Running Head: Service Learning Reflective Summary Report

Service Learning Reflective Summary Report

Sebastian Vaughn Brookshire
Ivy Tech Community College

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Abstract
The report is based off the point of view of a student who possibly senses a future in the
education line. The whole point of this report was made to inform the readers about the
observations that were made throughout the whole experience which was to show the readers the
simple connections between proper ways of teaching along with the students own belief system
about these ideas. The report also informs the readers about the diversity which has affected us
future teachers in the classroom, the readings demonstrate the possible ways students who
require different learning methods or students who simply abide by different rules due to the
ethnic that particular student is in. With the knowledge gained from reading this report, each
reader is to understand the observations that were made in the class and are able to notice the
aspects of diversity and how it has affected us as teachers in a classroom.

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Service Learning Reflective Summary Report

Introduction.
When I opened the doors of Center Grove Middle School Central I knew I was going to
finally experience what its like to be a teacher and how each of them perform their duties. The
environment was my old middle school. The department I would be observing is the music
department of the school, Mr. Samuel Fritz is the teacher that I would be observing over the next
couple weeks; I would soon learn important ways in order to become a very successful music
teacher. The sections of the music department that I observed was the choir, symphony,
orchestra, and percussion and I even got to witness some of Samuels new woodwind instruments
for his upcoming class. Samuel also had Lego sets that he himself collected throughout the years
since his childhood, not only that but a giant poster of Jimi Hendrix hangs lively above his
computer which was a pretty intensive way to enlighten his room along with his desktop drum
set. As I took a walk around the inside of the school after one of my services I felt as if I was
walking on memory lane, here I was 20 years old when I used to come to this school when I was
14. As I take a look on how the times have gotten to me it occurred to me that I was a new man, I
was ready to take hold of this experience. My opinion with the overview of the school so far is
that is a very friendly natured school where everyone is so ready to go with their teaching
which is in fact very rare; many schools do not unfortunately carry out that tradition but Center
Grove is definitely known for it.
Relate Service Learning Experience to the Classroom.
One of the things that I experienced during my service learning was the use of proper
communication throughout the classroom. From what I learned through this experience, is that

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you can never go wrong with enough communication skills; with appropriate communication,
each student in your class is more than likely to understand the concepts from your point of view.
After witnessing the use of proper communication; I would relate this to the time we learned
about the different methods of teaching. During the class meet-up in session four, we learned
about the Multiple Intelligence Theory which is a variety of methods that were made to help
students understand through different ways of teaching. Session four taught students how to
develop those methods of teaching so that you as a teacher know the multiple ways of teaching
so that every student gets their daily dose of knowledge. Proper communication not only makes
your students see things in your point of view but it can also enlighten the moods throughout
your classroom as well. In her article, Julie Tansill explains to us In order to foster positive
relationships within the classroom, it is important to have open communication among the
teacher and the students. (Tansill 2010) Another thing that I learned through the experience was
the sense of credibility as a person in general. Teachers tend to keep their credibility in line by
dressing in the proper attire for work, once your suited appropriately youre ready to go; with the
use of formal attire shows other peers your professionalism and they will notice that once you
dress up for occasion means that you as a teacher care about doing your profession. I can relate
this part of the experience to where we all had to come to class on the second day of the course
wearing nothing but formal attire.
Classroom Environment and Student Learning.
When it came to Mr. Samuel Fritzes multiple methods theory where he kept several ways
of teaching in mind, I would most definitely accept this method of teaching and I would most
certainly use it when it comes to the time to when you are a teacher maintaining a class. This
method also relates to the time when we learned about the multiple intelligence theory in class,

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in his interview, Howard Gardner explains to us viewers the idea of multiple intelligence comes
from psychology, it was a theory that was developed to document the fact that human beings
have very different kinds of intellectual strengths. (Gardner 2009) Discipline is one thing but
when you have to think of a way to get to your students to listen to you, thats another thing. Fred
Jones explains to us that 50 % of class time is lost due to student misbehavior, and that
approximately 99% of those typical classroom disruptions result from pupils talking without
permission, daydreaming, making noise or wandering around the room. (Jones 2012) however,
there is always that one question, is the method system that I choose for my students safe and
harmless? Theres always the card flipping system however, many teachers find that the system
has its way of ranking its students and it is known that it decreases the students dignity in
school. My personal belief system on the whole card flipping system is that I find its a way to
categorize students which could possibly diminish your students confidence and self-esteem, I
would reject this method in a classroom.
Future Teacher.
Throughout the entire observation I felt that I was constantly learning and I
learned that proper communication is key when it comes to maintaining an average classroom I
believe that it is the strongest factor to have when it comes to being a teacher in general.
Reflecting on my mindset and skills I feel as if the main thing that needs to be further developed
is the use of different types of public speaking in a classroom. Another skill we observed from
the class observations that was an important factor is the use of different teaching methods.
When it came to his methods of teaching, Samuel demonstrated quite a number of them and he
told that it is always good to know a couple of other teaching methods in mind. Sam has told me
that this technique is severely useful because you never know when youll get a student who just

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so happens to have special needs, or a student from a different country who abides by certain
ethnic rules that differ from your own. Another key element of being a successful teacher is
patience, without patience your stability in controlling a classroom is more likely to be
unsuccessful along with ineffective management skills towards your students. The reason that I
chose these areas of strength and growth is because when it comes to large groups and squirmy
kids, proper public speaking skills along with the patience to deal with the situation makes it so
that each of the students are properly getting their knowledge and that you as a teacher manage
to keep yourself in line.
Summary.
With the knowledge that was gained from this wonderful experience, I believe that I have
definitely learned a lot from this observational journey. We went over the general aspects of the
Service Learning including a little background on the school, in which each of the staff members
played their part by keeping their positive attitudes in line. We also took the time to look back on
the experience and relate it to something that happened during the observation to something that
we have learned through the portion of the course. We examined the basic classroom
environment and the students learning in a classroom, we talked about the essential
environmental factors, cultures, and particular families and how they affect the classroom
environment and the students learning. We also went over the methods that were being observed
in the classroom and using the Accept, Reject, or Refine theory where we had to choose to
either accept those ways, reject them, or refine the teaching methods. We also connected our
observations to what we have been studying throughout the course, through a teacher interview,
and along with the use of my own belief system. We also used our imaginations and envision
ourselves in the future as if we were teachers in the new millennium, we also took time and

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reviewed the skills we have observed from the observations that were believed to be strongly
used in a classroom as they relate to the education profession. We talked about the skills and
mindsets that needed to be developed in order to be ready to teach and we explain why the
certain areas and strengths were chosen. I feel like education should be expressed more to
children and they need to know how important an education is. Nowadays it seems as if children
dont realize the importance of education and are clueless to the benefits it gives them to the real
world in society. Within doubt every kid should get their daily dose of education and therefore
we as teachers need to express that to them, after the service learning experience I feel like I
have learned a lot from the last couple of visits and with great teaching comes great
responsibility; that goes for your students and the families.

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References
Tansill, J. (2010, January 31). How do you foster communication within your classroom?
Retrieved April 09, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/groups/walden-university/13636
Jones, F. (2012, February 8). A Classroom Discipline Plan You Can Implement Today - The
Card System. Retrieved April 09, 2016, from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/classroommanagement/42603-an-easy-effective-classroom-discipline-plan/
Howard Gardner of the Multiple Intelligence Theory [Interview by H. Gardner]. (2009,
November 11). Retrieved April 9, 2016, from https://youtu.be/l2QtSbP4FRg

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