Explore team-building and mentoring activities

MENTOR PROGRAM
Activity Handbook
Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook
Introduction
The following document is an attempt to provide additional support and guidance to volunteers in the Akanksha Mentor Program. The document includes a compilation of activities and helpful tips to make the mentoring relationship more effective. The genesis of this handbook is the repeated feedback from mentors requesting additional support in dealing with children. There are many skills that we would like to see their mentees develop, but often our mentors are at a loss as to the best way to go about developing these skills. This handbook is an effort to put together a set of that will hopefully assist mentors in providing more effective and targeted guidance. The activities in this handbook have been compiled from many different sources some are activities that have been tried and found useful by various groups within the Akanksha mentor program. Others are activities used by other similar programs across the world, or exercises that we have found useful in dealing with our children in the centres. We hope that this Activity book will prove useful to our mentors. As always, we would welcome your feedback on how this activity book could be improved, either in the way the different sections are laid out or in terms of additional areas / activities that could be covered. The Akanksha Mentor Program has been running since 2001, in the past seven years we have learnt a lot from the experience of our various mentors. We hope to continue this learning experience and work with you to create an even better mentor program in the years to come. Looking forward to a long and lasting relationship, The Akanksha Team
Table of Contents
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TEAM-BUILDING ACTIVITIES 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 18 20 21 22 23 24 26 28 29 31 32 36 39 47
1.1 MEMORY GAME 1.2 PICTIONARY/DUMB CHARADES 1.3 STRAW GAME 1.4 ANIMAL NOISES 1.5 TRUTH ORTRUTH OR LIES LIES 1.6 TRUST WALK 1.7 THE WORLD / THE COUNTRY 1.8 CREATE A PICTURE 1.9 CREATE A GROUP STORY 1.10 TRAIN WRECK 1.11 COMMONALITIES 1.12 WHOS GOT THE HAT? 1.13 A TRIP TO THE VILLAGE 1.14 COMPOUND WORD GAME 1.15 SCRABBLE WORDS 1.16 THE SHRINKING PAPER 1.17 ALPHABET SEARCH 1.18 FLOATING STICK, OR GRAVITY STICK 1.19 MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL 1.20 THE HA-HA GAME 1.21 THE WEB 2. 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT BEHAVIOUR AND ETIQUETTE RESPONSIBILITY CONFIDENCE CITIZENSHIP, SOCIAL AWARENESS AND PERSONAL RIGHTS
3. 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 3.4. 3.5. 3.6. 4. 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4. 4.5. 4.6.
ACADEMIC SUPPORT GENERAL GUIDELINES AND TIPS SETTING ACADEMIC EXPECTATIONS SELF-STUDY ABILITY LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION SUBJECT AREA(S) THAT THE MENTEE IS WEAK IN SUBJECT AREAS THAT THE MENTEE IS STRONG IN CAREER ORIENTATION AND GUIDANCE TIPS FOR CAREER ORIENTATION QUESTIONS YOUR MENTEE MIGHT ASK CLARITY ON CAREER CHOICES (MENTEE YET TO DEFINE GOALS) CLARITY ON CAREER CHOICES (MENTEE HAS DEFINED GOALS) SPECIFIC SKILL DEVELOPMENT FOR SELECTED CAREER CAREER PLANNING AND PREPARATION
50 50 51 54 65 70 74 76 76 77 78 79 80 81
1. Team-building activities
MEMORY GAME
Objectives: Non-threatening game to build rapport between new members Creates spirit of healthy competition Suggested Duration: 15 20 minutes Group Size: Overall 12 20 people, divided into 3-4 teams Materials Needed: A blanket, a number of objects (e.g. a book, a spoon, a phone, etc), pens, paper How to play: 1. Place 10-15 objects under the blanket. 2. Everybody has 5 seconds to look at them. 3. Then people individually write down what they saw. 4. Next collectively write down the objects (within each team). 5. Remove blanket and check that all items were identified. 6. If time remains, replace the blanket and ask each team to draw a map of where the objects are. Variation: If too easy, ask for more details e.g. title of book, colour of spoon Debrief: Talk about teamwork and cooperation and how people can work together effectively
PICTIONARY / DUMB CHARADES

Objectives: Fun game Helps to build group rapport Can be used to teach concepts / values or increase general knowledge depending on what words are selected Group Size: Any size of group, divided into two teams at random Aids: White / blackboard and markers / chalk How to play: 1. Each group should make a list of concepts / items that the other team must guess. 2. Teams alternate sending members to draw a word / phrase that has been given from the other teams list. 3. That member is not allowed to talk, gesture, or write words. 4. The rest of that members team must guess what is being drawn. 5. The team earns a point for each concept / item correctly identified. Variation: Dumb charades is similar except that instead of drawing to describe the word, the member must enact the words / concept. Can be used to focus on general awareness by using names of people, places, events instead of words Can be used as an introduction to new concepts Debrief: Talk about the different concepts / events used in the game Talk about the importance of different forms of communication. Over time, it can also be used to drive discussion on how to fix roles in the team, with some people being better at drawing / acting and some people being stronger at guessing
STRAW GAME
Objective: Simple team building game great for building rapport and getting to know strange people Suggested duration: 15 20 minutes Group size: Group of 12 20 people, split into 3-4 groups Material needed: Lots of drinking straws How to play: 1. Each group should sit in a circle. 2. Give each group a large pile of straws. 3. Set a time limit. 4. Instruct them to create as big and as beautiful a design as they can. Variations: Use any other common object in large quantities. If too easy, ask them to do it without speaking to each other. Debrief: Talk about working in a team who had an idea that they felt wasnt listened to? How the team could have worked together better. If doing it without speaking talk about communication and how important it is for people to listen and be attentive to each other
ANIMAL NOISES
Objectives: Fun activity Helps promote communication Can be used to divide a large group into smaller groups Duration: 10 minutes Group size: >12 people Material needed: Animal names on slips of paper (at least 3-4 of each), blindfolds if you have them How to play: 1. Give each person a piece of paper with the name of an animal on it; e.g. cow, horse, goat, elephant, dog, crow. 2. Everyone has to keep their eyes closed (or be blindfolded) and find all the others who are the same animal. 3. They cant talk; they can only make the noise of their animal. 4. The team that finds all in the group first, wins. Variations: Use other words with distinctive noises (e.g. bus, train, ambulance). Debrief: Talk about group dynamics e.g., how everyone could have done it faster if they had stopped to listen and let just one person call out.
TRUTH OR LIES
Objective: Fun activity to get to know unusual details about people Helps to build rapport and is a great ice-breaker Suggested duration: 20 minutes Group size: 12 to 20 people Material needed: Rough paper chits, one per person, pencils How to play: 1. Each person must write 4 sentences about him/herself. 2. One statement must be true and the other 3 false. 3. The objective is to make it difficult for the other group members to decide which statement is true, so the facts should be somewhat unknown, but interesting details about who you are! 4. Turn by turn each member reads his/her statements and the other group members must guess which is the true one. Variation: Keep score of right guesses and the person who gets the most wins.
TRUST WALK
Objective: Develop trust Help mentor-mentee pairs to bond Suggested duration: 15 minutes Group size: Any group size, divided into pairs Material needed: Blindfolds, enough for half the people How to play: 1. Blindfold one person in each pair. 2. The other partner must lead him/her around safely for 5 minutes without talking. 3. Then they should exchange roles. Debrief: Talk about how it felt to not be able to see, discuss meaning of trust. Could also discussion on how people communicated without words.
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THE WORLD / THE COUNTRY

Objectives: Builds strong rapport and team spirit Is great of developing general knowledge Suggested duration: 15 20 minutes Group size: 12 20 people, divided into groups of 3-4 each (be sure to mix mentor and mentees since knowledge levels will be different) Material needed: Large sheets of paper, an atlas (for the judges), sketch pens for each group How to play: 1. Ask each team to draw a map of the world / country 2. Set a time limit and see how many countries / states each group can identify 3. Award 1 point for each country / state Variation: To save time and make it easier, prepare the outlines of the continents / country before the session. Debrief: Talk about what makes people from different states / countries different. Potentially lead into tolerance and accepting differences between people.
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CREATE A PICTURE
Objective Builds rapport and team spirit Helps to develop creativity and promote creative expression Especially useful for getting kids with poor language skills to participate Suggested duration: 20 30 minutes Group size: 12 20 people, split into two teams Material needed: Paper and sketch pens or blackboard/whiteboard and chalk/markers How to play: 1. Set a time limit. Each team has to create picture within that time. 2. All members must participate. 3. One person starts by making a simple sketch. It can be anything, even abstract. 4. Then each member by turn adds his/her ideas to the picture. 5. If using different teams, take a vote of which teams picture is the best. Variation: If doing it with two teams, you could ask each team to make half a picture and get the other team to complete it Debrief: Talk about working in a team how different people had different skills (some people could visualise well, others could draw); and how everyones skills and ideas came together in a single picture and made it much better than a picture that any one person could have made.
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CREATE A GROUP STORY

Objectives: Promotes creativity and create expression Good for language development Builds rapport and team spirit Use a particular theme / story to drive discussion on a specific topic / concept Duration: 25 30 minutes Group size: Any group size (ideally 10 +) Material needed: Blackboard/whiteboard, chalk/markers, paper, pencil How to play: 1. The group leader conducts a brainstorming session on the following topics: character names, place, time, weather. Write the details on the board. 2. One person starts the story with 2 sentences and passes the paper to the left. 3. Each person must write 2 sentences each to develop the story. 4. The first person then reads out the entire story in order. Variations: If mentees language ability is not too good, do the activity in mentor mentee pairs instead of individually. To make it funnier, give each person/pair a chit with 2-3 random words (can also be generated in brainstorming session) that they must use in their sentences. Debrief: If the story dealt with a particular subject then use the session to debrief on that. Otherwise talk about how each person had a different idea and how each person added on to what the others were saying. Also talk about how there were so many possible stories use the game to make the point about being flexible and trying to build on what one has rather than trying to rebuild things from the start.
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TRAIN WRECK
Objectives: A fun way to build rapport in a mentor group. Getting to know a group of people better. Bring out similarities or differences among group members. Actively having fun. Suggested Duration: 20 minutes Group Size: At least 12 (the larger the group the better) Materials Needed: One piece of scrap paper per group member. Paper plates work well too. How to Play: Have everyone stand in a circle, with one person in the middle. Everyone in the circle needs to be standing on a piece of scrap paper or a paper plate. The person in the middle is IT, and shouts I love all my mentors and mentees, especially those who (fill in the blank). The only stipulation is that what IT says, must apply to him/herself. (i.e. if IT says I love all my mentors and mentees, especially those who are wearing jeans. IT must be wearing jeans.) All those in the circle who are doing what IT says (i.e. wearing jeans) need to run to a different spot that is at least two away from where they were standing they cant just step over one). The last person who remains in the circle without having a paper plate to stand on becomes IT. Sample Characteristics: Has been with the mentor program for more than 2 years; Has a post-graduate degree; Works an average of 45 hours a week or more; Has completed the 10th Standard; Favourite subject is English; Wants to be a teacher when he or she grows up; Helps his or her mother with the cooking; Has completed the 10th Standard; Is wearing an Akanksha t-shirt. Variations: This activity could be used in the context of responsibility, general behaviour and etiquette, or social awareness and rights. You could start off as explained above (with any common trait) and then once the group has caught on, stop the game and say that the traits must now involve some aspect of responsibility, general behaviour, etc. Alternatively, just introduce the activity with the theme of
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook responsibility. Either way, you should start off with an example so that participants understand what youre asking of them. Example statements for: Responsibility: I love all my who came on time today / help their parents with chores / call when theyll miss a mentor meeting. General Behaviour and Etiquette: who are dont yell indoors / show respect to their elders / offer to help others. Social Awareness and Rights: who want to vote in the next election / encourage their friends to go to school. You might want to preface the activity by saying that everyone should be honest as to when they switch spots. Keep in mind that some participants might be embarrassed that theyre always late and might feel uncomfortable being the only one not running across the room. Note: Before doing this activity you should have a discussion that brings up positive traits within the chosen topic so that participants have ideas to draw on. If you think your group can handle it, you can put a serious twist on the game by inserting potentially controversial or sensitive traits. Once the group has caught on to the game, you can purposefully remain in the circle (try to make it look like you were just slow) and say a trait thats sets a more serious tone, (i.e. those who are Hindu / think school is hard / have had a difficult day at work or school). If your group catches on keep in mind that they might bring up some controversial issues. If that happens, be prepared to have a follow up discussion on whatever issues surface.
Debrief: Use this as an activity to point out the differences and similarities between members of your group. Pick out a few of the traits that were mentioned and ask participants to raise their hands if they switched places. For example, If you switched places because you are Hindu but you also celebrated Id, raise your hand. Or, Raise your hand if you love being an Akanksha teacher, but you also switched places because youve had at least one really difficult day at your centre. This will help bring out the diversity within your group. You can point out how many members have common traits, and how many members fit multiple categories.
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COMMONALITIES
Objectives: This is a fun way to build rapport in a mentor group. Getting to know a group of people better. Learning about similarities or differences among group members. Suggested Duration: 20 minutes Group Size: At least 15 (the larger the group the better). Materials Needed: One number per person written on individual pieces of paper. (Optional) How to Play: This game is similar to Train Wreck. Have everyone sit in a circle on the floor and assign each person a number. Its very important that participants remember their number because their position and order will change. If you want you can give participants a piece of paper with their number on it. Person number 1 makes a statement about themselves that they might have in common with other people, i.e., I am Hindu. Everyone in the circle who is Hindu then gets up and moves one spot to the left. If there is a person in that spot they either sit in front of them. Person number 2 then makes another statement and everyone who has that in common moves another spot to the left. The game continues until everyone has had a chance to say something about him/herself, or someone has made it all the way around the circle and back to his or her original spot in the circle. The goal is to be the first to make it all the way around the circle, and to find out whom you have things in common with. See the list of characteristics in Human Treasure Hunt for examples of potential traits.
See Variations for Train Wreck. See Debrief for Train Wreck.
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WHOS GOT THE HAT?

Objectives: Fun To work through frustration. This could be used as a way to break the ice at the beginning of a mentor session to get the kids talking. If you feel that the mentor/mentees arent getting what they want out of the mentor experience, you could use this activity as a jumping off point for a discussion about frustration with the experience and how it could be improved (see Debrief). Suggested Duration: 15 minutes Group Size: Any Materials Needed: None How to Play: <name>=the name of anyone sitting in the circle Have everyone sit in a circle. The leader begins by saying I have a hat. I pass the hat to <name> who passes it to <name> who passes it to <name> and so on until several people in the group have been named, then the leader asks Who has the hat? The rule is that whoever speaks first after the leader asks, Who has the hat? has the hat. Most likely someone will pop up with the last name the leader said at which point the leader says, No, you do. Feel free to wait for several participants to say something before telling the group who has the hat. Repeat this several times. Make it more interesting by elaborating the hats journey; instead of just passing the hat, have it get caught by a flying bird that drops it in someones lap, who throws it with a double back flip to someone else, etc. If a participant thinks she has figured out the rule, let her try to pass the hat. If she says the wrong person has the hat, correct her. Continue until most of the group figures out the rule or until the frustration level is uncomfortable. Also, be conscious of not telling other mentors about how to play. They should be trying to figure it out as well. Note: There is no actual hat involved in this activity. Debrief: Begin by asking the group members how this activity made them feel. Accept a variety of answers most of which will centre on frustration. Ask them if they did anything to control their frustration. Did anyone just give up? Now ask them what situations in life, or at Akanksha make them feel like this. How do they react to those situations? What 17
Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook do they think they could do differently when these negative feeling arise based on what they learned in the activity? What is the ultimate goal of the group? What can they do as individuals and as a group to get past the frustration, or how can they improve the situation to accomplish their goal?
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A TRIP TO THE VILLAGE

Objectives: As a learning tool for recognizing a pattern, or vocabulary within a particular theme. To work through frustration. This could be used as a way to break the ice at the beginning of a mentor session to get the kids talking. Suggested Duration: 15 minutes Group Size: Any Geared towards older children or adults. Materials Needed: None How to Play: The leader should begin by talking about the preparations she makes before visiting her village. A large part of the preparation is what she must pack to take with her. She begins the game by saying, When I go to my village, I will bring a book, some apples, and a ball. What will you bring when you go to your village? A participant will most likely volunteer, When I visit my village, I will bring clothing, and shoes. Unless the participants items fit the rule, the leader should respond, No, you cant bring those to your village. The participants must figure out what they can bring based on the pattern within the objects that the leader says she will bring. Its okay t o give the participants a hint that there is a pattern within the words, but dont make it too obvious. Continue until most of the group figures out the rule or until the frustration level is uncomfortable. (In the example above, the rule is that all of the words have a double letter.) Alternate rules: The words have to be within a theme such as fruits, vegetables, etc. i.e. you can bring apples and oranges, but you cant bring cabbage. You can use an adjective or adverb with a noun, both of which must start with the same letter, i.e. a bouncing ball, red rose, big book. All of the words must have a double letter, i.e. book, ball, letter, tree. The words must have a particular blend or medial vowel combination, i.e. grapes, green, grammar. Variations:
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook Instead of a trip to the village, you could be packing for a business trip.
Debrief: Begin by asking the group members how this activity made them feel. Accept a variety of answers most of which will centre on frustration. Ask them if they did anything to control their frustration. Did anyone just give up? Now ask them what situations in life, or at Akanksha make them feel like this. How do they react to those situations? What do they think they could do differently when these negative feeling arise based on what they learned in the activity? What is the ultimate goal of the group? What can they do as individuals and as a group to get past the frustration, or how can they improve the situation to accomplish their goal?
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COMPOUND WORD GAME

Objectives: This could be used as a way to break the ice at the beginning of a mentor session. Be sure to pair mentors and mentees up. To aid in a discussion on communication. As a learning tool on compound words. Suggested Duration: 10 minutes (Varies with the size of the group) Group Size: At least 8 More would be better. Materials Needed: None How to Play: Put people in pairs, and have the pairs choose a compound word (i.e. schoolbag, footpath, popcorn, etc.). Assign Person 1 to the first of the word, and Person 2 to the second of the word. All 1s line up on one side of the room and 2s on the other side. 1s close their eyes, while 2s mix themselves up so they arent directly across from their partner. After the 2s have rearranged themselves, ask them to close their eyes as well. The point of this activity is to have each partner meet their other half by yelling out their of the word, and walking toward the other half. Variations: You could have the mentors talk about the importance of communication in the professional world, in any job, or within the context of responsibility. Responsibility and communication go hand in hand when missing a mentor meeting. Debrief: Talking is only half of communication. Listening is the other half. This activity focuses on listening. You need to be focusing in on what your partner is saying, listening only to them. How hard is it to only hear what your partner is saying, and nothing else around you? Ask participants what worked and what didnt? Did they develop an y strategies to find one another? What made it hard for partners to find each other? What in life does this remind you of? What can happen if you dont listen to the people around you?
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SCRABBLE WORDS
Objectives: This could be used as a team building exercise. To aid in a discussion on communication and teamwork. As a learning tool for spelling or vocabulary. Suggested Duration: 15 -20 minutes Group Size: At least 20 (works best with a large group) Materials Needed: Flash cards with one letter of the alphabet written on each. Have multiple cards of letters that are used more commonly, like vowels, s t & r. Scrabble chips would work well for this. How to Play: Distribute one card to each participant (or two, depending upon the size of the group). Give the group a set amount of time (i.e. 2-3 minutes) to make words with the other group members. There is no size limit on the word (longer is better). Once words are made, try to make a coherent sentence! Variations: As a variation make it competitive by dividing the group into two or three teams and give each person several cards. Which team can create more words or longer words or sentences? Debrief: You can start the discussion with asking the group what worked well and what didnt. Group members will have needed to work together in order to successfully make words. This activity works well as a physical reminder of the fact that on certain things you need to work with other people. Each person alone is only a letter, but together the group can make many different arrangements. If your group makes sentences in addition to words, you can draw analogies between the words making sentences and different departments working together for the common goal of the organization. Point out the importance of communication and teamwork between different departments.
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THE SHRINKING PAPER

Objectives: Team Building. This is a good activity for having fun and developing rapport within a mentor group. Suggested Duration: 20 minutes Group Size: At least 4 (With more people, make multiple groups of equal size.) Materials Needed: 1 piece of paper per group How to Play: Divide the participants into groups of equal size. Give each group a piece of paper. Their task is to fold their paper as small as possible, but still large enough for each group member to place a toe on the paper. Variations: You could also have group members put their elbows on the piece of paper, rather than their toes. Debrief: You could use this activity within the context of Social Awareness. Compare the lack of space on the paper to a lack of space in the community. How did everyone manage to squeeze onto the paper? How do people share small spaces in the community? What problems arise? What worked for getting onto the paper? Could you use those techniques in your community?
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ALPHABET SEARCH
Objectives: Fun. Team building. This could be a good way to develop rapport within mentor pairs. Suggested Duration: 15 minutes or more Group Size: At least 8 Materials Needed: Pencils and Paper for each team White board/poster board (optional) How to Play: Divide the group into pairs or teams of equal size. The goal is for each team to find objects starting with the letters A Z. You can have the teams collect the objects and pile them in a specified place, or they can just list the objects on a piece of paper. Group members can use personal objects, or objects found in the room. You could encourage them to search for items in their pockets or purses. The first team to get all 26 letters represented wins. Variations: Encourage participants to find objects around the office. This could be a good activity to introduce your mentees to commonly used office tools that they might not be familiar with. Rather than searching for objects, have teams come up with a word for every letter of the alphabet that fits into a Mentor Categories, i.e. responsibility, social awareness, confidence, etiquette, potential careers. You could use this activity after a discussion on one of the topics, or as a brainstorming session before a discussion. Debrief: If you are using this activity within the context of a Mentor Category, have the teams share their lists with the group. Make a larger list on a white board so that everyone sees what teams came up with.
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FLOATING STICK, OR GRAVITY STICK

Objectives: Fun. Team building. This is a fun way to break the ice with your group and to build rapport and communication within the context of the larger group. Suggested Duration: 10 20 minutes Group Size: At least 6 10 people (With more than 15 you can make two groups.) Materials Needed: a long, thin, solid, but light-weight object such as the stick from a mop, or a hula hoop. One could substitute a mop stick by taping 12 rulers or pencils together or by connecting 15 straws together. Ultimately, you need the whole group to fit around the object. How to Play: This activity is best done in two competing groups with one leader for each mop stick. The members of each group should gather around the object (on either side of the stick if its a stick), and hold out their arms at full length with their index fingers out and thumbs down as if to make a gun with their hand. Their fingers should line up as if to make a platform. The leader rests the stick across their fingers. While doing so the leader informs the group that the stick is a magical stick that naturally floats in the air, or defies gravity. The goal is for the group to gently lower the stick to the floor and rest it on the floor. If it is dropped, it will explode. Everyone must have continuous contact with the stick. If anyones fingers leave the stick, the group must start over. Unbeknownst to the group, while the leader is explaining the rule to them, he or she is GENTLY pressing down on the stick. It only takes very slight pressure (nothing that the group members will notice). When the instructions are done, the leader says go and lets go of the stick. Dont tell the participants, but almost immediately, the group members will actually begin to raise the stick instead of lower it. They will have to communicate and strategize in order to get the stick to lower. Variations: You could make this activity more challenging by designating some participants as blind (use dupatas to make impromptu blindfolds on them), or make some unable to speak. You could use this activity to discuss responsibility. If one member doesnt participate, how does it affect the pole, and the success of the group? You 25
Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook could draw an analogy to responsibility of each member to the mentor group in terms of preparing for a presentation, showing up on time, missing sessions How does being irresponsible affect the larger group? Debrief: The follow up discussion can focus on what it took to get the stick to the ground in terms of teamwork, and the frustration they felt while trying to do it. Talk about how the group had to compensate for individual differences among members, such as height, finger length and width. Relate that to how teams work best when team members compensate for others strengths and weaknesses. Finally, ask if anyone noticed they actually started by raising the stick. Why did this happen? Usually no one will catch on to the leader pressing down on the stick. The leader should explain what was done. Explain this is much like real life in that we are often reacting to or even over compensating for things of which we may be unaware. You can talk about ways to increase our awareness, such as through reassessment, feedback from others, etc.
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MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL

Objectives: Fun. Developing observation skills. This could be a good way to build rapport within mentor pairs. Suggested Duration: 15 - 25 minutes Group Size: At least 8 Materials Needed: None How to Play: This activity can be done with two teams or in pairs. Have everyone choose a partner. The partners should face each other for 30 seconds and examine each other as thoroughly as possible. When the time is up the pair should turn around so that they have their backs to one another. One member of the pair should close their eyes while the other partner changes 3 things about his/her appearance. For example, a watch can be removed or moved to the other wrist, glasses can be removed, a shirt can be untucked or tucked in. Set a time limit of 1 2 minutes. When the time is up, have the partners face each other. The person who had his/her eyes closed must try to identify all the things that his/her partner changed about his/her appearance. When they are done, the partners turn their backs again and the process is repeated. If you choose to play in teams, have the two teams line up facing each other. One team should turn their backs, or leave the room, while the other team rearranges their appearance. With two teams of 5 people, you can have each team change 10 things about their collective appearance. For example, two women could trade dupatas, someone could wear anothers glasses, they could rearrange the order they are standing in, etc. Set a time limit of 3 5 minutes depending on the group size. When the first group is done, the other team must identify all the changes as a group. You can ask them to discuss and agree as a group, what the changes were in order to encourage teamwork. The process is then repeated for the other team. Keep in mind group members comfort levels with one another. An adolescent female might not feel comfortable being stared at by an adult male. The pressure of being examined is virtually removed when done in teams.
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook Variations: If your mentees are really shy, rather than dividing up into pairs, you could make a mentor team and a mentee team. This way the mentees are forced to talk at least amongst themselves. You could use this to emphasize the importance of paying attention to those around you. You can draw analogies from observing peoples appearance to being aware of their feelings and moods and being considerate of that. Debrief: Have a follow up discussion on the importance of paying attention to those around you. You can draw analogies from observing peoples appearance to being aware of their feelings and moods and being considerate of those. Ask participants if it was hard to identify the changes their partners made? Would it be harder to notice the change if it was internal? Point out that some people are more expressive about things that are bothering them, while others keep their emotions inside.
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THE HA-HA GAME

Objective: Fun. This is a good, fast ice-breaker to use at the beginning of a meeting. It will help get your group to relax and loosen up. Suggested Duration: 10 minutes Group Size: Less than 20 Materials Needed: None How to Play: This exercise asks the participants to pass the word 'ha' around a circle. Ask the group to sit in a circle. Explain that the object of this game is for the participants, without laughing, to pass the word "ha" around the circle. Designate one participant to be the head of the circle. That participant begins the game by saving "ha". The person sitting to his or her right must repeat the "ha" and then say another "ha." The third person must say ha, ha, and then given an additional "ha." In this manner the "ha" continues around the circle. The game ends when all of the participants, trying not to laugh (a virtual impossibility), have repeated the "ha's" that preceded them and added their own "ha." Variations: You can use another word in place of "ha." For example: "yuk," "har," or "tee hee." You can continue the exercise for a set time, such as five minutes, regardless of how many times the "ha's" go around the circle.
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THE WEB
Objective: Team Building. Suggested Duration: 15 - 30 minutes Group Size: 8 - 15 Materials Needed: A ball of string or piece of rope long enough to criss-cross across a circle multiple times (at least 7 metres) How to Play: This activity is a very symbolic way to discuss a shared experience. However, it can be used for endless other purposes as well. Have your group sit or stand in a circle. Choose a topic or question and present it to your group (see below for suggested topics). Tell the group that each person can respond once to the question, but only when they have the ball of string in their hands. The first person who responds should hold one end of the string. Once he has finished talking he should pass, or toss the ball of string to someone across the circle who is ready to respond. The person who receives the ball of string should wrap a small piece of string around her finger. After responding to the question, she should pass the ball to someone else across the circle. This continues until everyone in the circle has received and passed on the ball of string. A web should be created. The Debrief for this activity is very important. The Web becomes more effective as an activity the more you use it. Participants loose inhibitions as they get to know one another and become more expressive with each time its done. I suggest coming up with different topics/questions for each time you use it, but continuing to draw the same analogies about the strength of the group at the end of each activity (See Debrief). Variations: Rather than having a topic or discussion, have members of the group pass the ball of string to one person that has had an impact on them, or with whom theyve connected on a deeper level, over the course of the program. They should explain why they are passing the string to that person. Ask participants to say one strength they bring to the program, one weakness, and one thing they hope to get out of the program. You could use The Web as a tool for setting goals. Once a month, leave 20 minutes for a web activity and have each member state a personal or group goal for the coming month. Have members of the group pass the ball of string to someone who has taught them something. Have them say what they learned. 30
Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook At the end of a meeting, ask participants one thing they are going to take away with them from the meeting. What is one personal strength that participants bring to the team? What is one thing that participants need to work on or improve?
Debrief: A lot of meaning can be drawn out of the symbolism in the web created by the string. The web connects all the members of the group to one another. If one participant lets go, or pulls hard on his piece of string, it affects the entire group. If everyone pulls their corner taught, the web becomes very strong, if people relax, the web begins to fall apart. Likewise, if a group member does any of the above to the group, similar repercussions can result. The web can only maintain its strength if everyone is holding up their end. Ask participants what symbolism or meaning they can draw out of the web theyve created?
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2. Personality Development
The following section lists activities and exercises to aid in personality development for your mentee. Some points to keep in mind: Spend some time (both in groups and individually) with your mentee to communicate the importance of personality development. Unlike academics and career guidance this is one area where children (and their parents) often do not see the need for / value of the inputs being given. Talk about how its critical to demonstrate responsibility, confidence, poise and good behaviour in order to get a job and do well in life Focus on using examples from your own life to illustrate the points youre trying to make. Be sure to model the behaviour / skills that youre trying to inculcate in your mentee remember, children learn more by observation than through lectures Be sure to ask and really listen to your mentees point of view. Ensure that you understand the background he / she is coming from and the opinions / attitudes that are driving behaviour. Be as specific as possible while giving feedback (either positive or negative). Dont generalise. Instead, point to specific instances that you observed and focus the discussion around that. For example, dont say you always talk too loudly; say that day while XYZ was making his presentation you were interrupting him by shouting. Focus on giving actionable feedback demonstrate how the child could have done things differently. Just telling your mentee what he / shes is doing wrong will not drive improvement. Dont expect immediate, dramatic changes recognise small improvements and celebrate them with your mentee Remember that adolescence is a time for testing boundaries be firm and consistent in focussing on areas of personality development. Persevere even if your mentee seems uninterested / bored.
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2.1. Behaviour and Etiquette

2.1.1 Tips to promote good behaviour
Be friendly but professional, so mentees will be encouraged to behave likewise. Notice when mentees behave well and compliment them. Gently correct them when you feel they should adjust their behaviour (e.g. talking too loudly, talking rudely, and repeatedly interrupting). Dont be judgemental / lecture on values talk about the practical difficulties from being badly behaved Also talk about how bad behaviour hurts you / other mentors in the group personally (and specifically why/how). Set achievable targets for improvement and make a plan to work towards them. Remember that adolescence is a time of rebellion and testing limits, so set clear, simple guidelines and always be consistent in following them. In case of either repetitive or severe disruption / negative behaviour be sure to inform your Akanksha coordinator and together work out a plan for that mentee.
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2.1.2 Discussion points

The first step towards working on your mentees behaviour is to have an explicit discussion on the importance of good behaviour and to set clear expectations on behaviour. In order to do this, you will probably need to have a couple of initial one on one discussion with your mentee. Some points to cover: Outline expectations clearly and review often (if needed) - Be confident but not aggressive. - Talk in a moderate voice no shouting. - Bad language and rude comments are not acceptable. - Respect all spaces and use them properly. - Respect everyone: treat all others as you would like to be treated. - NOTE: Define others if you feel your mentee really needs to improve a particular aspect, but keep it simple. Discuss importance of behaviour in this programme - Why a group demands good behaviour it makes interactions easier, fosters cooperation, and creates a more productive atmosphere. - Discuss why an office environment is different than some other places impacts work of others around you including your colleagues and clients / others who visit your office. - It is a good opportunity for your mentee to learn good behaviour skills. Discuss importance of good behaviour in general - Others will respect them more. - It could give them opportunities that they wouldnt have otherwise. - Improves self-respect.
Use examples from your life / from the mentor program groups while having these discussions. Once you have set the initial agenda for working on behaviour and you feel that your mentee genuinely understands why behaviour is important and is willing to work on it, then you should do regular behaviour sessions with your mentee: Give feedback on how they can improve their behaviour based on your observations in the mentor program Undertake various role plays / activities to improve behaviour and etiquette Constantly refer back to and reinforce the basic expectations
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2.1.3 Activities / Exercises

Here are some activities / exercises that you may want to try to help improve behaviour Do a role-pay of bad behaviour (where the mentor models the bad behaviour) and discuss how it appears. Then do a role-play of good behaviour. Compare and contrast the impressions. Talk about how the mentee felt when he was on the receiving end of bad behaviour. Role play specific situations that your mentee may have to face, e.g. job interviews, meeting new people (both seniors and peers), going for a meeting, attending class, etc. Share real life stories of misbehaviour and how it can be an obstacle or stories of how being positive helps everyone. Have your mentee keep a log of his / her behaviour throughout one day. Compare behaviour in different contexts (school, home, out with friends). As a variant, ask your mentee to note down three instances where he / she behaved well in the week and three instances where he / she behaved badly. Compare the instances and talk about how it felt for the mentee / for other people. Also talk about how the three instances could have been handled differently. Discuss why your mentee feels an urge to behave in a negative way: to get attention, to be popular with friends, to vent frustrations, etc. Talk about how else they can meet these needs while behaving positively. Set specific weekly targets with your mentee: e.g. I will not use bad language for the next week. Discuss how much s/he was able to meet the targets and reasons why. How did it feel to behave more positively? Continue setting more challenging targets and reviewing progress. When you feel your mentee is ready, try getting him / her to interact with new people (maybe colleagues in your office) or in different settings (e.g. at a coffee shop, at a cyber caf, etc.). Observe and give feedback on his / her behaviour in these situations
The key here is to constantly recognise and give positive feedback for good behaviour, while continuing to set tougher challenges for your mentee!
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2.2. Responsibility
2.2.1 Tips on developing responsibility
The best way to develop responsibility in your mentee is to demonstrate it yourself. Be sure to make every effort to be regular, punctual and diligent in the program. Whenever you slip up, be sure to first admit your mistake and then provide reasons, not excuses. Be sure to praise responsible behaviour whenever your mentee demonstrates it. Dont limit your praise to the mentee make sure that you praise him / her in front of the other mentees. Focus on the consequences of irresponsible behaviour talk about how it makes you feel, especially in the context of the mentor program where youre putting in a lot from your end Make sure that you create enough opportunities for your mentee to demonstrate responsible behaviour

Set explicit expectations - Talk about expectations from mentees and mentors in the program (see section 2.1 and 2.2) agree that your pair will put extra effort into making sure that you meet these expectations - Discuss responsibilities from outside the program and set expectations on these (e.g. school work, household chores, Akanksha centre work, etc.) Discuss why responsible behaviour is important - Is key to establishing trust with other people and building a relationship with them (both personally and professionally) - Even small errors can influence the attitudes of others towards us which will come in the way of the mentees progress - Is the only way to acknowledge and utilise the efforts others put in for us Discuss the trade-off between ones own convenience and responsibility towards others - Talk about who your mentee feels responsible to and what sacrifices he / she would be willing to make for them. - Discuss concept of win-win and how one must always look for creative solutions that are beneficial for everyone 36
2.2.3 Activities and Exercises

Set up a process of a monthly review. Track how your mentee did on expectations in the program and how that effected the sessions and your impression of the mentee (positive, negative, frustrating, etc.). If positive, be sure to praise mentee. If negative, be concrete and set a target for the next month (e.g. number of sessions to attend, arriving on time). Review at the end of the month did your mentee reach the targets? Miss them by how much? Why? How do you feel? How does your mentee feel about it? The same process could also be done with responsibilities / expectations outside of the program. Get the mentee to maintain a log of how he / she did on other responsibilities and talk about what difficulties he / she faced and how the mentee and others felt about it. Find additional responsibilities for your mentee to take on. This could be either fixing up some of the logistics of the session (e.g. checking with all the other mentees at his / her centre and communicating who will / will not be coming) or doing a special presentation / session in the program. Ask your mentee if there are any additional responsibilities that you would like to take on together (e.g. commitment to phone each other on one extra day in the week, leadership in a particular session). Talk about responsibility in your job context what bosses expect and why, working with a team or department. Answer questions and discuss. Be sure to talk about the consequences of irresponsible behaviour for your career. Discuss other examples of responsibility from both your lives family responsibilities, commitments to friends, organisation rules (e.g. school or other institution). Teach through examples: tell your mentee that you will bring specific extra materials next session (e.g. magazine to read, family photographs to share). In next session discuss how important it was that you fulfilled your responsibility (could not have completed activity without it). If needed repeat this activity without bringing expected materials, and show what happens (waste time going back to desk to get it or unable to do activity due to lack of supplies). Then ask your mentee to bring specific materials next session (e.g. textbook, notebook) see what happens. Discuss: was it done, why or why not? What is the effect on your session? Share stories / news items that include examples of responsible / irresponsible behaviour. Discuss its effects. Especially interesting and
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook informative are cases that are not clear-cut (matter of interpretation or in some cases a mixture of both responsible and irresponsible behaviour). Once your mentee begins to demonstrate significantly improved responsibility for his / her own actions, encourage him / her to take on the additional task of making others behave more responsibly. This could include both coordinating logistics and activities with others and encouraging others to be more responsible themselves by talking to them / counselling them.
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2.3. Confidence
2.3.1 Tips on building confidence
Confidence is largely a result of how your mentee is treated do your bit and treat your mentee with respect and be positive at all times Try not to encourage false confidence such as bragging and acting superior to others. Explain to your mentee that you are not impressed with such behaviour. If your mentee is shy, reinforce that it is ok to be quiet and reserved, but that higher confidence can be useful in many cases. It isnt necessary to be very talkative or loud, but it is good to be able to talk to different kinds of people and to get whatever work we need done. While you try to push your mentee to do more, remember that confidence is built slowly and that the key to building confidence is to have your mentee experience repeated successes. So dont set unrealistic targets that the mentee cannot achieve

Talk about why confidence is important - Critical to being successful in ones career need to be able to present ones own abilities and knowledge - Essential for developing relationships with new people, both at work and in personal life - Key to learning new things and developing as an individual need to believe that you can do more and need to be able to ask for the right inputs Discuss expectations from the program - Talk about areas where the mentee feels he / she lacks confidence identify a list of situations / areas where he / she will be more confident by the end of the program - Discuss the objectives of the mentor program from the development plan parameters jointly agree what are the skill levels you want to reach by the end of the year
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Here are some activities to work on building confidence: Set targets for mentee to learn how to improve individual interactions. In each case start with topics that are comfortable for your mentee and then move to practice talking about topics that are less comfortable. For example, many kids will feel comfortable talking about their favourite TV shows, but less comfortable talking about school or potential careers. The reason they need to practice talking about less comfortable topics is that they will need to interact with people in the context of further education or work who might ask such questions. - Talking to known people within the group - Talking to less well-known people in the group - Meeting new people when you introduce them (colleagues or friends) Work on projects together to present to the group: - Choose a topic of interest to the mentee, prepare an outline and specific points, make visual aids, rehearse the presentation together, schedule a time with the group when you can share. - For the first time for a very shy mentee, you should do the presentation together, but assign specific points to your mentee to present. - Next time push your mentee to do most of the presentation (new topic, new project) but stand with them for support. - Finally, do another presentation that is presented only by your mentee with you in the audience. - For mentees who are less shy, make them advance more quickly and even challenging them by coaching other group members to ask tough questions at the end of the last presentation to see how they can think on their feet, etc. - Presentations can be very short to reduce time involvement, or can be done with another pair to practice teamwork also.
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2.3.4 Self-esteem activities

Sometimes developing confidence requires us to first define ourselves better and learn to value the people we are. Here are some possible activities: Select one of your personal strengths to use as an example. Tell them how you realised that it is a strength of yours, e.g.: - Someone told you. - You achieved a particular goal. - You received recognition for it. - Then tell them how you then worked to develop this strength into a skill that you can rely on. Brainstorm together with your mentee what strengths they have come prepared for this activity! Be sure to be honest about whatever you say, but remember that it need not be a huge asset, just something that you feel your mentee demonstrates as a personal strength. Some ideas: positive attitude, sincere worker, or particular subject / activity in which they excel. - From the list of strengths ask them to identify one that they feel will help them the most in the future. - If you agree on their selection, ask them why, and discuss how they can build this strength into something more. - If you disagree, discuss why and suggest another choice. Work together to find two concrete ways to enhance your mentees strength into a skill. For example, if your mentee is able to speak English but is hesitant to do so, then challenge him to improve it. Some ideas: - Set aside about 10 minutes of each session that will be English only. - Make a deal with your mentee that you will not embarrass him in front of others but that you will correct his mistakes when you are alone. - By consistently correcting pronunciation and grammar in your personal conversations his/her skill will improve. - Learn new vocabulary. Ask him/her to write down any new words that s/he observes between sessions; each week discuss meanings and usage of these words. Always come prepared with 2-3 words yourself. - Have him practice conversational English skills with your colleagues
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Practice describing yourselves. Some ideas: - In one minute or less, tell me 5 words that describe something about who you are. - What is your favourite activity? Why? - What is your favourite possession? Why? - Do you prefer to be alone or with other people? - How many friends do you have? How many of them are very close? - Do you like meeting new people? Do a self-reflection exercise: - In a notebook write down 3-5 categories, e.g. favourite food, favourite colour, favourite school subject, etc. Each of you should independently write the answers on a chit. Then compare your answers. See if any match. Discuss why or why not. - Explain that these are fairly simple likes / dislikes. We also each have different opinions about activities what we enjoy and what we dont; what we find useful and what we dont. Give a few specific examples of your own, e.g.: I really like meeting new people because I find it interesting. I dont enjoy meeting new people because they ask me questions that I am not prepared to answer. I enjoy drawing because I like to make creative designs. I dont like to play football because it I dont think Im very good at it.] - Ask your mentee to think of at least 6 different activities, 3 that they like and 3 that they dont. All these activities must be things that they have done at least once. They should write them in their notebook. - Next discuss if there are any activities that they would like to try if given a chance emphasise that you will not necessarily be giving them a chance, but just to get an idea what is appealing to them [e.g. learning to play a musical instrument, creating a garden, driving a car, building a machine, visiting another city]. Write these down too. - Finally ask your mentee to think about how identifying likes and dislikes gives us a better idea of who we are. Discuss that sometimes we like things that we are good at doing, so it could even help us figure out what skills we have.
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Talk about people and personalities who are interesting to each of you. - Describe your best friend. How long have you been friends? What do you like most about him / her? - Who is the single most important person in your life? Why? - Which 3 people do you admire the most? Why? For help with this, see Role Models - Name at least one person whom you dont like. Why? - Which 3 people from history would you like to learn more about? - Describe an ideal person. [Note: To make it easier, make it more specific, e.g. perfect sister, perfect father, perfect friend, perfect boss, and have several discussions to get a more general idea.] Identify role models together - Use a photo or a brief story / article about someone whom you admire to introduce the idea of a role model to your mentee. Famous person in history Current person in the news - Try to avoid very common examples like sports and movie stars unless you can give significant, unusual background about them - Discuss why you admire this person and what you feel you can learn from this example. - Together brainstorm a list of famous people (come prepared with a few examples). After discussing who these people are and what they represent, ask your mentee to select one whom they admire the most. Research more information about that person and bring it to discuss in the next session. If possible bring a handout emphasising the key ideas (achievements, values) for the mentee to take home to remember. - Discuss that role models need not be famous people. Very often there is someone we know well or maybe an acquaintance whom we admire. Give one example of your own and describe why that person represents something important to you. Ask your mentee to identify one person like that in his / her life, e.g.: Grandparent / parent Another student in their school or a co-worker of yours Neighbour or someone in the community - Ask your mentee to think about how s/he might be a role model for someone else. In what ways do they set a good example or provide
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook inspiration? In case they cant think of anything, help them with any simple positive trait, e.g.: You are kind. You are confident. You help others. You have studied more than anyone else in your family. - Also discuss for whom could they be a role model, e.g. Siblings Others in school Neighbours or community members - Finally ask your mentee to identify one aspect for which s/he would like to be a role model for others within the next year (something that they dont already consider a personal asset). You should also make a similar goal for yourself. Write them both down in the mentees notebook along with a plan for how to achieve it. Make sure that you periodically check your progress. Discuss family background: share something about yourself to initiate the discussion. Discuss common points raised by both you and your mentee. - Who in your family lives with you? Who are they / what do they do? - Does anyone else from your family live in Mumbai? Do you meet them often? Who are they / what kind of work do they do? - Which relatives of yours are living in your native place? What do they do there? - Do you have any other relatives living out of Mumbai? What are they doing? Do you ever meet them? - Who is the family member you like the most? Respect the most? [Note: Such personal questions should be asked only after developing a close rapport with your mentee.] Discuss places and their importance to us - Where is your favourite place? Why? [Note: This can be small or big in scale, e.g. my house, my school classroom, a garden, or Mumbai / India.] - What one aspect about Mumbai do you like the most? What do you not like? - Have you been to your native place? Where is it? How often do you go there? What do you do there? What do you like the most about your visits there?
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook What do you not like about your visits there? - Would you prefer to stay in Mumbai, move to your native place, or perhaps another city (which one)? Why? - If you could create a perfect world, what would it look like? Discuss expectations that play a role in our lives Note: If it is easier you can divide these discussions into timeframes and work up gradually right now, in the next 6 months, the next one year, the next 2 years, etc. - What expectations do your parents have of you? Earning money Education Marriage Other? - Does anyone else expect anything from you? If so, what? Siblings Aunts / uncles Grandparents Neighbours Teachers Other? - What do you expect of yourself? Career Personal life Self-development Other - What can you do if any of these expectations clash with each other? - Do you think any of these expectations change over time? If so, how? - How can you connect the expectations in different aspects of your life? Discuss compromises - Ask: Do you think that anyone gets everything that they want in life? If so, who, how? - Try to help mentees understand that there are always compromises. Some people are definitely more fortunate than others, and that is part of life. But everyone encounters challenges and has to sacrifice something again try to give specific examples from your own life and others.
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Discuss the importance of learning how to have productive and positive interpersonal relationships in different contexts. NOTE: This topic is fairly ambitious. Make sure you are comfortable with it before starting discussions. - Talk about how as mentor-mentee you are developing a relationship with each other. It is a process and changes over time. Expectations from both sides, how to match them and compromise. Establish boundaries Define stages of your relationship - In life there are many instances where we need to develop healthy relationships, here are some aspects to remember: What do we get from relationships? What can we give to relationships? What is an unhealthy relationship abuse, exploitation (work) What to do in case of difficulties - All relationships are different and should be handled as such. Family Friends Colleagues Boss Clients
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2.4. Citizenship, Social Awareness and Personal Rights

What rights do we have? - Discuss what basic human rights are and why (be sure to come prepared to discuss basic human rights) - Discuss the Indian constitution and the fundamental rights guaranteed to all citizens - Talk about the role of NGOs / law-enforcement agencies / international agencies in addressing human rights violations - For more advanced mentees talk about rights in a larger context discuss situations in other countries, especially where human rights violations are taking place Discuss the various levels in society. Be sure to think about your own perspective before you start so that you can decide a good way of explaining your opinions. Focus on getting your mentee to talk - most adolescents are seeking to figure out their opinions and very often are not given a chance to explore such issues that are considered too political or too difficult - Ask what your mentee has observed about classes of people and variations in opportunity (because of circumstance, discrimination). Be sensitive to differences in perspective.. - Discuss what such classifications mean in reality (even though officially they arent supposed to matter) - how do they impacts lives - Ask your mentee how she feels about it. Talk about how to deal with coming from a particular community. - What, if anything, could be done about it? - Discuss strategies for coping with factors out of our control and dealing with frustration. Draw on your own experiences and talk about ways to deal with issues that bother you. (Remember that there isnt one right way to deal with these issues all you can really offer is some solutions that have worked for you) Discuss the meaning of responsibility - Talk about your own rights and responsibilities at different levels (at work, with your family, in your neighbourhood, in society) - Then get your mentee to list out the rights and responsibilities that he has
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook Discuss why responsibilities are important and what would happen if everyone did not fulfil their responsibilities - Talk about personal integrity and how one must fulfil ones duties even if others dont fulfil theirs. Use examples from your own life to illustrate this Talk about democracy and its importance. Use examples from history and current affairs. Start with simple, local level examples and then move to the national and international level (e.g. start with a class monitor in school) - Discuss the meaning of democracy and why its important. Compare and contrast with alternate systems of government - Discuss the role of the government and its structure (municipal corporation, state government, national government) - Get your mentee to talk about how politics really works and what are the real political issues. Discuss these with your mentee. (Be careful not to get into an affiliation with any particular party or ideology, but give a balanced viewpoint and make sure its a general discussion) Discuss social awareness and activism - Talk about the role of the individual in social change. Discuss how big issues seem very disconnected from our lives, but how we can make a difference through individual action by setting an example for others - Talk about how our actions can make a difference to larger social problems e.g. by spitting or throwing garbage we contribute to a dirty street, by standing up against the bully in class we can help others get a chance, by befriending someone of another community we can foster understanding, by insulting people who are less fortunate we make it harder for them to be accepted in society - Discuss the value of collective action. Talk about the role played by NGOs / cooperative movements. Also discuss corporate social responsibility initiatives (start by talking about Akanksha and your organisation then talk about other initiatives. Ask your mentee what other NGOs he / she knows of) - Discuss how an individual can make a difference giving donations, volunteering, etc.
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Have a Civics quiz (rights and freedoms, responsibilities of citizens). Have a debate about whether or not the rights guaranteed in the Constitution are really given to all citizens of India today. Or about whether human rights are only the responsibility of the government. Or any other related topic of interest to the group. This could be done as a session that 2 mentees do together each taking one point of view Make a list of rights and responsibilities of all members of your mentoring group. Set a group goal and work together to achieve it. This could also be done individually for your mentee Get your mentee to do a project / presentation on NGOs / cooperative movements / government / elections. Together with your mentee make a pledge to be more civic-minded and improve some specific aspect of life. Choose any topic that interests you both and make a statement and action plan for how you can achieve your goals (e.g. conserve water, treat girls / women as equals, reduce littering in your area). Create and perform role-plays of different situations in which various people impact each others rights. Take a particular issue in the mentees community and do a joint project to figure out how the mentee can make a difference to the problem
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3. Academic support
The following section discusses ways in which mentors can help their mentees improve their formal school performance.
3.1. General guidelines and tips

The role of the mentor in the area of academics is to provide basic guidance and inculcate strong study skills. The mentor is not a tuition teacher. At most, mentors should help mentees with specific topics / concepts that they are having difficulty with. Please remember that there is significant pressure on the children to do well in formal school. Also, in many cases the understanding levels of many of our kids will be really low. There is therefore a strong temptation to devote the bulk of the mentor program time to academics. Mentors must remember that it is their responsibility to ensure that the mentee gets all-round input, and must restrict academic sessions to 50-60% of program time only While teaching study skills its important not to be judgemental. Remember there are many different ways of doing things. Also, the mentors role is to help the child improve, not to evaluate him / her. If the mentee feels that you are always critical, he / she will not trust you and you will not get the best results Keep in mind that these children come from very different economic backgrounds and are often not good at academics. Therefore many of your experiences / choices may not be relevant to them.
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3.2. Setting academic expectations

The first step to providing effective support on academics is to create a meaningful bond with your mentee on the topic of formal school performance and to set expectations for performance with the mentee. Some points to discuss for this:
3.2.1 Personal Academic experiences

Talk about your own experiences at school. Besides what your mentee might learn from your experiences, your mentee will be more willing to open up and talk to you if you share first. Also, by talking about your problems, you will gain credibility as an advisor. Subjects you liked / didnt like How well you did Challenges you faced and how you overcame them How hard did you study in school / college Why did you choose the subjects you chose Outside of studies what was it you liked / didnt like in school / college What extra-curricular activities did you take part in Why did you choose a particular subject / specialisation How did your studies help you What are the things you learnt that you still use1 - Socialisation - Learning how to learn - Dealing with work-pressure - How to complete projects / be organised - Meeting / managing other peoples expectations
Many of our children are trying to find motivation for why they should study / how it will help them later on, so talking about the relevance of what you learnt is really important
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3.2.2 Benefits from studies

Is it worth the effort / resources to do 12th? What about graduation? - Best response is usually that it depends upon your own circumstances and personal ambitions. - Sometimes it is necessary to delay studies until you have earned or gotten experience that helps you decide what you want to do and why. - Also it is legitimate to work part-time or attend night college / do correspondence courses but this path can be more complicated for many reasons, so they should make sure they are motivated enough to do both. How will it improve my opportunities? - Discuss how qualifications are important to open doors. Some opportunities are rarely opened to someone without qualifications (e.g. working in many formal sector jobs). - But qualifications alone are also NOT usually enough, so it will really only help you if invest in other aspects of your development as well. Which stream is the most beneficial? - It depends upon your own goals. - Some careers require specific qualifications and some just want SSC, HSC, or graduation in any subject. - Identify your long-term goals to decide which stream and electives to pursue. - It is important to look at how successful you will be in each of the streams (right from getting admission to passing / doing well) e.g. it wouldnt be very impressive to enrol in science and learn nothing / fail.]
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3.2.3 Choice of courses

What is college like? - Here it would be appropriate to discuss academic expectations as well as the overall college experience. - Make a clear distinction between junior and senior colleges and postgraduate work and also stream-specific aspects. What is different about the different streams? - Give as much information as you can about the 3 main streams (Arts, Commerce, Science), but if you dont know details for sure please refer to another mentor who might or try to find out information from elsewhere and get back to your mentee. - Also explain that there are additional streams that are useful to consider (e.g. Home Science, Education, Social Work, Fine Art). Find out and give information about these areas as well to give a broader perspective, especially in cases where more appropriate for a particular mentee. My Akanksha didi has said that I should go for a vocational training course (e.g. an ITI) instead what is the difference / advantage? - Discuss the value of specific skills in getting jobs. Technical courses will make you job-ready for entry-level occupations that always exist. - Try to instil dignity of labour technical skills are often considered less worthy, but in fact they are equally important. - People with technical aptitude in fact are often more successful than those with higher education (they earn well, have chance to go abroad, etc.), and also they find it more enjoyable since it is aligned with a natural ability. - Try to find out about specific courses of interest and discuss in the next session. - If you are not sure of details, please ask for help from your Akanksha coordinator.
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3.3. Self-study ability

3.3.1 Motivation
In order to motivate students it is important to make learning more interesting for them. Very often school subjects seem unrelated to life, so the more we can make clear connections the more they will be encouraged to learn. The long-term benefits seem very abstract to many students, especially if they are confronting miserable conditions in their schools every day. It is important to choose simple examples and think through the main points in advance. Some ideas: Try to build general knowledge. Show them how it relates to their subjects (e.g. geography is very important in determining things like what industries will do well in which areas of the country / world). Use current events to discuss connections to what they are learning: politics as related to history, technology news as related to science, business news as related to math / economics / geography. Bring additional resources (books, magazines, newspapers) to increase relevance of learning in life and to make it more fun discuss pictures and articles of interest to them. You can use these tools for both GK and language practice. Bring resource people to meet your mentee e.g. someone who is passionate about a particular subject to present why, someone who can help with college choices, someone who works in a career that is interesting to your mentee, someone who has an inspirational life story. Arrange for your mentee to visit a workplace or meet a resource person outside of the session (but give clear guidelines for how to do this or go together).
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Its also useful to do a discussion with your mentee on the different aspects of motivation Why are you in school? What are the advantages of attending school? Disadvantages? What are the advantages of not attending school? Disadvantages? Do your parents / family members support your studies? If yes, how? Does anyone else support your studies? Who? How? Does anyone interfere with your studies? How? Who is your favourite teacher this year? Who is your favourite teacher ever? Why? Do you find studying boring? If yes, which subjects? Why do you think that is the case (e.g. dont understand, dont find it relevant)? Has it always been like that? How do you convince yourself to do your homework / study? What happens if you cant convince yourself? Aside from school, do you enjoy learning? If yes, what is the most interesting topic for you?
3.3.2 Learning style

It is important to recognise that each person has a different learning style. It will help your mentee to realise what works best for him / her to make it easier to study more effectively. Many students will simply read and try to memorise text or Q&As from a guide book, but that actually works well only for a few people. Encourage your mentee to explore some new techniques with to figour out what can help / her to learn more easily. Some ideas: Writing down points / notes while growing through the lesson Reading aloud and discussing with others Drawing diagrams and pictures about a concept to understand better. Underlining / highlighting key parts of the text Making small annotations in the margin Doing lots of practise questions
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3.3.3 Concentration
Many students struggle because they simply have not developed an ability to focus on the task at hand. There are many reasons for this including some factors that might not be in your mentees control: good nutrition, being well rested and healthy, being free from personal / family problems. Nevertheless, even given constraints most people can still improve their powers of concentration with practice. Some tips to deal with poor concentration: Set achievable goals: start with concentration demands of 10-15 minutes, then gradually build up longer and longer periods, but never expect full concentration for more than an hour. Students need breaks even if only for 5 minutes in an hour your mentee should learn that a 5-minute break to relax would give them 55 minutes of quality time to focus each hour. This is much more effective than saying I will study for 3 hours straight, and then being able to focus for only half an hour because it is too big an expectation. Pick the right time of the day to study: Designate specific times in the day for study, then follow the plan to make it easier to use our time better. For example, studying is more effective when you are alert and your mind is fresh. Find a word such as Focus, or a phrase such as Be here now, that will remind you to return to task. Whenever your mind starts to wander or you are distracted by something external, repeat the word / phrase to yourself and refocus your attention. It will take some repetitions to develop the habit, but eventually you should be able to train yourself to refocus in many situations. (this seems really simplistic, but it works!) Put your worries away: Another suggestion is for people who tend to be distracted by worries. Set aside time in the day just for that purpose and whenever your worries distract you, remind yourself that you have a specific time to think about that, but now you must get back to the task on hand. Here are the steps to try it: - Set a specific time each day for your worry time (e.g. between 9 and 9.30 p.m.). If you dont have time to just sit and worry, combine it with a task that doesnt require much focus such as cleaning vessels.
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook When you become aware of a distracting thought, remind yourself that you have a special time to think about them (if it helps, jot down the idea at the top of your notebook so that you can be sure to think about it later). Let the thought go, perhaps with use of your key word Focus. Be sure to keep that appointment with yourself to think on the distracting thoughts of the day. If you do it consistently, it should help your concentration when you need it.
A few fun activity ideas for developing concentration skills: Yoga is an excellent way to develop concentration skills. Try to arrange a short session on basic yoga techniques and encourage your mentee to practice it often it will also help with stress management. Discuss that even starting with 5 minutes a day will be useful and gradually your mentee can try to allocate more time. Read a passage aloud and tell your mentee to count how many times a common word (e.g. the) appears. To make it more fun, do this as a competitive group activity. Bring spot the difference pictures from the newspaper or activity books and time your mentee to see how fast s/he can solve them. Bring puzzles and do them together. Set a time limit to make focus more important. Play a memory game: bring 10-20 pairs of cards that match (pictures, words, symbols, whatever) and arrange them face down in rows on the table. In each turn the player has to reveal 2 cards if they match then the player collects the pair and gets another try. If they dont match the player turns them back over and it is the other players chance. Such games are available in many shops or they can be easily made with chits of paper e.g. make language learning more interesting by using duplicate sets of vocabulary flashcards for this game.
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3.3.4 Study Effectiveness

In order to help your mentee study more effectively, here are some points you could discuss and give advice on:
Improving Understanding
Which subjects can you understand easily from school lectures? How do you remember what the teacher has told you / taught in class? Can you ask your teachers for help when you dont understand? Can you ask your teachers for a course overview (at least for this term) e.g. which portion will be covered when, when will exams take place? Explain that you would like to plan your studies for this term, so you would like to know what areas you should focus on and also in what order to work on the chapters / topics. (Note for mentees: If you would feel too embarrassed to do this in front of your friends, tell them that it is required by Akanksha for you to do it!) Do you interact with any of your teachers individually at all? If you are friendly and make a good impression, they will often be more willing to help you. Which subjects can you understand easily from reading? How can you learn more from reading? Which subjects are difficult despite teachers AND textbooks? What can you do in those cases? (e.g. ask friends for help, ask students senior to you, ask a sibling or neighbour who has finished that class, take tuitions). Do you go for tuition classes? How do they help you? Do you think that it is worth the time / money you spend? Could there be better teachers / classes? How do you decide? (e.g. ask the teacher for results of students from past years, make sure that the explanations the teacher uses are ones that you can understand maybe ask if you could join/pay for just one week to sample the class before committing long-term.)
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Study Methods
How much time do you spend doing homework every day (look at each subject separately)? Do you learn anything in that time or is it simply used to mechanically complete assigned tasks? How often do you study each subject (besides homework)? Do you take notes when you study? Do you use any other strategies to help understand better? How do you memorize information when needed? [Note: For older students it is likely that they might not have time to thoroughly understand the subjects and give exams, so they will need to cut their losses and memorize Q&As. For students who have more time, try to help them see that reading / understanding whatever subjects you can is a much more effective and satisfying way to go through school than just mugging up all subjects.] Could you find a good study partner? Make sure it is not for the purpose of doing masti but someone who can help motivate you to study. You can help each other understand also try to find someone who is good in the subjects that are difficult for you. If possible, find someone whom you can help in some subjects also (maybe a friend who is not in Akanksha, so you could help with English, for instance). By explaining to others you revise your own portion and learn more yourself.
Systematic Studying
Since many mentees will not receive adequate teaching support in formal schools / tuitions, its important to help the students develop a systematic approach and a self-learning attitude to enable them to study and learn on their own. Discuss with your mentee the importance of self-study. Explain that even if teachers are not good, we can learn a lot of our subject matter independently by understanding the textbooks. It is not always easy, of course, but it is worth the effort. Here is a strategy that might help the SQ3R strategy.
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Survey: Skim through the chapter to get an idea of what is in it. Make a note of the key points. Note: Look at headings, illustrations, key words. Question: Write down a list of questions that you should be able to answer as a result of reading the chapter. Note: Try to think of your own questions, but you can also use the ones at the end of the chapter. Read: Read the chapter slowly and carefully. Read it one more time. Note: Remember unfortunately there are no real shortcuts. It might seem harder, but it is actually easier to read and understand than to memorise Q and As from a guide. While reading, be sure to use underlining to help remind you of the important points (related to the questions or the key topics) or to help you learn new words. Note: There is no shame in learning vocabulary even in your mother tongue!
Recall: Close the book. Write down the main points that you remember from the chapter. If there are specific formulae and/or diagrams try to put them down too. Review: Go back to your questions and see how well you can answer them. Note: To be sure that the answers you are preparing are correct check that what you have written in Recall is similar to what actually appears in the text.
To teach this method: work together through one textbook chapter with your mentee. Then discuss the strategy: what is difficult about it, why is it useful, etc. Ask your mentee to complete another chapter before the next session. In the next session go through your mentees work. Discuss whether it seems useful, what difficulties your mentee faced, etc. Note: If your mentees academic base is weak, you will likely need to revise this strategy often together before your mentee can do it alone, so dont expect too much right away.
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3.3.5 Time tables and work planning

One of the key skills that our mentees need to develop is the ability to make and use a proper time table. Here are some steps to help build this skill:
Daily / Weekly Timetable

Discuss how your day looks. What are the activities with fixed times? What things are flexible? Be sure to include even the very ordinary things like eating breakfast, commuting to work, etc. Next discuss how your mentees day looks. Write it down. See where their time goes how much do they control it? Remind them to be realistic about how much time different activities take and also which things can be flexible and which cant. It is also important to be honest about how much time they really can concentrate and study. Also compare the weekdays and weekends. NOTE: This activity can really help give you an insight into the time commitments that your mentee has. It can also demonstrate clearly what resources they have available to them. For instance, if their timetable says that they learn math twice per week in their Akanksha centre, then you should discuss this with them periodically to make sure that they are getting the most of each resource and that you are not duplicating inputs.
Study Timetable
If possible share an example of a project that you have had to do over a period of time. Explain how you divided up the work and planned a schedule to finish it by a deadline. Then ask your mentee to make a list of all of his/her subjects. For each subject write the chapters that will be covered before the next exam period. Ideally do this exercise at least a month before the exams to encourage studying in advance. More diligent students will make a yearly timetable and use weekly timetables throughout the year to plan their studies, but average students will focus only a short while before each exam period. 61
Next create a weekly study-oriented timetable (if possible use a dairy/calendar). Very important: if you are going to create a timetable together, be sure that you are going to follow up with implementation otherwise it is much less effective and probably not worth the time investment to make it. Discuss which subjects take more time to study and start with those. Ask your mentee to estimate how much time it will take them to complete each chapter. Assign the chapters to different days accordingly. Sample:
Monday Algebra (5.1 5.3) Geometry (4.1 4.2) Science I (ch. 6) Science II (ch. 3) History (ch. 7) Civics (ch. 2) Geography (ch. 4) Marathi (ch. 12) Hindi (ch. 10) English (ch. 8) Tuesday Algebra (5.1 5.3) Geometry (4.1 4.2) Science I (ch. 6) Science II (ch. 3) History (ch. 7) Civics (ch. 2) Geography (ch. 4) Marathi (ch. 12) Hindi (ch. 10) English (ch. 8) Wednesday Algebra (5.4 5.5) Geometry (4.3 4.4) Science I (ch. 6) Science II (ch. 3) History (ch. 7) Civics (ch. 3) Geography (ch. 4) Marathi (ch. 13) Hindi (ch. 11) English (ch. 9) Thursday Algebra (5.4 5.5) Geometry (4.3 4.4) Science I (ch. 7) Science II (ch. 4) History (ch. 8) Civics (ch. 3) Geography (ch. 5) Marathi (ch. 13) Hindi (ch. 11) English (ch. 9) Friday Algebra (5.6 5.8) Geometry (4.5 4.6) Science I (ch. 7) Science II (ch. 4) History (ch. 8) Civics (ch. 4) Geography (ch. 5) Marathi (ch. 14) Hindi (ch. 12) English (ch. 10) Saturday Algebra (revise 5) Geometry (revise 4) Science I (ch. 7) Science II (ch. 4) History (ch. 8) Civics (ch. 4) Geography (ch. 5) Marathi (ch. 14) Hindi (ch. 12) English (ch. 10) Sunday Algebra (6.1 6.3) Geometry (5.1 5.3) Science I (ch. 8) Science II (ch. 5) History (ch. 9) Civics (ch. 5) Geography (ch. 6) Marathi (ch. 15) Hindi (ch. 13) English (ch. 11)
Of course most students will not really do all subjects each day, in that case it might take more days to complete the equal amount of work. That is ok. Explain that it is very important for them to make a realistic timetable, not one that is too ambitious for them to implement. We are not making a timetable simply as an exercise. We are making it as a tool, so it should be useful.
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook How to follow up: each week when you meet discuss how much your mentee has followed the timetable. If they have not been able to complete certain subjects, why is that? If they have completed more than planned in some subjects then they know that they should plan differently next time (if they have really understood well even with a faster pace). NOTE: Encourage your mentee to be honest with you about how much of the portion s/he has completed. For this to happen it is essential that you are clear about your expectations but not overly critical when they cant complete everything. Planning realistically takes practice. Acknowledge whatever progress they have made and when they improve tell them how proud you are. It is more useful in the long run to work together rather than just checking about lack of completion without discussing what has gone well or not gone well.
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3.3.6 Study conditions

One of the largest difficulties for our students is the poor conditions that they study in. While there may not be much you can do to improve the conditions, you may be able to help your mentee think through ways to optimise the conditions they study in. Here are some questions to ask: Where do you study? Are there distractions that make it difficult to study? What are they and how could you overcome them? At what time do you do most of your studies? Is it a time when you feel productive? If not would it be possible to do your easier subjects at that time and then try to find a better time to understand your more difficult subjects? Are there other problems that interfere with your studies (e.g. lack of space, power shortages)? If yes, what can you do to overcome them? (e.g. some students go to public places to study or study at a friends house)
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3.4. Language Development and communication

3.4.1 Issues in language development
Unfortunately language acquisition is often assumed, or instruction is only rule based and /or through memorisation without much attention to expression of thought and correct usage. In many cases mentees have not been able to devote much effort in developing language skills beyond the essentials because of many other pressures in their lives. Also because of the need to learn several different languages (most students have Marathi, Hindi, and English in school in addition to any other mother tongue or community language) there is sometimes a tendency to learn bits and pieces of many without thoroughly developing any of them. All of this means that language development is a key need area for our children.
3.4.2 Making communication context specific

Another reason why mentors can play a crucial role in aiding language development is the need for language to be context related. There are three ways in which mentors can help their mentees develop better communication skills Professional Context: Professional communication should be more formal and more proper even when it is a person you know well. Discuss examples such as the fact that how you talk to a colleague is different if you are in the office and if you go out to see a movie together Talking to strangers: Using proper language with unknown persons also makes a more positive impression, so although your mentee should develop confidence to talk to most anyone, s / he should always practice speaking properly / politely no matter what language is being used Understanding context: One of the most difficult aspects of clear communication is figuring out the audience and the context in which we are speaking. Each person we talk with has a different perspective, and what he or she hears and understands depends upon that perspective. Help your mentee practice talking to different people and learning how to read cues about how well the person understands and what kind of language will improve the communication.
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3.4.3 Discussion points on communication

Discuss why communication skills are so important in life, and how styles differ in different contexts: - Family - Friends - Work - Others Teach them some basics for improving their communication skills. - Self-introduction - Etiquette - Non-verbal communication - Conversation tips Then help your mentee practice meeting people. Discuss with them how it was: - What went well? - What could be improved? - How they felt?
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3.4.4 Activities for communication

Let your mentee choose any topic and write a paragraph on it. Go through the paragraph together and discuss what is clear / well written and what could be improved. Rewrite the paragraph together. Give your mentee a word limit (e.g. 10 words) and tell him / her to answer each question you ask completely but in that many words or fewer. (Start with easier questions, but gradually make it more and more complex and challenging.) To make it more challenging, give your mentee a time limit in which to answer. Prepare a brief presentation together and share it with the group. Write a letter or an email to someone. Make sure that you revise it so that it sounds as good as possible. If your mentee is interested try to find a pen pal. (Note: This could be a friend or relative of yours or if you need help, ask your Akanksha coordinator for some suggestions.) If your mentees mother tongue is a language you dont know, start a language exchange arrangement: for every 5 words you teach him / her, learn 5 words from his / her mother tongue. Many students gain a lot of confidence through being able to teach others, however, dont start such a deal unless you intend to follow it through for at least a few months.
Remember that helping anyone develop language skills usually relies much more on practice than instruction. It also takes a willingness to learn to be corrected, to try to improve vocabulary, etc. Work out a system with your mentee to continually improve specific aspects of their language. For example, for a few weeks focus on building vocabulary or learning common expressions and their meanings. Then focus on pronunciation or reading skills. Then focus on having good, clear conversations: including how to listen carefully and answer questions to the point, how to ask relevant questions of someone else, etc.
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3.4.5 Suggestions for specific languages

Hindi / Marathi: Oral, written
Discuss the relevance of learning how to use languages better: In their current lives most mentees require a very good understanding of Hindi and/or Marathi. Many of them study in vernacular medium schools and without this skill it is difficult for them to understand concepts and to express them in class or on exams. Also help the mentees understand that speaking several languages is an asset there is no such thing as a better language. It is only important how we use the language. Even in careers where English is important, local languages are usually equally important for communicating with various people in the workplace. Discuss in which careers language skills help the most: any service industry (come into contact with many types of people), education (diversity of students), media, government jobs, travel and tourism, etc. Discuss also that official documents in Mumbai will often be written in Marathi, so it is important that your mentee can understand enough to be able to read and use such documents.
English: Oral, Written

For adolescents learning a new language becomes that much harder because they are often very self-conscious and sensitive. Make your language time completely non-threatening. Agree on how / when you will correct your mentee and be careful not to embarrass him / her in front of others. Insist that the group maintains a no laughing at mistakes rule. Because English is often considered the domain of the privileged it becomes even more intimidating. Try to help your mentee realise that anyone can speak any language if they want it enough to practice. Discuss if there are any other reasons for hesitation to use English (e.g. maybe a friend teases your mentee for trying to act important by speaking in English, maybe someone criticises your mentee for selling out to the system). Discuss the relevance of learning English: which careers really require it and at what level (e.g. just understanding some; understanding well; understanding and speaking well; understanding, speaking and reading/writing well). If any 68
Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook of these careers is a goal for your mentee, then that reason should be good enough motivation for him / her to practice more. Note: If not, then it might be worth discussing if that career is really something of interest as using the language will be an integral part of it.
3.4.6 Planning for realistic step-wise improvement

Language learning is a difficult and time-taking process requiring considerable patience from the mentor. Some tips: Dont expect major changes quickly, especially in the limited time available for mentees to practice. But do expect a little bit of improvement at least every couple of weeks (e.g. depending upon the level: a few new words, an ability to make more complex sentences, better pronunciation, faster reading or better understanding in conversation). Find out what aspects of the language your mentee is most interested in and focus on those in the beginning (reading, writing, speaking). Choose topics of interest to increase interest and participation.
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3.5. Subject Area(s) that the mentee is weak in

3.5.1 Identify Subject(s)
You should ask your mentee to share school results with you regularly to help check progress. Be careful to explain that it is not to judge them, but to try to help them. Note: If your mentee refuses then please ask your Akanksha coordinator to facilitate. Mentees are often hesitant to discuss poor results for fear that you will be critical especially if progress is not improved even after additional support is offered. Talk about it gently and as a matter of concern but not in a judgmental way. Usually there are genuine reasons for poor performance these factors might or might not be in your mentees control (e.g. some have no teachers or the teachers dont teach). Your role is to help them identify positive solutions to the problems and to encourage them to take advantage of any and all resources in the best possible way. If motivation is the most serious issue and your mentee is just not putting in the necessary effort, then spend your energy constructively addressing that problem rather than frequently discussing what is being done wrong. Note: in severe cases of poor results across several subjects please discuss the issue with your Akanksha coordinator. If this is a change for your mentee there might be a serious personal or family problem that needs to be addressed. If your mentee has consistently performed very badly in school, it might be worth considering non-academic options (e.g. vocational training) sooner rather than trying to sustain interest in a failing effort.
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3.5.2 Reasons for difficulty

The first step to helping your mentee improve performance in a particular subject is to discuss and understand the obstacles to performance and then try to jointly develop solutions to the obstacles identified. Discuss various obstacles in progressing in studies. Examples: Did not understand the previous material Pace too fast Badly taught Low marks Boring Could not see the relevance to my life Lack of space at home Continuous disturbance at home Lack of time Power / light shortage Too tired OTHERS? Now go subject by subject and discuss the obstacles that the mentee faces in school. Write down the reasons in the mentees notebook. Note: Be careful not to be judgmental (e.g. if they find a subject boring, for instance) because it is very important to be honest to identify the real obstacle in order to find a real solution. Next, brainstorm together possible solutions to the most common obstacles that your mentee faces: e.g. If family issues come up a lot, ask your mentee if there is anyone in the family who is more sympathetic. If so, could their support be used to help in solving the situation? If the problem is more attitude based is there a way for your mentee to change perspective and increase self-motivation maybe looking towards long-term goals or finding a new angle to that particular subject that is more interesting (e.g. finding connection to their own lives).
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3.5.3 Identifying sources of support

Together with your mentee try to determine what support would be most useful e.g. extra explanation of subject matter, more practice, seeing the relevance of the subject this mostly depends upon what the obstacles are (as identified above). Then try to figure out where your mentee might be able to get such help from a friend or neighbour who is in the same class or who has already completed the class, from a tuition class (if possible), from his/her teachers if they are willing to help, or possibly from an Akanksha centre volunteer (for help on this option, please ask your Akanksha coordinator). NOTE: Please do not offer financial support without checking with your Akanksha coordinator for the correct procedures to follow. The purpose of having these discussions is for your mentee to identify what resources would be required and whether they are willing to put in efforts that will justify those resources.
3.5.4 Simple steps to improve performance

If you are comfortable in the subject(s) then offer simple tips that could help your mentee do better. For instance, in math, review fundamentals or teach tricks such as rules of divisibility and mental math strategies. In science, review the basic formulae and information required in each area. Even if you are not so comfortable in the subject, you can still teach other simple strategies for getting better results e.g. writing exam papers neatly, answering questions completely, reviewing relevant general study methods. Sometimes poor performance is also just due to a lack of time or effort in self-study. Try to help your mentee understand that even if s/he is learning something in school and in tuitions, it is still necessary for him/her to revise the material and learn it / practice it on his/her own nobody else can learn it instead!
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3.5.5 Measuring progress

It is important to follow up regularly with your mentee about progress is s/he able to learn the necessary portion? Is s/he getting the needed support? If not, why not? If so, does progress seem better or is there any other obstacle to try to solve? Try to encourage your mentee to get as good an idea as possible from the teacher about the portion for the class. Often teachers dont voluntarily tell students what chapters are going to be covered, but if asked they might be willing to outline the terms portion. This will help you and your mentee to periodically gauge the progress being made according to the progress expected. If this can be done throughout the year it will be less frustrating and more productive.
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3.6. Subject areas that the mentee is strong in

3.6.1 Identify subject(s)
You should ask your mentee to share school results with you regularly to help check progress. Be careful to explain that it is not to judge them, but to try to help them. In some cases students will show consistently strong performance in one or several subjects. Try to notice such trends. In other cases your mentee might not perform well in the subject in school but might show strong aptitude for it nonetheless that tendency is also worth noting.
3.6.2 Reasons, if identifiable, for strong performance

Congratulate your mentee for doing well and use it as a starting point to discuss the subject. If your mentee does well and likes the subject then discuss why and how they might be able to do more with that subject. Further try to figure out if there are any clear reasons that this subject might be a strong point of your mentee. Maybe a parent is also skilled in such an area (even if the parent didnt complete school, they might still have very good language or computational skills that are evident in work or at home). Other potential reasons could include a very good or inspirational teacher, or the fact that a friend also likes the subject so they study together.
3.6.3 Improving motivation

Even if it isnt possible to identify why the subject performance is good, it is worth discussing further with the mentee about options for pursuing careers that utilise that skill. If you also like the subject then it will be easier, but even if you dont try to find out something more about it and discuss it with your mentee. If your mentee does well but does not like the subject also discuss why. Try to sort out if the topics are interesting, but the class is not or what other obstacles might be in the way (e.g. bad teacher, friends dont like it).
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3.6.4 Developing into talent / job skill

If your mentee likes the subject or has very strong ability it is definitely worth discussing how this skill can be better utilised. If your mentee is convinced about the value of increasing his/her skill, then discuss possible ways to do so: extra classes, learning from someone in a related job, visits to relevant institutions (e.g. museums for art, science, or history, media contacts for those good at language). Note: if you need more suggestions for a specific subject area, check with your Akanksha coordinator.
3.6.5 Sources of support / opportunity

Discuss with your mentee what would be required to help him/her develop the skill. e.g. is money needed to pursue extra classes, do they need guidance to help find relevant institutions of interest? Many times all that is needed is for a student to meet someone who shares the same interest and skill. It is not necessary for you to be that person, but perhaps you can help them identify someone who is. That person could then guide your mentee further about opportunities and how to pursue them. NOTE: Please do not offer financial support without checking with your Akanksha coordinator for the correct procedures to follow. The purpose of having these discussions is for your mentee to identify what resources would be required and whether they are willing to put in efforts that will justify those resources.
3.6.6 Measuring progress

Even if a student is doing well in a subject, it is important to monitor progress regularly. That way you can be sure that it is a genuine skill that lasts over time and also encourage your mentee to continue improving. Check school marks regularly, but also check what other steps s/he is following to increase skill levels.
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4. Career Orientation and Guidance

4.1. Tips for career orientation
Encourage your mentee to explore non-traditional / vocational options; do not let them limit themselves to traditional formal education options Most children will have done little / no introspection about what they want to do. Take this section slowly if necessary to give your mentee time to get used to the idea of introspection. Many mentees may say they have a career in mind (e.g. doctor, police officer, etc.) but may not have really thought it through. At the same time, the mentors role is to help the child think through different career choices mentors may not have sufficient information to be able to answer all the questions the mentees have; but they can ensure that the mentee is asking the right questions. Keep a realistic perspective at all times and help the children to come to terms with realities as well. At the same time, do not sell short your mentees aspirations. Encourage them to push themselves to achieve more and make sure youre setting stretch targets for them. Rather than jumping into the distant future with career discussions (even as far as just 2-3 years ahead), try to build up slowly so that they understand that it is a step-wise process. Seek additional sources of information to provide your mentees with better exposure to relevant careers (e.g. friends, relatives, suppliers, newspapers, institutions) Do not prescribe a specific career for your mentee without checking with Akanksha first. Even if you have a strong point of view on what the right career is for your mentee, contact your Akanksha coordinator to ensure that we all agree with that career choice before you communicate it to the mentee. While Akanksha will keep you informed of the output of all career guidance / tests that your mentee goes through, do check with your mentee on what career guidance / input he / she has previously received. Begin the discussions by sharing something about yourself and your own experiences this will ensure that the mentee relates better to you.
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4.2. Questions your mentee might ask

Again it is very likely that if you have not shared much, your mentee might turn around and ask you some of the same questions you have asked, so be prepared to answer simply and honestly. Even if your background seems very different, you can emphasise the similarities (e.g. most everyone has the similar family members or recreation activities to discuss even if details are different). Here are just a few other things that might come up, though there are undoubtedly many possibilities:
Expectations
What expectations do you have of me? Why? How can I live up to your expectations?
Compromises
What compromises have you made in your life? Why? If you have enough money, why do you need to compromise on anything? How do you decide what is more important? What happens when your parents want you to do something and you want to do something else?
Career
What is your career? How / when did you choose what career you wanted to pursue? What did you have to study for your career? What have you done so far in your career? What else do you want to do? Tell me about your job.
Places
Have you always lived in Mumbai? If not, why did you move here? Where else have you lived? What is it like there? Which places have you visited? What are they like?
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4.3. Clarity on Career Choices (Mentee yet to define goals)

At this stage the main purpose of discussing careers and doing activities around them is to allow your mentee to explore various options and to give him/her a larger perspective of opportunities and what they really mean. It is important to avoid only stereotypically good jobs and well-known or popular choices, as this programme is one of few chances where your mentee can actually find out about areas that would otherwise remain unknown to him/her. It also helps to spend some time identifying what your mentee is good at doing and what s/he enjoys doing. Use some of the techniques in both the Confidence section of Personality Development (section 4.3) and also the Identifying Strong Subjects section in the Academic portion (section 5.6) to achieve this objective. Also observe your mentee in the sessions to give your own input about his/her skills and possible interests. Discuss how we cannot spend all of our time doing what we like best, but it does help to try to find careers that include either things we are good at doing or that we like. Likewise, if possible, it is good to try to minimise career choices that include skills that we would find very difficult to develop. Use the Careers Handbook provided for more detailed information about various careers. Read through sections together with your mentee or read it yourself and discuss the main points together in your session. Also students in Std 8 and above are either studying about various careers in their Akanksha centres or they have previously done so. Discuss with them what they have learned through these lessons and experiences. If you require more information about this aspect, ask your Akanksha coordinator. Encourage your mentee to see if there are ways that s/he can learn more about jobs that are interesting. Brainstorm suggestions together. Visit a workplace together. Make arrangements for friends to meet your mentee and discuss their jobs. Bring a resource person into a group session to discuss a particular kind of career (e.g. a soldier to talk about the military, a store manager to discuss retail shops, a chemist to talk about pharmaceuticals).
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4.4. Clarity on career choices (Mentee has defined goals)

Discuss your mentees career guidance plan with your Akanksha coordinator. Understand the details of how it has been developed and what the next steps are. Decide how you can contribute to the process. [Note: If ready-made plans are not available for your mentee, then please ask how you can contribute to making it.] Next discuss the plan with your mentee. Find out what s/he understands about the options and what is still unclear. Select activities on this level of understanding. For information about each career consult the Career Handbook provided. Please request further information if necessary from your Akanksha coordinator.
4.4.1 Key discussion points

Discuss the selected careers with your mentee. Clarify any doubts. Whenever you are unsure of details: - Offer to research it together. - Offer to get more information on your own and bring it. Consult your Akanksha coordinator, if needed. - Offer to discuss whatever information they can find out about it. Cover as many aspects of each of the specified careers as possible: - Academic qualifications - Specific skill training - Other useful skills / habits (e.g. honesty, punctuality, being organised, working with colleagues, bosses or clients) - Personality traits (e.g. perseverance, patience, caring for others) - Working conditions / expectations Discuss perception issues - How does your mentee feel about the choices? - What do his/her parents think? - How do his/her friends react? - Respectability - Changing careers if necessary
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4.5. Specific skill development for selected career

Identify skills required for selected career help your mentee to think through all the skills. Remember that your mentee may tend to focus on skills that are very specific to that career (e.g. design, drawing, etc.) but may not pay attention to the less obvious people skills. Prioritise the different skills in terms of importance to success in the chosen career. You may want to classify them as high, medium and low Discuss the skills and define the objectives on each skill what is the level that the mentee needs to aspire to on each skill Discuss which skills your mentee already has and which ones he / she needs to develop. You may want to do a three-way classification: skills your mentee doesnt have, skills your mentee has but can improve on, skills your mentee needs to develop. Take each individual skill and brainstorm the concrete steps required to build that skill. Follow the following order: - Highly important skills that your mentee needs to develop - Highly important skills that your mentee can improve on - Medium importance skills that your mentee needs to develop - Medium importance skills that your mentee can improve on - Low importance skills that your mentee needs to develop - Low importance skills that your mentee can improve on Follow up on concrete steps defined and monitor progress against the defined objectives
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4.6. Career planning and preparation

4.6.1 Objectives
Help your mentee to get a better understanding of the selected career especially helping him think through potential employers, career growth prospects, etc. Ensure that your mentee is prepared to go out and seek a job is prepared for putting together a CV / going for an interview

Be prepared in advance to discuss some of these issues. Research the career before coming to the session and be sure to give plenty of examples, as these topics can be abstract and confusing for mentees otherwise. Remember that it is unlikely your mentee can get this perspective elsewhere, so it is well worth the effort to offer the preparation to help in building a good career. Overall industry / sector perspective - How does it function? - What role does it play in the general economy? - What have been the key trends in the last few years? - Who are some major employers / leading companies? How is success defined? e.g. Is it important just to do a job well or is salary increase essential? Why or why not? What about changes that involve a more interesting position with no increase in salary?) - How do you define it - How does your mentee define it - What does it mean in the context of this career? Opportunities for advancement - What are the different job roles in the sector - What are the different stages that one person goes through - What does it take to move up (e.g. additional qualifications, good reviews, how to plan for such opportunities). - What are some related jobs to consider if the child wants to move to a different field
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Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook How to assess job offers - It is essential to take the first offer that comes? - Should one apply at several places and then compare the options? - What are the relevant criteria to consider while considering different options - Reputation of the employer generally and in terms of how they treat employees - Position offered responsibility level, chance for growth - Salary and benefits - Location sometimes a better job is worth a longer commute. Discuss why. Making on-going decisions about careers - Who are the people you can consult - Colleagues or bosses - Career counsellors - Family or friends who have experience in the sector and can help. - What are the different factors to consider while moving within a company / figuring out how to work with the system - How to make decisions to change careers and why - Better salary - Better working hours - Better / more reputed employer - More interesting job - Better growth prospects - Dissatisfaction with current job - Initial career taken up to cover expenses (e.g. while studying for a diploma) Finally discuss the logistics of applying for a job - Finding out about opportunities: advertisements and classifieds, employment newspapers, websites, word of mouth, networking. - Learning about specific procedures required (e.g. Are there entrance exams? Is there an application deadline?) - General protocol for answering an advertisement: how to make a phone call for information, writing a good cover letter, preparing a relevant and impressive CV, supplying references, performing well in an interview.
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4.6.3 Mock interviews

Many mentor groups have found that conducting mock job interviews is not only very useful but also fun. It is most successful as a group activity, but could be adapted to be done individually as well. Initially mentees are often quite shy and hesitant to try, but many have admitted that though they were scared at first they did manage to build confidence by the end. All of them have found it useful. It requires three to four sessions: 1st session: Have a couple of mentors to undergo an interview in front of the mentees as a demonstration try to present a range of bad and good and then discuss what was successful and what wasnt: body language, preparedness, communication skills, confidence, etc. 2nd session: Each of the mentors helps their respective mentees prepare for the interview (including making CVs) discuss how to present yourself, basic etiquette, appearing confident, potential questions and how to respond. 3rd and 4th session: conduct the interviews let each mentee have a chance. It is good to have a small panel of interviewers (2-4) so that the mentees can practice answering different styles of questions. After each interview again discuss what worked and what didnt. After everyone is finished, if there is time give the mentees a chance to try again if they want to try to improve their performance based on the feedback.
It may also be useful to take your mentee through a set of typical interview questions (which may include mentee specific questions e.g. why didnt you complete class X?) so that theyre reasonably well prepared to handle a real life interview.
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MENTOR PROGRAM

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

PICTIONARY / DUMB CHARADES

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

THE WORLD / THE COUNTRY

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

CREATE A GROUP STORY

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

WHOS GOT THE HAT?

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

A TRIP TO THE VILLAGE

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

COMPOUND WORD GAME

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

THE SHRINKING PAPER

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

FLOATING STICK, OR GRAVITY STICK

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

THE HA-HA GAME

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.1. Behaviour and Etiquette

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.1.2 Discussion points

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.1.3 Activities / Exercises

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.2.2 Discussion points

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.2.3 Activities and Exercises

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.3.2 Discussion points

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.3.3 Activities and Exercises

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.3.4 Self-esteem activities

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.4. Citizenship, Social Awareness and Personal Rights

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

2.4.2 Activities and Exercises

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

3.1. General guidelines and tips

Akanksha Mentor Program Activity Handbook

3.2. Setting academic expectations