Teacher’s Manual Version 2. Go to standtogether.my/teacher for new versions.

Introduction

Buku ini adalah panduan bagi guru-guru yang ingin mengambil bahagian dalam Minggu Baik Hati Kebangsaan #StandTogether yang akan berlangsung pada minggu pertama setiap April (April 2-6, 2018). Aktiviti-aktiviti ini hanya mengambil masa 10-15 minit setiap hari, tetapi ia mampu menambahbaik budaya dan suasana sekolah anda!

THERE ARE TWO SECTIONS IN THIS KIT:

Daily Classroom Activities

These activities must be carried out every day during National Kindness Week. The Form Teacher will run the activities during his/her period in the class. The school can also choose to run their own activities as well!

The Kindness Challenge

The Kindness Challenge is a daily checklist of kind acts for teachers and students to commit to. After you have checked off the kind act of the day, write down how it felt! There are two different checklists, one for teachers, and one for students.

What Is National Kindness Week?

The #StandTogether National Kindness Week is an annual event aimed at starting a Kindness Revolution in Malaysian schools. It will be held every first week of April, starting in 2018!

During this week, schools can organise activities that encourage kindness and understanding among students, teachers, staff members, and even the community around the schools!

Find out more at www.standtogether.my.

1

2

Go to www.standtogether.my/teacher for additional resources for teachers, including games, expert tips on handling bullying, and educational videos.

teacher s manual

How To Take Part

How to take part in National Kindness Week

REGISTERGo to standtogether.my/register to fill up the registration form.

DOWNLOAD MATERIALSDownload the Teacher’s Manual, which contains simple classroom activities and instructions on how to run them in class.

IMPLEMENTRun the programme in your classroom or student society/club during National Kindness Week (April 2-6, 2018).

SHARE!Get your whole school involved! Download the Principal’s Manual, and share it with your school principal. It contains eight best practices which your school can implement to improve kindness and reduce bullying.

Confirm your school’s participation! If your principal has agreed to participate in National Kindness Week based on the Principal’s Manual, email a signed copy of the School Confirmation Letter to alltherage@thestar.com.my with the subject #StandTogether School Confirmation.

Get your students involved!We are giving away RM1,000 in grant funding to the 25 best student-led Kindness Projects! Ask your students to come up with some ideas that will promote kindness in schools, and send it to us at www.standtogether.my/competition. Selected winners will even get a celebrity visit, right in their school!

teacher s manual

1

2

3

Before You Start

Before you start the activities on Monday, please read the following guidelines on how to detect and deal with bullying in your classroom. This will prepare you in case your students reveal to you that they’ve been bullied.

How do I know if my student is bullied?

Here are some of the signs: Unexplainable injuries and lost or destroyed clothing, books, electronics, or jewelry.Frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick or faking illness.Declining grades, loss of interest in schoolwork, or not wanting to go to school.Sudden loss of friends or avoidance of social situations.Self-destructive behaviors such as skipping class or school, physically harming themselves, or talking about suicide.

What should I do if my student is bullied?

When a student first confides in you, take them seriously. It’s important to listen to their story and to encourage them. Be patient! It is difficult for children to open up immediately as bullying can be very painful to talk about.Never blame the child for what has happened or tell them to “just ignore it”, or that it’s just part of growing up. Bullying is not “character building”. Bullying impairs the ability of a child to reach their full potential.If you see bullying happening or a student reports an incident to you, go and intervene immediately. In all cases of bullying, it’s important that bullies get the message that their behaviour is not ok. Each bullying situation is unique. Take the time to understand the dynamics of the situation so that you can take the best course of action. For example, if there’s a physical fight, don’t break it up and then ask the kids to play nicely together. That is not going to happen.Be very careful about breaking the confidence of a victim. If a student confides in you but they don’t want you to take action, respect their choice and give them some tools and suggestions to help them resolve the situation for themselves. The only time it’s appropriate to break confidentiality is when the safety of the child is at risk, (*There are times when it’s appropriate to break confidentiality, for example, if the safety of the child is at risk.)

1.2.3.4.5.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

teacher s manual

Introduce The Kindness Challenge

MATERIALS NEEDED:Student Kindness Checklist (attached in Appendix). You can also download or access the checklist at www.standtogether.my/resource

HOW?Print out the Student Kindness Checklist from the “Kindness Challenge” section and distribute it to everyone in your class.

Explain to your students what they need to do throughout the week. Every time your student does something kind from the checklist, have them tick the “Done” box.

Sign their checklists once they have done their kind act of the day and filled up the “How do you feel” section.

Please remind your students to complete the checklist through the week. Today your students must “Say something nice to a teacher, student, and someone you don’t know

Remind your students to view Monday’s #StandTogether Celebrity Educational Video on our website www.standtogether.my/videos

MONDAY

1

2

3

4

List Out “Mean” BehaviorsGet your students to come up with a list of “mean” behaviours together (i.e.: name calling, hair pulling,

gossiping, etc.) and have them collectively agree to replace each “mean” behavior with a kind one. Changing each “mean” behavior into a kind one transforms the classroom into a friendlier place.

MATERIALS NEEDED:Mahjong PaperPermanent markersPen and paper (from students)

HOW?

TUESDAY

1

2

3

a)

b)

c)

d)

a)b)c)

4

Remind your students to view Tuesday’s #StandTogether Celebrity Educational Video on our website www.standtogether.my. Today’s video is about different types of bullying.

Check in on how your students are progressing with the Kindness Challenge. Today’s kind act is to “Write an encouraging note to a school friend”.

ASK WHAT THE STUDENTS CONSIDER TO BE “MEAN” BEHAVIORTell the students to ask themselves what kind of mean behaviour they’ve seen that is hurtful to themselves or to others?Give them a few examples. Make sure to include examples of physical behaviours (hitting, pinching, pushing, etc.), and non-physical behaviours (spreading rumours, sharing embarrassing photos online, making hurtful jokes, excluding someone from a group of friends, etc.).Ask the students to write just ONE mean behaviour on a piece of paper and fold it up.Collect all the papers containing the students’ answers.

ASK THE STUDENTS TO COME UP WITH KIND ACTS TO REPLACE THE “MEAN” BEHAVIORAsk your students to think of a kind behavior that they can do to replace the “mean” behaviors they just identified. For example, if the mean behavior is name calling,the student can choose to give a compliment instead.

Add this this to the same piece of paper as question #1 and fold it up.Collect all the papers containing the students’ answers.

WRITE IT DOWNStick a piece of mahjong paper on the whiteboard/blackboard.In front of the class, read out the students’ answers, and write them on the mahjong paper.If an answer is repeated (or the answer is similar to a previous answer), you don’t have to write it down again. Just keep count of how many times the same answer was given, and write it next to the original answer.

STUDENTS PLEDGE TO AVOID THESE MEAN BEHAVIOURS AND BE KINDStick the mahjong paper somewhere in the classroom.Get the whole class to pledge to each other that they will replace those “mean” behaviors with kind acts.

a)

b)

c)

a)

b)

c)

a)

b)

1

2

3

Understanding “Mean” BehaviorYesterday, the class decided what “mean” behavior is. The goal today is to understand what causes this

“mean” behavior and why certain people become targets of bullying more than others. Have a discussion with your students about these causal factors and how kindness can help. This exercise encourages the

students to put themselves in others’ shoes.

MATERIALS NEEDED:Mahjong paperPermanent markersPen and paper (from students)

HOW?

a)b)c)

4

Remind your students to view Wednesday’s #StandTogether Celebrity Ambassador video on our website www.standtogether.my.

Check in on how your students are progressing with the Kindness Challenge. Today’s kind act is to “Apologise to someone for something you did wrong”.

ASK THE STUDENTS WHAT CAUSES SOMEONE TO BE MEANLook at the mean behaviors identified yesterday. Ask the students why they think some people do those mean things? For example, if yesterday someone said that “punching” is a mean behavior, ask the students “why would someone punch someone else?”.Have them write their answers on a piece of paper.

ASK WHY CERTAIN PEOPLE ARE TARGETS Ask the students to think why are certain students more likely to be bullied. Have them write it on the same piece of paper as question #1.

DISCUSS HOW KINDNESS CAN HELPRefer to the kind acts identified yesterday. Ask your students to think about how kindness can help those who are bullied and those who are “mean”. For example, if someone punches somebody because they are angry, can being kind

to them stop them from being angry? How does it help the your classmates? How does it make you feel? Etc.Have them write it down on their piece of paper and fold it up.

WRITE IT DOWNCollect all the papers from the students. Stick a piece of mahjong paper on the whiteboard/blackboard.In front of the class, read out the students’ answers, and write them on the mahjong paper.

PLEDGE TO SUPPORT EACH OTHERRemind students that students who bully others usually are facing difficulties at home or in their personal lives.Remind students that they can help ensure nobody in their class is bullied. There is strength in numbers. Sometimes, you just need to speak up together. Ask the students to pledge to be kind and support both bullies and victims.

WEDNESDAY

a)b)

c)

a)

b)

a)

b)

Help and Support

We want to make sure students have someone they can trust and turn to at all times. Here, you can introduce your students to the services that are available to help them, both within and outside the school. Whether they are a bully, have been bullied or feel like they need help, they

can benefit from this list.

MATERIALS NEEDED:Marker pen or Blackboard/whiteboard#StandTogether Support Poster (download at www.standtogether.my/support)

HOW?

INTRODUCE THEM TO THESE SERVICES1. Counselling rooma) Where they can find itb) Who the counselor is

2. Anonymous helplines for students who need someone to talk to:a) Befrienders - call 03-79568145 or email sam@befrienders.org.myb) Talian Kasih - call 15999

3. Go to www.standtogether.my/support for a list of other organisations you can get help from

We have prepared a few tips for students on what they can do if they are bullied (attached in Appendix). Please run through the list with your students.

a)b)c)

THURSDAY

Remind your students to view Thursday’s #StandTogether Celebrity Educational Video on our website www.standtogether.my. Today’s video has tips for students who are being bullied.

Check in on how your students are progressing with the Kindness Challenge. Today’s kind act is to “Write a thank you note to your canteen operator”

Personal Kindness Pledge

To end the week, have your students come up with their own personal kindness pledge for the year. This encourages them to take responsibility in making their school a better place, starting with

themselves.

MATERIALS NEEDED:Pen and paper

HOW?Ask the students to write a personal pledge on a piece of paper. It should include THREE things they can do throughout the year that would spread kindness.

Example:I pledge to do something nice for someone else once a day for the rest of the year.I pledge to stop writing mean comments on social media, and write more positive comments instead.I pledge to stand up for my friends if they are being bullied.

Other things they can pledge: I pledge to shake hands or high-five my teachers every day!I pledge to write a thank you note to all my teachers and classmates this year.I pledge to post a positive message on social media every week.I pledge to help a classmate with his/her homework every day.

Encourage your students to pledge something that they can do for the rest of the year, not something they would do just once. Kindness should become a habit!

They can post their pledges up in their room, on their social media accounts, or keep it private.

Optionally, you can create a kindness pledge wall or board in the classroom, where students can put up their pledges for the whole year.

1.2.3.

a)b)c)d)

FRIDAY

Remind your students to check out Friday’s #StandTogether Celebrity Educational Video on our website www.standtogether.my

Check in on how your students are progressing with the Kindness Challenge. Today’s kind act is to “Stick a thank you note on the teachers’ office door”.

APPENDIX

Tips for students who are being bullied

If you are being bullied, you’re not alone and you’re not helpless. Here are three things that you can do TODAY, to help yourself.

First, don’t blame yourself! This is the most important message and if you only remember one thing, let it be this: it’s not your fault. Whatever mean things are being said or done to you, it’s not your fault and you don’t deserve it.

Please get help. Tell your teacher, your parents, your school counsellor, or any adult that you can trust. I know it’s hard to admit that you’re being bullied or you might feel embarrassed, but bullying is something almost everyone goes through at some point in life. Telling an adult might allow you to get some help, and perhaps even help the bully change his/her behaviour.

Speak up for yourself. Sometimes, standing up to your bullies just once can be enough to make them stop. If they’re picking on you because they think you won’t answer back, confronting the bully and showing them that you’re not scared may be enough to put them off.

Make a change. If you’re being physically bullied, a safer option is to avoid the bully. Think about when and where it takes place - if the bullying happens on your walk home, for example, is there a different route you can take? Is there a friend you can walk with? Try to think of safer places you can be, that make you less vulnerable. Whatever it is, don’t be scared to run away if you need to. There’s no shame in staying safe.

Finally, if you see someone else being bullied, do not be a bystander - that’s someone who just stands around without doing anything. Immediately go tell an adult! Even if there’s nothing you can do to help, don’t stand around and watch. Some bullies enjoy the attention of a crowd. Leave the scene, convince others to leave with you (if it’s safe to do so), and go tell an adult.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.