Values for the Yatra

Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter September 2010

Teacher: Referee or Coach

Our metaphors in life often give a direction to the way we perceive, behave
and live. As were draw closer to Teachers’ Day, many a student will take the
time to express ways of appreciation. Appreciation would come on various
levels: a few students may show no signs of appreciation at all, others only by
default since it is Teachers’ Day, Some may go a step further—express thanks
because they experienced sporadic moments of assistance. Only a few, honestly speak-
ing, will be eternally grateful for every moment they encountered in school. Why is there
such a difference in the level of our gratitude? All sat in the same class, listened to the
same teacher and studied the same syllabus. It isn’t the content or the methodology of the
teacher that matters… it is the style of personal relationships that counts. Students don’t
abhor discipline. They know that rules are necessary for fair play. Students look up to
teachers who, in their quest for excellence, drew out the best in every student. Students love
teachers who are ‘coaches’ rather than ‘referees’ in the field of education.

Referees are those who to whom something is referred, especially for settlement, decision,
or an opinion as to the thing's quality or an official who enforces the rules in certain sports
contests. Sitting in a stadium or watching a football match on TV is very interesting.
Everyone seems to be enjoying the game...except the referee. Poor guy! He is paid to keep
the rules, to catch the mistakes. No one is more tense than the referee. While the spectators
are hoping for extra time, the referee is just waiting to blow the final whistle. Fouls have
been caught, players have been warned, suspension cards have been dished out. The referee
leaves the ground tired, exhausted, angry with everything around this wonderful celebra-
tion. Abused by players, booed by spectators and hunted by the press… the life of a referee
In this ISSUE is painful . There is very little appreciation for a referee!!!

Teacher: Coach or 1 Coaches, on the other hand, have a deep desire to draw out the best in each player. Mis-
Referee takes are opportunities to rediscover one’s strengths. A coach is someone who is involved
with others in a commitment of making the other person value-based on their individual
Wind Beneath 2 strengths and goals. Coaches help others find their opportunities and show unwavering
my Wings faith that every person they touch has the ability to be their best. Coaches possesses an
ability to manage the physical and the psychological environment in a way that creates
School as Home 3
change with clear standards of performance and measurable progress. Coaches are loved!!!

Teachers who spend their energy and lives as ‘coaches’ rather than ‘referees’ among their
Call to be Humane 4
students are the ones who really make the ‘difference’ in the lives of their students. As I
look back my own school days, I too can vouch for the fact
What is Essential 5 that the teachers who influenced me were not those who
possessed knowledge but those who had a heart to draw
out the best in me. And to them I would be ever grateful.
News & Views 7 It is time to throw out the ‘whistle’ and get back to
‘discovering the wonder in every student’… Be a Coach.

AVEC Seminars 8
Fr. Glenford Lowe sdb
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter September 2010

TEACHERS: Wind beneath my Wings

Fr. Glenford Lowe sdb
The other day I happened to bump into my teacher… three decades had passed. The
memories of yesteryears seemed to come alive. Born at a time when the Beatles were
at their prime and the Hippie culture was catching up... I was entering a new phase
of my school life. My only artillery were: a weak body, frail mind, deflated spirit and
a wayward soul. The ‘village boy’ was now in Bombay….the Indian dream of those
years. To be fit for today I had to ‘unlearn my village’ ways. The language of my
hometown was foreign to my fellow companions. I had to get it all in one go: Hindi
and Marathi in the classroom, Basketball, Hockey and Football on the playground,
prayers, hymns, devotions in the Church and befriend a whole lot of guys from all
cultures and mother tongues. Was I simply biting more that I could chew?
The road seemed long…. I wanted to give up fast, put my hands up in the air and
shout out “enough is enough”. Did I have to go through all these batteries of tests,
exams, home works just in order to give up my ‘village ways’? “Failures”, they told
me, “were stepping stones to success.” I thought I was happy where I stood. Why
was I now being asked to climb a ladder… called a ‘ladder of success’?
But one day, I decided that it was worth the try. If others could make it, then, I too
could make it. I needed to grow up, grow in, and grow out strong. I just never
wanted to stand anymore, climbing was just not worth it. I wanted to fly!!!
To fly, I needed a strong wind beneath my wings. St. Dominic Savio’s, Andheri was
a perfect place for flying high. My dreams became clearer, my vision began to ex-
pand, my faith matured and my circle of friends widened. God blessed our school
with a whole team of priests, brothers and teachers who were committed to the core.
What was important to us became important to them too. They energised us with
their motivation, guided us with their corrections, nurtured us with their care and
like crafty jewellers made of us beautiful jewels in the crown. To our teachers we
were sons. To us, they were parents. School became family … a big one indeed.
Today, many of my teachers are old and frail. To meet them again is such a blessing.
Some have been called to their eternal reward. My hands join in a prayer of grati-
tude…. Over the years, I too have spent a lot of time as an educator. I often catch my-
self asking this question: If my teacher were here, how would he/she do it? They
keep teaching me, they keep challenging me to light the path along which I walk.
I would love to list all their names, to engrave them on marble stones, to erect a
monument to honour them…. But, I just know, they would not approve of it. Their
names have been written on the hearts of every student, nay, for every generation to
come. The names will forever be immortal.
To all my wonderful teachers at St. Dominic Savio’s, Andheri, the wind behind my
wings, I say, “Thank you and may God Bless you abundantly” !!!
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter September 2010

Top 10 Tips for making your classroom a HOME

Classrooms become easier prisons than palaces, agony more than ecstasy, and above all institu-
tions for conformity rather than a home for growth. A third of a student’s day is desk-bound. Edu-
cation is more a matter of the heart than an intellectual quest to satisfy.

Here are ten tips that can lead to successful classroom management and discipline.

1. It's Easier to Get Easier : Manage with the Mind but Lead with the Heart. Know that the sacred lives
of the students have been entrusted into your care. Know them by name rather than by a number on
the roll call. Students don't care how much you know. They want to know how much you care!!!

2. Fairness Vs Favorites : I am my teacher’s pet. Students have a distinct sense of what is and what is
not fair. You must act fairly for all students if you expect to be respected. Remember you are a Teacher
for all. No favorites.

3. Deal with Disruptions lovingly : The Word in the Ear Students will always be students. They will
disrupt and distract your class. Remember a rebellious student in an insecure student. Find time after
class to give attention to them by building confidence in them by ‘giving a word in the ear’. Correct
them with love. A small word can transform the climate of your class and school.

4. Panic control: Save Face The Classroom must be a second home not a battle ground for winners and
losers. Order and discipline is necessary in your class. Be human and deal with discipline issues pri-
vately than cause a student to 'lose face' in front of their friends.

5. Add Humor not Sarcasm: : Poor teachers confuse good humor with sarcasm. While humor can
quickly diffuse a situation, sarcasm may harm your relationship with the students involved. Use your
best judgment but realize that what some people think as funny others find to be offensive.

6. Motivate for Excellence : Students are not stupid. They are only sleeping giants. Trigger the need for
excellence and draw out the best in each student. Be a coach not a referee!!!

7. Creative Use of Time: Let your classroom be a learning laboratory. Have plenty of creative use of
space and syllabus. Remember your kindergarten days…. Learning is maximum in an atmosphere of
fun and creativity.

8. Build Family Spirit: Develop collaborate learning than competitive learning. Invite the bright stu-
dents to adopt a weaker student. To go higher, students need to learn to pick up the other.

9. Make Rules Understandable : Every rule defends a value. Let students know why a rule is set in
place. Purposeful students are open to learn better. You play the parent figure. Help the student to
know that discipline is not the enemy of freedom.

10. Attuned to the Master Guru: All learning is futile if, at the end of the day, we do not become more
loving human beings. While we feed the intellect, we need to nourish the heart and the soul. Education
is largely a matter of faith. Have a primacy for God in your life and your students too will become
more god-loving. Your classroom must create a sense for the sacred and a respect for people of all
faiths and religious traditions. Fr. Glenford Lowe, sdb
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter September 2010

Education:
Call to be Humane
We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and
come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing. The things taught in
schools and colleges are not an education, but the means of education.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should ever

witness. Gas chambers built by learned surgeons. Children poisoned by educated
physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot and killed by
high school and college graduates. So, I am suspicious of education. My request is:
help your students to be human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters,
skilled psychopaths, or educated Eichmans. Reading and writing and spelling and
history and arithmetic are only important if they serve to make our students hu-
man.

We teach everything in the world to people, except the most essential thing. And
that is life. Nobody teaches you how to be a human being and what it means to be a
human being. Everyone assumes this is something you have, or you should have
gotten by osmosis. Well, it’s not working by osmosis.

Probably the most exciting thing in the world is the realization that I have the po-
tential of being fully human. You must become the most beautiful, sensitive, won-
drous, magical, unique, fantastic person in the world to be able to have all of these
things in order to give them away and share them. Think about it.

If I don’t have wisdom I can only teach you my ignorance.

If I don’t have joy I can only teach you despair.

If I don’t have freedom I can only put you in cages.

But everything I have I can give away.

That’s the only reason for having it.

 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter September 2010

WHAT IS ESSENTIAL ?
Leo Buscaglia

Right Knowledge,
to supply you with the tools necessary for your voyage.

Wisdom,
to assure you that your are using the accumulated knowledge of the past
in a manner that will best serve the discovery of your presence, your “now”.
Compassion,
to help you accept others whose ways may be different from yours, with gentle-
ness and understanding, as you move with them or through them or around
them on your own way.

Harmony,
to be able to accept the natural flow of life.

Creativity,
to help you realize and recognize new alternatives and
uncharted paths along the way.

Strength,
to stand up against fear and move forward in spite of uncertainly,
without guarantee of payment.

Peace,
to keep you songful, and laughing and dancing all along the way.

Joy,
to keep your continual guide towards the highest level of consciousness
of which man is capable.

Love,
to be your continual guide towards the highest level of consciousness of which
man is capable.

Unity,
which brings us back to where we started-the place where we are at one with
ourselves and with all things.
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter September 2010

Essay Competition: Congratulations

SENIORS Name of Student Name of School Class

First Place Saif Ali Nakhwa St. Joseph’s , UMERKHADI X—B

Second Place Yuvraj Singh Bawa Holy Cross Convent, MIRA RD X—A

Third Place Errol Fernandes Campion School, FORT X—A

INTERS

First Place Manasi Devidas Paradkar St. Jude’s High School, Kalyan VIII—B

Second Place Alakh Naik St. Xavier’s Boys Academy VIII –1

Third Place Adele Arianne Albuquerque St. Anne’s High School, Orlem VII

JUNIORS

First Place Priyam P St. Paul’s Convent, Dadar VI

Second Place Priyanshi Pardeshi Auxilium Convent, Wadala, VI—C

Third Place Rebecca D’Souza Mary Immaculate, Borivli IV –D

36 Motivational Posters have been designed by AVEC not just to color the walls and
boards of the classroom but to inspire, motivate and lead the students to live Value-
centered lives.
3 Dozen Posters will be available for sale at Rs 350/ at the coming seminars.
Limited Stock … Please Hurry ….. Order from the AVEC Office
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter September 2010

         

ANDHERI Deanery: Aug 4, 2010 BANDRA Deanery: Aug 6, 2010

BORIVILI & BHYANDAR Deanery: Aug 11, 2010 CENTRAL Deanery: Aug 13, 2010

THANE Deanery: Aug 20, 2010

NORTH MUMBAI Deanery: Aug 18, 2010

SOUTH MUMBAI Deanery: Aug 25, 2010 KURLA—NAVI MUMBAI Deanery: Aug 27, 2010

10 Deanery Level Meetings for 219 Value Education Coordinators

from 120 Schools affiliated to the ABE
 Values for the Yatra
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre (AVEC ) E-Letter September 2010

p y
a p ’
H r s
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Te a y
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Care 4 Creation Competition

for September 2010
POSTER COMPETITION
‘””’Peace through Literacy’
A poster on A3 size only…. To reach the AVEC office before
25th Sept. Please follow the rules of the competition

AVEC E-Letter ‘ V alues for the Yatra’ is an initiative to provide

Animation Resources for Teachers involved in Value Education in the ABE schools/ Jr. Colleges of the
Archdiocese of Bombay .
Values for the Yatra is published every month and is for private circulation.
Your valuable suggestions are most welcome to assist us in making Values for the Yatra a
useful tool of animation and bonding among the Principals, Teachers and Students of the ABE schools.
CONTACT:
Fr. Glenford Lowe SDB / Rochwyn Fernandes / Michelle D ’ Souza
Archdiocesan Value Education Centre ( AVEC ) — Don Bosco Youth Services,
Matunga 400019 , MUMBAI Ph: 24154477 e-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com
Blog: avecmumbaidbys.blogspot.com