This research recounts a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) project aimed at facilitating students' empathic development while also offering ways to identify and assess students' written expressions of empathy. I ground this work in an exploration of the many processes labelled as empathy and the reasons for including empathy as a course…

Alternative schools can provide all students, especially those with challenging behaviors, low motivation, poor attendance, failing grades, or those afraid to even walk into the school building, with an engaging and enriching educational experience. Through designing, leading, and serving students as an administrator of an alternative middle…

Summarizes seven recent ERIC documents and six journal articles on service learning in the middle grades. Subjects of documents include descriptions of service learning in various areas and the national Indian Youth Leadership model. Topics of journal articles include descriptions of particular service-education opportunities, implementation of…

Defines service learning. Identifies four components needed to organize a quality service learning experience: preparation; student involvement in meaningful integrated service learning experiences; student reflection; and evaluation and self-study of service learning projects. Lists ten organizations with expertise in service learning and…

Describes benefits of service learning for middle school students. Describes the Community Problem Solving (CPS) Program, a competitive program in which students use the creative problem- solving process to identify community problems and develop and implement solutions. Differentiates community problem solving from other service learning…

Describes school-based service learning at the middle school level and the rationale for implementing service-learning projects. Differentiates various types of projects, provides guidelines and ideas for implementing projects, and describes relevant organizations at the community, state, and national levels. (KB)

Explores the concept of school-based youth community service as a means to help students connect to their communities. Lists resources in service learning. Discusses ways to help service learning reach its potential. Presents arguments for and against having such a program, and addresses the debate about mandatory service. (DLH)

Describes how gifted middle school students have turned the tragedy of a college student's death into a positive opportunity to advocate for victim's rights and to help provide funding for educational programs on personal safety and violence prevention. The activities of the class and the benefits to students are described. (CR)

Describes a teaching approach that uses an operating classroom business to fund service learning projects. (YDS)

Describes a bird habitat project completed by seventh graders as community service. Details coordinating five curriculum components: (1) social studies; (2) math; (3) language arts; (4) art, and (5) science. Describes implementing the project, including costs and additional ideas; and recognizes involvement of parents, teachers, businesses, and…

Describes a partnership between a middle school and a community-based retirement center in which middle school students taught senior citizens computer skills. Discusses the pedagogical value of the program in creating learning activities that students found functional. (JPB)

This article presents samples of imaginative programs that meld the fundamentals of the service learning methodology with individual learning and behavioral goals at the middle school level. The paper is divided into: (1) "What Do We Mean by Service Learning?"; (2) "The Fit between Service Learning and the Developmental Needs of Young…

They are adolescents--and those who work with them must understand them, connect with them, and make learning relevant to their lives. This article looks at recent theories and educational practices identified as appropriate for supporting the educational learning experiences of students ages 12 to 15. In this article, the author also discusses,…

As schools guide students in acquiring the skills and knowledge necessary to become responsible citizens, the question arises as to how they can better go about providing them with a well-rounded education: academically, socially, and emotionally. Providing Resource Opportunities with Learning (P.R.O.W.L.) suggests the following solutions: (1)…

"Active Citizenship Today" (ACT) is a service learning program for the social studies. There are two things that make ACT different from other service learning programs: (1) the "learning" in service -- learning refers to traditional social studies content and skills (it is a civics model); and (2) ACT is built around a problem-solving framework.…