I can’t stress enough about how amazing the kids are. Of course there are the brief times were they might argue with the other, but other than just the typical arguments, the kids were so nice to me and to each other. I remember after my first lesson, one of the other kids said to her friend, “See, aren’t you happy you came?” All ten of them had enjoyed being there and I felt like we had accomplished something. I don’t know how the others did and how their lessons went, but I know that mine went smoothly and I always left with a big smile on my face.
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The experience of teaching young children has changed me the most in the way I view young children. For some reason, I’ve always viewed children as fragile and delicate beings, and as such I’ve been afraid to interact with them for fear of somehow messing them up for the long run. In working with them, though, I’ve found that they often very
independent and are surely quite hardy. As fear of breaking the young has been my biggest obstacle to teaching, I’m moving quite quickly toward overcoming this barrier.
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I got the enjoyment of working with the kids. It was useful for me because it helped me find out what teaching was like. It made me feel good to be able to help the kids, even though I was just doing something little. |
I learned that I would like to do more service learning. After this experience, I wished that I would have had the opportunity to continue to work with the kids with either French or with something else. Four to five visits to the school did not seem like enough to make a full impact. |
One thing that I remember most was when our A.C.E. came to speak to the class and he said that the majority of elementary students in Bloomington qualify for free lunch at school. He also said that part of the reason for that was that the university and students take up a number of jobs and low income housing which makes it difficult for those who live here, which is one of the reasons why students should be giving back to this community the best they can.
Through the written portions of this project, I learned what my expectations were and how they differed from my actual experience. Therefore, I learned that any hesitations or nerves (i.e. will the kids like the things we are talking about?) that I had going into my teaching day didn’t happen and I would be less worried about it going a second time. Other than that I learned that if you have a little time, it doesn’t take much effort to help these kids learn and get excited about new topics. |
I gained some ability to hold a conversation in French and to understand the daily vernacular. I was able to spend some time in France and get by pretty well which was pretty rewarding. Mostly though, I have noticed that I have a stronger interest in continuing to learn French and about the French culture and I hope to continue doing so. Basically, what started as a course requirement became a strong personal interest that I have taken with me after graduation.
I would strongly encourage students to get involved in a service learning project. It was really rewarding to see these kids get excited when you came in and it helped me to realize that I have learned a lot over the years. I am pleased that this is being pursued as a separate credit because it will allow people to focus more on the timing issues through the semester, but I still enjoyed having it as a part of my normal class. |
I wanted to challenge myself with learning French in a different way, and I felt that my interest in French was decreasing and that the SL project might help spark more interest.
That it is a very rewarding experience to help other people and to give them something. I also found it interesting to work with the children because it was more enjoyable then I had expected.
I gained much in terms of actual experience with service learning, teaching and presenting material in a simple and interesting way. I found it helpful to meet and discuss an idea for a lesson and then to apply it and see how it worked in actuality. |
I expect this to be a fun class where I get to have a part in mentoring kids and opening them up to new concepts.
I liked meeting little kids rather than being surrounded by college people all the time. I also learned that kids love to learn and being able to teach them even simple French terms was fun. |
I learned it's easy to gain a child's initial interest, but to keep it is harder.
I got a chance to get into the Bloomington community, off campus and know what it's like teaching children.
Any language student should do this. It's not hard and you feel good after doing it. |
My presence at the school is more an exposure to the
world outside of school than simply exposure to French. The students do get a bit of French education, learning some basic words and phrases, but I feel more that I am there to show them that there is more to life than their school. Whether that is through a foreign language or simply being around a college student, they will hopefully begin to
look beyond their immediate surroundings for their concept of the world. |