When doing this
reading, for obvious reasons, the first thing that came to mind was the service
learning project we are completing in FNED.
As you know, in this project we go into a classroom or two and assist the
teacher in helping the students learn.
Most of originally look at this on how this can benefit ourselves, by
giving us practice in the field, doing a portion of our required hours, and
helping us complete the class. Few think
of right away on how we doing this will help the actual students until we
actually walk into the classroom. In my
service learning project I help a group of kids learn to read and pronounce
words correctly. I have not even
completed the assignment and already the students have shown great progress
from my first visit to now. By showing
up I am giving the students more attention with their subject than the teacher
could with a class of twenty plus students.
By doing this I may have helped kids learn and help them with a skill
they will use throughout their live. By
doing this I was able to help others rather than just myself, in a way relating
it to the quote in the reading said by President Kennedy, “Ask not what your
country can do for you but rather what you can do for your country.”
This is not the first time I am participated
in a service learning project. In high
school I was in the National Honor Society and did many of these. None of those brought me the satisfaction
that I got in this school. However still
this service learning project does not pass my work with the Special Olympics,
which is something I love doing and enjoy going to. We may think of how things can help/benefit
us rather how doing it helps others. We
could do so much in this world to help and we do not even notice we are doing
it and how much we are helping others.
The special Olympics is something I love doing. You can consider it a "service learning project" in a way but I do not. I volunteer with them a lot. There I always think how am benefiting the athlete and I always have a good time going to help.
this link shows the special Olympics impact on the world. How a billion dollar company like the wwe supports it and how the superstars saying both being there and the athletes bring a smile to their face. This is what it is all about helping others and by doing so being able to bring a smile to both theirs and your face.
That was fast!
ReplyDeleteI can connect with you Zach because I also am working with children on reading and pronunciation in my service learning project, and I love seeing their progress through the weeks.
ReplyDeleteIt's always so rewarding to see what you have accomplished by the time you are done with a service learning project, and the fact that you are already seeing this is really great. I loved what you wrote about the Special Olympics and it seems like you really do enjoy working with them!
ReplyDeleteI can connect with you as well because I can also see progress in the students I am working with. When I started this class and the service learning project I thought about how much experience I would get in a classroom and how it would prepare me for my future. But it has expanded so much further than that. It isn't just about what these kids are doing for me, I now put in so much effort into what I can do for them.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to say that you made a difference by helping a child read is very rewarding. I was able to sit down with one student and help her understand the slope of a function. It can be very overwhelming for a teacher with so many students and its difficult to direct our attention to one student when they are twenty other students probably with the same needs. I believe the student to teacher ratio needs to be addressed. Their learning needs to be prioritized more and it is not fair that twenty kids have to share one teacher.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of this class was definitely the service learning portion. I learned more than I could ever learn in a classroom, but I was able to connect it all to readings we did for class. I love knowing that spending a couple of hours of my week with these kids is really changing their lives. It is amazing to see how far these kids have come, and I have no intention of leaving my classroom after the semester ends.
ReplyDeleteI can connect with you Zach because the class I'm tutoring are working on pronunciation of the beginning of words. It is so awesome to see the progress the students have been making.
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