How To Do Service

PAR: The Basic Model for Service Learning

Preparation

The three basic areas of preparation are Knowledge and Skills, Issues and People, and Plan and Organize. The following are just a few examples of the many lessons that can be part of preparation activities. Which are relevant for your activity and help you meet academic standards?

Preparation I: Knowledge and Skills

• How to write a letter
• How to read fluently to others
• How to locate places on a map
• How to nurture a seedling into a plant
• How to play an instrument
• How to design and construct a wood project
• How to care for a pet
• How to create a Power Point presentation
• How to change a law
• How to test water samples for pollutants

Preparation II: Issues and People

• What do senior citizens enjoy doing?
• What is the best way to help children learn to read?
• What can be done so everyone has enough food to eat and clothes to wear?
• How can everyone learn to respect and get along with others?
• How can we reduce the number of dogs and cats who are killed each day?
• How can one communicate with someone who is hearing impaired or
• speaks a different language?
• What kinds of recreational activities do physically challenged
• people enjoy?
• What should be done about our water supply and shortage?
• What could help lessen the violence in our families, schools and cities?
• What are the most important things parents can do to raise healthy children?

Preparation III: Plan and Organize

• Identify and research a meaningful community need to fill or problem to solve.
• Brainstorm possible solutions.
• Select the best solution.
• Clearly define the purpose of the project.
• Identify the skills and knowledge students already have and/or need to learn.
• Arrange knowledge and skills development in needed areas.
• Plan a course of action including goals, major tasks, a timeline, and a budget.
• Delegate various tasks to different students.
• Follow the course of action through to completion.

Action

There are three basic categories of action: Direct Service, Indirect Service, and Advocacy. Here are just a few of the many project possibilities for each category.

Direct Action - service provided directly to other people, animals, or the earth

• Tutoring
• Coaching
• Reading with or for others
• Entertaining
• Playing games with others
• Adopt-A-Grandparent
• Yard Work
• Sewing and mending
• Cooking and serving food
• Walking and feeding animals
• Planting trees
• Providing computer and clerical skills

Indirect Action - service, such as collections and creations, that benefit other people, animals, or the earth without necessarily having direct contact with the recipient

• Shoes and socks drive
• Cleaning products drive
• Toys and games drive
• Paper products drive
• Money collection to assist with a need
• Quilt making
• Books (original, on tape, collection, etc.)
• Flashcards and learning games
• Toiletry kits
• Dog beds or houses
• Brochures
• Videos and Power Point Presentations

Advocacy - service whose purpose is to influence opinions and create change in order to better life for people, animals, or the earth

• Letter writing campaign
• Letter to the editor
• Survey with results presented to decision-makers
• Proclamation
• Kids Voting
• Phone calls
• Speeches
• Petitions
• Campaign for tolerance, against crime, etc.
• Lobbying
• Fundraising for a cause
• Initiate ordinances or laws

Reflection

Reflection is the process of summarizing, analyzing and evaluating the service learning project. It includes intellectual and personal observations and discoveries, as well as the exploration of issues and the posing of new questions. Service experiences gain meaning and understanding from the process of reflection.
Reflection is the major component that distinguishes service learning from volunteering. It occurs throughout the planning and implementation of the project as well as at its conclusion. It is a cyclical process:

What?
What took place? A description.
Verbs and statistics are good.

So What?
What effect did the service have on the recipients?
What effect did the service have on those serving?
Did it really make any difference?

Now What?
What is our next step or project?
What implications does this have for us in the future?

Forms of Reflection

Have fun choosing and designing reflection activities that are appropriate for the service learning project and the developmental levels of the students. Good questions posed by the teacher - both intellectual and personal - lead to insightful reflections on behalf of the students. Here are just a few of the many forms of reflection students can do:

• Interviews
• Small and large group discussions
• Journals
• Written reports
• Posters
• Bulletin boards
• Skits
• Song parodies
• Oral presentation
• Annotated scrapbooks
• Power Point presentations
• Table and graph summaries

Celebration

Celebration can be simple or elaborate. It honors the accomplishments of everyone who contributed to the service project. It can also be a way to publicize the project. It is nice to involve those served, school officials, families, and the media as well as the students and teachers.
Of course, sometimes the intrinsic reward of an act of service is the most important reward. A big fuss is not always necessary. But sometimes celebration is a good thing because it thanks those who helped and those who allowed others to help. A few popular forms of celebration are:

• Create bulletin boards or displays in the classroom or around the school with pictures, letters, posters, certificates, and art.
• Have a party in class or out in the community where you served.
• Distribute recognition symbols in a ceremony:
  t-shirts, certificates, serious and silly awards.
• Have a parent night, festival, or picnic to share photos, writing, music and art about the project. Include people from the places served.
• Create and present videos, Power Point presentations, or songs about the experience.
• Keep a scrapbook of service learning activities over the years and add to it each semester.