Lauren Eichberg Leichberg@knights.ucf.edu April 14th, 2012 EEX 4070 Andover Elementary Lauren Eichberg Leichberg@knights.ucf.edu April 14th, 2012 EEX 4070

Andover Elementary I chose to complete my required service learning hours at Andover Elementary School in Orlando, FL. Andover Elementary School is located off of Curry Ford Road at 3100 Sanctuary Point Boulevard. Andover runs from kindergarten up to fifth grade, and the current enrollment is 649 students. Andover is currently 50.6% Hispanic, 26.7 % White, 10.7% African American , 8.3% Asian/Pac. Islander ,3.6% Multiracial ,& 0.1% Amer. Indian. Mr. Matthew Pritts is currently the Principal The schools colors are blue, slate, and white

Engagement Activities I chose to work in a 4th grade classroom with students that were a mix with all different types of needs I attended reading time with the student who I was working with. There, she chose a book to read on her own. After reading time there was a class discussion. Students got to tell the rest of the class what the book was about, and my student had trouble speaking orally and fluently so she would never want to participate. During lunch time, the student who I was focused on sat by herself because she did not know how to engage in conversation with other students. She was also shy, so I decided to eat lunch with her and try to get her to talk.

Participant Demographics Ages of students in the class: 9 and 10 years old. Students were from all different ethnic backgrounds. There was a good variety not just predominately white Why is she considered a person with a disability? The group described in 34 CFR 300.306 may determine that a child has a specific learning disability, as defined in 34 CFR 300.8(c)(10), if: The child does not achieve adequately for the child’s age or to meet State- approved grade-level standards in one or more of the following areas, when provided with learning experiences and instruction appropriate for the child’s age or State-approved grade–level standards: Oral expression, Listening comprehension, Written expression, Basic reading skills, Reading fluency skills, Reading comprehension, Mathematics calculation, Mathematics problem solving. I worked with only one student in particular.

Service in Action I could not take pictures, but I had the teacher capture a picture of me and all of the students working together!

Service In Action

Perceptions of Differences Before doing this project: Before attempting to do this project, I was very apprehensive at first. I was not sure what to expect as I have never worked with a student with a learning disability before. I knew that working with an ESE student, I would need to be very patient. After doing this project: After doing this project and completing my service learning hours, how realized that these students want to learn just as much as mainstream students do. They work equally as hard, and get down on themselves for not having such great results. I hoped that by my one- on-one sessions with her, she would gain a higher respect for herself and not put herself down as much. The biggest impact that I had doing this service learning project was being able to show her that she was able to do anything that any other person in this world can do. Seeing a smile on her face made my day!

Connections to Your Course I am currently enrolled in EEX 4070 I now better understand: Speech Disorders IDEA Language use (pragmatics) I better understand the course content now because I got to take some of the things I learned about IDEA, speech disorders, and language use and actually see it in a classroom. Doing the service hours will help me relate and better understand people who have disabilities.

Civic Engagement I think it is great that people volunteer in our community to try and better it. A community is what makes people feel like they are at home, and the fact that there are people there who volunteer with people with disabilities should make the community stronger. Service learning as a method for learning and I feel it is the best way to learn about something. Being in the environment and actual experiences will further impact students than just reading about it. I have always loved service learning, but this experience motivated me to work with students with disabilities when I get to my own classroom. If I cannot get students in my class with disabilities, I would be thrilled to volunteer. I encourage students and teachers to participate in service learning.

Final Thoughts & Reflections Everyone should get more involved in order to gain a better understanding of person’s with disabilities and in order to get more involved, they should participate in a service learning activity. Teachers can strongly impact students because students listen to their teachers. I do believe many teachers have a great heart and will do their best to reach out to their students and promote service learning.