What is service learning?
This short info clip has been created at a different university than the one I go to.
My Thoughts about the benefits of Service-Learning
(I wrote this on April 11th.) After reading Susan's speech and the condensed notes of it, I realized how many of the benefits resound with me. I know I'm a compassionate person since I was young; I had adults in my life who shaped me with their encouragement and guidance to make sure my compassionate self grows bigger and better. I had opportunities over the years for me to practice my compassion and my loving side keeps getting stronger and hopefully better at responding to help with other people's needs. Since I have developed and strengthen my spiritual faith, when I give myself to God, he also gives me the strength and wisdom to continue to use my compassion into my work and into my life.
I like the concept of community-based learning/service learning because this benefit the local community, the student and the university's relationship with the student and it's relationship with the local community. If everyone at Marylhurst signed up for this course once in their academic time here, students start to share with each other what they learned and experienced, this would a wonderful way to bond with each other. When we are all excited to give back, we continue to showcase our compassion. We are doing this not just to fullfill any requirements, but we service so others can benefit.
This quote resounds with me the strongest:
• Research has shown that those who give emotional support reap health benefits, and
people involved in helping others through community activities live longer. When we
feel compassionate or loving our heart rhythms actually shift, transmitting signals that
sooth our bodies.
It's so natural for me to give emotional support. I understand how hard life can be so when I support someone emotionally, this person can manage life better. I'm a good listener too. For example, I support my students' emotional state and sometimes their parents too at my after school care program job. I coached and taught different emotional intelligence skills such as how to manage one's anger to be able to speak to someone and how to watch out one's tone of voice to better communicate calmly one's needs and wants. As for the parents, sometimes I have to comfort the single parents of some of my charges since they show up feeling stressed and other emotions. I show my support of them as adults and how hard it's to be a single parent. I empathize with their children since I also was raised by a single mother growing up. By supporting these parents' emotional needs, it makes it easier for them to transition to meet their children happily and not let their work or whatever life's stresses interfere with their relationships with their kids.
I still have a lot to learn myself. I know I have a high emotional intelligence but I also have a couple areas within it that I need to work on. Currently I am participating in heavy self-care regimen such as prayers and listening to positive music so I can better meet my own needs. I learned over the years that it's okay to self-care; if I don't do that, I won't have much to give back.
My Service Learning Project
I am doing my service learning at a local school in SE Portland. I am working with a first grade newcomer who recently immigrated from Vietnam with her family just a few weeks ago. I have never worked with a newcomer first grade student with no previous English skills. (The newcomers I helped with English acquisition was with my own relatives who has immigrated here over the years. Though they had some English language skills before coming to America.)This is going to be a good challenge to help me professionally. I have worked with English Language Learners (ELLs) who are elementary aged students previously but they were at a higher English language acquisition level. By the way, I have only been there twice; I'll be going there again tomorrow morning.
My questions about my service learning project are: How can my services benefit the school community specifically? How is my presence going to impact the newcomer?(I'm hoping it would be for the better. Since I don't speak Vietnamese, I have only my smiles and non-verbal communication to help me connect with the student. I am working to gain her trust so we can really work together in her English language acquisition.) Will I inspire and encourage teachers to find better strategies to teach newcomer students? Learn along with me as I post what I'm learning throughout this term.
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