Reflection
While reading Kahne and Westheimer’s piece I was able to connect it to Kristof’s article and when he talks about Rick Goff. The quote “educators and legislators alike maintain that service learning can improve the community and invigorate the classroom, providing educational experiences for students at all levels of schooling.” demonstrates what we as students participating in service learning projects should be doing while we take part in this. When it comes to the different types of help the article did a great job of giving examples to demonstrate the two types. I believe each type of help had its benefits, but I think Mr. Johnson’s class had more of a benefit over Ms. Adam’s class. Mr. Johnson’s class was able to pick where they wanted to do their service learning and be able to explore the different lifestyles than they are accustomed to.
Service learning is a way for students or an individual to give back and help their community. This is an opportunity where someone gets to explore outside of what they are used to, figure more out about themselves, and learn about those who are less fortunate than themselves. This opportunity can be an eye opener for many people if they are unaware of what is going on around them.
What really caught my attention is when Kahne and Westheimer talk about how doing service learning we can “promote students' self-esteem,...develop higher-order thinking skills,...make use of multiple abilities, and...provide authentic learning experiences.” This was an attention grabber because I never really took a second to think about how the service learning I am doing can truly impact a student.
I think it is a great idea for students to have to do a service learning project in high school. This is the time when students will be able to understand what is going on and be more mature to walk into different settings. Yes, it can be a huge pain and another added task but it can really open someones eyes and make them see the bigger issues out there.
Kelsey, I really enjoyed reading your post and I liked how you included that quote from the text in your last paragraph before the image. I think that quote caught a lot of people's attention because it made us think about our individual service learning projects. I know it made me think about what I do each time I'm at the school. I agree with your idea in your points to share because I think a lot of people could benefit from the experience. As you said, students would definitely complain if every school had this as a requirement but I really think by the end, those students will feel different about the situation. I think they would end their project feeling better about themselves and have a sense of feeling that they were able to make a difference for whoever it was that they worked with.
ReplyDeleteYou did an amazing job with this blog! I like how you stuck out two important quotes from the reading! I agreed with you on the whole entire blog! Oh, yeah and I used your blog at the center of mine (:
ReplyDeleteHi Kelsey!
ReplyDeletegreat post ! I like how it all flowed. I also agree high school is a good time to start 'service learning' experiences , and even younger ! I love having my daughter to cards during the holidays and passing them out to homeless that we see on the street. Empathy is a powerful tool for growth and it can never start too young..!
I agree with both you and Ashley that doing a service learning project in high school can be a real eye opener. As I was getting out of high school they were just starting to implement something like this. While we all had to do community service, they were coming up with a new curriculum that would be more beneficial.
ReplyDeleteKelsey I agree with your points on Service Learning. It provides new opportunities and explore different lifestyles the one may or may not be accustomed to. it is a great way to get back and help the community and your points in your discussion represent that effectively. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with all of your points and liked how you incorporated your quote as well. I completed a senior project as well in high school. Good job!
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