The Writing Exercise That Didn't Happen

"Have your students watch this video and then instruct them to write a one-page response about how we are destroying the environment." 

I don't remember what I ended up doing with the class that day, but I I didn't show the video, and the students never wrote the response. 

'The writing exercise that didn't happen' ended up being one of my last acts of non-compliance as a secondary school teacher. I left the profession not long after. Both decisions rank among the best I ever made.