Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Service learning projects reflection essay
Service learning projects reflection essay
Service learning projects reflection essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Service learning projects reflection essay
Service Reflection
For my service learning project, I went to Jan Brzechwy Polish School to volunteer. I had a great experience, and I did not expect it to go that smoothly. This experience allowed me to visit the same Polish school that I attended for twelve years every Friday night. Although it was hard giving up my Fridays to learn Polish, I am so grateful that I did because knowing the language that my parents know and communicate with is rewarding even though we primarily speak in English to each other. The students primarily spoke English to us because they knew how, but I did speak Polish to some of the students who were working on their assignments. This experience was beneficial because I was able to help students one on one and see them become more comfortable.
…show more content…
Since I was able to speak the language, I understood what the students were saying while also understanding the teacher. I really enjoy working with students and providing assistance, and I was able to do that which was rewarding. I also was able to give a student who did not bring lunch a snack because I had it with me, and I figured that she might need it more than I do. Sometimes we, as people, do not think about the little things we do and how they add up, but I can say that the smile on the girls face and how she slowly ate the fruit snacks in order to savor them meant the world to me. I was looking around, and a lot of the other students had food, and the teacher asked them to lend her something since she did not bring her food, but no one offered. Once I gave her the fruit snacks, another student went up to me and said that she will give her grapes. It was a great feeling to see another student do the same and cause a chain reaction even in a
My favorite service project was my silver award for girl scouts. Before Jamie Lince, Faith Brown, and I did the silver award the hoophouse by the elementary school was very rundown. There were holes in the plastic, weeds in the beds, and the wood chips in the aisles were worn down. The hoophouse couldn’t be used. We wanted to fix that problem. First we applied for grants. I never knew how many steps or how much time this would take. It really taught me how to handle deadlines so things get turned in on time. It also taught me that there are people that want to support you, and you just need to find them. The two grants that we received were a Lowes grant for fifteen-hundred dollars and a seed grant from Van Atta’s. The second step was to get people to help weed out the beds so we could plant the seeds we got from the grant. This took a few hours and a lot of people from the community showed up to help. The Lowes grant was used for the plastic that goes on the outside of the hoophouse and new wood chips for the aisles in the hoophouse. We had to have the help of Mr. Montry who makes hoop house...
I chose to do my service learning project at Feed My Starving Children. I chose this service learning project because I had prior knowledge and experience by doing it with my family and church. Feed My Starving Children has been a huge impact to those who have participated in this service experience because their mission is to pack meals that go to very hungry children around the world. Being from a single parent family, it is hard for us to not be concerned about where the money for food is coming from, yet we have food on our tables for everyday meals. Therefore, I can’t imagine what it is like for those who experience hunger.
At the beginning of the semester, I did not know what the "Service Learning and Social work Practice" course mean. However, through the process, with the accompaniment of Professor Preeti Charania, I understood the course and noticed a lot of transformation in me through the semester. The following are some of the changes and growth I have seen in me from class readings, discussions, group works, and working with the Church World Service (CWS) agency.
The students really enjoyed this activity because they were able to hear discussion about dialect and slang words that they currently use. Teaching this activity had to be the most rewarding because I saw the look of confusion change to understanding on the faces of so many students. One student said to me after class, "I always wondered why my grandmother speaks so different, and uses words that I never heard of. Tonight I will go home and ask her about it." That made me feel like I helped students think about an issue that they may have never thought of, and it was great! I must admit that I was a little skeptical of the way this lesson would turn out because the first day I had some difficulty. But after seeing my students engaged and excited about a lesson that I created, I knew that I would one day be one of the "great" teachers that I idolize.
I have felt drawn to support and strengthen the communities I am connected to for several years now. Although it took sometime to trace my passion for helping those in need, upon reflection I am able to clearly see a pattern of people, agencies and institutions that provided the additional support I needed to be successful. This support is the primary reason I have chosen the human services profession. From an early age I witnessed how social workers can help those struggling to find the resources they need to foster change.
I performed my community service at a local elementary school. I chose this place because of its relative ease, and it was also an area I could easily get to and from. I started my first day very confused and out of character. The school was very bland, and it brought back memories of the time that I attended elementary school. Upon first arrival, I met the principal of the school.
I did many fun and exciting things while I was working with these kids at County Elementary. The first day Mrs. Aiken introduced me. She said, " Boys and girls this is Taysha, and I was her teacher when she was your age." They were all in awe. They couldn't believe that I had her as a teacher. The first kid I helped was a black girl named Shontele. I helped her with her math work and reading. I taught her to group thins in Math when you are adding or subtracting. For example: Say you have ten subtract three. I told her to put ten into groups of five, then cross out three, and count how many there was left. She enjoyed that and thought it was now much easier to do her Math.
Furco (2013) states that “service-learning draws from a number of well-developed theoretical frameworks of learning and development (e.g., experiential learning, situated cognition, youth development, constructivism, etc.), yet many studies are atheoretical” (p. 18), or the lacking of theory used. I examined the use of two theories to determine which one is more beneficial to the development of a service-learning program and will yield the greatest positive impact on student academic achievement and civic engagement.
I am grateful for the opportunity to volunteer at the elementary school. It opened my eyes to a few of the problems in our communities. I was able to make others aware of those problems through volunteering and being proactive. I am going to continue with the program for as long as I am able to do so. If only we had millions of these programs across the globe, many other children would be able to benefit and develop the skills to succeed educationally.
A reflection of my volunteering experience can be summarized in two words: Life-changing. It is hard to explain the feelings that occur when you involve yourself in selfless acts for your community, such as volunteering. There is a feeling in your heart that you cannot ignore, maybe it is the happiness you feel or the overflow of emotions in helping others. In other words, it is a feeling in which you want to share with others. Maybe with a friend, maybe a classmate, maybe a family member, or maybe even a stranger. Either way, spreading how life-changing volunteering can be is a great start to making a positive change in your community by simply by involving others.
Four our service learning location, our group had the opportunity to attend Freedom Fellowship through Highland Church Ministries. Freedom Fellowship provides a ‘Pray and Prayer’ service and a meal for dinner, every Wednesday to the community neighborhood. During our service learning at Freedom Fellowship, we served food to people who are in need due to different circumstances. There are diverse groups of people who attend the meal service every Wednesday at Freedom Fellowship. Through our service learning, I had the opportunity to meet Darla, the coordinator at Freedom Fellowship. Freedom Fellowship is also a non-profit, charitable organization and they provide the cooked meals through donations that are given to them and through donations
My expectations before the service project were met but others were not. In all aspects of life, of life, people have expectation when they want to do something or are doing something that fascinates them. The service project has been a preplanned event and there are several expectations that I have always visualized before the commencement of the project. Firstly, before the commencement of the project, I always visualized and imagined the picture people with some emotional or psychological problems. I always imagined that during the project, I was going to see people with frustrations, depressed and stressed.
I spent most of my time in a first grade classroom. In this classroom I observed the children as well as the teacher and paraprofessional. This classroom had children with special needs and that is why there was a paraprofessional in the classroom for half the day. What I observed in this classroom was how children with special need should be handle and taught. The teachers in this room loves her job and each student in her class. While in the classroom the teacher allowed me to help with children with their work, read to them and help them with anything else that they needed. During this field experience I got to give back to not only a school, but to a community that is very near and dear to my heart. I hope that I touched each student in a special way, because the students that I got the opportunity to help learn touched my
I also had the privilege of helping with the Meals on Wheels non profit organization. My grandfather used to be a Meals on Wheels recipient and he would share with me how he enjoyed looking forward to their company and a hot meal daily. I volunteered because I wanted to give back and help someone else’s loved one in the same way. It was very rewarding delivering hot meals to people who didn’t have the means of getting one as well as being there for them to talk to. Overall, it was a very humbling experience, it made me realize just how blessed I am and how much I take for granted daily.
The thought of community service was a bore to me before I began my volunteer work. I dreaded starting my community service although I knew I had to do it. Where I earned my hours did not even matter to me. I just wanted to get it over with. To my surprise it was not what I expected. Community service was not a painful experience; it was a very enjoyable and beneficial experience.