Betsy Heidel
Dr. Stevos
FNED 346-05
December 10, 2014
Service
Learning Project
I will never forget this experience. I have learned so
much in just about 15 hours at one school, who would have thought. When I read
the article, “In Service of What?” by Kahne and Westheimer, I thought yeah
maybe what was stated in the article about “learning so much from service
learning experiences” happens, but then again who knows. Fortunately, then I
actually got to experience it firsthand. One of the quotes in the Kahne and
Westheimer article was, "[The neighborhood] isn't as bad as the news makes
it out to be." "The rumors I have heard are a big bunch of hogwash … I'm
glad I went on that trip because it was a wonderful experience to meet new
people and find out about their lives." I completely agree with this quote
from the article, I was nervous, scared, and intimated to help out teaching at
Broad Street Elementary School because of its location, lack of wealth, and
stereotypes. This is partially due to the fact that I was privileged enough
that I did not attend a school where the majority of families came from underprivileged
backgrounds and were below the poverty line. I was ignorant of how the school
and children really acted. I would not have been feeling all those thoughts if
I was not privileged. With that being said this initial reaction and experience
reminded me of the reading in class called, “Privilege, Power and Difference”
by Johnson. From the short time I walked into the school on the first day to
the time I walked out of the school on the first day, that’s all it took for my
mind to change. I had seen so much in one hour to make me think critically
about stereotypes, schooling, and society. All of the articles read and
information learned in class I took to the classroom. I observed both negative
and positive actions in the classroom and implemented as many positive actions
as I could while I helped teach.
For some background knowledge, as I stated before, I was
placed at Broad Street Elementary School through inspiring minds. I worked with
Ms. Chuk in an ELL/ELS classroom who taught children in “third grade.” I say
“third grade” because unfortunately, only about five of the students were
actually on grade level of third out of a classroom of about twenty five
students. The students were from a wide range of countries including; Somalia,
Burma, Afghanistan, Iraq, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Laos,
various tribes from West Africa, and the U.S. Some of the students were born in
the United States, others were as new as two weeks in the United States. The
students I worked with barely spoke English. Some spoke anywhere from
absolutely no English to a minimum grasp of the language. My job, as a
volunteer for inspiring minds, was to help a group of students varying from six
to eight students each week with language activities that would help them to
learn English. The activities were usually game based so that the children
would be intrigued and entertained, as well as, learn. There was never a dull
moment and I experienced everything from great progress, to arguments, to
frustration, to misbehaving, so on and so forth. Ultimately, I learned a lot
about society, education, the students, and myself.
One of my experiences I take with me is when my students
were feeling lower than everyone else because they are not fluent in the
language of the country. The reading I connected this experience to is, “An
Indian Father’s Plea” by Robert Lake. This reading is about an Indian father
whose son is being educated in an American, English speaking school. His son
was brought up in a culture that is very different from the average American
but yet equally possibly even more intellectual culture. His son learned so
much through his upbringing and he is very smart but yet he feels dumb in
school. His teachers label him as a “slow learner” because he takes longer to
understand activities and the criteria. The teachers treat him as an outsider
and make him feel secluded. Even though he may do things a different way and he
is farther behind in understanding things it does not necessarily make him a
slow learner but rather a student who has to learn even more than the average
student. Instead of a student’s being alienated, and feeling out of place
because of their difference, they need more acceptance, support, and help. The
quote I specifically connected to from this reading is, “And like so many other
Indian children his age, he is shy and quiet in the classroom. He is 5 years
old, in kindergarten, and I can’t understand why you already have labeled him
as a “slow learner”.” The students I worked with were “slow learners” that is
why I worked with them. The question is are they really “slow learners”? I do
not think so. Just because they were taught to communicate with another
language does not make them a slow learner it makes them a student who already
knows valuable information but needs to learn even more in a shorter amount of
time to succeed in the country they are living in. The students are not slow
learners they are just more accountable to have to learn even more than their
fellow students who already speak the universal language. Instead of these
students feeling down about themselves they are the ones who need more support
since they have a large and hard task in front of them to take on. The extra
support will help them succeed but the extra negative attention will not.
Reading this article made me view this experience in a different light that I
may not have looked at in that way before.
Another situation I experienced dealt with the ability to
teach them the best I could. I realized when I taught them something that they
were interested in, connected with, and felt passionate about they were more
engaged and learned more from it. For example, one day, one of the groups I was
working with all spoke Spanish I told them that for every word I taught them in
English they would have to teach me in Spanish. They loved this because they
felt their language was respected and appreciated. They also were passionate
and got to see what it was like being in the other persons place, it was eye
opening for both the students and myself. Other things they were passionate
about and that I tried to connect them with were things like sports, family,
and hobbies. The experience of being able to share our languages as a group
reminded me of the following quotes from, “Why can't She Remember That? The
Importance of Storybook reading in Multilingual, Multicultural Classrooms,” by Terry
Meier, "Despite their diverse backgrounds, all children bring to school
rich linguistics abilities acquired through social interaction in their homes
and communities." Next the quote, “Children learn in all different ways,
and it's important as a teacher to be aware of this and bring different methods
of teaching into the classroom.” Both of these quotes explain the importance of
not only other student’s lifestyle and culture but also by being able to adjust
to what they need from the teacher in order to learn. The first quote explains
that every student’s unique background is important and valuable to their
success. Every person is different and that is what makes the world go round.
In school, students need to learn about one another and other cultures to
accept the world and learn as human beings. The best place to start is in
school. The second quote is more about how teachers need to find a way to
address all their students and keep them engaged. The students loved teaching
me Spanish while I taught them English, they were engaged and respected. We
both learned something. Another example of this that I experienced was when I
was told that one of my students was partially deaf. So I had to alter my
teaching a little. I had to make sure he was looking at me and reading my lips
as I spoke in case he couldn’t hear me. He also would get very shy about
speaking out loud, he though he sounded funny. So I had to give him a lot of
support and encouragement when he would speak so that he would gain confidence
and feel better. I had to adapt so that I could help him and his particular
circumstance.
Another experience I had was more on the positive side.
One of the students I regularly worked with wore a head dress from head to toe every
day. She stood out from everyone else because no one else in the classroom or
school did that. When I first saw her on the first day she stuck out like a
sore thumb and I assumed I was going to have to deal with some form of bullying
or discrimination at some point during my visits, but in fact I never saw anything
like that. The children never once made fun of her or even called attention to
her, it was actually quite peculiar because I feel if that was me back in third
grade my fellow students and I would be a little weary and confused about the
head dress. Instead the students treated her as equal and if anything
especially loved when she talked. She had a soft voice so all the students
would stop their side conversations and intently listen to her when she spoke, finding
it intriguing. This experience made me happy to see the support of her fellow
students. I connected this experience to the reading, “The Silenced Dialogue: Power
and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children,” by Lisa Delpit. The
specific quote that I connected to in the article is, “Children have the right
to their own language, their own culture. We must fight cultural begemony and
fight the system by insisting that children be allowed to express themselves in
their own language.” This quote again just shows the importance of children being
able to keep their own culture as well as learn a new one. I’m glad the teacher
and fellow students made this one particular student feel accepted even though
she was the only one who did it. She has the freedom to participate in whatever
culture she wants and does not deserve to be harassed about it. So overall I
was very happy to see the student accepted for what she believes and her
culture. If I saw any type of bullying I would have addressed it right away.
Another experience I had was just realizing how much
patience I need to have as an educator. Sometimes it can be very taxing and
stressful to teach elementary students. They are hyper, not concentrated, want
to play constantly, and may not understand the importance of education. As a
teacher, you realize the importance of education and you are always trying to
keep them on task and engaged so they can learn. I found out teaching a
language is especially taxing. Learning a new language is so hard because it is
very intricate and layered, therefore most student’s progress is slow. Every
time I would feel frustrated and overwhelmed I would remind myself of the
importance of them learning this language so they could ultimately be as
successful as possible and how it is hard to be in their shoes. These students
were always surrounded by another language at home and did not get as much help
as I would have liked. Learning a different language is difficult and
frustrating. When the students were having bad days and were off the walls I
would remind myself of everything they have to go through. My experience
reminded me of the reading in class called, “Aria,” by Richard Rodriguez. I
specifically liked the quote, “I was unable to hear my own sounds, but I knew
very well that I spoke English poorly. My words could not stretch far enough to
form complete thoughts. And the words I did speak I didn’t know well enough to
make into distinct sounds.” This quote just helped me to open my eyes about how
much my students had to deal with to be in this country, it is hard work!
The last experience I am going to talk about is when I
was talking with Ms. Chuk and observing the class. She was talking to me about
how hard it is for her to teach a group of about twenty-five children that know
seven different languages and barely any English, but yet she is expected to
teach them subjects like math and science also. How is she supposed to teach
them something if they do not even understand what she is saying? The students
need more help than Ms. Chuk can give them by herself and because of this the
children are hurting from it. If the children could get more one on one help or
even just more direction and attention they might be able to progress faster
and understand better. With this being said our education system needs to be
adjusted in certain areas and I saw that first hand. This experience connected
to the reading from class called, “Citizenship in Schools,” by Christopher
Kliewer. The quote specifically connecting is, “Schools have traditionally
taken a narrow position when defining and judging student intellect.” This
quotes explains that taking a narrow position on grading is just one of the
issues that needs to be dealt with in our education program, let alone finding
more teachers for support. Schools and the education system need to progress
and evolve just like every other thing on the planet has since their inception.
Ultimately, I feel like certain issues like grading and extra support need to
be more closely looked at and addressed so that students can get the most out
of their education.
Although my experience with Inspiring Minds, teaching at
Broad Street Elementary School, reminded me of many different articles we read
and looked at in class, the articles I mentioned and quoted particularly stood
out to me. I felt these examples were the most important issues I had to deal
with. What I learned in the FNED classroom and in the school classroom taught
me so much about the teacher I want to be. I want to be fair, understanding,
versatile, helpful, and ultimately the best teacher I can be. I want to be the
best version I can of myself as a teacher so I can give my future students the
tools they need to succeed in whatever goals they have to live a happy life.
Due to this class my mind has been opened to so many new issues, events, and
teaching strategies that I will carry with me while I teach the leaders of the
future.
