Spanish & Illinois

by Ann Abbott When our Spanish community service learning students work in the community, they are confronted with the realities that immigrants in our community face. Many times my students work with children in schools, helping them to enhance their academic skills. By the end of the semester, my students come to really like and respect the children and adolescents with whom they work. But until I bring it up in class, most of my students do not know that those same children--if their parents brought them here undocumented--who they are helping to excel in school will not have the opportunity to go to college. Because they are undocumented. My students research the Dream Act on-line, but this film-- Papers -- would also help them understand the issues. It will be shown as part of the Social Justice Forum and here are more details: Channing Murray Foundation 1209 W. Oregon Urbana, IL February 1 7:00 pm Free and open to the public Light refreshments will be served Q&A d

by Ann Abbott These are all things I do in my courses. In part, I teach this way because I keep up on pedagogical advances. But in part, I teach this way because this is simply how I like to do things. I can't imagine teaching concepts without the community context. I can't imagine teaching about immigration myths and facts without sending students to websites that have data for them to analyze. I can't imagine not asking my students to put that information in a poster and present it at a poster session on campus. I can't imagine asking my students to do a "fake" marketing activity instead of asking my friends with businesses what information they truly need from my students. Etc. How do you implement the video's concepts in your teaching?

by Ann Abbott The Center for Teaching Excellence is a wonderful resource for all faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Valeri Werpetinski makes it a top-notch resource for those doing community service learning and public engagement in general. Please take a look at some of the events they are offering this semester: Specifically about community service learning 1. A workshop on " Case-based Teaching for (International) Service Learning ." 2. A poster session titled " Social Entrepreneurship and Service Learning Showcase ." Not only is this a good place to promote your own community service learning course, program or research, it is also a great forum for your students to present. I have a student team present here, and they are excited by the energy that surrounds the event and surprised to see how many other students on campus are doing service learning. Not specifically about community service learning but supportive of the work