The Challenge: Create a short learning engagement that gets someone to express creativity and engage with a form of reflection?

The results: I created these sets of postcards as a short interactive learning engagement for students to engage with writing as a form of reflection. These Postcards of Gratitude are a set of reflective cards to help people slow down and express a little gratitude. We all live busy lives and constantly think about the next thing, our next goal, next assignment, and how to get ahead. Through these postcards, I hope to help participants slow down and think about the small things that make our lives a little better every day. If we can slow down and occasionally express our gratitude we can mentally make room - room for new things, room for better things, and room to refocus our attention on the pieces of our lives that truly matter. In expressing some gratitude we can remind ourselves of where we’ve been, who’ve we known, and what we’ve done in order to help propel us in our journeys forwards

Postcard of Gratitude Version 1

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Write a postcard to someone who is no longer in your life:

Find a nice quiet place and take 5 mins to consider someone who is no longer in your life. This can be someone who has passed away or maybe a friend you no longer are in contact with. Regardless of what happened in the past explain why were they special, how did they help you in any specific way, if you could have said something or would like to say something to them now what would you say?

 

Postcard of Gratitude Version 2

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Write a postcard of gratitude to a service person:

Find a nice quiet place and take 5 mins to consider someone who regularly provides you service and makes your life a bit easier. This can be someone who’s job operates in the background perhaps cleans your office building, makes you coffee in the morning, takes your trash away, or provides your mail. Express some gratitude and how this person is an important part of your life.

 

Postcard of Gratitude 3: Augmented Reality

Postcard 3_Mock-up.jpg

Option 1: Augmented Reality

To use access the Augmented Reality (AR) follow the steps below:

Step 1) Have your mobile smart device available (be sure it is on, if not turn it on!)

Step 2) Tap or navigate to your mobile smart device’s camera - Find the camera app it helps you scan QR codes

Step 3) Point your camera at the “Special AR code” - be sure to tap on your screen to focus the camera. 

Step 4) You should be prompted to download the application called Metaverse - I promise you won’t regret it!

Step 5) Open the Metaverse Application and follow the instructions to scan the Special AR code

Step 6) Scan the Special AR code at the bottom of the postcard and have fun!

Option 2: Analog Instructions

Write a postcard of gratitude to an inanimate object you regularly use: 

Find a nice quiet place and take 5 mins to consider something you regularly use and or interact with. Consider what the object does that benefits you, how does it improve your daily life, how does it make you feel, what if you lost it, it broke, or had to live without it? 

You can drop off your letter in the appreciation box or you can read it your object, I know it’s inanimate but I’m sure your object will appreciate you! 

Things to consider:

  1. Think outside the box, your shoes, toothbrush, laptop, glasses, etc.,

  2. Tell us why this object is important and affects your wellbeing

  3. Write a story about this object, how did you acquire it? What meaning does it have?