GSA Calendar March 2025

We invite all GSA members and individuals to participate in our enriching programs. Here’s our weekly calendar for online learning activities that we hope will inspire you:

- Monday Motivation with Art

- Terrific Tuesdays with Music

- Wednesday Weekly GSI Journal: A Journey of Inspiration and Growth

- Thoughtful Thursdays with Poetry 

- Fantastic Fridays with Book Reading

- Saturday Masterclass for Teachers

- Sunday My Good School for Students

We are here to support you on your learning journey!

Good Schools India (GSI) Journal is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a free subscriber to receive new posts and support our work. You can help empower individuals with personal and social development. You will feel a sense of deep satisfaction as you help young people prepare to face the world with #JoyOfLearning.

Read more at www.GSI.in

Good Schools India Journal

My Good School

2^nd March 2025
Book Reading- The Door- To Door Bookstore

Book Reading- The Inner Life of Animals

9^th March 2025 
Screening of Episode 15 with Amardeep Singh
Allegory: A Tapestry of Guru Nanak's Travels
Sudh Uddesham Seed of Intent The magnanimity of sharing with pure intentions is illustrated by Guru Nanak in the backwaters of lush ‘Malabar’.

Book Reading- The Door To Door Bookstore

16^th March 2025

   Book Reading- The Door To Door Bookstore

   Book Reading- The Inner Life of Animals

23^rd March 2025

Book Reading- The Door- To Door Bookstore
Book Reading- The Inner Life of Animals

 

30^th March 2025

The YES workshop with Lina Ashar
We aim to inspire young minds, helping them navigate while embracing their dreams and aspirations. 

Book Reading - The Inner Life of Animals

The Teacher's Academy 

Professional Learning Program (PLP)

AFA Special Edition
Is Your Child Ready To Face The World (Hindi Session)
Exclusive event for our five DEI Member Schools 

• Professional Learning and communicative English with Brinda Ghosh every fortnight on Saturday at 3:00pm
• Digital literacy and Microsoft office Skills with Ms Meenakshi Uberai every fortnight on Saturday at 3:00pm

Please email Manisha Khanna MK@LearningForward.Org.IN, or send her a WhatsApp message on +91 8378978971 for details.

Masterclass Webinars with Sandeep Dutt

Book reading: Shomie Das, The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
Masterclass every Saturday at 5:30 pm

We invite you to join our Saturday Evening webinars! To secure your spot, please use the link 🔗 to register immediately:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FaZLwScqRLiqAFlCbQIiFA

Reading My Good School with Sandeep Dutt

Book Reading: My Good School Where Passion Meets Education
Every Friday at 2.20 PM over Zoom
Please Register:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kC9iK0ySTW6CzXNIeJzczA

In the Week

Thoughtful Thursdays 

Poetry Sessions with Brinda Ghosh at 5:30 PM

Contact Manisha to sign up +91 8378978971

Coming Soon

Art For All on Mondays at 5:30 PM

Music Lessons on Tuesdays at 5:30 PM

Meetings

Arthur Foot Academy Monthly Meeting
1^st March 2025 at 11 am - WhatsApp Video Call

GSA Monthly Meeting 
Friday, 28^th March 2025 at 5:30 PM 

DSOBS Visit to the Arthur Foot Academy - 5th March 2025 

The Doon School Old Boys’ Society supports the Arthur Foot Academy as a part of its Impact Project and its philosophy of An Aristocracy Of Service.

Reflection Sunday 23rd February 2025

 Sunday School # 177

A workshop on goal setting with guest speaker Lina Ashar, followed by a book reading session and updates on My Good School activities. 

Key Takeaways

• Lina Ashar presented on the importance of SMART goal setting and how to apply it effectively
• The group read chapters from "The Hidden Life of Animals" on animal intelligence and goal-oriented behavior
• Updates were shared on upcoming My Good School events, including a retreat in April and new weekday sessions

Session 1 of 3, scheduled for the third Sunday of the month, beginging February 2025.

Lina Ashar, founder of Dreamtime Learning, discussed the importance of goal setting using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, Time-bound) framework. She emphasized the need for clear, realistic goals to achieve personal and academic success. Lina Ashar highlighted the reticular activating system (RAS) in the brain, which helps focus on specific goals. She also addressed common challenges like procrastination and stress, suggesting time-blocking and realistic goal setting. The session included practical exercises to transform vague goals into SMART ones and stressed the importance of inner mastery and personal growth. 

What we learnt with Lina Ashar

• Explained the SMART goal framework: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, Time-bound
• Discussed the brain's reticular activating system (RAS) and its role in goal achievement
• Emphasized the importance of setting realistic, incremental goals to avoid stress
• Addressed questions on procrastination, parental pressure, and maintaining motivation

Book Reading: "The Hidden Life of Animals"

Chapters: Hidden Agendas & Simple Sums:

• Read chapters on animal intelligence, focusing on crows, goats, and dogs
• Discussed examples of animals demonstrating counting abilities and time awareness
• Explored the concept of forward planning in animal behavior

Reflection questions

1. How does Wohlleben challenge the traditional understanding of animal intelligence in this chapter? Reflect on examples he provides and consider whether they change your perspective on how animals think and solve problems.

2. In what ways does the ability of animals to perform simple mathematical tasks impact our ethical responsibilities toward them? Do you think recognizing intelligence in animals should influence the way humans treat them?

3. Wohlleben shares anecdotes about animals demonstrating basic arithmetic skills. How do these examples compare to the way young children or untrained humans approach similar tasks? What does this suggest about the cognitive abilities of animals in comparison to humans?

Planning for March 2025

The meeting discussed the upcoming schedule for various educational activities. Students will return from holidays on April 1st, and attendance is expected to improve. The calendar will include reading sessions on Sundays, watching the Episode 14 of Guru Nanak’s travels with Amardeep Singh and a workshop with Lina Ashar. The students of Sunbeam School Varuna are planning a presentation at My Good School. In addition, a poetry sessions are held on Thursdays at 5:15 PM, and a book reading sessions on Friday afternoon at 2:20 PM. 

The My Good School retreat is scheduled from April 11th to 14th. Art and music sessions are under consideration for the week, with a focus on engaging a broader audience. Finally, plans for the Art and Music Sessions on Monday and Tuesday respectively, with Wednesday as a weekly off.

You can email your reflections to mk@learningforward.org.in or post them as comments below!

Reading is Reflecting - Ila Gautam

READING IS REFLECTING

Reading aids learning, understanding, creating, inventing, and inspiring. The selection of books paves the way for the journey of learning. Like a loyal companion, a book serves your sad as well as happy emotions, consoles your gloom, and redirects your pessimistic ideas. They entertain with silly anecdotes from someone’s life and fancies of the authors. They are the true reflection of one’s choices, as the one who loses heart likes the autobiographies, a curious one tries to peep in the books as an explorer, and the one in search with a better understanding sits among the wisdom of great thinkers and reads different views on the same ideas. The books that mirror the efforts of one govern the achievements of someone else, whereas some books pour out the hearts of those who want others to imitate their ideas. Most importantly, the significance of books lies in the choices made by the readers. It is rightly called reflection because the book one reads reflects his thoughts. They magnify the reader’s ideologies. The rhymes of a poet or themes of any author take space in the thoughts, beliefs, and even words of the readers. Think of a polyglot who excels in languages with books or a student who studies the concepts with his teacher’s directions but expresses them with his reflections. Each edition of a book tells a story of the reader whose reflections defined it again.

WRITER VS READERS

A character of a story remains an immersive experience for its readers. Through the insights of his life, he revives the reflections of the readers. Happiness, sorrow, excitement, or anxiety are the emotions beyond the interest of the reader. Is it what the writer wants its readers to do? Or is it a reader’s choice? Ironically, it’s something that wasn’t and, moreover, can’t be imagined. The writer who fabricates a woof without having experienced it and readers devour it without being one of them. Some of the bitter or best memories gain their vent at a moment in time where the frequency of the reader goes exactly the same as the reader.

What if the reader comes before the writer—the creator of the character? This moment opens another space for them. It’s a beginning to a new journey where the creator rejoices in the praise, appreciation, and liking his character yields, where some new characters come into existence, and where he actually meets his own creation. To a reader, the moment is a completely different place. He who has been struggling with his pain and misery, who has been so excited to find the one with the experiences and ideas akin to him, encounters a reality that’s not true. His acquaintance—the character is merely a fanciful creation. The reader who has already driven out many of his poor thoughts attains a better maturity, turning into a stronger and perfected being.

Ila Gautam

The Century School