Monday, October 26, 2009
Service learning projects
Class Service Learning Projects
Here are a few service learning ideas from my classmates. More will be added later.
Chance- xtranormal.com website: civic values, voting is not the only way to get involved. Students pick an issue and try to help solve it. Uses wiki's as a platform
Zarha- learning about voting rights, choose an important person that effected voting rights and make a lesson on that person. Use skype to connect with other students.
Michael- oral history/ nursing homes students interview old people and use that to make a digital story recording to make presentations and upload to youtube
Adam- voter registration, observing trends and makes students create ways to help people get involved, use the school news to motivate people to vote inside the school. Have booths to promote voting at the school.
Megan- human trafficking, makes students aware of this issue, four groups- what/how people are enslaved today, what the U.S is doing to stop it. Goal- letter writing campaign to politicians to encourage people to write letters also, also spreads awareness of who the congress members are in the area.
Jen- military letter writing, create a wiki to write letters to all branches of the military, servicemen can write back and give them information.
Josh- honoring our veterans, interview a vet and ask many questions, before interview the students have to do research on the event, make a podcast 2 min and a blog about their experiences with the vet and let the vets know that they can view the website.
Jeremy- war on drugs, intentions of the war on drugs, create a wiki and then write a politician about what they think.
Megan g.- support a soldier, middle school, working through their school and community to get support for the troops(care packages). Try to get donations for specific soldiers connected to soldiers fighting oversees, make a video about any updates. Ask people to send in needed items, soldiers could write back and answer student's questions.
Elizabeth H.- helping underprivileged children, put together christmas boxes for people in need, make blogs and commenting on other students blogs. Need to research the different opportunities available to help people.
Eric- Using internet to help the elderly, old people are lonely and sad. Make students visit nursing home and interview them. work with residents to show them how to email and chat with family members. Rate life satisfaction. Write a paper about what they learned and how what they did may have helped. Students see if they made an impact.
Elizabeth J.- increasing cultural awareness, lecture on immigration and have students poll the school and see where everyone's heritage comes from. Get people to make contribute to a cultural fair in the school, with food and anything else.
Mallory- students pair up with habitat for humanity, students will determine the costs of building homes. Research people that do volunteer work for the program, interview families that have received homes- telling their story. Tie it in with what they learned about economics and how people lost their home.
Louisa- oral history, connecting past with the present. Students ask themselves questions about their lives- what they need or are worried about. Ask old people what they were worried about when they were younger, compare that with what older people say. Video or tape the interview onto the wiki to share. viewing party at the nursing home, bring food and drink, for the nursing people to watch and show they are still valued in the community.
Katie- history affects us all, video, visit nursing home 3-4 times a semester, learn about the historical aspects that impacted their lives. Music the Weepies.
Jeff- go to local parks and see how people affect the environment. Showing students how much trash is left at parks after people leave. Go to the park and help clean up. Teaches kids about wildlife protection, make a blog or video about what they learned.
Glogster- online poster webpage, interactive poster. can add video and web sites. Glogster.edu- register students up to 200, very private. Look at glogster tutorial on youtube. Glogster.com/edu
Megan- Voter turnout, how info was dispersed during elections, how govn't affects peoples lives. Visit nursing home and make a podcast about the interviews from the elderly. All tied to voting and media. Write a thank you letter to the elderly after they are finished.
Britt- Increase young voters turnout, should be done on an election year. Generate a survey (survey monkey) have to figure out what questions to ask. The data decides the action they take, if they find out myspace is popular they can use that. They can make posters to spread their
Nichole- becoming a responsible citizen. Blog the Vote- learn about voting and campaigning. Use google motion chart to see the trends of voting to help focus the class on important areas.
Angie- Get it Right! learning the rights you have. Students select a topic pertaining to individual rights, small groups, research their topic and figure out how we got there and pu their results on the class wiki. Put together a community fair and display there interactive presentations for the public to see. Gain community support,
Trish- Writing out loud. Set up a pen pal system between America and Japanese students. Expand students horizons. Talk about what they are being taught conserning WWII. Info about schools the students attend and what they are learning, make a wiki about any stereotypes or bias discovered. Practice language skills for at risk students.
Alli- "We're all Americans" researching newspaper articles about Muslim racism. Use tradebooks. Exposing students to the Patriot Act. Interview people from the neighborhood and ask what they know about the Patriot Act. The students will expand their knowledge about the Patriot Act. Go over recent immigration laws. Create wikis using their interviews.
Carrie- Oral history, Cold War, interview a person, family member, about the cold war, or they will research/do a mural. Record the interview and post it on a wiki. Working with the local newspaper and maybe get some articles posted in the newspaper. Brings out the community's background.
GiGi- study of Haiti and the issues that surround the education system of Haiti. Contact Haitian students eventually make a school presentation about what they learned about the Haitian education system. Collect funds to help the students that the class was involved with during the research aspect of the project.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Knowing the Avenues- Service Learning Plan
Service Learning Plan
Title- “Knowing the Avenues”
Area of Service- Developing active political participation and awareness
Grade Level- 9-12
Subject Area- Government or Civics
Unit Description-
Step 1: The students will familiarize themselves with local, state or federal politicians directly connected to their community (elected by the community). For the politician they choose a short biographical sketch should be made containing their views, background, party affiliations, voting history, personal platforms, and interesting facts that shaped the persons life. This can be done through emails, telephone conversations, or personal interviews. The students will compose a summary of each person and post it on the class wiki.
Step 2: The next step in the service learning unit will be to conduct interviews from various people in the community (coaches, other teachers, parents, etc.), outside the students’ immediate family. The purpose of this step will be for the students to identify a need among the members of the community. The students will bring any needs found out from the interviews back to class where they will select the most important.
Step 3: Using the proper political ‘avenues’, whether it be local, state, or national, the students will use their knowledge gained in step 1 to lobby for the needs they discovered through their interviews. The goal will be to expose the students to the political process first hand and to show students how local, state, and federal governments function. By creating dialogues with politicians the students should gain an understanding of how important or frustrating the political process can be.
Standards:
SS.912.C.2.2: Evaluate the importance of political participation and civic participation.
SS.912.C.2.3: Experience the responsibilities of citizens at the local, state, or federal levels.
SS.912.C.2.5: Conduct a service project to further the public good.
SS.912.C.2.8: Analyze the impact of citizen participation as a means of achieving political and social change.
SS.912.C.2.10: Monitor current public issues in Florida.
SS.912.C.2.11: Analyze public policy solutions or courses of action to resolve a local, state, or federal issue.
SS.912.C.2.15: Evaluate the origins and roles of political parties, interest groups, media, and individuals in determining and shaping public policy.
SS.912.C.3.13: Illustrate examples of how government affects the daily lives of citizens at the local, state, and national levels.
Technologies/ Web Applications-
The students will add all of their content to the class wiki about each politician. After the needs (from the interviews) have been determined and selected they will be posted as well. The students will be required to contribute to the discussion about why each need is important or unimportant, worth campaigning for, or any other discussion topic that can be generated by the teacher after the needs have been isolated and examined.
The students will periodically add updates to the wiki from their efforts to expose/ campaign for the needs they choose. Any responses received from the politicians will be summarized and added to the site to create a constantly changing progress report. The wiki will be open for all to see, excluding the class discussions, which will be protected.
The students will use this wiki platform to connect to the community and the people where the needs generated to show any progress.
Assessment:
The students will be assessed on how much they participate in the online discussions and during the interviews process. This project can actually last all year and beyond, based on having the students conduct another round of interviews from the community. The students will also be assessed on how well they research the politicians and summarize any responses they receive. All responses will be examined by the teacher to make sure they are accurate with the responses received.
Activities or worksheets will also be used to examine how well the students understand the steps each politician must take to achieve the classes request or need. The students will also be judged on their creativity on the wiki, to ensure that students add any photos, video, or documents that may help their objectives.
30%- For composing biographical sketch of any politician used to fulfill a community members need.
20%- For interviewing members of the community and choosing which issue or need they are going to pursue. The group needs to provide the reasons they chose the need.
20%- For updating the wiki with new information received from any politician and writing responses to these updates.
10%- Contacting a politician and describing the need the group is lobbying for in a professional manner.
10%- Responding to teacher lead discussion points brought out during the course of the project on the class wiki.
Click here to view a storybird about this service learning project
Title- “Knowing the Avenues”
Area of Service- Developing active political participation and awareness
Grade Level- 9-12
Subject Area- Government or Civics
Unit Description-
Step 1: The students will familiarize themselves with local, state or federal politicians directly connected to their community (elected by the community). For the politician they choose a short biographical sketch should be made containing their views, background, party affiliations, voting history, personal platforms, and interesting facts that shaped the persons life. This can be done through emails, telephone conversations, or personal interviews. The students will compose a summary of each person and post it on the class wiki.
Step 2: The next step in the service learning unit will be to conduct interviews from various people in the community (coaches, other teachers, parents, etc.), outside the students’ immediate family. The purpose of this step will be for the students to identify a need among the members of the community. The students will bring any needs found out from the interviews back to class where they will select the most important.
Step 3: Using the proper political ‘avenues’, whether it be local, state, or national, the students will use their knowledge gained in step 1 to lobby for the needs they discovered through their interviews. The goal will be to expose the students to the political process first hand and to show students how local, state, and federal governments function. By creating dialogues with politicians the students should gain an understanding of how important or frustrating the political process can be.
Standards:
SS.912.C.2.2: Evaluate the importance of political participation and civic participation.
SS.912.C.2.3: Experience the responsibilities of citizens at the local, state, or federal levels.
SS.912.C.2.5: Conduct a service project to further the public good.
SS.912.C.2.8: Analyze the impact of citizen participation as a means of achieving political and social change.
SS.912.C.2.10: Monitor current public issues in Florida.
SS.912.C.2.11: Analyze public policy solutions or courses of action to resolve a local, state, or federal issue.
SS.912.C.2.15: Evaluate the origins and roles of political parties, interest groups, media, and individuals in determining and shaping public policy.
SS.912.C.3.13: Illustrate examples of how government affects the daily lives of citizens at the local, state, and national levels.
Technologies/ Web Applications-
The students will add all of their content to the class wiki about each politician. After the needs (from the interviews) have been determined and selected they will be posted as well. The students will be required to contribute to the discussion about why each need is important or unimportant, worth campaigning for, or any other discussion topic that can be generated by the teacher after the needs have been isolated and examined.
The students will periodically add updates to the wiki from their efforts to expose/ campaign for the needs they choose. Any responses received from the politicians will be summarized and added to the site to create a constantly changing progress report. The wiki will be open for all to see, excluding the class discussions, which will be protected.
The students will use this wiki platform to connect to the community and the people where the needs generated to show any progress.
Assessment:
The students will be assessed on how much they participate in the online discussions and during the interviews process. This project can actually last all year and beyond, based on having the students conduct another round of interviews from the community. The students will also be assessed on how well they research the politicians and summarize any responses they receive. All responses will be examined by the teacher to make sure they are accurate with the responses received.
Activities or worksheets will also be used to examine how well the students understand the steps each politician must take to achieve the classes request or need. The students will also be judged on their creativity on the wiki, to ensure that students add any photos, video, or documents that may help their objectives.
30%- For composing biographical sketch of any politician used to fulfill a community members need.
20%- For interviewing members of the community and choosing which issue or need they are going to pursue. The group needs to provide the reasons they chose the need.
20%- For updating the wiki with new information received from any politician and writing responses to these updates.
10%- Contacting a politician and describing the need the group is lobbying for in a professional manner.
10%- Responding to teacher lead discussion points brought out during the course of the project on the class wiki.
Click here to view a storybird about this service learning project
Why is he yelling, Blog #7
The first event I thought of after watching the video, that would probably be totally weird if our modern technologies were available, was Paul Revere's ride through Boston. He would not have had to ride through the city yelling 'The British are coming!' He could have just relaxed and sent a text or posted it on twitter. Revere's midnight ride has become a famous event that has reverberated down to our time as national folk lore. The city of Boston would lose out on a huge tourist attraction, I've been to Boston, they have statues, reenactments, and museums devoted to everything that has to do with the 'colonial trouble makers' it is amazing. Without names and characters to display there would be nothing to see. You can't build a monument if all you have is a screen name.
The American revolutionaries could have also gained support in much less dramatic ways. They could have connected the colonist, that were not interested with revolution, with their opinions and ideas, instead of throwing tea in the harbor dressed as Indians, etc. Twitter and SMS would have also made the guerrilla warfare used by the colonists much more effective, which may be happening in Afghanistan and Iraq today. However, we would not have the romantic stories that we have today if Revere had not rode through the city screaming his head off. The event would be totally bizarre in modern times but not less effective. As we have seen recently with the Iran elections and following crack down, dramatic events can still be very iconic using modern technologies; I'll never forget Neda and her murder captured on video.
The American revolutionaries could have also gained support in much less dramatic ways. They could have connected the colonist, that were not interested with revolution, with their opinions and ideas, instead of throwing tea in the harbor dressed as Indians, etc. Twitter and SMS would have also made the guerrilla warfare used by the colonists much more effective, which may be happening in Afghanistan and Iraq today. However, we would not have the romantic stories that we have today if Revere had not rode through the city screaming his head off. The event would be totally bizarre in modern times but not less effective. As we have seen recently with the Iran elections and following crack down, dramatic events can still be very iconic using modern technologies; I'll never forget Neda and her murder captured on video.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
You are Just a Screen! #6
This video was awesome! At first I thought it was going to be like listening to another person paranoid that the world was coming to an end because we don't talk or pay attention to each other. Thankfully, he changed his focus and exposed some very interesting things that I have never thought about concerning the way people interact for the past forty to fifty years. The 'Whatever' stuff was funny and made sense the more I thought about it. The 'assembly line feeling' also gave me some insight into why people do the things they do, such as American Idol etc.
The social networking examples Wesch used are relevant because they are an important aspect of the world culture that, barring a very serious disaster, is not going anywhere. These types of social networks are changing the feeling that we are lost in society by placing humans at the forefront again, maybe more than ever. Personally I can connect to my family in New England easier than ever before, as well as my friends that live out of state or country. With these social networks, although very different than face to face conversation, still qualify as interaction. I liked the wording Prof. Wesch used when he said, 'The most private space becomes the most public space.' The social networks allow people, and maybe classrooms, to open up in ways that are useful and important in creating a sense of belonging.
Our sense of self is changing with these new mediums and this is inevitable. The telegraph, phone, and radio all had the same effect. I thought of the scene in the movie 'Oh brother Were Art Thou', when the fat gov'nah walks into the radio station and yells at his biffy son for being nice to the people outside the station. I think he said something like, 'we aren't here to talk to a few people, we're trying to reach the masses.' I think the social networks we have now are similar to this example. We need to be careful that our face to face interactions don't completely vanish, but people have always been rude to each other, so I get irritated when I hear that people now a days are so rude. What does this mean? How do people that say this know? I talk to old people, like my grandmother, and she tells me all the time how rude people were when she was a kid. I think people want to think things were different when they really weren't. Okay back on target, sorry.
As Educators I think we should definitely use these social networks even if its just to expose our students to them. So many people use social networks that I think it will play a huge role in the future business world, which I'm pretty sure that by the time our students are out of school their bosses will be people our age; so I think its safe to say technology will play a large part in the workplace. I think we can try to connect these social networks to our content area but that probably should not be the total focus. Just like SSR (sustained silent reading, for those who have not read the fabulous BRB textbook), which may or may not be connected directly to the content material it still has many benefits.
Question:
Do you think these social networks and other Web 2.0 applications will be taught just like typing class was taught, or instead of typing? Or is it our job as educators to incorporate it with our class? (I had to take typing when I was in middle school, I don't know if these classes are still offered, it was really boring!)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Watergate podcast lesson
Mallory and I created a podcast collection covering Richard Nixon and the Watergate event. The podcasts include many calls to/from Richard Nixon by friends and colleagues consoling him during the predicament he was in. The collection also includes a podcast from a congressional hearing that is investigating the event. The students could use this collection to help put a human face on an event that is very confusing and embarrassing in U.S. history. Using these interviews the students will better understand the final days of Nixon's presidency, as well as hearing Nixon on the phone in a personal atmosphere. Other resources that can be used to accompany this lesson could be from supreme court decisions covering executive power, and perhaps other presidents that may have overstepped their bounds. Resources that discuss our government's checks and balances could also be used by the students to connect why Watergate was such an important issue that had to be exposed. This lesson would be perfect for a civics class discussing the limits of power each branch, in this case the executive, have to protect us from shady practices. One web site that can be used to look up Supreme court cases would be this one here. The following links are from our collection. (For some reason I could not directly link these podcasts.)
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349949535.01357471251.1355019026?i=1426120683
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349949535.01357471251.1355019026?i=1426120683
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349949535.01357471251.1357014222?i=1766028534
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349949535.01357471251.1356949900?i=1208012496
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1357552105?i=1876981101
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349360431.01349360438.1351818005?i=1697554405
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349949535.01357471251.1355019026?i=1426120683
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349949535.01357471251.1355019026?i=1426120683
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349949535.01357471251.1357014222?i=1766028534
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349949535.01357471251.1356949900?i=1208012496
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1357552105?i=1876981101
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/americanpublicmedia.org.1349360431.01349360438.1351818005?i=1697554405
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