Global Service DIANA Medina downtown doral chárter elementary school Miami, florida

1. Global ServiceDIANA Medinadowntown doral chárter elementaryschoolMiami, florida Using Service Learning in the Foreign Language Classroom

2. Background • Education • WorkExperience • Professional Memberships

3. Overview of Presentation • Fundamentals of ServiceLearning • Whatare itskeycomponents? • BuildingConnections • CreatinganAction Plan • Q & A

4. The Fundamentals

5. Let’sBrainstorm… Whatis a ServiceLearning Project?

6. ResearchSays… • The National Service Learning Clearinghouse describes it as “a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” • In other words, service learning encourages students to apply academic knowledge and skills to address the needs of their community. The level of impact may vary, depending on the scope of the project. • Research has shown that service-learning is a promising strategy for dropout prevention (Billig, 2000; Billig, Root, & Jesse, 2005; Bridgeland, DiIulio, & Wulsin, 2008). Service-learning activities address various components or strategies identified as important to dropout prevention such as engaging teaching and curricula, connections between school and work, adult and student relationships, communication skills, and community engagement.

7. Key Components

8. Planning • Studentsneedsomebackgroundbeforetheirmaininteractionwiththeselectedcommunity. • Planning can takemanyforms. Can youthink of any? • Thedevelopmentallevel of studentsmust be takenintoconsideration. • Identifythescope of yourproject. • Assessment of assets and needs: • What are thecommunity’sassets and needs? • What are a particular agency’sassets and needs? • What are yourassets and needs as a teacher? • What are yourstudents’ assets and needs?

9. Action • Actionisthe actual interaction/serviceperformedbythestudents. • It can be brieforongoing. • Whatwill be thefocus? • The time spentistypicallyout-of-class time. • Teacher set up? • Sameagency • List of possibilities • Studentinitiative? • Power of studentchoice

10. Reflection • This is what primarily separates service-learning from community service or other types of volunteer projects. • Students MUST reflectcriticallyontheirattitudes and experiences. • Bill Grace of Seattle, Washington, suggeststheacronym S.O.W. forpromptingreflection. • Self • Other • World • Should be continuous, contextualized, connected and challenging.

11. Assessment • Asessmentis “theprocess of gatheringinformation in order to makeanevaluation. Anevaluationis a decisionorjudgmentaboutwhetheranefforissuccessful and to whatextentthateffort has or has notmet a goal. • In service-learning, itfallsintotwobroadcategories: • Assessment of Assets and Needs (beforeservice) • Assessment of Impact (afterservice) • Assessment of Impact (after service) • Did you and the agency meet the goals for the project? • Did you learn what you set out to learn? • Did your attitudes, beliefs, or values shift in any way? • Don’t forget to assess during!!

12. Building Connections

13. ServiceLearningHelpsBuildConnections… Withthebroadercommunity Withindustrycareersoutside of education Servicelearningallowsstudents to workwithdifferent agencies in theselectedcommunity and learn more abouthowtheyaddressthecommunity’sneeds. Throughparticipation in service-learning, students can developimportantskills, such as: self-awareness, teamwork, critical-thinking, problema-solving, communication and leadership. Students can use theexperience to seekclarityabouttheircareerchoice. • Servicelearningallowsstudents to learn more abouttheselectedcommunity and itsneeds and assets. • Students are able to applyacademicskills and knowledge to address real-lifeissues. • Communitypartners share theperspective of thecommunity’sconstituencies and expandthestudents’ worldview.

14. Creating an Action plan (*Let us explore our planning tool)