I wanted to volunteer at an animal shelter since I am majoring in Pre-Vet, but at the last moment, I decided to do something very different. I chose to student teach first graders at County Elementary. It is very surprising to me that I chose to do this. I always said that I hated kids and had no desire to ever work with them I even said I would never give birth to any kids because I hated them so much. The thing is that I actually enjoyed my experience very much.
I chose this activity because I wanted to try something different that I thought I wouldn't like. The teacher that I did this volunteer work for was my 1st grade teacher at County Elementary when I went to school there in 2000. The reason that I hate kids so much is because had a really bad experience with them. In the summer of last year I baby-sat these kids across the street from me that moved here from New York. They were the kids from hell. They were so annoying, and ungrateful. For instance they always asked me to buy them Taco Bell, and when I did, they would say, "why did you buy me this?", or "I want more, you better buy me more." I hated them.
I was so stressed from them that I would cry at night. I really didn't want to baby-sit them anymore but I felt bad if I said no. So I thought I couldn't judge all kids on those three. I had to give others a chance, and didn't want to give up on having kids.
I did many fun and exciting things while I was working with these kids at County Elementary. The first day Mrs. Aiken introduced me. She said, " Boys and girls this is Taysha, and I was her teacher when she was your age." They were all in awe. They couldn't believe that I had her as a teacher. The first kid I helped was a black girl named Shontele. I helped her with her math work and reading. I taught her to group thins in Math when you are adding or subtracting. For example: Say you have ten subtract three. I told her to put ten into groups of five, then cross out three, and count how many there was left. She enjoyed that and thought it was now much easier to do her Math.
I want to share the experience that I got from reading to the little kids in Washington school. This had been my first time doing community service so I was a little nervous, I didn't think that the kids where going to like me. But when I go to the school and saw the lovable little kids I felt much better. When we got into little groups and started reading they started hugging me and reading along. They made me feel good and I was ready to come back next Thursday. This was the greatest experience that I had ever had, I felt like a teacher and it fells great to have those little kids liking you.
With the help of the Me To We team at Queen Street Public School, I volunteered at a local food bank. The experience was quite educational and fascinating. We encouraged staff and students to donate non-perishable food items for the "We Scare Hunger" campaign. This was definitely a highlight of my grade five year because I felt very humble and warm-hearted by doing a simple act of kindness. In addition, I was chosen to participate in the "Intergenerational" program. This was created so that grade five students can learn more from the elders of the Burton Manor senior home. We had the privilege to learn about their history and interact with them through several educational and fun activities. If accepted, I will indeed join several clubs and teams to contribute my time and talents to make the school an exciting learning
One person cannot tackle the vast amount of issues of today and change the world. With so many injustices that occur in today’s society we can’t help but feel overwhelmed as to what people, as citizens of the world, can do to make the world an exceptional environment. Many believe the task is either too large and intimidating to face head on, or they don’t want to face the possibility of failure and criticism. We have the idea of taking on enormous tasks and expect change almost immediately, however, it’s not the anticipated outcome. Real change starts when one contributes to their community; the smallest of impacts generate the biggest changes in the long run.
I am grateful for the opportunity to volunteer at the elementary school. It opened my eyes to a few of the problems in our communities. I was able to make others aware of those problems through volunteering and being proactive. I am going to continue with the program for as long as I am able to do so. If only we had millions of these programs across the globe, many other children would be able to benefit and develop the skills to succeed educationally.
I have had several wonderful opportunities to work with children. At my school I enjoyed helping teach a young children's music class by playing songs for them, telling them about the violin, and helping them develop a love of beautiful music. I would enjoy continuing this as an adult. Last year I helped a kindergarten teacher in an underprivileged school, stapling papers and supervising children. I most enjoyed helping small groups learn the alphabet, supervising two children at a time as they tried to match the capital and lowercase letters and identify each letter.
I heard about the Polar Bear Plunge through my peers. Every year many of my friends would take the plunge and I would call them crazy; going into the water being 30 degrees outside is insane. But that was before I did some research about the plunge and found out what the plunge was really about, helping raise funds for the Special Olympics. I was in school one day and heard that Broadneck had a team for the Polar plunge, this was my chance. Thousands of seemingly sane people across Maryland and beyond will strip down to their swim suits in 40 degree weather to help a special cause for extraordinary people. I am one of those seemingly sane people to donate and take the plunge to help raise funds for the Special Olympics.
How did a departmental faculty generated 12,000 hours of student community service in one semester? The following is a qualitative analysis of conversations with faculty members in a department that recently instituted a service learning requirement for all student majors. The campus is a large urban comprehensive university with a multi-ethnic student body. Approximately fifteen faculty members were interviewed for this study. While most of those interviewed included service learning components in their courses, interviews with faculty members who resisted or refused to incorporate service learning were conducted as well in order to understand varying faculty attitudes towards service learning.
Introduction A service learning experience is designed to enhance a student 's growth in personal and social development and to obtain an understanding of community involvement. For my service learning experience, I volunteered at Change Point Center. In this reflection paper, I will discuss in depth information about the services that Change Point provides, my goals while I was there,and what I ultimately learned from this experience. Information about this experience Change Point center is located in Hot Springs, Arkansas and is a non-profit organization. The role of the agency is to help women in crisis pregnancies as well as families that face crisis situations.
As part of the module practical teaching programme, I have been helping out in the homework club of an inner city primary school, one hour per week for the past twelve weeks. All in all I think I it was a very interesting experience and very beneficial in terms of my learning as a teacher. I had a number of valuable experiences and below are two of the most important in my opinion.
The Society for Experiential Education defines service learning as, “any carefully monitored service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience” (Staton 1). Service learning is a great opportunity to get extra learning experiences while also experiencing the community around the universities campus. “Service learning allows students to apply what they are learning from their instructors, peers, and readings to genuine tasks that occur outside the four walls of the classroom while simultaneously helping others” (Staton 1). Universities are using service learning to expand beyond the classroom and provide students with experiences that will benefit them in the future. Service learning provides students with some fundamental aspects of life that can simply not be taught in the classroom. Service learning is a very beneficial tool in expanding on class room topics in the real world.
When I decided I wanted to be a teacher, my first thought was to teach an older grade level. Life seems to have a way of changing things. When you are young and living at home, responsibilities are at a minimum and this makes being a teacher so much easier. Going back to school as an adult with an aging mother and bills to pay can be very stressful and I have to stop and reflect on why I am going to school. It is important to stay focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. I haven’t decided whether or not I am going to teach elementary, middle school or high school. What an experience it was to talk to those sweet little third graders, and to listen to their thoughts.
I started working with children, adolescents, and their family when I was fourteen-years-old. My first experience volunteering was teaching basic daily skills to toddlers and young children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I can say with confidence that that was a time where my passion and to better the lives of children and their families became a noteworthy interest of mine. When working with children who are diagnosed with ASD, as well as other neurodevelopmental disorders, it requires patience and genuine warmth to connect on a level that would benefit the children. I learned about my strengths and weaknesses and how my personality distinguishes me from others.
I spent most of my time in a first grade classroom. In this classroom I observed the children as well as the teacher and paraprofessional. This classroom had children with special needs and that is why there was a paraprofessional in the classroom for half the day. What I observed in this classroom was how children with special need should be handle and taught. The teachers in this room loves her job and each student in her class. While in the classroom the teacher allowed me to help with children with their work, read to them and help them with anything else that they needed. During this field experience I got to give back to not only a school, but to a community that is very near and dear to my heart. I hope that I touched each student in a special way, because the students that I got the opportunity to help learn touched my
"I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver."
I have not always wanted to be a teacher. I always knew that I wanted to work with children in some way, but I was pretty sure that teaching was not for me. I was well on my way in my junior year of college working toward a biology degree so that I could become a pediatric physician’s assistant. I still cannot explain what happened, but one week I was a biology major, and the next I knew that I have always been meant to teach children. I suppose I just took the longer route to get there than most people do. The two main reasons that I have chosen to become a teacher is that I believe that teaching is extremely personally rewarding in many ways and the fact that I can actively make a difference in someone’s life.