How to Facilitate Successful Service Learning in the Social Studies Classroom

1. How to Facilitate Successful Service Learning in the Social Studies Classroom Dr. Alice W. Terry Kennesaw State University

3. What is Service Learning?

7. Basic Components of Service Learning Preparation Action Reflection Celebration/Demonstration

8. Preparation • What will you do? • Who will you need to help you? • How will you make contacts? • How will you begin? • How will you incorporate this experiential design into your content curriculum? • How will you incorporate this experiential design into your classroom?

9. JUST DO IT!!

10. REFLECTION REFLECTION REFLECTION REFLECTION • …the process of gaining meaning and understanding from experience • …helps students identify their own values, develop empathy for others, and compare their assumptions to real world experience • …the key to successful experienced-based programs

11. Celebration... Multiple methods designed to acknowledge, recognize and further validate student’s service work (Toole, Conrad & Nelson, 1998)

12. In order to gain the most from their service experience, students need exposure to the 3 R’s of Celebration: Recognition, Respect, and Reward. (Bohnenberger and Terry, 2002)

15. Community Service level… Students • Volunteer as a docent at an historical museum in your community

16. Levels of Reflection Bradley’s Level 1 corresponds to Community Service: • Reflection is informal • students observe without giving insights into the reasons behind the observation • Task is one dimensional • reflections are conventional or repetitions of what students have heard from others Bradley’s Observation Level 1

18. Community Exploration level… Students • Research your town history. Investigate and write a report on historical buildings, sculptures, or activities in your community

19. Levels of Reflection Bradley’s Level 2 corresponds to Community Exploration: • Reflections are more thorough • But do not allude to broader system in which the aspect is embedded • Students demonstrate a beginning ability to interpret evidence Bradley’s Analysis Level 2

21. Community Action level… • Students • Brainstorm ways to publicize and/or preserve your community's heritage. Then design and implement a plan of action to increase interest in your town and tourism

24. Levels of Reflection Bradley’s Level 3 corresponds to Community Action: Students • view things from multiple perspectives • make appropriate judgments based on reasoning and evidence • perceive conflicting goals within the situation • recognize that the differences can be assessed Bradley’s Synthesis Level 3

25. How can you integrate service learning into the curriculum? • Will it be part of an elective class or a content class? • Will it be tied to the content and/or skill objectives? • Can it help meet school objectives? • Can it be continued throughout the semester or year?

26. Choice and Voicein Service Learning • Give the students a choiceand voicein deciding the focus for the activity • This insures more interest in and commitmentto the activity

27. Choice and Voice • Let students select the project • Allow students to conduct their own research around their interests • Design working groups based on different intelligences and interests, i.e, • Media • Facilitators • Public Relations • Art • Technology • Communications

28. Using Choice and Voicein Reflection • Giving students a voicein how they relate their reflections can lead to higher levels of reflection. • Journaling • Writing poetry • Singing a song they wrote • Role-playing • Creating a slide show

29. How can I find the time? • Try an interdisciplinary approach • effective when the same service learning theme is explored in multiple classes • Compact the curriculum/differentiation • Cover required curriculum in 4 days in a week; use the 5th day for service learning, etc. • Reschedule the school day so that a block of time is available for service learning

30. Decide on the type of service… DIRECT INDIRECT

34. Cooperative Learning Strategies Cooperative Groups and Jobs • Project Facilitators - elected • Press Secretaries • Video Coordinators • Photographers • File Clerks • Journalists • Scrapbook Coordinators

35. Cognitive Apprenticeship Model(Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989) • Four elements that lead to learning: • Scaffolding • Modeling • Coaching • Fading • Teacher’s role: facilitator • Student-run, student-focused class

36. Creative Problem Solving Process(Osborn, 1963; Parnes, 1967) • Identifying problems & challenges • Recognizing and stating the important problem • Producing alternative solutions • Evaluating alternative solutions • Planning to put solutions into use (Torrance, 1995)

37. Brainstorms anyone? • Have students brainstorm possible problems on a Jot Board • problems discovered during fact-finding • problems the students may encounter while trying to effect change in the community. • Narrow the brainstormed challenge ideas to five or six. From among this list, select an Underlying Challenge by identifying the most significant issue—the problem on which that the class feels it can have the most impact and influence.

39. Tips & Techniques What’s in a name? • A group identityand unity is often established within a group or class by encouraging the service learning students to choose an acronym, a name, for the group and/or the project • RIPPLES, SWaMP Kids, Backstage Crew

40. Tips & Techniques • A team T-shirt is fun for the students to create • It can unify the students as well as advertise the service learning project • The T-shirt can be worn on any project outing or presentation • The design should be • connected to the project • topic and/or the project • goals

41. Tips & Techniques for Community Meetings • Students get the group on the agenda of the meeting—call at least a week in advance • Select a spokesperson to represent the class • Prepare a complete, concise, and creative presentation • The spokesperson presents the ideas your class has with others providing support

42. Create and Implement Plan of Action • * Fly!* Generate and Evaluate Action Ideas Community Action Generate Challenges and Select Underlying Challenge MODEL Conduct Extensive Research Identify Areas of Concern in the Community

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