Social emotional learning (SEL) is not only a pedagogic buzz word of the moment, it is the key to fostering a healthy and successful future for our students. Bullying is a reality for many students in the U.S., and it has become a focus for educators and thought-leaders in recent years. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services reports that 28% of students in grades 6-12 have experienced bullying, but only 20-30% of those students report the bullying to an adult (StopBullying.gov). Bullying is therefore a problem that students often undertake alone. Programs that teach students relationship skills, including kindness, empathy, and compassion, can lead to healthier peer-to-peer relationships, thereby reducing problems like bullying. Studies have also shown that students in kind, positive learning environments do better on tests, learn more, and of course are much happier. It is therefore crucial that we provide the resources educators need to Discover Kindness in the Classroom.
Discovery Education is proud to help provide students with the tools they need to succeed, while helping them make decisions to better themselves, their communities, and the world. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation and Discovery Education have partnered to provide K-8 educators with materials to teach and cultivate kindness in classrooms and beyond. The result is Discover Kindness in the Classroom, a program that conveniently aggregates Kindness Collections and Kindness Spotlights featuring evidence-based curriculum proven to improve critical social and emotional learning skills and to create a culture of kindness.
Available at no cost, to educators and parents alike, Discover Kindess in the Classroom offers:
In November 2016, Discovery Education and the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation (RAK), launched the education initiative, "Discover Kindness in the Classroom," to provide elementary and middle school educators, and counselors, cross-curricular lesson plans that encourage students to spread kindness with others. The launch of "Discover Kindness in the Classroom," included earned media outreach and the implementation of a comprehensive social media strategy that leveraged #DiscoverKindess to help spread the word. The campaign was an immediate success, garnering almost 4.5 million total potential social impressions in the first two months and the program was also promoted on Discovery's Educator Network blog, which is viewed by approximately 60K educators each month.
The high-point of our #DiscoverKindness campaign came in February, as we teamed up with the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation to promote #RAKWeek. Celebrated world-wide from February 12-18, #RAKWeek spotlights the importance of promoting kindess and engages students, educators and parents to share how they plan to do something nice for others. During #RAKWeek 2017, Discovery Education hosted a social media take-over, recording an impressive 7.25 million total social media impressions during the week. A single Facebook advertisement promoting the initiative reached nearly 90,000 people.
@DiscoeryEd's deployed social media strategy is largely responsible for the success of the Discover Kindness in the Classroom initiative, which continues to spread compassion and create ambassadors of kindness in classrooms around the country.
Since launch, Discover Kindness in the Classroom has reached 1.1M students. nationwide.
"A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees." – Amerlia Earhart
