Meeghan Cronin: Blog Post #5
This week I went to my first session of service-learning at the EMK. To be blunt, it was not what I was expecting. For my session, my group and I helped a 12th grade English class write a compare and contrast essay on two different short stories written by African American authors. Heading into the EMK I was nervous because I wasn't sure what the school dynamic was going to be or if the students would even want my help because we are so close in age. When we arrived in the classroom, the room was small and the students were already starting their work and beginning their essays. We had a quick introduction and then were told to sit down at a table and begin. I found that almost immediately the students were not very open to my help. After a brief introduction, the students responded to my questions with quick one-worded answers. This was something that all the volunteers found while they were trying to help the students. It was hard to get the students to eventually start talking, asking questions, and utilizing our help. From our point of view, it was also hard to determine whether or not we should ask the student a question or if we should let them work on their ideas and write. Some students were deep in thought while others were not, so it was hard to figure out if asking questions would be distracting or hurtful to the students.
Another difficulty was that some of the students hadn't read all of the passages assigned, and therefore struggled to even start the assignment. When I asked one student to explain a passage to me so I could help them begin their prompt, the student couldn't explain it because they hadn't finished reading. This was a bit frustrating because it made it really hard to help them. Not only did I not know anything about the passages, but neither did they, and they couldn't explain what they were supposed to be writing about. Another volunteer had this same issue, and it seemed to be a recurring theme in the class. Continually, many students were unwilling to admit that they had no idea what was going on so we had to keep on asking questions about the passage until they were willing to go back and read it. However, the more questions that were asked, the more they expected to just get the answers from us. One student I was working with didn't know how to answer a question I asked and instead of looking in the passage to find the answer, the student looked to me to tell her the answer. It was hard to help guide them to look in the passages themselves while avoiding giving them the answer straight away.
Lastly, I found that the room was very hectic. People were constantly coming in and out of the classroom which made it very loud and distracting. Students would leave the classroom to go to the bathroom for 15-20 minutes at a time or go on their phones consistently. Since we are so close in age with the students, the volunteers and I thought it would be weird to act as an authoritative figure and tell them to get off their phones. Instead, we just kept asking them questions so that they didn't have the opportunity to use their phone.
All in all, the experience at the EMK was definitely a learning experience, and I took a lot away from my first session. I know what works and what doesn't, what to expect when I get there, and the exact assignment the students are working on. It was definitely not what I expected, but I am definitely willing to learn and adapt to the new service-learning environment.
Another difficulty was that some of the students hadn't read all of the passages assigned, and therefore struggled to even start the assignment. When I asked one student to explain a passage to me so I could help them begin their prompt, the student couldn't explain it because they hadn't finished reading. This was a bit frustrating because it made it really hard to help them. Not only did I not know anything about the passages, but neither did they, and they couldn't explain what they were supposed to be writing about. Another volunteer had this same issue, and it seemed to be a recurring theme in the class. Continually, many students were unwilling to admit that they had no idea what was going on so we had to keep on asking questions about the passage until they were willing to go back and read it. However, the more questions that were asked, the more they expected to just get the answers from us. One student I was working with didn't know how to answer a question I asked and instead of looking in the passage to find the answer, the student looked to me to tell her the answer. It was hard to help guide them to look in the passages themselves while avoiding giving them the answer straight away.
Lastly, I found that the room was very hectic. People were constantly coming in and out of the classroom which made it very loud and distracting. Students would leave the classroom to go to the bathroom for 15-20 minutes at a time or go on their phones consistently. Since we are so close in age with the students, the volunteers and I thought it would be weird to act as an authoritative figure and tell them to get off their phones. Instead, we just kept asking them questions so that they didn't have the opportunity to use their phone.
All in all, the experience at the EMK was definitely a learning experience, and I took a lot away from my first session. I know what works and what doesn't, what to expect when I get there, and the exact assignment the students are working on. It was definitely not what I expected, but I am definitely willing to learn and adapt to the new service-learning environment.
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