In this icebreaker, participants learn just how important words and actions are when they explore their impact on two apples. Grades: PreK – 8Time: 5-10 minutesRelated IHE Resources: Where Are the People Like Me?
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kindness
There’s a Path When Times Are Dark
I’m writing this post on the Winter Solstice – the longest night of the year. As I watched the sunrise this morning, and as the vermilion clouds put on the stunning show captured in this photograph, I felt my usual complex feelings on this day. The first day of winter, when we enter the coldest…
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What I Learned Sitting Next to Bob Dylan
When I was in my twenties, a friend and I went to a Tom Waits performance in Chicago. We had perfect center seats close to the front. But although the theater was packed, the two seats next to us were empty. As the theater darkened and the performance began, two people entered and took the…
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Are People by Nature Peaceful or Violent? Is This the Right Question?
Zoe Weil is a blogger for Psychology Today (PT), and twice a month we share her blog posts here. Enjoy! We humans have a penchant for either/or choices. Whether in politics (red vs. blue, capitalist vs. socialist), religion (heaven vs. hell, Christianity vs. Islam, etc.), or framed in the media (jobs vs. the environment, Left vs. Right), we…
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Creating the Space for Conversations With Young People About Compassion for Others
by Abby Power Can we have an open dialogue with our children and students about what is happening in the world today? I say yes! Children have an extraordinary capacity for critical thinking when given the opportunity to practice it. I have found that there are three main areas that help in creating a space…
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5 Simple Tips for Creating a Compassionate Classroom
by Samantha Gentrup As teachers get ready for the school year, we have to decide what our classrooms will look like and what our rules and procedures will be. We essentially have to create our classroom culture. What can we do to make sure we build a classroom of kindness and compassion for all beings?…
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5 Assumptions We Should Try to Make About Everyone
by Marsha Rakestraw The recent US election has highlighted a significant divisiveness. And the media and social media have been awash in hate speech and arguments, calls for healing and moving on, judgments, ideas about next steps, and assumptions. Usually when we make assumptions about others, they’re not positive ones. We tend to make split-second…
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5 Minute Changemaker: Pretend You Know (and Care About) Everyone
by Marsha Rakestraw The other day, as I was driving home from the dog park, I was following an SUV that stopped in the midst of a turn to let a pedestrian cross the street. Apparently the pedestrian and the people in the SUV knew each other, as they waved heartily and spoke briefly to…
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Practices for Cultivating Compassionate Communication Skills
by Marsha Rakestraw Sometimes I have a dream in which I run door-to-door in my neighborhood. I bang on the door until someone answers, and then I grab them by the shirt and scream at them to stop doing things that hurt other beings and to start being compassionate RIGHT NOW! Fortunately, I have better…
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5 Minute Changemaker: Speak the Good in Others
by Marsha Rakestraw My 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Leddy, had us students do something that I have never forgotten. She called it a “car wash.” Every week one of us would be the “car,” and the other students would form two lines in front of the car. Zigzagging from one side to the other, the…
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