We shared our highlights and struggles with the grant to begin with.
Going forward it was mentioned that it would be good to collect more data.
Reinforcing water cycle, carbon cycle, and water cycle.
How are we going to work on the advocacy project? How will we organize that with so many students?
The Advocacy Project
How to make it interdisciplinary
How do we know if the project is successful - we need to look for these factors:
Involves people beyond the classroom/family
lasting real impact: How can we create a solution to a real problem in the community , measure the effectiveness -
connected to curriculum
student driven,
inclusive, and an emphasis on teamwork, collaboration
publicized and celebrated - this is part of a successful project
Advocacy Project Steps:
River Schools Civic Challenge -
Whet their appetite and wake them up to the problems and needs. . . .What is causing the problems and what can we do. What is the larger problem, what is the local challenge, what is our budget. . . ., how much time do we have. . .
Video watching and inspiration
Brainstorm lots of ideas
Use the decision making guides to lead students' project work
Good resource "imagineaction" by Canadian Teachers Federation (we received a hard copy of this)