Service Learning Reflection #2
In the classroom, there hasn’t been any expectations of me that I am aware of. They told me that when the children get there to join them in that morning’s activities and not hover over them since that makes them uncomfortable and to solve any problems that may arise which happens every day. I haven’t been told that I am in charge of setting up a “center” when I get there since it is there planning/get ready for the kids time but today I started setting up a center since I know now where everything kind of is and it makes it easier on the teachers in the room to focus on other things. One station that every adult helps with is breakfast, so you could say that’s an expectation of mine but with all the adults in the room we all just do it if were the closest.
Since the beginning of the semester, my work in this class hasn’t changed at all. The kids just play when I am there so I play too. This class is pretty straight forward with everything they plan and follow that. With this being what I am seeing while I am there, it has made me realize that this may not be the grade that I want to teach when I become a teacher. It has changed those views a lot which is good. My work hasn’t changed but my views have.
The class hasn’t done anything that benefits the community that I am aware of since this is just preschool but I have benefited the kids by allowing them to have some more individual attention when I am there and takes some of the stress off the teacher. This I feel is important since kids at this age love to talk and interact with adults and tell stories so with me being there I am someone for them to talk to instead of distracting the main teacher and this way she can stay sane. Not saying that in a negative way but sometimes too much is too much and she doesn’t need to hear every story they tell and if there is one that she needs to know the adult will share that with her.
Being from up north where there isn’t much diversity, I have learned a lot. I learned that there are some different attitudes all in the classroom based on what race the child is. One race is sassy and voices their opinion more than another rather than another race that is quiet, go with the flow and are somewhat a push over. This may sound like I’m stereotyping but it’s what I’m noticing which is very interesting. When I worked in a classroom up north in my hometown I never noticed so many problems/issues that occurred within an hour than I do here. This may be due to the student’s demographics which do play a big role since my hometown is completely different than what life is like down here. It is all very interesting to see how the students differ based on location and race. On Tuesday (the day after I wrote this) I got to talking with the teacher and she said that the students who I find more sassy and who voice their opinion are students who have already been there a year and know how everything goes. This does make a difference in what I thought but this doesn’t disregard what I believe their personality is like and I still see their personality being the way I described but it also explains why they act the way they do.
christinakollien 