How to Start Social Impact Projects With Your Students Using the A.C.T.I.O.N. Method
Mandie Kramer
Head of Learning and Program Development ???? Instructional Designer ?? Microlearning Expert ??
This week is again focused on, but not limited to, educators! I will show you how you can incorporate social impact projects in your classroom (or if you have or work with kids, this is for them too!). To me there are not many things better than inspiring and equipping the future generation with tools and strategies to action towards a better, more sustainable future, so let's dive in!
From my experience, teachers avoided projects in the classroom because they can be a lot of “work”. You can have kids not knowing what to do, and it becomes more of a classroom management issue because kids are not focused on the task at hand. So when I started doing these projects, I wished there was some kind of method I could refer to for my students to eliminate confusion and have them work more independently. So I created the A.C.T.I.O.N. Method.
The A.C.T.I.O.N. Method is a project-based learning approach to take action towards sustainability through the lens of the UN Global Goals. As mentioned in my previous articles this month, I talk all about these Sustainable Development Goals (otherwise known as SDGs) .
You can either adapt this method and guide to a project that already exists in your curriculum, you can modify it to match up to your own learning objectives, or you can do what I did (since I’ve worked in IB schools) and that was take this approach as it is and fit it in with the school initiatives.
You may have “homeroom time” or “advisory” or “enrichment” that you could incorporate these projects. You could also work in an IB school district and this approach is absolutely perfect for the PYP Exhibition, the MYP Service as Action or Community Projects, and the DP personal projects.?
An open mind is key to unleash the potential of social impact projects, so let’s dive into how to start and manage them in your classroom. Let’s start with A which stands for Activation.?
A: Activate!
Here we activate the mind and realize there are infinite problems to solve in the world of sustainability, so this is where students investigate where their interests lie, whether it’s involving social issues, economic problems, or environmental crisis’. This part of the method is where kids get to explore, and also where you get to learn more about your students and their interests.?
You can do this in a variety of ways, but what I did was a few introductory lessons to the SDGs and then had them explore the UN Global Goals website and take notes. I had them brainstorm problems happening in the world, what UN Global Goals intrigued them, what are they personally interested in, what unique skills do they have???
I loved this stage because in a normal school day, kids rarely get the opportunity to self-reflect and figure out who they are and what they want. Many times in education they are given the material to learn, but this new role may be met with resistance and confusion. That is totally normal. With elementary students you may not encounter any resistance when given the opportunity to explore, but with middle schoolers, they felt out of their element. But once they realized the possibilities on how they could use class time, I quickly saw the positive effects of that.?
The quietest kids started talking to me and I finally had a starting point in starting a conversation to get to know them. You get to be more of a life coach in this stage, constantly asking the kids questions about what interests them, why do they feel that way, what problems matter to them that they want to solve, what special skills or talents do they have? I learned more about my students during this project than a whole year combined of being their science teacher.?
In the project guide, there is a graphic organizer they can use to help them connect what problems need solving, what they? are good at, and what their passions are.?
The overall mission of this project is for students to create an invention, innovation, or a movement to make a measurable positive impact in the world of sustainability. What is great about using the UN Global Goals as a framework for these projects is that there is a topic or theme that can connect with everyone on a personal level, all they need to do after identifying that goal (or goals) is decide how they want to make an impact.?
There are three approaches that I highlight in the guide. Is it SDG Based? Activity Based? Location Based?
As you’re completing this project in the classroom, you can ultimately decide how long it will last, but to give kids an opportunity to really dig into everything and take action, I recommend an hour a week (this can be broken down into separate sessions in the week) for a few months. One semester was perfect for me. But if you are able to work more than one hour a week, then you could do this in as short as one month. The point though is the learning experience and giving kids opportunities to innovate, and who wants to rush that?
C: Collect!
After the activation stage, students have really dug deep into who they are and what they want to do. If they filled out the graphic organizer, then they would have brainstormed a few different approaches to this social impact innovation project, now they dig deeper into researching the problems. It is so important to investigate the issues so that kids build empathy. When they investigate the who, what , where, why and how before diving into creating an invention, they will be much more focused and clear on the overall objectives they are trying to reach.? If you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan of the Design Thinking Process and much of the method I created has this tactic woven into it.?
If they discover the WWWWH (who, what, where, why, and how) of each problem they brainstormed, they will be able to clearly and confidently decide on what approach to take to start making an impact and they’re off to the next stage which is T for Tackle the problem!
T: Tackle the Problem!
When I first learned about the SDGs, I was introduced to the world’s largest lesson. The world’s largest lesson was what inspired me to do these innovation projects. I was intrigued by the idea of genius hour, were you basically give kids an hour a day, or per week, to work on a passion project. I thought it would be a good to incorporate, but I wanted the projects to have more meaning. When I discovered the UN Global Goals, I was like eureka! I’ll combine both initiatives and call it innovation hour.?
The world’s largest lesson, in short, calls for all youth to problem solve for a better, more sustainable future. There are introductory videos you can use that are also linked in the guide, but the big picture is that it calls for youth to create inventions, innovations, or social movements towards a un global goal.?
The issues I had in putting this into practice were… a straightforward method me and my students could reference, and a project planning guide to keep kids focused, on task, and proactive.
So the tackle stage is basically putting the world’s largest lesson into practice. Students brainstorm inventions, innovations, or social movements that could help solve the problem they researched in the Collect stage.
I: Interact!
Gathering feedback along your journey is something every action-taker should do to ensure they are making an impact. What I loved about this stage in the classroom was that it allowed students to grow their communication skills. They had to verbalize their ideas, listen to feedback, be open minded to areas of growth, and just learning more about each other on a whole new level.?
O: Observe!
O stands for observe, as a science teacher, I couldn’t help but add in a step about collecting data and making the projects measurable! With both qualitative and quantitative data as options, students needed to decide how they would measure their impact and track it along the way. You’re the teacher, you can decide how you want to give credit for your student’s work, but for me, I wanted them to prove they made a difference with evidence.?
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For inventions and innovations, that meant tracking through the scientific method of creating a hypothesis, testing, collecting data, testing again until they got it right (or maybe they never did, that’s ok! They can reflect on that in a later stage in this method. Some examples of inventions and innovations included…
Students could go the social route and start a movement, a program, or other actions that involve the community. For these, a variety of data was acceptable. How many people did they influence? How many cans did they collect for a food drive? Before and after pictures, views on a blog post, feedback from interviews, etc.?
Here are some student examples:
Writing a letter to World Teach.org
Mag-lev earthquake proof house
Can food drive
Re-usable sport equipment
Social media blog and instagram
Lead-detection invention
DIY clean water filter
Bee-safe bug repellent
N: Next?!
Oh my goodness you made it to the last step! Now this is very much a crash course in these innovation projects. You are absolutely free to contact me about further coaching on the SDGs in your school and if you have any questions or struggles, I’m just a message away!?
So that brings us to the final step. N which stands for Next in the question of… What is NEXT??
First of all, this is where you CELEBRATE. If you are online, hold a virtual summit of your kids presenting their projects, if you’re in person, have a show and tell day to celebrate and bring in other classrooms, teachers, parents, whoever… just take the time to celebrate their accomplishments!
I created and printed out “change maker” certificates, those in which are free for you to make and It is a nice keepsake for your students.?
So in this stage, you celebrate, you reflect, and students think about what is next? Do they want to pursue a project they didn’t get to work on? Did their idea “fail” and they want to try the same idea in a different way? The reflection process is also key for you as the teacher as you can pull important information from your students about their experience and see the big picture of it all. Was there something in this process that really lit up your students? Could you apply those techniques to other aspects of your curriculum or subjects throughout the year?
This is a great time for everyone, so be sure to spend some time and enjoy it!
So there you have it. Innovation projects for a more sustainable future! Don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about logistics, execution, or just want to talk about it, connect with me on LinkedIn, I'd love to support you!
If you want more step-by-step guidance on how to implement these social impact projects into your very own changemaker club, I've got a bonus for you! Here is a FREE online course I created to help you along your first time journey being a Changemaker Club Coach.
Think of me as your go-to person for all things SDGs! If your school is looking for professional development, teaching resources, or any advice in integrating anything regarding the UN Global Goals,? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me!?
So if you have any questions or want someone to bounce ideas off with, please consider me your SDG teacher expert and I am more than willing to help! This is a topic I’ve been passionate about for 4 years and counting and I can’t wait to connect with you.