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New Illustrations, Intercom Insights, Games, etc.
New Illustrations, Quotes, Activities This month we put up 50 new resources!
Spiderman is All About Character! Don't miss this movie! There are so many springboards for discussions with your children and students! Click through HERE to a page of insights and discussion starters from the movie.
Up Close and Personal Community leader Howard Lincoln heard of a local Bosnian refugee. He found out her plight - family members killed in the war, forced to leave her homeland behind, arriving in America with nothing, living here in poverty. After interviewing her in his high school class, the students were so moved that during the coming weeks they initiated taking up a collection and bought her a sizable gift certificate.
There's a principle here. We see so much suffering on the news and in documentaries that we become immune to it all. We need to see it up close to "humanize" it - to be shocked into realizing that the poor and destitute are real people, often hard workers who have been dealt a difficult hand of cards in life. And they're not just on the other side of the globe; they're in our communities!
When You're Hurting, Help Others! Bill had been an alcoholic for about twenty years. His addiction had ruined his life to such an extent that he was close to being committed to an asylum. After being alcohol free for months, he found himself out of town on a business trip, alone, and being drawn to the laughter in the hotel bar. What could he do?
It occurred to him that what helped him stay sober in his hometown was helping other alcoholics. In helping others, he was helped. By keeping others away from alcohol, he was enabled to stay away.
So he found the nearest phone and called a local minister, hoping that he might know some alcoholics. He called nine people without finding anyone. The bar was still tempting him. He was feeling desperate, but he desperately wanted to stay sober. So back to the phone. Finally, he struck gold -- a long-term alcoholic named Bob. Bill went to visit him for supper at 5:00 PM and struck up a conversation that lasted till midnight.
Why did Bob listen? Because Bill had experienced alcoholism.
The end of the story? Bob resisted the hotel bar. Bill won the battle against alcohol. Together, they formed Alcoholics Anonymous. Today, in 140 countries, two million people attend AA meetings each week. Two million people helping themselves by helping others. This vast movement may have never gotten off the ground if Bill hadn't decided to fight his weakness by helping another person with his weakness.
[Copyright January, 2004, Legacy Educational Resources. Source - Bill W.: A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounder Bill Wilson, by Francis Hartigan (St. Martin's Press, New York, March, 2000), p. 74-86]
From "The Lord of the Rings" - New illustrations about writer JRR Tolkien and director Peter Jackson The final installment of the "Lord of the Rings"trilogy has been called "the culmination of one of the most stunning achievements in the history of film." While your children and students have this trilogy fresh on their minds, why not teach principles of life from the phenomenally successful director and original author? I've devoted an entire Web page to these insights and am continuing to develop more materials for this page over the Christmas break.
12/27/03 From current biography...
Teaching: Believing in the Kids on the Fringe ("Teaching Jim Carrey") Lucy Dervaitis could have taught in an affluent school district that offered all the educational extras and an abundance of supportive parents. Instead, she chose a rough, poor district...(More...)
Jim Carrey Endures How many of you know Jim Carrey, either from his stand-up comedy or from his many successful films, including Dumb and Dumber, Mask, Liar Liar or The Truman Show? You might think that anyone as talented as Jim must had a great home background and went to a great school with plenty of money to afford the best of training. Think again... (More...)
Passion Leads to Tenacity Bethany Hamilton is a surfer. And not just a casual surfer. She's committed. How do I know? First of all, she's spent enough time on her board to become a top amateur surfer in Hawaii, headed toward the pros. But I also know because of her attitude toward a surfing tragedy.
On the fateful day she woke up at 5:00 A.M. to hit the waves with her best friend, Alana. After about 30 minutes of surfing, she took a break, lying on her surfboard with her arm dangling into the water. Suddenly a 15-foot Tiger Shark clamped down on her arm and began jerking her around. When she saw the red water, she immediately knew that she'd lost her arm.
She also lost half of her blood. She'd have lost it all had her friend's father not taken a surf board leash and strapped it on as a tourniquet.
People were amazed at her calm, both during and after the event. Perhaps it had something to do with her world-view. In her own words,
Although she knows she may never be able to compete again, she vows to continue surfing. Why? Listen carefully to her explanation:
She hopes that she can be fitted with a prosthetic arm so that she can continue surfing and playing the guitar.
Her attitude tells me something important about resilience. She found something worth enduring setbacks for. She isn't a casual surfer. She's passionate about surfing. Think again of her words, "If I was like a person that just quit surfing after this, I wouldn't be a real surfer."
Sometimes our reactions to obstacles and tragedies reveal our true convictions. Often we hear people say things like,
I've got to wonder if Bethany might tell each of these: "Then you're not a real student. You're not a real guitarist. You're not a real band member." If they were passionate about what they were doing, they wouldn't give up so easily. (Written by Legacy Educational Resources, Copyright 12/5/03. Source: "Shark attack doesn't deter surfer girl," Detroit Free Press, November 24, 2003)
Discussion Questions
12/01/03 - Celebrate a Classmate When high school teacher Charlie Abourjilie heard about this activity, he had his doubts, deeming it too "fluffy." After trying it, he was shocked at the impact and vowed to continue it for the rest of his career. Here's how it works:
Write on the board, "Celebrate a Classmate!" Explain that they are to write something positive about a classmate - something nice, something they appreciate or something they admire. Don't necessarily choose your best friend. Give them examples, such as "Dan keeps us positive," "I like Ann's smile," "Steve's a deep thinker," "Rachel's her own person," "Pete's so steady; he never seems to get upset." "Beth's so friendly." Have them sign their papers, but promise that you won't read their names aloud.
Finally, read the papers aloud in front of the class. Charlie says it's one of, if not THE best thing he's ever done with his class. Students are starved for compliments and some are visibly transformed when they hear one from a classmate. The complimentors are sometimes stunned to realize the power of encouragement.
But what about the students who don't get complemented? Charlie solves this by repeating the celebration every three to four weeks. If you keep track of who's not mentioned, you as the teacher can write complements for those students to make sure they're mentioned the next week. (Found in Promising Practices in Character Education, Edited by Ginny Turner, Character Development Publishing, Chapel Hill, NC, pp. 115,116.)
(Find most lessons in "members" section)
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