Inspired by the 30 Goals Challenge by Shelly Sanchez Terrell and Vicky Loras’s first post, I started a Project with my students, teachers and friends called “30 Days of Kindness” that was then stretched by popular demand to 72 days. The idea was to engage people with thought-provoking questions, quotes and other texts on kindness so that they could share what they are doing to bring it into their lives. In this session, we are going to look at some of these questions, how they were answered, see some practical ideas of activities I used in the classroom to spread kindness and then reflect on its meaning, inside and outside the classroom.

1. The Kindness Project
Malu Sciamarelli
2013 Reform Symposium e-conference - RSCON4

2. Kindness?
http://teacherrebootcamp.com/30goals2013/
http://vickyloras.wordpress.com/page/2/

3. Kindness Project
http://www.malusciamarelli.com/posts/project-30-days-of-kindness/
http://www.malusciamarelli.com/posts/days-of-kindess/

4. Cookie monster left the last cookie for
someone.
What are you going to do for someone today?
#Day 1

5. Classroom
- Supportive and engaging environment
- Learning increases
- Less mean, cruel bullying behavior
- See people being kind

6. “It’s a little embarrassing that after 45 years of research
and study, the best advice I can give people is to be a
little kinder.”
Aldous Huxley
#Day 9
Have you ever felt embarrassed about being
kind?

7. Classroom
- Students feel embarrassed about being kind
- Challenge: expand students’ circle
- Being kind with people who are not in their main circle

8. “We need to always develop our personality to meet the
needs of our profession. As educators who teach in the
class, patience, kindness, friendliness, care and many
more are just important traits to develop.”
Itje Chodidjah
#Day 13
Do you think kindness is as important as any
other skill in the classroom?

9. Classroom
- It is proven that kindness is a skill
- Since it is a skill, it can be learned and practiced

10. What do you give unconditionally, but get so
much more in return?
#Day 5

11. Classroom
- Good teachers know about the material / lesson
- Emotional impact of students on teachers' lives
- How the material / lesson impacts on the students’
lives

12. "Do more than belong: participate.
Do more than care: help.
Do more than believe: practice.
Do more than be fair: be kind.
Do more than forgive: forget.
Do more than dream: work."
Willian Arthur Ward
#Day 59
What can we do?

13. Classroom
- We need to bring back the interest to school: social
development not only school achievements
- From being passive to active

14. Every day, think as you wake up: I am fortunate to be
alive, I have a precious human life. I am not going to
waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop
myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve
enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to
have kind thoughts toward others, I am not going to get
angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit
others as much as I can.
Dalai Lama #Day 46

15. Classroom

16. We are told that a single soul that turns from the negative
to the positive and starts to do acts of loving kindness
can alter the world. It is also written that if you save one
soul, it is as you’ve saved the entire world. We – each
and every one of us – need to understand that we have
the capacity to do just that.
#Day 34

17. Classroom
- In order for school performance to be achieved at the
higher levels, a positive school environment is
necessary

18. Mother Teresa once said, “Not all of us can do great
things. But we can do small things with great love.”
We can all learn something similar: we can’t change the
world and everyone in it. But what we can do is change
ourselves.
#Day 17
Ask yourself:
- What small thing will you do in your next class?

19. Classroom
- Education is an investment in who we are individually
and collectively, and what we want our world to
become

20. Write a letter to someone who made a
difference in your life

21. 1. Speaking:
Has someone made a difference in your life?

22. 2. Writing a letter or email:
How to write a thank-you note:
http://www.themorningnews.org/article/how-to-write-a-thank-y

23. Creative ways to tell someone “thank you”
http://christianpf.com/9-creative-ways-to-say-thank-you/

24. Kindness Lesson
by Kieran Donaghy
http://film-english.com/2012/04/13/kindness/

25. Wishes on a coffee cup
http://www.malusciamarelli.com/posts/wishes-on-a-coffee-cup/

26. How can we do that on the top of everything
else we have to do?
“Perfect kindness acts without thinking kindness.”
Lao Tzu
#Day 24

27. What difference can teaching kindness
in our classrooms/schools make?