Final written reflection

Final Written Reflection:

The purpose of this paper is for you to reflect meaningfully on your experience/project. A truly meaningful reflection should be at least 2-3 full pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, and 1 inch margins all the way around. Your paper should address the following questions:

• What?  (Report the facts and events of an experience, objectively.)


• So What?  (Analyze the experience. Use some of your sociological imagination and vocabulary here.) 


• Now What?  (Consider the future impact of the experience on you and the community.)

Some questions to help you with the above...remember these are suggestions. You do not need to answer each of the questions each time you write a journal entry.

What?

• What happened?


• What did you observe?


• What issue is being addressed?


• What population is being served?

So What?

• Did you learn a new skill or clarify an interest?


• Did you hear, see, smell, or feel anything that surprised you?


• How is your experience different from what you expected?


• What impacts the way you view the situation/experience?


• What did you like/dislike about the experience?


• What did you learn about the people/community?


• What are some of the pressing needs/issues in the community?


• How does this project address those needs?

Now What?

• What seem to be the root causes of the issue addressed?


• What other work is currently happening to address the issue?


• What learning occurred for you in this experience?


• How can you apply this learning?


• What would you like to learn more about, related to this project or issue?


• What follow-up is needed to address any challenges or difficulties?


• What information can you share with your peers or the community?


• If you could do the project again, what would you do differently?

The grade:        Based on the thoughtfulness of your social action, the specificity of your plan, and the overall quality of your writing.

The details:       2-3 pages. ALSO- you must be able to verify that you completed your social action!

Rubric

Taking Social Action Paper Rubric (1)

Taking Social Action Paper Rubric (1)

CriteriaRatingsPtsThis criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

What? (Report the facts and events of an experience, objectively.)8.0 pts

Paper describes in great detail what social action was taken

6.0 pts

Paper describes in some detail what social action was taken

4.0 pts

Paper minimally describes what social action was taken

0.0 pts

Paper does not describe what social action was taken

8.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

So What? (Analyze the experience. Use some of your sociological imagination and vocabulary here.)8.0 pts

Paper analyzes the experience in great detail. Appropriately uses sociological imagination and vocabulary here.

6.0 pts

Paper somewhat analyzes the experience. Somewhat appropriate sociological imagination and vocabulary here.

4.0 pts

Paper minimally analyzes the experience. Minimally appropriate sociological imagination and vocabulary here.

0.0 pts

Paper does not analyze the experience. Sociological imagination and appropriate vocabulary not used.

8.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

Now What? (Consider the future impact of the experience on you and the community.)8.0 pts

Paper considers future impact of experience on individual and community in great detail.

6.0 pts

Paper considers future impact of experience on individual and community in some detail.

4.0 pts

Paper considers future impact of experience on individual and community in minimal detail.

0.0 pts

Paper does not discuss future impact of experience on individual and community.

8.0 pts

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome

Writing/Grammar6.0 pts

Paper meets minimum/maximum page requirements. Paper has few to no grammatical errors.

4.0 pts

Paper meets minimum/maximum page requirements. Paper has several grammatical errors.

2.0 pts

Paper does not meet minimum/maximum page requirements and/or paper has many grammatical errors.

0.0 pts

Paper does not meet formatting guidelines and/or has copious grammatical errors

6.0 pts

Total Points: 30.0

SOC 101

Taking Social Action Project Overview

Sociology as a discipline has two core commitments. The first core commitment of sociology is to use the sociological eye (or perspective) to observe social patterns. The second core commitment requires noticing patterns of injustice and taking action to challenge those patterns. This project provides you the opportunity to fulfill this second core commitment by taking action to address a social issue of your choosing. 

For this course project you need to take action to address a social problem and create change in your community. That is, you must take ACTION and do something personally to address your social issue or raise awareness about the issue. Be creative, go out on a limb, and maybe surprise yourself. To be clear, I do not want you to tell me what you would do hypothetically. You are required to dedicate at least 5 hours to your social action and be able to verify that you completed your social action. Take a photo of what you did, record it on a cell phone, provide me a link to the article you published, provide me a copy of a brochure you distributed with pictures of you distributing it, give me a phone number I could call to verify, etc. 

This assignment is focused on promoting civic engagement and citizenship. This project provides you the opportunity to impact local, community based social problems by addressing community needs.

This assignment is also focused on autonomous problem solving and learning. Meaning it’s your responsibility to figure out what action you could take. In the end, no matter what career field you enter, your future employer will want to know if you can creatively solve interesting problems. This assignment is directly focused on helping you develop this skill.

Things to consider when choosing a social action: What is the issue you want to address? What are your goals? Who is your audience or who are you trying to reach?  What action will you take to address your issue? What are the skills that you possess that will help you to be successful?

You have THREE options for the type of social action you can take. Regardless of which type of social action you decide to pursue, you must complete at least FIVE hours of service. You will track and reflect on these hours in your “Social Action Journal” and submit this to me at the end of the semester.

These hours that you dedicate to this project can fall under two categories:

• Direct Service Hours: Hands-on service


• Indirect Service Hours: Time spent preparing for direct service hours (e.g., creating a presentation, writing an article for a newspaper)

The following are the three types of actions you can take to address your social issue:

1-Volunteering Service: this option provides you the opportunity to volunteer your services with a community organization. I have posted a list of some community organizations. You may also identify an organization near you where you can serve.

2-Create a presentation: this option provides you the opportunity to raise awareness of your social problem by creating and implementing a presentation/workshop or an exhibit/display. There are many ways you can engage in this type of community outreach. These are a few examples:

-Conduct a workshop on campus, at a local youth organization, at your church, etc. addressing your social issue

-Speak at a public hearing or town hall meeting on your social issue

-Create a public exhibit or display that raises awareness of your social issue

3-Create a product: this option provides you the opportunity to create a deliverable product to be utilized to help those impacted by your social issue. These are a few examples:

-Create a brochure/website about your issue and local services available to affected individuals. This could be distributed by a resource agency, such as Single Stop or the Women’s Outreach and Advocacy Center here on campus, or an a community organization of your choosing.

-Publish a letter to the editor about your issue in a local paper

-Write an article about your social issue for the College newspaper The Vanguard

A Sampling of Service Options:

Books Through Bars, at 4722 Baltimore Avenue, helps get books to people in prison- http://booksthroughbars.org/volunteer/

 (Links to an external site.)

Project H.O.M.E.- http://projecthome.org/how-to-help/volunteer

 (Links to an external site.)

Philabundance- http://www.philabundance.org/take-action/volunteer/

 (Links to an external site.)

Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger- http://www.hungercoalition.org/

 (Links to an external site.)

Chosen 300 Ministries- http://www.chosen300.org/homeless/homelessservingschedule.html

 (Links to an external site.)

The United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, has a whole “Impact Partner” list of organizations divided by category (for example, Abuse, Adult Education, Domestic Violence, Immigration/Refugees, Women, Youth Development, etc)- http://volunteer.unitedforimpact.org/volunteer/agency/?partner=1

 (Links to an external site.)

Grid Magazine published an article of 30 places to volunteer in Philadelphia which can be found here- http://www.gridphilly.com/grid-magazine/2015/3/26/30-places-to-volunteer-in-philadelphia.html

 (Links to an external site.)

Service opportunities can also be found at the following sites:

https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/index.jsp?r=msa&l=19525

 (Links to an external site.)

http://volunteer.phila.gov/

Additional Social Action Project Examples

The following are some social action project examples from previous students:

•  raise awareness about a social issue at work, on campus, in your community, or using social media. Students have held town halls, organized panel discussions on campus, created social media campaigns, created Facebook groups. Be creative and use your own talents- students have written songs, created short videos/public service announcements, screenplays, etc.


• organize a resource drive (food, children's school supplies, clothing) in your community, workplace, on campus that is then donated to an organization


• offer a skill you have to others. The following are examples from former students: students have become community mentors, taught at after-school programs, one student offered free ASL translation at his church services, a student provided free hairstyles in his community while also training community youth in the trade, an automotive tech major trained community youth in his automotive trade, etc.


• BE CREATIVE! HAVE FUN!!!

Also, the current health crisis has many of us confined to our homes and may have some of you wondering how you can complete a social action in these conditions. This health crisis presents many ways that you can serve others. While this crisis may leave us feeling isolated and unable to do anything personally to effect this issue, there are small ways that we can help and gain some sense of control during this difficult time. I've listed a few ideas below:

• sign up to volunteer with your local school's food distribution program


• offer to pick up groceries, medications, etc. for your elder and/or at-risk neighbors


• start an online donation drive using gofundme or fundly to raise money for a local food bank or other charitable agency helping people through this crisis


• write "thank you" letters, emails, cards, etc. for those who are on the front lines working through this crisis, for example postal workers, package carriers, medical professionals, sanitation workers, etc.