• Pre-planning and Investigation activities;
• Evaluations;
• GoToServiceLearning.org;
• Grantee highlights!

• What is service? 
  
• Why do you serve?  Why do you prefer not to serve?
• What did you learn about your community, yourself or an issue through your service experience?
• Explain a time when you knew you learned something.  How did you learn the new knowledge or skill?
• What knowledge are you accountable to learn this year, and how could you apply that knowledge through service?

Pre-Planning

For those of you who are currently pre-planning your STEMester of Service, refer to pages 16-19 in the Semester of Service Strategy Guide for a refresher on the service-learning process and the elements of high-quality service-learning.  In the charts on pages 20-22, you can sketch out your semester-long plan.  For ideas on how to link your curricular standards to your proposed service activities, refer to pages 45-48.

Investigation

For those of you who have already begun your STEMester of Service with your students, use the "Tracking Your Progress Throughout Your Semester of Service" charts on pages 23-24 of the Semester of Service Strategy Guide to enable your students to monitor and record their service and learning goals and progress throughout the project.  Students can fill in each column as they complete each stage of the service-learning process.

• Comparison classroom teachers will be awarded a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com to purchase educational supplies and materials for their classroom.  The certificates will be awarded in the spring after the comparison classroom students have completed the student post-surveys.


• After you have recruited a comparison classroom, read through the pre-survey adminstration instructions, and distributed the parent permission forms, the service-learning and comparison students are able to take the pre-surveys, available online at the following site: http://www.rmcdenver.com/STEMester

Student pre-surveys for both service-learning and comparison students must be completed by January 14, 2011.

• Learn and Serve America will host a webinar on the LASSIE report on November 16th from 2:00 to 3:30 EST.  The webinar will explain how to access the LASSIE report and how to use the online reporting system, as well as let you know which information you need to be recording and keeping track of throughout your STEMester of Service.   

You are already registered for the webinar, and you should have received a registration confirmation email.  If you have not received confirmation, please let me know.  I will also attend the webinar and will share notes with anyone who is unable to attend. 

1. Visit GoToServiceLearning.org
2. Create an account by clicking on "My Account" in the top right corner of the page.  When creating your account, use the email address that you have provided YSA.  We have given that email address access to the Discussion Group.
3. After you receive the confirmation email, return to the site and log in.
4. Click on the Discussion Group link on the top right side of the page.