Service%20Learning%20in%20the%20Middle

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Service Learning in the Middle

• Tina Bardwell, 7th grade Science
• Marky Schmidt, 6th grade Math
• Marty Wicks, 6th grade Science
• Genoa Middle School, Westerville, Ohio
• Diane Ross, Associate Professor, Middle School
• Otterbein College

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Service-learning is not   

• An episodic volunteer program
• An add-on to an existing school or college
  curriculum
• Logging a set number of community service hours
  in order to graduate
• Compensatory service assigned as a form of
  punishment by the courts or by school
  administrators
• Only for high school or college students
• One-sided benefiting only students or only the
  community

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• Service Learning is
• Integrating meaningful community service with
  instruction
• Promoting learning through active participation
  in service experiences
• Is reciprocal in nature, benefiting both the
  community and the service providers by combining
  a service experience with a learning experience
• Example Cakes for Cancer

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• .and reflection
• Example Environmental awareness

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• Service Learning is
• Enriching the learning experience
• Providing structured time for students to reflect
  by thinking, discussing and/or writing about
  their service experience
• Providing an opportunity for students to use
  skills and knowledge in real-life situations
• Example Big Books
• Linking to academic content and standards
• Science in a Box

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• Service Learning is..
• Teaching civic responsibility
• Fostering a sense of caring for others
• Involving young people in helping to determine
  and to meet real, defined community needs
• Examples Bullying and Transition

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• Service Learning is
• Strengthening communities
• Extending learning beyond the classroom and into
  the community
• Example Environmental Awareness

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Otterbein College/ Westerville Middle School
Collaboration

• Service Learning in the Middle An Instructional
  Strategy that Matches the Characteristics of
  Middle Level Learners
• EDUC 691/391
• Fall 2005- Spring 2006
• Dr. Diane Ross, Professor
• 3- graduate hours per quarter
• Want to explore how to use service learning in
  your classroom?
• Want to work with a pre-service/ in-service
  middle school educator from Otterbein College?
• Want to see your students combine their volunteer
  spirit with curriculum in the classroom?
• This opportunity will provide you the opportunity
  to work with an Otterbein College student for a
  year to develop a service-learning project in
  your class.
• Sign up for this course
• Tuesday night seminar 600-800 PM
• For more information call Diane Ross at 823-1836
  or email at dross_at_otterbein.edu

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Curriculum
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• Activity Standards/ Integration/

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Self
Subject
CurriculumService Learning
Society
Student
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Young Adolescents
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• All adolescents are
• curious, seeking, and wondering about both
  themselves and the world around them.
• They are consumed with questions such as Who am
  I?, Where am I going?, and Whats it all about?
• Conrad and Hedin (1991b) have found that the
  power of service comes from placing these young
  people in a context in which their learning is
  real, having consequences for both themselves and
  for others.

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• Service learning is important for middle level
  students
• Need to be involved in learning something
  relevant to themselves, something in which they
  are interested (Terry, 2000b)
• Equipped with skills to become more responsive
  and effective citizens
• Skills that help them to become more confident
  and compassionate human beings. By having a
  passion for their community, students develop
  com-passion themselves (Terry Bohnenberger,
  1995, p.

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Goals

• Promote service learning in other schools in a
  more systemic way
• Create stronger partnerships with Otterbein
  College students
• Write a grant that would allow for a part-time
  middle school service learning coordinator and
  liaison with Otterbein College campus.

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Web sites

• The John Glenn Institute
• The John Glenn Institute/ Resources
• The National Commission on Service Learning
• Students in Service to America
• Character Development/ Service Learning
• Community Based Service- Learning
• National Service Learning Clearinghouse
• Service-Learning as an Integrated Experience in
  Middle School Education

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• The Cesar Chavez Foundation
• toolkit to assist in exciting work of planning
  and organizing a Chavez service learning march
  and/or project
• The Corporation for National and Community
  Service Strategic plan for 2006-2010.
•    - 4 focus areas
•       1) Mobilizing volunteers
•        2) Ensuring a Brighter future for all of
  Americas Youth
•        3) Engaging students in communities
•         4) Harnessing Baby Boomers' experience
• Service Learning for Youth Empowerment and Social
  Change Vol.5 Jeff Claus (editor) and Curtis
  Ogden (editor)

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• Improving Service - Learning Practice Research
  on Models to Enhance Impacts  - 5th book
• Building Partnerships for Service- Learning by
  Barbara Jacoby
• Young People in Action by Dorothy Weiss
• Living Leading and The American Dream by Bill
  Moyers

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• According to former United States Secretary of
  Education Richard W. Riley (1995),
• In the United States, we have a pressing need to
  reconnect our families with their schools, and
  our schools with their communities. We must
  reinvent a sense of community if we want our
  schools to achieve their full potential, bringing
  together adults, children, teachers, and other
  members of the community in an effort to improve
  student learning, responsibility, and
  citizenship. (Kinsley McPherson, 1995, p. viii)