Pep Talk- Video

This is a cute video with some excellent "feel good" messages.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o&safe=active

I have a dream...

The following video is an artistic reproduction of the "I have a dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
http://www.wimp.com/dreamspeech/

Processing:
What was happening during this period of time?
Why was this speech so important?
What meaning does this speech have today?
How can you apply this message in your life today?

Activism

ACTIVISM ISN'T JUST FOR ADULTS

The people who made the Montgomery Bus Boycott successful were woman and men, Black and White, young and old.  Alphonso Perry, a track star at school, recalls how he used his athletic skill to deliver notices on the boycott from door to door.  Other young men and women walked to and from school together, protecting one another, seeing to it that all hot home safely.  There is no age requirement for standing up for what you believe; young people can be very effective as activists.

OBJECTIVES

• Recognize the necessary steps for social action
• Create an action plan for community involvement

WHAT MAKES AN ACTIVIST?

At the time Mrs. Parks kept her seat and the boycotters refused to ride, segregation was a commonly accepted practice in the South.  It takes a great deal of individual courage to stand up to something that most people accept.

At times, we have all refrained from speaking or acting for what we believe is right.  What are some of the things that keep us from acting? (For example, we don’t have time; we aren’t sure anyone else will be on our side; or we don’t think our actions will make a difference anyway.) Think of a time when you have been in this position.

• What was the issue or problem?
• What kept you from acting or speaking in that situation?
• What might you have said or done at the time?
• What difference would it have made to the situation?
• What difference would it have made in yourself?
• If you confront the same situation again, what will you do? What will you say?

Although there are many different ways to campaign for change, the following steps will help you get started.

1.  Identify your cause.  What current social problems – either at your school, in your community, in the country or internationally – are of special interest to you?  What injustices need to be more fully addressed in society?

2.  Consider the possibilities.  Why is this issue important to you?  Is it important enough to justify your time?  What are the possible risks?  How might you and your friends make a difference?  What are your chances of success?

3.  Research your issue.  What do you need to know about this issue?  What related issues might you investigate?  What are some of the opposing arguments?  Who can help you find more information or strengthen your position?

4.  Build alliances.  Find allies who will help you with your project.  Who shares common goals? (They should be friends, teachers, parents, local organizations, etc.)  What individuals might what to work with you on this issue?  What local or national organizations can offer assistance? 

5.  Build Strategies.  What are some of the methods you might use to educate the public about your cause?  Brainstorm things you can do to bring about change in the current situation.  Questions to consider are:

• Why do you want to change the current situation?
• How will you go about doing this?
• Will your actions encourage other people to take up the cause or discourage them from doing so?
• What effect will your actions have on community leaders or lawmakers?

1. Present your action plan to the class.  As part of your group’s presentation, explain how your action plan is going to convince the community to support your cause.  Students outside the group can suggest additional actionas and also play devil’s advocate, suggesting how your action plan might turn potential supporters off.
2. Contact local lawmakers, activists and other community leaders who work for social change.  Invite them to your classroom to discuss their projects and critique the class’s actions plans.
3. Interview family members who have stood up for something they believed in or were part of a protest or social movement.  What role did they play?  Why did they choose to act?  Did they take any risks?  Audiotape or videotape the interviews.
4. The World Wide Web is a gold mine of student activist sites and stories.

-www.teachingtolerance.org

 

   

Leadership

On March 5, 2003, I turned on Good Morning America while eating breakfast. Charlie Gibson was interviewing General Earl Hailston, the commanding general of Marine Forces Central Command. The general was waiting with his troops just a few miles off the border of Iraq...waiting to go to war. Toward the end of the interview, Charlie asked him if he had any hobbies. The general said, "Yes, I love photography, especially taking photos of my men." He shared that while he had been waiting for the past few days he took photos of his men, and at night he would email the photos with a brief note to their mothers back in the USA. Charlie asked if he could see a sample of a letter, and the general walked into his tent, turned on his computer, and read the last letter he had sent. It said:

Dear Mrs. Johnson, I thought you might enjoy seeing this picture of your son. He is doing great. I also wanted you to know that you did a wonderful job raising him. You must be very proud. I can certainly tell you that I'm honored to serve with him in the U.S. Marines. General Earl Hailston

Wow! I had goose bumps as I watched Charlie randomly interview a few of General Hailston's men, and without exception, you could feel the genuine love and respect that every one of them had for their leader. You may have heard the quote..."They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Well, here's a man who truly understood what caring, kindness and leadership is all about.

Human Knot Activity

Objective: Build communication skills, problem solving, and discuss the roles people play in a group.
Materials: None
Activity: Have the group form a tight circle.  Explain the activity and allow people to step out if they are not comfortable with it.  Have people put their right arm into the center of the circle, and hold hands with someone.  Then have people put their left arm in the circle and hold someone else's hand.  No one should hold both hands with the same person, or hold the hand of someone directly next to them in the cirlce.
Ask the group to untangle themselves, without letting go of hands.
Processing:
How did you feel during this activity?  How were ideas expressed?  Is there anything you would do differently?  Who was the leader/ leaders?  Why?  How can we apply this to what we do every day?  What roles do we play when there is a problem?  Who do we seek for help? 

Who is the leader? Activity

Objective: build observation skills and open a discussion about leadership.
Materials: None
Activity:
Ask the group to form a circle.  Ask one volunteer to leave the room.  Have the group choose a "leader".  Explain that whatever the leader does (such as clapping, dancing, jumping, touching their nose, scratching their head, etc.) the group will do it also.  The volunteer in invited back into the room and is asked to identify who the leader is.  When the volunteer guesses correctly, the person who was leader leaves the room and a new leader is chosen, and the game continues.
Processing: 
How did the volunteer know who the leader is?  What were they looking for when they came in the class?  How do you know who your leaders are in the halls, in the classroom, at home?  What does it mean to be a leader at school?  Can anyone be a leader?

Good in the World

Perspective

Objective: Tell the students that someone is always watching them and paying attention to how they react to things.  Help them to understand that they are leaders, whether they think of themselves that way or not. 

The following video depicts REAL people, not actors.  Have them pay attention to all the positive behaviors depicted
 http://www.wimp.com/colacameras/

What positive behaviors did you see in the video?
How did the video make you feel?
Which of these behaviors can you incorporate into your own life? 

Finding Your Path

The Calf Path

By: Sam Walter Foss

Long ago, through the woods

A calf walked home as good calves should;

It made a trail all bent and skewed,

A crooked trail as all calves do.

Since them, two hundred years have fled,

and now, I guess the calf is dead.

But left behind his rambling trail,

Which leads us to this little tale.

The trail was taken up next day

By a lone dog that passed that way.

And soon an old bellwether sheep

Led his flock, most half asleep;

Following the steps of that first calf

Through those old woods they made a path,

And then the town folks found the route

And walked it, winking in and out.

They always muttered words of wrath,

Like, "curse this crazy, crooked path!"

But still they followed--do not laugh--

The trail left by that early calf;

A winding, crooked path they stalked,

Because the ccalf wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane

That bent and turned and turned again;

This crooked lane became a road

Where many a poor horse, with this load,

Toiled beneath the burning sun

And walked three miles just to travel one.

The years flew by and in a beat

The road became a village street.

Then, before they were aware,

A city's crowded thoroughfare.

Where millions take their daily ride

On super highways six lanes wide!

They zig and zag, where the little calf did

and brake and serve and slip and skid.

and on they go, but not content,

The traffic of the continent.

And thought they still could cut in half

The path once taken by that calf.

They choose instead, to follow-not find--

Holding to the calf path of the mind.

today folks still trudge through the snow

Just like that horse from long ago.

and like that horse they wear their blinders,

For they are followers not finders.

Now you may say they're quite insane

For sticking to that wandering lane.

But ask yourself, if you will dare,

Do I ever challenge what's already there?

Do I go forth and seek to change,

To chart a new course or rearrange?

DO I lead or an I led

By one calf now two centuries dead?

But from them we must learn to do

The things we can to change our view.

For we can gain from their mistake--

And choose with care the road we take.

Essentials for Victory

1.  He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
2.  He will win who knows ho to handle both superior and inferior forces.
3.  He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
4.  He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
5.  He will win who has military capacity and is not interefered with by the sovereign.

-Sun Tzu, The Art of War