Five Directions of a Star
“You should not grow in one direction such as up or down, but in five like a star.”
I believe that no person should grow in only one direction. Students should be provided the opportunity to grow in at least five directions, like a star. My enlightening service learning experience has provided me with many ways to assist my students in growing to their full potential. Creating a kindergarten community, utilizing a diverse curriculum, managing the class with techniques, connecting with the students and cultures, and being aware are the five star directions I learned in my service learning. A community can sometimes be a challenge to create, but by implementing exciting and educational songs, a kindergarten classroom can come together.
I knocked on room six, but no answer, then all of a sudden I heard screaming, “A goes a-a-a, B goes b-b-b, C goes c-c-c…” I walked around the corner to the sound and there stood 80+ kindergarteners screaming and holding up letters of the alphabet. No one would have known what culture each child belonged to without actually seeing them, the voices sounded like any other group of kindergarteners. The song the students were singing was the ABC song from Zoo Phonics. Each letter has an animal associated with it, along with a movement and sound. This approach teaches the students the letters and sounds, while accommodating all types of learners; kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. Since every student in the classroom is of a different culture than mine, I connected with the technique of songs in the classroom. No matter what culture any student belongs to, singing songs as a class helps to create a kindergarten community. This also creates a sense of self-respect for each other allowing a great way to bridge the gaps between children from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Since singing songs can create a community, adding a performance with that song, in front of the whole school, creates a bond with teamwork among the students. The four kindergarten teachers and their classes were out on the grass acting out the ABC Zoo Phonics animals and singing all together. The children were practicing for Friday’s performance in front of the school. Every Friday, the entire school comes together on the outside bleachers for the morning announcements, salute to the flag, and the morning entertainment. Each week, a new grade performs for the entertainment and the first week I visited was the kindergartener’s turn. Because each classroom has so many different cultures represented, the entertainment and songs are chosen is also very diverse. Once I made eye contact with Mrs. Sanchez*, my service learning teacher, she knew who I was right away. She signaled me to come over and I started singing and dancing and using the hand movements with the children. It was so natural and easy to join in, that any child, no matter where they are from, would feel comfortable doing the same. The performance in front of the school went wonderful and the students’ faces lit up with the utmost excitement. As I completed my hours at
It was a drizzly and wet day, but not rainy enough for a school rainy day schedule allowing the students to still play outside at recess. When recess was over, Mrs. Sanchez and I went to get the students off the playground. Because the majority of the students had practically rolled in the wet sand, covering them, I did not believe it would be good to track a ton of sand into the classroom. Since I was not able to communicate well with all the students, I thought of something they all would understand and that would cross all language barriers. While Mrs. Sanchez was getting the students in the back of the line to stop talking and pay attention, I placed my hand on my head in a soldier salute, my other hand on my hip, and stood at the head of the line at attention. I instructed the students to do the same and they marched and stomped the sand off their clothes and shoes. By capturing my students’ interests, it served a great purpose. Classroom management is extremely important to me, and throughout my service learning experiences, I have learned numerous creative techniques to keep children from all walks of life involved and organized. As a teacher, I will have to find a common ground to keep my students attention since there is usually a vast diversity in each classroom. Encouragement needs to be present in order for each student to feel comfortable so they will learn to the best of their ability and every culture can have different ways of showing this.
Since singing is universal across the globe, combining songs with lessons, to support and encourage the children, I found, to be an effective and useful way to reach a diverse set of students. “Put your hands together like a rocket or firecracker and make an ‘Ssssssss’ sound like an explosion waiting to happen. Extend your hands all the way up and while you break them apart, shout ‘Hurray’ and then sprinkle your hands down like a firecracker!” This was an easy way to manage the children, which is a large part of Mrs. Sanchez’s classroom and it wasn’t hard for her to communicate these songs to children of different backgrounds. When the students completed a task or activity, Mrs. Sanchez would praise the students in several different ways. The self-esteem booster is another way of praising which dealt with a part of a hip-hop song. Mrs. Sanchez changed the ending, “Na, na, na, na, - na, na, na, hey, hey, hey, good job!” My favorite way that she praised them was when the students drew a box with their fingers in the air in front of their face, and on each corner, they click, click, click, click! Then at the end, they say, “look-in’ good” as their shake they body. Some children found the “dancing” easy because their families do it all the time, while others were more shy about “shaking” because this is something that their families never did. It’s just the difference between cultures. The children love praise and encouragement which is one thing that every culture can relate to. Because every child needs to know and feels he or she is succeeding, and positive encouragement is one way to do that. Students from every culture, anywhere in the world, will succeed when they know there are those that believe in them. Teachers can be the ones who give support and help a child realize their full potential.
The backgrounds and futures of students are complex and diverse in their own ways, therefore, learning about the cultures will allow me to better connect with them. Once, on a rainy day schedule, after watching a video about professions, everyone drew a picture of what they wanted to be when they grow up and wrote a sentence describing their dream below the picture. Some of the professions the students came up with were firemen, police men, military solider, movie star, doctor, teacher, or an astronaut, which were right out of the video. There were some really funny, yet creative professions also; zoo keeper, flower-girl, snake-girl, or princess. What children drew and wrote about was strongly influenced by their backgrounds and cultures. My favorite two of all the professions were a dinosaur and a first grader. I learned that teachers need to create lessons that use their students’ imagination and get their minds engaged. Mrs. Camacho, a speaker I had the opportunity to listen to stated, “What ever you are teaching, attach it to something personal!” Professions are all around us and children can relate to professions from their parents to people they see and meet everyday. My service learning experience taught me the importance of appreciating the different values of different cultures. It also taught me that as a teacher, I need to learn as much about my students’ cultures and become actively involved in the topics that surround their communities and backgrounds. By learning about my students and being aware of their culture I have a better possibility of helping them be successful individuals and successful in their own communities.
Being aware of their differences is very important because diverse cultures surround us and sometimes these differences are not even realized. I asked Mrs. Sanchez about her classroom and ways she teaches her Spanish speaking kindergarteners. I asked about the children speaking Spanish and English in the classroom and when she started to explain what she does, I was caught off guard by a comment she began with, “These children are all children of my culture and we speak Spanish.” For the rest of the few minute conversation, what she said went in one ear and out the other. I was so startled about her comment, and that it was all I could think about. I realized that the majority of the students were of a different culture than mine, but the thought of the teacher being a different culture than mine never crossed my mind. This conversation taught me that I need to be aware of what cultures are in my classroom and with whom I will be teaching or interacting. I need to make connections with my students’ cultures as well as the surrounding cultures from the parents and school faculty.
Through the five star directions which I learned in my service learning, I gained insight into the teaching world that I never knew before. This experience has opened my eyes to the significance of recognizing diversity and allowed me to learn about a culture I otherwise wouldn’t have known anything about. I used the vast diversity in the classroom to my advantage and assisted the students in learning, while I helped create an actively involved, positive classroom. The experience I had at Lowell Elementary taught me extensively about diversity, and acceptance, as well as teaching me aspects about myself that I never knew existed. I felt comfortable in every situation, and now I am able to look at teaching in better and more diverse way.
*Names were changed
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