Service Learning

1. Service Learning Kay Roberson Adrian Hayes

2. Our inquiry question How do we create high-quality, meaningful service learning experiences for gifted students?

3. Goal: to develop a service learning project that includes • a strong connection to curriculum objectives, so that students reach deep understandings of complex concepts by practically applying their knowledge. • an authentic problem, where students interact with real-world professionals as they complete their tasks. • an embedded leadership curriculum, so that gifted students can further develop their skills in leading, communicating, and collaborating. • alignment with gifted program benchmarks and the National Service Learning Clearinghouse standards.

4. Additional considerations • How will we develop leadership skills through the service based learning experience? • How does service based learning respond to gifted student needs? • Who are possible partners in the community for the establishment and sustainability of a service based learning program? • How do students feel about the service based learning experiences they have had in the past (focusing on the tool for attaining benchmarks and the SBL standards)? • How can we be sure to address benchmarks and SBL standards that were overlooked in previous projects? • Who are possible partners and collaborators in the building who might assist with the service based learning project? What is the benefit for these collaborators?

5. Our CLC Strategy October-May

6. Phase One: Research • Inquiry question refined and posted by November 14th • Reading, research, and discussion (via wiki discussion boards) • November-December; two articles a week with posts

7. Phase Two: Planning and Implementation • Project planning January-February • Implement project February-April • Project steps: • Investigation • Preparation • Action • Reflection • Demonstration/Celebration

8. Phase Three: Reflection • May-June • Reflect upon work completed and degree to which goals were met • Develop plan for sharing work with colleagues

9. Kay’s Work Service Learning at Cox HS

10. Investigation Water Protection and Conservation Identify a Problem in the community Explore the question: What can be done to convince others to practice better stewardship of the environment?

11. Investigation Pollution of our oceans and waterways Identify a Problem in the community Explore the question: What is our responsibility to the natural world? How does the environmental landscape shape individual perspective and world view?

12. Investigation Counting SUV’s in the student parking lot Identify a Problem in the community An average of 50% of cars on the road are considered SUV’s and get less than 15 miles to the gallon contributing to CO2 emission Explore questions such as: What is the motivation for consumers to use environment damaging goods? What is a shared value?

13. Preparation Planning Tools Essential Components Leadership skills Time management Project Planning guide Contacting community service organizations with common values

14. Preparation

15. Action Beach Clean-up Winter 2012 Partnership “It Starts with Me”

16. Action Plant a Butterfly Garden Spring 2012 Partnership Hampton Roads Butterfly Society

17. Action Organic Vegetable Learning Garden Spring 2012 Lynnhaven River Now

18. Action Clean the Bay Day June 2012 Partnerships Chesapeake Bay Foundation

19. Reflection • “My goal is to show people what they can do to help and inform them on what is going on.” Kait B. • “I might be able to sway people who are on the fence about getting an SUV.” Philippe G. • “I think that many people are oblivious to this, and they need to know.” Jill H. • “After doing all this research I found that something could be done, but only through people volunteering their time and effort.” Paul G. • “I was surprised to find that in the amount of time that we were there, we didn't even make it ‍one block down the beach. There were four of us and hundreds of pieces of trash. It was an eye-opening experience to see just how poorly parts of our ‍community are treated. Knowledge needs to be spread about the numerous harmful results of littering on the beach, or anywhere for that matter.” Rachel B.

20. Meaningful: “I was able to learn and develop valuable techniques in both acrylic painting and silk painting. I also created pieces that focused on my concentration of "walking a mile in someone else's shoes" and expressed the impact of hunger and war.” Appealed to Learning Profile?: Student Survey Results

21. Progress monitoring- leadership skills to make students more involved in accountability Curriculum connection- stress content or conceptual connections and refer to it often include in EU’s and EQ’s often Youth Voice Intensity duration Essential Components

22. Celebration/Presentation • Exposition and Table Discussion on Sustainability April 5 • Presentation to Environmental Club and AP Environmental Science students June • Middle School Visits to share experiences from service learning

23. Adrian’s Work getting focused by giving back

24. Getting started • Encountered logistical difficulty in planning/ implementing a curriculum-based project, chronicled on Service Learning wiki page

25. Making progress • After deciding to work with my focus group of gifted underachievers, we set about on the Service Learning five-step process • Our efforts were documented on a wiki I created and the students maintained.

26. Reflection What did we learn?

27. Make research phone calls to potential partner organizations to minimize rejection Plan mini-lessons on leadership skill building, such as project management and team building Structure journal/reflective component with more probing questions that challenge students to go deeper into the content/concept and service project connection Plan early in the fall to implement Plan for consistent access to students – where you have control of class and students are motivated/obligated to participate Allow student voice/choice, but set parameters and deadlines for students reluctant to commit to one group or event Lessons learned