Have an idea for a Learning Link?
If your Link is accepted for publication on the Web site you will be credited with your name, school, and city.These Learning Links provide ten quick-and-easy, five-minute mini-lessons to promote student thought and dialogue about service and civic engagement. You may use as many of them as you wish, and in whatever order best meets your needs and the interest of your students. The purpose of these mini-lessons is to provide a deeper understanding of philanthropy (the giving of time, talent, and treasure for the common good) and to reinforce the lesson focus. These Learning Links also promote the development of character traits, civic engagement, and student leadership. As appropriate to your grade level, it is recommended that students play an active leadership role in presenting these mini-lessons to their classmates.
- Read: Just in case you’ve never had it happen to you, know that adults forget many things. Sometimes it’s because they have so much to think about. Sometimes it’s because they get to multi-tasking and are distracted. Sometimes it’s because they are worried about us. And sometimes it just seems that’s what adults do. That’s why sometimes they can be careless about such things as not recycling, not turning off room lights, driving rather than walking to the mail box, tossing trash out the car window, taking extra long showers, or over watering the lawn. Dr. Robert Wallace, who writes a syndicated column for teens, was asked recently by a teen if he thought teens were more “green” conscious than most adults were. His response was, “When it comes to volunteering or promoting good causes, teens are the leaders.”
Discuss: Do you agree with Dr. Wallace’s evaluation of teen leadership? Why or why not? If we agree that what he says might be even somewhat true, what role to we have in making our world a better place? In what ways might we influence the adults in our lives during our service event to help them see the importance of becoming more aware of what needs our attention for the sake of our school, our community, and our world?
- Read: Fredrico and Derk came to talk to Mr. Atkins, the high school football coach, on Monday morning following Somewheresville’s first win of the new football season on Friday night. Somewhereville had won only one football game in the past two years, and this year Fredrico and Derk decided not to go out for the team even though they were considered two of the best players. They told some of their teammates that they were sick of losing. But after watching the game on Friday, they had second thoughts about sitting out their senior year. They came to ask Coach Atkins to be allowed to join the team. Mr. Atkins said that it would be up to the team whether or not Fredrico and Derk would be allowed to rejoin. He also said that it would require 100% agreement on the part of each player. All of the players on the team had practiced long and hard through the grueling hot early fall days to make the team. Two players stood to “lose” more than the others did if Fredrico and Derk were reinstated. The league rules stated that only 42 players could be listed on a team’s roster. This year Somewhereville was able to dress 41 players, which meant that with the addition of Fredrico and Derk they would be over the limit. Seth was the 41st player and it would be up to him to give up his position on the roster in order to allow these two to play. Cameron was the starting quarterback, a position he had dreamed of having, but if Derk was allowed to return, Cameron knew that he would have to settle for the role of a backup quarterback. However, all the players knew their team would be an even better team this year with the addition of Fredrico and Derk.
Discuss: If you were one of the players, other than Seth and Cameron, how would you vote? If you were Seth or Cameron how would you vote? As it turned out the team voted 100% to reinstate the two boys. Why do you think Cameron would give his consent? Why do you think Seth would give his consent? Who made the biggest sacrifice? Why do you think so? How do you think you’d feel if during our service event, kids who said that they wanted no part of it, saw what was happening and asked to join in later? Why is it important that we operate as a team? What sacrifices might we have to make in order to do what’s best for the success of our event?
- Read: To keep horses from becoming distracted or spooked during races and focused on the track, trainers often use something called blinders. They are also known as blinkers. It is a piece of equipment used on a horse's face that restricts the horse's vision. They are placed on either side of each eye. It does not permit a horse to see side-to-side. Many trainers believe this keeps the horse focused on what is in front of him. They feel that it encourages the horse to pay attention to the race rather than other distractions, such as the crowds. Metaphorically, the term blinders, has also come to refer to someone with an overly narrow focus or someone who is unable to see the bigger picture.
Discuss: One of our major difficulties as human beings is to focus for long periods of time. We have what some traditions refer to as the “monkey mind”. Our mind flits from one thought to another even while we are trying to concentrate. We are easily distracted and our off-task behavior often results in less than desirable outcomes. During our service event in what ways can our focus be too narrow? Likewise, during our service event how can a restricted focus help us achieve on-task behavior so we can successfully reach our desired results? During our event, what are some things we could do to help reduce or eliminate distractions?
- Read: Nola Ochs is a walking lesson in perseverance! In May 2007 she became the world’s oldest college graduate. She was 95 years of age! “I just wanted to graduate,” she admits, “the desire was still there.” It often made for lively college class discussions. While her classmates would talk about what if, Mrs. Ochs would share what was. Living in hard times forced Nola to give up her dreams in order to care for her family. She milked cows on the family farm in order to live and raise her family. She still owns and operates that farm today. Her sons assured her that they could take care of matters back home and that it was now time for her fulfill the dream she always had. So they helped pack her off to college at 94 years of age. When interviewers asked what is about her that brought her to this point in her life, she replied, “My parents stressed diligence and honesty and cleanliness and that tended toward making me what I am today.” Alexandra, who graduated alongside her grandmother said of her grandmother’s accomplishment, “It’s one thing to be 95 and go back to school, but it’s another thing to be 95 and graduate!” But Mrs. Ochs is not done yet. She is looking forward to meet her next challenge. She is presently enrolled in a Masters’ Degree program at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. When she graduates in two years with her degree she’ll be 97 years young!
Discuss: Where do you suppose people with this much stick-to-itiveness get their motivation? Why do you think that 5 out of 100 high school age students lose their motivation to complete high school? What role might perseverance play in graduating? In our service event? How can we use Mrs. Ochs’ story to motivate our classmates to enroll in our service event and see it to its completion; to do more than just show up? As we plan to involve our classmates in our event, why might it be important that we assure them that we’ll also be there to help?
www.americanprofile.com
- Read: Sleepwalking is a sleep disorder where a person does things that are normally associated with wakefulness while he or she is asleep or in a sleep-like state. Sleepwalkers are not conscious of their actions and consequently have no memory or recall of having walked or done anything while asleep. This sleep disorder affects an estimated 10 percent of all human beings at least once in their lives. In the book entitled Tuesdays with Morrie written by sports editor and writer Mitch Albom, Mr. Albom chronicles Dr. Morrie Schwartz’s impending death from Lou Gehrig’s disease through a series of interviews. During one of those interviews, Morrie talks about another kind of sleepwalking. He says, “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”
Discuss: According to Dr. Schwartz, how is it possible to sleepwalk while awake? As Dr. Schwartz defines it, what percent of people do you think sleepwalk while awake? Explain why you think so. According to Dr. Schwartz, what do we have to do in order to avoid sleepwalking while awake? How might involving ourselves in our service event be a remedy for being half-asleep? How might our involvement in our service event be a way to add meaning to our life and to the lives of others?
- Read: Imagine a small child growing up living in the back of a cave and never having seen the light of day. All of this child’s needs were met by caring parents who protected, fed, clothed, and taught her the ways of the cave people. Over the years, the child had grown satisfied and comfortable living her cave life. Then one day when her parents had gone to gather berries she curiously ventured to the cave opening and saw the most wonderful and glorious things she had ever seen. Sunlight, trees swaying in the breeze, and birds flitting and chirping among their branches. She saw flowers and bees and smelled the aroma of fresh air. From that moment on she knew she could no longer be satisfied living as she had. She discovered not only that life had so much more to offer, but also that she had so much to offer life.
Discuss: This parable illustrates the attitude that is often shared by those who involve themselves in giving activities for the first time. “It’s like coming out of the dark into the light,” one high school student shared during his class’s reflection time following their involvement in a service project. In what ways might our involvement in our service event, take us out of our comfort zone? Do you think the child in this parable had any idea of the changes that would take place in her life by moving out of her satisfied comfortable cave life? What role might curiosity play in deciding to participate in this event? In what ways might our involvement be like “coming out of the dark into the light”?
- Read: To say that someone is a ‘character’ is usually quite different from saying that someone is a ‘person of character.’ Calling someone a ‘character’ usually indicates the person is sort of an eccentric, while saying someone is a ‘person of character’ pays that person a great complement. Typically, a ‘person of character’ is someone who is honest, respectful, perseveres, is fair, and a good citizen. Each day we can add to or take away from our good character. People of good character are respected and appreciated. They make good and true friends! Best of all, they can be counted on not only to do things right, but also to do the right things.
Discuss: Why are these character traits considered so important? How might having these character traits be helpful to someone choosing to be involved in our service event? How does being involved in our service event help promote good character?
www.charactercounts.org
- Read: On most athletic teams, each player is assigned a skill-position to play. These skill positions are assigned to a particular player because he or she is deemed to have the specific set of skills required for someone to play that particular position well. Playing an assigned position requires the player to do certain things that other players on the team may not have to do because the assigned player is handling the responsibility of that position. The team can rely on each assigned player to get the job done. Often however, for whatever reason, others players may have to help out a teammate who has been assigned a specific position because that player is unable to do what is required of that position. Some examples of what this might look like: a nose tackle recovers a ball fumbled by a running back. A centerfielder moves over to right field to catch a fly ball that the right-fielder lost in the sun. A soccer player moves out of position to replace a teammate who is injured. This is called teamwork. Everybody doing their best at what they have been assigned to do, but for the sake of the team everybody is ready to step in to take other responsibilities if needed. Most coaches of any team sports will tell you that this is the most challenging part of their job; to get athletes to work together and help each other out when needed.
Discuss: As we approach our service event, is it important that we be assigned skill-positions? Why or why not? Why do you think most coaches of team sports feel that getting their players to play together as a team is such a challenge? How important a role do you think teamwork will play in our service event? What are some things we could do to ensure teamwork?
- Read: Do you know or have you heard or read about Linus van Pelt? He is one of the characters in Charles Schulz’s cartoon comic strip Peanuts. He considers himself to be the best friend of the cartoon’s main character, Charlie Brown. Though young, Linus is unusually smart, and he acts as the comic strip's philosopher and theologian. Despite his intelligence, Linus is almost never without his blue blanket, which he holds over his shoulder while sucking his thumb for which he was often teased. But Linus paid no attention to the teasing. He affectionately referred to his blanket as his “security blanket” because it provided him with comfort and security especially in new and uncomfortable situations. As time went along Mr. Schultz made less and less of Linus’s security blanket in the comic strip. In 1989, he decided that Linus had outgrown his blanket and soon after that he had Linus stop sucking his thumb. In Linus’s own words, "It's a good thumb, but not a great thumb."
Discuss: Sometimes people are hesitant to try new things. They often have a great deal to offer but hold back because they feel uncomfortable in new situations. What “security blanket” can we offer those who are afraid or hesitant to join with us during our service event? Linus eventually gave up his security blanket and thumb sucking as he grew more confident. How might our involvement in our service event help our confidence grow?
- Read: The following are three quotes from famous people:
“One person can make a difference and every person must try.”
John F. Kennedy, former President of the United States.
“How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment: we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straightaway!”
Anne Frank, celebrated author and victim of the Holocaust.
“Those among you who will be truly happy are the ones who have sought and found how to serve.”
Albert Schweitzer, celebrated Nobel Peace Prize winner, and missionary surgeon.
Discuss: What do each of these quotes say about why and how it is important to try to make a difference in the world? If we were to select one of these three quotes as a ‘campaign slogan’ to encourage our classmates to join our service event which one should we choose and why?
