Learn and Serve September 28th (2 hours) and Class Reflection

LAST CLASS
During the last class, even with all of the technology I left the class feeling much more confident and better about classes in the future than I did when coming in. I do have to say that the quizzes and technology are still making me somewhat uneasy because I am not sure what to expect. I am not a person that does well with not know exactly what is going on; I like everything to be written out in black and white. I do feel as though I am becoming more confident with technology and finding it easier to try to figure out what is supposed to be done. This makes me feel good because I have never been one to really like working with the computer. They have always been a source of frustration for me.

During class we were asked to go out and take pictures of something that would be considered an environmental risk factor. I chose to take a picture of an ATM because this could demonstrate a risk factor in many different ways. If a family doesn't have enough money to buy the necessities and this problem is exposed to the children, then this could put a lot of stress on that student. Also this could mean that the child is not being fed properly; there is a lack of money for proper medical care, along with many other factors all of which will inevitably lead to poor performance in school. How could a student focus if they are dealing with all of these other problems? If they are focusing on an empty stomach it would be impossible to do school work.
First Day of Learn and Serve



I started learn and serve this past Monday September 28th. This is a week late due to the fact that I was placed late.
I am placed in a first grade inclusion classroom at Hyde Park Elementary School.
I have learned little about the students so far and do not know who my teacher is yet. My observation teacher was sick so there was a substitute in the class for the day. My first day was a pretty rough one. Since there was a substitute I was forced to just walk in and figure it out on my own. This can be considered a learning experience as I was already nervous and then on top of that I was taken out of my comfort zone. Although the sub knew that I was going to be there she was not very friendly and really ignored the fact that I was there at all. I was forced to just go with the flow and get through the day.
I tried to identify some of the student on my own. Seeing who was easily distracted, had trouble behaving themselves, and who was very quiet and kept to themselves.
When I first came in the students were having writing time and their task was to write a story about something that they knew well. The substitute teacher put two of the boys with me; I was to help them write their stories. These two students did have a lot of trouble focusing on their task at hand, they where all over the place. I also only felt like the sub put me with the students so that I was in the corner and me and these "problem" students were out of her way.
During the course of time that I was there, there was a different teacher who came into the room to teach a lesson and she used the smart board. Although the students still maintained their same behaviors as before the teacher had a much better way with classroom management and a way of making everyone focus on her. Also using the smart board as a tool was amazing. She was able to have the students come up and play games while they were learning at the same time; it is a wonderful tool.
My first day way definitely stressful but very good and at the same time it was a wonderful learning experience. Children have a lot of stress no matter what age they are at. They have to manage their school experience and their home life. If kids have a bad home life this can make school only that much more difficult if they are constantly focusing and thinking about what is going on at home how are they supposed to be able to be successful in school, this is a lot to ask for. I don't think teacher and councilors realize how much stress students are under at all ages. As teachers it is important to remember that we never know everything that is going on in a student's life and we really need to take this into consideration when evaluating students.

Chapter six in the text (Kirk, Gallagher, Coleman, & Anastasiow, 2009), describes the fact that family life and family history play a very large role in the way that a student will conduct themselves. If a child lives in a home where there is much aggression and punishment is done through aggressive behaviors that child is more likely to grow up and have these behaviors themselves over an individual who grows up in a home where these behaviors are not as present. At young ages much of a child's learning is done at home and they often model what they see because they do not know any better at the time. Some students learn that what they are seeing at home is not right and others never do and their behavior ends up going in a downward spiral.

Kirk S. , Gallagher J.J. , Coleman M.R. , & Anastasiow N. (2009). Educating Exceptional Children (12th ed. , pp. 183-217). Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.