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Math 149S. Capstone Mathematics for Teachers. Spring 2024.

Service Learning


Service learning is a key component of this course. In short, Service Learning is defined as a meaninfgul service with the community that is tied to the curriculum and includes civic learning. Read more and watch short videos on Service Learning at the following sites:
Service Learning and Students
What is Service Learning?
A Student's Guide to Successful Service Learning
Safety Guielines for Service

Below is the information on SL specifically in this class. Get familiar with the list of activities, read the rules and expectations, then complete and sign Service Learning Plan.
Also, indicate your general preferences in SL preference form (optional) and availability for specific activities on SL sign-up sheet. Make sure to sign up for some activities that are held soon, don't wait until later to do SL!

In this class, SL will involve at least 24 hours of observation of, participation in, assistance with, and instruction of extra-curricular activities (for advanced/interested students; not tutoring).

Below are a few pre-approved activities. There are four types.

  1. Observe (mostly grades 1-8). No preparation is necessary. You earn as many hours as the time spent observing the activity. You may choose to observe only up to 6 hours of activties.
  2. Participate (mostly grades 9-12). For some activities, no preparation is necessary. For Math Kangaroo practices, you need to solve sets of problems before the session. You earn as many hours as the time spent participating in the activity.
  3. Proctor/assist. No preparation is necessary. You earn as many hours as the time spent proctoring the activity.
  4. Lead/teach. You will often team up with other people in our class, and work in small groups (of 2-4 people). We will need to meet (sometimes once or twice, sometimes more than that) before each problem solving session to go over the concepts, problems, solutions, and/or prepare our materials. A limited number of pre-approved group meetings outside of class count toward your service learning hours. However, you will also need to do some work on your own between those group meeting.

Rules and expectations:

Failure to comply with the above rules and expectations will result in a lower grade.

Pre-approved activities:

Upon completion, you must turn in:

Timeline for turning in papers: All papers (time sheets, materials developed, notes, reflections, peer evaluations, teacher's evaluations) related to meetings/activities held during dates 1-15 should be turned in by the end of the same month. Papers related to meetings/activities held during dates 16-31 should be turned in by the 15th of the following month. Exception: all papers related to meetings/activities held in the month of May should be turned in by May 16. Upload all your papers to Canvas.

To clarify, for example, if there is a session with K-12 students on February 20, and the group prep meetings for that session started on February 10, report any group prep meetings held before or on Feb 15 in the "SL Feb 1-15" assignment (due Feb 29). No materials, reflections, or evaluations are needed yet, just your time log. Any group prep meetings held on or after Feb 16 will be reported in "SL Feb 16-29" assignment (due Mar 15), together with materials, reflections, and evaluations.

Grading: Your reflections will be evaluated by your instructor and account for 25% of your SL grade. Your performance will be evaluated by the teacher (if applicable), group members, and instructor.

Finally, you should prepare a short presentation about your field experience. You may choose the topic you want to present on: a class activity you liked (whether the class was taugh by you or the teacher you observed), your lesson plan, problem solving strategies you learned or taught, teaching strategies you learned, anything you have learned about the students and how to be a better educator and role model, and other topics you may have discussed in your written reflections. This presentation is your chance to share your experience and what you have learned with the whole class (rather than just the instructor). Since you will be often working in groups, presentations may be, but do not have to be, prepared by groups as well. However, in this case, make sure that all of the group members are involved in preparing the presentation as well as presenting.

For extra credit
Complete additional hours (i.e. in excess of 24 hours) leading/helping with extracurricular activities. To be eligible for extra credit, you must earn at least 70% for the required 24 hours. In this case, you will get 0.5 points (0.5% of your grade) for each additional hour.

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This page was last revised on 17 January 2024.