November 18, 2019

Some students find school-day learning about government and civics to be dry as dust, and it’s no wonder. Studying the three branches of the U.S. government, the Electoral College and tariffs on trade with other countries can seem pretty remote from young people’s everyday lives. They might not know how federal, state, and local policies are made, or how those policies can affect things that matter to them, like social justice, clean air, and the price of groceries and video games. Also, they might not know how to make their voices heard. Here are some ideas to help you brush the dust off to make civics interesting.

Use Y4Y resources. See the Introduction section of the Project-Based Learning course and the Introduction to Civic Learning and Engagement Training to Go for ideas on connecting with local civics activities. Service learning and citizen science also offer entries into local, real-world policies in action. See the Citizen Science course and the Service-Learning Toolbox.

Engage students in virtual-hands-on activities. Take advantage of game-based activities to introduce cross-disciplinary learning and thinking as students encounter and grapple with problems related to science, ecology, history, agriculture and government. Choose from a group of virtual environments funded by grants from the Institute of Education Sciences. You can also explore civics, social activism and world governments through virtual tours, primary documents, and connections with students from around the world. Common Sense Education has collected links to 30 Best Government and Civics Websites and Games, all created by government, education and civic sponsors.

Recruit local partners and experts to bring civics to your site. Start by gathering student voice data on social issues that interest them. The Student Voice podcast in Y4Y’s Developing a Needs Assessment Click & Go offers tips on this step. Then find experts to help students explore one or more of these issues. The local chapter of the American Bar Association, a nearby law school or professors at a local college might help conduct a mock trial. Local advocacy organizations or individuals might help students explore an issue or event and conduct a reenactment. Local writers and theater groups might help facilitate student development of a play, video or other event related to a social issue or historical event. When it comes to civics, your neighborhood is a real-world textbook that offers plenty of teachable moments.

October 10, 2019

“Before you become a leader, success is all about growing yourself. After you become a leader, success is about growing others.” As a 21^st CCLC program leader, you no doubt see the wisdom in this insight from business leader Jack Welch. After all, supporting and acknowledging your team’s professional growth benefits your program as well as individual staff members. It also helps you retain staff because it shows you’re invested in their success and treasure their contributions.

Y4Y’s new online Human Resources course walks you through nine key strategies you can use to manage and develop your staff. It covers everything from hiring to training to building a positive work environment to managing staff performance. Here are three tips you can start using right away:

Help staff members find their sweet spot. If Natalie loves to plan, enlist her to help plan the next Family Literacy Event or Citizen Science Experience. Once she’s had success, provide opportunities for her to grow her skills and use them in new ways. For example, ask her to lead a planning team, create an event planning checklist for staff, train others in event planning, or join a strategic planning session. If these tasks seem to take her out of her comfort zone, provide encouragement and support. Helping her find the “sweet spot” between current and potential abilities will help her grow.

Provide feedback to focus and inspire your staff. Let’s say Natalie loves planning so much that she offers to help students plan their culminating project presentations. As you observe her interact with students, you hear her say things like “Let’s do it this way” and “Here’s a better idea.” Should you call her aside and say, “Natalie, you’re making too many decisions for students instead of letting them make their own. I’d like to see you improve in this area.” Or should you say, “Natalie, I’d love for our students to develop their project planning and decision-making skills. Would you be willing to team with Linda to plan some coaching strategies to help students learn and practice these skills?” Which feedback is more likely to inspire and support Natalie in changing her approach? For most people, the second approach works best. See the Coaching My Staff section of Y4Y’s Human Resources course for ways to coach your staff (especially site coordinators) to program gold!

Recognize good work. Use formal and informal strategies to tell staff members their contributions are noticed and valued. For example, during employee reviews, be specific and give examples of what employees do well. Implement an employee recognition system to spotlight effort, innovation, problem solving and results. Recognize individual and team efforts. See Y4Y’s Employee Retention Training to Go for ideas you and other program leaders can use to keep staff engaged.

For more ideas on ways to treasure your staff and help them grow, see Y4Y’s new Human Resources course. To share your own ideas and success stories, leave a comment below. 

April 11, 2019

When family members join the band, student learning rocks. Y4Y’s updated Family Engagement course can help you plan a variety of high-interest, high-impact activities that families will look forward to doing — whether at home with their child, at your program site or in some other location in the community.

If you’re thinking about taking the course, but have limited time, or aren’t sure where to start, here are some ideas:

• Want to sample the topic with a high-level overview? Check out chapter 1 in the Introduction section. This chapter describes the benefits and importance of family engagement, and how it aligns with 21^st CCLC program goals. 
• Would you like a playlist that describes all the steps for planning to implement a family engagement plan? Download the Y4Y Family Engagement Implementation Planning Checklist. 
• Are you the “band leader,” the one responsible for leading professional learning at your program or site? Explore the Coaching My Staff section to get tips, tools and ready-to-use presentations.
• Want to preview or sample all the components? Start here for links to the Introduction, Implementation Strategies and Coaching My Staff sections, as well as course tools. There’s also a Learn More Library with links to selected external videos, publications, web-based resources, and lesson plans and activities.

When you fit it into your schedule, you’ll find that Y4Y’s Family Engagement course helps you tune up your practice, get everyone on the same page and amp up the learning!

January 24, 2019

Do your students think of scientists as loners in lab coats? Citizen science can change their minds and spark new interests — especially when you add social media to the mix.

Citizen science enlists people of all ages in collecting and sharing data for research purposes. It’s nothing new. In fact, the first Farmers’ Almanac more than 200 years ago relied on the general population for data, although they didn’t call it crowdsourcing at that time. It’s a way for your students to work and learn with others, either virtually or in real time, on authentic science projects. For some, the experience could be a game changer. It might even spark an interest in subjects and careers that previously seemed beyond their reach.

There’s a citizen science project to match just about every interest area, and several involve social media:

• Fascinated by creepy-crawly things? Do a bioblitz! It’s a species inventory that involves observing, recording and documenting living things in a well-defined area in a short period of time. This group project will get students working and talking together in real time — plus they can use apps like iNaturalist and Fieldscope to share and discuss their findings with other citizen scientists across the world. Get instructions for a do-it-yourself bioblitz from National Geographic. Watch this 2.5-minute video to hear what students and organizers say about their schoolyard bioblitz experience.
• Enjoy word games? The VerbCorner website collects data from humans as they play word games to help computers better understand the nuances of the English language. The site includes an online discussion forum.
• Are you a cloud watcher? Download NASA’s GLOBE Observer app, contribute your observation data, and connect to the project’s worldwide community of cloud observers via Facebook and Twitter.    
• Interested in innovation? Visit citizenscience.gov for a U.S. government-wide listing of citizen science and crowdsourcing projects designed to help local, state and federal agencies accelerate innovation through public participation.
• Want more options? Citisci.org lets you participate in projects created by other citizen scientists or create your own. SciStarter lets you search for projects that match your interests and track your contributions. Scientific American features a variety of real science projects to join. Zooniverse has citizen science projects in medicine, history, literature, social science, the arts and more. Also try searching on #citizenscience.

For links to more citizen science projects, see the Introduction section of Y4Y’s Citizen Science course. The Coaching My Staff section of the course has resources to help train staff and students. See this Y4Y blog post for pointers on integrating technology into activities.

If you haven’t yet dipped your toes into citizen science activities, take a look! Then bring your planning team together to consider what might fit into your spring and summer sessions.

Meanwhile, if you’re in the mood for crowdsourcing, feel free to share your own citizen science stories and ideas; just look for Leave a Reply below. Your 21^st CCLC colleagues will thank you.  

November 20, 2017

Guest blogger: David Mazza, Y4Y Educational Technology Specialist

Business, government and education professionals often use videoconferences for training and collaboration. If you’ve attended an online Y4Y Showcase, virtual training or webinar, you’ve participated in a videoconference. It’s a great way to connect people to peers and subject matter experts.

But have you ever used videoconferencing with students?

I recently raised this question with staff from various 21^st CCLC programs around the country. Only a few said yes. Others cited possible drawbacks such as the time it takes to organize a videoconference, not having the equipment or skills to organize one, and not knowing how to use videoconferencing to support program activities or student interests.   

These concerns are understandable. However, in my 20 years as a technology facilitator for various education projects, I’ve often used teleconferencing to connect students to professionals and to students in other locations. I’ve seen the benefits, and I think the pros outweigh the cons.

Intrigued by the possibilities? Here are some ideas for overcoming common concerns:

Concern #1: Technology is mysterious.

If you don’t have confidence in your technology skills, or if you’ve never set up a videoconference, you might be hesitant or not know where to start. Fear not. Students know a lot more about technology than most of us, and they usually enjoy being the “tech person.” Plus it gives them a chance to develop real-world skills! Friends and colleagues who enjoy technology are another good resource. If your school or program has a technology specialist, make sure to give that person a call!

There are many types of software you can use for videoconferencing, and some are free. For example, Google Hangouts, Skype, and Zoom all have free versions that you can download and use for two-way audio and video. They are simple to use. You’ll need a laptop with a built-in camera and microphone. You’ll also need an internet connection. Wireless networks can be used, but for the best results, have that laptop hardwired to the network. Get in touch with the internet provider for your school or program site, and let the provider know what you want to do. The provider might have tips or suggestions that will make your life easier.  

Concern #2: Organizing a teleconference seems time consuming.

No one says you have to organize a teleconference overnight. Start small, plan ahead and take it one step at a time. Your to-do list for getting your feet wet might look like this:

• Check your hardware and internet connection to make sure you have what you need.
• Look online for short videos that demonstrate free videoconferencing software like Google Hangouts, Skype and Zoom.
• Ask colleagues and students for suggestions about software programs to use, and possible ways to make videoconferencing part of an upcoming project or activity. They might have suggestions, or offer to help.
• Download a software program you like; play around with it; and practice with a tech-savvy colleague, friend or student.
• Plan a simple videoconference activity (like using Zoom to connect to a staff member or volunteer at home or down the hall for a virtual game of Simon Says).

Concern #3: It’s hard to think of ways videoconferencing could be truly useful.

Don’t worry. Once you get comfortable with videoconferencing, you’ll come up with more ideas than you need! For starters, try a virtual career exploration project. Videoconferencing can connect students virtually with people who do different jobs in the public and private sectors. Your virtual guests can tell how their school and community experiences prepared them for their careers. (This is a good way to involve students’ parents and other family members, as well as local companies and community partners.) Local companies could do a virtual tour of their businesses. The mayor might Skype in to tell how she prepared for the job and what her workday is like. Parks and museums are also great sources for content that could fit your needs. 

Set Yourself Up for Success

Remember, if videoconferencing is new to you and your site, it will also be new for the students. If you’re using a videoconference to bring a guest speaker to your program, share a short bio about the speaker, make sure students know why the speaker was invited and what topic will be covered, and tell them about “videoconferencing etiquette” (such as paying attention, not interrupting and holding questions until the end, unless instructed otherwise). Be prepared to introduce the speaker, and prepare a few questions in advance for students to ask. Having these questions makes for a smooth start and will reduce the reluctance of the students to ask the first questions.

Look for Ways to Collaborate

Projects in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are a natural place to start using videoconferencing. Students in different sites can exchange ideas, work on a project together, and demonstrate their learning. If you have a large group of students, connect your laptop to a larger monitor, if possible, so that everyone can see more easily. Also, connecting external speakers to your laptop will make it easier to hear presenters.  

Don’t Be Surprised if Students Ask for More!

Teleconferencing can be a terrific tool for engaging students and holding their interest. As you get better at using it in your program, don’t be surprised to hear students ask, “When can we do this again?”

Share What You Know

Y4Y is always here to offer help and guidance, and we’d be happy to answer your questions as you begin. We’d also like to hear about your experiences in using videoconferencing with students. What did you do? How did it go? How did your students respond? Please share your ideas and experiences in our online discussion space.

Happy videoconferencing!

Y4Y Resources

Here are a few project ideas from Y4Y to jump-start your thinking about videoconferencing as a gateway to a world of learning:

NASA STEM Challenges. Videoconferencing could connect students to scientists in your community — and to students in other locations who are involved in the NASA STEM Challenges.

Gathering and Sharing Information. This little package of ideas, templates, and a sample activity plan shows how you can connect videoconferencing and other online activities with what students are learning in school.