In a way, this past week has been a prolific one. I’ve written over 25,000 words. But, these weren’t words for my own nourishment. I was finishing my feedback on a stack of persuasive essays about The Giver and writing end-of-semester comments. I was productive, but I struggled to make time for my own writing. I am hopping on a plane to Berlin this afternoon, attending the ELMLE 2014 conference, so I will make this a quick post.
As I have written about before, I start most weeks with a life lesson:
Little Things Add Up and Other Life Lessons
What Color Is Elmo? and Other Life Lessons
Below are some of the other life lessons I like to use in class. I hope you find something inspiring, and let me know if you have other such stories to share:
Coronado High School Basketball Game Teaches Us Sportsmanship and Love of the Game: A excellent lesson about love and taking care of each other, on the court and off
“Words” from Radiolab podcast: A visually arresting video I use to illustrate the power of wordplay and originality
Radiolab / NPR | “Words” from Keith Kenniff | Helios, Goldmund on Vimeo.
Post Office Work Song from Ghana: Beautiful music made from mundane tasks. I use it to talk about how we can make beauty in unexpected ways
Mo Cheeks helps Natalie Gilbert in an embarrassing moment: One of my favorite moments that illustrates the power of kindness
I am hardwired to respond to any video ever made as part of Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign #BeautyIs. I use these to spark to talk about how we can foster positive self images and why we need to do such work.
Robin Neal 
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