Thinking about ways to use blogging in the classroom and how it can be used for global connections, led me to think about a movie I saw called Pay It Forward. It was about a teacher who gave his class an assignment to be philanthropists. One of his students gets the idea of practicing random acts of kindness with the stipulation that if you receive an act of kindness, you must pass it on and perform an act of kindness. I was always intrigued by the idea of pay it forward and think it's a wonderful thing to do. I have been the recipient of someone paying for my coffee at Dunkin Donuts. It was in the drive thru and the person in front of me paid for my cup of coffee. It made me smile all day. Such a simple gesture with such lasting results.
So I've been thinking of how technology could play a part since it is such an engaging tool for students. I found two websites that had some great ideas, not necessarily using technology but ideas for what can be done. In terms of technology, I thought blogging about practicing random acts of kindness might be something worth trying. Students could perform some simple act of kindness on a daily basis and describe what they had done in their blog. They could read each others' blogs and respond to their classmates. The blog could be opened up to the parents who could also respond and possibly start their own pay it forward activity. It would be great for the parents to see their child practicing this type of philanthropy and be able to respond and encourage their student, or the other students for that matter. The teacher may want to open the blog up to another classroom and have a joint effort. There are many possibilities.
In today's fast-paced world steeped in technology, I feel we must be especially careful not to lose the humanity that is so needed to keep us all grounded and responsible to each other. The world is a much smaller place now with easy access to global connections. It is more important than ever that we teach our children to be kind. Visit these two websites. I really like the Random Acts of Kindness one best. Go to the free resources page.
http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/
http://www.payitforwardfoundation.org/how-to-get-involved/
Here is one more website with some wonderful ideas:
http://inspiremykids.com/2012/ideas-for-using-inspiremykids-com-in-your-class/
I have also seen the movie Pay it Forward and love the message it sends out to everyone. What a fantastic idea to try blogging about random acts of kindness that the students have done. It would also be a great school and home connection like you mentioned in the post. I agree that while sitting behind a computer, it could be easy to forget the simple things we can do for each other that brings a smile to your face (like buying a cup of coffee for someone else).
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