EDUC 2300 Introduction to Education

Service Learning
Journal Entries

NAME: Morgan Chambers

VISION FOR MY FUTURE

Here is what I want to accomplish this year:
Education: I am going to graduate from Walters State Community College and begin my
education at East Tennessee State University for two years. I am working hard to obtain all the
information that I can so I am better prepared to enter into our educational system.
Career: This year I am going to continue striving to be the best that I can be at my current job.
Nothing pays off more than hard work and proving your character in a work environment. I will
be continuing my education and working on it to the best of my ability in preparation for my
future career.
Family and Friends: I am striving to be the best family member and friend that I can be. I have
made a lot of new connections, and I want to become closer to them. As I have gotten older, I
have realized how important my family is to me. Therefore, my goal for the year is to get closer
to my family and cherish any time I may get with them. We have all began to reach that point
where we are going our separate ways and I am trying to appreciate the time I get to spend with
them.
Involvement and Service to My Community: I am involved with several organizations around
Jefferson County, and I enjoy being a part of my community! I participate in anything from food
distribution to feeding or walking dogs.
Personal Growth: I am working hard this year to trust God and His word and to be obedient to
Him. There is no better place to be than in the center of Gods will and I believe with all my
heart that teaching is what God has called me to do. If I can just trust and obey God, then I know
that all other things will fall into place, and He will mold me and make me into who I am needed
to be.

Service Learning Project

Name: Morgan Chambers

Course Title: EDUC 2300
Date: March 03, 2016
Agency Name: Jefferson Elementary School
Agencys Mission Statement/ Grades Served/ Community Needs:
Mission Statement: Jefferson Elementary School, in partnership with the community, will
inspire students to dream, to give, and enjoy life through quality education.
Jefferson Elementary School serves grades Pre-K-Fifth and is considered a Title I school.
They have a lot of children in poverty, and many do not have supportive families at home. This
school certainly needs the love and support of teachers.
Prologue:

I specifically chose to sit in with Mrs. G for my service learning project because I have
substituted for her on many occasions and I always have a hard time controlling her classroom. I
wanted to sit in and see how she managed her Kindergarten class from day to day. I am very
excited to learn new techniques and gain a better understanding of classroom control. I am sure
that I will be able to consistently connect the material that I have learned in EDUC 2300 to what
I observe during my service learning. I look forward to being able to see how book work plays
out in real- life scenarios. I am a bit nervous about how the other teachers and students will
perceive me. I am hoping to be able to share some of the technology that I have been taught to
them, and some teachers do not appreciate technology as much as others. My goal throughout
this service learning experience is to learn new techniques on how to efficiently control a
classroom and watch and see how all the book knowledge I have gained will appear and reflect
throughout a typical school day.
Journal Entry 1
First Agency Visit: (Overview of Events)
I met with the principal of Jefferson Elementary School, to discuss my service learning
project for my education class. We completed all required paperwork.
I was allowed to go on down to Mrs. Gs room and speak with her about my service
learning and everything it would entail. She was ecstatic for me to be there because she could
finally do some projects and fun activities with the children that she could not do otherwise
because of the limited helpers available to her. We spoke about how we would work out our
schedules and set up the times for me to come by to observe and participate.

ABCs of Reflections
Affect: As I began my service learning I was excited, interested, and nervous to see what
I could learn from observing Mrs. Gs Kindergarten class. I was nervous because I feared that
Mrs. G would think that I was completely unprepared and did not have what it takes to be a
teacher. However, she assured me the entire time that she had doubts when she began teaching
also, and that it was normal. I was interested to see how Mrs. G controlled her classroom day-today because I had, had such a hard time gaining control of them when I had substituted for her
before. I was also excited to see how I could learn from her example and relate real-life scenarios
to what I have learned in my EDUC 2300 classroom.
Behavior: This week I observed Mrs. G in her classroom and watched the students
respond to her style of teaching. I was amazed at how well they behaved for her! She had
complete and total control of her classroom. Mrs. G had a signature sound to use when her
students were getting too loud and she did not give them multiple chances to correct their
behavior.
Cognition/Content: I learned that it really does matter how you approach your
classroom. A teacher has to establish the rules on day one and never stray from them. Mrs. Smith
taught us this as a teaching tool in EDUC 2300. It was a great opportunity to observe how far
respect goes- even in a Kindergarten classroom.

Journal Entry 2

First Agency Visit: (Overview of Events)

At my second agency visit, I walked down to Mrs. Gs room and began observing when
school started, because she had some activities planned for the day that I was to help with. I got
the opportunity to lead small groups with a matching game for phonics, read a story to the whole
class for their circle time, and help them with their mathematics.

ABCs of Reflections
Affect: I was nervous about interacting with the students in front of Mrs. G, but I was
also very excited because I knew that I was going to get to participate, and she would be there to
help guide me if I needed help.
Behavior: My actions this week were very efficient! I am so glad I had the opportunity
to participate this week! When it was story time, all the children gathered around my chair in a

circle, and one of the students went to get the book and bring it to me. On his way back, he
accidently dropped the book, and all of the pages came out because it was an old book. I tried to
put the pages back together, but the pages were not numbered, so it was near to impossible to put
it back together. Mrs. G told the class that we would have to skip reading the book that day
because it would take too long to piece it back together. The students were so disappointed
because they thought we would not be able to read the story. I thought quickly about what I could
do and remembered one of my projects in my EDUC 2300 class. I had found a book on youtube
that was read aloud, so I looked to see if that book was on youtube and it was! I pulled the book
up on the promethean board, and the children got to listen to the book after all. The class and
teacher was so impressed!
Cognition/Content: On this particular day I was able to use the technology that I had
learned from my EDUC 2300 class to save the day in the kindergarten class that I was
observing. It was so neat to be able to pull up the book that they were supposed to have read
online and let someone else read it to them and let the children see the pictures of the book on the
promethean board. I was also allowed to pull up a sight word game for the children to play as
well. The teacher and the students loved all the technology that I was able to bring to the
classroom.

Journal Entry 3

First Agency Visit: (Overview of Events)

On my third agency visit, Mrs. G allowed me to treat the class as if they were my
students. I had the opportunity to deliver the lessons and interact with the students. The day
began by splitting the classroom up into their ability group, which is during an activity called
SWARM. There were four groups total and they all separated. Two of the groups went out of the
classroom with other teachers and then the other two groups split up and went to different places
in the room where they all worked on something that was geared toward what they needed help
with.
When SWARM time was over, we carried on with our day, which included calendar time,
special areas (gym), lunch, phonics, reading, science, and finally recess. It was a great day
overall and I learned a lot from the children and Mrs. G when she would direct me.

ABCs of Reflections

Affect: I was very happy to see that Jefferson Elementary School participated in
SWARM. At first, I was a little thrown off by it and thought that it was a waste of time and
interrupted the teachers day. However, I have come to the realization that SWARM is a great
idea. It allows students who need extra help to learn in different ways, shapes, and forms. It was
awesome to see the progress of the students just within the 45-minute time frame of the swarm
activity.
Behavior: I was given a group that was struggling with reading. We played word bingo,
and the children loved it! It was such a great way to try and teach them sounds of letters and
words!
Cognition/Content: On this particular day I was able to relate a lot to Gardners Multiple
Intelligences that I have learned about in my EDUC 2300 class. A prime example of it was when
the children were divided up in to groups based on their ability level. They were divided up in
groups alike so that they could work on the subject or motor skill that they were struggling with.
My group worked on phonics, and we used pictures, sounds, and letters to reinforce the phonetic
spellings that they were struggling with.

Epilogue:
Reflect on your semesters service learning experience.
Overall, this service learning experience did more than meet my expectations! I have learned
so much through this opportunity, and I am incredibly grateful that I was able to experience this
growth and relate it to my class work. I am so excited to further my education and eventually have
my classroom!
Revisit the prologue. Have your expectations been met?
My expectations were met during this semester of service learning! I learned so much from
Mrs. G and I was able to relate so much of the information that I learned in my EDUC 2300 to reallife scenarios. I learned a lot about myself and made some changes to my philosophy through this
experience. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to observe and learn from a Kindergarten
teacher and compare her strategies with the strategies that I had prepared.
How have you been surprised, delighted, or dismayed by the experience? Give specific
examples.
I have been very surprised and delighted with how much I have learned about myself and
how much I have already grown in being a substitute teacher. I always want to be the good guy and
let children have multiple chances before they get in trouble and through my service learning and
substituting experience I have learned that you just simply cannot do that if you want to control your
classroom. My EDUC 2300 teacher taught us this at the very beginning of her class, and I guess that
I just had to experience it before I completely believed it. When I substituted her classroom for the
first time I left that day in tears and ready to give up because I did not think I could be a teacher. It
seemed as though I messed everything up and no one would listen to me. When I came back to
observe Mrs. G I was amazed at how well they behaved for her. She would discipline them and call

them down, and they would still want to love all over her. Prior to this experience, I lived in a fairy
tale world where I thought that if I punished them, they would not like me. I have realized that loving
a child is not always just being kind, but teaching them in the ways they should walk. What came to
mind when I was experiencing this is the Bible verse where it talks about if you spare the rod you
hate your child, but if you chastise them then you love them. I was missing the whole meaning of
loving children and teaching them in the way they should go and was worried about what they
thought of me instead. I am so thankful I was able to have this experience and learn from it! My
whole mindset and/or philosophy has been changed in this area completely.
How could this experience be improved?
I did not have any problems at all with service learning. I already had my fingerprinting and
background check completed from a previous class, so that was not a hassle for me this time. I
enjoyed the time I got with the students and teacher that I observed during service learning. I learned
so much and I am so excited to return to a classroom to observe even more!

VISION FOR MY FUTURE

Here is what I want to accomplish in the next five years:
Education: In five years I will have completed my education through ETSU and will have a job!
I probably will not be going back for a higher degree until I have a job and a family established.
Career: It is so exciting to think that five years from now I will have my own classroom! I will
be working hard each and every day to teach my (school) kids to the best of my ability and
preparing them for their next adventures through education. I desire to make a positive impact on
each one of my students.
Family and Friends: In five years I see myself settled down and having a family of my own. I
am sure I will have plenty of new and old friends that God has placed in my life. Five years
seems so far away until you really look at it, then it is like it happens in a blink of an eye. I am
very excited about starting a new journey and having a house and family to call my own.
Involvement and Service to My Community: I am already heavily involved in my community
and church organizations; therefore, I see myself continuing to be involved and even join in other
organizations over the next five years.
Personal Growth: I am going to continue working hard to become the teacher, friend, daughter,
and potential wife and mother that I am going to need to be. I know that I will never be perfect,
but there will never be any harm in trying to be as close to perfect as I can be. I know I will
continue to strive to be the young woman God has created me to be and I could not be any more
excited to see the young woman I become over the next five years.
REFLECTIONS

Here are the Knowledge and Skills that I have acquired as a direct result of taking part in
this Service Learning project:
Throughout service learning this semester I have learned many things! I am really glad
that I was able to compare this service learning experience to my personal experience in the
classroom by myself, with the same children. I was able to see how to handle many real life
scenarios. I learned what it means to balance control in the classroom, observe what it is like to
have disabled children in a regular classroom, and how to change and create plans at the last
minute when the normal plans are not working.
Here is how this Service Learning project ties in with my
EDUC 2300 Introduction to Education class:
I was able to use a lot of things that I learned from my EDUC 2300 class while I was
participating in service learning. There were many great technological features that I was able to
introduce to my service learning teacher and she has begun using them since she learned about
them. They loved being able to incorporate technology into their everyday teaching strategies. I
was also able to help with making plans for the classroom that would incorporate the teachers
special needs students, which is a part of Gardners Multiple Intelligences theory. Another way I
was able to connect to my EDUC 2300 class is by practicing what I was taught about classroom
control. I was taught to never go back on my word or more or less be a push over and I made
the mistake of letting things slide and I lost all respect and control of the classroom. I have
learned a lot of very helpful things through my EDUC 2300 class.
My Contribution to the Community
I have devoted 23 hours to my Service Learning project. Here are four lasting experiences that
are an outcome of my Service Learning project:
1. I have learned first-hand that all children cannot learn the same way and that as a teacher, I
will constantly have to be learning my students and how to teach each one of them.
2. I have learned that every teacher needs a signature word, phrase, look, or object that
controls the classroom.
3. I have learned a lot about myself and how to balance a classroom. Prior to service learning I
struggled to find the balance between kindness and discipline. I wanted to give everybody
second and third chances, but they will never take you seriously unless you reinforce rules.
4. Mrs. Smith told us in class that you cannot go back on your word. If you say that the next
person that talks out of turn has to pull a card, then you better make them pull a card and
make believers out of them. I learned that this is 100% true from comparing my service
learning to my substitute teaching.