10 Hour- Service Learning Journal Reflection

*Names have been changed to protect the rights of the students*

Participation:
This day I was introduced to the students and given an idea of some childrens difficulties. My
mentor has two students in her class whom do not speak very much English. One, Henry, came
from Canada and speaks French and the other, Sarah, comes from Colombia and speaks Spanish.
My mentor speaks a little French but no Spanish however, another student speaks Spanish and
helps Sarah as needed. I was there the entire day however, since it was Friday, they had a reading
party at the end and there was no lessons but instead just practicing from the lesson and reading.
Since I was there the whole day, the children got to know me and I was able to help in multiple
subjects. My first task was to assist a small group of students (including the two learning
English) whom have trouble reading do math word problems on a pretest for division. These
were questions such as, Steve has 36 apples. He wants to share with his five friends. How many
apples would each person get? I read each question to the students and re-read if needed.
Afterwards, the students had special so my mentor had me help her find a reading assignment for
their homework packets! I was glad she wanted my input and willingly gave it! After the
students returned, I took another group of students aside for their reading test. My mission was to
make sure that these three students stayed on task and completed their test. This proved to be a
challenge that I will discuss later. The last task of the afternoon was a spelling test and I was to
give it. She gave me the list and I recited the words aloud one-by-one until completed. This was
thrilling because I gave me a chance to lead the entire class by myself! We then had a party for
the children who had met the challenge in reading. This consisted of a pizza lunch (in which I
helped distribute food) then either a movie or games. There is a classroom next to ours that had a
connecting door and I was stationed in the movie room grading papers while my mentor sat at
her desk by the conjoining door and watched the game room along with the movie room. I am
glad I was able to help and see the children in a more relaxed situation.
The second day was a Wednesday. This day was shorter but much different than my last. I began
by assisting my mentor in the morning with parent drop off. This was good because it showed
me a task teachers must do outside the classroom. The first section of the day was math and, as
usual, she used me to help a small group work on their division. However, today was different
because she assigned me to one girl because another helper had others. The arrival of my
assigned student, Lisa, was prefaced with my mentor saying that she has a genetic disorder that
affects her learning. Working with Lisa was a true test of my skills that I will discuss later. This
day lunch included assisting a few of the kids and a parent in selling BOO Grams. These were 25
cent Dumb Dumb suckers that students were able to send each other. That was interesting and
chaotic but fun because I got to work with the kids whom I hadnt before and it was a relaxed
situation. After lunch, the students assembled and delivered the BOO Grams then started reading.
I was in charge of making sure the students kept reading and stayed quiet which was a struggle at
times. The last assignment of the day I was again chosen to aid a small group. The assignment
was on pronouns which can be difficult for kids to understand. Well imagine Henry and Sarah
trying to finish this assignment! I couldnt either but had to at least try and help them understand.
They both got equally frustrated and ended up copying off their neighbors page. That day,
although shorter than the previous, still exhausted me but I learned many things.

Learning:
The thing I learned as I entered the classroom was that our lesson in class about a diverse class
was correct and just how unfair that can be. I had always thought that children whom did not
speak very much English were placed into another classroom to be taught at a different level.
This is not the case with my mentors room; she has two ESL students and she told me how it
frustrates her. She tries to work separately with them but in a class of 30 that can be difficult. I
learned that she pushes them but doesnt make them do all the work that the others do. Another
thing I learned was that students can be crafty at making excuses. When working with the
readers who were slackers; one girl breezed through the questions but right before the last one
told me that her brain was working too hard and she needed to take a break. One boy had a stuffy
nose and had to blow his nose then throw away the tissue every couple of minutes which of
course was an excuse for going slow. Lastly, the other boy kept getting distracted by the other
two! In all, this experience taught me patience as well. Assisting the teachers with the party
showed me how frantic students can be and yet how fun and cute they can be as well. This one
male student, whom I unfortunately I had to tell to be quiet, started singing All About That
Bass right before we started the movie! It was fun and made up for the challenges of that day.
That second day I observed that my mentor knew many of the students at the school. She would
make sure to greet them with a smile and tell them how excited she was to see them! I feel that
this made the students enjoy coming to school more because they felt welcomed. I also learned
from working with Lisa that some kids are actually good at a subject but confuse themselves
with what answer to write down. An example of the questions was 3 times __ is as close to 25
without going over. Lisa would write 24 instead of 8. While she was correct that 24 was the
closest you get to 25, the worksheet wanted what you would multiply 3 by to get to 24. Lisa had
a hard time understanding that and I found myself constantly reminding her. This taught me that
even though some children are labeled incapable due to a disease, they could be capable but just
confused on what you actually want for an answer. This is extremely important to me because I
am going to be a Special Education teacher so I will be working with children such as those days
constantly. Finally, trying to communicate with Henry and Sarah and helping them understand
pronouns taught me that keeping ESL students in the same classroom can be helpful but hinder
learning as well when their frustration gets the best of them and they shut themselves out.
Overall, these two days already taught me some things I want to happen in my classroom.
Application:
Being in that 4th grade classroom taught be a lot. My mentor jokes that by watching her
classroom that I know what not to do in my classroom but there is actually many things I am
going to steal. First, how she works with the ESL learners inspire me! I want to be able to have
a good relationship with my students and have them know that I expect their best. Second, I
learned that children may be called ADD but just become distracted because they are around too
many kids that are talking to them. So if I notice a child like that, I will have my children sit at
individual desks instead of in groups. Also, that children that are labeled with a genetic disease
could actually be smart but just need clarification that they are afraid to ask for. If there is a
student like this in my classroom, I will ask her, after reading instructions, if she needs
clarification instead of waiting for her to ask. Lastly, ESL learners need a lot of attention so if I
have the option, I would love to have a translator available either electronic or in person so that if
they we are not understanding each other, we can use that tool to better communicate. My

mentor has Google Translate on her phone and has taught Henry and Sarah how to use it so that
they can translate as needed. You cant teach someone if they dont even know what you are
saying. At the end of the day, I am grateful to have the privilege of observing and assisting these
students and my mentor and look forward to the rest of the hours I get to spend with them!

20 Hour- Service Learning Journal Reflection

Participation:
These hours were somewhat un-eventful and really was full of what I had previously done but
still exciting. First, I was given a section of the class to assist in a long division worksheet.
Mostly this involved me reminding the students what the next step was. Some of the students
struggled with remembering the same step every time. One girl kept forgetting to write the
answer as she was completing the problem which would make her confused. Another would
confuse himself by working faster than he could write so I had to keep going through what he
had already done to remind him of the next step. Then there was one that just wanted me to stand
by him and watch him complete each problem and, my favorite, one that got distracted by any
minor noise. The majority of the day I graded papers and helped control the classroom. Near the
end of the day, I was asked to help some students practice their parts for the Labor Day recital.
After school, I attended a teachers meeting in which they discussed the new testing.
My second day consisted of monitoring students take a division test as well as motivating them
to continue, listening as the teacher had students read aloud for Social Studies, assisting a student
with reading impairment with a reading assignment, and listening plus assisting the two ESL
children read first grade level books. After school, I attended a teacher meeting for the fourth
grade teachers only.
Learning:
The first thing I learned was that being a student whom gets distracted is hard. Watching the boy
struggle with his division worksheet and quiz just because others in the room are distracting was
sad. I ended up taking two text books and making a privacy wall so that he would not be
distracted by what his other classmates are doing. This helped, but the noises still would get to
him. Every time my mentor teacher talked aloud to another student, this boy had to look up and
see what was happening. My mentor and I tried to be supportive by constantly reminding him to
keep going, but that only worked for a little bit.
Secondly, I was reminded of the struggle students learning English as a second language have.
Henry and Sarah are stuck reading boring first grade English books for testing. Henry informed
me that he can read novels in French but English is way harder. Just hearing them read the
stories aloud with their accents it is clear that Sarah has an easier time reading than Henry. She
acts as a big sister by keeping him on task and remembering his passwords for testing. However,
their disadvantage in the classroom is not apparent in their math scores. Both succeed in math
until they get to a word problem. I also learned that students actually enjoy being read to. My
mentor reads them a story during reading and has them read aloud. Many of the students enjoy
reading and select very interesting books.

Lastly, I learned about what happens behind the scenes in schools by attending some teacher
meetings. I learned about new testing methods coming to the school which are all on the
computer. I am worried that some of the students may struggle with the tests that are coming and
the other teachers are as well. I also learned that, as a grade level, they have to pick some
students to monitor in each classroom and subject. They decide which methods to try and
achieve success for that student. At the end of the quarter, they meet again and discuss the
effectiveness of the methods they choose and select other students.
Application:
Knowing that I will most likely have students that are learning English as a second language, I
will have to use some of what Im learning towards them. Assisting with word problems but still
expecting them to finish the math, starting them reading at a lower level, and having them work
with each other are great tools to help them learn. Also, I am testing ideas for children with ADD
so that my students can have a quiet, non-distracting place so that my students can complete their
work. I will have posters in my class with the steps in math so that my students can just look at
the poster should they get lost. If I work in an intergraded class, I will try to encourage students
to help each other in order to give myself more time to work with those whom need me. I am
glad for the experience in a classroom and enjoy helping the children even more. I have made a
connection with these students and will be sad once its over.

30 Hour- Service Learning Journal Reflection

Participation:
Now that I am used to the routine of the classroom, I just did my usual aiding. This included
grading then assisting in math and reading. These hours were different however because the
children are used to me now. I am more comfortable calling them up to receive papers or
working with them on a problem because I know more about them and it has become easier to
find ways of helping them. Honestly, the only difference of these 10 hours was saying goodbye
to the class. I made them treat bags with a note on it explaining how much I appreciated them
letting me into their classroom. They all gave me hugs as they left for specials and some even
asked me to come back next semester. If only I could, that would be great.
Learning:
I never thought that I could become connected with children so fast. In the last 30 hours I have
met some of the coolest kids. The want to become a teacher became stronger after being around
these kids. I have learned that patience is a requirement but also that becoming connected to
these kids is not a weakness. I watched my mentor greet children every day with a smile and
sometimes a hug and the joy on those kid`s faces showed they loved it. She once told me, You
cannot expect these kids to come from a home in which they are loved, so its up to you to show
them the love they need. I have learned this in my service learning hours. I have also learned
that you can never underestimate the power of preparedness but greater still is the power of
improvisation. You need to be flexible in creating plans to allow time when things dont go as
planned or perhaps you forget something.
Application:

I will apply these lessons by loving all my students and not being afraid to show that. Also, my
ability to prepare will aid my efforts in the continuous support of my students. However, since
these are children, I need to use improve when a special event or catastrophe occurs. Being able
to change my plans will greatly impact my students. Although there will be times of frustration, I
need to remember that my students education is important and its okay to have bad days. As per
the previous reflections, I look forward to serving more hours and helping teachers have good
days. Lastly, I cant wait to receive my new assignment so that I can meet more children and
enrich their minds.