best of them need that little PUSH.... Just be there to push them on encouragingly......   

Interview with Mrs Gayitri

I recently had an interview with our form tutor Miss Gayitri. She is a very experienced teacher and has been teaching for over 20 years. She loves science; it has been her favorite subject since grade 3! She was always interested in Chemistry and loves to teach other chemistry as well.She has been working in ICSE, CBSE schools. She has been teaching the international curriculum for many years now. She finds it fun being in Pathways as she knows that the student and teachers are very approachable and she finds the working environment very interactive. Miss Gayitri has been an amazing form tutor as she helped us out and also changed our voices. She has been encouraging as I now quote her “This class has the best group of students.”

   -Tanmay (Grade 8)

THE  HYBRID CAR 

 On 31^st March, a car company called Toyota decided to organize an assembly on Hybrid cars.

  We had to watch a video on hybrid cars which was about the difference between hybrid cars and normal cars .They showed us that hybrid cars conserve more energy and use less fuel, which  results in helping our environment. They gave us a kit which had small parts of a hybrid car, and we had to assemble them. They gave us  instructions on how to do it and a video if we weren’t able to understand how to do it . There was also staff support if we needed help. I think that it was a good experience, and it felt great to be able to make our own hybrid cars.

 hybrid car is a new type of car which doesn’t use too much fuel and conserves energy ; in brief, it is a car that helps the environment.

 We were taken to the multipurpose hall on the last period, and we had to watch the video.  Then they gave us a kit in which we were given parts and had to assemble them together to make a mini hybrid car that runs on solar power and battery power. We were given instructions on a sheet and, if we didn’t understand that we could watch the video that was on the screen above. There were also staff members that helped us.  In the end we were able to test our Hybrid cars with solar energy and it felt really good. Overall it was a good experience, and we could even take our cars home.

                                                              -Aash & Pritish  (Grade 8)

 

                                           

Drama Classes

After a lot of studying and running here and there for submitting assignments, we all need to rest; we need to refresh our minds so that we can encounter the other challenges left for the day. Drama is one subject where all of us can refresh our minds and entertain ourselves. Through Drama you can explore the hidden skills in you. Maybe you could be good at public speaking or even good at writing, as you are required to write scripts in Drama. So  ,in my opinion Drama is a subject where you can test your skills in different areas and know more about yourself. For me Drama is something I use to express my feelings. Whether I am happy or sad, I try to connect things with my life and act accordingly. While enacting there are no restrictions on you, and you can just free yourself and do whatever you think is right.

Parth Kapoor (Grade 8)

Sydney Shelton: Stranger in the mirror

Toby Temple and Jill castle are the two characters who define the shape of this book. They both fumble their way into Hollywood after facing failures and miseries in their lives. Toby Temple is a high class comedian who stages shows, and Jill Castle comes to Hollywood with plans of becoming an actress. They meet in Hollywood and get married after their individual tragedies with love and career life. Jill Castle is however portrayed as a shrewd lady at the end, while Toby is shown as a humble man who believes in what his wife tells him to do. The nature of Jill changes after her marriage with Toby. The soft girl turns into a shrewd lady commanding and dominating her husband and makes him walk at her pace and style. Well, in the end I thought it was a great book and I really enjoyed it.

Anshika (Grade 8)

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator continues the adventures of Charlie Bucket, his family, and Willy Wonky, the best chocolate maker. As the book begins, the heroes are shooting into the sky in a glass elevator headed for an unknown target. What follows is exactly the kind of high-spirited magical madness often found in the book. Mr. Willy Wonky might be a genius with chocolate, but Charlie and his family don't trust his flying skills one bit. And right now, he has at the helm of a giant glass elevator that's picking up speed and hurtling through space -- with Charlie and the entire Bucket family stuck inside. I think this book is interconnected with Charlie and the chocolate factory because in that also there was a character called Charlie and they talk about chocolates in this storyas well.

I think I like the book because it can be read by children. This book is funny also in some ways. Mr. Wonky struggles because he is very good in making chocolates, but his family won’t trust him and because of it he got in trouble. 

-Pulkit Kapur (Grade 8)

                                IGCSE presentations & subject choices

The IGCSE presentations that were uploaded on moodle were very nice, as all the teachers explained the subject and its syllabus and papers of the exams very clearly.  I think that the IGCSE course is quite good because we get to take subjects that we like and drop the subjects that we don’t. Most of the subjects are same that we did in middle school, but some are new. For example, science is divided into 3 parts -- physics, chemistry and biology. We just have to choose one but if anyone wants they can take all the three. And more New subjects are economics, business studies, computer studies and Environmental studies. These subjects are all new to all the students, as we have not studied these subjects before. So, we are little confused and will  like to choose the subjects that we like, and for the new subjects that we have never studied I will ask my senior friends and teachers …..

  -Tanish (Grade 8)

INTERVIEW: Mr. Deepak Thakur

I met Mr. Deepak , head of the sports department in school, his main areas of interest in  Main are - athletics, cricket and soccer.

He enjoys teaching students , he loves to share his knowledge and hopes it grows with us. He  has been  into sports from the last 16 years.

 his favorite  Sports activity is athletics, and in team sports he likes cricket and soccer  most .

Sports, he says basically develops the human personality improving  physical and mental development . Talking of the sports in IB He says, it’s  

divided into 3 parts -- PYP, MYP and IB

 In PYP, they teach  basic steps of different sports through lead up games.

Middle school: Skills are taught through different teaching methodologies. In the higher level team spirit/social skills are taught.

His point of view about Pathways: Friendly environment and students are supportive. He wants us to become more disciplined, and there we need to work hard !

-Aahana Prachi Singh (Grade 8)