Thoughtfulness and Understanding- Anubhuti Sharma

“A door is much smaller compared to the house, a lock is much smaller compared to the door, and a key is the smallest of all, but a key can open the entire house. Thus a small, thoughtful solution can solve major problems.” A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Education can enhance the personality of any human being. And this is possible only when all the values are included in us since childhood. Schools are great places where children spend more time and understand most things from there, whether through the syllabus, educators, or companions. Teachers and students have a huge influence on the formation of values. Thoughtfulness means making someone feel important, being kind and empathetic towards others, the quality of thinking and caring about others unconditionally.

As HM, we interact with our children in the dorm daily, we not only interact with the children in our house, but we are always there for every child. We don’t just focus on the problems because we believe that every child is exceptional and needs attention. We sit and interact with everyone individually to listen to them and make them feel important. We inculcate values like thoughtfulness and understanding by showing care and respect towards children. With this, they learn to respect their elders and their juniors and all the helpers who take care of them. We also incorporate thoughtfulness and understanding by allowing children to perform various activities like taking care of the environment, preserving our culture, taking care of public property etc. And when they do a group activity, they learn almost all the values. They understand each other, care about each other, enjoy freedom in a group, and always feel important and contented. Thus, happy children can make every corner of the school happy.

The most important area where I would like to develop thoughtfulness in students.

First of all, I will try to reduce the feeling of competition among students. I will share my thoughts or stories from my childhood to make them believe that competing with others may make you happy for a moment, but it takes you away from certain values. I will not stop my students from competing. Rather, I will tell them to be their own competitors only then you can enjoy the true meaning of all the values. When we start competing with others, we forget to pay attention to; our goals, team spirit, and patient. Due to which there is a lack of understanding among themselves. I would always encourage my children to celebrate and enjoy success but never get discouraged if they don’t win. Whatever you do, give your best.

Thoughtfulness in action inside the classroom.

We can have circle time, where children can express their views, and they will learn to listen, communicate, respect and understand each other. This ability to understand someone else’s thoughts and emotions will make them empathetic. We can do this once a week. We can celebrate this week in many ways. This will help children build relationships and learn to pay attention to the other person.

Extra-curricular activities such as debate, story-writing or telling, art & craft and dramas are proper ways to explain values. It enhances the skills of critical thinking among the students.

Game 1 & Game 2  (Tap on the link to play the game)

Word Wall Game quizzes were conducted in the classroom to teach the meaning of values to the children.

This week I was teaching the lesson on Being a Good Citizen, and I am glad that I had the opportunity to teach values like thoughtfulness and understanding to my students in the classroom. I did an activity with the children to understand the meaning of these two values.

I gave Sentence Stems to all the children and they were not allowed to change the given words, but they needed to add something to it.

- Anubhuti Sharma, The Doon Girls' School, Dehradun

Humility and Appreciation - Medley DGS

Proud
to be Educator 

Medley DGS

Anubhuti Sharma, Chandralekha Negi, Kirti Bisht, Mamta Kandpal, Neelam Waldia, Sugandha Ahluwalia and Rudrani Ray

Thoughtfulness & Understanding - Harmony BHIS

Listen to the Podcast

-A token of thoughtful moment

How small acts of thoughtfulness can change our lives! Nature gives a grand feast to our hungry eyes immediately after the winter season and just before the summer season. Common spring flowers are lilacs, daffodils, irises, tulips, lilies, and dandelions which can be found around the world. Spring certainly is the result of warmth. Spring Season significantly increases the motivation to do the workout. Furthermore, cold weather is a period of less physical activity. So, when spring comes, people get excited about physical activity. Really I like to enjoy the beautiful warmth of the Sun after such a goosey winter. Spring season always boost up my energy. Like my other friends, exuberantly I look forward to the Holi which makes our life so colourful. 

Generally, I do study after I come back from school but today I don’t like to perform any work. No spirit to do any new venture. I withdraw myself in my room. I lean back with the support of my lovely pillow, try to feel the comfort on my soft bed. Today was the last day of our academic session, we were apprehensive about the change which might occur in Grade-X. Right now I have reminiscence about the incident that suddenly evolved on the way while performing my duty as a member of the student council.

Truly speaking, hardly had I realized I could react in this manner. Apparently, I am facing difficulties to maintain a balance between the responsibilities as well as good rapport with friends. It is a crucial moment for me to understand every phenomenon and react appropriately without creating any nuisance. Sudden checking of my friends’ bags gave rise to a new problem for me which was beyond my understanding. As per the instruction and guidance of our teacher, we examined the bags of our friends. At this, unexpectedly I was accused by my friends when two mobiles were discovered from their bags.

Monika indignantly cast a look on me and said, “It’s due to you, all these things happened, you could have informed us. But you always want to create a good image in front of the teacher”, breathlessly she spoke failing to suppress her anger.

My defensive attitude went in vain. I gave the last trial to make them understand, “How can I be indifferent to my duty for which I was appointed?”

Reshma snapped me saying, “Now you choose, which is important in your life, duty or friends?”

Eventually, I couldn’t stand for myself before the entire class; neither could I avoid the looks of their aversion.

I walked out of the class, I was perplexed, “Who can solve my problem….Who can understand my predicament? I don’t want to lose my friends at all. I can’t neglect my duty as well as my friend. How can I make them understand that they are equally important to me?” These unstoppable thoughts are abruptly emerging in my mental plate.  

Fortunately, I met my class teacher in the corridor who always listens to us very intently. Something from inside stopped me from speaking eloquently when I stood facing her. I failed to hide my tears from my class teacher. Her soft voice touched my heart, “ Ayushi, you should not feel sad at their accusation, they are not your  true friends.”

I said to myself “How can I make out who are my genuine companions?”

She continued, “True friends always appreciate you for following the right path. Duty cannot be superseded by our evil motives. We need to be loyal towards our school.”

“I don’t want to hold my post further, please remove me from my responsibilities,” my voice quivered while speaking to her in a low voice.

My class teacher looked at me surprisingly because it is evident that she never expects this kind of behaviour from me.

 

Subsequently, she was very firm while speaking to me “Ayushi, responsibilities are always for the capable person, so don’t underestimate your worth. Don’t deviate from your principles at all cost. Be practical. It is the appropriate moment for you to retrieve what is right and what is wrong.”

After saying this she led me towards the class. Monika and Reshma were sharing their glances, perhaps they could perceive what might be happened. The teacher stood in the centre of the classroom whereas I was near the door looking at her helplessly. She started speaking to all ignoring the looks of Monika and Reshma, “ If a person is loyal to her/his duties, she/he will be always truthful towards her/his friends as well. So try to identify who is your true friend.”

Later they apologized for their misbehaviour and showing an impatient approach to her. Even she felt free from any sort of disbelief towards her friends. She understood that there would be ups and downs in the relations; we should form the attitude ‘let it go’. She celebrated the Holi Festival with her friends wholeheartedly. There was no indictment, no perplexity, no faltering, it’s all about consideration, it’s about generosity, it’s only about the fulfillment of love and understanding.

Harmony @ Billabong High International School, Thane 

- Abira Chakraborty, Pooja Khona, Bhumika Ailsinghani, Rajshri Rane, Soniya Kuril, Poonam Choudhary, Kavita Shetty

Responsibility and Cooperation - Kusum Sharma

Doing our duty properly without any excuses is the responsibility and working together to the

same end is cooperation. When we stop blaming and complaining about others and we do our work with confidence, in this situation we actually show responsible behaviour.

I experienced an incident regarding these values. I was given to teach Social Science in class X, which is considered the naughtiest class in the school. When I started teaching in the classroom I found few boys were not at all interested in the topic and tried to disturb others in one or the other ways. 

For a few days, I observed the children and tried to recognise the students that were disturbing elements in the class. I discussed with a few of my colleagues and we all together started giving them the responsibility to look after younger children in all the occasions happened in the school. It was a wonderful experience for me that when students were given responsibility they all worked together with cooperation and did the tremendous work for the discipline of the classes.

Kusum Sharma

The Fabindia School

Honesty and Tolerance - Super 7

 All about honesty

Rajesh had been patiently waiting for his turn to bat during his CCA class. Finally, after his teammate Siddharth was bowled out, Rajesh got to enter with his bat. His face clearly portrayed his joy. Two balls later, Rajesh suddenly started to walk out, much to the surprise of his friends. When asked, he stopped and said, “I am out. I had edged the ball”. He had been caught behind by the wicket keeper but his opponents hadn’t realised that the bat had touched the ball. Their teacher who was closely monitoring the kids had noticed how happy Rajesh had been to finally get to bat. He called him aside, and asked him about it. The child, unhesitatingly stated, “I follow Sachin Tendulkar. He is my idol.” The teacher nodded with a smile. We all remember how the Little Master would leave the pitch if he had edged the ball, without even waiting for the opponent team to make an appeal.

The teacher felt elated to have such an honest child in her class and when she shared the incident with us, it immediately brought a smile on our faces. Honesty, we believe, is a mirror of one’s own self- a genuine portrayal of one’s soul. It is important that we inculcate the value of honesty right from childhood. This is one value, which if imbued, will help the child walk forever on the path of truth and righteousness. Children learn a lot by emulation; hence it is important that we lead not by words, but by examples. To be honest with others, we must first be honest with our own selves. This is not always easy. All of us face situations where it would be easier to be dishonest. But it takes a great deal of moral courage to resist such temptations. A reputation as an honest, trustworthy and reliable person is precious and rare in this world. Each of us has the opportunity to build such a reputation. True, some people may make fun of us for being honest but there will definitely be others who will appreciate it. Being honest in all things will give us a clear conscience and peace of mind.

In this regard, one of our group shared another incident. She had made it mandatory for students to finish eating their tiffins before going out to play during the lunch break. A child, who hadn’t done so, walked up to the teacher and said, “Ma’am I have finished eating. May I go out to play?” The teacher nodded and gave him the permission. However, she was surprised to see the boy return after two minutes. The child admitted that there was a part of the chapatti which he hadn’t eaten. He felt guilty for telling a lie. He apologized to his teacher, ate quickly and ran out to play. Such incidents do fill our hearts with joy and bring about a certain respect for our pupils. There was a time when one of us encountered another event which taught her that honesty and respect go hand in hand. She was distributing the answer scripts of a weekly test when a child came up and pointed out that she had been given two extra marks. She even went on to request the teacher not to appreciate her in front of the class as she felt that she has done nothing more than her duty. Such firm demonstration of integrity and dutifulness fill us with awe and respect for our students.

Super 7 @ Billabong High International School, Thane 
-Sayantani Mukherjee, Dimple Awasthi, Ritu Chitnis, Manjusha Saji, Jyoti Ramdhave, Vijaylaxmi Ramesh, Sumati Muthukumar

Role of Volunteers

 Key areas for participation:

• Instruction and Training
• Supervision
• Counseling
• Assessment

Duties / work

• To advise, guide and assist the participants
• To provide young people with Record Books
• To maintain the operation of Award in a unit
• To keep records
• To liaise and coordinate activities in an area
• To ensure the safety and well-being of the participants
• To ensure the operation of the Award meets the International Guidelines and the standard of the Award are upheld.

Qualities / pre-requisites for an Adult Volunteer

• Business like: organised, systematic, goal oriented and prepared.
• Friendly: warm, empathetic, out-going, positive and friendly.
• Verbally Interactive: listens, accepts, probes questions and encourages.
• Stimulating: imaginative, stimulating, exciting, provocative, interesting and avoids dull routine.
• Individual Oriented: treats each individual as a unique learner.
• Multi-media Integrative: uses diverse media for visualisation, dramatisation, demonstration, and manipulation, reading and listening.

Volunteer management policy for NAA 
Volunteers are an essential part of a successful Award Programme in any National Award Authority. Most of them work directly with the participants as Award assessors and group leaders, and provide support to the local and national Award office. Enthusiastic, knowledgeable and responsible volunteers can make a huge impact in retaining and encouraging more young people to take part in the Award Programme.

Recognition of Volunteers
The National Award Authority presents adults involved in the Award, certificates in recognition of outstanding service to the Award. The success of the Award has depended largely on the extent to which people have helped with its organisation, development, promotion, operation, and assessment. Meritorious service of this nature can be acknowledged by the award of a certificate recording such recognition. Emphasis is on outstanding service over a significant period of time; the presentation of a certificate is never be regarded as automatic.

The minimum time involvement is normally be at least 3, 5 or 10 continuous years, though there may be exceptional cases when a shorter period of service would be worthy of recognition, or where breaks in service could be taken into account. The judgement of outstanding service is inevitably be subjective, but considerable involvement of an individual's own free time to the undoubted benefit of a number of young people, is the basic criterion. Evidence is also required of positive advancement of the Award’s aims and philosophy. The person should have demonstrated superior efforts and initiatives during his or her period of involvement with the Award and is expected to have shown exceptional ability, reliability and results in one or more fields related to its operation.

How to take this ahead?
Sign up today, we have a life time Sign-up Fee of Rs. 500.00 only. You will become a part of a worldwide network and be able to contribute for youth development. This is indeed a very fulfilling form of service and we are sure you too will live the Award Programme. Once we receive your small contribution, we will send you a Volunteer Sign-up Form and other details.

ONLINE PAYMENT

Please call up the national office (NAA) on +91 11 26497154 or email us at bivujit@dofe.in

Draft Volunteer Conduct Agreement

NAA means National Award Authority, and the NAA India office is in New Delhi, contact Nivedita for further information. Call us now +91 11 26497154/ 26493400


The draft Volunteer Conduct Agreement reads as follow:-

Throughout the world the Award is reliant on the hard work, commitment and dedication of volunteers.  It is volunteers who, for the most part, deliver the Programme to young people and act as instructors and supervisors for the different activities.  Without volunteers the Award could not operate. When working with volunteers, NAAs should undertake the following steps:

·         A description of the role must be written and agreed with the volunteer.

·         Relevant references must be taken up and the equivalent of a Criminal Records Bureau check must be carried out, where possible. 

·         All volunteers must undergo an induction into the organisation. 

·         The necessary volunteer conduct agreement should be signed.

·         Training should be provided where necessary to enable the volunteer to carry out their role.

·         A highly supportive level of supervision and management must be carried out with regular meetings to review progress.

·         A proper ‘thank you’ needs to be made at the end of the project and the appropriate handover undertaken.

It is important that no document sets out ‘rights’ or ‘obligations’ nor gives the volunteer employment rights. It is also important to include expectations of the volunteer and of the organisation in the role profile.

Recognition of Achievements

NAAs should present adults involved in the Award, certificates in recognition of outstanding service to the Award. The certificate should be signed by the chairman or president of the NAA, or their nominated representative.

The success of the Award has depended largely on the extent to which people have helped with its organisation, development, promotion, operation, and assessment. Meritorious service of this nature can be acknowledged by the award of a certificate recording such recognition. Emphasis should be on outstanding service over a significant period of time; the presentation of a certificate should never be regarded as automatic.

Minimum Service

The minimum time involvement should normally be at least 3, 5 or 10 continuous years, though there may be exceptional cases when a shorter period of service would be worthy of recognition, or where breaks in service could be taken into account.

Criteria

The judgement of outstanding service must inevitably be subjective, but considerable involvement of an individual's own free time to the undoubted benefit of a number of young people, is the basic criterion. Evidence is also required of positive advancement of the Award’s aims and philosophy. The person should have demonstrated superior efforts and initiatives during his or her period of involvement with the Award and is expected to have shown exceptional ability, reliability and results in one or more fields related to its operation.

Future Commitment

The presentation of a certificate of recognition is not merely a reward for meritorious past service, though that is a necessary condition, but a point at which exceptional talent, initiative and diligence have been recognised at the highest level, and beyond which nominees are expected to commit themselves to further efforts on behalf of the Programme and its participants.

Procedure

Nominations should be made to national Award offices. The presentation of the certificates is at the discretion of the national Award committee or board.

Eligibility

There will be many categories of persons eligible for nomination, including Award advisers, long-standing chairpersons and members of Award committees and panels, members of expedition panels, unit co-ordinators, leaders and organisers, and instructors and assessors of Award activities.

Presentation

Wherever possible, an appropriate occasion (for example, a local Award presentation) should be chosen for the recipient to be presented with the Certificate of Recognition.

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Role Profile Format

Role title:

Reports to:

Method of reporting: (eg to whom; how often and how)

Location:

Objectives of role: (including but not restricted to geographic area, specific projects and outcomes)

Specific responsibilities and actions required:

Timeframe:

The NAA will provide: (eg equipment, invitations to meetings, funding, expenses, secretarial support etc)

Checklist:

Action	Date and by whom
Role agreed
References taken up
Criminal Records Check carried out (where possible)
Induction undertaken
Volunteer conduct agreement signed
Training undertaken
Supervision and management process agreed
Thanks given
Handover completed

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In consultation with [Representative’s Name] of [NAA Name] in [country], I accept these terms and undertake that I will:

1.       Exercise due care and diligence in carrying out my role and responsibilities

2.       Comply at all times with the requirements of the [NAA Name] and with all applicable laws relevant to fulfilling my obligations to the [NAA Name]

3.       Consult to undergo a police and/or reference and/or background checks when requested by [NAA Name]

4.       Undertake training and meet accreditation requirements, as appropriate

5.       Respect the privacy of persons served by the [NAA Name] and hold in confidence private and personal information collected by the [NAA Name]

6.       Immediately advise the [NAA Name] of any matter of which I am involved that has or could lead to a criminal conviction

7.       Advise the [NAA Name] of any officer or employee of the [NAA Name], or any assessor, instructor or volunteer involved in the management and/or delivery of the [NAA Name] who I believe has acted in a way which may be detrimental to the good name of the [NAA Name]

8.       In carrying out my role and responsibilities for the [NAA Name] I agree to:

·         Represent the Award with professionalism and be responsible for conducting myself with courtesy and appropriate behaviour

·         Conduct myself in a respectful manner, exhibit good conduct and be a positive role model

·         Display respect and courtesy for participants, other volunteers, staff, contractors and property

·         Provide a safe environment by not harming youths or adults in any way whether through discrimination, sexual harassment, physical force, verbal or mental abuse, neglect or other harmful actions

·         Work cooperatively as a team member with the employees of the Award and other volunteers

·         To follow through and complete accepted tasks

·         To copy and distribute materials only for the purposes of the Award and will not use them without the prior written consent of the [NAA Name]

·         Not use those materials in any way which would bring [NAA Name] into disrepute

·         That once my appointment with the Award ends,  I will immediately stop all use of the materials

·         That any improvements or developments or new versions of the materials, including new materials I create based on or incorporating them, belong to [NAA Name] and I assign all rights, including intellectual property rights to [NAA Name]

The NAA agrees to:

1.       Explain the rights and responsibilities of volunteers

2.       Provide support,  supervision and training to enable volunteers to undertake their roles

3.       Respect my privacy  and hold in confidence private and personal information collected by the [NAA Name]

4.       Treat volunteers with respect in line with equal opportunity requirements

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The [NAA Name] has provided me with a description of my role and responsibilities, and the requirements and fundamental principles of the Award which I have read and understand. I will comply with all these requirements.

I am aware of my obligations as outlined in this document and that my appointment as an [instructor/assessor/volunteer] in relation to the Award may be terminated as a result of any breach by me of the undertakings in this document.

I agree to the above terms.

Volunteer name: _______________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Volunteer signature: _____________________________________________________

Date: _________________________________________________________________

Representative of NAA signature: __________________________________________

Date: _________________________________________________________________