Service Learning Reflective Summary Report

Alejandra Prieto
Ivy Tech Community College

Service Learning Reflective Summary Report

At the beginning of the year, one of the major assignments for the class Introduction to
Teaching, taught by Mrs. Lisa Drumb, was the Service Learning. Service Learning required
getting involved in a classroom for eight weeks, observing and helping the teacher and the
students in any aspect. By doing this we would be able to get a sense of what we will be doing as
future teachers; getting ideas of what we liked and what we would not like to do in our future
classrooms. My assigned teacher is a friend of one of my friends from church and she was more
than happy to invite me into her classroom. Mrs. Julie McKinney has been teaching for more
than 15 years and she is really passionate about it. Mrs. McKinney works at Lantern Road
Elementary. In her classroom, there are 23 students, with a lot of diversity. Her classroom is
decorated with a beach theme, because it is Mrs. McKinney favorite place. She has 2 beach
chairs where she sits to read books with the kids. She has beach decorations in the walls and in
the door. Also, her class has stations where the kids can read, she has a corner with all the books
organized and she has an art station with so many different cool things to be creative with. The
students really seem to enjoy their time in the classroom.
Ever since I started going Thursday mornings to Mrs. McKinneys class, Ive had many
great experiences helping her and getting to know all the kids. When I was giving my
introduction all the kids were intrigued because I was from Mexico, so they had a lot of
questions for me. The first day I was there, I went in the hallway to read in groups and do a math
game with the children. I got to see all the different levels of reading and math skills they were
in. Throughout the eight weeks I helped the students who were a little behind on their reading to
sound words and work on their phonics separately and by the end of my service learning I got to
see how much they all improved. The students who were above average and the ones behind,
they all accomplished another level. Mrs. McKinney has goals throughout her school year,

divided in sections. From the beginning of the school year up to this point, the students had
already reached some standards and by now there is no one far behind to the point they will not
catch up with the rest of the class. This year there is no special education student in her class,
there is one kid with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), but he doesnt need any
special treatment because his mom is open about his pills and some of the ways he might act if
he doesnt take them. The article, Educative learning, talks about the many uses of educative
ethics. They are the reflect of the equilibrium in any learning situation; if the situation is well
handled, then the students will most likely have a positive outcome. This will form the students
morals and will develop their social skills, while taking the teacher as a role model; teaching
them how to positively react in the community. The teacher needs to identify what is the learning
skills and apply it to get all her students to completely understand the content of the lesson. Mrs.
McKinney implements visual, auditory learning skills when she gives her weekly spelling
quizzes. She has visual help to identify the word, also, she pronounces funny or with a
different accent, sounding out the word so the student recalls the way to spell it. Another way to
keep the students involve in the classroom is to give them roles or jobs. In the class, there are
paper passers, folder passers, the one in charge of the office, mail, art station, the one who keeps
count of all of them and more. Having jobs in the class, I believe it makes them feel useful and
important. During my eight weeks, I only experienced one time when a student was not behaving
the right way, there were a couple of complaints about a certain student pushing others, so Mrs.
McKinney went outside in the hallway to talk to him in private and solve the problem.
Lantern Road Elementary is becoming more diverse every year. This year the class is no
exception. We have a little girl from China, a little girl from India, a little black girl, one girl who
is adopted, a little boy who needs to take medication before coming to school, boys and girls
with many siblings and some other who are single kids. Having a diverse class, it is very

important to cherish other cultures and try to learn from them. This is what makes a great class
and a great school. Having variety in class also means having different learning skills or multiple
intelligence. According to Adcock, P.K., there are eight basic intelligence but usually people will
not develop more than one or two; if the teacher would recognize more easily how they learn, it
will improve their development in class. During my class of Introduction of Teaching we talked
about ways to approach students, specially the one who are transitioning from other place, try to
make them feel as welcome as possible and earning everyones respect and trust. Along a
teachers career, certain situations will show up and we must be able to respond in the best way
possible to help the student. Having real-life scenarios is very helpful because is a way to prepare
for what might happen in the future and be ready for it. In Mrs. McKinneys class, there are kids
who dont listen, they dont want to sit down in their chair, interrupting a speaker and the teacher
needs to be able to handle these everyday things, Mrs. McKinney does a great job having
everything under control because they respect her and listen to her. After observing and taking
notes, the students in Introduction of Teaching had to do an exercise talking about what we
Accept, what things our teaching is doing right now we could apply in our future classrooms,
Refine, thing that we like but will modify, and Reject, things we are not doing in our
classroom. The things that I accept form Mrs. McKinney were a lot, I like many of the things she
does, for example, having reading groups with different levels so they can help each other out;
the techniques she does so they stop what they are doing and pay attention (clap, say a sentence
and they need to complete it, raise a finger, etc.); the ways she does her spelling quizzes, she
placed folders between each desk for privacy; she color code her books depending on the level
and she has shelves for each category; she is really open to cultural diversity. In the other hand, I
dont have many things that I reject but I will not call a quiz exit ticket. I dont like that phrase

to cover up the word quiz because they will not get used to hearing it. When they get to higher
grades they should use it. I will have the teachers space more organized without many paper in
the desks and boxes of pasts project laying around. I will refine her sticks with each students
name, if they are not listening, they will have to put it in jar. After several times of the stick being
in a jar maybe a note should go home explaining the students behavior in class so they can work
on it.
Spending time in a classroom with an excellent teacher like Mrs. McKinney helped me
visualize me as the teacher I want to become. She is kind, I can tell she cares for every single one
of her students, she respects them and wants their wellbeing overall. Stated in the journal of
Education, says that teachers are always looking for their efficiency; it is their greatest
motivational factor. This means, teachers constantly are pushing their students to meet new goals
and having positives changes. I believe Mrs. McKinney agrees with this statement. I love that
she adapts to change. A perfect example for this will be when I suggested to write letters for
students in Mexico. I would deliver the letters from the students to my old school in Mexico and
they will answer them back. When I gave them the response to their previous letter, I could see
the excitement on their faces because they were surprised they would write back. This was
totally out of her schedule but she made it work and she and the students loved this activity.
Every Thursday I came to the class with a little power point presentation and talked a little bit
about Mexico, its culture, food, places, schools, etc. and I could tell they were interested and so
was the teacher. The students helped me decorate the bulletin board with catrinas, typical
Mexican celebration in November and they were excited, expressing their creativity. Mrs.
McKinney helped me do a permission slip for the parents for their children to try some Mexican
candy that I brought for them and this was a great experience because they loved it. There are
some important things I need to work on to become a great teacher, I need to be more organized

and I need to manage my time wisely. I noticed it in her classroom because I could tell she
wanted to clean her space but she didnt have time to arrange all of it. I dont want to have all
those things packed up in my class, so I need to work on my time management and my
organization skills. I noticed her strengths because I feel identified with them as well. I am really
kind and most important I care for my students. That thing that I love the most is that she is
always trying to learn new things to teach to her students and I think I have the same desire to
keep learning.
After my Service Learning experience, I have grown in every aspect, starting with the
setup of a classroom, knowing what to put on the walls, art station and more, how to identify
levels in each student, knowing their learning ability and their strengths and weaknesses. My
Introduction of Teaching class helped me notice little things about the student behavior, and how
to react and deal with some kids. At the beginning, there were so many technical terms that I had
no idea they existed and now I am familiar with most of them. My favorite part of this
experience was getting to know these wonderful children and being a part in their lives. A funny
anecdote happened after the election; I walked into class and a couple of kids ran to me and
hugged me, they were asking me what was going to happen to me because Trump won. They
even asked their parents what could happen to Mexicans living in the US, but I explained them
that I have my residency and nothing was going to happen. They were relieved. I thought it was
hilarious they were thinking about this sort of things and truly made my day. I am so grateful for
an opportunity like these and I will continue to come to Lantern Road Elementary after the
Service Learning ends. I am certain that this career is the one for me.

References
Adcock, P.K. (2014) The Longevity of multiple intelligence theory in education. The Delta
Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 50.
Caropreso, E.S & Weese, A.W. Educative ethics: Lessons for teacher preparation programs.
Retrieved form http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download? doi= 10.1.1.518.67338
rep= rep1 & type=pdf.

Quagila, R., Marion, S.F., & Mclntire, W.G. (1991). The relationship of teacher satisfaction to
perceptions of school organization, teacher empowerment, work conditions and
community status. Education, 112(2), 207-207.

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