In the service of what?

In the service of what? The politics of Service Learning
By: Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheiner

“For example, students in Atlanta must complete 75 hours of volunteer service to graduate. Maryland now requires that all high students preform 75 hours of community service prior to graduation or patriciate in an alternate district program approved by the state”
- I remember in 2011-2012 when I was a freshman in high school one of the graduation requirements was to complete 80 hours of community service. The class of 2012 was the last class that had to meet that requirement. It was no longer a requirement after that year. I never understood why they dropped that requirement. Community service can go a long way. Community service is not only  great to add to your college resume but if you keep up with it, it could open up so many doors. Its a great way for a student to get experience in any career they're thinking about pursuing. Its a great way for students to make a positive impact and change on the community. Overall, students can learn so much from community service.

“If we focus on the numerous values we share as a community, the founder of the communitarian movement and a proponent of service learning our world would be radically improved.”
- I agree with this quote 100%. I think that every person has something different to offer then someone else. By doing a service learning activity you are able to learn something new no matter if you are the person helping or the person getting the help. I also feel like if people actually came together and worked as a team a lot more can be accomplished as a community.

 "Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of the students"
- I can definitely agree and relate to this quote. In my own experience volunteering at the elementary school I'm learning so much. While I'm observing the teacher teach lessons, I'm learning new techniques I could use one day. While participating in helping the kindergarteners with their work, I'm learning new ways to help and teach my future students. I relate to this quote because while I'm being an active participant in the service projects, I'm also furthering my academic goals. Service projects are very beneficial on both ends.

Point to share: I'm wondering if anyone has had to complete community service hours in high school and if so, do you feel it was beneficial?

Link to reading:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-JcBFAuLc-0Uk96Z2g3NDI2bkU/view

Social Justice Event

Twenty Years Later: A conversation about the life and legacy of Matthew Wayne Shepard

On Thursday, October 4th I attended a lecture by Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Wayne Shepard who discussed the murder of her son Matt.

Judy Shepard is the mother of Matthew Wayne Shepard. Matthew was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries. Judy stated that the two men who murdered Matt befriended him in a bar and pretended to be gay. They offered him a ride home and once he was in the car they robbed him, beat him and left him for dead. The murder was motivated by anti-gay hate. Matt was only 21 years old when he was killed.

It was widely reported by mass media that it was due to him being gay. The incident became one of the defining cases of hate-crimes and was cited for passing hate-crime legislation. In response, Judy Shepard created the Matthew Shepard Foundation. The foundation's purpose is to advance "social justice, diversity awareness and education, and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people."

Since his death, through the Matthew Shepard Foundation and work with legislators, colleges, universities, and communities  Judy and Dennis Shepard have carried on Matthew's legacy, advancing dignity and justice for queer and trans communities. Judy authored the best-seller, "The Meaning of Matthew." Later on, Judy leads a campaign for the Matthew Shepard Act, which expanded the federal hate-crime law to include crimes based on gender and sexual orientation. Judy offers an intimate look at how her life and the fight for equal rights changed when her son was killed.

While discussing Matts death, Judy started to tell us about James Byrd Jr. He was a black man who was murdered by three white supremacists in Jasper, Texas on June 7, 1998. On June 7, 1998, Byrd, age 49, accepted a ride from Shawn Berry (age 24), Lawrence Russell Brewer (age 31) and John King (age 23). Berry, who was driving, was acquainted with Byrd from around town. Instead of taking Byrd home, the three men took Byrd to a remote county road out of town, beat him severely, urinated and defecated on him and chained him by his ankles to their pickup truck before dragging him for approximately 3 miles.
Byrd's lynching-by-dragging gave impetus to passage of a Texas hate crimes law. It later led to the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, commonly known as the Matthew Shepard Act, which passed on October 22, 2009, and which President Barack Obama signed into law on October 28, 2009.

Judy Shepard also discussed the importance of voting. She stated that "We can't have the change we want if we don't vote." She said every vote was important, for those who don't feel like your vote matters, it does. Judy stated that she's scared of what this world is coming to with Trump as our president. She claimed that she and so many others have put so much effort into trying to keep the LGBT community safe and now she doesn't know what's going to happen because of our president. She stated she's worried about every single one of us. The hate that Donald Trump brings terrifies her.

One thing I learned is that 45 out of the 50 states have hate crime laws. Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana, and Wyoming do not.

Connections to readings:

"All lives matter" - In this article it states how two black men were killed because of the color of their skin. It connects to this social justice event because an innocent black man was killed for the color of his skin. Black lives do matter!

'Scwaamp"- In this article is talks about how some identities that are valued and privileged and some identities that are less privileged and not valued. It connects to this social justice event because of Matts identity he was murdered. He was not valued.

"August" - In this article, August talks about students who identify as LGBT in a school community. But even outside of the classroom students who identify as LGBT should be welcomed and accepted. This relates to the social justice event because Matt identified as gay and he wasn't accepted or welcomed. He was murdered because he way gay.

Links:

http://www.matthewshepard.org/ - Matthew Shepard Foundation website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aF6dn4fAuc - YouTube video of Judy Speaking about Matt and Trump

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/26/the-truth-behind-americas-most-famous-gay-hate-murder-matthew-shepard- site about Matts death

August

Safe Spaces Making Schools and Communities Welcoming to LBGT Youth

Annemarie Vaccaro, Gerri August, and Megan S. Kennedy

"Classrooms lay the foundations for an inclusive and safe society; a just community where common interests and individual differences coexist. To the extent that teachers, school administrators, and college professors create an atmosphere in which difference is not only tolerated but expected, explored, and embraced, students will be more likely to develop perspectives that result in respectful behaviors. Without the deliberate creation of an inclusive atmosphere, however, what happens inside classroom walls reproduces the prejudices that exist outside these walls; straightness and gender conformity are assumed; LGBT identity is deviant."
- This quote it saying that classrooms should be welcoming and accepting to all students. The classrooms should be accepting of everyone's sexual orientation. The school administrators, college professors, teachers should work together to try and make their school and classrooms healthy and accepting of all students no matter what their sexual orientation is. If students were taught in the classroom that difference is not only tolerated but expected, explored and embraced, maybe they could use that knowledge outside of the classroom. This quote is relevant to the text because it's talking about classrooms and their impact on the students.

"One LGBT student reported that her college instructor compared homosexuality to be bestiality"

- I was disgusted when I read this. I don't understand how people can be so cruel. Like I get that some people may not agree with others sexual orientation or people may not like but to say something like that is so disgusting. Other peoples sexual orientation has nothing to do with everyone else so I don't get why it bothers some people. Clearly, this professor wasn't education on sexual orientation. If you don't agree or like it then you should keep those comments to yourself. It's sad that people have no regard for others feelings.

“Sexual orientation topics are entirely absent from nearly half our elementary teacher education programs in the United States. It is therefore unsurprising that LGBT people are largely absent from elementary curricula or classroom discussions.”

- This quote is relevant to the text because the article is talking about teachers,  lessons and their impact on students. I believe that sexual orientation should be taught in elementary school, this way students will become familiar with the LGBT community and will form the concept that sexual orientation or being transgender does not define you as a person. LGBT people should not be absent from elementary curricula or classroom discussions. They should be apart of everything just like everyone else. It's also good to learn about sexual orientation at a young age so they will understand growing up and be accepting of those who are LGBT.

Point to share: How do others feel about this topic? Do you think teachers should teach elementary school students about sexual orientation? Why or Why not?

Link to reading:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-JcBFAuLc-0SVJiRmNrcllrRlU/view

Student- Centered Research Conference

Student-Centered Learning

One of the workshops I attended at the conference was the Student-Centered Learning Self Reflection Tool for practitioners. The Student-Centered Learning Self-Reflection Tool was created by Mary Bellavance, Instructional Coach at Biddeford Middle School and Students at the Center Distinguished Fellow alum, during the 2017-18 academic year to support teachers, coaches, and school leaders as they implement student-centered learning practices in their learning environments.

This tool is organized around the four research-based tenets of SCL as defined by the Students at the framework: competency-based learning, personalized learning, student-owned learning, and anytime-anywhere learning.

Competency-based learning or Proficiency-based learning

-Students move ahead based not on the number of hours they spend in the classroom but on their ability to demonstrate that they have actually learned the given material, reaching key milestones along the path to mastery of core competencies and bodies of knowledge.

Personalized Learning

-Working together, educators, parents, and students customize instruction as much as possible to students’ individual developmental needs, skills, interests, and cultures. Students develop connections to each other, their teachers, and other adults who support their learning.

Student-Owned Learning

-Students understand how to get “smarter” by applying effort strategically. They have frequent opportunities to direct their own learning and to reflect and improve their achievement as they progress toward college, career, and civic readiness. Formative assessments are used to help students understand their own strengths and learning challenges and plan next steps. Students take responsibility for their own learning, using strategies for self-regulation when necessary and asking for help when challenges emerge.

Anytime, Anywhere Learning

-Students have multiple opportunities to learn outside of the typical school day and year, and outside of the classroom or school, often by using digital technologies that allow them to study and complete assignments at any location and at any time. In short, the school’s walls and schedules are viewed as permeable.

Each of the learning strategies has scale definitions to see where the student is at.

Scale definitions:

Emerging—I am just at the start of this.

Foundational—I am attempting this, but still need support, coaching, and feedback. 

Proficient—I am successfully implementing this.

Advanced—I am a leader in this area. I can provide support for my colleagues.

Each of the learning strategies has prompts that can help the students think about what they need to keep moving, who they plan to talk with it about and when they plan to do it by.

What I think I need to keep moving is . . .

Who I plan to talk with about this is . . .

When I plan to do this by is . . .

-This relates to Rodriguez's article because it says that speaking different languages keeps us and individual and we need to adapt our teaching for the individual student and that's exactly what this tool does.

Link to site:

https://studentsatthecenterhub.org/

Link to the tool:

https://studentsatthecenterhub.org/resource/student-centered-learning-self-reflection-tool/?type=tool

Christensen

Unlearning the myths that blind us

Linda Christensen

Reading this article opened my eyes to things I never really noticed before. Growing up as a child I loved the Disney princess movies, even now they're my favorite movies. When I was a child I never paid attention to the fact that most of the cartoons and movies had mostly white characters and not those of color. I never really paid attention to the face that male characters dominated women characters. I was just so into the movie and the story that I thought was behind it. Even when I got older I still never paid attention to those things just because I'm always so into the movie. Now, after reading this article I want to rewatch some of the cartoons and movies and see if notice any stereotypes. The one thing I do remember from the Disney princess movies is that most of the main characters roles were always white, not of color but they were also all women like Cinderella, sleeping beauty, Rapunzel, snow white, etc. I can think of an equal amount of male and female leading roles. There were only a few leading roles of color like Aladdin, Mulan and Pocahontas. Now there are several more princesses and leading roles of color. I feel like their should be more, especially because there may be some kids out there that watch those movies and notice that there's always a white male or women in power and not someone of color and that could affect them and the way they view things.

"Children's cartoons, movies and literature are perhaps the most influential genre "read"."

- I do agree that children's cartoons, movies and stories are influential on children. I worked with many students who believe that some of the fairy tale movies are realistic and a lot if it is unrealistic. Some of them grow up with the Disney characters being their role models and have high expectations because of the movies/cartoons they watch and stories they read. I remember when I was younger, I thought life would be as perfect as some of their lives and it was complete opposite of how I thought life would be like.

"When we read children's books, we aren't just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated."

- The young society is manipulated by some of the movies, cartoons and stories. The stories aren't just cute picture books, they have a secret education. The kids are too young to realize the true meaning behind some of them and are manipulated into thinking that's reality and its not.

Link to reading:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-JcBFAuLc-0NEFOT1BJZXVnZnM/view