Final Post

Now that you have completed this course and the Service Learning component, what have you decided about becoming a professional teacher?  Do you think this is the career path for you?   Has the Service Learning helped influence your decision? What are your next steps? Write a thoughtful, 3-5 paragraph response to express your position.

     This service learning has really made me decide that teaching is what I want to do with my life. This has been a hard decision. I have gone back-and-forth for many years as to whether or not I wanted to be a teacher -- the money has always been a deterrent for me. Right now, I am paying money to go into a profession that will be paying me less than I make right now. However, every time I left the school for service learning I felt so fulfilled. My soul was filled with joy and I left EVERY TIME knowing that is where I am supposed to be. 

     Yes, I saw how hard it is for teachers as they try to maintain the focus of the students in the class and keep them on task. Yes, it is sometimes a thankless job and no one really care about the work you do but the administration -- and even they do not see all the work the teachers put in after hours. Yes, lesson planning and preparation is more time consuming than I had ever imagined. Yes, there are so many restrictions on you now that it seems hard to have fun with the students and find creative ways to involve them. Yes, there are going to be students who don't care, feel like they will never be able to succeed, and just have bad attitudes.. Yes, there will be days that I want to just crawl into a ball and be left alone. BUT, the look on a student's face when it clicks, or the students that are happy to be there and want to do well just make up for it. 

     During my elementary years, I was a problem child for many reasons: I was bored because it was too easy, I loved to talk because socializing was so important to me, I had issues at home, and I didn't have the structure in my life to understand the need to behave. So, I may be able to understand those children as they go through those same struggles. One of the biggest things I learned in service learning was that I needed to be able to meet the students where they were. If you cannot reach them on other levels besides educationally, you cannot reach them in that way either. I love the psychology of human development and I love the psychology of helping students learn. That is probably what I am most excited about. Teaching is not 2+2=4, or 1776, or what an earthquake is. Teaching is helping to develop leaders for the next generation. It is helping children identify who they are and what they can do in this world -- which is pretty much anything. Because of that I want to be a teacher.

     My next steps are taking the Praxis, finishing my prerequisites, and entering the program. This is what I want to do. This is what I was born to do. This is where I need to be in my life. I am glad I am doing this at this point in my life instead of earlier because I probably would not have the same outlook and maturity, I would be burnt out in three years, and I would have looked for another profession. This is going to be a rough journey, but I am ready for it. 

Post #8: Reflection

• Are you making connections between course topics and Service Learning?

I really have seen   a good connection between what we have been learning in the course and what I am seeing in Service Learning. It is really cool to see that what we learn about is actually practical and not just theory. What we are reading is not just nice ideas, but things that help teachers be successful. 

• Have you been able to articulate your own learning and understanding?  

Throughout this course, I feel like I have been able to talk about what I learned and not regurgitate information. Too often I feel that class designs are more towards the latter than the previous, but I really feel like what I have learned is what has come across on assignments, not what I have read.  

• Is the process of blogging helping you to think and notice things in your Service Learning?  

It has been great for reflecting. Sometimes I just go in and do it and don't pay too much cognitive thought to what is going on around me. The blogs make me think back and find examples of what I was actually witnessing. It also helped me form topics of discussion with the teachers the next time I saw them.  

• In what areas do you see growth or learning from the first blog post to the last?  

Not sure on this one. Because the topics have been so diverse, I don't feel like I can answer this one properly. What I will say though, is that the first blog post made me more aware of what Service Learning was for and so it helped me improve in that way. Other than that, I am not sure.

Entry #7

     I have seen the standards be addressed rather proficiently. They do a good job in every subject reaching them where they are and building them up to where they need to be. One think that I have noticed is that they stick to the main subjects of reading, writing, math, science, and history and try to mix in the other subjects when they can. Health is by far the least touched subjects and all teachers that I have talked to say that it is just hard to carve out tie for something that is not as pertinent to their learning. One way I have seen them use the other standards is by incorporating them int a lesson about a core standard. One exampled was when a teacher had them do an art project when they were talking about erosion in the science unit.

     A major consensus among teachers is that their is good and bad to standardized testing. One teacher had said that she likes the idea because it is good to see where the students are and what they have to focus on teaching better either later in the school year or next school year.  The negative she pointed out what that the standard is not set to calculate for learning disorders or other issues that the students have. This sometimes makes students feel that they are not as good as other and are defeated mentally and sometimes give up on themselves too soon. Also, that the teachers are unfairly measured  by these scores because the students in every class, at every school is different. She stressed that there needs to be a way to measure the success of students and teachers beyond the tests, and she is glad that there are currently, and that they are looking to improve it.

Blog 6

One of the classes I was in separates out to different levels with the other classes in the grade level for math. The class I was in had the lower level math students. There were a few resource students in the class, so there were many techs in there to be able to assist. One student seemed to be on the high end of the spectrum but was really struggling with math. He had a one-on-one tech to assist him. A few other students, I’d say about five, had three other techs that would focus on them. The other ones that were just struggling in general would receive one-on-one attention from the teacher. What I really noticed, is that a teacher cannot do it alone when a student is struggling. They really need to rely on the help that the school, districts, and parents provide.

Blog Entry #5

     This one was really hard for me think about because the school that I am doing my service learning is predominantly white and I cannot think about how any of the landmark events coincide with the classroom environment. So, I want to do instead is talk about what it was like in the schools I attended. I grew up in the inner-city ghettos of Las Vegas. Because of Brown vs. The Board of Education, I was able to attend school with people of varying backgrounds. This allowed me to gain an appreciation of different ethnic cultures. More over, some of my best friends were African-American, Mexican, Iranian, and Senegalese. None of this would be possible if it wasn't for the decision made in that case.

     As I look around the classrooms that I attend now, there is very little diversity. Sometimes I think that they are at a disadvantage not being able to see how different types of people are so similar. When I went to high school, I was a minority -- the school was less than 8% white. This allowed me to see how different it is to be around people who you might see as different. Then, as time goes on, you realize that you have things in common with them that you can discuss. You realize that they want the same things out of life as you do. You see that they have the same fears that cross your mind. I'll never forget what it was like to look around and feel so different, but I will also never forget how they treated me just like they treated anyone else. What I learned was we are only as different as we allow ourselves to think we are. It saddens me that a lack of diversity causes people to ear what they don't know -- sometimes.

Post #4 -- Engaging Learners

     Engaging learners has been a big part of the different classrooms that I have been able to visit. One way they have done it, is by having them in groups and looking up information online. They had a project of looking up life-cycles of different animals. She had them in groups, they looked it up, and they talked together about how they were going to do it. Then, they drew it out on the poster board and divided the work between all of them.
     Another way I have seen, is when one class played a math game. This game was absolutely fun to see that the students were really engaged as they had to pay attention for when they heard the equation that linked to their answer they had on their card. They also really wanted to beat their previous time. So, even when they were done with their card, they were paying attention to see how everyone else would do to be able to beat their previous time.
     Another way to engage them was during D.A.R.E. They were wearing drunk goggles and trying to navigate through an obstacle course. This is like doing a field study. They were really enjoying when they did it, and they enjoyed it even more when other students were doing this. This really showed me that using activities like this really makes the kids pay attention and have it soak in a bit more.

Blog #3: Classroom Environment

     One time that the teacher gave the students a choice, was when some had finished their project. She gave them the choice that they could either walk around and help other students who have not finished, or do something quietly at their desk. This was a great opportunity for students who feel comfortable to help other students. When we teach others what we have learned, subjects become more ingrained in our mind. Some are not comfortable with that, so it is great to allow them to do something they enjoy at their desk.

     One classroom I have visited, has a game where they pass out cards so that each student has one (or more). On these cards is a number and a multiplication equation. The first person says they have the first card and state the equation (i.e. 3x5). The student who has the product then states the answer (i.e. 15), and then states the next equation. This goes on until a student says who has the first card. They try and beat their previous best time. This encourages a positive classroom community because they are all working towards a goal and try to help each other through this process. They do their best and rejoice together when they succeed. It is fun to watch the students feel like they are a part of something good.

     One routine that I saw has stuck with me. Every time they transition from one activity to another, she has them sit in learning position. This means that there is no talking, students hands are free, and they are facing forward waiting for further instruction. She has a timer that shows how much time they are given to  be in learning ready position. Once the timer is done, she starts a counter and it shows how much of their time they lose. This supports a productive learning environment because the students know what is expected of them, can see how long they have, and know what the consequences are if they do not comply. This also ensures that they are ready for further instruction.

Constructivism in my Learning Experience

     One of the biggest examples that I can think of in my learning life of any of the theories, was during my fifth-grade year. I was in the gifted program called GATE. We wanted to learn more about our city, Las Vegas. We had the idea to see what it was like to be a tourist in our city – since all of us had been there since we were rather young. So, our advisor had us come up with a plan to make money to support this endeavor. We decided that we would sell hot dogs, chips and lemonade during both lunches to generate the necessary revenue.

     First, we had to come up with a viable business model and proposal so that we could present it to Principal Vining for permission. We drafter it up, and sent two students (I was one of the two selected, that is what happens when you are a loudmouth, people think you will talk under all circumstances) to present it to her. Upon her approval, we went back to our advisor and other GATE students to start putting together a budget sheet. We put down the costs of all the materials: hot dogs, buns, ketchup, mustard, lemonade mix, cups, chips, and sometimes we would sell cookies. We wanted to make it profitable, and to do so, we would need to find price points that work. With our advisor’s help, we put the hot dog price at $.50 and a meal price at $1.00.

     Though she would be the one handling the cooking of the hot dogs, we would be the ones putting them together. We also made the lemonade, poured them into cups, put the hot dogs together, took the money, gave change, cleaned up after, and crunched the numbers (we had her help at this part). We then would start to look at how much it would cost to rent hotel rooms for a night, how much it would cost to go to the different attractions we wanted to attend, and how much it would cost to eat while we were acting as tourists. We concluded it would cost $125/person with 6 people (adults would pay for themselves). We needed to profit $750 to reach that goal. After two weeks of selling, you saw that it would take four months to obtain the sufficient funds. It ended up only taking us 3 months.

     When the time came, we called to book our hotel, we bought the tickets to go and see the show we wanted to, we even called to make reservations at the restaurant where we wanted to eat. Everything was in place. The activity itself was amazing! We had so much fun pretending that we were new to city, and for most of us, the was the first time staying at a hotel on the strip (back then, it was a push for family friendly, completely different than it is now). Once, we were done, we had to type up a report together and give it to Mrs. Vining. This really was the best learning experience I had in all my educational experience. I learned more about running a business, budgeting, planning for a trip, and being patient working for what you want than at any other time. Because of this, I really have a deep appreciation for constructivism. 

Blog Entry #1

     I have not been able to go to a school yet due to work, but I am planning to go to a school in Springville -- I feel like they have less requests than schools in Orem and Provo. Since I need to do this post, I figured I do it on the school that I want to do my Service Learning which is Westside Elementary. The main reason I want to do my SL here, is because I love their Mission Statement: To provide quality standards-based instruction driven by assessments of students, where all students will learn as they are given appropriate time and support, in a caring, collaborative, and respectful environment, where students are empowered with a vision, a thirst for learning, and the ability to become contributing citizens. Other reasons I like this school is because it is an older neighborhood. I tend to gravitate more towards students who are from the other side of the tracks -- I can relate to them more. They also have a good number of male teachers in the fifth and sixth grade that I can relate to better. 

     My understanding of Service Learning is that I will be watching what teachers do on a daily basis. Not just see the fun things they do with the class, but also talk to them about lesson plans and grading homework. It will also be an opportunity for me to be able to see what it is like in  the classroom on an average day and to interact with the students. This is really an opportunity for me to be able to decide (if I really have thought about it quite a bit and am looking forward to doing) whether or not I actually want to do this as a career for the foreseeable future.