12 Small Steps for a Better World
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. - William James
To start the new year, WKCD has devised a challenge—our own version of New Year's resolutions. We are inviting students and teachers (across the globe) to create their own unique list of small steps for a better world. "Do your little bit of good where you are," Desmond Tutu reminds us. "It's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."
Here are the particulars.
(1) We're looking for a final product that combines your top 12 small steps (e.g., "Say hello to people you meet on the street—most of all, those down on their luck," "Turn off lights") and a visual that captures elements or the essence of your list. The visual could be a photograph, a drawing, word art, and more—whatever seems compelling.
(2)
We intend for this to be a class project, with every student contributing something. Students in grades 7 through 12 are eligible.
(3)
We welcome out-of-the-box thinking!
(4)
We will award 100 USD to the most striking entries. We will publish a collection of small steps lists, with their images, on WKCD.org
Deadline: February 17, 2017
Submission guidelines: The final product should be submitted to WKCD (info@wkcd.org) as an electronic attachment: a word document with your list and the corresponding image. The images should be approximately 400-600 pixels wide and/or high with a minimum resolution of 72. Be sure to include the name of the school or program, where it's located, an email address, and the students' grade level.
Getting started: We encourage you to approach this challenge in whatever way best meets your style and circumstances. To prime the pump, we've included a short class experience that introduces students to inspiring quotes about the power of social actions. Click here for the activity and quotes.
Questions: Write us at info@wkcd.org.
Help us tap the wisdom and imagination of youth eager to flex their mind and soul.

SHOUT OUTS
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11 Pieces Of Wisdom From Desmond Tutu To Inspire Change Makers In 2017
"Most people begin every new year with a sense of hope and and excitement," writes Brian Rusch, Director of the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation. "With recent events throughout the world, I think that many of us also enter this new year with a sense of trepidation." Here, Rausch passes on some of wisdom the Archbishop has shared with him when in need of inspiration, with the hopes of inspiring a new generation of change makers across the world. |
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Students Have 'Dismaying' Inability To Tell Fake News From Real, Study Finds
If the children are the future, the future might be very ill-informed.
That's one implication of a new study from Stanford researchers that evaluated students' ability to assess information sources and described the results as "dismaying," "bleak" and "[a] threat to democracy. "Middle school, high school and college students in 12 states were asked to evaluate the information presented in tweets, comments and articles. More than 7,800 student responses were collected. |
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It's a Freaky World Online. And Teenagers Fully Inhabit It.
Conspiracy theories and fake news have an easy, open door to the teenage mind. Did you hear about the theory that the Middle Ages never even happened? Or the Sept. 11 prophecy on the back of the $5 bill? At Humaniti Preparatory Academy in Manhattan, students been giving the idea of conspiracy theories and fake news more thought as part of a media studies class that asks students to explore social issues through art. "They’re deconstructing media on their own terms," said Jeremy Nadel, their teacher. |
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Integrating Social-Emotional Learning Into High School
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You're Constantly Revising Yourself: Dispositions of a Student-Centered Teacher
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Immigrant Students Use Cartoons to Share Their Journeys
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OIHS art teacher Thi Bui urges her 9th and 10th grade students to tell their immigration story in the form of a comic. Each of the 23 comics—stories of loss and hope—answers the question, "Who am I?" and, collectively, the question "Who are we?" Together, they provide an extraordinary insight into the motives, challenges, and dreams of our newest immigrants as they become part of the complex fabric of America.
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Short Workouts for Social-Emotional Learning
In an era when test scores consume much of the oxygen around student success, we welcome the turn to social-emotional development as a key factor in a young person’s education.
In December 2015, WKCD introduced a new, monthly feature called Short Workouts for Social-Emotional Learning, geared towards middle and high school students. Each "collection" includes ten 10-15 minute workouts—quotations, questions, video clips, and photographs—suitable as a bell ringer, warm up, or advisory activity.
There is no formula for using these workouts with students (just as there are no right or wrong answers). Mix them up and sprinkle them into your ongoing work, knowing that your students will embrace the chance to flex their social-emotional muscles. May 2016 | April 2016 | March 2016 | February 2016 | January 2016 | December 2015 |
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The Ground Beneath Our Feet
Eleven years ago, the photo essay book WKCD's Barbara Cervone created with youth in Tanzania made its debut, sparking an international movement of youth telling their own "village's" stories. Profits from the sale of In Our Village: Kambi ya Simba Through the Eyes of Its Youth have sent more than two dozen village youth to advanced secondary schools. U.S teachers and students have visited the village and donated money for various projectss. In 2014, Cervone traveled to Tanzania to catch up with the book's young authors. All are college graduates now, some with families of their own. Still, their struggle to make their way in one of the world's poorest countries is at times heartbreaking. In this powerful story (with video interviews), Cervone shares their journey. |