【推荐1】An airline passenger ensured a 20-year-old man was reunited with his lost wallet-along with a little extra something to make up for their time apart.

Hunter Shamatt first lost his wallet while he was on a Frontier Airlines flight from Omaha to attend his sister's wedding in Las Vegas earlier this month. On realizing his wallet was lost, he contacted the airline to see if anyone had turned it in—but to no avail. Since the wallet contained his ID, a signed paycheck, his debit card and $60 in cash, he “feared the worst”.

Shortly after the flight, however, Hunter was shocked to receive a package in the mail from an unknown sender. Inside was his wallet-along with an additional $40 in cash.

“Found this on a Frontier flight from Omaha to Denver-row 12, seat F stuck between the seat and wall,” read a letter in the package. “Thought you might want it hack. All the best. PS: I rounded your cash up to an even $100 so you could celebrate getting your wallet hack. Have fun!”

Hunter's mother, Jeannie, posted a photo of the letter to social media in hopes that they would be able to track down the sender and thank them for their kindness. All they had to go on was that the letter was sent from Applied Underwriters in Omaha and the sender's initials were signed: "T.B".

The Good Man was later identified as Todd Brown, a father-of-five who was delighted at the chance to "have a little fun" with helping out a hard-working stranger. Brown says that he often tries to do good deeds without any recognition, thus why he didn't sign his full name on the letter, but Jeannie later insisted on praising the Nebraska native on social media.

“I try to teach my children to do the right things in life, help people when you can despite the outcome,” she wrote on Facebook. “This story is more about restoring faith in people than anything”.

【推荐3】The snow was falling and the roads had become dangerous. The schools were dismissed early, but much to my surprise, my appointment wasn’t canceled. So I went, feeling especially heroic. As far as I could see, I was risking my life to keep my word. Snow or no snow, I would be on time for my scheduled donation at the local blood center.

When I got there, I discovered I wasn’t alone. Four more “hero-types” were already lying back in donor chairs with lines attached to their veins, and machines quietly pumping away to collect their lifesaving gifts.

Seeing my fellow donors honoring their own commitments, I realized why I was there. I lay back in my donor chair, ready to make a difference in the life of someone I would never meet.

To be honest, I’d never really thought about why I donate. I just do it. But a few months ago, during one of my regular donations I learned that my blood was specifically for a cancer patient and for a newborn baby—both patients needed what I would give in order to live. I’ve viewed my visits to the blood center differently ever since.

My wife Karen is a donor, too. And more importantly, she has been on the bone marrow (骨髄) list for fifteen years, ever since she signed up to provide bone marrow to a kindergartner with leukemia (白血病). That little girl died before Karen’s bone marrow could help her, but Karen was called again recently. Her test results were still on file, and it turned out she was a potential match for someone else. The caller asked Karen if she would still be willing to become a bone marrow donor. “Yes,” she said and then immediately began answering questions on the pages of paperwork for further testing. It was a race against time.

I wish I could say that this race was won. It wasn’t. The caller later thanked Karen for her participation and asked a few more questions—including whether or not she’d remain on the donor list. “Of course!” Karen answered.

We still keep making appointments. I don’t know whose life my donation may affect. Most likely it will be a stranger, but someday the person needing a blood product could be you or me or maybe a loved one. It is worthwhile to take your time to donate. I like the sense of giving.

【推荐1】Joel Boyers and his wife, Melody Among, were heading home from the Nashville airport when he received an urgent call from a stranger in Pennsylvania. The caller told Boyers that her brother and his two daughters were trapped on their roof in Waverly, 60 miles from Nashville. They were surrounded by rising flood waters.

Desperate, the caller had Googled “Nashville helicopters,” and Boyers’s company was the first to appear. She begged Boyers to rescue her loved ones.

Boyers, looked west toward Waverly and saw the storm clouds. “Ma’am,” he said, “no one will fly in this weather.” But even before he finished the sentence, Boyers knew they would go back up. He put the brother’s address into his phone, and then they drove back to the airport. Soon, they were in the air, unprepared for what they were about to see in Waverly.

“As soon as I flew over the area, it was nothing but water below me,” Boyers told the Associated Press (AP). “People were firmly holding anything that didn’t move — roofs, trees, poles.”

The flooding, which would eventually claim 20 lives and destroy more than 270 homes, also took out cell phone service, making it impossible for him to locate the house he was looking for. He flew on anyway. Maybe he’d get lucky.

As Boyers piloted, Among began searching for people trapped on top of roofs, bridges— anywhere Boyers could land his helicopter and get them on board. Boyers and Among’s task ended 90 minutes after it began, when professional rescue helicopters showed up. It was good timing —Boyers and Among were almost out of fuel after rescuing 17 people. As for the woman who originally contacted Boyers, she called back to say that her brother and his daughters had also been saved.

【推荐2】Carol: I started playing the cello (大提琴) when I was about eight or nine. It was great playing the cello because 1 was in youth orchestras (管弦乐队) and we went abroad to do tours. But anyway, when I got to university, I stopped playing. Well, there just wasn't time and there were so many other things to do. Luckily, I took it up after my 25th birthday and joined a band (乐队).

Daniel: When I was little, I thought I'd end up learning the guitar like my father, but then I decided that I wanted to have my own instrument (乐器), so I chose the trumpet (小号). I'm in the school jazz band and I'd like to be a musician when I grow up, but my dad says it's difficult to make a living from music. But I don't want to be a lawyer like him. It's so boring.

Carmen: Nobody likes living near someone like me because when I practise, I make a lot of noise! But you have to keep practising, don't you? Otherwise it gets more and more difficult. The trouble is, in the summer, when it's hot, I have to open the windows, so the whole street gets to hear it if I'm not careful. I love playing the drums and I play in a fantastic band.

Vince: I've played the guitar for as long as I can remember, but when I was trying to make it as a musician after school, I used to play in the Underground in London to make a bit of extra money. I kept on playing, but I ran a restaurant to make a living. When I get any spare time I still play. I've got a few friends who like music too and we formed a band.

【推荐3】By the time she turned 18, Khadijah Williams had attended twelve schools. She had lived in shelters, in parks, and in motels, never in a permanent residence for more than a few months. She had tolerated the blames of students who considered her as “different”.

Homeless since early childhood, Khadijah struggled all her life to hide her circumstances from teachers and fellow students. However, academics proved to be a way for her to find confidence in herself again. For instance, at the age of 9, she placed in the 99th percentile on a state exam, and her teacher told her she was “gifted”. From that moment forward, Khadijah decided to do whatever it took to keep herself in that category. “I was so proud of being smart. I never wanted people to say, ‘You got the easy way out because you’re homeless,’” she said. “I never saw it as an excuse.”

By the second year of high school, she realized that she could not succeed in getting the further education she dreamed of without getting help to go beyond what her current school could offer. She talked to teachers and counselors (辅导员) who helped her apply to summer community college classes, scholarships, and enrichment programs. And in 11th grade, when she enrolled at Jefferson High School, she decided to complete the rest of her school career there—a decision that meant taking a bus each morning at 4 a. m. and not getting home until 11 p. m.

Her perseverance and hard work paid off, however. When she poured the story of her life into her Harvard University college application, she was accepted.

Once Khadijah felt ready to tell her story, it won her notice not only from college admissions boards but also from the news media, including Oprah, who introduced Khadijah on her show. Now as a successful student at Harvard, Khadijah continues to use the lessons of her extraordinary life to help and inspire other students.

【推荐1】The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) released a report on Australian students’ sense of belonging in school in May. It described as “disturbing” some of the differences in Australian students’ sense of belonging between male and female students, students from high and low economic backgrounds, and students from different cultural backgrounds.

A sense of belonging in school is the degree to which students feel respected, accepted and supported by teachers and peers. It has been linked to students' attention and effort in class, their persistence and completion of learning activities. An understanding of belonging is important for educators. It allows them to plan effective practices to support students in the classroom and school-wide.

A study from the US found students' sense of belonging declines from year 7 through to year 11. With it, students' educational expectations also decrease. This decline may be due to a mismatch between students’ need for autonomy (自主) and interaction，and their learning environment. They may experience less supportive and caring teacher — student relationships，increased teacher control, and limited opportunities for autonomy. A similar study in Finland also found this might be because secondary students need to adapt to a larger social network and a larger number of teachers, so they may not know their peers or teachers as well.

Importantly, some groups of students may feel lower levels of belonging. This includes students with different cultural or language backgrounds, students with disabilities or students awkward in social interaction.

Teachers and schools play an important role in nurturing students’ sense of belonging. If a student considers their school and teacher to be caring and accepting，they’re more likely to adopt the academic and social values of their school and teacher. Teachers and schools can take steps to improve students' sense of belonging in school, which is important for all students and especially                                                     those identified as being at-risk.

【推荐2】Teaching English is the best way to get paid to travel the world. Flexible (灵活的) hours, paid holidays, and paid accommodations are just some of the reasons why teaching English is fit for those who want to take a gap year abroad.

Flexible Hours!

Teachers can choose their hours in many teaching abroad programs, so if you want to spend a day walking in the city, taking a cooking class, reading a book, learning a new language, or simply resting under a tree, teaching English gives you that flexibility to let yourself experience the new culture. Tell us what you would do for fun in another country and get a free Teaching English to Young Learners course when you take the advanced 120-hour TESOL course!

Paid Holidays!

Our paid teaching abroad programs include paid holidays, so you can take a few weeks to travel anywhere in the world.

Save Money to Travel!

TESOL includes accommodations. Many also provide teachers with transportation and health insurance (保险). When you have all your living costs paid for, you can use every dollar that you earn when teaching English abroad to have fun and travel!

What are you waiting for? Go Abroad!

TESOL offers free job placement to certificated (有执业资格的) teachers. You don't even need a degree in Education or a teaching license to teach English abroad. A TESOL certification is your key to leaving your 9-to-5 job and getting paid to travel the world. The TESOL course will give you all the training that you need to teach English. It only takes 120 hours of TESOL training to get qualified to teach abroad and you can complete the course in 4 weeks!

【推荐3】There are some very good inventions which, for one reason or another, don’t become popular. These inventions should be better known, even though I think that some of them are crazy. Let’s have a look at some of these inventions and see if you agree that they should be more successful.

The Australians had a great idea to stop people from drinking and driving. The idea was that if a driver wanted to start the car, she or he would have to blow into a bag first. If there was too much alcohol (酒精) in their breath, the car wouldn’t start. It sounded like a great idea to me, but people said that they might need to drive the car in an emergency (紧急情况) even if they had drunk too much alcohol. Another idea I liked was an invention by a scientist who thought his children watched too much TV. He connected the TV to an exercise bike so that the electricity to power the TV was produced by the bike. If the children wanted to watch a lot of TV, they had to pedal (踩动) very hard. I found another invention on the Internet which encouraged good habits. Believe it or not, this invention was an ashtray (烟灰缸) which spoke to you when you lit a cigarette! The “voice” of the ashtray was started by the heat from the cigarette and reminded you how dangerous it is to smoke.

One of the strangest inventions I have come across is a bicycle which can cross rivers! The idea was that when you came to a river, you could inflate a huge plastic ball all around the bike. You would then get into the ball which would float on the river while you pedaled the bike inside the ball! Why not use a bridge instead? A friend of mine at school once bought a strange pair of football shoes. On the bottom of the shoes there was a rotating pad of studs (转动钉垫). The idea was that you would change direction more quickly if the studs rotated(旋转) with you. The problem was that every time you stopped you changed direction whether you wanted to or not! I think he wore those shoes twice! One thing I would like is a baseball cap with a built-in radio so you can listen to sport all day with your hands free. While we are on the subject of sport, the Americans invented a kind of robot for sports fans. If you were watching your team on TV on your own, you could press a button and the robot would do “high fives” with you! Fantastic! I wonder if you have any good ideas for inventions like these.

【推荐1】Israeli company Watergen has produced an device (设备）that generates (产生) clean water for drinking out of air. The device, called GENNY, is small enough to be used in a home or office but can generate up to 30 liters（升）of water a day. The water that GENNY produces is not only clean enough to drink, it’s also often cleaner than tap water.

GENNY takes air in and passes it through a filter（过滤器）to remove dust and dirt. The filter is powerful enough to work even in areas with high air pollution. The air then passes through a chamber where heating and cooling cause steam in the air to cool and become water again. This water is then passed through several more filters, and minerals are added to make it healthier and taste better. Finally, the water is stored in a tank where it is continually running to keep it fresh.

A larger model, called the GEN-350, can produce up to 900 liters of water per day. The GEN-350 is now being used in hospitals that previously did not have a reliable source of fresh, clean water. Watergen has also developed an emergency response vehicle (ERV) that can carry a GEN-350 unit wherever it is needed. In addition to the GEN-350, the ERV carries a portable (便携的) generator that supplies electricity for the GEN-350.

Watergen’s ERV is designed to bring water to people who are suffering from the effects of a serious earthquake, fire, flood or other situations. Once such incident occurred in Northern California in 2018. A fire started at a camp site and spread quickly over a wide area, destroying many thousands of acres of trees and many homes. The town of Paradise, California, was hit particularly hard. One of Watergen’s ERVs was driven to Paradise, where it provided water for its citizens and rescue workers.

【推荐2】This past fall, my husband and I stopped into the local Aldi for shopping. While checking out, I did my usual practice of replying to the cashier's usual "How are you today?" with a short but real answer. Then I looked at her and said, "And how are you doing?" and waited kindly and expectantly for an answer.

She was a little surprised, but then she got started. As it turned out, her elderly grandfather was the most important in her mind, but he had been struggling lately and in hospital. Her worry was obvious, despite her bravery. "I know he is ninety-one, but "Her voice turned into a sad whisper before she caught herself." If it won't offend (冒犯) you, I will pray for him," I said. "Oh, thank you!" she replied.

Several weeks or so in the future, we wound up in her line again. After the usual "How are you?" I paused, then quietly asked, "I hope this is not a bad question, but how is your grandfather doing?"

I could tell she had to think a moment to place me and to recall why I was asking. Then her face split into a huge smile full of light, and she started excitedly telling us about how he was a tough old bird, how he had recovered, and was doing well. She kept bubbling over even after we had moved to the bagging area.

I was amazed at how something so seemingly small meant so much to her, but it makes sense, really. Sometimes all we need is for someone to see us and care, to care if we are hurting and to celebrate with us in our joy.

Taking the time to listen when we ask, "How are you?" is such an almost small action only taking a few moments out of our day, yet how important that tiny amount of time can be!

We really are all in this together.

【推荐3】We have to admit that reading is not a pleasant thing at school. Reading is not based on a child's interests, but to cope with tests. When children are little we make them read aloud, before the teacher and other children, so that we can be sure they "know" all the words they are reading. This means that when they don't know a word, they are going to make a mistake, right in front of everyone. After having taught fifth-grade classes for four years, I decided to try at all costs to rid them of their fear and dislike of books, and to get them to read oftener and more adventurously.

One day, I said to them, "Now, I would like you to read a lot of books this year, but I want you to read them only for fun. I am not going to ask you questions to find out whether you understand the books or not to ask you what words mean. If you understand enough of a book to enjoy it and want to go on reading it, that's enough for me."

The children sat shocked and silent. Was this a teacher talking? One girl, who had just come to us from a school where she had had a very hard time, looked at me steadily for a long time after I had finished. Then, still looking at me, she said slowly and seriously, "Mr. Holt, do you really mean that?" I said just as seriously, "I mean every word of it."

Later, she really astonished me. One day, she was reading at her desk. From a glimpse of the illustrations I thought she was reading Moby Dick(白鲸).I said, "Don't you find parts of it rather heavy going?" She answered, "Oh, sure, but I just skip over those parts and go on to the next good part.”

This is exactly what reading should be. Let the students make their own decisions, find something, dive into it, take the good parts, skip the bad parts, get what you can out of it and go on to something else.