Target Problem:Lack of English education for younger students Target Group:Sudanese students (age 6- 12) Project Title: English class for young students in the Sudanese Refugees School
Goals Smart Goal 1: Create an English-speaking environment Smart Goal 2: Improve the students’ ability to focus Smart Goal 3: Teach the students to under stand higher level English Obstacles 1. Noisy and unstable environment 2. Different English levels 3. Inability to focus 4. Some students learn slower than others 5. Lack of chairs and tables 6. Interference of older students Tasks 1. Learn how to grab attention 2. Purchase more chairs and tables by fundraising 3. Divide the class into two- higher and lower level 4. Learn how to politely ask the older students to go away
SMART goal
Specific My goal is to enhance the overall English skills of the young students in the Sudanese Refugee School. My goal is specific because I have planned out diverse activities for different stages throughout the year, and the students are consistent. In other words, I teach the same students every time.
MeasurableI will know that I have achieved my goal when the students can talk to each other without using Arabic at all, and when they can read harder books than before.
AchievableMy goal is achievable because I have been working with them every Saturdays for a whole year with my friend. Moreover I love teaching so I haven’t given up on any students even though there were several challenges.Even though I can’t dramatically improve their English skills because they aren’t in an English speaking environment, I can still help them speak more fluently and understand higher level English.
RealisticMy goal is within my capability, resources, and authority. I have the knowledge to teach the students. Also, I have all the resources I need to teach- the books, notebooks, pencils, and worksheets. If I lack resources, I can always buy them by having a bake sale. Other schedules might be the obstacle, but I can always cancel them or change them.
TimelyI want to improve the students’ vocabulary and grammar by the end of the first semester so that I can work on speaking and reading from the second semester. I want to see improvement by the end of the year.
The TS syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by physical and vocal tics.
What are ticks?
Ticks are classified into simple and complex tics.
Simple tics: They are sudden, brief, repetitive movements that involve a limited number of muscle groups. Ex) eye blinking, facial grimacing, head/shoulder jerking, and shoulder shrugging
Complex tics: They are distinct, coordinated patterns of movements involving several muscle groups. Ex) head jerking combined with facial grimacing, sniffing and touching objects, and twisting
Vocal tics
-Simple: throat-clearing, sniffing/snorting, grunting, or barking -Complex: Coprolalia (swearing), and Echolalia (repeating the words or phrases of others)
The course of Tourette Syndrome
-first symptoms usually occur in the head/neck area -motor tics usually appears before the vocal tics -the peak tics appear before mid-teen -10 percent of the people carry the disability into adulthood
The causes
Unknown but researchers say that the abnormalities in the brain regions responsible for communication might be the reason- the abnormalities are usually inherited.
Diagnosing the Tourette Syndrome
The person should have tics for at least a year either intermittently or everyday. There must not be a tic free period longer than 3 months. The doctors confirm the diagnosis after looking at family history and doing some physical examinations such as MRIs, CT, and EEGs.
How to treat TS syndrome
Most of the people do not require medication for tic suppression because tics do not cause impairments. However, some medications are available for those who have symptoms that interferes with functioning. Some of the medications include Neuroleptics for tic suppression, haloperidol, and pimozide. There are no medications that are effective to all people with TS syndrome nor medication that eliminates all the symptoms. Education and talking to a psychologist or psychiatrist can help people with TS syndrome to deal with stress and talk about their problems.
Journals
Journal 1:
Today was my first time going to the Sudanese Refugees School. I have decided to serve this place this whole year because I have heard that this place is very needy. I thought the school would be a whole building but it turns out that it is the ground floor on an apartment. The school was very small and it was too crowded, but all the students were welcoming. A girl called Sara even shook hands with me. Today we did English with older kids. I was shocked at how their English levels were so low. Some of the students couldn't even read Elementary level books. Half way through the class, there was a woman serving breads to the kids. The bread wasn't good quality but the students still ate them. Later in the year, we should have a day when we serve homemade food to the students. The students in the school need more nutritious food. There were kids playing around while the older students were studying. I guess they weren’t picked up by their parents. Maybe I can teach those kids so that they can learn more while they are at school. I said hi to the kids playing in the corners. They were warm and friendly kids who immediately introduced themselves to me. There was this one kid called Aladin who I especially remember. He was shy and aloof in the beginning but when I asked him his name and shook hands with him, he became very active and friendly. I want to know these kids more because I feel that I can make a difference with these kids. I believe that these kids need more education because they are smart. It is very sad how kids with potential do not have chances to develop their intelligence and talents. I will talk to Mrs. Lantz and see if I can work with these kids starting from next Saturday. I hope to see those kids again!
Journal 2:
Mrs. Lantz let me teach the kids who aren't picked up by their parents. She also believes that teaching those kids can make a big difference. Today is my first time teaching young kids. I don't know the students' levels so I prepared a bunch of books of different levels, and I prepared colored pencils and papers to draw after the class is over. The class turned out differently than what I expected. Some students refused to study with me and Marissa and others ran off. Other student did not focus even while we were teaching them. So I started playing word games with the kids and they started to like it. I also played action games in which a person acts out a word and other people have to figure out that word. By changing the method of teaching, I could see that the students started to like the class. Later on, other students who refused to study with me in the beginning started to join and they also enjoyed the class. After the class, I let the kids draw. A girl drew a princess and I was very surprised when I saw it. The dress of the princess was so detailed and pretty that I could not take my eyes off of it. Other kids drew amazing robots and houses too. This boy called Jon was the best drawer out of all of the students. Jon is very talented and I believe that he can be an amazing artist. From next time, I should bring more art supplies and I should bring activity sheets so that students can study grammar and vocabularies. I will focus on teaching the students grammar and vocabulary this semester so that I can work on speaking from next semester. I can’t wait till next Saturday!
Journal 3:
Today we had glitter lessons. The outcome was a disaster. The glitters went flying everywhere and the floor was sparkly as if it was a stage for a musical. I tried to make the students pass the glitters nicely and gently but every time I looked away, they would throw it at each other and pour it over their drawings. Things became worse when the bigger students came. The bigger students started to pour the whole thing on their papers and they would just sprinkle glitters in the air to see them sparkle. Marissa and I tried to stop the chaos but it was late. The glitters were already all on the floor and Mrs. Lantz discovered the mess. She admonished us about how irresponsible we are and she told us that we need a glitter lesson. She scheduled it to one of the school days. Two Sudanese students, Marissa, and I cleaned up the mess and it took thirty minutes. Other students who actually made the mess went of playing. They did not look sorry at all. Because of this I decided to teach them manner lessons. I need to teach the kids how to give and pass around materials nicely, and most of all, I need to teach them how to clean up. Cleaning up is an essential part of learning because it is taking responsibility for what they have done. I also need to learn how to ask the older students to go away. None of them listened to me at all, they actually ignored me. To have a peaceful class, I should tell the older students to leave. Mrs. Lantz helped me out today but I can’t always have her help me out. I got to learn how to be a teacher. I hope my next class goes smoothly.
Journal 4:
Today is my last day of going to the Sudanese School. I carried out the class as usual. I read books to kids, we worked on activity sheets, and we played vocabulary games. We also sang the song Hokey-Pokey. The kids loved singing and dancing so we sang the song about twenty times. Even after singing twenty times, the students weren’t tired at all. I feel like the students became more confident in speaking and most of all, their grammar and vocabulary improved. This boy Aladin could only say single words in the beginning, but now he can talk in sentences. What an improvement! This girl called Russia didn’t know most of the colors but now she can tell me the colors of every object in the school. I feel so proud of myself and I am very thankful to Marissa for teaching with me. Without her, I wouldn’t have made much of a difference. I was astonished at how the students began to clean up when I said I had to go. In the beginning of the year, they would just run off or expect me to clean up everything. But now they tidy their spaces and they put the materials in places for me. I was especially happy when Aladin tried to talk to me with his improving English. I couldn’t understand everything, but I understood most of what he said. It is sad to say goodbye to my students but I hope to see them next year. If I have the chance, I would like to make an afternoon English/Art class in the Sudanese School so that more students can have free English and Art lessons. Overall, I am happy with my result and I am thankful to the kids for making me have a wonderful year.
Reflective Essay Everything always has a start. Without a start, there is no process, no result, no nothing. People all have different ways of starting, and they all have different thoughts and ideas. But some people even cannot start because they don’t know how to start. This was my story before I started Service Learning at school. I have always wanted to help the community; which part of the community I do not know. I remember talking to my dad when I was seven year old about how I will travel around the world to help people when I grow up. Even though I had these dreams, reality was different. First, I did not know where to go. Second, I did not know the ways to serve. And third, most importantly, I did not know if I can do it. It’s funny to think about it now. How can I not know how to help? However, If I did not have the Service Learning class, I would still have been that kind of person and will continue to be that person. I couldn’t understand why it was called Service Learning rather than just Community Service. Serving Learning and Community Service sounded the same to me. It will still sound the same for some people, but I have realized and understood the difference. I have learned so much this year while I did Service Learning. I can not even write all of them down, because I have learned as much as I do in a normal school classroom, maybe even more. I have learned that service is everything I can give to another without expecting something in return. While I served the young students in the Sudanese Refugees School, I tried everything to make the students enjoy learning. I tried various ways including acting out and drawing. By doing this, I have learned how to make students love learning. In the beginning, the students were bored of my classes. Some of them even tried to escape. I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong because all I was doing was teaching the students. Then I began to realize that my way of teaching and learning isn’t the only way and that is when I learned the various ways to teach different kids. I learned that different students have different ways of learning and understanding, and I learned how to deal with different types of students. I learned that students who are passionate about learning already should be encouraged and should be taught harder materials for more challenge. On the other hand, students who are less skilled in English should be taught in a playful way so that they can learn how studying can be fun and enjoyable. The less skilled students should also be taught with patience. I should repeat any word or sentences even if I already did several times, and I should go over the materials again and again so that the students can feel confident. Throughout the year, I have developed my decision making skill as well as my problem solving skills. In the beginning when none of the students could not do the activity sheets that I brought, I didn’t know what to do. That day, I spent my entire time at the Sudanese school, wondering what to do. This situation happened several times later on. My friend Marissa, who did the project with me, was baffled too. Then as time passed by, I learned to print different level activity sheets so that the students can choose what to do, and I learned how to teach new things in any situation. If the students can not solve the activity sheets, I taught them the different pictures in the activity sheets.Furthermore, sometimes the older students would come and distract the younger students. I did not know how to make them go because none of them would listen to me; once, a girl even got mad at me for asking her to leave. As time passed by, I learned how to ask them to go away in a favorable way, and I developed my skills in asking in general. As I served the kids in the Sudanese school, I could see numerous changes in myself. I became more generous towards other people and I learned how to sacrifice myself to make the others happy. In the beginning, I would always ask the children to give me back my properties including the sketchbooks, the pencils, and books. Even if a student asked me if she can have a pencil I said no because I thought that giving away would spoil the kids and I didn’t want to lose my properties. However, as I taught the students more and more, I began to understand how needy they are. I was especially heartbroken when a girl was picking glitters on the floor to take home. After that incident, when students asked me politely if they can have something, and when students try hard in my class, I gave things away. Of course I lost most of my sketchbooks, pencils, and books, but I received something better in return- happiness. I was happy when the students were happy and I was sad when they were sad. The students changed me into a person who can put his/herself in another person’s shoes. There were many challenges including the language barrier, noisy environment, lack of resources, and different learning speeds of students. I could do nothing about the noisy environment because the school was technically exposed but I could overcome the language barriers, the lack of resources, and the different learning speeds of students. I interacted using body language, sounds, and pictures if I could not communicate with the students in English. The Found Service Group raised a bake sale to buy the resources the school needs and it was a huge success. For the difference in the learning speed, as I mentioned before, I learned how to teach differently for different kinds of students. Another challenge was my busy schedules, but I could easily rearrange them so that teaching at the Sudanese Refugees School always came first on Saturdays. I believe that I did improve the quality of service at the Sudanese Refugees School, and I also believe I made a difference there. While doing my project, I encouraged other students around me to visit the Sudanese Refugees school and I tried to organize bake sales to improve the facilities at the school. I don’t know if I have made a difference for the older students, but I have definitely made a huge impact on the younger students. I taught that every one of them is special in their own way, and I made them enjoy learning. In the beginning, there were only three students, but by the end of the year, there were fifteen consistent students. I had an art class on one of the Saturdays and I was shocked at how all the students were drawing the same thing. They were copying each other’s drawing and when I asked them to draw what they want, they did not know what I meant. So, I taught them how to draw what they think and not how the others think. I asked questions about their favorite food, their hobbies, and their families that led to deeper thinking. Since that day, the students turned into independent thinkers and they became confident about their work. This was one of my best achievements and one of the most important differences I made. Next year, if I can, I will continue to work with the young students in the Sudanese School. Maybe I will teach them art next year along with English. Since the school lacks resources I will have to have more bake sales. I am considering about having an art show too. Seeing how much I have changed this year, I believe that I will evolve into another person by the end of next year. I had a great year thanks to Service Learning and I hope to make more differences.
Photos
These are the students I worked with and in the middle is my friend Marissa whom I did my project with.
This is when we had cooking lessons in Mrs. Lantz's house with the kids from the Sudanese Refugees School.
Yoojin Kim's Service Learning Portfolio
2011-2012 The Sudanese Refugees School
Table of Contents
1. Action Plan
2. SMART goal
3. Disability Research
4. Journals
5. Reflective Essay
6. Photos
Target Problem:Lack of English education for younger students
Target Group: Sudanese students (age 6- 12)
Project Title: English class for young students in the Sudanese Refugees School
GoalsSmart Goal 1: Create an English-speaking environment
Smart Goal 2: Improve the students’ ability to focus
Smart Goal 3: Teach the students to under stand higher level English
Obstacles
1. Noisy and unstable environment
2. Different English levels
3. Inability to focus
4. Some students learn slower than others
5. Lack of chairs and tables
6. Interference of older students
Tasks
1. Learn how to grab attention
2. Purchase more chairs and tables by fundraising
3. Divide the class into two- higher and lower level
4. Learn how to politely ask the older students to go away
< Research on Disabilities: Tourette Syndrome>
Source: "Tourette Syndrome Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment on MedicineNet.com." MedicineNet. <http://www.medicinenet.com/tourette_syndrome/article.htm>.
- What is the Tourette Syndrome?
The TS syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by physical and vocal tics.- What are ticks?
Ticks are classified into simple and complex tics.- Simple tics: They are sudden, brief, repetitive movements that involve a limited number of muscle groups. Ex) eye blinking, facial grimacing, head/shoulder jerking, and shoulder shrugging
- Complex tics: They are distinct, coordinated patterns of movements involving several muscle groups. Ex) head jerking combined with facial grimacing, sniffing and touching objects, and twisting
- Vocal tics
-Simple: throat-clearing, sniffing/snorting, grunting, or barking-Complex: Coprolalia (swearing), and Echolalia (repeating the words or phrases of others)
- The course of Tourette Syndrome
-first symptoms usually occur in the head/neck area-motor tics usually appears before the vocal tics
-the peak tics appear before mid-teen
-10 percent of the people carry the disability into adulthood
- The causes
Unknown but researchers say that the abnormalities in the brain regions responsible for communication might be the reason- the abnormalities are usually inherited.- Diagnosing the Tourette Syndrome
The person should have tics for at least a year either intermittently or everyday. There must not be a tic free period longer than 3 months. The doctors confirm the diagnosis after looking at family history and doing some physical examinations such as MRIs, CT, and EEGs.- How to treat TS syndrome
Most of the people do not require medication for tic suppression because tics do not cause impairments. However, some medications are available for those who have symptoms that interferes with functioning. Some of the medications include Neuroleptics for tic suppression, haloperidol, and pimozide. There are no medications that are effective to all people with TS syndrome nor medication that eliminates all the symptoms. Education and talking to a psychologist or psychiatrist can help people with TS syndrome to deal with stress and talk about their problems.Journal 1:
Today was my first time going to the Sudanese Refugees School. I have decided to serve this place this whole year because I have heard that this place is very needy. I thought the school would be a whole building but it turns out that it is the ground floor on an apartment. The school was very small and it was too crowded, but all the students were welcoming. A girl called Sara even shook hands with me. Today we did English with older kids. I was shocked at how their English levels were so low. Some of the students couldn't even read Elementary level books. Half way through the class, there was a woman serving breads to the kids. The bread wasn't good quality but the students still ate them. Later in the year, we should have a day when we serve homemade food to the students. The students in the school need more nutritious food. There were kids playing around while the older students were studying. I guess they weren’t picked up by their parents. Maybe I can teach those kids so that they can learn more while they are at school. I said hi to the kids playing in the corners. They were warm and friendly kids who immediately introduced themselves to me. There was this one kid called Aladin who I especially remember. He was shy and aloof in the beginning but when I asked him his name and shook hands with him, he became very active and friendly. I want to know these kids more because I feel that I can make a difference with these kids. I believe that these kids need more education because they are smart. It is very sad how kids with potential do not have chances to develop their intelligence and talents. I will talk to Mrs. Lantz and see if I can work with these kids starting from next Saturday. I hope to see those kids again!
Journal 2:
Mrs. Lantz let me teach the kids who aren't picked up by their parents. She also believes that teaching those kids can make a big difference. Today is my first time teaching young kids. I don't know the students' levels so I prepared a bunch of books of different levels, and I prepared colored pencils and papers to draw after the class is over. The class turned out differently than what I expected. Some students refused to study with me and Marissa and others ran off. Other student did not focus even while we were teaching them. So I started playing word games with the kids and they started to like it. I also played action games in which a person acts out a word and other people have to figure out that word. By changing the method of teaching, I could see that the students started to like the class. Later on, other students who refused to study with me in the beginning started to join and they also enjoyed the class. After the class, I let the kids draw. A girl drew a princess and I was very surprised when I saw it. The dress of the princess was so detailed and pretty that I could not take my eyes off of it. Other kids drew amazing robots and houses too. This boy called Jon was the best drawer out of all of the students. Jon is very talented and I believe that he can be an amazing artist. From next time, I should bring more art supplies and I should bring activity sheets so that students can study grammar and vocabularies. I will focus on teaching the students grammar and vocabulary this semester so that I can work on speaking from next semester. I can’t wait till next Saturday!
Today we had glitter lessons. The outcome was a disaster. The glitters went flying everywhere and the floor was sparkly as if it was a stage for a musical. I tried to make the students pass the glitters nicely and gently but every time I looked away, they would throw it at each other and pour it over their drawings. Things became worse when the bigger students came. The bigger students started to pour the whole thing on their papers and they would just sprinkle glitters in the air to see them sparkle. Marissa and I tried to stop the chaos but it was late. The glitters were already all on the floor and Mrs. Lantz discovered the mess. She admonished us about how irresponsible we are and she told us that we need a glitter lesson. She scheduled it to one of the school days. Two Sudanese students, Marissa, and I cleaned up the mess and it took thirty minutes. Other students who actually made the mess went of playing. They did not look sorry at all. Because of this I decided to teach them manner lessons. I need to teach the kids how to give and pass around materials nicely, and most of all, I need to teach them how to clean up. Cleaning up is an essential part of learning because it is taking responsibility for what they have done. I also need to learn how to ask the older students to go away. None of them listened to me at all, they actually ignored me. To have a peaceful class, I should tell the older students to leave. Mrs. Lantz helped me out today but I can’t always have her help me out. I got to learn how to be a teacher. I hope my next class goes smoothly.Journal 3:
Today is my last day of going to the Sudanese School. I carried out the class as usual. I read books to kids, we worked on activity sheets, and we played vocabulary games. We also sang the song Hokey-Pokey. The kids loved singing and dancing so we sang the song about twenty times. Even after singing twenty times, the students weren’t tired at all. I feel like the students became more confident in speaking and most of all, their grammar and vocabulary improved. This boy Aladin could only say single words in the beginning, but now he can talk in sentences. What an improvement! This girl called Russia didn’t know most of the colors but now she can tell me the colors of every object in the school. I feel so proud of myself and I am very thankful to Marissa for teaching with me. Without her, I wouldn’t have made much of a difference. I was astonished at how the students began to clean up when I said I had to go. In the beginning of the year, they would just run off or expect me to clean up everything. But now they tidy their spaces and they put the materials in places for me. I was especially happy when Aladin tried to talk to me with his improving English. I couldn’t understand everything, but I understood most of what he said. It is sad to say goodbye to my students but I hope to see them next year. If I have the chance, I would like to make an afternoon English/Art class in the Sudanese School so that more students can have free English and Art lessons. Overall, I am happy with my result and I am thankful to the kids for making me have a wonderful year.
Everything always has a start. Without a start, there is no process, no result, no nothing. People all have different ways of starting, and they all have different thoughts and ideas. But some people even cannot start because they don’t know how to start. This was my story before I started Service Learning at school. I have always wanted to help the community; which part of the community I do not know. I remember talking to my dad when I was seven year old about how I will travel around the world to help people when I grow up. Even though I had these dreams, reality was different. First, I did not know where to go. Second, I did not know the ways to serve. And third, most importantly, I did not know if I can do it. It’s funny to think about it now. How can I not know how to help? However, If I did not have the Service Learning class, I would still have been that kind of person and will continue to be that person.
I couldn’t understand why it was called Service Learning rather than just Community Service. Serving Learning and Community Service sounded the same to me. It will still sound the same for some people, but I have realized and understood the difference. I have learned so much this year while I did Service Learning. I can not even write all of them down, because I have learned as much as I do in a normal school classroom, maybe even more. I have learned that service is everything I can give to another without expecting something in return.
While I served the young students in the Sudanese Refugees School, I tried everything to make the students enjoy learning. I tried various ways including acting out and drawing. By doing this, I have learned how to make students love learning. In the beginning, the students were bored of my classes. Some of them even tried to escape. I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong because all I was doing was teaching the students. Then I began to realize that my way of teaching and learning isn’t the only way and that is when I learned the various ways to teach different kids. I learned that different students have different ways of learning and understanding, and I learned how to deal with different types of students. I learned that students who are passionate about learning already should be encouraged and should be taught harder materials for more challenge. On the other hand, students who are less skilled in English should be taught in a playful way so that they can learn how studying can be fun and enjoyable. The less skilled students should also be taught with patience. I should repeat any word or sentences even if I already did several times, and I should go over the materials again and again so that the students can feel confident.
Throughout the year, I have developed my decision making skill as well as my problem solving skills. In the beginning when none of the students could not do the activity sheets that I brought, I didn’t know what to do. That day, I spent my entire time at the Sudanese school, wondering what to do. This situation happened several times later on. My friend Marissa, who did the project with me, was baffled too. Then as time passed by, I learned to print different level activity sheets so that the students can choose what to do, and I learned how to teach new things in any situation. If the students can not solve the activity sheets, I taught them the different pictures in the activity sheets.Furthermore, sometimes the older students would come and distract the younger students. I did not know how to make them go because none of them would listen to me; once, a girl even got mad at me for asking her to leave. As time passed by, I learned how to ask them to go away in a favorable way, and I developed my skills in asking in general.
As I served the kids in the Sudanese school, I could see numerous changes in myself. I became more generous towards other people and I learned how to sacrifice myself to make the others happy. In the beginning, I would always ask the children to give me back my properties including the sketchbooks, the pencils, and books. Even if a student asked me if she can have a pencil I said no because I thought that giving away would spoil the kids and I didn’t want to lose my properties. However, as I taught the students more and more, I began to understand how needy they are. I was especially heartbroken when a girl was picking glitters on the floor to take home. After that incident, when students asked me politely if they can have something, and when students try hard in my class, I gave things away. Of course I lost most of my sketchbooks, pencils, and books, but I received something better in return- happiness. I was happy when the students were happy and I was sad when they were sad. The students changed me into a person who can put his/herself in another person’s shoes.
There were many challenges including the language barrier, noisy environment, lack of resources, and different learning speeds of students. I could do nothing about the noisy environment because the school was technically exposed but I could overcome the language barriers, the lack of resources, and the different learning speeds of students. I interacted using body language, sounds, and pictures if I could not communicate with the students in English. The Found Service Group raised a bake sale to buy the resources the school needs and it was a huge success. For the difference in the learning speed, as I mentioned before, I learned how to teach differently for different kinds of students. Another challenge was my busy schedules, but I could easily rearrange them so that teaching at the Sudanese Refugees School always came first on Saturdays.
I believe that I did improve the quality of service at the Sudanese Refugees School, and I also believe I made a difference there. While doing my project, I encouraged other students around me to visit the Sudanese Refugees school and I tried to organize bake sales to improve the facilities at the school. I don’t know if I have made a difference for the older students, but I have definitely made a huge impact on the younger students. I taught that every one of them is special in their own way, and I made them enjoy learning. In the beginning, there were only three students, but by the end of the year, there were fifteen consistent students. I had an art class on one of the Saturdays and I was shocked at how all the students were drawing the same thing. They were copying each other’s drawing and when I asked them to draw what they want, they did not know what I meant. So, I taught them how to draw what they think and not how the others think. I asked questions about their favorite food, their hobbies, and their families that led to deeper thinking. Since that day, the students turned into independent thinkers and they became confident about their work. This was one of my best achievements and one of the most important differences I made.
Next year, if I can, I will continue to work with the young students in the Sudanese School. Maybe I will teach them art next year along with English. Since the school lacks resources I will have to have more bake sales. I am considering about having an art show too. Seeing how much I have changed this year, I believe that I will evolve into another person by the end of next year. I had a great year thanks to Service Learning and I hope to make more differences.
Photos
These are the students I worked with and in the middle is my friend Marissa whom I did my project with.
This is when we had cooking lessons in Mrs. Lantz's house with the kids from the Sudanese Refugees School.