Assignment 1 - Service Learning Experience/Observation

Service Learning Experience/observation assignment
Does the teacher do the following:
• Treat all students equitably? Most of the time.
• Recognize diversity with respect? Most times
• Recognize different learning styles? Yes
• Instruct all students? Yes
• Provide an open climate? Most times
• Use alternate and diverse materials? Yes
• Accommodate or make provisions for needs of students? Yes
• Model learning to encourage diverse students? Yes
Reflection on service learning experience/observation:
My servicing learning experience proofed to be beneficial in working in the Access Department of Miami Dade College. The Access Department provides assistance and services for students with various types of disabilities. Although I am a student of the access department, I gained further understanding and appreciation of interaction between the students and the staff that have different disabilities that are different from my own. In my observations, most of the staff worked their very best in assisting the students with their individual learning needs and restrictions. I found each staff member to be patient, respectful, knowledgeable, skillful, kind and caring. Whether the student was deaf, blind, wheelchair bound, speech impediment or any other type of disability, all were equitably taken care of professionally and with a sense of sensitivity to their personal situation.
Only in a few instances did I observe interaction between a student and staff as not being equitable. A decorum of patience and sensitivity is required when working with the culture of disabled persons. When they are trying to articulate their thoughts or trying to comprehend and process what is being instructed or explained, one must be patient and use listening skills. Impatience and rushing the person to finish is not an acceptable learning environment. I also encountered the experience of observing a superior attitude in dealing with students. A learning professional should never make a student feel uncomfortable to the point of being inferior simply because they do not comprehend what is being instructed. Perhaps the learning professional should have taken another route in explaining and not talk down to the student. In my opinion, this eliminates an open climate in the classroom. The student now feels inferior and is afraid to voice opinions and concerns because of fear of being ridiculed. An Intercultural atmosphere should be the goal of every learning professional and while most in my service learning experience exhibited equitable behavior toward the students a small few are in need of further specialized training.