Glenn Tobey's Class Ilene Sorensen

Service Learning

Service learning brings to mind the many activities we do in Lutheran Brotherhood. As president of the Lincoln County Branch, I help plan activities throughout the year to better the communities in Lincoln County. Each community has a member on the team that is called a Lutheran Brotherhood Communicator. The part of the service learning that is so important is that it meets the needs of the community and includes reflection time. In Lutheran Brotherhood (LB) the service learning is called "Friends In Deed." The elderly and the youth take on projects that will benefit the communities in our county. Activities could include walking road ditches, helping at the food shelf, raking lawns, or delivering meals on wheels. The LB Communicators go through a process that includes working with the communities to identify the needs. A brainstorm session is essential to begin planning for the year. I serve as a facilitator to the group as we learn about the needs and the skills of each communicator. As we meet throughout the year we reflect back on our activities. The energy and enthusiasm of this group is the reason why the ideas and projects are carried out so well. The communicators keep in mind that it is important to promote the positive things people do. There is often no learning as a component of this experience, but they do recognize their role in civic responsibility.

Raking leaves

The LB took on this project. It was again planned so that youth and adults organized the activity. Time was spent planning as to how it would get done. Who will do it? Who will organize the groups? Who will gather the needed supplies? Who is responsible for what? Whose lawn gets raked? Who brings rakes? Who brings bags? Where will the bags be taken? What day? What Time? How to form groups? Refreshments served? What if the day is rainy? My role again was that of facilitator and to answer some questions, as challenges come up. I tried to ask questions that made them think of other situations and reminded them of the age expectations. The reflection process showed the communicators learned from planning hands-on-experiences. This is definitely an important learning for the group.

As I reviewed the project, I can see the strengths and weaknesses very clearly. The communicators do very well at preparing and performing the task at hand. I believe this is due to the dedication prior to the event and they know that if they don't plan and prepare, the risk of failure pops up. This is a part of the process and they know what they have to do to accomplish a task. I feel the adults of the group are better during the reflecting process than the younger people. The younger people are not accustomed to the formal review of an event. They have been asked in the past if they felt an event was successful or if they would change or do something different. I believe this reflection time is very essential for the success of programs in the future.

Project-Based Learning

John Dewey was involved in creating, planning, implementing and evaluating projects. He looked into getting students to succeed within the classroom and beyond. Students are able to use multiple intelligence in completing projects that they can be proud of. In this study of project-based learning, I have chosen to analyze the Future Leaders of America (FLA). This is a group that I have worked with for many years. To give you some background on the group, I will explain how they come together, our mission and goals. Then using a guide of components we will see if it is a successful project in project-based learning. (Buck Institute, 1999). I will plug in a project that this group completed.

At the Lincoln HI School, the FLA is a group of 40 young men and women who are 12-18 years old. Their goals are 1-- to provide opportunities for personal development and preparation for family life, 2-To strengthen the function of the family as a unit of society, and 3-to encourage democracy. It is still the only in school student organization with the family as its central focus.

At the beginning of the year, they brainstorm ideas for each month of the year. However, there are some projects that are a tradition. My role during this really has been a facilitator along with their advisor. We asked the probing questions and get them to think about the feasibility of each project. Then the list is narrowed to one a month. The projects range from service-oriented projects to fun outings for the group. Each member is responsible for a project during the year. The groundwork laid at this time really makes the group become a team.

The students decided on a spaghetti dinner for the community. Committees were formed. Planned place and time of event. Committees and their duties were set. This is just a brief example of a project the students planned. The following table will analyze the activity described above as to how it fits in project-based learning.

Student Learning Activities: Planning youth work out time, location, and date. Committees organize to fill out work plans for their parts. Committees include food, decorating, advertising, and clean-up. Plans are submitted for approval.

Investigating Youth: Ideas from past spaghetti dinners.

Consulting Youth: Consult with chapter parents and school staff. They borrow supplies from the school lunchroom.

Constructing Youth: They designed the meal. The meal was spaghetti and meat sauce, red jello, garlic bread, and ice cream. Hours of serving-11 am-1pm.

Testing/Critiquing/ We could work a little more on this each year. We are trying to get some new ideas. We need to strengthen this area.

Revising/Refining: Since we have had this several years, we continually revise each year. Youth are also prepared to adapt to new ideas if things are not going as expected.

Presenting Youth: They plan, prepare, serve, and clean-up after the meal. Flexibility is a must.

Reflecting Youth: They make comments during the meal. We evaluate at out next meeting.

In analyzing, I found that the weakest area is the testing/critiquing. When the group meets after school, I have to make sure we use our time wisely. Reflecting is important for future years if the activity is going to be repeated. The students can learn how to improve the next years.

Experiental Learning

Experiental Learning methods of learning are most commonly associated with youth development programs that take place in non-formal settings, like 4-H. I have been a 4-H leader and found that these programs emphasize exploration and critical thinking and focus on learners not only doing work, but also on sharing, processing, analyzing and applying the understandings or skills gained to their future experiences. John Dewey, a noted learning theorist, describes experiental learning as learning that takes place when a person involved in an activity, looks back and evaluates it. The person then describes what is useful and what to remember. They then use this information to perform another activity.

Jennings in his book Joining Hands, lists three principles for experiental learning. First, the material must be meaningful to the student with the content or skill learned being of interest or important to the student. Secondly, the learning situation must cause a strong positive emotion within the student to create a deep impression on the brain. Third, the student must use or practice the learning in some way that it connects for the student. It is through this application that the brain links the new learnings to what is known and how it relates to reality in order to use it in the future. This experiental learning model is widely used in the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program. When I teach the basics of nutrition are taught in an experiental way. Using the three step circular fashion-the students "do" and move into 'reflect" and then move onto "apply" and then back to "do"-a continuing process. The students are a part of learning activities, they look back and evaluate what they have done (how they have eaten), and then determine what was useful and what they should remember. Then the students process this information and decide how they can perform another activity. My role is to facilitate the learning activities, help the member evaluate and reflect on what they have learned, and guide them as needed to apply the learning to future situations or experience. Eventually they will see how healthy they would be if they followed the Food Guide Pyramid.

Summary

I have decided to use project-based learning as my project. Nutrition is often considered a "boring" topic. Because of all the health problems our country is facing, I feel nutrition is so important for upper elementary students. They should learn the basics of nutrition. If taught in a fun way with hands-on-experiences, students will want to learn more.

I feel it is important to have them help plan activities and carry them out and finally critique and revise with reflection at the end.

Glenn Tobey's Class Ilene Sorensen

Service Learning

Service learning brings to mind the many activities we do in Lutheran Brotherhood. As president of the Lincoln County Branch, I help plan activities throughout the year to better the communities in Lincoln County. Each community has a member on the team that is called a Lutheran Brotherhood Communicator. The part of the service learning that is so important is that it meets the needs of the community and includes reflection time. In Lutheran Brotherhood (LB) the service learning is called "Friends In Deed." The elderly and the youth take on projects that will benefit the communities in our county. Activities could include walking road ditches, helping at the food shelf, raking lawns, or delivering meals on wheels. The LB Communicators go through a process that includes working with the communities to identify the needs. A brainstorm session is essential to begin planning for the year. I serve as a facilitator to the group as we learn about the needs and the skills of each communicator. As we meet throughout the year we reflect back on our activities. The energy and enthusiasm of this group is the reason why the ideas and projects are carried out so well. The communicators keep in mind that it is important to promote the positive things people do. There is often no learning as a component of this experience, but they do recognize their role in civic responsibility.

Raking leaves

The LB took on this project. It was again planned so that youth and adults organized the activity. Time was spent planning as to how it would get done. Who will do it? Who will organize the groups? Who will gather the needed supplies? Who is responsible for what? Whose lawn gets raked? Who brings rakes? Who brings bags? Where will the bags be taken? What day? What Time? How to form groups? Refreshments served? What if the day is rainy? My role again was that of facilitator and to answer some questions, as challenges come up. I tried to ask questions that made them think of other situations and reminded them of the age expectations. The reflection process showed the communicators learned from planning hands-on-experiences. This is definitely an important learning for the group.

As I reviewed the project, I can see the strengths and weaknesses very clearly. The communicators do very well at preparing and performing the task at hand. I believe this is due to the dedication prior to the event and they know that if they don't plan and prepare, the risk of failure pops up. This is a part of the process and they know what they have to do to accomplish a task. I feel the adults of the group are better during the reflecting process than the younger people. The younger people are not accustomed to the formal review of an event. They have been asked in the past if they felt an event was successful or if they would change or do something different. I believe this reflection time is very essential for the success of programs in the future.

Project-Based Learning

John Dewey was involved in creating, planning, implementing and evaluating projects. He looked into getting students to succeed within the classroom and beyond. Students are able to use multiple intelligence in completing projects that they can be proud of. In this study of project-based learning, I have chosen to analyze the Future Leaders of America (FLA). This is a group that I have worked with for many years. To give you some background on the group, I will explain how they come together, our mission and goals. Then using a guide of components we will see if it is a successful project in project-based learning. (Buck Institute, 1999). I will plug in a project that this group completed.

At the Lincoln HI School, the FLA is a group of 40 young men and women who are 12-18 years old. Their goals are 1-- to provide opportunities for personal development and preparation for family life, 2-To strengthen the function of the family as a unit of society, and 3-to encourage democracy. It is still the only in school student organization with the family as its central focus.

At the beginning of the year, they brainstorm ideas for each month of the year. However, there are some projects that are a tradition. My role during this really has been a facilitator along with their advisor. We asked the probing questions and get them to think about the feasibility of each project. Then the list is narrowed to one a month. The projects range from service-oriented projects to fun outings for the group. Each member is responsible for a project during the year. The groundwork laid at this time really makes the group become a team.

The students decided on a spaghetti dinner for the community. Committees were formed. Planned place and time of event. Committees and their duties were set. This is just a brief example of a project the students planned. The following table will analyze the activity described above as to how it fits in project-based learning.

Student Learning Activities: Planning youth work out time, location, and date. Committees organize to fill out work plans for their parts. Committees include food, decorating, advertising, and clean-up. Plans are submitted for approval.

Investigating Youth: Ideas from past spaghetti dinners.

Consulting Youth: Consult with chapter parents and school staff. They borrow supplies from the school lunchroom.

Constructing Youth: They designed the meal. The meal was spaghetti and meat sauce, red jello, garlic bread, and ice cream. Hours of serving-11 am-1pm.

Testing/Critiquing/ We could work a little more on this each year. We are trying to get some new ideas. We need to strengthen this area.

Revising/Refining: Since we have had this several years, we continually revise each year. Youth are also prepared to adapt to new ideas if things are not going as expected.

Presenting Youth: They plan, prepare, serve, and clean-up after the meal. Flexibility is a must.

Reflecting Youth: They make comments during the meal. We evaluate at out next meeting.

In analyzing, I found that the weakest area is the testing/critiquing. When the group meets after school, I have to make sure we use our time wisely. Reflecting is important for future years if the activity is going to be repeated. The students can learn how to improve the next years.

Experiental Learning

Experiental Learning methods of learning are most commonly associated with youth development programs that take place in non-formal settings, like 4-H. I have been a 4-H leader and found that these programs emphasize exploration and critical thinking and focus on learners not only doing work, but also on sharing, processing, analyzing and applying the understandings or skills gained to their future experiences. John Dewey, a noted learning theorist, describes experiental learning as learning that takes place when a person involved in an activity, looks back and evaluates it. The person then describes what is useful and what to remember. They then use this information to perform another activity.

Jennings in his book Joining Hands, lists three principles for experiental learning. First, the material must be meaningful to the student with the content or skill learned being of interest or important to the student. Secondly, the learning situation must cause a strong positive emotion within the student to create a deep impression on the brain. Third, the student must use or practice the learning in some way that it connects for the student. It is through this application that the brain links the new learnings to what is known and how it relates to reality in order to use it in the future. This experiental learning model is widely used in the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program. When I teach the basics of nutrition are taught in an experiental way. Using the three step circular fashion-the students "do" and move into 'reflect" and then move onto "apply" and then back to "do"-a continuing process. The students are a part of learning activities, they look back and evaluate what they have done (how they have eaten), and then determine what was useful and what they should remember. Then the students process this information and decide how they can perform another activity. My role is to facilitate the learning activities, help the member evaluate and reflect on what they have learned, and guide them as needed to apply the learning to future situations or experience. Eventually they will see how healthy they would be if they followed the Food Guide Pyramid.

Summary

I have decided to use project-based learning as my project. Nutrition is often considered a "boring" topic. Because of all the health problems our country is facing, I feel nutrition is so important for upper elementary students. They should learn the basics of nutrition. If taught in a fun way with hands-on-experiences, students will want to learn more.

I feel it is important to have them help plan activities and carry them out and finally critique and revise with reflection at the end.

Glenn Tobey's Class Ilene Sorensen

Service Learning

Service learning brings to mind the many activities we do in Lutheran Brotherhood. As president of the Lincoln County Branch, I help plan activities throughout the year to better the communities in Lincoln County. Each community has a member on the team that is called a Lutheran Brotherhood Communicator. The part of the service learning that is so important is that it meets the needs of the community and includes reflection time. In Lutheran Brotherhood (LB) the service learning is called "Friends In Deed." The elderly and the youth take on projects that will benefit the communities in our county. Activities could include walking road ditches, helping at the food shelf, raking lawns, or delivering meals on wheels. The LB Communicators go through a process that includes working with the communities to identify the needs. A brainstorm session is essential to begin planning for the year. I serve as a facilitator to the group as we learn about the needs and the skills of each communicator. As we meet throughout the year we reflect back on our activities. The energy and enthusiasm of this group is the reason why the ideas and projects are carried out so well. The communicators keep in mind that it is important to promote the positive things people do. There is often no learning as a component of this experience, but they do recognize their role in civic responsibility.

Raking leaves

The LB took on this project. It was again planned so that youth and adults organized the activity. Time was spent planning as to how it would get done. Who will do it? Who will organize the groups? Who will gather the needed supplies? Who is responsible for what? Whose lawn gets raked? Who brings rakes? Who brings bags? Where will the bags be taken? What day? What Time? How to form groups? Refreshments served? What if the day is rainy? My role again was that of facilitator and to answer some questions, as challenges come up. I tried to ask questions that made them think of other situations and reminded them of the age expectations. The reflection process showed the communicators learned from planning hands-on-experiences. This is definitely an important learning for the group.

As I reviewed the project, I can see the strengths and weaknesses very clearly. The communicators do very well at preparing and performing the task at hand. I believe this is due to the dedication prior to the event and they know that if they don't plan and prepare, the risk of failure pops up. This is a part of the process and they know what they have to do to accomplish a task. I feel the adults of the group are better during the reflecting process than the younger people. The younger people are not accustomed to the formal review of an event. They have been asked in the past if they felt an event was successful or if they would change or do something different. I believe this reflection time is very essential for the success of programs in the future.

Project-Based Learning

John Dewey was involved in creating, planning, implementing and evaluating projects. He looked into getting students to succeed within the classroom and beyond. Students are able to use multiple intelligence in completing projects that they can be proud of. In this study of project-based learning, I have chosen to analyze the Future Leaders of America (FLA). This is a group that I have worked with for many years. To give you some background on the group, I will explain how they come together, our mission and goals. Then using a guide of components we will see if it is a successful project in project-based learning. (Buck Institute, 1999). I will plug in a project that this group completed.

At the Lincoln HI School, the FLA is a group of 40 young men and women who are 12-18 years old. Their goals are 1-- to provide opportunities for personal development and preparation for family life, 2-To strengthen the function of the family as a unit of society, and 3-to encourage democracy. It is still the only in school student organization with the family as its central focus.

At the beginning of the year, they brainstorm ideas for each month of the year. However, there are some projects that are a tradition. My role during this really has been a facilitator along with their advisor. We asked the probing questions and get them to think about the feasibility of each project. Then the list is narrowed to one a month. The projects range from service-oriented projects to fun outings for the group. Each member is responsible for a project during the year. The groundwork laid at this time really makes the group become a team.

The students decided on a spaghetti dinner for the community. Committees were formed. Planned place and time of event. Committees and their duties were set. This is just a brief example of a project the students planned. The following table will analyze the activity described above as to how it fits in project-based learning.

Student Learning Activities: Planning youth work out time, location, and date. Committees organize to fill out work plans for their parts. Committees include food, decorating, advertising, and clean-up. Plans are submitted for approval.

Investigating Youth: Ideas from past spaghetti dinners.

Consulting Youth: Consult with chapter parents and school staff. They borrow supplies from the school lunchroom.

Constructing Youth: They designed the meal. The meal was spaghetti and meat sauce, red jello, garlic bread, and ice cream. Hours of serving-11 am-1pm.

Testing/Critiquing/ We could work a little more on this each year. We are trying to get some new ideas. We need to strengthen this area.

Revising/Refining: Since we have had this several years, we continually revise each year. Youth are also prepared to adapt to new ideas if things are not going as expected.

Presenting Youth: They plan, prepare, serve, and clean-up after the meal. Flexibility is a must.

Reflecting Youth: They make comments during the meal. We evaluate at out next meeting.

In analyzing, I found that the weakest area is the testing/critiquing. When the group meets after school, I have to make sure we use our time wisely. Reflecting is important for future years if the activity is going to be repeated. The students can learn how to improve the next years.

Experiental Learning

Experiental Learning methods of learning are most commonly associated with youth development programs that take place in non-formal settings, like 4-H. I have been a 4-H leader and found that these programs emphasize exploration and critical thinking and focus on learners not only doing work, but also on sharing, processing, analyzing and applying the understandings or skills gained to their future experiences. John Dewey, a noted learning theorist, describes experiental learning as learning that takes place when a person involved in an activity, looks back and evaluates it. The person then describes what is useful and what to remember. They then use this information to perform another activity.

Jennings in his book Joining Hands, lists three principles for experiental learning. First, the material must be meaningful to the student with the content or skill learned being of interest or important to the student. Secondly, the learning situation must cause a strong positive emotion within the student to create a deep impression on the brain. Third, the student must use or practice the learning in some way that it connects for the student. It is through this application that the brain links the new learnings to what is known and how it relates to reality in order to use it in the future. This experiental learning model is widely used in the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program. When I teach the basics of nutrition are taught in an experiental way. Using the three step circular fashion-the students "do" and move into 'reflect" and then move onto "apply" and then back to "do"-a continuing process. The students are a part of learning activities, they look back and evaluate what they have done (how they have eaten), and then determine what was useful and what they should remember. Then the students process this information and decide how they can perform another activity. My role is to facilitate the learning activities, help the member evaluate and reflect on what they have learned, and guide them as needed to apply the learning to future situations or experience. Eventually they will see how healthy they would be if they followed the Food Guide Pyramid.

Summary

I have decided to use project-based learning as my project. Nutrition is often considered a "boring" topic. Because of all the health problems our country is facing, I feel nutrition is so important for upper elementary students. They should learn the basics of nutrition. If taught in a fun way with hands-on-experiences, students will want to learn more.

I feel it is important to have them help plan activities and carry them out and finally critique and revise with reflection at the end.

Ilene Sorensen soren022@umn.edu

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2000