Service Learning Journal

Dates: April 7, 8, and 9 2010

I began my first week of service learning en media res-on a Wednesday at 11:30 A.M- right after the students had lunch. I clomped into a room full of Kindergarteners sitting on a rug reciting sight words. Being that these students were of the age group 5-6 years, I distracted them. They all wanted to know who this “skinny lady” was coming into their classroom. I introduced myself to the teacher and the students. The teacher introduced herself as Mrs. Lowe and decided to have the students engage in a name introductory game using a first me, then you technique. After all the introductions were made, I decided to sit and observe. There were about 22 students with an equal amount of boys and girls. The classroom was completely decorated; there was not an empty wall or window in sight!

I generally spent the first three days of my service learning observing and learning the children’s names. The apparent FEAP that I recognized during these first three days was FEAP # 9, learning environments. This teacher obviously had a plethora of techniques to ensure that the routines of the classroom went efficiently and smoothly. Whenever a student was off task, she would remind ask them “What rule are breaking?” the students would reply with the correct answer and follow the rule. By doing this, she was establishing the standards and rules for behaviors equitably and consistently.

I must say that after these first three days in the classroom, I was impressed. Being that she is a veteran teacher, I would not have expected her to be up to date with the FEAP’s. I was also glad to know that I was actually being given a chance to work side by side with this woman. Upon leaving the classroom that Friday, I was already anticipating the following week of my service learning.

Dates: April 12 and 13, 2010

The classroom was a whole other story these two days! Perhaps it was the weekend, but the kids were basically bouncing off the walls. During my days of observation, I noticed two students-boys- that seemed to have emotional behavioral disorders. When I pointed this out to the teacher, she assured me that they were actually going through the process to be placed in a classroom for students with emotional behavior disorders. I do work with students that have special needs, so I basically stepped in as a behavioral therapist for these two boys. There were times when they would accuse the teacher of only liking the girls and hating them.

During times like these, I would put FEAP # 2-communication-into practice. I would take these two boys away-it seems that they respond better to 1:2 care-and talk to them. I would first ask them what was wrong, by doing this, I was showing that what they had to say mattered. After hearing their problem, I would answer like this (take the aforementioned statement of the boys in account) count how many boys and girls there are in the classroom-they counted and told me-now tell me how many boys are misbehaving and how many girls are misbehaving-the response came back that there were more boys misbehaving than girls-I would then say, it’s not that she picks on the boys guys, it is just that more boys aren’t being nice at the moment then girls.

After seeing that I was able to assess this situation in a way that students understood what was wrong, it reaffirmed my goal in becoming in a teacher for students with special needs. I also realized that while all of the FEAP’s are important, communication really is the key.

Date: April 14, 2010

There was a substitute in the classroom today which made the students feel as if it were a free day. When I walked into the classroom, the students were all over the place; only a few were actually doing their work. So, being that I had exclusively observed the teacher my first three days in the classroom, I took on the role of the teacher.
On this day, I used FEAP # 8, knowledge of subject matter. I was able to teach the students as their teachers would do. I provided classroom ease by keeping the students on their normal schedules, and when I taught them, I taught them in a way that they would learn and remember what was taught.
After this day, I was very proud of my ability to step in as a teacher. Before leaving the classroom, I gave the substitute a general layout of the class schedule and reminded the students to “be nice” or they would receive “a sad note home” the following day.

Date: April 15, 2010

During recess today a group of kids were playing the leaf pile. While throwing leaves at one another, they found a little dead bird. The kids began to scream and came running to the teacher and I. The little bird appeared to have been blown from its nest because it was still very small and featherless. The students demanded an explanation of what happened to the bird and how did it happen.

FEAP # 4, critical thinking was put into practice here. We asked the students to tell us how did they think this happened and why. After giving us an answer we allowed the children to see the baby and say something to it if they felt.

One little boy asked us if we could give it a funeral and we agreed, we buried the little bird near a far off gate and one little girl recited a bible verse. After this day, I began to look at my students in a different light; I began to see that when given to opportunity to think critically, they would stun their elders with the things they come up with.

Date: April 16, 2010

A new student started in the classroom today; she was one of the children that came over from Haiti after the hurricane, she also knew no English. The other little girls decided that she couldn’t be a part of their cliques because she was different-she couldn’t read the same things they could, talk like them, or wear the same things as them.
The teacher and I realized what was being done to this little girl and put FEAP # 5, diversity into practice. We had each student tell about something that made them different from their classmates. When they were finished, the teacher told the students “We are all different in one way or another, but that doesn’t mean we have to be treated differently. We should be nice to one another no matter what makes us different.”

After this day, the students all began to play with the new child. They stopped seeing the fact that she couldn’t talk as a problem. Just because he couldn’t talk didn’t mean that she couldn’t throw a ball or color a page. She was different, and that was what made her just like them.

Dates: April 19 and 20, 2010

These were my last two days in the classroom. Through my service learning experience, the main FEAP that I saw continuously was FEAP # 11, the role of the teacher. Mrs. Lowe was the role model for her students. They looked to her for approval, disapproval, questions, answers, and praise. She is the grade chair and from being in her classroom, I can see why.

She communicated with the parents daily whether the report was good or bad. She encouraged her students in everything they did and was the backbone of her classroom. I hope that when I start teaching, I can incorporate many of her learning styles into my own.