Audrey Moore and Caleigh Daigle 1

Social Action Plan

Introduction to the Social Issue:
In looking for a social issue we wanted to address, we noticed that in our current field

placement classroom, there is a shortage of necessary resources. In particular, the classroom was

limited in the amount tissues for runny noses, whiteboards and markers for completing problems

in math, clipboards for students to put their work on when they joined the class on the carpet, and

extra snacks for students who didnt bring one. In addition to us observing our students having to

sit at their desks rather than join the class on the carpet (due to there not being enough

clipboards), we also heard our teacher briefly talk about the issue with our students a few times.

After discussing with our mentor teacher, we feel that she would love to have more

parent involvement along with more support from the educational community, but she told us

that she has run out of ideas on how to do that. For example, frequently when a student would

need to blow their nose, our teacher had to tell them to go next door to another classroom to get

tissues or use paper towels instead. Out of frustration, she would remind the students whose

parents had brought supplies a lot that year. Although she did not call out students who had not

brought supplies by name, it might have still made them feel inadequate. This issue is

problematic because with teachers only receiving minimal resources from the school budget to

use in their class for the year, they will also need outside resources in order for the classroom to

run effectively. However, some families may not be able to provide extra resources for the whole

class.

We think that this social issue could be solved first by the students themselves becoming

aware of the implications of the issue, rather than the teacher just telling them to tell their parents

to bring supplies, or including a wish list in the parent newsletter. We think we should have the

students write letters either to their parents and/or guardians or to the government/county to
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inform them of the issue, and persuade them to provide more resources and/or funding. This will

teach the students how to pursue things that are important to them. It also encourages them to

take action to change the problem, similar to what the students did in the Seeds of Solidarity

article.

In this photo, you can see the students gathered together on the carpet to go over their

morning work together as a class. In the gray basket, there are two expo markers which

represents the limited amount of markers for the students to use. The whiteboard in front of the

basket is hard for students to use because it is old and very scratched, so when students write on

it, some of their work cant be seen. This may seem like a simple issue to fix, but support by the
Audrey Moore and Caleigh Daigle 3

local and state government as well as from parents and families in the school community is

limited.

There is a shortage of resources in the classroom because of inadequate school funding as

well as limited parent involvement. Students having to work with a limited amount of resources

to complete their work might interfere with their ability to learn.

To confront this issue, we want to educate our students about how funding for schools

works, and teach them to write persuasive letters to those who could help. Even if the letters that

students write arent able to help the school to get more funding or inspire parents to get more

involved in the classroom community right away, this lesson can still be considered a success if

students learn how to advocate for things that matter to them and take action to see positive

changes. We want our students to understand that every little thing we do has the power to make

a difference, and even if its just in our classroom, teaching the students those skills will be

instilled in them long-term so they can make more differences in the future.

Social Action Plan:

Week 1: Introducing the Issue Introduce the issue to the students and
have a discussion about what students
would like to do to make a change.

Week 2: Social Studies- Who is in charge
of the school budget?
Look at a current event in education and
government and discuss as a class how it
can impact us. Look at different officials
(local, state, national) and describe how
each role impacts the school budget.

Week 3: Math Lesson- How much
funding do schools get?
In order to open students eyes to the
unequal funding that schools in different
areas get, we will look at data and
spreadsheets from NC schools, and then
ones for the United States. We will
compare numbers as a class and connect it
to our current math unit.
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Week 5: Writing Letters Students will write letters to different

individuals and/or groups of people that
they think will help them with their social
issue.

Week 6: Tieing it all together Invite the families of students into the
classroom for the culmination of the unit,
and discuss what we learned and how we
made a difference.

The first thing we would do is introduce the social issue to the students and have a

discussion about what they think they can do to make a change and/or solve the issue. Then we

would look at a current event in education and the different officials in government that impact

this issue in their school, as well as other schools in the U.S. Students will then look at actual

data from the budget that is provided to schools and this will be incorporated into a mathematics

lesson. Next, we would have students write letters to either their parents, to a local school supply

store, or to local and/or state official/government group. Students can make this choice as to

which group they want to be apart of. Their letters need to be persuasive, and include a

description of the issue, how it affects them, and how the person they are writing to can make a

change. Finally, we will invite families into the classroom for the culmination of the unit. The

purpose is to let them know that we value them and they are important to our class community.

Future steps would be to reach out to local and state officials and the community to figure

out a way to get more resources for the classrooms. This would include researching who the local

and state officials are, and planning the types of conversations we would have with these people.

Not only would this lesson teach students about social justice and service, but we could tie it into

a writing lesson on how to create a persuasive piece, or one on how to use evidence to form

sound arguments and debates.

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While one person can definitely make a difference on their own, we want to collaborate

with others to make it more impactful for our local community. We will collaborate with the

students in our class to make them aware of the issue and get their input for how to solve it.

Through the students letters and inviting parents in at the end, we will make parents feel more

connected with the classroom community. We will collaborate with the school community by

hanging up posters of our work and letting the principal know about the letters we are sending

out. The local community will hear our students voices by receiving letters that include their

concerns and ideas.

The constituents that we need to engage in order to successfully implement this social

action plan include resources, permission, and participation. This means that we will need to ask

teachers and/or administration for permission to do this, as well as get them and the students to

participate. We will need to gather resources from what we have in school or at home, while also

asking for donations. From the constituents we will need time and/or money, the ability to do

certain things (permission), and willingness to participate and help change.

Students who know their parents are not able to support the classroom financially, or

students who know their parents work and will have a difficult time finding time to come into the

classroom may be unmotivated to work on this assignment at first. They may be embarrassed or

feel inadequate. Knowing this, teachers giving this assignment need to think about a way to give

everyone a chance to participate in the classroom. It is important to give students the option of

writing to a state/government official, or even a local school supply store so that they can all feel

like they have someone to write to. This relates to the Myth of the Culture of Poverty article

because just because families arent available or have the resources, they do care and still might

want to contribute in some way. Teaching is a team effort, as discussed in class, so even if
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parents cant provide financially, or take time to physically come into the classroom, its

important to inform students on other things that their parents/guardians can do. Parents could

contribute to this assignment in other ways by reviewing the data that is sent home with students

from class, or reading the letters that they have composed.

Others that might resist this type of social change are the parents and/or guardians who

hear about the assignment and know that they dont have the means to contribute to the

classroom financially, or their work schedule doesnt allow them time to come in to visit. They

may be embarrassed initially that they cant contribute in these ways. That is why its important

to make them feel involved and connected regardless of how they participate.

Government officials could resist this social change if they arent able to put any new

bills in place or provide funds for the schools. Additionally, school supply stores may not have

the ability to donate excess supplies. In this case, just making them aware of the social issue will

still be very important.

The resources in our school community include the front office and other teachers and

classrooms where we can go to to gather materials and supplies we might need. This is limited

though because everyone in the school has access to the same things. Below is an image of our

initial implementation of our social action plan, and the resource we chose to use, the students.

We gathered a small group of students to discuss the issue and get their ideas and suggestions for

change.
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In order to see social change take place, we would ultimately like to encourage more

involvement from families and the community to positively support the students in school.

However, we want families to feel involved in the classroom, and understand that time and

money are not the only things that are important to contribute. Another important goal of this

action plan is for students to learn to advocate for themselves and for issues that are important to

them. When teachers assign projects, students are less likely to engage in them if they dont see

how the topic is relevant. Knowing this, we want to first educate students on the issue and help

them dive into background information on real schools around them so that they can see that they

can help solve a real problem. Finally, we desire to have support and understanding from local

and state officials about the importance of contributing to schools in the community, and

ultimately giving back to our future leaders.

Implementation of Action Plan:

Our first step in implementing our social action plan was to talk with our teacher about

this recurring issue of limited supplies in the classroom that we had observed. Next, we wanted

to introduce the issue with the students and discuss what they think we could do to make a
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change. Based on this discussion, we planned to incorporate some of their ideas into our action

plans. We wanted to ask for student opinions before introducing our own ideas for lesson

activities so that the students can see that we value their opinion, and that they have the power

and potential to make a change.

Originally, we planned to have a whole class discussion with the students as we began to

implement our action plan, but due to constraints, we had to start with a small group discussion

of about 5 students. This ended up working out well because small group discussions give

students a chance to share ideas in a more comfortable setting. We even noticed that one

particular student that usually never speaks up in class actually shared an idea. If we had more

time, we would meet with more small groups until we had talked with each student in the class.

Talking with the students was inspiring because they came up with ideas that we had not even

thought of.

When we asked students what they thought about the supplies that they had to use in their

classroom, they all agreed that there were a good amount of supplies available to use at the

beginning of the school year, but now they ran out and dont have enough. They said that they

thought parents, kids, and people living around the school would be able to help. This showed us

that they were thinking locally, but we want to also expose students to resources like government

members that they might not have ever thought of as being helpful to them.

Once we established the issue and the fact that there were people who could do

something about it, we asked them for ideas about what could be done to solve the issue. Their

ideas included, Going to the store to buy tissues to donate, Bring supplies from home that you

can share with the class, Go to the thrift store or flea market so stuff is cheaper, and Each

student can bring their own supplies, along with some extra to give for students to have that cant
Audrey Moore and Caleigh Daigle 9

afford school supplies. Another impressive idea was, Have a fundraiser at the school carnival

where you can only get in if you bring a school supply to donate.

These were all great ideas, so to wrap up the discussion, we asked students what the most

immediate needs of their classroom were. They said, Pencils, erasers, Kleenex, scissors,

markers, more notebooks for new students, crayon boxes, new writing materials, and glue

sticks.

After our discussion with the students, the next step would be to learn some background

knowledge about school funding from a historical lens, as well as a mathematical lens. This is

bringing relevant topics into the classroom and allowing students to look at them through

different lenses. Once students have learned the background information about school funding,

we will have the students work to write persuasive essays to individuals and/or groups of their

choosing. This will encourage the students to share their point of view and persuade the recipient

to listen and take action. At the end of the unit, families will be invited into the classroom to

discuss what we learned and the importance of coming together for a common goal.

Regardless of whether or not our actions make a huge difference, students are learning

valuable skills to pursue something that is important to them. It teaches students that one small

action can make a difference, and hopefully it will provide them with skills that they can use in

their futures. Our emphasis in this social action plan was that we are all a community and

everyone can contribute something to make a change no matter how small.