Originally appears in the Spring 2016 issue

Falling through the cracks, left behind, not able to learn, won’t focus, can’t pay attention, has behavior problems—these are phrases all educators have heard or spoken.  These phrases have deep meanings and history rooted in societal ills and structural inequalities, but they refer specifically to learners who deserve every opportunity to grow as individuals. Many schools have created programs and services for at-risk students, but alternative school programs are usually better able to address the educational needs of those with behavioral and other challenges.

Meeting the needs of disadvantaged students while motivating them to learn and enact change, and develop the metacognitive and technology skills needed in the 21st century is critically important to their development.  To increase student engagement I developed a marine debris program for middle and high school students that was taught over one semester and integrated science, math, technology, reading, writing, and the arts. I designed the course to be integrated and project-based so the learning was real for students while at the same time each academic subject was addressed within the context of the course and not as separate subjects that did not seem to relate.  These students needed to see the bigger picture of the world and know that what they were learning mattered in their lives so that their education was not just bookwork and requirements dictated by adults.

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Students met with me one day a week for three hours.  During the week they completed readings, journal writing assignments, other written work, and worked on their art projects.  Students were able to receive course credits in Science, Art, and English (creative writing and reading). At the time, the school did not have lab or field science courses, but they now have an excellent science teacher who is providing these lessons. In this article, I will describe the program in the hopes that it might inspire you to create similar learning experiences in your community.

To create such a program, the first question to ask yourself is what theme would most benefit your students and/or the community? Because our school is located near the ocean on the Monterey Peninsula on the Central Coast of California, marine debris was selected as the focus. Keeping the curriculum local ensures that the learning is relevant to students.

Other questions include what subjects can be integrated and what are the main lessons you want to teach?  In my case, wanting to include active learning, constructivism, group learning, and reflection, I focused on math, reading, writing, oral communication, technology skills, science and the arts. I also wanted to provide students with field experiences and to expose them to professionals to help them consider related careers and college studies.  Local conservation groups may be able to suggest field study locations in your community, and local agencies may also provide your students with field trips or guest speakers. Scientific research centers, natural history museums, aquariums, zoos, and colleges are also places to search for guest speakers and field trips.  For us, local beaches provided the study sites that we needed.

In the years I ran the program in Marina, California, the course included field trips to the Monterey Regional Waste Management District facility and guest speakers ranging from a state assembly member to artists, photographers, scientists and science writers.  One scientist and science writer spoke to the students about his travels, his writing, and specifically his writing on marine debris. After he mentioned all of the plastic food waste on an airline flight, my students suggested better options for the next time he travelled. Having already covered the “what we can do” part of the unit, the students were familiar with reusable travel mugs, bamboo silverware, etc. and they felt empowered.

In looking for a diverse group of speakers who did not all follow a straight path from school to a career, I recruited fellow students from my university days.  They explained how they got into college and what it was like for them.  Some were first generation students or had financial or personal struggles, and/or were themselves considered “at-risk” while in high school. As guest speakers, they exposed my students to views and life experiences that were often not discussed.

When designing a program or workshop consider the subjects you can integrate given your knowledge and skill set and others working with you. Stick with what you know to establish the program. The program can grow later.

In the marine debris course, students were given the book “The Last Song of the Whales”1 to read. They were then assigned chapters to read and journal writing assignments each week—in journals from cereal boxes and reused paper.2  They had other writing assignments such as reports on a book on the topic of marine debris and essays and writing for their art projects. Some of the book titles are listed in the reference section at the end of this article.

Students were exposed to artists who create recycled or trash art3 and sand art and mandalas.4 They looked to these artists for inspiration for their own projects that included sculpture, sand art, mandalas, video and photography.  An art teacher from the school led the art portion of the course. Students created beautiful art pieces that they would write about and, later at the presentation day, talk about to others. My favorite assessment was listening to them relate their art to the overall condition of the environment.

For the science and math portion, I started with short lessons on how science works. To learn about data analysis and graphing they completed a lesson written by Ann Meyer to introduce the scientific method.5 In this collaborative lesson, my students learned how to use Excel to make bar graphs. When asked how many M&M candies are in a bag, students posed hypotheses that they could then test. They counted M&Ms by color in the bags given to them in order to get an actual total. They then graphed this information and wrote conclusions regarding their hypotheses. Students in the program gained skills in observation, hypothesis writing, project development while learning about marine debris, ocean currents, and health concerns in food webs. They also viewed the student version of the film, “Bag It”6 which helped them examine their own lives in relation to waste and consumption. Students conducted waste inventories during the week as homework, examined products they purchased and used, and looked for ways to lessen their impact on the environment due to their consumer choices. They reported back on this in class.

Collaboration and Presentation

Students worked in groups on marine debris projects, collecting beach data and sorting and classifying what they found. Working in groups allowed them to simulate real-world work situations of working with others, and provided them an opportunity to learn skills such as conflict resolution and effective communication.

In Effective Alternative Education Programs, the authors emphasize that conflict resolution and peer mediation are skills students need to develop. They also point out that becoming an expert on a topic empowers them to become leaders. They state:

“While becoming the expert at something, intrinsic change becomes evident as they develop skills and train others. These students should be afforded the opportunity to be leaders, and teaching others has an incredible learning effect. These skills will not only expose them to strategies to be used at school, but the transference to home and community will last a lifetime.”7

The students conducted background research and made and wrote conclusions. They created PowerPoint and/or poster board presentations, which required them to learn new skills. When it came time to present their conclusions to community members, their pride and confidence was apparent. They had become experts. It was a beautiful thing to stand back and watch them become the teachers at this point.

Funding

I sought funding to offset costs of needed cameras, video cameras, copies of the assigned book, materials for their poster boards, a projector, and to hire a student assistant.  Student assistants that were hired each year had themselves been at-risk students. It was important for these middle and high school students to see someone who had walked in their shoes in college. They could relate to the student assistant. The assistant helped with all aspects of the class and with grading. This in turn also gave the student assistant work experience for their resumes. Instead of submitting grant proposals, I wrote letters to community groups including the local Sierra Club, the Grange and Rotary groups and local environmental groups to explain our program.  Funding that was needed was raised from these groups with enough for a party at the end of the class. At the end of our program, the funders were invited to a presentation of the student projects and a poster session. This further helped the students develop their presentation skills and provided an opportunity for the funders to interact with the students and learn how their sponsorship had improved the lives of our students. These funders then gave more money the following years.  The first year the cameras and video cameras purchased were not of very good quality. The second year new cameras and new video cameras were purchased. The following year a projector was purchased. Each year supplies were needed for presentations. Depending on what topic you choose, possible groups who might provide funding, speakers, or field trips include Audubon Society, water agencies, non-profits, civic groups, and local waste management companies.

To celebrate the student’s success, the school director purchased pizzas, snacks and drinks for the presentation day. The snacks were homemade, all the dishes were reusable/washable, and we used cloth napkins. Students set up a “compost” container for leftover food and buckets to wash dirty dishes. They recycled as much of the pizza boxes as possible to reduce waste. Later, the students reflected on how little waste was generated by the number of people who attended in comparison to how much would have been generated if we had not provided less wasteful options.

Assessment

Students completed pre and post surveys that had questions such as “what is marine debris” and which probed their attitudes to consumerism and waste. Not surprisingly, the post surveys revealed higher content knowledge and significant attitude changes about how our daily choices can negatively affect the environment. Student responses included:

  • “I had not realized there was so much trash in the ocean or on our beaches. It makes me want to do more clean ups and tell others about this problem.”
  • “I learned about science in a way that was fun and makes me like science more.”
  • “I liked being able to decide if I wanted to make videos or do photography. I did photography and enjoyed taking photos of not only debris but also of nature to show the beauty.”
  • “I liked that the book and our writing related to the rest of the class. It made reading and writing more interesting.”
  • “I liked making sculptures from the debris. When we were collecting the trash I had no idea that we would get creative and make sculptures from it.”

Lessons learned: Challenges and Successes

Over the course of the three years I taught the program, not a lot changed in curriculum from one year to the next. In the last year, when I met with the school, we decided that the school would assign a writing/English teacher and the art teacher made the art section more in depth. This was done to allow me to focus on the science and to involve the school’s teachers more since I knew it would be my last year teaching the course.

The marine debris study ranged from comparing the same beach over a few weeks to comparing two different beaches. Field trips were included the second year and guest speakers varied. I asked a local State Assembly Member to come since he was working on legislation that related to the course content, and he did, which added a connection to political action.

The obvious challenge in running a similar program for students with behavior problems the organization of the course. Those not used to working with ‘at-risk’ learners need to read about useful strategies beforehand. There were times some students would not show up for class. I worked around this, but it made it difficult to keep groups running smoothly. Anticipating this can help you adjust your lessons and find ways to work with such students so they can be successful in the course. For example, near the end of the course we set aside a few weeks for those who had missed days for working on the posters/presentations and art projects

While students’ language may be shocking to some, I chose to not allow it to draw attention away from the work of the class. Small classes, like large, can bring challenges. I would suggest that the class size be determined by your comfort level, the size of facilities, and with consideration of the learners. I found that small classes made it harder to create groups to work on projects, but they did allow me to provide more time to work individually with students on their science process skills, hypothesis writing and technology skills. Shy students are always a challenge, but within our small classes, these students were talking and participating more by the end.  The inverse of course is the louder students. Keeping active learning in mind, students who need more attention should be kept busy and finding ways to allow these students to be spokespeople for group work can alleviate disruption while serving their needs.

At first, I was an outsider to the school and my students needed to bond with, and trust me. Trust is important when working with at-risk students. This took a few weeks, but was built through compassion, caring, listening and giving them a voice and decision-making roles.

Another more minor challenge was the weather. The central coast of California can be windy, foggy and cold. On cold, foggy days when the beach cleanups were scheduled, students were not motivated. During warmer, sunny days, they wanted to run and play. To adjust for this, I shortened the data gathering (i.e. beach cleanup) time and allowed more time for exploring. Most of the students commented that they had either rarely or never been to the beach, mainly due to a lack of transportation (the beach is about two miles from their school).

From the viewpoint of the school, the students, the funders and myself, this program was successful. It was enjoyable to teach and I learned as much from the students as they did from me. I watched students who seemed “hard” at first reveal their own beautiful personalities as the course progressed. Students who felt they were not good at science showed skills that demonstrated that they can do science. Watching their confidence blossom and seeing their skills develop along with their thinking about future careers and college, reminded me why I teach. I would like to leave you with one more quote from Effective Alternative Education Programs, “So many of our at-risk learners are merely unchallenged, inquisitive learners who have never been allowed to create, inquire, or explore their own ideas.”[1] This program allowed students to learn content while they were allowed to create, inquire and explore their own ideas. While integrated learning helps all learners, it can especially help those at-risk to be more engaged with the learning process and to retain more; And programs like this have a social justice aspect, because they help those who are otherwise falling through the cracks to more effectively learn and explore careers, college, and life.

 

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Natalie Zayas Delgado, teaches environmental science and environmental studies courses at California State University, Monterey Bay. She has taught Pre-K through adult courses for 17 years.

End Notes

  1. Jacobs, Don aka Four Arrows. (2010). Last Song of the Whales. Savant Books and Publishing, Honolulu, HI
  2. (2012). How to turn a cereal bo into a journal. Live, Craft, Eat.
  3. Jordon, Chris. (2006). Running the numbers. http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn/#silentspring.com
  4. Amador, Andres. The Art of Andres Amador. http://www.andresamadorarts.com
  5. Meyer, Ann. (2005). M&M’s for the Scientific Method. New Exploration into Science, Technology and Math. Manhattan NY. http://www.scienceteacherprogram.org/genscience/AMeyer05.html
  6. S (Director). (2011). Bag It (Motion picture of DVD). USA. Reelthing Productions, Inc.
  7. Chalker, Christopher S. and Kimila S. Brown. (1999). Effective alternative education programs. Technomic Publishing Company, Inc. Pennsylvania.