Service Learning

I’m going the borrow Karen McMillan’s idea of beginning my post with a quote. Thanks to Karen (aka McTeach on Twitter) for tagging me for this.

Quote

“Service-learning motivates students. Suddenly there’s a connection between what the teacher is saying and the world outside the classroom.”

Senator John Glenn
My Picture

This is a picture from Pennies for Peace, an organization that is part of the Central Asia Institute. CAI was started by Greg Mortenson and Jean Hoerni and it was originally established for building and maintaining schools (particularly girls schools) in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now CAI is also instrumental in establishing medical facilities, better water systems, and other things that promote the health and welfare of these rural communities in need. Greg’s journey has been documented in the best selling book Three Cups of Tea, which is a definite must-read for anyone.

Greg Mortenson is coming to our school in May as a Harold Hines Fellow (a person who gives back to others in the world) and he will be meeting and speaking with our children. The Lower School began collecting money a couple of weeks ago for Pennies for Peace and the excitement is palpable. My 3rd graders are even asking to count out the jars of change during their free choice time. Some kids are asking for donations instead of birthday gifts! To date we have collected almost $2000 and we have not finished yet.

My Passion

I have always been passionate about service learning because it is a way to teach children how to care for others, it generates understanding of other cultures, and connects the students to the world around them. My goal is to help my students become global citizens and caretakers of this planet.

Now it’s your turn! The rules are simple . . .

1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.
You’ve been tagged: I’m passing this meme onto five teachers that I’ve met face to face, through blogs, or through Twitter. Please forgive me if you’ve already been tagged:

Vicki Davis (I saw one of your presentations at IL-TCE but didn’t have time to introduce myself)

Vinnie Vrotny (my technology mentor)

Mark Ahlness (another 3rd grade teacher and inspiring blogger)

Brian Crosby (a Twitter buddy and amazing 5th grade teacher in Nevada)

Ann Oro (a Twitter buddy who teaches and blogs in New Jersey)

This has been such a busy two weeks! I was invited by a friend/colleague to join in the K12 Online Conference and it has been amazing. I won’t even try to list the new programs and things I want to play around with, but I strongly urge you to click the link above to find things that interest YOU.

Here are some things I have taken away from this experience:

1) Taking the risk often pays off

We all get comfortable at some point in our lives and feel like things should just stay as they are. Although it is nice to feel safe, it also means you stop growing in a way. Watching these presentations was not risky – just a time investment. But joining the live chat events and talking with people who are fully immersed in web 2.0 practices was risky. I had no idea how I would be received. As a result of taking the risk, I have already expanded my network of colleagues to people who teach in other places in the world.

2) Don’t keep it all to yourself

When I began this journey toward integrating tech into my classroom in 21st century ways, I was doing it because I was trying to make a name for myself. Being a young teacher and working for a school with yearly contracts makes me feel like my position is somewhat vulnerable. I wanted to become indispensable. Next, I thought about the ways I could effect the lives of the students in my classroom. So now, at least I was thinking about how to share this with 3rd graders.

Well, a total shift happened for me after seeing Brian Crosby’s presentation entitled “Obstacles to Opportunities- The Whys and Wherefores.” Now I am thinking about how I can “infect” my local colleagues (the ones in the Lower School) with the passion I have developed for this type of teaching/learning.

3) Say “thank you”

In one of the very first presentations I watched, the presenter reminded educators that we owe thanks to the people at Wikispaces, Edublogs, and Flickr to name a few. They have provided free access to teachers who are using these tools to enhance their classrooms. Wow. I had not even paused to catch my breath so I certainly hadn’t thought about giving credit where credit is due. A big thank you should also go to all of the presenters, moderators, people behind the scenes, and people handling tech support for K12online. I hope you feel your hard work has paid off.

While I am giving thanks, it is important once again to recognize the people who have inspired me to take this journey. Thank you to my family who let me shut myself in a quiet space to work on report cards and bounce in and out of “When Night Falls” (the 24 hour live chat event which concluded the conference). Thank you to the head of the Lower School for believing in me, encouraging me, and supporting me along the way. Thank you to our technology department for allowing access to many websites and tools that are blocked in schools around the world. And the biggest thank you goes to Vinnie Vrotny, our Director of Academic Technologies, who began as my inspiration and has become a mentor and a friend.

Now I must return the favor by inspiring others and showing them that a little risk, some sharing, and some gratitude can take you a long way.