Reflecting on experiences: 'laws of life' essays

Students can profit from an interesting essay assignment: write about the ideals and concepts that guide their life. The seemingly insignificant "laws of life" activity grew into a much larger undertaking that assisted students in developing a greater sense of self, purpose, and possibilities for the future. To carry out the assignment in class, the teacher should suggest that students reflect on their lives both in and out of school, as well as the experiences and people that shaped them. The teacher then instructs students to identify significant traits that have influenced their lives and then write an essay, make a film, or create other multimedia content centered on the "laws" or principles that drive them.

Question prompts like “who do you admire? list three of their admirable traits” and describe an incident or event from which you learned a lesson ‘the hard way” can help guide students. Periodically throughout the year, the teacher has students refer back to their essays to reflect on what they wrote and ask themselves “what’s changed?” and “what’s stayed the same?”.