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Service Learning Paper
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Education 713.22
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Spring 2009
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By: Emily Bonilla
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Bonilla
“Community service learning is a pedagogical model that connects meaningful
community service experiences with academic course learning” (Howard, 1993). It is
only through experience that one gains academic learning. It is best to learn through real
world experiences which become significant to the individual. Any individual should be
able to take what they have learned and apply it to their own lives. Community “service
learning is effective in socially engaging students (Alexander, 1993) and encouraging
active citizenship” (Boyte & Farr, 1996). By allowing students to bring their own stories,
experiences, and ideas into the classroom, it provides students with opportunities to work
together, to learn from each other, and respect each others’ differences.
There are many locations where an individual can complete service learning
hours. I chose to complete my service hours at an elementary school. The school I chose
was PS 152- The School of Science and Technology. PS 152 is located across the street
from Brooklyn College’s James Hall; which is on East 23rd Street. The school consists of
779 students. Of those students 6% are White, 70% are Black, 16% Hispanic, and 10%
Asian. From the total of 779 students enrolled in the entire school I had the chance to
work with a Pre Kindergarten class which consisted of 32 students.
From day one of entering the class the cooperating teacher allowed me to work
with the students. In order for the students to become comfortable with me she allowed
me to read a story aloud. As days passed the students felt more comfortable with me
because they began to approach me and ask me questions. Some questions that the
students asked were, “Why are you here? Are you going to be here every day? Are you a
teacher?” I answered their questions of course, but in the back of my mind I had a goal.
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That goal was to do some sort of math, technology and science activity with the students,
since those three subjects are the main focus of my course.
Before I began any activity I first had to become familiar with what the students
were learning. The reason why is because they were five years old and I never worked
with such a young age group. The teacher then told me that every week they learn a new
letter from the alphabet. I thought and thought what I could do. Then it came to me.
Perfect. I then asked the teacher if they had learned the letter Dd and she said, “No.”
Then I went home and thought of some activities that I can do that will incorporate math,
science, and technology. I began my first lesson by introducing the letter Dd by telling
them the sound the letter Dd makes and how to write the letter. The next day I went over
four animals that begin with the letter Dd, which are dog, duck, dinosaur, and dolphin.
We sang poems and colored pictures of the animals, as well as create a collage of the
different Dd animals. The following day we created a bar graph together. Yes, a bar
graph for Pre-K. I began by taking a class poll on the student’s favorite Dd animal and
writing the amount on the board. Then, I showed the class how a bar graph looks and its
purpose which is to show how many. Then each student received a square cut paper so
they can paste on top of their favorite Dd animal. They had a blast. Lastly, for technology
I had some of the children go on the computer and type the letter Dd on Microsoft Word
and others to try and draw a Dd animal on Paint It. As a result, I believe both the students
and I benefited “the most” from my Service Learning experience because we both
learned at the same time. They learned all about the letter Dd through math, science,
technology and art. I learned how to teach five year olds one topic that had to be learned
through the given subjects while making learning fun. Service Learning is “worthwhile”
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to college students because I believe a student can gain a better insight into their
prospective career.
Service Learning gave me a better insight into teaching. I learned many teaching
strategies and skills from my cooperating teacher. When I completed the week long
lesson, she came up to me and said, “You did such an amazing job. I would have never
thought of the things you did with them. Wow! You have to come back and show me
some more.” When the teacher said that I felt great because she is a teacher and I am not
a teacher yet and she was asking me for pointers. Then I asked her if she knew what
Service Learning was and she did not have a clue. When I explained what Service
Learning was she said that her Masters Program was a 48 credit program and there was
no time for Service Learning.
Service Learning should be required for all college students so they can actually
experience how their related field will be. After completing my Service Learning hours I
had a better insight into how teaching might be and what I should expect throughout the
day. “Research has shown that service learning helps to enhance moral knowledge and
help make individuals become more aware of their own attitudes and biases”
(Alexandrowicz & Jujawa, 1998; Anderson & Guest, 1993). Service Learning does
develop a persons understanding of their career choice and assists them in gaining more
knowledge about their field.
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