1. Let Every Lesson be Your Last
Lesson!
Jerrold Frank
Regional English Language Officer
U.S. Embassy Kyiv

3. Your Last Lesson…

6. What is a virtue?
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a
positive trait or quality deemed to be
morally good and thus is valued as a
foundation of principle and good
moral being.

7. Virtues we can promote in our classes
Acceptance Dignity Helpfulness Orderliness Tolerance
Assertive Encourage Honesty Passionate Trust
Authenticity Enthusiasm Honor Patience Truthful
Beauty Ethical Humility Peace Understand
Caring Excellence Idealism Persevere Unity
Commitment Fairness Integrity Prepared Visionary
Compassion Faith Imaginative Purposeful Wisdom
Confidence Flexibility Joyfulness Reliability Wonder
Considerate Forgiveness Justice Respectful
Contentment Friendliness Kindness Responsible
Cooperation Generosity Love Self-
discipline
Courage Gentleness Loyalty Service
Creativity Graciousness Moderation Sincerity
Control Gratitude Modesty Tact
Determined Harmonious Optimistic Tenacious

8. Incorporate Virtues in your Classes
1. Select a list of virtues you wish to emphasize.
2. Model the behavior you expect to help students
connect with real world applications.
3. Integrate virtues training in your regular curriculum
instead of artificially separating it out as a discrete
topic.
4. Build a classroom community that thrives on mutual
kindness and respect.
5. Encourage students to reflect on poor choices and
behaviors in terms of virtues.
6. Involve students in a variety of service learning
projects from planning to completion.

9. Virtues Activities
• Virtue of the week Diagram
• Virtues Role Plays
• Name that Virtue
• Secret Pal Program
• Integrate Virtues into Songs
• Virtues Games
• Skits
• Daily readings
• Group Discussions
• Post Virtues Posters in Hallways

10. Virtues Diagram
Excellence
Give your
best to
everything
Plan and
Practice
Set noble
goals
Develop
your gifts

11. Glad-Mad-Sad-Scared Game
Make up cards with faces representing each of
these words. Place them in the center of a circle
and model for students by doing this yourself.
1. Choose a card (they can be face up or face
down).
2. With everyone listening in a Virtues Sharing
Circle say, “I feel SAD when I…” or I feel GLAD
when I…Say something specific, e.g. “I feel SAD
when I have a cold and I miss a day of teaching,
3. After a few rounds of each person picking a card,
have the person on the left acknowledge the
person to the right for the virtue they noticed in
them while the were sharing.

14. What gift of character are we really
calling students to when we say…
1. Stop your talking. A. respect
2. Get back to work. B. orderliness
3. Clean up this mess. C. Self-discipline
4. Don’t talk back to me. D. purposefulness

15. Acknowledge-Thank-Correct
Acknowledge: I want to acknowledge you for
your purposefulness in starting your work right
away.
Correct: Please be orderly and hang up your
coat.
Thank: Thank you for your cooperation.

16. Integrate Virtues in your Curriculum
• Acknowledge Virtues when you see them.
• Guide students to practice a virtue when you know
they are about to need it.
• Correct misbehavior by naming the virtue involved-
replace shaming with naming.
• Focus on what you DO want, not what you don’t want
• Use virtues language to be specific.
• Name the act, not the actor.
• Use a multi-sensory approach in introducing virtues
into your regular curriculum through games, songs, and
special activities.
• Have a “Virtue of the Week” Program.

17. Building a Classroom Community
• Class meetings where all students have a voice
in developing goals and rules.
• Cooperative learning activities.
• Buddies programs.
• Teach conflict resolution.
• Turn the school into a laboratory where
students practice the kinds of roles and cope
with the kinds of challenges they will face
later in life.

18. Classroom Reflection
• What is your PURPOSE? Name a goal which is
important to you and say why.
• What have you done so far? Name three things
you have accomplished so far in your life.
• A Purposeful Challenge: Practice saying purposeful
three times fast.

19. Purposefulness Reflection Questions
• Name three famous successful people. How do
you think they practiced purposefulness.
• What are the biggest distractions when you are
trying to get something done?
• What can you do to stay focused?
• What is something you are purposeful about?
• How important is a sense of purpose to success?
• When do you find it easiest to concentrate and
stay focused?
• Make three goals you would like to accomplish in
the next three months.

20. Drawing Purposefulness
Draw three symbols or pictures of three goals
you want to accomplish in the next three
months, or make a collage using magazine
pictures and words to stand for your three
month goals.

21. Poster Points
• Living on purpose
• Keep your eyes on the prize
• A designer life

22. Quotes
“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will
take you there.” Lewis B. Carol
“If you always do what you always did, you’ll
always get what you always got.” Lait Ribeiro
“Everyone should carefully observe which way his
heart draws him, and then choose that way with all
his strength.” Jewish proverb
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The
secret of getting started is breaking your
overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks,
and then starting with the first one.” Mark Twain
“Always act, always walk, always proceed. Neither
stand still nor go back…” St. Augustine
“Strong reasons make strong actions.” Unknown

23. Service Learning Projects
• Brainstorm the needs students see in their
town or in the world. Ask “What touches your
compassion?”
• Choose a simple act of service that can make a
difference and is respectful to those that can
be helped.
• Create a task force in your class to do different
parts of it, keep a log of activities, and report
each week.
• Be sure to celebrate the completion of the
project by reflecting on the virtues that were
involved in completing the project.

24. The End!
Jerrold Frank
frankjj@state.gov
americanenglish.state.gov
https://www.coursera.org/course/sha
ping1landscape and for
part II at
https://www.coursera.org/course/sha
ping2paths.