Service Learning Project Educ 2010 S - 12
Service Learning Project Educ 2010 S - 12
Service Learning Project Educ 2010 S - 12
Service Learning
Education: This year I would like to finish all my classes that I need to have for graduation for
the spring. After I finish my education courses, I will be more educated on how to become the
best teacher I can be. Once I do so, I will be a step closer fulfilling my dream of becoming an
educator for young children.
Career: I have always loved young children, so I thought it would be interesting to learn how to
teach them. This semester, I have done my service learning in a kindergarten class at a local
elementary school in my area. I know the principal well and would like to be able to teach at this
school one I have my licensure.
Family and Friends: I have a very large family and multiple friends. My 1st cousin and I are
both going into the education field. I am an early childhood major and she has a special
education major. We have had some of the same classes over this past year. She is a year ahead of
me so now that I am taking the classes she has, she can fill me in on the information she has
learn as well.
Involvement and Service to My Community: There is always something that can be done
around the community. Just the smallest thing as picking up trash along the road or racking
leaves for a neighbor is always very helpful.
Personal Growth: I want to make sure I will be the best I can be for my upcoming classes that I
will teach in the future. I am absorbing all the information I can learn from all areas from the
education courses I am enrolled in. Nobody is perfect, we all learn as we go through life.
Service Learning Project
Prologue: What do you expect to get from your service learning experience (i.e., how will this
experience help YOU develop)? How will it impact your learning and link to class materials?
How do you think the students and staff will perceive you? What goals do you have for the
semesters Service Learning experience? What fears do you have (if any) about service
learning?
This was my first experience of service learning. I was both excited and nervous at the
same time. I didnt know how the classroom would function on a day to day basis. I expected to
just observe the class. I feel like once you see a situation that happens in a classroom that relates
to the material that you are learning, then it will help you remember that information for the
future. The students were aware that I was coming into their classroom to help for a few weeks.
They were excited to meet someone new and to have them in their classroom. I hope the teachers
would inform me on any information that would help me to become a better teacher in the future.
I hope to build my confidence with working with a large group.
Mr. Shelton took me to the classroom to show me where I would be working, then I met
my supervising teacher, Mrs. Shaver that was my 3rd grade teacher years ago, to discuss the days
and times I would be coming to complete my 18 hours of service learning. She was very excited
that I was working with her. I was excited myself because of the connection I have had with her
in the past.
ABCs of Reflections
Behavior: What did you (student) do, observe, read, and hear?
During my first visit, I observed the class on the classroom rug during the early morning.
All students were excited to start the day. One student was not very happy to be at school.
She did not want to participate in any part of the classroom activities during that first
morning. My second visit I observed, during a bathroom break, I had the same child that
had misbehaved before in the classroom to misbehave in the hallway after her bathroom
break. After each child washed their hands, they would receive a small paper towel. I
handed her one after I asked her to return to the bathroom to wash her hands because she
did not do so before. She came out grabbed her towel from me and threw it away without
drying her hands. I seen during my third visit, that there was one little boy that was not
paying attention during the class was all on the rug listening to the teachers instruction.
What worked?
Having a catchy phrase for these children to learn helps them remember for the future
assignments. Peace and quiet in the hallway worked for behavior in the hallways.
Students are to place one finger over their tiny mouths to keep quiet and with their other
hand two fingers in the air for peace.
Decisional:
What, if any, shifts have you had in knowledge, awareness, or understanding that
affects how you see things and, ultimately, how you will act.
Through this experience, I have learned what grade level I would like to teach. With this
young group, you must show each child the same amount of attention. Each child is there
to learn day by day. Some need more help than others. You must also keep them
entertained, but also show authority. The students always want to make you happy. You
must encourage each child to succeed on their own.
How will the experience affect your career path, your personal life choices or your
use of new information, skills or technology?
With this experience, I can see how to take care of my own children in the classroom in
the future. With having two classes that require service learning, I have been in two
different classrooms. For this one, I have worked with the kindergartener and 4th grade on
my other service learning project. Between the two, I have could see what grade level I
belong in, kindergarten.
Epilogue:
Reflect on your semesters service learning experience.
I was able to work hands on with the children. The class was amazing! They all looked forward
to my return. I enjoyed feeling like I was appreciated for the work I was doing. I really enjoyed
working with this age group.
How have you been surprised, delighted, or dismayed by the experience? Give specific
examples.
I was very delighted to work with this class. I was grateful to have the opportunity to learn in this
classroom environment. The children are so upbringing. Even if you are having a bad morning,
you can go into their classroom and instantly have a better day than expected. The children are
constantly happy to learn and play. One student, Collin, wanted me to help him constantly. He
was such an upbringing for me to be able to come in the class and wanting my assistance. That
little smile and sweet voices have me hooked.
Education: Within the next 5 years I would like to have my Associate of Science in Early
Childhood Education and continue to ETSU to graduate with a Bachelors of Early Childhood
Education to teach children in PreK-3.
Career: I hope to have started my student teaching at Mosheim Elementary, where I completed
my service learning. With completing student teaching at this school, I hope to get my foot in the
door to later have a job opportunity to teach at this school.
Family and Friends: In the next five years, I see myself with a house and married. I am not
sure to whom that will be. Friendships with continue to grow in college with my classmates, as a
further my education in my Early Childhood major.
Personal Growth: I would like to help those in need a lot more than I do now. Some people on
the streets need money and food just to survive. Just because you dont know their story doesnt
give you the right to judge them. Helping one who is in need will make me feel better about
myself for helping them.
Here are the Knowledge and Skills that I have acquired as a direct result of taking part in this
Service Learning project:
The curriculum is always changing. Through this experience, I have acquired the knowledge of
how an everyday classroom works and what material is gone over through the week. By the time
I have my teaching licensure, the curriculum may have changed again.
Here is how this Service Learning project ties in with my EDUC 2010 Psychology of Human
Development for Teachers class:
This service earning project connects to my EDUC 2010 class. I observed Piagets cognitive
development theory of constructivism. Students construct instead of absorbing knowledge from
experience. Students were learning how to count to 10, 20, 30 and on to 100. With knowing how
to count to 10, they can then count by tens to reach 100.