SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT (OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT)
ENGLISH 2327 – Spring 2016
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Students may choose to participate in a “Service Learning
Project” in lieu of writing the in class final exam essay. This
assignment is designed to take learning “out of the classroom”
and allows for students to contribute to the community by
providing much needed services. Volunteer service is a rewarding
activity and could potentially aid students in their careers by
providing hands-on experience in a number of fields. Students
who choose this option need to notify the instructor in writing
via email (mrsbelz@comcast.net) of their intention to do this -deadline for written notification – 1ST TWO WEEKS OF CLASS –
03/05/16.
1)
Setting Up Volunteer Schedule: Students need to make
contact with a representative of one of the listed Community
Service Sites to set up a volunteer schedule -- this must be
done within the first two weeks of class.
2)
Logging Volunteer Hours (Required): All students must
complete a minimum of 15 logged hours of volunteer service and
the “Service Learning Program: Community Service Time-Log” Sheet
needs to be maintained to verify these hours. This form needs to
be signed by an ‘on site’ authorized representative and a
business card needs to be attached at the upper left hand corner
of the hand-out. This sheet will be turned in at the end of the
semester along with the required essay. The instructor will also
verify the student’s participation and number of hours
completed. Please Note: Once students complete 15 hours of
volunteer work, they will receive a special designation on their
official transcript indicating they have completed volunteer
hours through this project.
3)
Writing Service Learning Journal Entries: Students may
substitute up to 3 standard Reading Notebook Journal Entries
with Service Learning journal topics (the SLP journals are
optional so you may choose to complete the standard reading
journals if you prefer). In other words, students may write
about their Service Learning experience in journal format. Each
journal needs to meet the 300 typed word minimum and needs to be
related to the Service Learning Project. *PLEASE NOTE: Students
are not required to complete these journal entries – you may
choose to complete the reading journals as assigned to all other
students in the class. This is an optional portion of the SLP.
Journal Topic Suggestions:
a) What have you learned by volunteering?
b) What specific contributions have you made to the
community?
c) What are the connections between the hands-on volunteer
experience and your HCCS education?
d) Write a comparison/contrast entry detailing the similarities
and/or differences between Service Learning and learning
in the traditional classroom setting.
e) How will this volunteer service help you in your career?
f) Why should people volunteer in their communities?
g) Has volunteering changed your view of societal issues?
h) Has volunteering changed your life on a personal level?
You may use the list above to brainstorm “volunteer” journal
topics on your own. In addition, you may choose to write
“progress reports” of your volunteer activities. These journals
may also serve as “prewriting” activities to prepare you for
your final Service Learning Project Essay.
4)
Service Learning Essay Guidelines: Students will be
required to write a well organized essay detailing their Service
Learning Project. The essay will be due on 05/07/16 and will be
substituted for the in class final exam essay (i.e. students
will not be required to write the in class final exam on
05/14/16). Students must turn in a rough draft with their final
draft to receive full credit for this assignment (length of
final draft 750-1,000 typed words, MLA style). Students are also
required to submit their rough draft to the HCC Askonline
tutoring service so they should do so no later than SUNDAY,
05/01/16 to ensure timely feedback. Students are required to
email me the SLP Rough Draft by midnight on Sunday, 05/01/16
(mrsbelz@comcast.net). Please include a copy of the completed
“Service Learning Program: Community Service Time-Log” Hand-out
– obtain and staple to the log sheet a business card or a letter
on official letterhead with the name and phone number of the
contact person at the organization. The completed log sheet and
the final draft of the SLP are due at the beginning of class on
05/07/16. Students are required to post the final draft of the
volunteer essay in MyWritingLab as a Word document attachment –
this posting is due by the start of class on 05/07/16. Students
need to label the outside of the folded page per instructor
directions (SLP log sheet), as well as save documents posted in
MyWritingLab with the proper filename (see directions in
MyWritingLab for file saving and posting directions). This essay
will be graded for MLA style, organization, development of
topic, and grammar usage. Students may use first person since
most portions of the paper will include personal opinion.
Paper Topic and Organization Suggestions:
The Service Learning Essay needs to be organized to include
three main points -- a summary of your volunteer experience;
what you contributed to the community as a whole through your
volunteer work; and what you learned on a personal level. Your
introduction paragraph needs to include the specific name of the
organization where you completed your service, and a clearly
focused thesis detailing the main topic of your essay (i.e. the
three above listed categories). Your body paragraphs need to
include at least one specific example to support the assertions
you are making. A good topic for your conclusion paragraph would
be to examine the relationship of your volunteer experience to
your HCCS education. What connections do you see between the
two? How did the experience enrich your education? How will your
experience connect your education to your future career?
The main objective of the essay is to examine your overall
experience in this project, reflect on its benefits to the
community, and consider its role in your personal life, career,
and education. You might find it helpful to utilize the journal
entry substitute option throughout the semester so you will have
“prewriting” information to draw upon in the completion of your
final essay for this project. Journals are freewriting exercises
to help you become accustomed to writing in general without
restrictions. Therefore, you may wish to take advantage of this
early preparation work by writing Service Learning journals
versus the standard assigned journal topics.
---------------------------------------------------------------Additional Information: We will be spending some class time
discussing the overall guidelines for this project, but you may
contact me any time to discuss any aspect of this assignment in
more detail:
Preferred Method of Contact: My Personal Email
[mrsbelz@comcast.net]
2nd Choice: HCC Email--sabrena.belz@hccs.edu
3rd Choice Voice Mail: (281)794-2079
Links to hourly report form and site list, as well as the SLP
handouts, are posted on the Eagle class homepage.
I would be happy to meet with you in person to discuss your
progress, make suggestions, or lend support to make this an
enriching assignment for you.
Best of luck and have fun!
Professor Belz