Begin with the End

Need a Five Minute Classroom Activity to Motivate, Inspire and Focus Your Students?

Try this, an idea spurned from this view of the harvested rice fields next to my house in Thailand. . .

Step One. Divide the chalkboard/whiteboard down the middle with a vertical line.

Step Two. Have the students call out what they want in their futures and write these on the RIGHT side of the board. Do not edit or comment, just list their answers. They may say money, successful career, good grades, graduation, friendships, big house, etc. The more answers the better. You may also need to direct them with questions like, “What do you want in the future in this class? this school year? your high school career? etc.”

Step Three. Have students look at the list on the right side of the board, and then ask them what qualities or actions will help make those desires a reality in their lives. Write their answers down on the LEFT side of the board. Again, the more positive answers the better, and resist the urge to edit or comment too much.

Step Four. Ask them if the left side of the board {the qualities/actions} are words that could describe their lives right now at home, in their relationships, in their school work, etc. No answer needed, just give them a second to internally process.

Step Five. Draw a massive arrow from the left side of the board to the right side and share one or two of the following quotes about how actions today affect realities tomorrow.

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” – anonymous

“Look upon the present as the past of your future.” – anonymous

“Keep doing good. You reap what you sow.” – the bible

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. You see, success, doesn’t just suddenly occur one day in someone’s life. For that matter, neither does failure. Each is a process. Every day of your life is merely preparation for the next. What you become is the result of what you do today. In other words…

You are preparing for something.

The question is, What are you preparing for? Are you grooming yourself for success or failure? As my father used to tell me when I was growing up, ‘You can pay now, and play later, or you can play now and pay later. But either way, you are going to pay.’  The idea was that you can play and take it easy and do what you want today, but if you do, your life will be harder later. However, if you work hard now, on the front end, then you will reap rewards in the future.” - john maxwell, leadership coach

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Keep up the good work teachers– of choosing to take valuable class time to challenge students in your classroom to think bigger about their lives. You never know what the effects of your five minutes of motivation might have.

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Related Posts. One Small Spark. Shame vs. Vulnerability. Why Every Teacher Should Teach Character.

*Laura is a former middle school teacher and current home educator. She blogs at aLifeOverseas.com.