Service Learning Journal 1

ASSIGNMENT 4: SERVICE LEARNING JOURNAL

Service Learning Journal Claudia Cunningham EDF 1005 Miami Dade College

Service Learning Journal 2

Summary of Ada Merritt K-8 Center School Description As the District's first commuter school, Ada Merritt K-8 Center is open to students from the tri-county areas of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe counties. The school is located at 660 Southwest Third Street, Miami, Florida, in an area known as Little Havana. It was reconstructed in 2001. It opened its doors August 2003 with pre-kindergarten through second grade. The school now offers complete K-8 Center servicing students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Ada Merritt K-8 Center sits on 1.7 acres close to the Interstate 95 Expressway, and close to Downtown Miami. Although, Ada Merritt K-8 Center is not a neighborhood school, the ethnic breakdown of the school reflects the diversity of the Miami-Dade County Public School population. The school is designed to meet community demands for choice programs that offer rigorous academic standards. The Ada Merritt K-8 Center curriculum design was created to expand multilingual education and increase opportunities for students to become bilingual and bi-literate. Students at Ada Merritt K-8 Center participate in a Dual Language, highly rated International Baccalaureate Programme Observation 1 Initial Visit and Teacher Interviews. For my teacher interview I interviewed Mrs. Rosa Perez, a second grade gifted teacher at Ada Merritt K-8 Center in Miami-Dade County who has been teaching for a little over fifteen years. Mrs. Perez graduated from Barry University in 1999 and started teaching one month after her graduation, she has been teaching at Ada Merritt K-8 Center for nine years now.

Service Learning Journal 3

Interviewing teachers is a wonderful way to learn about the word of education. I asked questions about lesson plans, goals, learning strategies, behavior, class management, reasons for becoming a teacher, and much more. According to Mrs. Perez individualized teaching is an idea situation because it targets the individual difficulties that could affect the students, but unfortunately it is not the reality in our public school system. Mrs. Perez likes to reflect on things that worked and did not work during the lesson. Mrs. Perez uses this reflection to help decide what to include and not include in future lesson plans. She told me that is important to build connections between learners prior knowledge, experience, and new information or skill. I learned that she regroups students according with their learning abilities in order to help those who need intervention and to enrich those who are proficient. The children make use of technology too, they surf the educational websites, since they have a vast amount of incredible information for the children. Mrs. Perez uses cooperative learning when she asks the children to work together in groups of 4 or 5, they interact with others, they are accountable to others, and they are responsible for the group. They learn social skills directly. She uses a mix of learning styles; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic or tactile. I agree with Mrs. Perez that even that the children need to follow the school code of discipline the teachers are the ones responsible for the discipline in schools, because they are the ones applying them. She makes her classroom rules clear and understandable from the beginning of the school year. She helps the students to feel proud of their socially acceptable behavior, she empower them to accept responsibilities for their choices.

Service Learning Journal 4

Mrs. Perez has a very open relationship with her parents. She is always available, she has her website to show what is done in the classroom and she communicates personally and is very up to date with her e-mails. She is very friendly and open to parents to participate in classroom activities; parents are always welcome to see their childrens work. She believes that parent conferences are very effective if the parents have an open mind, if the parents are defensive and do not see the childrens problems it does not work as well. Mrs. Perez has a very friendly and warm environment in her classroom with around tables for frequent whole-group discussions. She has plants, rugs, posters, books, games, and cozy pillows for the reading corner. In conclusion, I was surprised to learn how little freedom teachers have when it comes to lesson plans. However, I agree with Mrs. Perez in using the philosophy that teachers have to do the best with what they have and make the most use out of the little wiggle room they are provided with. I agree that when it comes to reflecting on lesson plans, the best thing to do is to think about what worked and did not work. Why change something that was successful and that the students enjoyed? I also strongly agree that intrinsic rewords should be used most of the time while extrinsic reward should be used sparingly. Students should not expect to get a prize or reward every single time they do a good work, praise will work as well. I am glad that I had the opportunity to interview Mrs. Rosa Perez and grateful for the fact that she gave me many excellent answers. Observation 2 Variety in the classroom During my observations of a 2nd grade gifted class, I have witnessed the use of a variety of print and non-print resources and learning techniques: To educate and engage students in the

Service Learning Journal 5

English curriculum, I have seen the teacher use textbooks, literary works, worksheets, technology, video, and music. I have also seen teachers use learning techniques such as class discussion, small group discussion, partnered-group work, and writing exercises, and I have often watched students share their work aloud with their classmates. I believe that teachers use a wide array of resources and techniques to account for the different ways in which todays diverse student body learns and also to keep students engrossed in learning by keeping lessons current and interesting. In one classroom, I observed a teachers unit lesson plan on short stories: Mrs. Perez began her lesson by introducing the elements of a short story and by teaching students that despite their different content, most short stories have these elements in common. She then used music to keep her lesson socially-relevant and to show students how to pick out the elements of a short story. Mrs. Perez gave her students the words to the song Rocky Raccoon by the Beatles, played the song while the class read along, and encouraged active reading by asking students to highlight, circle, and take notes on the song. She then played the song a second time, and asked students to partner-up to fill out a Short Stories via Music. When students were done, together as a class, they discussed the songs plot, characters, setting, and theme. I thought that the way in which Mrs. Perez used music to ease into the reading and dissecting of short stories and to keep the lesson light, fun, and engaging, was clever and imaginative. Observation 3 Arranging the classroom space: The physical layout of the classroom reflected Mrs. Perez teaching style. Mrs. Perez wanted the students to collaborate in small groups, for example, she organized them around tables or clusters

Service Learning Journal 6

of desks. For frequent whole-group discussions, she organizes the classroom in a circle or Ushaped desk configuration. The physical layout also reflects Mrs. Perez. She always adds her personal touch to the classroom with plants, art, rugs, posters, and some cozy pillows for the reading corner. Observation 4 The Student-Centered Classroom Mrs. Perez told me that as students become more confident, they will do more and more studentcentered work, but we must strike a balance between leading the students and letting them have control of their learning. This balance may be different from class to class. Some classes may not respond so well to autonomy and demand that all their activities be teacher-led but giving in to students may not be in their best interests. You may need to persuade and cajole them into spending an increasing amount of time on student-centered activities. In a student-centered classroom, students are involved in the learning process and become committed to improving their English. Different learning styles can be accommodated, and students can help each other to develop their skills. In a student-centered class, students get more talking time. In a whole-class activity, the teacher may talk 50 percent of the time, and the students the rest of the time. No, wait! In a class of 50, each student would talk only about 1 percent of the time, and most wouldnt say anything. In groups of four, each student can talk about 25 percent of the time. In pairs, each student can talk about 50 percent of the time. If students want to improve their speaking skills, theres no substitute for pair and group work. Student-centered activities are enjoyable and stimulating.

Service Learning Journal 7 Mrs. Perez Classroom Seating Chart:

Service Learning Journal 8

Summary I had a wonderful time on my field experience and observation. I was fortunate to do my observation hours with an amazing teacher (Mrs. Rosa Perez) that was very helpful and always ready to talk and teach. I did my observation hours at Ada Merritt K-8 Center, the school that my daughter attends. Therefore I had a little more flexibility since I know the staff for quite some time now. I really believe that Ada Merritt is a wonderful school. I used to work at Ada Merritt when the school reopen ten years ago, that way a now the school from all points of view, as a worker, as a parents, and now as a teacher, since I am teaching in the afternoons a program call International Education Program (IEP). I observed how the teacher take attendance, it is very different and improved now, back when I worked there it was all manually done, now the teachers do it in the computer. I had a chance to observe dismissal, which was chaotic at some times, but always manageable. It was an incredible learning experience. I watched the presentation of a school play, where the students were separated in groups of four or five, they wrote a play about Brazilian Folklore, they rehearse by themselves, prepare the costumes and scenarios, and presented to the rest of the classroom. It was incredible, they did an excellent job, they were so motivated and enthusiastic about the whole process. I learned and I could see it that when the students get involved in the process of learning it is much more ingraining. The whole experience made me more certain that I am doing the right thing, that I chose the right pathway to my future. I was extremely happy and excited about the whole process. I know that is not always haven and I will encounter rocks along the way, but when you see their faces when they are learning and enjoying themselves you feel that everything is possible.