Running Head: MCENTIRE JUSTIN - SERVICE LEARNING REFLECTION

McEntire Justin - Service Learning Reflection

The Exceptional Child, Education 230

Ivy Tech Community College

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For my special education service learning project I attended Danville North Elementary

School under the guidance of Ms Jordan Wheeler. Ms Wheeler has been teaching second grade

students for years and was both helpful and pleasant to work with and I would highly

recommend her classroom to any future service learning students. Overall, this project could be

summarized in three parts: the makeup of the classroom, the instruction style utilized by the

teacher, and a comparison to what our texts instruct.

To begin, the classroom I was working in was very cheerfully decorated, much more so

than the high school I worked in last year. Pink and blue anchors were everywhere, and you

could not find a square inch without some color. The teachers desk was pressed against the wall

closest to the door with the students rectangular tables all aligned in three rows with military

precision. On the back wall was a shelf of books that spread the whole length of the room, and

just in front was a round table. There was definitely ample space for the twenty or so children

present, and room to spare for the separate learning stations they required. The overall

atmosphere was just as joyful as the teacher I was working with, and it reflected her well. I bring

this up because there was a slight contrast with the art teacher, her more serious room also

reflecting her demeanor. This directly ties into the teachers method of working with her classes

specific needs.

In particular, Ms Wheeler separated her class by their need. In one instance I was taking

care of a class that had not mastered addition. Another time I was helping a child who could not

tell time. While these are not serious fallbacks, there was enough of a need that the kids had to

have separate lessons made for them. They simply could not keep up with a typical class, such as

the ones mastering basic multiplication or subtraction. A few of them may have also had
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behavioral disorders but I did not ask at the time. Thus, I would say that the classroom was

almost a composite of a pullout and a push in classroom.

With regards to my teachers class routines, I am not sure what can really be said. Since I

arrived on Wednesdays, that was the day she had a parent come in to help teach. Every day I

arrived around 10:00 when the students had indoor recess, followed by separating for specific

math lessons before re-gathering for an English lesson. Then came their lunch break where the

students would file towards the cafeteria whilst the teacher took two or three students back to the

classroom with her (to limit distractions I suppose). Lastly, the students had specials; art, music,

P.E. and so forth. Usually I had left by this point but on my last day I stayed around. The children

all filed up and marched off towards another end of the school where the art teacher met them.

She had a much more serious demeanor and took less wild behavior from the students. It became

quickly apparent how the students changed for the new authority figure. There was no yelling,

running, or energy outbursts, because the students had already learned that they would not get

away with that in this class.

With regards to the specific methodology used, Ms Wheeler assisted one group that was

having trouble reading by removing them from the classroom while the other students were

observed by an assistant and a parent. In the hallway the students who had been removed began

trying to read via a mixture of phonics and whole language reading. They were using flashcards

to memorize the sounds parts of a word made up. By doing this the students were able to both

sound out words and memorize the sight of the word by chunks. This was one of the methods

mentioned in my childhood adolescent class (Maddox, Feng, 2013) Overall, the teacher seemed

to use a scaffolding approach with the students. She was there when they needed her to be, but

otherwise she let me, an assistant, or the students themselves work out the problems (Hallahan,
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Kauffman, & Pullen, 2015, pp. 135,136). Another thing that she did that helped the students was

the application of music in her class. At intermittent parts of the day she would play a YouTube

video with a song that directly tied into the lesson. She said that she tried to find annoying songs

so that the students would never forget the lesson, and I must admit that it worked! To this day I

still have School House Rock songs in my mind and now I have a tune about coin values playing

in my head, all thanks to Ms Wheeler. This is clearly demonstrated as a working method in our

book along with mnemonics and other methods (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2015, pp. 133).

Overall, the biggest thing that this taught was the joy these classes can bring. I asked my

teacher what the most important thing to keep in mind was, and after some time she said proper

time management and patience. Given how I had already heard that from multiple other teachers

that I had interviewed, I took the knowledge and applied it as best I could. I learned from this

experience the joy of watching a student grasp a concept only to follow up with the feeling of

defeat after I found out he did not really understand the idea at all. The endless circuit of teach,

learn, forget, repeat became obvious to me. On the other hand, I also saw the smiles and energy

first hand. While as teachers we are called to teach, and not necessarily be friends, the short lived

friendships I gained were still memorable. I observed punctuality, hard work and determination,

joy, laughter, and an honest motivation to learn. That above all was what I learned in Ms

Wheeler's classroom.

In addition, Hubpages.com referenced multiple things that I recall hearing Ms Wheeler tell

me. Things that came up were tips like "laminate everything" or "this job can be very day to

day," and that flexibility would always be key to success in the classroom(Clearfield, 2012).

While these tips are not regulated merely to the special education classroom, they are doubly

important in that setting.

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Last of all, there is what could be implemented in the classroom. I did not see anything wrong

with what was carried out in Ms Wheeler's class. The class was high energy but she was able to

tame the storm whenever she pleased. My only recommendation would be more for the school

district than the class itself. Based on an article published in the Wall Street Journal, the article

mentioned the lack of funding provided to schools for their special needs programs (Chiapelas,

2015). The finances to provide one student with the education standards provided by IDEA can

sometimes be daunting for small communities, and doubly so for low income communities. The

article suggested that the state provide a voucher program or scholarship program for special

needs youth, so that they can obtain the kind of education they legally deserve.

I would say that thus far I have learned more in Ms Wheelers class than I have outside of

it. Most of all, I have learned exactly what I am getting into and have gained a perspective to

motivate me towards my career.

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References

Chiapelas, T. M. (2015, Aug 10). School choice for special-needs students. Wall Street Journal

Clearfield, R. (2012). Survival tips for first year education teachers.

Hallahan, D. P., Kauffman, J. M., & Pullen, P. C. (2015). Exceptional learners (13th ed.).

Pearson.

Maddox, K., & Feng, J. (2013, October). Whole language instruction vs. phonics instruction.

Savannah, GA: Author.