Prompt #1

For my service learning project I was assigned to a Providence Elementary School. The neighborhood surrounding the school is possibly one of the worst neighborhoods in the city. There are many shootings and supposedly members of one of the biggest Laotian gangs lives on the same street as the elementary school. I had been to this school many times before and had even volunteered in this school before. The first difference I noticed while walking into the school was that there was now a bullet hole in the teachers parking lot sign. It really made me feel uneasy and I very quickly ran into the building. The building hadn’t changed much from the last time I had been there, the school is dated but clean and there are many colorful posters and signs encouraging the children to do well. I knew this was going to be a great experience.

After being buzzed into the school I went to the main office. The secretaries were very kind and showed me where the VIPS binder was kept and introduced me to my teacher. I would be working in Mrs. F’s Direct Instruction class room as a reading buddy. Mrs. F has one of the best classrooms in the building. The walls are a pastel blue with sponge painted clouds (she had painted the classroom herself a couple of summers ago). Her classroom is actually split into two by a wall and a large door connecting the two. On the right side there are three tables. There is one large table that sits about 10 students in the center of the room, a round table that sits about 6, and a smaller table to the back corner that sits 2. The center table is where Mrs. F most often works with the students as a group sitting amongst them. Mrs. F desk is by the main door to the classroom. It is covered by pictures of her students and her family and water marks left behind from her daily Dunkin Donuts iced coffee (which she calls her sanity medication). In the far back corner there is the teachers aid desk for Mrs. C. The classroom on the other side of the wall is much smaller. The floor is covered by a large area rug where the children can sit when Mrs. F reads to them before the beginning of each class. There are only a few small tables for the students to do their work and one larger table where Mrs. F sits to work with each student one on one. There are no desks in either of Mrs. F’s classrooms because she values group work. She believes that there is no better way to learn then working with others. She also believes that each student will learn respect for one another because they will see how each child learns and behaves and will have a better understanding of who that child is.

The students I work with are hilarious. I work with students from kindergarten to first grade and help them to learn to read. My first time being there all the students wanted to do was to find out who I was, why I was there, and if they got to work with me. Mrs. F split her students into two groups. One group went to the left side of the room the other half went to the right side of the room. She then set me up at the round table on the right side with 4 students. The group of four kids and I went around introducing ourselves. When I got to the fourth person in my group the little boy told me, “My names Young Money and baby I be rollin!” before I could even say anything Mrs. F was over to the table to talk to “Young Money”. She announced to him and the class that I was an adult they were to respect me like they do everyone else in her classroom. From her actions you could tell that respect for one another is highly valued in her classroom. I left my first day of service learning wanting to go back as soon as I could!