final - dec. 11 hkl4 presentation (1)

Hack the Hood: Hack the Hood: Building Character through Building

Competency

Susan Mernit, Damon Packwood, Hack the Hood

Jackie Shonerd, ACOE December 11, 2014

What is Hack the Hood?

•  Non-‐profit program that addresses inclusion and employment issues through boot camp and weekend programs that teach tech skills to young people of color ages 16-‐21.

•  Youth build web sites for local small businesses, work with tech mentors, and learn about tech careers.

•  Started 2012 in Oakland, expanding in 2015.

*

Youth and mentor, Summer 2014 *

all rights reserved hackthehood.org

Hack the Hood Framework

• How does project-based, real-world learning support SEL and character development to empower young people of color to be active participants in designing their future? • How can we include young people of color in a leadership pipeline that leads to good jobs and careers in tech? • What “character traits” and competencies do we hope for? • What 40+ years of research on resiliency says (3 key factors) • Our job is to create an environment built on these 3 factors


3 Factors Foster Resiliency and Character:

•  Caring and supporVve relaVonships • High / posiVve expectaVons • OpportuniVes for meaningful parVcipaVon

Don’t Forget the ABC’s: MeeVng Youth’s Basic Human Needs

for…

Autonomy

Belonging Competence

Hack the Hood clicks right into Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

Character EducaVon

…includes and complements a broad range of educaVonal approaches such as whole child educaVon, service learning, social-‐emoVonal learning, and civic educaVon.

All share a commitment to helping young people become responsible, caring, and contribuVng ciVzens. from the Character Educa/on Partnership www.character.org

* all rights reserved hackthehood.org

Hack the Hood builds on a framework of:

• Caring and supportive relationships • High/positive expectations • Opportunities for meaningful participation

Hack the Hood Program Structure

•  WHAT – 6 week program –  Instructors train youth in tech/web skills & so_ professionals skills

– Youth create web sites for local businesses – Research tech careers & meet tech workers – Visit tech companies

* all rights @hackthehood.org

Program Impact on youth

•  Young person moves from consumer to producer of technology

•  Hands-‐on, real-‐world learning—and real clients—build youth confidence Youth work with local business owners to build their website

•  Youth meet and work with tech mentors, workers & learn about tech careers

•  Design career plans & build porcolios * all rights @hackthehood.org

Youth graduate with experience, insight, relaVonships, skills, plans and a community of like minded people. *


Flexible frame for imparVng skills/awareness

•  Hard skills – Web site building with Weebly.com

– Photo sizing & posVng – Photo research – Search engine opVmizaVon

– Directory lisVngs: Google Business Pages

– Project management

•  So, skills –  Public speaking –  CollaboraVon –  Networking –  RelaVonship management –  Understanding

•  Lack of diversity in tech •  Cultural fit issues •  Types of jobs available •  EducaVon & training required


2014 parVcipant: Entered with no tech experience Learned web development, HTML, CSS basics Built 5 websites for local businesses 4+ pages each. Internship placement for fall. Fellowship placement in the Winter.


2014 parVcipant: Entering 11th grade, will take coding classes, planning to be a web developer/engineer/game developer. Entered with no tech experience; now has career plan for tech industry & mentor.

How do we build youth understanding?

•  Focused on student understanding of skills, outcomes & impact

•  Related immediate web dev work to bigger tech ecosystem, training, opportuniVes

•  Gave youth Strengthsfinder assessment & invited them to create their own job Vtles

•  Invited revision & amplificaVon of their focus during program


Approach: Hands-‐on/leadership focused

•  We did: – Link to meaningful immediate work – Link to jobs & careers framework – Encourage student leadership, accountability & collaboraVon using social media (Twiler, Delicious)

– Use Scrum, an agile development Silicon Valley workflow process that supports iteraVve development, teamwork, leadership, accountability


SCRUM: Daily 15-‐min meeVngs

•  Scrum Process – Weekly sprints – Daily scrum (15 mins) – Review meeVng – PresentaVon/EvaluaVon of progress at Sprint end

•  3 roles: – Product owners (Instructors)

– Scrum Master (Project Manager)

– Development Team (youth)


Using scrum for our workflow process meant

• Work divided into week-‐long Sprints

• Each youth reported on work daily

• Program Manager/

Scrum Master assigned work

• Instructors could focus on instrucVon:


How can we include young people of color in a leadership pipeline that leads to good jobs and careers in tech?

SCRUM approach sets realisVc goals and promotes youth in leadership roles in daily meeVngs, supports teamwork and students teaching skills to one another.


Core lesson: func-on over perfec-on.

Weebly as a problem solving tool • Youth are trained to work with organizations—merchants, non-profits, artists, etc--who need web services

• Youth talk with merchant and assess needs, then design a web site architecture and pages

• Youth work to collect assets from merchant and web to create a custom site

Teaching for understanding

Students listen and arVculate client needs , using their new skills

Students show mastery of skills and deepen learning through pracVce

PracVce makes them pracVVoners. * all rights reserved hackthehood.org

Hands on experience as pracVVoners builds a bridge of confidence when youth meet tech professionals and visit tech companies


Youth work with common web dev tools—which also builds

community of pracVce with pros

Google Drive: folders & collaboraVve file sharing Dropbox: large file sharing via the cloud Basecamp: CollaboraVve project management Facebook: Social media outreach Twiler & Delicious: CommunicaVon and resource sharing.

Google Drive

Student, age 19 No previous web experience Built multi-page web site for Vamp Music (Vampmusic.weebly.com) Offered to intern in 2015 with tech company—via his mentor


images coming

Student, age 19 No previous web experience Built multi-page web site for Big G’s Burgers (biggburger.weebly.com) Currently, interning with Hack the Hood through his Life Academy High School

How does the program design of Hack the Hood create social entrepreneurship

•  Youth learn web/dev skills •  Apply skills in community with small

businesses •  Work with tech mentors on career

development •  Visit tech companies •  Build career plans & porcolios •  Build hard & so_ skills •  ConVnue to learn, work, build relaVonships


Hack the Hood: Lessons learned

• Curriculum=Tangible outcomes for youth • Link program activities to real-world skills and broader framework of student development/character • Create systems for student accountability, leadership development and team work


How can you put this into pracVce in your tech or a_er-‐school program?

●  Shift framework to hands-on project based learning rather than isolated skills mastery

●  Provide context with real world application for student work

●  Emphasize deadlines, deliverables ●  Adapt Project Management (Scrum) for project

sprints


AcVviVes

Identify one thing you learned today that you would like to implement in your program:

What would you add and what would be your first steps?

How would you approach the obstacles?

What would be the benefits to your young people?


Let’s discuss! *

More about Hack the Hood

Hack the Hood --Web site: Hackthehood.org --Twitter: @hackthehood --Facebook: facebook/hackthehood --Flickr:

www.flickr.com/photos/hackthehood2013

* all rights reserved hackthehood.otg

Resources Harvard University: Education with New Technologies: Networked Learning Community http://bit.ly/1ykmv14

Best Practices, positive youth development, NPC Research, http://goo.gl/T83Krl

Civic Engagement boosts 21st Century Skills http://www.civicyouth.org/civic-education-boosts-21st-century-skills

'Non-cognitive' Measures: The Next Frontier in College Admissions - Students - The Chronicle of Higher Education http://bit.ly/1InFob6

SEL & Character EducaVon Resources •  Social-‐Emo-onal Learning (SEL): www.casel.org •  Integra-ng SEL and Academics

www.responsiveclassroom.org www.devstu.org (K-‐6) www.engagingschools.org (MS and HS) •  Building Resiliency: www.tribes.com and

hlps://www.resiliency.com/free-‐arVcles-‐resources/the-‐foundaVons-‐of-‐the-‐resiliency-‐framework/

•  Character Educa-on, 11 Principles www.character.org •  40 Developmental Assets

hlp://www.search-‐insVtute.org/content/40-‐developmental-‐assets-‐adolescents-‐ages-‐12-‐18

Session Description

“Hack the Hood: Building Character through Building Competency”

Learn how Hack the Hood uses project-based learning as a strategy to create new behaviors that transform youth, as well as the perceptions of youth by local neighborhoods. Through a curriculum focused on building youth leadership skills, an entrepreneurial mindset, and cultural competency, youth move from being passive consumers of digital tech to being knowledgeable workers and tech producers as they become valued resources to local small businesses. Come hear about character development and SEL in action from the youth themselves and their adult leaders. Workshop will be led by Jackie Shonerd, Susan Mernit, and Damon Packwood.