Global Voices

INTRODUCING THE 2018-2019 GSC MEMBERS!

What is the GSC? Meet the members!

In this issue

Tips on excelling in your online class!

Who is Freddie Mercury and why you shouldn’t care.

Guidelines for submissions.

Our student ambassadors!

What is the GSC? Welcome to the fourth edition of Global Voices! This is the first edition created by the members of 2018/2019 Global Student Council.

The Pamoja Global Student Council is a 10-person team of year one and year two students who, like you, are taking Pamoja courses. Our goal is to engage and support other Pamoja students as they navigate the strange new world of digital learning. One way we do that is through Global Voices, our bi-monthly newsletter. Global Voices contains learning tips, student articles, brainteasers, personal essays, and more. The GSC represents the Pamoja community, so we welcome student submissions such as artwork, stories, and poems! If you’re interested in sharing your work, don’t forget to read the submission guidelines on page 8!

Until our next newsletter, you can stay in touch by following us:

@pamojagsc Email us with submissions: gsc@pamojaeducation.com Best wishes,

Hope Content Editor

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Meet the Members!

We come from all around the world!

Harneet - President

Shizah - Vice President

Hello! My name is Harneet, and I am your Pamoja student body President. I am 17 years old, live in Ontario, Canada, and am in Year 2 of Psychology HL on Pamoja. I love music, fitness, and I have a passion for learning new languages. I am excited for what this school year will bring!

Hello! I’m Shizah, and I’m elated to be your Vice President. Originally from Pakistan, I live in Dubai, UAE and am in Year One of French Ab Initio on Pamoja. I’m a 17 year-old literary enthusiast who can often be found writing poetry, blogging, or debating current affairs. I can’t wait for this exciting journey with you all!

Hope - Content Editor

Alicia - Media Officer

Hi! My name is Hope, and I’m a 17 year-old in the USA taking Mathematics HL on Pamoja. This is my first year on GSC, and I am excited to be Content Editor! Outside of GSC, I love theatre, math, and kayaking. I’m looking forward to bringing something new to the Pamoja community!

Hello! I’m Alicia. I’m a Year 2 student studying Philosophy SL with Pamoja. Fun fact: I’m also the second Indonesian to serve as the GSC’s Media Editor! I love books; currently I’m reading Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, and next I’d like to re-read Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.

Manaswi - Publishing Officer

Radha - Publishing Officer

Hello everyone! My name is Manaswi Patil, and I am a Publishing Officer on GSC. I am in Year 1 of IB Economics SL. I love sketching and sometimes singing, and I currently live in Singapore. I look forward to this opportunity to bring students together and act as a student voice for Pamoja.

My name is Radha, and I am a second year GSC member and DP student. I am 17 and one of the publishing officers. I love reading, creative writing, and editing! I live in Barbados but I’m from Aruba. I am so excited to be in the GSC for another year!

Kunal - Publishing Officer

Cindy - Social Media Officer

Hello! Namaste! Goedemorgen! My name is Kunal Gupta and I am a new member of the Pamoja GSC this year, working as a Publishing Officer. I’m 15 years old and originally from India. Currently, however, I live in the Netherlands and study at the International School of the Hague. I am an avid tennis player, guitarist, and computer programmer.

Hello, my name is Cindy. I am a Social Media Officer along with Lydia. I am from Vietnam but currently live in Singapore. I’m 16 and in my first year of Psychology HL with Pamoja. Some of my hobbies are playing sports, binge-watching Netflix, and, of course, eating and sleeping. I’m really looking forward to this year!

Maia - Community Outreach Officer

Lydia - Social Media Officer

Hello, everyone! I’m Maia, the GSC Conference Coordinator/Community Outreach Officer. I’m 17 years old and live in the Cayman Islands. I love dance, music, reading, and writing. My dream is to travel around the world. I love learning about different cultures, which is why I am super excited to get to know the global Pamoja community!

Hi, my name is Lydia! I am a Social Media Officer with Cindy and this is my second year in the DP! I take Mandarin Ab Initio on Pamoja and I am so excited to see what this year has in store!

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Tips on excelling in your online class! through Pamoja, we must realise that Pamoja isn’t just an online course engine; it is an extension of our highschool studies, imperative to our education.

New to Pamoja?

Never taken an online course before?

Has the stress of the IB got to you?

So here are a few tips, garnered from both personal experience and trusted sources who have been in your shoes, to help you become the best Pamoja student out there!

You’re reading the right article!

Pamoja’s virtual campus presents IB students from around the world with a unique, user-friendly and revolutionary platform to take international education to a whole new level. But for a lot of us, it still presents us with the great perpetual quandary of online courses and reaping our successes from it. For us, online courses are probably things we plan to pick up in the summer, but then gradually fizzle out of commitment for until it remains just another email from Coursera.

1. Time-management: Formulate a weekly schedule: To keep up with the weekly assignments, it would be most advisable if you planned out your schedule in advance, setting aside at least a day where you revise your week’s learnings and compile your notes. Try not to procrastinate, but work on getting your assignments done at at least two days before their deadline to relieve you of your workload and keep your grades consistent.

To get around the stigma of online courses and successfully manoeuvre our way

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2. Communication: Correspond regularly with your teachers.

Although most of the course content is uploaded for you to use at any time based on your convenience, there is often a gap in communication between students and the teacher which makes your learning less engaging. Make sure to communicate any conceptual difficulties or seek help from you teacher when you need to. Try and build a friendly relationship with them the same way you would with a teacher at your school; it’s been proven to strengthen one’s interest and success in a subject. So, don’t be shy!

5. Another learning approach: Organise the course content into labelled files.

If you find yourself more comfortable with digital note-taking than written one, you can always copy the course content you feel is very important to remember into a folder on your laptop or computer. This means you’ll have most of your important study material at hand offline too!

6. Engagement: Make good use of the Live Lessons Your Live Lessons are the source of direct contact you have with your teacher, where you’re given the opportunity to indulge in lectures and ask questions wherever you find yourself confused. Try your best to attend every one of them, and if missed, the recorded version; avail the chance to talk to your teacher as much as you can.

3. Communication: Form study groups.

Interaction between students in your course is the best way to exchange information and to solidify whatever you have already learnt into place. Talking to Pamoja students who are a part of your course at your own campus, or even the other international students, lets you exchange tips, retain your knowledge and cross-quiz each other. It is important for you to feel like you’re a part of a classroom, so don’t undermine the importance of study groups – they work wonders!

7. Commitment: Remember that online courses are just as academically rigorous as school-taught classroom lessons.

To achieve success in your Pamoja course, you must not see your online studies as a lightweight job but direct the same level of energies and commitment to them as you would in a traditional classroom – once you’ve moved past this misconception, you’ll find yourself at much more ease with learning through Pamoja!

4. Learning approach: Compile your notes!

Pamoja is angelic in the sense it provides you with perfectly rounded information complimented with external links to YouTube and blogposts that help you in the course of your studies. However, do not overlook the traditional art of note-taking. Make sure to compile your notes from your Pamoja lessons in a neat notebook, allocating the week number and lesson name to it in case you wish to go back and reflect on it while revising.

If you think you’ve already found your niche with Pamoja, congratulations! But if you still find it a challenge to adjust, consult these expert tips and you’ll find your Pamoja classes that much more easier and fun to work in!

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Who was Freddie Mercury and why you shouldn't care.

by Alicia “Freddie was very self-conscious about his teeth and was often trying to hide them with his lip,” said Chris Lyons in an interview with The New York Times.

Lyons is the guy who crafted Rami Malek’s prosthetic teeth when he played Freddie Mercury in the hit film ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is a biopic chronicling the rise to fame of the English band Queen, culminating in their awe-inspiring performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert. It also sheds one hell of a spotlight on Freddie Mercury; his inner struggles, his outer struggles, and everything in between.

But back to the matter of prosthetic teeth. I believe one of the reasons why Freddie Mercury is so widely beloved was because it was apparent that he was a flawed human being. That isn’t to say Mercury is your average joe, or that he did a bad job hiding his teeth (which, for the record, are perfectly fine). No, he was a 4-octave-range legend, but above all he was a person... who was a little insecure about his teeth.

So what sort of person was Freddie Mercury? This is the question that critics invariably ask when they dispute the realism of the biopic; the latter of which is a hot point of contention among fans and critics alike. Was Mercury in love with Jim Hutton or Mary Austin? What was his friendship with Brian May and Roger Taylor like? Why did he finally go solo? The truth is, we are never going to know the answers to these questions. Without going full Buber, it’s safe to say only those closest to him may know, and even then they might not have the full story.

Knowing, at the very least, how Mercury values his privacy, I can be fairly certain this is perfectly fine with him.

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Guidelines for submission

by Radha The Pamoja Global Student Council loves to receive student submissions!

We love putting YOU in the spotlight with your amazing creative projects.

This is the second year of the GSC and we wanted to clear up what exactly we’re looking for in the submissions which are created by you and featured in our newsletter:

Important things to note before submitting your creative works: All submissions must be ‘appropriate’ for a global and international community with diverse opinions and beliefs What you should do: Protect yourself: your last name will not be used when we include your submission for the protection of yourself Honor our differences: we will not tolerate any discrimination in the submissions these include: age, sex, rage, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, disability, marital status, or any other legally recognised protected basis.

Paintings and drawings Graphic design Jokes and riddles Photography Images about other projects you have been a part of (volunteer trips, worldly travels) Creative writing (short stories, poetry, personal essays, etc) Highlights from your specific country (national dishes, national monuments, interesting facts, information about the local languages etc)

What you should not do: Never share personal information about your school, teachers, SBCs or other students without their permissionthis includes images Never post anything that belongs to someone else, i.e. copyright images, music, etc

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Our student ambassadors!

Harneet

Manaswi

Alicia

Shizah

Kunal

Hope

Maia

Lydia

Cindy

Radha

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pamojagsc

Photography? Reviews? Artwork? Tips?

Send your submissions to: gsc@pamojaeducation.com