Group+F

=Group F=

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As you work on your social action project (committed to 12 hours of dedicated time to giving service to others) plus responding in a Wiki format with your group of three, you will answer the following question: In light of your understanding of disciple, what does it mean to be a disciple of Christ to others through your project? You will share your thoughts and observations and actions of setting up to kinds of things you did to what you observed or saw to the final pieces of your project. At the end of your project (Dec. 2 or what you have completed thus far), your group will come up with a group response to what is a disciple based on your social action journey.

Let's start answering this question    tonight.

//What does it mean to you to be a disciple? What is a disciple?//

[|Turn ads off - $5/month] 1st entry- Charlotte- Ladies, here is want I have started with my class which should culminate the last week before Christmas holidays: My students will be completing a project that involves different ares of curriculum, language, math, media, art, music but most importantly religion. They will be making products to sell in a school wide sale in December and all profits will be going to the charity of their choice. I use the term charity as the distinction between social justice and charity has not been discussed with them yet. We will start the project the first week of November and work on it through out Novemeber and most of December but already they have some idea of what we will be doing as I have already asked them to look into organizations whom they think should benefit from our project. THe students have to research the 'charity' they feel best would benefit from our sale and present it to the class- the entire class will decide who gets the profits from our sale. This initial research I hope will begin to open their eyes to the need in their own community and how in some small way they can help. I'll keep you posted as the project begins. __2nd entry__ November 22- Charlotte - I have completed my lesson with my students regarding charity and social justice. They presented their proposals to the class on Wednesday Nov.19- we took a class vote and narrowed down the organizations they wish to support to four== Free the Children, World Vision, Food Bank (I will steer to the G.A.P.) and the SPCA-- this one worries me a little as I really want to support the human population but quite a few wanted to support the animals. Our final vote will be on Monday to chose one (1) organization to vote for. I wanted to include a part of one of my students proposal here to let you know that they are getting the distinction between charity and social justice. This is from one of my students=== " Dear fellow fundraisers, our class discussion on the difference between social justice and charity changed the way I feel about both. It was demonstrated that charity is defined by the donation of money for immediate use, such as money for food. Although a charity is a very worth while cause, when given a sum of money, that money can only go do far before it runs out, and that person who it was donated to is left as they were before. This is the reason I choose a social justice organization to donate to where our money will go to needy causes but pay for something such as an education for a child living in a third world country or medical equipment that will last a long time...." So this is where I am so far in my social justice project with my students. 3rd entry November, 26- Charlotte-- my students voted on an organization to support with their sales and have chosen Youth Haven. I'm hoping to get them in to speak to the class in order to make it more meaningful. I'll keep you up to date.
 * 4th entry**- December 8, 2208- My students had the opportunity to listen to the speakers from Youth Haven I had invited in . They listened as two of the workers explained what takes place at the shelter and how great the need is for assistance but the greatest impact come from Brooklyn a young lady of 16 who uses the Shelter because she had been abandoned by her father. It was amazing to see the impact on my students as they listened to her as she was only 2 years older than them. Our sale is next Tuesday and the students are really looking forward to it.


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Hey Ladies, My social action project has already started and will run for the course of the year. My class is going to fundraise and donate the proceeds to the local food bank every month. I have two senior students who are in charge of the project and the entire class is participating - hopefully they will take over everything soon. As of now they simply go with me to Price Chopper and help me buy the food. Ideally, in a few weeks they will be responsible for the following:

- contact our local food bank reps. - find out what they are most in need of - make a shopping list - go to pricechopper and buy the groceries - bring the receipt back to me :) - arrange for the pick up or drop off of the food for the food bank

So far we have purchased $440 in groceries for the food bank Posted Oct 27, 2008 9:15 am || Ann Marie that sound really good and so worthwhile with the students taking over the responsibility for it. I think they would have a greater appreciation investigating, contacting and doing all the work. Bravo. Charlotte  Posted Nov 23, 2008 3:27 pm || Hey Everyone, so, just to keep you updated - the social action project for my class has gone very well. $640 has been raised so far by the class. They have completely taken over everything. Now the students phone the local food bank people and find out what canned or dry goods they are in short supply of. A grocery list is made from this information. The students then head over to price chopper and buy the food which is brought back to the school and loaded into the trunk of my car. I drop it off after work. Some of the students who live in town meet at the local food bank to help carry it in and stock the shelves. It has been a great experience so far. Students have a raised awareness, not to mention the growing responsibility from being trusted with reasonably large sums of money. They have seem to have a little more confidence. It was like pulling teeth at first to get them to phone the people in charge of the food bank to find out what groceries they needed. They seem a little more confident now! Our plan is to continue this until June. Who knows how much we will have raised by then! Posted Dec 8, 2008 6:50 am || How rewarding to see youth helping youth. I bet this will stick with them as they go through life and will help them reexamine their views of poverty and social justice. Posted Tuesday, 5:17 pm
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|| After much technical difficulty I am now able to share my project with you. Since I am teaching Grade one I wanted a project that would be appropriate for my students. What we are doing is this: through our good deed actions we are trying to make a soft manger for Jesus. Every time we do a good deed for someone we quietly write it down on a piece of yellow paper, the paper is cut to resemble a piece of straw, it is then placed in a manger made of wood. Our plan is have done so many good deeds before Christmas that Jesus will have a manger full of straw, which will be very comfortable for Him. The students and I have shared many discussions about how our actions show and teach others about how God wants us to act. I struggled at the beginning about wheather or not it would be a good idea to have the students write their own good deeds on the straw or not. I was afraid that maybe they would start to be boastful about their own actions. But I decided to go with it and explained to them that by writing theirs deeds and placing them in the manger, they are offering their actions to Jesus and that it is not important that everyone in the class knows what they did. I thought that they would not understand what I meant but they do understand. They are beginning to see that through their good deeds Jesus has a much softer bed to lay in. They have said that Jesus will be so happy to see all that straw in His bed because He will know that we did good deeds for Him. YES, they are getting it. Now, don't get me wrong, from time to time one of the students will want to share with me what they have done, but more often, they will want to share what others have done for them. They are learning how important the little favours we do for others are. They get excited when someone does something for them. I will often hear them say thank you, and then they tell me someone picked up their paper or pencil off the floor. We also have had discussions about all the wonderful good deeds our parents do for us and how wonderful it would be if we surprised our parents by doing something special for them. We talked about how lightening someone's load can be a very special gift to give. So, each student picked a realistic task that they could complete on their own, that would be helpful to their parents. They came up with their own ideas about what would work in their homes (some needed alittle assistance). I was overwhelmed with notes from parents about the unsolisited help they received from their children, from setting the table to making their beds to sweepng the floor. Parents were thrilled and the students came to school with all kinds of stories about how they made someone happy. We talked about how Jesus did nice things for people and how they were being just like Him. They were so proud of themselves and I continue to be amazed by them. They make me smile everyday. Posted Dec 1, 2008 10:06 pm || <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 12, 255);"> <span style="background-color: rgb(142, 255, 0);">Hello, my internet has not been working properly since before report cards were due and everytime I call to get it fixed, the help desk at sympatico thinks that we had it diconnected, then they find out we didn't and they fix it but it ony lasts a few hours. So, I will try to update you. The class "good deed actions" project is going wonderfully. The students are writing about their good deeds without talking about them and putting them in the manger for Jesus. I am so proud of them. They will often say "look how soft we are making Jesus's bed. He will be so happy". At first a few students wanted to tell everyone about their deeds and now the other students will say "offer it up to Jesus". I really do have a group of wonderfully caring students. Posted Dec 7, 2008 6:31 pm   || Jean, I love this idea. How great is that for grade one's to be making a soft bed for Jesus! And Creative! Posted Dec 8, 2008 9:55 am || As part of our project the students are making a nativity scene with the boxes from clementines. They are so excited. They painted them brown today and will colour and cut out Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the Wise men, and glue them in standing up. One boy said to another student, "our good deeds help us to open our hearts so Jesus can come to us". This has been a great experience for them. I told them that if they take care of their nativity scene, they will have it when they are really old and it will remind them to always do good deeds for others. Posted Dec 8, 2008 1:21 pm || A beautiful message Jean and very inventive. Bravo
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Ann Marie I would think my students have at least some idea now. A disciple is a person of action - which they have become. They now have a little more compassion for those who are less fortunate in our community. I think before it wasn't that they didn't care, they are just teenagers and have never before stopped to think about those that are struggling to put food on their table. They are learners, workers and servants of love, just as Christ was. I think that is what a disciple is.

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 204);">Ann Marie, I feel the same thing as you. A disciple is a person of action. They see the need and lead by example. By doing they better develop a sense of compassion which I believe will lead them to want and do more. While they are doing this they are demonstrating they are followers of Christ they show their love and compassion for their fellow human beings by being people of action.

From Jean My students have learned they don't have to move mountains they can make little changes- even though they are young they can change by doing little things for the people around them. Through their acts of kindness thy have changed and now more exemplify even though they are only six the love of Christ - they look and act like disicpline. So in closing we all agree that a disciple is anyone who acts with kindness, walks the walk and demonstrates the love of Christ. ||  ||