Writing On Wednesday (WOW)1 READ: Stephen Covey said, “Begin with the end in mind.” THINK: What academic goals do you have for this school year? WRITE: Describe one academic goal you want to accomplish this school year and the plan you will put into place to accomplish that goal. How does “beginning with the end in mind” ensure that you will be successful?

Writing On Wednesday (WOW)2 READ: J. K. Rowling has said, “Understanding is the first step to acceptance.” THINK: What does this quote mean to you? Do you agree with it or not? When have you seen acceptance in action? WRITE: Write about what it means to accept others and how being accepting can make a difference. Explain how “understanding is the first step to acceptance.” What are some ways that you can make a difference by being accepting?

WOW 3 It is saved next to this resource on weebly.

Writing On Wednesday (WOW)4 READ: Islamic leader Ai Ibn-Abu-Talib said,” He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare.” THINK: What does the quote mean to you? Why is friendship so important? When we learning to accept ourselves and others, we began to accept that other people could accept us, too. Hence, we can trust ourselves to be good to our friends. With a growing circle of people to choose from, we can risk being ourselves. Knowing that whatever happens, we can handle it. WRITE: Write about what it means to be a good friend. What can you do to show that you appreciate your friends be a good friend to others?

WOW 5 READ: Ambrose Redmoon said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” THINK: What does this quote mean to you? Do you agree with it or not? How many times will you show courage today? How do we encourage others to show it, especially when it comes to preventing bullying behaviors. T WRITE: Write about how courage is doing what is right even if it is not popular. How is this related to Redmoon’s quote?

WOW 6 READ: William Shakespeare said, “Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so.” Similarly, Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." THINK: What do these quotes mean to you? How are they related? Consider this idea: what happens in life is less important than how we respond to our circumstances. Your state of mind is up to you. WRITE: Write about the way you respond to certain situations—good or bad. Why is it important to look for the good in every situation? How can that help us cope with difficult situations?

WOW 7 READ: Gail Sheehy once said, “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” THINK: What does this quote mean? Do you agree with her or not? WRITE: Change is inevitable. Write about why change important. What happens when we resist change?

WOW 8 READ: Babies are naturally born with two fears. A fear of falling and a fear of loud noises. All other fears are learned by association and identification. A baby is born with certain reflexes, like fight or flight. Another of these inborn reflexes are startle reflexes. When hearing a loud noise, a baby tends to make a jerking movement. And when a baby gets a sensation from falling, he/she tends to gasp for air. (And no….don’t try this at home.) These reflexes are unconscious, but are soon connected to “fear” as babies become older. THINK: Consider the following quotes related to fear. Dale Carnegie stated, “Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it…that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.” Similarly, Les Brown suggests, “When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all. We all need some form of deeply rooted, powerful motivation—it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we can live our dreams.” What do these quotes mean? Do you agree with them or not? Why? WRITE: Write about what fears you have. Have you been able to overcome them? How? If not, why not?