Learning About the Critical Issues of Our Local Community to Facilitate Student Action
Students have a limited knowledge of how local government works. There is an undercurrent of apathy at Cabrillo, due in part to powerlessness felt by the population. It is our goal that in presenting to students the machinations of local government and giving them the opportunity to facilitate change, their life experiences will be altered. A Civic Action project, using material provided by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, will be part of the Social Studies curriculum to engage students and provide them the experience of actually working with our local government.
Choosing a Community Issue
We chose this as a focus due to the attitude of many of our students toward authority in their community. They also were unaware of how local government works. We saw the need to educate and equip our students to be activists in their own community. Very early on, we also realized our students lacked internet, communication and research skills.
Other issues that have been brought up by students are bullying and lack of tolerance. Ms. Doten's classes worked on a Civic Action Project on bullying. Ms. Banares worked with several teachers within the Special Education Department and with the California Conference for Equality and Justice (CCEJ) to address tolerance. Specific information on these projects can be found in the Incorporating Student Technology Skills in Community Project section of our website.
Pictured: Students attended Building Bridges Youth Human Relations Camp and created an Action Plan to address intolerance on campus.
Teen Court
Through the concerted efforts of faculty and administration within our SLC, the County of Los Angeles, Juvenile Division has chosen Cabrillo High School as a Teen Court site. Teen Court is a program in which youthful, first time offenders are given the opportunity to have their case heard by a jury of their peers. Cabrillo students, under the guidance of a Juvenile Court Judge, probation officer, and TIIP II team members, listen to the facts of each case, render a verdict, and make a sentence recommendation. The student whose case is being heard will have the charges stricken from her record if he/she complies with the sentence. Teen Court is a vital step in teaching Cabrillo students firsthand about how the judicial system functions and helping them to become invested in the issues of their community. Many of our students have had negative contacts with the judicial system. Teen Court allows them to be participants from an entirely different view. So far, Teen Court has met with great success, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to include all stakeholders in our school community and move toward a more culturally proficient school.
Law Week
From April 29-May 2 TIIP II members developed a variety of after school activities to celebrate Law Week. "President Dwight Eisenhower established the first Law Day in 1958 to
mark the nation's commitment to the rule of law. In 1961, Congress
issued a joint resolution designating May 1 as the official date for
celebrating Law Day, which is subsequently codified (U.S. Code, Title
36, Section 113). Every president since then has issued a Law Day
proclamation on May 1 to celebrate the nation's commitment to the rule
of law." This description was taken from The American Bar Association's website which offers a planning guide to interested schools who want to put together a program around the select theme. This year's theme, "Realizing the Dream" celebrated the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's I Have a Dream Speech. The themes of justice and equality embedded in that speech made this a most appropriate experience to provide to our students. Each day there was a topic that connected to students' 'dreams' of living peacefully and successfully in a diverse democracy. The Law Week Flyer that advertises the events was created by our students using the technologies that the TIIP II team members learned at the Computer-Using Educators (CUE) conference. Students helped run each event and worked to put together the final day, Law Day - Career Awareness, which brought in several members of the local community as panelists whose stories mirrored the experiences of our students at school. Breakout sessions were then offered to provide students with one-on-one time with the legal and law enforcement career representative of their choosing. With this event, students' career options and opportunities were expanded. They made connections with people who serve in their community and who will later provide internship opportunities for those interested in pursuing legal and law enforcement pathways.
Professional Development
In order to teach the students the technology skills they lacked, two of our team members attended the CUE 2012 conference and learned how to use Google in the classroom: creating multi-media projects, using Google applications that talk to each other. Video editing for iMovie was another skill learned at the conference. As a result of networking at the conference, a mobile laptop station with 30 laptops were purchased to ensure students could be taught computer and internet skills in their classrooms and to provide access for all of our classes.
In the summer of 2012, Ms. Banares attended a 4 day training on Restorative Justice presented by CCEJ. Restorative Justice in schools is about a culture shift away from zero-tolerance and overly punitive disciplinary systems and towards a restorative model. This process asks the student to take responsibility for their actions, helps the harmed person to heal, and involves the community as a whole to prevent a re-occurrence of the behavior. For a situation involving 3 students with disabilities, Ms. Banares held a Restorative Justice circle as an alternative to one of the students being expelled. After 3 meetings with all 3 students and their parents, the situation was resolved, and all 3 students were able to move forward. Cabrillo High School is working toward offering Restorative Justice as an alternative to suspension and explulsion, as well as in conjunction with Teen Court.
Value Circle from a Restorative Justice training
In March of 2013, all 3 team members attended the CUE 2013 conference, learning about additional applications and resources that could be utilized in the classroom. From having a web connected classroom to a source of ready to go lessons for various content areas, team members walked away with a wealth of information and resources to enhance lessons and student experiences through the use of technology.
What We Learned
We learned that it is not enough to provide technology to the classroom and expect the students to become automatically "engaged." We had to think about how to use the technology in more meaningful ways than just for research and power point presentations. With the coming of the Common Core State Standards and the emphasis on reading and writing in authentic ways, the team had to think about the role cultural proficiency could play in looking at the use of technology to engage more learners and make education more relevant. Using the vehicle of the Civic Action Project, and through some content linked activities such as blogging and posting, students felt more invested in their learning and cared about how they would "look" to the outside world as they communicated their progress on their community projects. Students took great pride in what they learned and what they accomplished and wanted to communicate this in the most effective and flattering light. This meant they had to use proper English, write in a coherent and cogent manner, and bring in the evidence (both text and visual) about their findings in meaningful ways.
Next Steps
A Civil Action Project will be put into place, include a community awareness plan in our Performance mapping projects to be implemented this coming year. The crosswalk project will be revisited in September 2013, with students monitoring the progress and outlining next steps. Student work on bullying and building tolerance on campus will continue with the support from all 3 team members.
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Incorporating Student Technology Skills in Community Project
