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学生的素质体现在各种习惯的养成，好的习惯一旦形成之后，那就不仅是让自己受益终身，而且社区的状况也会受到好的影响，从而逐渐得到改善。但是对于孩子来说，基本上每个好习惯的养成都不是一件简单的事情。而这当中的过程把握则相当关键，就我个人了解的情况与个人的经历来说，如果方法不对，甚至有可能产生反作用。这次面临学生浪费的情况日渐严重的问题，我们身上的责任也更大。

我决心试一试。进入课堂之后，在没有给他们施加任何压力的情况下，我告诉他们，说大家现在有一个不太好的习惯，我实在是看不下去了。然后留个扣，说在我告诉大家是什么不好的习惯之前我先来给大家讲个很小很小的故事。这故事是说我很早以前去法门寺的时候，因为是夏天，我在寺里的一个水管洗脸凉快一下。这时候一个老和尚在我旁边一直把我的水龙头拧小，并告知我不用开大，咱们都用不了多少水。后来我看到他自己洗抹布，只用很小的一丝水在洗。这个故事被我得不得一说，说得孩子们感觉有点悬。然后我说我当时和你们现在一样，用水每次都开得很大。但从那以后，我就开始注意水龙头要拧小一点。

然后我接着掰，我说水龙头拧小这个意识很关键，但是我们还应该考虑更多节约水的方式方法。比如：什么德国人把洗澡时候刚开始放出来的水管子里的水用装置存起来，留着还能用；以色列人用洗手洗脸水冲厕所，最后再浇地，等等等等（其实我也不是很清楚）。我说他们做的怎么样？孩子们喊叫好。我说我们要不要也想想好办法节约水，他们说要。我就说现在四个人一组讨论，看哪个组想的办法多而且牛。

讨论的成果不少，有的组甚至达到了十几条方法。这时候我说，每个组要么压缩，要么删减，最后剩下三条，但是要最好的。于是又哗啦哗啦讨论了一阵。然后我让每个组派一个人汇报。我一听光想乐，其中有一个组本来写了六七条建议，最后合并成一条，内容大致如下：
 
用洗脸水洗脚洗衣服洗袜子洒地浇树浇地冲厕所。

另一条逻辑顺序相当清晰：
用洗脸洗脚水冲厕所 → 冲厕所的水浇地 → 就能使土地肥沃 → 就能使庄稼长得好 → 就能有个好收成 → 就能卖个好价钱 → 就能赚更多的钱 → 就能让农民富裕起来！

再还有媒体公关类型的小组，他们的建议是：
1. 上报纸 2. 上电视 3. 拍电影

当然有很不错的方法，例如在学校里放两个大水缸，专门用来放能再次使用的废水，等等。

几个班下来之后，我们就开始不断的在学校许多情景：在几个显眼位置都贴上了的“节水倡议书”，在水龙头边插上了上书“节约用水”四个大字的牌子。同学们之间开始互相监督，洗碗的时候等在旁边的同学会正色警告在洗的同学“水关小一点！”。我洗的时候旁边的同学会跟我说：“老师我比你开得还小！”晚上洗脚两个人把脚伸在一个脚盆里洗脚，早上洗脸一盆水洗四个人的脸！

不过我相信，从此以后，只要不断的继续鼓励，继续提醒，让这个氛围保持下去，孩子们在离开这个学校的时候，就应该能养成节水的好习惯，并在将来或多或少的影响社区的其他人。
 

“Save Water!” 

The quality of the students’ health depends on their habits.  Once a good habit is developed, not only will it help your body for a lifetime, but the environment will also be influenced, and will gradually receive benefit.  But for children, the cultivation of a good habit is in general never an easy task.  Throughout the process perseverance is crucial.  For example based on my own understanding and personal experiences, if the method is incorrect, what used to be a good habit might result in the opposite effect.   In this case when facing an increasingly serious problem of the wastage of students, we as teachers have a great responsibility.

I was determined to try.  As I walked into the classroom, under the condition that they were under no pressure whatsoever, I told them that I couldn’t watch their bad habit continue like this.  Then I left a pause, saying that I would tell them a very very small story before I revealed the nature of the aforementioned bad trait.  The story was of when I went to Fa Men Si a long time ago.  That day because it was summer, I began to wash my face with one of the temple’s water pipes to cool down, but an old monk next to me kept twisting the faucet’s opening smaller.  He reprimanded me, saying that since there was no need for so much water, then we shouldn’t use such a large amount.  Later I observed him as he cleansed his washcloth with only a tiny trickle of water.  After I finished the story, the children looked expectant.  I confessed that my actions that day were similar to theirs, using excess amounts of water every time I turned on the faucet, but from that moment onward, I was always careful to twist the knob a little bit smaller.

I continued delving further into the incident; I said that although twisting the faucet smaller is very important, we must contemplate other ways to save water also.  For example: the German save shower water so that they can use it later, the Israeli people flush their toilets with the water that they used to wash their hands and face before using the same water for irrigation, etc. (actually, I‘m not very sure about these).  I asked, “How did they do?” The class yelled, “Great!”  I asked, “Should we think of other ways to save water?”  They agreed.  Consequently, I instructed the students to divide into discussion groups of four, seeing which group would have the most and creative ideas.

Their labor was hardly fruitless, some groups even thought of more than ten methods.  At this time I announced that each group has to condense and simplify all of their ideas into their best three, ergo making them again argue and dispute loudly for a while.  Subsequently, I let each group send a spokesperson  to me to report their discoveries. I happily read all of them; one group had initially written six or seven ideas, but then eventually shortened it to just one:

Use the water that you normally wash your face with to wash your feet, wash your clothes, wash your socks, spill on the ground, irrigation, water plants, and flush the toilet.

Another sequence of events is kind of understandable:

Use the water that you wash your face and feet with to flush the toilet à use the water that you flush the toilet with for irrigation à which will result in fertile land à healthy plants à good harvest à which will then sell for a lot of money à much profit à farmers get rich!

In addition, there was a group focused on media relations of how to spread the word, their ideas were:

• 1. Newspaper
• 2. Television
• 3. Film a movie

 
Of course, there were also many amazing ideas, such as placing two big urns in front of the school for the special purpose of holding reusable water, etc.

After a few more classes, we began to constantly see these kind of things happening around the school: “save water” taped onto several noticeable places, the four words “carefully conserve usable water” attached to water faucets.  The students started to supervise each other.  Someone who was waiting for their turn by the sink would sternly warn their fellow classmate to “turn the faucet smaller!”  When I washed my own dishes, they would cry, “See? The teacher uses even less water than you do!”  At nighttime two people would share the same tub to wash their feet.  In the morning four people might even use the same basin to wash their face!

But I do believe that from here on out, as long as we keep encouraging them, keep reminding them, and essentially just keeping this spirit alive, when the children leave this school they’ll be able to develop their own habits of conserving water, and in the future will influence other people, no matter how many, to do the same.

(Translated by Maggie Zhou)