Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3

Service Learning Report #3 Cayla Sandlin Ivy Tech Community College

Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3 Standard #3: Learning Environments The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and selfmotivation.

Name of Artifact: Service Learning Report #3 Date: April 9, 2013 Course: EDUC 101

Brief Description: In this summary report, the reader will have a good understanding on my overall experience during my Service Learning at Edna Martin Christian Center. As my Service Learning ends, I will reflect thoughts and teaching standpoints throughout the paper and I will discuss how I can incorporate my experiences during Service Learning to my professional teaching in the future.

Rationale: I chose to use Standard #3, Learning Environments, because at Edna Martin we are a collaborative group of volunteers and supervisors. Throughout my Service Learning, I have went to other adults in the facility for instruction and I have seen other adults ask me for help as well. The students whom we are tutoring after school also collaborate their learning as well. Edna Martin Christian Center encourages social interaction, which is another reason I think Standard #3 is an important standard for this report. Most of my experience at Edna Martin has required me to create good rapport with students and to interact with them educationally and in a role model aspect.

Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3 Abstract

As I finish my Service Learning at Edna Martin Christian Center, I will share my thoughts in this report from my overall experience. I will express how Service Learning has helped me grow throughout this course and how it has helped me become a more confident individual around children. Also, I will indicate why I think Service Learning has been beneficial for me as I learn to become a great educator in the future. This report allows me to discuss why Service Learning will help me in my future classroom as I teach young students. I absolutely loved volunteering in the after school program at Edna Martin. I have had to opportunity to meet a whole new population of students from Indianapolis Public Schools that I would have otherwise never met. Working in Warren Township Schools every day and then spending some time with IPS students really opens my eyes to different teaching styles and a new community of students.

Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3 Introduction I was so nervous on February 7 of this year because it was the first time I had ever done

Service Learning for any college course. This day was the first time I had ever even walked into Edna Martin Christian Center. Besides driving to an area where I felt uncomfortable, my mind was racing with questions and worries. I wondered, how do I even start a conversation with these kids? Do I just walk up to them? Are IPS kids nice? Oh my gosh! What are the supervisors like?! But after interviewing with supervisor Jamie and finding out she is in college at Ivy Tech as well, I breathed, relaxed, and thought she was very nice. After getting acquainted with the kids and learning that they are each longing for my attention and care, I relaxed around the kids. It was much easier for me to initiate a friendly conversation and ask them if they would like me to help them with their homework. After each day I walked in and out of the doors at Edna Martin Christian Center, I also walked in and out of the doors as a more confident future educator. Not only was I helping the kids in the after school program, but more importantly, they didnt know that they were teaching me how to instruct them. These wild, hyper kids from first grade to sixth grade were molding me into an educator that will make an impact in the future. Service Learning in My College Classroom Most students in my college class are located at one particular school where they interact with students in the classroom. My colleagues have the opportunity to witness a teacher as he or she instructs his or her own classroom whereas I do not have the opportunity to watch a professional teacher. Though that is a downside, I still have learned a lot from my, pretty much, independent Service Learning experience. When I use the term independent, I mean it in way where I dont see a teacher instructing her students in a particular way and then having me

Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3 reinforce what she has instructed. As someone who tutors, I have to come up with things on my own when a student is having a difficult time grasping the problem. While reading in our

textbook, Teach, I realized that using Social Cognitive Theories helped me instruct the student so they could grasp the concept of what they are learning. I included modeling in my source of instructing the student. Modeling, for instance, is a form of instruction that social cognitivists, like Lev Vygotsky, enforced to help students better understand the curriculum. Basically, when I model a problem to a student, I walk through the steps of solving the problem or question. Allowing the students to observe the process of solving the problem gives them a visual on how to obtain their goal. Having helped instruct students in this way has allowed me to bring what I have learned from my Service Learning experiences back to my college class. I can inform my colleagues on the importance of modeling a problem to a student and how it impacts him or her. A topic that we have covered a lot in Education 101 is teaching students who may be different in race or religion. Throughout class, we have been told that we essentially have no control of the students that we have on our class roster year to year. With that, we, as teachers, cannot discriminate against a child due to their familys religious beliefs or their nationality. In our class, we have been taught the fundamentals of having an English Second Language (ESL) student in our future classroom and how we can get help from colleagues within our building to help with the teacher/ESL student bond. Also, we have been given the information that is necessary to help a student with an Emotional, Social, or Physical Learning Disability succeed. In the future, I know that it is my role as a professional educator to seek the right education for my students; whether that requires me to inquire that a student go to a resource classroom for some extra one-on-one instruction or to possibly investigate a student of mine go to an Inclusion classroom. Overall, as the teacher, I am responsible for making sure that each of my students

Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3 gets the education they deserve, even if that means transferring to another classroom or

requesting extra help from colleagues. I have brought the topic of Social, Emotional, or Physical Disability to my Service Learning sight when I interact with the kids. Learning these disabilities has helped me become more observant towards a childs learning technique or towards their personality. If I am working with a hyper kid, I know that I need to try to help calm them down, yet get through their work quickly and efficiently. A student that is hyper may have ADHD and with this disability, it is difficult for the student to sit for long periods of time as well as it is hard for them to focus. Personal Reflections from a Future Teacher Edna Martin Christian Center is an after school program that offers homework help and supervision during after school hours for the students who have parents that work late or different hours. I think the Edna Martin Christian Centers staff definitely has the students best interest in their hearts and aspires to see them succeed. Each time I visit the Center, however, I never see anyone count the kids from time to time. I know the supervisors have a count of how many students are in attendance so the cook knows how many dinners to prepare, but there are so many kids running to other rooms, the restroom, or outside to the playground. While the kids are running these errands, I dont see them asking the supervisors or volunteers for permission to leave the room. From the standpoint of a future teacher, I believe it is necessary to keep track of which students leave the room and insist that they have a hallway buddya friend or peer who walks the student to where they need to go. In the instance of a fire or another emergency, I think it is important to have a sign-in and sign-out sheet when a student needs to leave the main after school care room so the teacher or supervisor knows who is not in attendance in such an emergency.

Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3 The individual, Edna Martin, believed in praising God and sharing His love. Although Edna Martin has passed away, the supervisors and volunteers continue to practice Ednas love for God by teaching the children the Lords Prayer. I think this practice is great for the kids. When the supervisors hush the students for prayer time, I can see each of them helping by remaining silent and respectful throughout the prayer. Service Learning and My Future Teacher Career Since I am to initiate conversation and/or ask a child if they would like help on their homework, it is intimidating for me because I do not know how the child will respond to my approach. Having to overcome this obstacle is very important for me as a teacher someday. There will be so many students throughout my career that are intimidating to me that I will have to approach because I am their teacher. Having done this several times at Edna Martin has helped me to become more confident with my approach and with my youthful social skills. I cannot speak to a kid like I would speak to a colleague or another adult. Service Learning has also helped with how I help students problem solve to get accurate

answers. Although my education is more experienced than the kids I am working with, I know I need to explain things to them in simplest terms and break down questions or problems for them. If a student does not understand the problem or is frustrated, I have learned to backtrack and try another approach to getting the correct answer to a problem. During my Service Learning experience, I usually float around the room asking child to child if they need help, but there are times when I have to help three or four kids at once. Having to deal with tutoring three or four kids at once has really helped with my patienceits not any easy task and its fast paced. Not only has it helped with my patience, but this obstacle has helped me teach the kids how to be patient students. Essentially, I feel like a teacher sometimes. I have student after student

Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3 begging for my attention and help. Having to tutor these kids is really preparing me for when I have a classroom of my own with 25 or more kids whom are doing the same thing. Lastly, I am luckily in a Service Learning environment where I can get to know the kids

one-on-one when we have downtime. Getting to know each of them personally reminds me how important it will be for me to get to know my own students. The students I interact with at Edna Martin know who I am and want me to help them with their work. I know most of the reason they come to my table is because I took the time to get to know them, I have conversations with them, they trust me, and they know I care about them. This is a very important skill that I will carry with me into my own classroom, when I am Mrs. Sandlin. I want my students to come to me for academic advice, personal advice, laughs, love, and care like the kids at Edna Martin Christian Center do. I know Ill go back to visit them soon! Summary and My Recommendations Although I was not in an actual classroom during the school day, I dont feel cheated of my Service Learning experience. After all, it was my choice to sign up for Edna Martin Christian Center, even though I knew it was a tutoring facility. My everyday job as a teachers assistant allows me to witness a teacher, so being at Edna Martin has allowed me to just interact with more students and learn about a whole new population of kidsIPS students. Through the students, I got the privilege to see how their teachers teach them to solve problems. I got to ask the students about their schools, playgrounds, lunch food, teachers, building, and etcetera. Without the Service Learning experience, I would not have gotten to learn all of the things the kids had to tell me about Indianapolis Public Schools. It is important for college students physically interact with and observe professionals in their field of choice. It not only benefits the college students, but it benefits society. Having educated and experienced professionals is what

Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3 businesses want. Had we not had the chance to experience Service Learning, we would be dumbfounded once we entered Student Teaching. Service Learning makes us stronger, better future teachers. So, I would not change anything about Service Learning. Continue letting us pick our locations so we are happy where we are learning and continue letting us learn through Service Learning. I never dreaded my time at Edna Martin Christian CenterI enjoyed every minute of it and I learned so much. I cannot wait to go back to visit the kids.

Running head: SERVICE LEARNING REPORT #3 References Koch, Janice (2011). TEACH. Publisher: Linda Schreiber-Ganster

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Service Learning Log Sheet # 3 Name _______________________________ Date Submitted ________ Service Learning Site_________________________________________ Teacher ___________________________________ Grade___________

Date

Time In

Time Out

Hours per Day

Teachers Signature

Total Hours

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