For the purpose of this course, I was assigned to my service learning at an elementary school in Lexington, Kentucky. The specific classroom that I was assigned to work with is an MSD (moderate to severe disabilities) classroom. Many of the students face challenges and diagnoses that impact their learning in some way. This does not mean that the students in this classroom are completely unable to learn, but rather may need accommodations or assistance to help provide a better education experience. Students in this classroom had varying diagnoses and symptoms, which meant that not all of their individual goals would be exactly the same. Still, many of the students were working on similar concepts, such as math skills, next dollar technique, weather, calendars, and more. As a service learner, I was able to discuss classroom goals with the teacher and paraprofessionals to gain an idea of what we might have been working on throughout the semester. Even though our time in the classroom was cut short, I am thankful for opportunities such as this service learning website to be able to learn and grow together as a community.
Prior to working with these students, my experience working with younger children was somewhat limited. I had spent some time working with pre-academic aged children, but had never volunteered or worked with elementary students. I was hesitant at first, and I didn't know what to expect, but in the end I truly enjoyed working with these students, and I could see myself working with similar populations in the future. I think that service learning will provide opportunities for future students to step outside of their comfort zone as well, and perhaps they may even find that this is a population that they would like to continue to work with as well.
In many ways, I am very fortunate to have worked with these students not only through service learning, but through my internship as well. This provided me with better insight regarding individual students and their personalities, symptoms, and diagnoses. This also gave me a glimpse of what further service learning opportunities may have been like, and provided me with what may be a slightly different experience than my classmates this semester. What sets service learning apart from internship though, is the opportunity to grow and to truly help the classroom as a whole, including not only students but teachers and staff as well. Service learning has been a great opportunity to gain a better understanding of the community as a whole as well, which I have been extremely grateful for as an individual who is not originally from this area.
Some of the main goals the teacher of the classroom and I discussed were math skills and next dollar technique. For those who are unfamiliar with next dollar, it means that when paying for an item at a store or restaurant, money should rounded up to the nearest dollar when possible. So for example, if something costs $4.38, I would hand the cashier either a $5 bill, or five $1 bills. To most adults, this concept seems simple, but this is crucial skill to develop, especially at a young age. I was fortunate enough to learn a next dollar song from my internship supervisor, which we did work on with the students in this particular classroom.
While readings are a very important part of course work, service learning provides hands-on opportunities to learn more about the population that you are working with. In some ways, a person can gain additional knowledge from physically working with a population versus simply reading about it or watching videos. This was especially helpful for someone like me, who has difficulty maintaining focus while reading but thrives when working hands-on. I truly think that this helped me gain a better understanding of this population that I may not have otherwise experienced.
While our time in the service learning environment may have been cut short due to unforeseen circumstances, I was thankful to get a glimpse of what service learning looks like. I really do think that this will benefit students in the future for a variety of reasons. Service learning can benefit so many people, including the learner, the teachers and staff (if in a school setting), students, parents, and the community as a whole. It is my hope that service learning will continue to grow at the University of Kentucky and at universities across the country. More opportunities like this would likely benefit students and their communities from all over the country.