Reflection and examples of activities used during Public Achievement

Reflection and examples of activities used during Public
Achievement
Visualization Activity
1. Put heads down and close your eyes
2. When I ask you the following questions, visualize your answers.
- How do you want to affect your peers and community with this project?
- What do you think is going to be the most important part of the project?
- Who do you want to involve in the project and why?
- What do you think the project will look like as a finished project?
- What are other aspects of the project that you are most excited about?
3. Take a moment and write down key points to each of the questions if you need to assist your
memory for discussion.
4. Facilitator: ask each of the group members to answer the questions, one question at a time and
one person at a time, to the group.
- Be sure to maintain a respectful atmosphere and not to interrupt.
Meeting #4 Debriefing
This week has been a particularly ground breaking meeting. We had a lot of progress as
a group and the girls had productive attitudes. They are also starting to understand the project a
little bit more and have original, fun, and unique ideas to present to the rest of the group. For
this meeting I assigned student #1 as the facilitator. I thought she would make a good facilitator
and we could also work on her leadership skills and communication at the same time. We
worked on her speaking loud and clear for her group members to hear her, and we discussed how
to ask questions and give some feedback. Student #2 was our time keeper and with a little bit of
guidance she took the role seriously. She watched the clock while also making sure to
participate. Student #3 is my group member that tends to be more talkative and outgoing. In
order to reel her in and maintain productivity I gave her the task as being the recorder. Giving
her something to put her time and effort into really made a difference. By generating these roles
I think that the girls are starting to experience the main point behind PA, self-

determination. They are starting to find leadership skills within themselves and really take
ownership of the project. It was fun and exciting to see them become more attached to the
project.
Our main focus for this meeting was to start working out the kinks of the project. We
started by doing highs and lows of their week so that we could get off on a cordial start. I try to
make sure that the girls are getting to have fun with our meetings as well as the work; I don't
want them to be burnt out by the time the project arrives. The week before we discussed the
specifics of our project and the girls found it harder than they anticipated to put the details down
in stone. In order to make the details decided upon for this week I drafted a mock invitation. I
asked the girls if they ever made up an invitation and in the who, what, and where they wrote "I
don't know but I'll let you know." The girls started laughing of course at my outrageous
comment, but soon realized that if they didn't' make decisions that is what their phone calls and
emails would resemble. So, as a group they delegated and filled in the blanks. We got a lot
farther with that. Next, the girls and I practiced mock phone calls using the PA guide form in the
book. It was really helpful and the girls did really well. Student #2 really grabbed onto this
lesson and impressed me. From there, the girls started to decide what they would need to do this
next week. Student #3 did a nice job brainstorming and prioritizing, because of that I believe she
will be my facilitator for the next week. I think she will do a great job. As for Student #1, I
assigned her and the other girls to meet with the principal and go over our project. They needed
to discuss our date and see how realistic it was for the student athletes from MSU to come and
join them for lunch. This next week should be a treat to see what they found out and where we
will begin with the rest of our planning. They are really growing and starting to understand the
power they have in their school community through our small discussions on democracy and
their place in it. I am looking forward to what their final project will look like and I have a lot of
fun working with them! J
Skill #4 Develop strategies for promoting social responsibility among secondary social
studies students
During the spring of 2010 I participated in Public Achievement at Dakota Meadows Middle
School. I really enjoyed my time, and I got plenty of experience working with seventh grade
students during a service learning project. The students had 10 weeks to complete a project
based in their community that addresses a need that they see visable. The students that I worked
with chose to create a project that was geared towards student athletes. In order to get their ideas
together, I generated a number of activities and agendas that guided our process. Below are a
few examples of what my group and I did.