In my previous post Reflection I talked about how my home group had done a lot of work to support the AIDs Action Council of Australia. The idea for my home group to volunteer and work with a charity came from the idea of Global Citizenship (The changing face of Citizenship) which we discussed early this year.
Today I found out th
at my home group had won an award for their work with HIV/AIDs. What I think is amazing about this, is that my home group is one of 8 home groups in year 9. Each home group worked together to think about how they could give back to the community. It could have been in a small way, picking up paper, or in a large way – which is what my adventurous home group did.
I am not the reason my students were successful, the students have really run the project I am merely another body in the classroom. I think that this task has really allowed the students to take control of their learning. It has given them agency. They were not graded on, nor where they required to really do it. However I think doing projects like this can impact on students attitudes towards school.
One students who has a fairly bad a
ttitude towards school and teachers, likes to truant a lot, was desperate to help with the fundraiser. He spent the morning collecting money. Unfortunately he was unable to help with the BBQ because he decided to truant another class and was eventually found and then got in trouble. Afterwards he came up and was disapointed, asking if we could run another sausage sizzle because he really wanted to help out. While he did the wrong thing, I was really proud of his ability to see past himself. He was upset he got in trouble, he was upset he got caught, but he was more upset that he wasn’t able to contribute to the project. This project has been going all year long, aside the learning in the classroom.
This project has not only helped me improve my relationships with the students in the class, but it has also helped the group come together and make direct links with learning and their life worlds. And it’s seems a bit superficial, but getting an award is an amazing thing! What they did was awesome and so un-selfish! But by giving them credit I think will make them want to do more!
1 response so far ↓
Rachael // October 25, 2009 at 9:26 am |
Hi Prue,
This is a great achievement! I think the recognition of an award makes the students really aware of the fact that the work they have done actually means something to someone else. It is much more real than raising money and sending it off to an anonymous entity.
Congratulations and great work!
Rachael