Posts tagged education
Becoming a #payitforward Ninja #3: exploring some values and virtues of a PIF master
May 12th
Virtue. Virtues. That sounds good. What are they though? Do you know what your virtues are? First let’s figure out what our mythical #pif Ninja has for virtues and then we’ll see if there is any crossover. Afterall we do not necessarily think you have to reinvent yourself to become more Ninja-like. The whole idea is that it’s already in there somewhere. You just have to find it.
A long time ago before there was TV or frozen pizza guys with the big brains had lots of time to just think. And write. So they’d come up with big ideas and write them down. And so guys like me, and girls and guys like you, who are taking the time to read through all this stuff, had lots to say about the the traits and characteristics that make someone good, or successful, or valuble. The great thing about writing about this stuff is that it helps you understand where YOU stand on who YOU want to be. Take old Ben Franklin for example.
Ben Franklin’s 13 Virtues:
Apparently, when Ben was a youngster riding a slow boat to Philly (from London, an ~80 day trip….see what I mean about time to think) he wrote down these 13 virtues for “regulating his future conduct”. Think of it as the “Ben Franklin Mission Statement”. He based them on one of his favorite bible verses (Philippians 4:8). They included things like “frugality”, “industry”, and “justice”. The descriptions he gave the virtues included phrases like “make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e., waste nothing” and “eat not to dullness and drink not to elevation” (check out the link to the article and the list of virtues in the post-script of this post). Let us not go overboard on the historical significance Ben Franklin’s personal mission statement- and let us not even go overboard on the content of his virtues. There are two things I take from his virtues that are relevant to a wannabe Ninja. First, have a plan, and stick to the plan. Actually, that’s pretty good advice for almost every situation. Even if your plan doesn’t work out, at least you’ve thought about whatever it is you are doing (living, giving a presentation, having a party) and if the wheels come off you’ll probably have a pretty good idea of when they might, and how you can react. Second, there are a few overarching themes here: Moderation (take it easy, don’t waste your money, don’t eat too much, don’t drink too much, etc). Resourcefulness (be productive, try not to waste time, make sure the stuff you do is worthy of your valuable and limited time). Kindness (almost always better than being mean). You get the idea- Ben came up with 13 things he thought were important to live the life he envisioned living. This is perhaps the best lesson: Ben Franklin had a vision of the life we wanted to have, and he prepared a roadmap to get there in the form of these virtues. Personally, I think 13 is on the high side. Maybe come up with five or ten themes you think are important.
MORE LESSONS FROM GREEKS AND CATHOLICS:
Another source for virtue inspiration are the ancient Greek philosophers (Aristotle, Plato) and later, Catholic Catechism. The Greek guys came up with four: Temperance, Wisdom, Justice, and Courage. Later, the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love (or Charity) were added, to create the concept of the Seven Heavenly Virtues. Again, what you call yours, or how you describe what is important to you is somewhat irrelevant- just check out the themes here and compare it to the three themes listed in the previous paragraph.
HAVE A PLAN. USE OUR RESOURCES TO MAKE SURE YOUR PLAN DOESN’T SUCK:
These virtues are the building blocks for your #payitforward lifestyle. You have to have an idea of what you believe in and you have to live those beliefs to really be a #payitforward Ninja. So try to think about these concepts for your life. Think about which are most important to you. Use the resources in this post to get some inspiration- click through the links to stumble around and find your own resources. Then come back next week and for all of our #payitforward Ninja series to learn some more about becoming the ultimate #pif Ninja. Remember: have a plan, and try to make sure your plan doesn’t suck. Resources after the signature to help with both. Got ideas for us? Hit us in the comments or write us at: contact@foyble.com. GO!
Posted by Brian
Special Internet High Five to Dan “pronounce it ‘stoomer’” Stummer for helping to research this post!
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Thanks for reading the foyble blog and for your continued support of foyble. You can join our movement at www.foyble.com. You can reach the author of this post, Brian Foy, via email at BJFOY@FOYBLE.COM
Resources for this post:
Learn more about Ben Franklin, his boat ride, and mission statement:
http://www.flamebright.com/PTPages/Benjamin.asp
Old Greek dudes, Catholic Catechism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues
A really big long list of possible virtues with some quotes to go with ‘em: http://www.virtuescience.com/virtuelist.html
More old Greek dude Philosophy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato%27s_four_cardinal_virtues
Starting the GIVE: Pay it Forward Day in Elkhart, Indiana
Apr 28th
You all know that foyble, Start the GIVE, and Pay it Forward are synonymous. The folks at foyble HQ are always looking for ways to start and spread the GIVE. When we see others committed to the same philosophy, we like to spread the word. Our web alerts went to DEFCON 1 this morning (acts of kindness ready for launch) when we came across this story from reporter Brandon Lewis from WNDU news out of Elkhart, Indiana:
image via WNDU
The city of Elkhart is encouraging people to help a neighbor this weekend as they declare Saturday “Pay It Forward Day”. The idea is to give back to your community, especially if you’ve received help.
There will be a bed race, a tug-of-war, and much more. The winning team will get to donate a check to their favorite charity.
Meantime thousands of students at Elkhart schools will be involved in assemblies to learn what it means to pay it forward and do good deeds for others. Classrooms will also teach kids that there are a lot of simple ways to make a difference.
“A lot of times things don’t cost money or very little money to do something nice for somebody,” said Debbie Micola from Santa’s Pantry Inc. “So that’s what we really try to get through to the kids that they can do something no matter how old they are.”
Micola introduced us to Art Jones, an Elkhart resident who exemplifies what it means to pay it forward. He’s helping make it easier for others to make a difference. Jones started a web site called “Basic Needs” that allows people to buy items at discount prices, and then he delivers them to local charities. For example, tooth brushes or canned food items. Even though he’s been battling cancer for several years, Jones says the project is good therapy.
“It gives me a good purpose in life.” said Jones. “I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve had a lot of people helping me. And then what I’m doing hopefully will give something back to the community that’s helped me so much.”
Brandon’s original story with related video can be found here.
We love this idea and send out mad foyble love to the city of Elkhart, Debbie Micola, Art Jones, and all the other residents of Elkhart that are participating in Pay it Forward Day this weekend!
Posted by Jerry
“‘Pay it forward’ pays off.” The science of the GIVE.
Apr 11th
This diagram illustrates how a single act of kindness can spread between individuals and across time. Cooperative behavior spreads three degrees of separation: if Eleni increases her contribution to the public good, it benefits Lucas (one degree of separation), who gives more when paired with Erika (two degrees of separation) in period 2, who gives more when paired with Jay (three degrees of separation) in period 3, who gives more when paired with Brecken in period 4. The effects also persist over time, so that Lucas gives more when paired with Erika (period 2) and also when paired with Lysander (period 3), Bemy (period 4), Sebastian (period 5), and Nicholas (period 6). The effect also persists at two degrees of separation, as Erika not only gives more when paired with Jay (period 3), but also when paired with Harla (period 4) and James (period 5). All the paths in this illustrative cascade are supported by results in the experiments, and it is important to note that if Eleni decreases her initial contribution then her uncooperative behavior can spread and persist as well. (Image via James Fowler, UC San Diego)
The following article discusses a study by some pretty smart guys at UC San Diego and Harvard providing scientific evidence that acts of kindness are contagious. Now that’s the kind of cold foyble hopes everyone will catch! Read this for a dose of scientific inspiration.
by Inga Kiderra, UC San Diego:
For all those dismayed by scenes of looting in disaster-struck zones, whether Haiti or Chile or elsewhere, take heart: Good acts – acts of kindness, generosity and cooperation – spread just as easily as bad. And it takes only a handful of individuals to really make a difference.
In a study published in the March 8 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Harvard provide the first laboratory evidence that cooperative behavior is contagious and that it spreads from person to person to person. When people benefit from kindness they “pay it forward” by helping others who were not originally involved, and this creates a cascade of cooperation that influences dozens more in a social network.
The research was conducted by James Fowler, associate professor at UC San Diego in the Department of Political Science and Calit2’s Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems, and Nicholas Christakis of Harvard, who is professor of sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and professor of medicine and medical sociology at Harvard Medical School. Fowler and Christakis are coauthors of the recently published book “Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives.”
Karen Armstrong on the Golden Rule
Mar 29th
Watch this video of Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God, speaking at the TED conference in 2008. Karen encourages religions to return to their roots in compassion and in calling their constituencies to action in the name of compassion.
You get a sense that Karen is a little frustrated with the direction organized religion has taken. She also is a hopeful person though. And her sense of urgency regarding compassion is obvious. For more on her sense of urgency check out the charter for compassion. More >
Four ideas for starting the GIVE on spring break
Mar 24th
It’s spring break time! When I was younger this meant something different than it means to me now. These days, I’m excited to see the crocuses blooming, pining to get my garden planted, and enjoying pretending that 57 degree weather makes me happy.
I have three kids. They are five, three, and 6 months old. Next year, my wife and I will have to schedule our vacation around SCHOOL. This blows my mind of course. But many of you already have kids in school and are used to waiting until spring break to vacation with your family. So we thought we would think about how you can spend your precious spring break time with your family but not lose track of the give while you’re out and about. More >
foyble is developing a service curriculum aligned to national standards for teachers and students
Jan 14th
Note: Special thanks to Chad Sansing and Dr. Jack King for helping us get this post together. Check Chad out here and Jack out here.
Imagine your students on the Act Map!
foyble is working with Dr. Jack King, creator of Leadership Upside Down and Chad Sansing of the Community Public Charter School in Charlottesville, VA, to create a service project-based curriculum that educators and administrators can use to provide an educational opportunity in an inspirational package to meet the needs of educators and administrators, students, and communities.
The philosophy: foyble will help schools and children help build new relationships in their communities. Administrators, teachers, and students will use social media to help students, teachers, and administrators learn together through instuctional technology, with content standards that deliver academic rigor. The curriculum will be developed in a way that will support administrators efforts to draw funding from multiple sources so that service projects have an opportunity to be fully funded. Educators should be able to meet professional development goals while working on the service projects with students. More >
Friday foyble of the week: Just do it
Dec 3rd
Note: the Friday foyble of the week (FFOTW) is a once per week post where we single out one of our favorite foybles from the many over at www.foyble.com. We don’t have any criteria for the foybles we pick and you don’t get anything but our gratitude and an internet high five. Check back every Friday for another installment. Email us at contact@foyble.com to nominate someone for the honor!
We have chosen Tommy Boyd’s “food bank” foyble as our Friday of the foyble of the week. We choose it because of Tommy’s spirit. We’re pretty sure that Tommy first showed up at this food bank because he had to- but he kept an open mind and he actually enjoys it now. We think this is inspirational and it is a challenge to you: what are you avoiding because you don’t think you will like it? Are you missing out on new experiences because you have some preconceived notion of how you think it will be? Who is missing out because of you moving in the same cycles you have always moved in? We also like Tommy’s post because he really did not go for the hard sell. Tommy’s message: “go do something you don’t think you want to do- you might like it after all”.
Tommy’s post reminds me of when my wife and I were dating- she wanted to spend an evening dishing food out at a food shelter in downtown Cincinnati in the Over the Rhine district. On a weekend. She would always talk about it in an abstract manner and I (of course) always said I WOULD go. Then she actually got a schedule and some contact information and scheduled us to go. I smiled and said I was excited but I wasn’t. The only reason I went to that food shelter is because I loved her and wanted her to keep dating me. I did NOT have an open mind about what that night would be.
That evening turned out to be really fun for us. We met some new people, had some of the most interesting conversations we can remember (the organizers of the event encouraged the volunteers to sit and eat with the patrons and not congregate amongst themselves). That night remains one of our favorite memories from when we were dating.
So what? The point is that sometimes when your natural instinct is to shy from something you might want to reconsider. Sometimes the best memories happen when you are doing something that is outside of your comfort zone. We suspect for a lot of people this happens when you are starting the GIVE.
We applaud Tommy for going to that food bank and being transparent about his experience. And we think that the next time someone offers to take you to somewhere to start the GIVE you should at least say maybe. You might “rather like it”.
Here’s your internet high five Tommy: boom.
Bon Weekend, foyblers!
Posted by Brian
Friday foyble of the week: Mentoring
Nov 19th
Note: the Friday foyble of the week (FFOTW) is a once per week post where we single out one of our favorite foybles from the many over at www.foyble.com. We don’t have any criteria for the foybles we pick and you don’t get anything but our gratitude and an internet high five. Check back every Friday for another installment. Email us at contact@foyble.com to nominate someone for the honor!
Today, foyble co-founder John Frazier is in Virginia on (gasp) un foyble-related business. While he is down there he is taking some time out to visit with Dr. Jack King, founder of the Northfolk Center for Servant Leadership (check them out here). They will be discussing how foyble and Dr. King’s social network, Leadership UpsideDown, might be able to work together.
So this week’s theme is mentoring. And Chad Sansing’s “Mentoring” foyble fits that theme perfectly. Chad has been mentoring a student and spent some time with his mentee for his foyble. It’s clear, even in Chad’s brief foyble, that he understands the importance of mentoring young people and that he is prepared to take on the challenges that being a mentor can present.
We applaud Chad for the important work he does. And we are looking forward to working with Leadership UpsideDown, and organizations like it, to provide tools to people to inspire and lead. Consider this Chad Sansing’s internet high five. Boom. While we are at it, let’s give one to Dr. Jack King too. Double boom.
Have a great weekend!
Posted by Brian
