Monday, September 26, 2016

Join Us This October: Focusing on Using Technology with Kindness


Like last year, Minnetonka Schools are planning events for Kindness in Chalk Day (Monday, October 3),  National Cyber Safety Month and National Bully Prevention Month.  Last week at its first quarterly meeting, our District Digital Health & Wellness Committee met and discussed ways to merge these events and themes into one. We decided to focus our October efforts on treating one another kindly through our use of technology

See more photos & Tweets from Kindness in Chalk 2015
Staff at each site are planning events to help remind students of the importance of using technology appropriately and positively. On Monday, October 3, most sites will have student leadership groups meet before school to write positive messages on sidewalks before buses arrive with students for the day. Students will learn anti-bullying lessons in classes and teachers will have discussions with students in classrooms about using technology with kindness. There will be many more events that take place and we look forward to see all the things that happen this month to remind students and our community on using technology positively.

One of the things I talk about with students when I travel around the state speaking is the importance of using technology with empathy, compassion, and integrity. As you have discussions with your students and/or children, consider these words and their definitions. Reflect on how they help us to focus on using technology with kindness:


Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.


Compassion is having sympathy and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.


Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Furthermore, consider the explanation below of integrity from Amy Rees Anderson on Forbes and how important it is to think carefully about how we use technology: 
"Integrity means doing the right thing at all times and in all circumstances, whether or not anyone is watching. It takes having the courage to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences will be. Building a reputation of integrity takes years, but it takes only a second to lose, so never allow yourself to ever do anything that would damage your integrity." 
You can follow our related posts on Twitter: @TonkaSchools #TonkaStrong #KindnessInChalk #WeAreOne

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