Annabel Grant-Frost

Introduction

For the first two terms of year 11, I engaged in the community service activity of service learning. For my out of school service, I volunteered my time in helping tutor a younger student who attends St Mathews in his home work and general reading, writing and mathematic skills. My in school service consisted of assisting a fellow student in my year organise and establish a musical group who would perform at celebrated school functions and church occasions.

PLANNING OF MY SERVICE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

MY TUTORING EXPERIENCE

• The planning and organising of what my out of school service learning would be was a long process where I had to assess where my talents and skills would be most useful and helpful to others and the community.

WHAT I HAVE GAINED AND GIVEN THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING

TEACHING SKILLS

• When service learning began, and I questioned what I had to give to the community and how I could help others, I viewed my skills in education as my primary source of assistance to which I could help others. This was transferred to the student I tutored in a number of ways;
• The particular person which I was tutoring needed assistance in understanding english and the techniques which are used and applied in the english language. Whilst we did his English homework and looked at what had been assigned in class, we extended this learning to reading books and learning bigger words and their meanings through a number of sources.
• Math was also an area which we focused on, and although I am not taking math as a subject in my year 11 studies, I still felt I had a comprehensive understanding of the components of maths that I could help this student with his mathematic problems. Occasionally we would have a worksheet which we would work through together, but often we would work on the computer through mathletics to which we would view a new component of math each week.
• In addition to learning the fundamentals of English, as apart of his work, we also looked at how to write a speech and how to read it in an understandable manner. Whilst we composed the speech we had to use research skills to find the information and which information was more useful then others. As well as that, we had to look at how to type effectively and the spelling of words, so the speech writing looked at a lot of different aspects of learning.

COMMUNICATION

• Whilst trying to teach the younger student the knowledge I knew, I had to think about how I would transfer my knowledge to him in a way which he would understand and be able to relate. This took a bit of time to master between us, but towards the end we had an effective means of understanding each other.
• While I could tell the younger student what needed to be done, I also needed to listen to what problems he was having and be flexible in how we approached the problems together.
• Some ideas I would have on certain subjects would be harder to pass on or translate for the student, so thinking about his perspective and what he could understand also helped with the communication process between us.

PATIENCE

• In extension to communication, I needed to channel patience into what I did with the younger student as often I had to take some time to understand the problems that he might be having, and take some time away from what we had to do to just helping him get through.
• In giving my time to the younger student, I learnt how to be patient with the time I spent with him as we sometimes had to spend a longer period of time on one area of his work over others
• In the areas of reading and typing, we had to take extra time as he wasn't as equiped in these areas. We would discuss what certain words meant or how to construct sentences together which took a fair bit of time
• It was certainly different to how I usually work at my pace, so being empathetic to someone else and their needs was an important part of my project.

CO-OPERATION

• In finding solutions to problems and overcoming obstacles, the younger student and I had to cooperate together to understand each other and get the job done.
• When we were colouring in or drawing pictures together, often we would find which area was best suited to each of us and divide the work up to best suit our capabilities. I was better at outlining the drawing while the student coloured in the blank spaces.
• In addition, when we were typing together, often I would read out what he needed to type off the screen and we would complete the work together as a team effort.

COMMITMENT

• Not only did I have to complete my hours of service learning, but my time spent with the student was a commitment alone by itself as I went over my hours which I had to full fill for my project
• In completing my project, I had to allocate a certain number of hours per week after school to spend with the student. His was a little difficult for me as often I would either be tired after school or I would have a lot of work I needed to do. But as time went on I became better at organising my time and getting everything done so I could keep to my commitment.
• At the end of the project I felt a sense of satisfaction that I had accomplished my time with the student and that I had stuck to my project and completed it. In the future in regards to completing work or tackling areas in my life which are hard, I will look back on my experience with my student and think of how I overcame the obstacles i felt back then.

COMPASSION

• Often, when we couldn't see eye to eye on problems or when he had a bit of difficulty in finishing the task I would feel frustrated or annoyed about the situation. In overcoming that feeling, I would sympathise with the student in their difficulty and try to understand where they were coming from in their situation
• Learning to be compassionate and understating with the student helped in completing the work together and overcoming the hardships which we faced.
• The project itself helped me to look at others in their situation and be sympathetic to others even if I am frustrated about the situation, as I was there to help the student and that was what my attention was focused on.

TIME MANAGEMENT

• Time management was a large part of my project as I and to balance my life and my own commitments with the one I had given to my project and the student I was helping
• Not only was time management a component of the bigger picture, but also managing time within our afternoons together was an issue as often I would need to stay behind to ensure that we got all the work done for the week
• Although it was difficult, I felt as if I gained a better understanding for managing my time and giving my time to others as a result of helping the younger student.

SELFLESSNESS

• Amongst all the other things which I learnt in my project, I felt as if this quality was the largest attribute which I gained and received as a result of my time doing service learning. Giving of my time to others and expecting nothing in return is often not something which I do during my day or week, and it was really nice to experience something like that as it was different

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