My Experiences At the Learning Zone By: Patricia Mosqueda

Meeting Manuel Second Grade English Language Learner Likes to draw Good at Math Difficulties in reading and writing in English The student needs to feel comfortable and safe in his/her environment for learning to occur. I got to know Manuel in order to accomplish that and to find out some of his strengths and weaknesses.

What We Did We were to help them with homework. If they didn’t have any homework, we would either read a book or we could get some activities from workbooks they had. Manuel liked to work with flashcards provided and the dry- erase boards. The last 30 minutes we played educational games.

“To be honest I thought at first I was not going to have the energy or enthusiasm to help someone out because I work in a school with preschoolers which sometimes leave you exhausted. However, so far this hasn’t happen. I actually get really involved helping him with his homework and trying to find other ways to help.’’ (Reflection #2) I have found out I am capable to think of ideas at the moment I need to as to think of ideas on how to help or keep his interest without panicking. Finding out these strengths are helping me accomplish one of my purposes with this service learning project, which is to get more experience and confidence when working with children.

Manuel Gets Distracted Manuel constantly wants to draw and this can cause him to get unfocused. Having patience is extremely important when working with students. Not every student is the same so as a teacher I have learned that you will need to find and use different strategies to help that child learn depending on their level and the way they learn.

TALKING MAKES A DIFFERENCE Speaking is productive like writing and his oral language will reflect his writing. Every week I encourage Manuel to talk. I wanted him to practice his oral language as well as expand his vocabulary. We talked about things that related to his homework to get background knowledge.

MANUEL IS SICK I learned that in order for a student to learn, their needs have to be met. It is like Krashen’s affective filter hypothesis. Social and emotional factors impact the learning process.

Hands-on and Visuals are Great Assistance for ELL’s Manuel was able to comprehend concepts better using visuals. In his math homework I always used the pictures provided to help him solve the problems.

I see students who are tutored just as smart as any other student. They just might need a little bit more scaffolding. This experience everyday enhances my understanding of specific course outcomes because I am putting into practice what I read about and learn about the course.

What Manuel has Taught Me Through this service learning experience, I am learning as well as helping Manuel. I am also getting ideas on what kind of homework is giving or concepts being taught to second graders. He explained to me a method his teacher showed him to use greater than or less than. His teacher taught him that those signs were like a ducks open mouth. The duck is going to eat the greatest amount of food, so the mouth has to be open to the greatest number. I thought that was interesting. Having a conversation about topics learned at school help the students review, comprehend, and practice their oral language.

Control At one point Manuel was getting very distracted and wanted to do his own things. As teachers we need to build a good relationship with the students. However, we also need to be firm and have organization in our classrooms with rules and expectations.

A Different Student I got to work with a first grade boy named Abner. Abner is very energetic and has a hard time focusing. What worked with Manuel didn’t work with Abner. As teachers we should know that not every child learns the same way. We have to use different resources and strategies that best accommodates the child’s learning process.

Summary Overall it has been a different experience from my daily work. Classroom outcomes are more significant today because of the service learning project. This experience has brought me a deeper appreciation for tutors and those that make this projects like the Learning Zone possible. East Branch Public Library