Shaping My Teacher Identity

This service learning experience at Early Morning Elementary School has contributed to my growth as a teacher. To begin, it has given me experience. I have not had many oppurtunities to work in a classroom, so I was thankful for this chance to be a part of a classroom and work closely with students. It is important to have as much experience as possible because schools are different in different areas. Because I have worked in a school environment that is unlike what I am used to, I will be more prepared for the classes I will be involved with in the future.

My work at Early Morning Elementary School has supported my decisions about the grade level I hope to teach. I began the semester wanting to teach first or second graders. I then went through a brief phase of doubt, wondering if I should teach students at the early childhood level. I compared my time spent with the kindergarteners and the first graders and came to a conclusion. In terms of the kindergarteners, I do not have as much fun as I do with the first graders. There are too many children within my group, which often leads to them not listening or participating in the activity, and getting off task. I get frustrated because they are not having fun, and I feel as though I am not reaching them. While I understand that every teacher will have his or her bad days with their students, I seem to have more bad days than good days with the kindergarteners.

I have had a completely different experience with the first graders. I look forward to working with them, and I feel as though they are benefitting from the program's activities. One of my favorite sessions with them began like any other session. I asked them which of the games they wanted to play, and of course, they always vote for the Vowel Stars game. This game gives them paper, a pencil, and time to draw a little. As each student wrote their words, I went around and had the student read what was on their papers. I was so proud of one African American girl named Eva. Not only was she enthusiastic about writing as many words as possible, but she was able to sound out and read all of her words. I've noticed an improvement in the abilities of the first graders since I started working with them in September. After the children had been doing the Vowel Stars for awhile, I decided that it was time to move on to another activity. They selected a dice game that uses Dolche words. The game consists of a 6 x 5 chart, that has numbers across the bottom. I write words in each of the spaces across the bottom and go over them with the children a few times and have them repeat each word. They then role a dice and see which word they will have to work with on the chart. During this particular time, I noticed that Eva was not paying attention and continuing to write words on her paper from the previous activity. I went through the words, "Play...jump...could...you..." and was echoed by the students. As I arrived at the fifth word, I turned and said "Eva..." and all the other students said her name. She looked up at me and smiled; the other students laughed, and I did as well. I enjoyed myself during this visit, and it is days like this day that I am looking for and that I hope to experience when I am a teacher.

My service learning experience has caused me to observe the differences of students within schools. I am more aware of the fact that there are students from various cultures and classes within schools. As a teacher, I need to recognize these differences and be prepared to provide these children with what they need to succeed in school and the future. I should embrace the various cultures brought into the classroom, and provide assistance to children who are in need. This experience has exposed me to various efforts by teachers to promote change within the classroom. I thought the Reading Buddies program was a great start toward helping the Early Morning Elementary School children.

While observing the differences of the children and hearing the thoughts of teachers involved with the Reading Buddies program, I was reminded of Jonathan Kozol. Kozol's main arguments is that America's schools are still segregated and far from equal, and that something needs to be done in order to change this reality. He also mentions how children that come from black and Hispanic parents are not as "valued" as children from successful white parents, and how the government will cut back on money given to poor children for early education and school. I thought his ideas were relevant to the children at Early Morning Elementary because they face an inequality between themselves and other American children. They have fallen behind, and it has been left to teachers and volunteers to provide them with a means of catching up. The Reading Buddies program targets certain skill areas such as using words in a sentence, sounding out letters and words, and remembering how to spell certain simple words. In order to enhance the students' skills, the organizers of the program have created certain activities that will allow the children to learn and have fun at the same time. These efforts to improve each of the students is the first step in levelling the playing field for Hispanic, African American, and poor children. Overtime, these students will develop a much better understanding of the formation of words and sentences. Not only will they benefit individually from the activities done within the Reading Buddies Program, but as a group, they will improve and not be so far behind. The inequality between themselves and other American children will shrink and hopefully, disappear.

I feel that I am walking away from this service learning with something. I have experienced a new school environment, and worked with children that are different from me. I have done my best to help them improve their skills, and I believe that they have managed to learn something during my sessions with them. After leaving my first graders, one girl named Sophie told me that she would miss me. I have been touched by my students, and I hope that I have had a positive impact on their learning. This entire experience has confirmed that teaching is the right career choice for me.

Personal History and Bias

I grew up in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Attleboro is a small manufacturing city with a population of about 40,000 people. Although it is classified as a city, it is more rural and less busy than many other cities. Attleboro is similar to other places in that it has its maintained, middle and upper class sections along with its run down and lower class sections. I lived in a middle and upper class section in a duplex owned by my grandmother. All of the houses and buildings in and around my neighborhood were not exactly brand new, but were taken care of so that they looked in good condition. Lawns were green and mowed when necessary, and there were flowers in front of houses or hanging in containers attached to porches. Decorations and festive flags were displayed on many houses. My neighborhood was located several miles away from the train that runs through a part of the city. It was far enough so that the train was not a constant disturbance, but close enough so that me and my family could enjoy hearing it.

I come from a Portuguese family. There are numerous Portuguese families living in Attleboro. I lived in a different part of the city, but there is actually a section of the city that has been identified as being populated by many Portuguese families.

The schools that I attended were also located within the middle to upper class sections. From elementary to high school, the students within Attleboro's schools were primarily white. There were students of various ethnicities including African American, Asian, and Hispanic. However, white children were the majority of students in the school. When I think back to some of my classes and the students in each of those classes, I can only identify a very small amount of students that were not white.

As a white, middle class women, I felt a little out of place when entering Ms. Katherine's classroom. I was one of a handful of white individuals within the classroom, one of which was Ms. Katherine. At Early Morning Elementary School, white children are minorities, while Hispanic and African American children compose a majority of the student body. In addition, I differed from most of the students in terms of my economic standing. Many of the children come from families that are considered to be a part of the lower class.

I differ from the students in terms of both my ethnicity and my class. These are major components of an individual, and they do affect how a person lives. It is challenging to tutor the children in Ms. Katherine's class because I haven't been in their position. I grew up in a different kind of neighborhood, went to a different kind of school, and received a different kind of education. I do not know what it is like to live their lives, making it much more difficult to establish connections and reach them when they are having difficulties.

During this service learning experience, I have confronted several of my personal biases. It is difficult to admit but, the greatest bias that I had entering Early Morning Elementary School was that children within the lower class were going to be more of a challenge to tutor. I felt as though they might be further behind and more inclined to start trouble than children in the middle and upper classes. I cannot say that this experience has affirmed or disproved my bias. Not all of the children are falling behind and not all of them get into trouble. Some children follow directions, constantly pay attention, and do well with their school work. However, there are a number of children who are not close to where they should be in terms of their academics and a number that do participate in activities that drive Ms. Katherine to reprimand them. During one of my visits, the children had completed their Reading Buddies activities and were asked to go to the giant rug. While the teachers were busy organizing the students who were from other classrooms, the students on the rug were getting out of control. One girl named Carmen was sitting on the teacher's chair, claiming she had permission from Ms. Katherine to sit there. Another girl wanted to sit in the seat and started to push Carmen off. This confrontation lead to pinching and crying.

I think it is important to recognize my potential biases as a future teacher. I cannot allow my biases to prevent me from giving the best education possible to all of my students. Society is a diverse place, and as a result, schools are going to be diverse. I do plan to work with young children when I become an official teacher. While I may work with middle or upper class, privileged children, I may not, and end up working with children that are similar to those that I am currently working with at Early Morning Elementary School.