Do you practice Random Acts of Kindness?

Do you practice Random Acts of Kindness throughout the year?
Need a Random Acts of Kindness monthly calendar? Click here for the 2010 free monthly calendars.

What are you doing to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week?

Random Acts of Kindness Week February 15-21 2010

World Kindness Day November 13, 2010

World Kindness Week November 8-14 2010

Need more ideas?

Follow the RAK foundation on Twitter: @KindTimes

Check the Random Acts of Kindness site for:

Classroom or campus ideas

Lesson Plans for all levels, elementary, community service, middle school, reading and writing, arts and crafts

Send and RAOK e-Card

Learn how acts of kindness impact your health

Submit your kindness idea

See the collection of inspirational quotes

How do you practice Random Acts of Kindness? Your comments are appreciated, your shared experience is priceless!

What else are you doing with Google Books?

On July 17, 2009, I blogged about using Google Books for a variety of groups whether you are an educator, student, parent, employer, virtual book club participant, or an individual wanting to consolidate books they have read, wanted to read, or associate books with your digital profile.

As an adult student, I started building My Library in Google Books with required textbooks and some other books on my physical bookshelf. You can add notes and tags, and annotate if you loan out the book or if you find online supplements to your books.

Of the 3 textbooks required for my current course, Research Methods & Designs, one book has a partial preview in Google Books and the other two have no preview of the book available. In all the textbooks I have checked out from libraries, rented, borrowed, or purchased...somewhere in the front matter of the book is some type of data about online supplemental information. For the textbooks required for RSH9102E, all three textbooks have some type of online supplemental information, so I just added the links to the Notes section in each of the textbooks. Long after the course is over and after I graduate, my notes will be available to me or other individuals who review My Library.

While Google Books provides access to a virtual library of a multitude of books and magazine along with previews of books that agree to display content, if there is a book you want and the preview of the content is not available, links are provided to locate the book in a library or if you want to purchase the book. The link to Find in a Library provides many additional opportunities.

Selecting the Find in a Library option opens up a WorldCat link that displays libraries that have the book based on a designated (your choice) or an associated zip code (based on your Google profile). From there you can cite the book, email or share the link along with additional features of the book from reviews, local libraries, table of contents with links to the Library of Congress, and many other features.

You can follow Google Books on Twitter @googlebooks, subscribe to the Google Books blog, check out the Google Books history, read Google Books Facts and Fiction, or the Google Books Library Project.

What is the difference in the views of Google Books? Full, limited, snippet, or no preview available.

What are you doing with Google Books? Have you built your own library in Google Books? Share the link to your Google Books library or post a comment about your Google Books experience. As always comments are welcome.

Out with the old and in with the new

Happy 2010!

As many people are bringing in the new year in a variety of methods, some people are resolving to downsize by getting rid of things and supporting the old adage "out with the old and in with the new". One way to help others get rid of the old without removing the memory or the personal history is to integrate technology. Capture the personal memories, experiences, and history with the technology available today. This can be an individual, family, or community project and become a shared learning experience for all participants.

Maybe grandparents or parents are not the techsperts, but every family has at least one gadget girl or guy or self proclaimed social networking geek. Where do you start? Wherever you want. Tomorrow is not promised...so if you lost everything and everyone tomorrow, are there certain things you would want to share?

The knick knacks on the shelves...where did they come from? Why are they on the shelf? Do the knick knacks have more family history than what can be seen on the shelf? Why not spend some quality family time and capture the memories for the future?

Not everyone is ready to go public...so why not start a family blog? Not ready to share with the whole family? Start on the home computer. Use the KISS (Keep It Short and Sweet) method to empower the participants. Model or demonstrate your favorite sites or how you have created a piece of cyberspace for your personal history.

I broke 3 of my own picture frames and took it as a sign to scan the pictures. I moved many things that my mother has collected over the years. While I could explain some of the pictures to my daughter, I wondered...What if some of these knick knacks were displayed digitally with the history and personal memories associated with it?

I know my mother is not ready to be a public blogger...yet, she subscribes to blogs using RSS and even posts a comment when the mood strikes. She still journals with pen and paper. I know this blog post won't get her started but it may plant a seed.

If you do this with items for tax donations or high value items for insurance purposes...why not store the high value memories for posterity before a significant emotional event (SEE)? Turn the event into a significant emotional educational event (SEEE) for everyone.

If you have helped a family or community member downsize their things by integrating technology, please share your ideas, successes, and lessons learned.