He will have to learn, I know,
that all men are not just
and are not true.
But teach him if you can,
the wonder of books.
But also give him quiet time
to ponder the eternal mystery
of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun and
flowers on a green hillside. In school, teach him
it is far more honorable
to fail than to cheat…
Teach him to have faith
in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him
he is wrong. Teach him to be gentle
with gentle people and
tough with the tough. Try to give my son
the strength not to follow
the crowd when everyone
is getting on the bandwagon…
Teach him to listen to all men;
but teach him also to filter
all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good
that comes through. Teach him, if you can,
how to laugh when he is sad.
Teach him there is
no shame in tears. Teach him to scoff
at cynics and to beware
of too much sweetness…
Teach him to sell his brawn
and brain to highest bidders,
but never to put a price
on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his
ears to a howling mob…
and stand and fight if
he thinks he is right.
Treat him gently,
but do not cuddle him,
because only the test of fire
makes fine steel.
Let him have the courage
to be impatient…
Let him have the patience
to be brave. Teach him always to have
sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have
faith in humankind. This is a big order,
but see what you can do.
He is such a fine little fellow,
my son!
~ Anonymous
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
You may have heard some of these quotes before.
I had the blues, because I had no shoes, until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.
If you don’t like something, then change it. If you can’t change it, then change the way you look at it.
Happiness does not depend on external conditions, it depends on our mental attitude.
It’s so difficult when we have to do something, but so easy when we want to do it. What makes the difference? Our own attitude! When we feel dog tired at night, may be we growled the whole day!! Every time a value is born, existence takes on a new meaning. Our attitude is an expression of our values, beliefs and expectations. We have questioned the purpose of education, we have asked ourselves ‘What do I want my students to carry with them which has permanent value?’ the answer is simple and clear – Attitudes and Values. Great minds have built their lives, worthy of emulation on mainly these two integral ingredients of life — attitude, value.
CCE gives us an excellent opportunity to make the difference. Every moment, both positive and negative, allows us scope to mentor students to look at life positively – then sound becomes music and movement becomes the very dance of life. Some Activities
Consider the activities below from Ratna Sagar’s CCE editions. Numerous such activities assist teachers in sensitizing students to taking a positive attitude to things around us and helps to inculcate values.
What would you do in the following situations? Tick (√) the correct options.
You have gone shopping and you wish to buy a cane basket for making a flower arrangement. You have a choice to buy it from a mall or a basket weaver who sits on the roadside near the mall.
You would buy the basket from the mall because it is more trendy.
You would buy the basket from the basket weaver to help him keep alive his skill and earn a living.
You will buy it from the mall because you will be embarrassed if any of your friends see you making purchases from the roadside.
You see some boys scribbling their names on the walls of a monument.
You will ignore their act.
You will tell the guard on duty to check them.
You will also etch your name on one of the pillars.
Your grandmother insists that you should greet all elders with folded hands and say ‘namaskar’ and not say ‘hello’ when you meet them.
You get irritated at her old-fashioned ideas.
You ignore her desire.
You take pride in your traditional way of greeting people and respect her wishes.
Food is precious. Do not waste it.
When you go to your friend’s birthday party you enjoy yourself. You enjoy the food at the party. Tick (√) what you do at the party.
I take a large amount of food on my plate.
I take as much food as I want to eat on my plate.
If I want more food, I ask an adult to help me.
GRADING STUDENTS AND WRITING DESCRIPTIVE INDICATORS
Assessing Attitudes and Values on a 3 point scale, on the basis of ‘most’, ‘many’ and ‘some’.
Towards teachers
Towards classmates
1. Shows courtesy to teachers inside and outside the class
2. Demonstrates positive attitudes towards learning
3. Takes suggestions and criticism to improve
4. Respects teachers’ instructions
5. Accepts norms and rules of the school
6. Communicates with teachers
7. Confides problems with teachers
8. Shows honesty and sincerity towards teachers
9. Feels free to ask questions
10. Helpful to teachers
1. Is friendly with most of the classmates
2. Expresses ideas and opinions freely in a group
3. Is receptive to ideas and opinion of others
4. Treats classmates as equals (without any sense of superiority or inferiority)
5. Is sensitive and supportive of peers and differently abled schoolmates
6. Treats peers from different social, religious and economic background without any discrimination
7. Respects opposite gender and is comfortable in their company
8. Does not bully others
9. Deals with aggressive behaviour (bullying) by peers tactfully
10. Shares credit and praise with team members and peers
Towards school programmes/environment
Towards the country
1. Attaches a lot of importance to school activities and programmes
2. Participates in school activities relating to improvement of environment
3. Enthusiastically participates in school programmes
4. Shoulders responsibility happily
5. Is loyal to the school and school programmes
6. Insists on parents’ participation in school programmes
7. Participates in community activities relating to environment
8. Takes care of school property
9. Sensitive and concerned about environmental degradation
10. Takes initiative in planning activities for the betterment of the environment
1. Is aware of the Directive Principle and Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution
2. Sings the National Anthem and patriotic songs with decorum
3. Displays pride in being an Indian citizen
4. Participates in celebration of Republic Day and Independence Day with enthusiasm
5. Respects Indian diversity
Values
1. Demonstrates a proactive and responsible behaviour
9. Takes care to clean classroom, school and neighbourhood
2. Is helpful and volunteers
10. Does not fight and harm others, is peace loving
3. Respects opposite gender
11. Does not affiliate to groups and communities who believe and promote violence
4. Kind and helpful towards classmates and people of community
12. Makes an effort to improve academic performance in school
5. Appreciates diversity of cultures, social practices and more
13. Makes special efforts to improve on Co-Scholastic areas
6. Shows compassion for living creatures
14. Strives to identify potential and actualize with effort
7. Takes active interest in maintaining flora, fauna, plants and gardens
15 Aspires and strives for excellence in education and life
8. Participates in movements for protecting endangered animals and green cover
One can keep making an endless list of values from A – Z
With the dictionary to support us, and the commitment towards it, we can and should empower our wards with attitude and values. The answer to how do I asses will come to you automatically.
DO WE HAVE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE AND SKILLS FOR THIS?
This does not end here! What about your attitude and values? We will look at these in the next news letter, for now let us answer these questions.
Are there teacher’s pets in class?
Are we fair to all and truly believe that all our students are equal?
Do we have a positive attitude towards our profession?
Do we rise and shine and are happy to come to school every day?
Do we respect your students?
Do we value their individuality?
Do we allow them to stop us in class and ask questions?
Knowing how to think, to extend the mind beyond the obvious and develop creative solutions to problems, should be the outcome of education. What can we do?
Create a thinking atmosphere – ask why, how do you know, prove it, why do you need to know this
Examine our own thinking about thinking
Start early – even pre schoolers can be challenged to think – what would you do if?
Give them something to think about – field trips, ‘what if’ questions and ‘find out’ activities
Train them to look at things from all sides – mind mapping and brain storming
Encourage them to find out threads, patterns and connections
Ask unconventional questions – what if all houses had to look the same
Nurture their imagination
The CCE newsletter dated Sep. 2010 carries many strategies of questioning. Do refer to it (click here). The conduct and implementation of CCE depends a lot on your attitude, life skills and values.
Education aims at making children capable of becoming active, responsible, productive, and caring members of society. They are made familiar with the various practices of the community by imparting the relevant skills and ideas. Ideally, education is supposed to encourage the students to analyse and evaluate their experiences, to doubt, to question, to investigate – in other words, to be inquisitive and to think independently.
Can we equip ourselves with all that it takes to keep the above objectives in mind?
QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Please email us your questions about CCE, any suggestions for future topics and any feedback about this newsletter to cce4u@ratnasagar.com
EDUCATION AROUND THE WORLD
Claims made by educational software companies on their websites and promotional materials, do not match the results. (Case study of ‘Cognitive Tutor’) Read More
Silicon Valley’s elite send their kids to schools sans computers. Read more.
ENABLING CCE
We, at Ratna Sagar, have come out with CCE editions of our English, Science, Social Science, GK and Maths textbooks. Apart from the other unique features, they include activities that can be used for formative and summative assessment, life skills, multiple-choice questions, and more. To know more please click on the links given below or contact any of our representatives or email us at cce4u@ratnasagar.com CCE Editions of Textbooks from Ratna Sagar
