Discussion+Forum

Directions:
After exploring the Service Learning wiki, please respond to ONE of the two questions below (150-200 word maximum) by Thursday, March 25th at 6 PM. To do so, type your name in bold with the date and time of your post, leaving the font color black. All new original posts should be placed above previous posts, so that the most current post is at the top of the page.

Also, respond to a another colleague's original response by Saturday, March 27th at 6 PM. In responding to a colleague, please change your font color; post your name, date, and time in bold; and then include your response, below the original post. Also, please avoid using the color red, as the group 5 facilitators will respond using that color.

Discussion Questions:
1) Describe any previous experience you have had with Service Learning. In your description, include some of the benefits Service Learning brought to your students and some of the challenges you faced in incorporating this type of curriculum?

2) How can you implement a Service Learning approach/curriculum at your school site and/or district level? What potential benefits and challenges can you see being associated with this type of curriculum?

Student Responses:
As far as I can recall, I have not had any previous experience with Service Learning throughout my education. Based on the presentation, I have participated in plenty of community service, though. Also, as a teacher, while I believe students should be involved in service and I think it's a great idea to incorporate it into the curriculum, I just hadn't had the opportunities to incorporate it. As a computer lab teacher, I'm not sure how we could incorporate it into the curriculum. The only thing that comes to mind at the moment is to encourage the students to teach others about technology. **Brenda 3/25/10 11:54pm** It's amazing how much reflection brings to the table huh Rachel? :) I too have participated in a whole lot of community service, and little to no service learning (reflecting back to one of my high school honors clubs I'm sure something could have come close). I think as a computer teacher you would have ample opportunity to teach your students how to teach others...isn't the saying "lead by example"? How many teachers at your school know as much about technology as your students. I'm sure your students come in and have learned so much from you. They could take that knowledge back to their teachers and aides, and even office staff. I think that having students share their knowledge about tech is less threatening to us as teachers and possibly would be open to learning more because of the unthreatening nature of the "teacher". :) Great idea about encouraging your students to teach! Now the question is, what would the students think about it, and how would they like to run with it?
 * Rachel Whittle 3/25 10:25pm**

Have you ever thought of having your students teach some computer skills at say a retirement home? My Mom has been retired for a few years now and I gave her my old computer. She was not scared of it but felt like she had been out of touch for so long it was vastly different. I think you students could maybe offer tutor services or travel to different local places offering their expertise. It would be a great way for kids and older people to connect!
 * Theresa B 3/26/10 5:19 PM**

Brenda, you are right. I have a smaller group that comes in to learn some additional skills. They could very easily teach the rest of the class, staff, teachers, etc. how to use the programs and create teaching materials too. Theresa, having them teach the skills at a retirement home is a bit trickier. I am only there a portion of the day, and I work in an economically disadvantaged area. It would be almost better to invite the parents to the school and have the students teach their parents. I don't have as much control in that sort of thing, but it's definitely something I can put out there as an idea.
 * Rachel 3/27/10 1:30PM **


 * Heather 3/27 5:30PM **
 * Rachel I agree with Brenda on having the students teach each other something new or maybe even present it to the entire class. There are so many things in technology that many students do not know exist, that they can help each other in learning new tools to use. I think you have a great idea as well in encouraging the students to teach others about technology. What better a thing to do than have them teach each other. Who know, maybe you might learn something new. :-) **

**Valerie Cardenas 3/25 6:30 p.m.** I have not had my classroom participate in any service learning projects before. After viewing the presentation, and reading through other's experiences, I am definitely inspired to do so. Our school does may service learning projects that they open to all of the classes. One of the service learning experiences that really caught my attention was providing computer classes to those who are not familiar with computers. I think this would be perfect for my our school because all of the students have laptops. This would be beneficial for my students because they could use the skills they have learned and developed and teach others who are less familiar. I think some problems with this would be getting to a location where we could take our laptops and teach others. One thing that I have been thinking about, and am considering completing is having my class teach about cyber safety. I could place my students in groups to create podcasts. That way, we could post if for other classes at the school and even in the district to view. Valerie, having your students do a service learning project on tech safety is a good idea. Are you thinking about giving them an option to choose their topic or mode of presentation? Also another component of SL is that it includes the content standards, where as community service does not. Maybe you could relate a language arts standard in this idea - the drafts of their podcast scripts etc. It's fun to think of ideas and come up with ways to incorporate SL in the classroom, however, you are right that there are some challenges: time, finding a location, money etc. I think, though, that there are so many benefits.. it's worth trying to figure a way around the challenges!
 * Amie 3/25/10 8:25 PM

Valerie Cardenas 3/27/10 11:06 Amie, I didn't think about considering allowing them to choose their mode of presentation, but it might be a good idea to. This might make them more excited because they would also get to highlight their technology skills in a program they feel most proficient using. I could probably combine a few standards in this project, including technology, and writing. I think I may start this project during state testing week. That week is usually pretty difficult because they are so drained from testing all morning. Thanks for the ideas! **

Valerie ~ first of all, let me just say how envious I am that all of the students at your school have laptops! =) In terms of SL, I think that your students could probably come up with some really great ideas to incorporate technology and SL. One of the most valuable aspects of SL is the intrinsic motivation due to the fact that the project is student-created/directed. Are your students familiar with the NETS? Because maybe you could have them figure out a SL project that would support those standards... =)
 * Catherine 3/26/10 9:47AM **

** Valerie Cardenas 3/27/10 11:08 Catherine ~ It is a fun, yet sometimes challenging experience teaching with the laptops. It is amazing to see what these kids could do on their computers in terms of creating projects. My students are not yet familiar with NETS. We recently heard about them at a staff meeting, so I am not too familiar with them myself. I will definitely look at these in more detail before I start the project. Thanks for the idea! If the students focus on those standards, it would help themselves as well as the other classes we share them with. :) **

One Service Learning approach that I would love to implement at our school site is being able to have students participate in growing their own garden. This will not only benefit in lessons for 5th grade science dealing with photosynthesis and xylem flow, but it will also build civic duties in environmental studies. Students will appreciate the process it takes just to get food to supermarkets and to them in general. The benefits are limitless with this, as students can really own this project from start to finish and take pride in growing, taking care of vegetables and fruits, and then, seeing the fruits of their labor grow out from it. The challenges that I foresee us facing (that another nearby neighborhood school faced) is vandalism or stealing of items from the garden. Then, having to explain that to the students who work hard to tend to the garden. It is hard to promote service learning when the community might not necessarily have the same thoughts in mind. Devi, that's a great way for students to see science in action. I just found out our school is going to use some of our auction money to purchase a garden and have it built. I wish that the school would have considered a service learning approach: have the kids plan, raise money, build, and lean from the garden on their own! They could have incorporated so much math into this project! It would have been an excellent learning experience. Also, it's so sad that such a good deed can be destroyed by vandalism. Perhaps there can be a silver lining, though... they can see how hard they worked and how badly it feels to have others take that away. Maybe it will motivate them to stay honest and others-centered individuals! Theresa B 3/26/10 ** That is true Devi. The Kaboom park the community participated in to build is still looking good after a year. I bet that if the students marketed it the right way, there might be more honesty. You could also look at a fruit and vegetable stand say at a PTA meeting or our Cinco de Mayo celebration with the proceeds being put back into the garden. It could be a project tradition!
 * Devi Lam 3/25/10 6:00pm**
 * Amie 3/25/10 8:20 PM

I would first like to congratulate group 5 on a job well done. Your presentation cleared up many misconceptions I had about what Service Learning is and isn't. I have always related Service Learning to community service. I can now say that I know the difference and how and why they are different. I have never integrated Service Learning in my classroom, however, since viewing your presentation I have been thinking of how I might be able to implement and integrate it. One topic that we learn about in 3rd grade is the wetlands. We even take a field trip to the wetlands. We learn about how trash and debris are collected there and often make there way into the ocean harming animals. We learn about storm drains and the importance if recycling and disposing of trash properly. For a Service Learning project, we could take a walking field trip through our community and pick up trash that might otherwise make its way into the storm drain and eventually into the ocean. Not only will this help the community, but it will help the students see the amount of trash that is not thrown away. This is a project that is easy enough for the students to help plan and implement. When I read that Service Learning is student led, designed, and implemented, I was a little concerned with being able to implement it with my 3rd graders. I think with planning and guidance it can be used and a valuable learning experience. ** Sandy, I had the same misconceptions as you did when we started preparing this presentation. In fact, I think most people do. I like your idea of connecting trash pick up in your community to the wetlands, because the reality is that all the trash we dump here ends up affecting those beach areas. I did something similar with the students at my school. We started on our own campus, which was trashed at the end of each day (totally gross). Kids picked up trash, sorted it, calculated the amounts (and percentages) of different types of trash then created PPT's and an oral presentation that was presented to classes around the school. We were really able to connect content and helping others and our community! Sandy 3/26/10 Amie, I really like your ideas and how you were able to integrate math and technology into your trash collection. Something I will definitely consider next time. Sharing the information they collect with other classes is a great idea. Thanks!! **
 * Sandy Bordy 3/25/10 5:46pm
 * Amie 3/25/10 8:16 PM

You know Sandy, that is a great idea and a good tie in for the Wetlands idea. Nothing gets people in the groove like young children fired up for a major project. At camp we do compost collection for the week and you should see the kids eat fruit so they have something to contribute to the collection! I think that anything we as teachers do to connect kids to the community in which they live and passing on the belief that we can make things better has such value!

I have not had any opportunities to plan, create, and implement service learning projects in my classroom. The only experience I have is through my niece. She attends a private high school where most, if not all students, participate in service learning projects. I think it's great because it makes her and her classmates aware of the issues in their communities. They not only know what the issues are, but as young adults they are engaged in trying to find solutions. My niece is a senior in high school and has been involved in deep issues for the last few years. Compared to other high school students her age, I see her as a caring person who is not self centered. Not only that, but she has a great self esteem. I think service learning is a great concept and would help my student and myself be better people. However, I find it difficult to implement into my curriculum because of time. ** Lupe, what types of SL projects does your niece do at her school site? Do the kids work together to come up with a project and connect it to the high school curriculum? Many of the characteristics you see in your niece, I see in my students who do SL projects, as well. If we want our students and America's youth to be responsible and others-centered, we have to give them opportunities to do that. What better way to help them learn these traits than through service learning! Lupe 3/26/10 7:05 P.M. Amie- One of the projects she participated during the summer took place at the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, since Connelly High School is just a few blocks away. Her and and few other students spent their summer creating lessons that implemented science and technology to help encourage the underpriveleged girls who attend to be more interested in Science. Through her social studies class, she participated in a group that was creating awareness to the genocide in Sudan. They had events to raise money to purchase t-shirts and other realia to bring attention to the issue. They wore the shirts everywhere they went. The shirts had an eye catching phrase and posed a question to the reader. After they asked they would inform the people about the issue and them hand them pamphlets, pins, and other things with informational facts.
 * Lupe Escobar 3/25/10 5:31pm
 * Amie 3/25/10 8:13 PM **

Lupe - I totally understand about time constraints. There simply isn't enough time to cover what is // required, // let alone trying to figure out how to add something else to the mix. Because I teach a semester course (I still have a year's worth of material to cover), I have yet to figure out a way to somehow incorporate SL into my curriculum. However, SL is not simply an add-on to the curriculum, it's meant to support existing standards. I'm not sure what grade you teach, but if you're elementary, there have been some great ideas shared in this forum. =)
 * Catherine 3/26/10 10:02AM **

I like other peers have not had the privilege to participate, implement or experience any form of Service Learning. However, after viewing this presentation I was able to learn the benefits of implementing such teaching strategy into our curriculum. I like many others had the understanding that certain amount of hours were required to be logged to graduate, etc. Through this presentation I am now aware that logging hours is not considered Service Learning. Last night I asked my younger brother to share his Service Learning experience so that I could get a sense of what steps his school had taken to implement such strategy into their curriculum. After talking to him I was able to see that his school did a nice job planning, implementing, and reflecting their Service Learning experiences with seventh graders. It was evident that his school considered the students input because they were asked to vote on Service Learning choices. He said that such experience was introduced and taught in his English class. Another thing the school did to motivate students to participate was to have them do their Service Learning during a school day. His school also gave all participating students a t-shirt that read in the front “South Service Day and year” and on the back it had the illustration of the student who won the logo for helping out. My brother shared that his Service Learning experience was wrapped up with a questionnaire. Overall, I have learned trough this presentation that Service Learning is a great thing to consider and implement into the curriculum. I teach kindergarten and know that my students are young but I know there are choices one can modify to successfully implement such valuable experiences into our curriculum most importantly that will teach young children the importance of giving back to our community and building character. ** Eva, I am glad your brother's school is using SL curriculum. What type of projects did they do? Also, Iike that they made T-shirts. That is a great way to help kids feel like they are doing something important and that they belong to a community. Since you have kinders what type of SL do you think you could do with them in your own classroom? **
 * Eva Arreola 3/25/10 4:55pm
 * Amie 3/25/10 8:10 PM

Hi Amie, My brother shared with me that they were given various Service Learning opportunities that they could choose from such as going to local elementary schools to help tutor students, go to local beaches and clean them up, go clean-up graffiti from local community walls, go to hospitals to read, go plant trees and flowers at local parks and wrap presents for holidays, needed families, etc. I agree with you that T-shirts motivate and make students feel that they have made a difference for their community. My grade level and I have talked about having our kindergartners participate in planting and caring for some flowers or vegetables in our open spaces around our Kindergarten playground. This SL experience would tie into one of our Science Units and a Language Arts Unit. We feel that our students would learn so much and gain knowledge about plants yet making it a Service Learning experience because they will be caring for something that belongs to the community they live in.~ **Eva 3/26/10**

Theresa B 3/26/10 Hi Theresa, My brother had these Service Learning experiences when he was in junior high and he is now a freshman. Until, this day he expresses that he really enjoyed participating in such experiences and wished they had implemented Service Learning when he was an eighth grader or now in high school. I know that a neighborhood friend who is in junior high just had his Service Learning experience and he got a different color shirt and was proud to have helped do something for the community. I agree with you that implementing SL is a positive way to teach those disrespectful students to be respectful and responsible. ~**Eva 3/26/10** I first wanted to say how impressed I was with the wiki. It was very detailed, yet simple all at the same time. I loved watching the video as well as moving through the voicethread as she was explaining service learning. Great job! I never realized that I had any exprience with service learning until I viewed this presentation. I never knew something as simple as reading to a classroom could be considered service learning. I am sure that is a basic as it gets, but I still think it is awesome. Also, being involved with the Girl Scouts as a child I was involved in several things that invvd service learning, but never realized it. I do have to agree with several others, thinking back and now knowing what it truly is, when they said we do not have enough service learning in schools. I think this is very true because backtracking all of my experiences, I noticed they all took place either in church groups or a community group. I really look forward to researching more about the topic and maybe one day using it in a classroom of my own. :-) **Amie 3/25/10** Heather, I am glad you found the voice thread and videos to be a valuable tool. Service learning projects can be very simple as long as they are student centered and are based upon the content standards. I think teachers get overwhelmed sometimes, because they think they valuable service learning projects are large. However, as we have learned sometimes the smaller, student constructed ideas are more valuable to our kids than anything else. How would you consider incorporating SL into your classroom someday?
 * Eva, did you brother say if he enjoyed the project or how he felt about doing others like it? I think the questionnaire at the end was a great idea since a SL project definitely requires a time committment. To be honest, I am dismayed at the amount of disrespect that some of the Junior and Senior High kids have, but really believe that feeling a part of something and making a positive contribution is the right way to go about it!**
 * HEATHER SCHUMPERT 3/25/10 2:45pm**

I had no idea of what service learning was until your group's presentation. Great job group! Your group's bubbl map was informative and the narration was easy to follow! I thought that service learning was community service or volunteer work. It does include those components but the approach and purpose are different. It is curriculum based, and there is satisfaction on both ends. I like the closure aspect of service learning, as it is reflective and gives students a chance to collaborate with one another. Service learning can be extremely valuable and memorable to students. It might be something they remember for the rest of their lives. I think that many teachers or administrators don't push for it because they have a lot of pressure to hit all the standards and because we already don't have enough time to cover all the subjects as it is! However, with wise planning and efficient use of time, I believe that it could be done. Service learning can incorporate and include many standards such as science, writing, and technology. Multiple standards can be taught at the same time. It is not much different than students doing experiments in class. Service learning connects learning with giving, thus being intrinsically rewarding. I haven't been a part of service learning, however, have been minimally involved with it at my school. This is partly due to being at a K-8 school where we try to partner up primary students with jr. high students. Our tech teacher in particular tries very hard to include service learning. When I was teaching first grade, his 8th graders would teach my students how to take pictures and digitally enhance them on the computer. Now that I'm teaching fourth grade, the tech teacher proposed that his students do an electricity experiment with my students. Also, I don't know if this counts, but leadership students (who learn about teamwork and responsibility) use the values and skills learned to tutor students after school. Would this be considered community service or implementing what they learned in leadership with others? I believe that service learning can be started within the school community and expand to work with others outside the school. ** Amie 3/25/10 6:31 AM
 * Sonya Lee 3/25/10 12/27|3/25/10 12/27]] PM
 * Sonya, I am glad you enjoyed the presentation. I think many of us thought that service learning was community service, as well. You're right in the fact that it will take extra planning and effort up front. However, as you pointed out, you have to cover the required standards anyway, so you really aren't adding much extra in the end. Also, I know I feel like my students get so much more out of doing and activity etc. rather than reading a textbook. The leadership students who tutor the other kids could be called service learning if they chose the project themselves (student centered) and it is being directly related to the standards. Do they have have a way to make connections in the classroom and tie it to academic content standards?**

Loretta - again just a few minutes later Check out [] for an example of a service learning project completed by a former masters student. I didn't work on the service learning, but had her for 511, 512, and 515 ;-) **Connie 3/24/10 9:50PM That's a great article about service learning. How fun that she was one of your students. All the articles talk about how it motivates students. Many report homework completion increases as does attendance when doing service learning with students.** Amie 3/25/10 8:30 PM Loretta, that's a great article about your studnet's class. It looks like the SL project her students put on was beneficial in more than one way. I think the kids got just as much (or more) out if of the project as she did. That's not to mention the community, which benefitted as well. **Rachel 3/25/10 11:40pm** Loretta, Connie, that's really interesting that service learning increases student attendance and motivates them to do homework. Why do you think that is? My theory would be that it gives the students a purpose or a sense of accomplishment.

=
I suppose the feeling that there's a purpose is what motivates them in the beginning. I mean, when you think about it today, do the students feel a sense of purpose in coming to school when we are simply testing them to death or teaching them the things to help them pass a test? I think there's little intrinsic motivation in that. We have to find a “hook” to reel them in and perhaps SL, because of it’s personal connection and significance, can be that “hook”. =) And then sense of accomplishment will hopefully motivate them to do more for their community on their own. ======

When I taught third grade in Vegas we had a desert garden at the front of the school. It was actually a project completed by a boy scout? girl scout? for 'service'. After the garden was planted, my students created placards/labels for each plant. We used tiles and they had to draw the picture of the plant and list its common name and botanical name. It was the most amazing lesson and they couldn't wait to get out there. The art teacher 'gave' me the art period and I used it as science content. **Connie 3/24/10 9:35PM** Hi Loretta, That's a great example of how easy it is sometimes to tie in what's already going on with your school to service learning. I think there are a lot of possibilities out there that would match up nicely with most teachers' current curriculum. Baby steps in the beginning are always easiest, so start off with a small project.
 * Loretta 3/24/7:42pm**

Hi Loretta, your example reminds me of an experience that I had as a child. My parents were really big on us giving back to the community. There is a small area of land between two houses in our neighborhood that often had trash dumped on it. Working with the city, mom was able to get my siblings and I permission to plant a garden there to help "beautify" our community. We would visit our garden a few times a week and take care of the plants there.

-Alina

I, like many of my classmates am having a difficult time remembering a time that I participated in service learning. I do not feel that many teachers use it these days, simply because it seems difficult to implement effectively, and there is such a shortage of time in the classroom to devote to service learning. I do believe that it is an effective teaching tool, and an easy way to get students involved in their own communities. While I don't have many service learning experiences, I know that many students that are involved in the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are used to doing community service, and would probably have a lot of great ideas of how to include it in their schoolwork. ** **Dionne 3/24/10 3:42 pm** ** Hi Heather! I agree with you; Service Learning takes time. However, as I reflected on my own experiences approaching SL in the past, I now realize that I made three mistakes: 1) I always picked students' projects, 2) Everything was done on too big a scale and, 3) I took on SL projects as am add on to my Science or Social Studies lessons. What I learned from our research is that if we approach it from the context of // Service Learning as curriculum //, rather than // Service Learning as an add on to what I'm already teaching // , then SL is less time consuming. I'll use a Science Unit on renewable resources as an example. Rather than teach the lessons in the book, have students identify renewable resources in the classroom/school/neighborhood/home, identify problems associated with usage (Problem: Students throw their soda cans in the trash can), research alternative solutions to the problem, create a plan for fixing the problem, analyze the costs for implementing the plan, and then reflect on the process. I can easily facilitate a small scale Service Learning Project like that and simultaneously cover the content standards throughout the process. ** Hi Heather, I found your comment about feeling that SL is less likely being implemented these days. I on the other hand felt that more teachers these days are implementing SL into their curriculum more at the intermediate and high school level. This is because like you growing up I didn’t have the opportunity to participate in SL but my younger brother has. Like you mentioned this could be because it may be difficult for many teacher to find ways to implement such teaching strategy into their curriculum and mainly due to time constraints. However, now that we have gained knowledge of what is SL and ways to effectively implement it into our classrooms. We can now think of ways to provide our younger students with some SL experience that will guide them and teach them the importance of being good citizens and giving back to their community. ~ Eva 3/26 Heather - I think that what the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts do for their badges can definitely be connected to the curriculum. =) At schools with a high concentration of scouts, there could even be cross-curricular/interdisciplinary connections. And, scouts who are trying for their Gold or Eagle Award, I'm sure, would jump at the chance to be able to combine what they are learning in school with what they have to do in order to achieve that high honor. If anything, at least it's a start in the right direction. I have all these ideas milling about in my head...thanks for bringing up the scout idea. =) **
 * Heather Kelley 3/24/10 3:25 pm
 * Catherine 3/28/10 12:38PM

Dana Encheff 3/23/10 10|3/23/10 10]]:00 pm (after an amazing episode of LOST!) Like Kaitlynn, I also believed that service learning was simply community service, but I was completely blown away by the real-deal service learning. I noticed that service learning is a little more prevalent in secondary schools, and I think this is in part due to the fact that it's easier to transport older students out into the community. Plus, older students can probably work on more complex problems, which they probably encounter in the real-world. However, with our ability to reach far corners of the earth through technology, I should be able to find a service learning project that is age appropriate and relevant for my students. I'm not sure exactly where to look, but I remember doing some research on this in one of our earlier classes (anybody remember that project where we made a wiki with different places students could interact with others). I know that Connie Learn and I tried to connect through ePals, a website that allows students to interact with each other via email. We could possibly be helping other students from another country learn about America or English. They could similarly teach us about their culture and language. Another idea I have for service learning is to do a Science night at our school. I would like to open up our school one evening and have my students teach mini-labs about science content. Since this ties into the curriculum, it meets at least one of the criteria of service learning. It would also be helping meet a need, because according to many studies, most Americans have a lack of scientific knowledge. If both parents and adults learned science concepts, our students would be helping them learn more about our world. This project would also allow students opportunities to reflect upon the impact they had. They could report about what parents and families did as they learned from them. I think my students would be very engaged if they had this opportunity. I was struck by a quote from the second video: "When students feel they are part of the learning process, and not an object of the learning process, they can truly be engaged." Great quote! Dana, I am so glad that you were able to make a connection with the information presented and come up with such great ideas to implement service learning in your own classroom! I too was struck by the relevancy that service learning gives students in their own learning processes. I loved how you made the connection that technology today has offered a more global view to our students, as well as SL being more prevalent at the secondary level. Don't you think with the increased amount of technology in the elementary and middle schools today that SL could be more easily achieved as compared to 10 years ago (even 5 years ago)? I was like Kaitlynn and yourself on the "community service again?" boat, because the year after I graduated high school they were making "service" a mandatory part of graduating, so the stigma was built there. Not that community service is bad, just not usually linked to specific standards with pure intent.
 * Brenda 3/23/10 11|3/23/10 11]]:22 pm **

Devi 3/27/10 at 1:21 pm Dana, I have never thought about angling students presenting science as mini-labs. I think I want to steal this idea and make it happen after we're done with the MA program. This would provide community service! For instance, our 5th grade just attended a wonderful event, the Water Festival at the Richard Nixon Library. The festival was filled with about 50 stations tailored to the age range of students. Students learned how to promote understanding in their own homes and communities to 1) conserve water in California 2) help explain the science behind how much more resources it takes to desalinate ocean water vs. purifying and recycling reclaimed water. This could possibly be an idea, having students recreate these kinds of stations for parents and their communities. Let me know how the event goes, sounds like a great idea.

Hi Kaitlyn, Community service is the old version, and service learning is the new and improved version. Funding can be an issue, depending on what your project is, but there are some grants out there for service learning. Also many projects don't cost that much like the one Susan shared about writing letters to the soldiers overseas. The cost would be paper, envelops and stamps. That's pretty doable. And how neat to give the kids an audience for their letter, and let our soldiers know how much they are appreciated and admired at the same time! This also would be pretty easy to match up with curriculum because letter writing or elements of grammar are a standard at almost any grade level. Glad you enjoyed the presentation. ** Kaitlynn & Connie, I love all the examples and connections to the real-world in plausible ways. That's what I see as the beauty of SL. I also had a similar misconception before looking at all the research compiled by our group. Lupe 3/26/10 8:18 P.M. Kaitlyn & Connie-I like the way that Connie put it, "the new and improved version" of community service. Like Kaitlyn, that's what I that it was before seeing all the information that was presented. It's obvious that service learning is more beneficial than community service. In the past, whenever people I know have been involved in community service it has always been expressed as a chore that they didn't want to complete. The concept of students dealing with real life issues is more interesting and meaningful than just volunteering hours in activities that are not important to them.
 * I was under the impression that service learning was simply community service or volunteer work- similar to what I had to do in high school to graduate. Oh how I was wrong! Although I have never worked at a school with service learning, I would definitely use service learning as a teaching tool/method. I believe that service learning can be highly beneficial for students of all ages because it links classroom learning and real life situations and problems. It meets the needs of the community that students live in and is highly relevant to their lives. Some potential challenges of implementing service learning into the curriculum can be lack of funding and appropriate materials. A major benefit to service learning is that students work in their own communities - making the learning experience relevant to their own lives. Also, service learning meets the community need making it an overall better place. Thank you for all of the valuable information! I have a completely new perspective on service learning. Great presentation! **
 * Connie 3/23/10 6:20PM ****
 * Christina 3/24/10 8:45 am **

I have no experience with service learning and like many others I was under the impression that service learning was associated more with community service than with education. After reading the information you have provided about service learning I now have a completely new perspective on it, and it's possibilities. What made the largest impact on my understanding of service learning was the youtube video that you included. Watching the students enjoy what they were doing as well as hearing them make the connections to their projects with math, history, and literacy was really neat. The power of meaningful learning is so impressive and the results for the students in this video was evidenced by their increased involvement and educational scores. I am now interested in learning about more types of service learning projects that have proved successful and I would love to implement service learning into my future classrooms. The benefits of connecting real life projects that impact the lives of the students and those that they are helping with core educational curriculum is exciting. **Connie 3/23/10 6:15PM** Hi Bre, I have never been involved in service learning either. Both my kids graduated from high school several years ago and had to do the 40 hours of community service, but it was not tied in to the curriculum. The results that have been published about students' feelings about school after service learning was introduced have been very compelling. One study listed an increase in attendance, homework, and achievement tests. Kids finally understood why they were being asked to learn certain things. I agree, it is really powerful listening to kids explain what it means to them.
 * Bre Cox 3/23/10 3:36pm**

I don't have my own classroom yet so I don't have any experience with Service Learning, but am very impressed with your presentation and think it would be such a beneficial experience for students to participate in something like this. I always related service learning to volunteer work, but from your presentation I learned that it is so much more than just that. I was so impressed by the young students in the youtube video who wanted to learn more about wheelchair accessibilty in their community. The high schoolers tutoring the senior citizens on using technology was also a great idea. It would be great to implement a service learning project with elementary students in the same way, having an older student pair up with a younger student to tutor them on how to use technology. It was evident from the youtube videos that there are so many benefits to Service learning, including improved academics, improved relationships with peers, teachers, and the community, and growth in self-esteem. I really enjoyed your presentation! ** Amie 2/23/10 2:20 PM ** Tracy, I am glad you found the program beneficial. Someday, when you have your own classroom, would you consider using a Service Learning component? If you were to use your idea about having older students tutor younger students with technology, how would you go about relating it to content standards and what benefits can you see in establishing this type of relationship between the older students and younger students? **Bre Cox 3/23/10 3:50pm As I read Tracy's response to this presentation I found it to be very similar to my own response. While the wheelchair activity was most memorable for Tracy what was most memorable for me from the youtube video was what the red haired boy said about how service learning changed him from being a mischievous student to an involved student who has improved his grades. The improved academics and relationships was evident for me as well and really makes the idea of service learning exciting. Service learning appears to me as though it has the potential to change the lives of the students and those around them. I really enjoyed the presentation as well. ** Amy, I would definitely consider using the Service Learning component in my future classroom. There are so many benefits I can see as I listed above, for both the younger and older students. As far as content standards, I could relate what they do with the software to what I am teaching for the younger students. Bre, the red haired boy also struck me when watching the video, when he said he would otherwise be causing trouble, with a mischevious laugh ;) The Service Learnng project seemed like it really affected him in a positive way, as I'm sure it would with so many other students. **Catherine 3/24/10 7:25PM Tracy, your observation about the red haired boy's comment is something that I think most of us have come across in some way shape or form. I think that kids want to help...they just need a direction. =) Even my most trying student turns into quite the leader when given the opportunity to "help" me do something for the class. So, can you imagine the possibilities for students if they can // choose // something that is meaningful and would impact their own community? I love this idea! Now, I just need to figure out how to integrate this... **
 * Tracy Algorri 3/23/10 1:50pm**
 * Tracy Algorri 3/24 4:00pm**

Valerie Cardenas 3/27 10:15 a.m.
 * Tracy, I find that some of the mischevious students often thrive on these kinds of projects. Students can rise to high expectations if you set them. And sometimes the ones who are off task or disruptive will surprise you if you give them meaningful to work to get done. I agree with the red-haired boy that he if he was not using his time for doing something good, he would cause trouble. I see that sometimes in my classroom and I try to reach out to those students as my helpers. Service Learning teaches them that they could do positive things that will help others instead of negative things hurting others. It's funny because I am saying this as I am monitoring the Saturday School detention students.**

I would love to organize service learning in my classroom and/or at my school. At a CHARACTERCOUNTS! training, I learned a little bit about what service learning is and I loved the student centered aspect of it. I have done community outreaches in my classrooms, but I can see that they did not fit the exact definition of service learning because they were not tied to the curriculum. My first year of teaching, a student approached me about helping to organize donations for the victims of hurricane Katrina. Looking back, I could have turned that experience into a group effort by the entire class to plan, organize, and reflect. At my current school, working with student council we have tried to get funding for a service learning project that would help to beautify our campus with murals and painting but our grant application was not chosen. We have also talked about getting our student council and volunteers out in the community but we really do not know where to begin and we simply haven't had time to develop the idea. For me, some of the biggest challenges are time to plan, knowing what resources there are to help implement the plan, and obviously lack of funding. ** Andrea, I think you've got it exactly - SL is student centered! I'm glad that you can see how you can tie SL into projects that you've done in the past so that if they arise again in the future, you can bring in some of the standards you already have to cover. How do you think you could incorporate standards into your SL idea that promotes campus beautification. I also agree with you that finding time is always a challenge, whether it is planning or implementing curriculum. ** Andrea 3/27/09 9:52 am Amie, thanks for the question. We did tie our project into standards for our grant. We thought that the students would plan using math skills to budget for the project's needs. They would also address ELD standards along with Listening/Speaking skills as students would be involved in presenting the idea to the school. Technology skills would be addressed because we would put a group in charge of photographing and documenting throughout the life of the project to create a keynote presentation for the ceremony where we dedicate the mural to the community. We have not given up on the idea! There is a lot of potential. **Christina** 3/24/10 8:50am ** Andrea, it sounds to me like you're at the point where implementing an SL program is a logical "next step" because you've given several great examples to build an SL program around. I agree that time for planning is a huge obstacle. Perhaps having a team of teachers would help the process and extend the benefits of SL beyond your own classroom or student council group to include entire grade levels or the whole school. Hopefully, reading about some examples here in the discussion will inspire you to start an SL program at your school. :-) **
 * Andrea Flournoy 3/22/10 8:07pm
 * Amie 3/22/10 8:53 PM

When reading the information the group has provided on Service Learning, I couldn’t help but think about a program our school used to have called Community Based Learning (CBI). It was a program designed to teach our students with moderate to severe Autism social norm behavior while out in the community. For example, students would take walking field trips to a fast food restaurant for lunch and practice how to order at the counter. Now, this is not Service Learning, but I do think that the learning approach benefits both the students and the community. The students need to learn/practice “normal” actions within the community, and other community members need to be exposed to potentially “different” individuals that are part of the community, as well. CBI also involves community partnerships and integrates civic and community learning with curriculum, much like Service Learning. Other walking field trips the classes would take would be to a movie theater, police and fire departments, and to the grocery store. Perhaps CBI could still fall under the umbrella of Service Learning somehow? Thank you for your presentation! It was very comprehensive and informative! Stephanie, I think CBI sounds like a great program, and you are right it would benefit both the community and the students. CBI would connect better with SL if students had an option to select their project and stick with it from beginning to end. Of course this is a bit more challenging when you are working with students who have special needs and require more direct guidance. Also, perhaps it can be connected to curriculum through writing and mathematics. ** **Kaitlynn 3/23/10 4:09 pm** ** Hi Stephanie, I work as an Instructional Assistant at a high school in Irvine and I know that some of the severe Autistic students do this exact same thing. When I originally wrote my response, I did not even stop to think if this was service learning. However, I think that it would be really neat to allow the students to select a project to stick to throughout the year. I am also thinking how this could tie in with curriculum such as mathematics (adding up the price of groceries) or writing somehow. This would also benefit the community because, like you said, the community would beneift from learning about others. **
 * Stephanie Campbell 3/22/10 7:56pm**
 * Amie 3/22/10 8:38 PM

I think that Service Learning is a very valuable experience for students and particularly for my Special Ed. population because it connects the classroom learning with real world experiences (life skills for my students). We do a program called Community-based Instruction (C.B.I.) that has specific educational goals in the Vocational and Social-Emotional domains, starting as young as preschool (i.e. developing independence, showing respect for others property, staying with adults for safety, taking turns etc.) to adulthood (to prepare them for job skills) that are practiced in the community, much like the Service Learning concept. In most situations, my students do not experience the same level of academic success as typically-developing students their age but when we are in the community, they have an opportunity to utilize their own strengths in a non-academic setting. This very rewarding and reinforcing to them. Also, these activities provide us with another tool for the students to achieve their goals and objectives, as many skills are practiced. Additionally, I think that members of the community develop more sensitivity to special needs as my students interact with them. One year we did a program with the local senior citizens home (Adopt a Grandparent) which was a wondeful experience for not only my students and teachers, but also the seniors who were often lonely. The community surrounding our school has been very open to our service learning projects. Unfortunately with all the budget cut-backs our transportation for C.B.I. outings has been severely affected and we continue to look for opportunities within a walking radius of our school. **Theresa B 3/22/10 8:07 PM** Stephanie and Terese, I like how you connected SL with your experiences in your classroom. At it's heart, SL is a way to connect students and the community; students should understand that they are part of a bigger family than just their school. I was sorry to hear that your school did away with CBI because as you mentioned, everyone needs to feel like they belong and everyone needs to be accepted. **Stephanie Campbell 3/22/10 8:05pm** Terese - Our school "did away" with CBI this year. I'm not exactly sure why... I think the focus of our SpEd. program changed to be more academic versus vocational. I'm a little torn about this. I think the CBI experience is extremely beneficial for not only the students, but also for the rest of the community. I like your "Adopt a Grandparent" story. That's truly Service Learning. **Catherine 3/23/10 7:50AM** My school is one of the two intermediate schools (in my district) with a full SpEd program. I'm curious to know if my school also has a CBI program. I know that the M/M students are very involved with our recycling program, but other than that, I have no idea. Thanks for bringing that program to my attention. Because even though it may not fit the tenants of SL exactly, I think that it still sounds like a valuable program. =) Hi Stephanie and Catherine, CBI is such a worthwhile program and we are doing our best to preserve it. In our district, the Severe Special Ed. population "Academics" are called "Functional Academics" (different terminology) . The California State content standards are aligned on a matrix in "Domains" for us- so when we address the CBI goals in the Functional Academics, Vocational and Social Emotional Domains, we are addressing standards that have been developmentally and appropriately aligned for our students' //cognitive// abilities. The "Academics" look much different for our students than the typical developing student. Additionally, my students are very young (3-5 year olds) so their "standards" look much different for SL than their are age-appropriate typical peers. As our students get older, they have more CBI goals that deal with math and reading skills (i.e.helping a place of business count out silverware or other various tasks, helping to make a purchase by going to grocery store, reading a list, and purchasing with money, making change etc). These goals are linked as closely as possible to the curriculum with emphasis on the students applying and generalizing the skills that they are learning. SL encourages our students to utilize their strengths in the real world. That could be one reason why the tenants may not fit those of SL exactly. I hope that makes sense! Very informative presentation -nice work!
 * Terese Krueger 3/22/10 7:50 pm**

As a substitute teacher, I have yet to participate in a service learning experience; yet after reading/ watching what research and school personal have to say regarding this topic, it is clear to me that this has many benefits in schools. The Learn and Serve America video had a big impact on my perspective of service learning. As a result of this presentation, I learned that service learning is a teaching and learning strategy that is used to enhance students learning experiences. It takes a hands-on approach to connecting students to their community with academics and real-life experiences in a meaningful and interesting way. Through service learning students “take charge of their own learning” and become “a part of the learning experience” (Learn and Serve America). It was nice to read that the “majority of SL programs are integrated into the formal K-12 educational system (RMC Research, 2003), with an increasing emphasis for grades 6-1” (Webster & Worrell, 2008, p. 172). As a future classroom teacher and current substitute, I understand the benefits of incorporating service learning to improve student’s citizenship skills and promote taking an interest in their local community. If textbooks do not incorporate service learning, we as teachers should take it upon ourselves to find these opportunities and make them happen. P.S. Great Presentation! I spent a long time navigating through the wiki and soaking up the research. Thank you all for your hard work! **Theresa B 3/22/10 8:16 PM** Lisa I am glad you enjoyed the Wiki. I myself was excited about the integration and the students getting out in the community aspects of SL. After learning about some of the issues that are now surfacing from students constantly being connected to so much technology and students self reporting that they feel more comfortable communicating electronically over communicating in person, I feel that SL is a way for students to connect to people. I really believe that when kids see themselves as part of the solution to the problems our communities face they are empowered and become agents for change! Andrea 3/27/10 9:59 am Hi Lisa and Theresa! I agree that this presentation was necessary and a great follow up to Character education. I think service learning connects to our hearts because we are "service" people. That is probably a huge reason we are teachers....we love to serve others! I just wanted to add, Theresa, to your comments about connecting students to the community. Don't you feel, at least at our school, an equal need to have students see themselves as a vital part of our school site? I know most of our student council members are really excited to act in videos that contribute to our school, I really hope that in the future, that enthusiasm for Maple pride extends to many more students who need it. As I think about it, there are many ways that is already happening....6th grade mentor students, reading buddies, CharacterCounts hallway display, and I could probably think of many more! That's exciting!
 * Lisa Greenwood 3/22/10 7:30 PM**

While student teaching at a school in Fullerton, I observed students actively engaged in a Service Learning project regarding the importance of improving the environment by recycling. The teacher introduced the environmental problem to students and had the entire class of fifth grade students discuss why this is a problem in their community. Then, the students researched the problem, developed solutions to solving the problem, and created an action plan. Students went out in the community, cleaning up the environment as well as promoting awareness of the issue. Students took pictures, creating a PowerPoint presentation that they shared with the rest of the school. They presented their project in order to bring awareness to this community problem and motivate others to recycle. To further the project, the teacher created a school recycling club where students meet after school to clean up the campus. Students were highly engaged and motivated because they were the force behind the project. Pedagogical strategies such as interactive, collaborative, and meaningful learning was established which in turn helped students become better citizens by improving the community environment. In this project, service was combined with learning about how to improve the environment by recycling. There were standards which were incorporated into the curriculum, such as explaining that all individuals have a responsibility to protect, preserve the environment, monitoring progress toward a goal to help protect the environment. From what I remember, one of the biggest challenges was the element of time because this was a rather lengthy project. The teacher had to set aside enough time, out of the school day, to fulfill all the necessary requirements of this project. However, the benefits of service learning to all within the educational community were immense. Students took what they learned in the classroom and applied it within their community, practicing communication, collaboration, and problem solving. As mentioned in the Terry and Bohnenberger (2004) article, students were “not only becoming aware of, exploring, and becoming engaged in their community”, but also involved in “making a positive impact on their community; becoming empowered to make a difference in the real world.” Amy, it sounds like you really got to see SL in action during your student teaching. I agree that finding time to add in another portion of curriculum is a big challenge, but as you mentioned, the benefits are well worth the time that SL takes. When kids find a problem, figure out how to solve it, and then put their plan into action, they are learning in one of the most wonderful ways. AND, when we are helping others while learning, it makes SL even more worth the while. Do you think you will consider using SL in your classroom? What type of activities would you consider doing? ** **Amy Anderson 3/23/10 2:15 PM** Amie, I will definitely use service learning in my classroom. I love the fact that service learning is truly student centered, providing enriching and meaningful experiences for students. One type of service learning activity that I would consider implementing in the classroom involves writing letters to people in another culture, especially those in need. I would try to partner with another school, such as one in Haiti. ** My students would learn about another culture as well as natural disasters, such as the **** Haiti **** earthquake. The students can help organize donations for these victims. The two classes can correspond by writing letters of friendship, support, and motivation. This would be a continuous project of learning about another culture, natural disasters, and experiences that were different from their own. I believe this project would **“enhance teaching in school by extending student learning into the community and helping to foster a sense of caring for others" (Terry & Bohnenberger, 2004, p. 17). **The students would truly be the power behind this service learning project. **
 * Amy Anderson 3/22/10 7:30 PM**
 * Amie 3/22/10 8:34 PM

A few years ago, my 2nd graders participated in a service-learning project that involved writing letters to troops serving in Iraq. This provided an authentic learning experience that addressed the standard of writing a friendly letter. My second graders enjoyed this experience, brightened a Marine’s day, and learned how to write a friendly letter in the process. After viewing this presentation, I now realize it is better if the students generate the project ideas themselves and are actively involved in all aspects of the planning. In the case of the letter-writing project, someone who had a son serving in Iraq approached me and asked if my class would participate. Our school has conducted several service projects, but for my students these projects have not been service learning experieces because the projects are not directly tied to the curriculum. Some of these include collecting money for Haiti, conducting a toy drive at Christmas, and canned food collections. In the future, I would like to incorporate service learning into the curriculum, and this wiki has given me valuable information to help me optimize the learning experience for my students. ** **Amie 7:15 PM** Susan, do you think that there is a way to tie in curriculum into some of the projects you did this year: Haiti donations, toy drives, canned food collections. That way, you can incorporate some of the curriculum next year if they do a similar event; perhaps students can graph, tally, or develop statistics and report back to the school site. I also agree with you that students get more out of the project when they create it and see it through from start to finish. It seems to give a sense of pride, motivation, and ownership. Also, what are some of the challenges you have faced in doing community service? Do you think those would carry over into Service Learning?
 * Susan 3/22/10 7:03

**Susan 3/27/10 12:10 PM** Amie- Thank you for sharing those great ideas. Sometimes I get so caught up in worrying about meeting all of the standards, I miss obvious ways that I could incorporate other things like service learning. Your group did an excellent job with this topic, and I think it has made a lasting impression on all of us and will motivate use to incorporate service learninging the future. Susan, I love that you created your own service learning opportunity for your students. By teaching students how to write a letter while meeting standards and then allowing them to apply what they learned while serving the community, you created a truely authentic experience for your students. Way to go! I am sure the troops loved recieving those letters. I like the overall notion behind service learning: providing students with the opportunity to actively engage in and create meaningful experiences that involve them in their their community while at the same time teaching academics. How can we go wrong as teachers? It is a shame that curriculum does not incoperate service learning more; however, I can see how it would be hard for textbook's to incorperate service learning that is relative to what is currently going on in each school's community. This is why it is up to us as teachers to engage students in service learning experiences that are meaningful to them AND relative to the community's needs. Although I think this takes ample time to plan, the benefits surely outweigh the workload associated with service learning. It looks like you have done a great job involving your students! **Connie 3/23/10 6:00AM** Susan, thanks for sharing such an easy-to-implement idea for service learning. Many of us already have our students write letters during the year which ties into so many standards, but actually providing students with an audience for those letters through service learning is a great idea. ** Susan, I loved your project idea! I am sure the letters your students sent truly blessed the troops, what an amazing experience. Before the presentation, I was unaware that in order for a project to be service learning it had to be directly tied to the curriculum and standards. While student teaching in a fifth grade classroom in **** Fullerton ****, the students participated in a very similar project. My master teacher partnered with a second grade teacher in **** New Orleans ****. Our fifth grade students served as mentors for these students. After learning about hurricane Katrina, the students helped organize donations for the victims. The fifth grade students donated crayons, paper, and other classroom materials. The two classes corresponded by writing letters of friendship, encouragement, and motivation. This was a continuous project of learning about another culture, natural disasters, and experiences that were different from their own. I also realized the importance of having the students be the power behind the service learning project. Susan, your students are very fortunate to have you as their teacher, for you have included them in an experience that will give them (like Amie said), **“a sense of pride, motivation, and ownership.” Thank you.
 * Lisa Greenwood 3/22/10 7:45 PM **
 * Amy Anderson 3/23/10 10:30 AM **

Susan, I think you proved that service learning can be done without the teacher realizing! Also, it shows that with a little thought and planning, it can be done at any grade level while hitting multiple standards. It also builds character education, while teacher grammar, components of a letter, and I believe a little history. I was wondering how long did the process go? Did they continually write them? ** Susan 3/27/1012:10 PM Sonya- as I recall my students wrote four letters each. I think we started the project in February of that year and wrote our final letter in May. I have experienced many service learning experiences but now know which ones can truly be called service learning experiences. A way to implement service learning into curriculum at a school site could start with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. The older students may benefit more and be easier to start with when introducing a service learning project.When thinking of creating a service learning project the teachers need to look at the standards and how they can give a hands on experience to their students’ learning. In order to incorporate service learning at a school site you need the support from teachers at each grade level. Some challenges to implementing this type of curriculum is a lack of funding or materials that might be used in a service learning project that is creating something. A huge benefit is giving back to your community. Service learning to me is volunteering with a purpose that connects with what students are learning in the class. **Amie 7:11 PM Melissa, I agree with you in the fact that so many schools do volunteering or community service, but we never knew that it is not actually Service Learning. My school also begins doing community service/volunteer hours beginning in 5th grade and goes through 8th grade, with the hours increasing at each grade level. By middle school graduation, students are doing 15 hours of service hours, but as you mentioned, it's not exactly Service Learning. However, at least it is a start. What kind of SL project would you consider starting at your school and what standards would you tie it to? ** **Marcie 3/22/10 9:42 PM** Melissa at our school we start with kindergarten and go through 6th grade. Each grade level does something appropriate for their level. You just start small and work up to something bigger. It could be as simple as going to a senior citizen's home with shamrock necklaces and "shamrock" them. There are no hours requirements because the focus is the actual service. Students at our school come up with projects they do on their own by upper grades because of this exposure to service learning. I think it is of great benefit to the students and the community.
 * Sonya Lee 3/25/10 12|3/25/10 12]]:42 AM
 * Melissa 3/22/10 6:26pm **

I have had a lot of previous experience with Service Learning. Five years ago, my school became a Service Learning School. Every class participates in a Service Learning project of some kind. For the first year project, I had my fifth grade class write a book about the woman who established all of the media centers in Fullerton School District. Students learned to write a biography, research, use quotations correctly, interview, organize their writing into chapters, and publish. We had the books professionally printed and donated one to each media center in Fullerton. The following year we joined other classrooms to provide instruction to senior citizens in operating computers. We invited seniors to our multi-purpose room, used two wireless laptop carts, and students sat with seniors in three separate sessions, working on word processing, using the internet and using a search engine. The following year my class helped clean up Laguna Lake. We walked down there once a month and picked up trash and cigarette butts. For the past two years we have been doing a "Healthy Bodies" unit. Students learn about proper exercise and nutrition, make a video for presentation to other classrooms, and finally, set up a Healthy Snack Cart during recess. Other students can either exchange an unhealthy snack for a healthy one, or purchase a healthy snack for $.25. All of these projects brought rich experiences to my students and helped me cover the standards in an interesting, engaging manner. There were challenges, however. It was difficult to get enough seniors interested in computers to come to our school. The upper grade students didn't want to trade in their "Hot Cheetos" for a string cheese or an apple. Nevertheless, when students reflect, they mention the positive experiences rather than the negative ones. It is a worthwhile endeavor. I had no problems incorporating projects into the curriculum. Service Learning easily lends itself to standards-based instruction. ** **Amie 3/22/10 1:46 PM** Marcie those all sound like interesting projects. I like that the students were able to communicate with senior citizens and demonstrate to them how to use computers - a task that many students really enjoy. How did the senior citizens feel about the project? Did they have a positive experience, as well? Also, picking up trash after others is a very humbling experience. What type of academic tasks did you use with that project? My class created a graph showing how many pieces of each type of trash they found (ex. 10 straw wrappers, 5 napkins etc.) and then put all of their information and suggestions on a PowerPoint and presented them to other classes in the school. I think once they the amounts of trash on paper it was very startling to them. Also, I like encouraging students to buy healthy snacks, but I can see your point - my 6th graders would not be too keen on giving up their junk food either. Hi Amie: The senior citizens enjoyed the project and were disappointed when it was over. They learned a lot. The trash project was at Laguna Lake and it was so beautiful there that students didn't mind picking up trash at all. We counted cigarette butts and later, the G.A.T.E. class presented the problem to the City Council and had a new law enacted that there is no longer smoking allowed at Laguna Lake. I included P.E. standards since it was a long walk to the lake! **Bre Cox 3/23/10 4:00pm** Marcie I think it is really neat how you have been able to implement service learning into your classroom and it is especially cool that your students had a no smoking law enacted! I bet that were very proud of themselves! I have never worked at a school that had service learning as a part of their education but I hope to include in my classroom one day. Very cool!
 * Marcie 3/22/10 1:38 PM

**Valerie Cardenas 3/27/10 9:56 a.m.** Marcie, I am very impressed by your project to clean up the Laguna Lake area. It must be so empowering to know for you and your students to know that your service learning project made a difference to the community. This definitely shows students that they can make a difference. I have never worked at a school that has a true Service Learning component. My current site, a private Catholic school, in San Jose, requires my sixth grade students to complete 5 hours of volunteer work each year. As we now know, simply requiring volunteer hours isn't service learning, but it is a start in getting the staff and students to start thinking in the right direction. I would really like to create school based learning projects for my students, such as working at a food bank or neighborhood beautification. There are many ways that the learning and the standards can be incorporated into either of these situations. As a math teacher, I know I can have my students create graphs, record statistics, and/or even measure and build things for others. One of the biggest challenges I see, however, is the element of time. It seems like there is never enough time to fulfill the requirements that are already on my plate. But, because I believe the benefits of teaching students to help others (which builds on moral character from last week) is an essential piece of curriculum, I am willing to invest as much time as I can into making Service Learning part of my school site's curriculum.
 * Amie 3/19/10 7:42 PM (All new entries should be posted above this sample).**

Sandy 3/26/10 7:10 PM Hi Amie, I agree that having students do volunteer work is definitely a step in the right direction. Now that we know what service learning really is, we can start to think about how we might be able to integrate it into our classrooms. I like your idea of having your math class use what they are learning in math to record data. Having your students tutor younger students in the community in math could be a way to integrate math into helping the community. Maybe an after school homework club where they volunteer their time. Even though we know how valuable service learning can be, I agree that time is a huge challenge. I too want to invest time into integrating service learning into my curriculum. Good Luck :)

Alina Hi group 5, Thanks for putting together a wonderful wiki! The information you gave was easy to follow and very useful. In my own learning experience, I can remember planting a garden in our neighborhood and then using the garden to learn about life science. I think that teaching service learning would be a great way to give students authentic learning experiences. I just finished a long term sub position in a third grade class were the students wanted to start recycling in our classroom. We began to save the bottles and cans from our class. I wish I had known more about service learning before. It would have been great to build on the students' idea of recycling into a real service learning experience.