tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20715377886542953492024-03-13T18:52:10.961-07:00Dive Into Service Learning~ Sharing ideas and best practices for using service-learning in any K-12 classroom ~Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-80045941040165520792011-06-26T17:32:00.000-07:002011-06-26T17:32:24.695-07:00Changing the World...One Class at a TimeIf you ever find yourself traveling down I-24 through Tennessee, be sure to stop in Whitwell before you get to Chattanooga. You'll want to visit Whitwell Middle School to witness the product of their unlikely and amazing Paper Clips Project. Educators will be interested in the One Clip Summer Institute. Please see their website here.
"The Paper Clips Project has been an Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-66035682892883533472011-06-09T20:24:00.000-07:002011-06-09T20:24:48.307-07:00Laissez Les Bons Temps RoulerA quick trip to the National Conference on Volunteerism and Service allowed me an opportunity to help rebuild and 'spruce up' Evans Park in the Uptown New Orleans. Conference attendees spread out across New Orleans to work at four different playgrounds that had been devastated during Katrina.
Luminaries including R&B legend Percy Sledge, the Daily Show's British Correspondent John Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-3156281651606571922011-06-01T06:05:00.000-07:002011-06-01T06:05:44.917-07:00Summer ServiceThis blog has gotten a little dusty, huh? We've just been busy closing out another school year and preparing for the National Conference on Volunteerism and Service in New Orleans. There will be some fun and familiar faces presenting and we will enjoy participating in a service project to help rebuild a local playground.
Hope to see you there!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-57522319953203864162011-04-09T20:16:00.000-07:002011-04-09T20:16:55.929-07:00New Friends - Conference ReflectionDebora and I spent a lovely time at the National Service Learning Conference in Atlanta last week. We enjoyed getting to know an incredibly friendly, talented, and amazing teacher from our district, Debbie, and the incredibly friendly, talented, and amazing Greg Forbes Siegman (both pictured above). Check out his website! We met many other wonderful people, but failed to get Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-7901211398998687072011-03-06T12:49:00.000-08:002011-03-06T12:50:06.086-08:00Service or Service Learning?"Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success." ~Henry Ford
Our students were recently asked to stuff, address, and stamp envelopes for the local Rotary Club's annual fundraiser. We gladly did it as the Rotary Club does so much for our school. While it wasn't rocket science, we were impressed with the way they organized themselves and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-17118430512031282362011-03-01T18:50:00.000-08:002011-03-01T18:50:16.943-08:00Tennessee Conference on Volunteerism and Service
Great conference. Great contacts. Not-so-great statistic: Tennessee ranks 31st* in the list of states whose citizens volunteer for service organizations and projects. Hello, Volunteer State. We can do better.
*I would suggest that the amazing hours of volunteer work put in during last year's flood have not been counted. In fact, Nashville's Mayor Karl Dean's Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-7594454048996804352011-02-25T12:47:00.000-08:002011-02-25T12:54:42.919-08:00Trick 'Em Into Getting Involved (aka Cat Bowling)Like a cat focused on a laser, there are students who are focused on ONE thing: music, comics, cars, getting into the best school, making the football team, etc. Their passion is so strong that it may be challenging to get them to want to try something new in order to participate in your group's service-learning project.
It's up to you, the savvy facilitator, to find a way for these Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-8266017089072492652011-02-23T03:58:00.000-08:002011-02-23T03:58:41.122-08:00Lifetime of ServiceMeet us at the Tennessee Conference on Volunteerism and Service. We present Monday afternoon and can't wait to share and learn from others who serve in the Volunteer State.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-31962622954943759932011-02-12T18:56:00.000-08:002011-02-13T19:30:45.755-08:00First Stop: NAEA National ConferenceNashville, TNFebruary 2011 Meet the authors!
Presenting, Feb. 11.We love our customers!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-89531037923473505422011-01-30T18:55:00.000-08:002011-02-23T03:53:14.686-08:00We Did It!
We think you'll love it!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-45658594546987110532011-01-21T09:39:00.000-08:002011-01-21T09:39:56.047-08:00Let's Help Each Other
We'll be presenting at two upcoming conferences and we'd love to see you there. Join us! We'll help you learn how to implement service learning in the classroom and we can all share ideas for making it work.
National Alternative Education Conference, Feb. 9-12
Tennessee Conference on Volunteerism and Service, Feb. 28-Mar. 1
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-36969025087586633412011-01-09T14:01:00.000-08:002011-01-21T11:07:12.398-08:00Kinder, Gentler Journaling
Teachers at any grade level and/or subject area can use journals as a way for students to improve writing skills and explore ideas that are important to them. Many times, however, students end up complaining or running into "Woe is Me" themes. Who wants to read that all the time? Tweak your writing prompts to encourage students to find solutions to problems instead of whining Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-28399435762280552832010-12-29T06:05:00.000-08:002010-12-29T06:10:31.747-08:00Project-Based LearningWe contend that service learning is a form of project-based learning with the hugely-important element of service added to it. View the following video from Common Craft to learn more about PBL.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-30420042441637999982010-12-21T05:35:00.001-08:002010-12-21T05:35:28.379-08:00Sneak PeekUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-10405317030327005592010-11-22T13:40:00.000-08:002010-11-22T13:40:50.089-08:00ReflectionReflection is the most critical step in the service learning cycle (and in good teaching). It is an often-overlooked step as we rush to cover standards and take tests. However, it's so vital to slow down and consider the impact of our actions, the learning experiences, and the collaboration. It's the act of reflecting that lets our students (and us) digest what has been Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-20946620418679553712010-10-05T06:25:00.000-07:002010-10-05T06:25:20.696-07:00Two Words: Greg MortensonNational Service Learning Conference This is the type of conference that is inspiring to you as a teacher, but also as a human. It gives such hope when you see that there are so many people, organizations, and amazing students working to make a positive change in our world. Register for many reasons: to gather ideas for strengthening your community and your students, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-20978262143851173112010-07-13T19:46:00.000-07:002010-10-05T06:26:24.466-07:00What's Your Sign?Author Marc Prensky cares deeply about finding quick, simple ways to improve education. In his recent article, Simple Changes in Current Practices May Save Our Schools, he lists several changes in classrooms that would be simple solutions effecting immediate change. The first, relating to student passions, is something that those practicing service-learning methodology do well and do Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071537788654295349.post-40433332530515002092010-07-13T17:51:00.000-07:002010-10-05T06:26:04.663-07:00What the World Needs Now“Don’t ask what the world needs.” This quote from Howard Thurman might seemingly contradict what I know about service learning. However, it continues, “Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Students involved in service learning are given a unique opportunity to find and define what makes them come alive.
I've seen Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0