Did you know that Pope Francis has set a global campaign on migration?  "Share the Journey" is a two year campaign that began on September 27, 2017 initiated by Caritas Internationalis to build better awareness of those migrating and to "strengthen relationships with refugees and communities" (Vatican Radio, 09/25/2017).   "Share the Journey" can be implemented in many ways at various grade levels and in the family. Here are a few ways to "share the journey" with current tools. Your students can be DIGITAL DISCIPLES!!!  

1.  Do you remember making posters in school and teachers would hang them in the hallway? After a few weeks the edges became worn, the same people walked by without noticing the posters and after being graded and taken home most ended up in the trash.  Today, we have tools to make digital posters.  Digital posters have a permanency that keeps them fresh and re-usable, they can be posted on various social media to reach more people and the work will never end up in the trash...which provides a really important message - this work was valuable! 

•  Digital posters can be created as a traditional poster and then digital pictures of each can then be uploaded onto the parish website.  Use themes like "Who is my neighbor"  "When did you see me hungry?" "When I a was a stranger..." 
• Digital posters can be created on Google Slides or PowerPoint, (change dimensions to be 8.5 x 11) .   Students can share or upload their work to the catechist or catechetical leader to then be posted. 

2.   Facebook Message Posts.  Again, this can be created first as a traditional paper artwork.  Provide students with a 4x4' paper and create a "facebook" post to promote "share the journey", scriptural references, prayers for refugees, etc.  Create a Facebook Wall in your classroom....but take it to the next level....post them on your parish facebook page!  Images can be uploaded and posted.  Digital Facebook posts can be created on Canva.  

3.  Digital Storytelling.  Telling a story or developing a theme with Images, narratives, music as a short video can be very powerful and very rewarding for students to create.  There are many digital tools and various ways to produce a digital story, but it all starts with a theme, research and planning.  Tools to use can include prezi, animoto, adobe spark, we-video, youtube, imovie and so many others!

4. #sharethejourney Tweets  Not all of your students have Twitter accounts, but what a great way to start teaching how to tweet as a digital disciple! 

• After doing a unit on social justice and immigration, have students create a tweet as a prayer, message to refugees, or other information they learned with #sharethejourney in 140 characters or less (remember spaces count too!) Again, this can be a classroom bulletin board activity, or have the parish leader post the "tweets" during the year.  

• It is also interesting to view the actual stream of tweets by searching #sharethejourney on Twitter by projecting it in class. This can open further discussions about the Pope's campaign.  With older students, this would be an excellent way to introduce them to the larger world working together.  If they have twitter accounts, ask them to follow the hashtag.

Resources for the classroom:

• USCCB Provides a list of quotes on immigration, human rights, and refugees
• Sharethejourney.org
  
• CRS Education​​

For more information on digital tools for the classroom, contact the Office of Faith Formation.