Serving to Learn, Learning to Serve

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead

This week we kick off Tenth Grade Service Learning! Today we had an orientation on Sage Hill's campus, and next week we will welcome 4th grade students from Scholarship Prep, a nearby charter elementary school, where our students will spend the year working with fourth grade partners on writing and literacy. This is a great opportunity for the Sage Hill students to really own their service learning experience as they develop and then execute their own lesson plans for each visit.

During the orientation, we briefly discussed why we call our service component "Service Learning" rather than simply "Community Service". For this week's blog post, I want students to expand on this conversation a bit more by reflecting on what they hope to gain from this year's Service Learning experience. Tell your readers why you think we spend so much time and energy on Service Learning at Sage Hill School. Identify two to three goals you have for this year in relation to service learning and what you hope to improve on from last year.

Worth a Second (or Third, Fourth, Fifth) Look...

Writing is hard. Actually, I take that back. The actual act of writing is not all that hard. Now writing something that you feel accurately demonstrates your abilities and effort, that can be hard. But it can also be extremely rewarding.

Two weeks ago, English II students wrote their first in-class essay. We then spent a day talking about what makes a good thesis statement. Last week, students got the opportunity to revise their original in-class essays or write brand new ones based on what they've learned so far regarding my expectations when it comes to thesis statements and analytical essays.

For this week's blog, I want you to reflect on how this process went from beginning to end. Did you go into the in-class essay confident? How did you feel at the end of the timed essay? Did the thesis statement workshop clarify your understanding of why a solid and specific thesis statement can make or break an essay? How was the revision process? When you re-read your original in-class essay did it live up to what you remembered of it?

Like anything, the best way to get better at writing is to keep doing it. Writing drafts and revising your work can also be a huge asset when it comes to making sure you are clearly executing an argument you are proud of and ready to submit. Let you readers know what you've learned as a writer so far this year!