This semester I was a more active participant during classroom activities.  The students made me feel like a teacher, allowing me to have more confidence to jump right into various teaching situations.  I worked daily one-on-one with a girl named Liz.  I read stories to her, helped her with the letters of the alphabet, and assisted her in building a castle replica.  With another student, Clint, I worked with him on how to use a calculator, typing a letter, and counting to ten.  It was rewarding watching these two improve over the course of the time I was there.  I was glad to know I was making a difference in their lives because I was engaging in their educational activities without hesitation.  In the future, I want to continue to be an integral part of the classroom as I take more initiative to work with the students.

This semester I noticed the individualized curriculum and attention given to every student.  Since there were only seven students in this class, I think it was easier for the teacher and her four aides to spend one-on-one time with each child.  Once day I was there for gym class where the students had an opportunity for riding bicycles.  Since there are only two bikes, the other students walked around the track with a teacher-buddy to just talk.  I conversed with Liz for about an hour, learning of her interests, weaknesses, and background.  It is important for every child to feel valued and for the teacher to always be available to talk with each student.  I was given the opportunity to look at the IEPs of all the students.  I came to understand the time and energy a teacher gives to make sure each child is meeting their objectives and receiving their required services.  While I was helping a girl color, another was folding socks, while one boy was painting, and another was typing in Word.  Each one was working on their individualized assignments.  I am glad that I had the opportunity to reflect on this concept from a teacher’s perspective.  I have come a long way in accepting multiple perspectives and being open-minded with new teaching methods.  My goal in this area is to not just see different styles of teaching, but to try them out for myself to see if they work for me.

I enjoyed the experiences I had in the resource classroom at Highland High School because they allowed me to learn a lot about exceptional learners and about myself.  I still have areas that I need to work on in regards to service learning.  I need to make more connections between the community, the district, and my school placement because this can better help me to differentiate from what is beyond a teacher’s control.  I also want to ask the teacher if I can present a lesson to the class, instead of teaching the lessons she has already prepared.  Lastly, I need to work on my classroom management skills.  I want to have more self-confidence in myself to discipline students if they are causing problems.  I can not always rely upon others to control the students for me.  These are my goals for future service learning placements, but I will still examine myself for other areas I can change.  I am looking forward to completing service learning again, hopefully to continue my personal growth and to apply what I have already learned into classroom settings.  I will always be try to improving myself because as Gordon B. Hinckley once said, “Try a little harder to be a little better.”