Luong: Service Learning

The upper division service-learning class I took was Span 301S with Professor Urioste. I completed my service learning at Marina Elementary School as a first grade teacher’s aid. The majority of the student’s I worked with were of Hispanic background whose first language was Spanish. My responsibilities were to assist the students with their assignments and make sure that they’re on their best behaviors. Sometimes the student’s don’t understand clearly the instructions the teacher gives them, so I walk around the classroom explaining the instructions to students individually.
As I observed the class watching the students perform their daily assignments, I noticed that many of the Hispanic students interchanged their languages between speaking Spanish and English. After a couple of visits, I decided to choose a case study for this class and work closely with a student whose primary language is Spanish, learning English. The student I worked with is named Fernando. Fernando is a 7 years old boy who speaks broken English. I would start to speak to him in English, and when I found it difficult for him to keep up, I switched to Spanish. It was difficult teaching him math at first because I wasn’t familiar at first with how to explain certain problems and I didn’t know any math terms in Spanish. I discovered that using props helped and that he was more of a hands-on learner. In assisting Fernando with writing in his daily journal, I realized that I learned a good amount from him as he did from me. I always try to describe the explanation to him in. I was able to explain the instructions to him in Spanish but when I stumbled upon a word I didn’t know how to say, Fernando helped me out. I helped Fernando with structuring his sentences and how to pronounce certain words that were difficult for him. It always puts a smile on my face when the students I help finally understand the problem and to see their faces light up because they did the work all by themselves.
It is always a challenge working with children at the ages of six and seven. You need a great amount of patience to work with them. I needed to be ready for ten students asking for my help or attention at the same time, and it was very overwhelming at first. Though they may have given me a headache sometimes with all questions and stories they bombard me with, I’ve always enjoyed working with kids no matter how much on my nerves they can get. They have such an imagination and care for you that you can’t help but smile and laugh with them.
As I observed the class watching the students perform their daily assignments, I noticed that many of the Hispanic students interchanged their languages between speaking Spanish and English. After a couple of visits, I decided to choose a case study for this class and work closely with a student whose primary language is Spanish, learning English. The student I worked with is named Fernando. Fernando is a 7 years old boy who speaks broken English. I would start to speak to him in English, and when I found it difficult for him to keep up, I switched to Spanish. It was difficult teaching him math at first because I wasn’t familiar at first with how to explain certain problems and I didn’t know any math terms in Spanish. I discovered that using props helped and that he was more of a hands-on learner. In assisting Fernando with writing in his daily journal, I realized that I learned a good amount from him as he did from me. I always try to describe the explanation to him in. I was able to explain the instructions to him in Spanish but when I stumbled upon a word I didn’t know how to say, Fernando helped me out. I helped Fernando with structuring his sentences and how to pronounce certain words that were difficult for him. It always puts a smile on my face when the students I help finally understand the problem and to see their faces light up because they did the work all by themselves.
It is always a challenge working with children at the ages of six and seven. You need a great amount of patience to work with them. I needed to be ready for ten students asking for my help or attention at the same time, and it was very overwhelming at first. Though they may have given me a headache sometimes with all questions and stories they bombard me with, I’ve always enjoyed working with kids no matter how much on my nerves they can get. They have such an imagination and care for you that you can’t help but smile and laugh with them.