EDUC 2300 Introduction to Education
Service Learning
Journal Entries
Ashlyn Renner-Laws
VISION FOR MY FUTURE
Here is what I want to accomplish this year:
Education: This year, my first accomplishment I want to achieve is to make an A in my
education 2300 class. I also want to start in the teaching program at ETSU in the fall.
Career: I do not currently have a job. My reason is because my main focus is to succeed in all I
can while I am going to school to become a teacher. I want to learn everything I can so I can
shape it all into lessons, effective teaching strategies, and to help my students succeed in what
they want to do in their career.
Family and Friends: My family and friends are what pushed me into staying in school because
college is difficult at times. Once they supported me as much as they did, I decided I wanted to
make them proud of me. I also want to be proud of myself. They encourage me every day that
they know I can do it, and they cannot wait to see how good of a teacher I am going to be.
Involvement and Service to My Community: I know that there are people out there that do
not care at all about their community, but those people do not realize how important it is to love
and volunteer your time to your community. After all, I want to be proud of where I live so I am
going to improve it as much as I can.
Personal Growth: I would like to be more confident in what I do and believe what I am trying
to do will make a difference. I want to make my students love something as much as I love
teaching already and I am not even through school yet.
Service Learning Project
Name: Ashlyn Renner-Laws
Course Title: EDUC 2300-001 Introduction to Education
Date: April 24, 2017
Agency Name: Ottway Elementary School
Agencys Mission Statement/ Grades Served/ Community Needs:
Together, we soar to success! They have a purpose, goal and vision. Their purpose is
to work together, and do whatever it takes to help students succeed. Their goal is for every
student to grow academically and socially, to become productive members of the Ottway
community/society. Their vision is a collective body working together to maintain a
positive/collaborative culture, in which we strive to ensure student success.
Prologue: What do you expect to get from your service learning experience (i.e., how will this
experience help YOU develop)? How will it impact your learning and link to class materials?
How do you think the students and staff will perceive you? What goals do you have for the
semesters Service Learning experience? What fears do you have (if any) about service learning?
I am excited but nervous about this service learning experience because this is the lowest
grade I am getting to observe. The other times over the past couple of years was grades third,
fifth, and sixth. I hope the first grade students accept me being in their classroom, but still pay
attention to their teacher while she is teaching a lesson. The last thing I want is to be a bad
distraction. I hope that this experience will help me decide if I want to teach in the lower (K-2) or
upper (3-6) grades.
Journal Entry 1
Thursday: (Overview of Events)
My first day I stayed all day to observe my mentor teacher. I was able to sit in on
collaboration with about seven teachers, the principal, and their reading specialist. Their reading
specialist gave them their new schedule they had to start the following week. They mentioned
ELGs, which is something I had never heard of, but I asked my mentor teacher what they were
and she explained them to me as best as she could.
ABCs of Reflections
Affect: I was excited to meet my mentor teacher. When I met her she told me she was
beyond thrilled to have me in her class. At first I was nervous to meet my mentor teacher, but the
second I seen her excitement for me to be in her class I was at ease. Once I was introduced to the
first grade class I would be involved with I was ecstatic because they were all asking me if I
could stay the rest of the year, what they could call me, could I eat lunch with them, would I sit
beside them in class, etc. This made my heart flutter because I could not wait to have my own
students to help them improve and learn more every day.
Behavior: I feel like I made a good impression on the first day because the teacher told
me at the end of the day I could come back whenever I wanted.
Cognition/Content: I was on the fence about service learning in the first grade because I
always thought I wanted to stay above third grade. I decided to try it because it was encouraged
in class to experience as much as possible. Little did I know I would fall in love with that
particular grade. Right off the bat, I knew she was a good choice to mentor because you could
see the drive she had for her students. That is the kind of teachers we need, and she definitely
helped my confidence by just putting me out there with the students full force.
Journal Entry 2
Friday: (Overview of Events)
Although I was still getting to know their routine, Mrs. J made sure I was involved in
whatever they were doing that day. Between kindergarten and fourth grade they all split up into
their RTI groups. We had some of each grade in the room with us, so that gave me the
opportunity to work with other grades as well.
ABCs of Reflections
Affect: I was nervous at first with the RTI groups because I did not know how to
approach them. I finally decided to just go for it, so the next student that raised their hand, I went
to help them. After that, I was more comfortable helping them out. I quickly got familiar with
what they were working on so I was learning from them also.
Behavior: I am satisfied with how much I put myself out there to help the students with
whatever they needed. I was learning as I went, but happy with how well I handled it. Although
they learn differently than I did when I was in elementary school, I would look at the problem
above to try to help them as best as I could with the next one. I was nervous with helping them
with their homework because I did not want to tell them wrong. Mrs. J quickly informed me that
it is okay to mess up just make sure you correct yourself once you notice your mistake.
Cognition/Content: I was not a fan of how the seats were set up because some students
were facing the back of the room and had to turn around backwards in their chairs during a
lesson. They were sitting at tables and two tables had six at each and two tables had two at each.
I did not understand why she had the students that interrupt class sitting together. I did like how
she had the centers set up though. One area was blocked into a corner for their mini library,
another was the computer area, and the third was her reading area where they sit down on the rug
and listen to her.
Journal Entry 3
Thursday: (Overview of Events)
Thursdays are collaboration day, so we had that first thing that morning. I was sad it was
my last day because I had gotten to know the students. They wanted me to keep coming back.
They begged me to sit with them during lunch, but Mrs. J never does that so I just told them I
have to stay with her. This Thursday was pretty much the same routine as last Thursday.
ABCs of Reflections
Affect: Once the students realized it was my last day they were sad, but kept asking if
there was any way I could come back just to visit. I was excited to learn what all teachers do
while their students are in special classes. I had to help count up box tops, organize their take-
home folders, and get everything laid out for the next subject they were going to work on when
they got back. Seeing that side of the teachers is what I want to learn more about because a lot
more goes on other than just coming up with lessons and teaching them to your students.
Behavior: I am happy I went outside of my comfort zone, and went to a lower grade.
This experience has affected me dramatically. It has showed me that first grade might be the
grade I want to teach.
Cognition/Content: In class, we were told that you have a team you have to work with.
You might not have to agree on everything, but you do have to get along with them. During
collaboration there were differences that were discussed, but as a team they had to work through
them and figure out a solution. They all have to teach the same subject at the same time they also
share lesson plans. Once they all started laying out their lesson plans, the first thing that came to
mind was when my teacher told our class to always, Share, share, share. They were all sharing
what they were teaching, when they were teaching it, and how they were going to go about
explaining it to their students.
Epilogue:
Reflect on your semesters service learning experience.
This experience has just shown me I am in the right profession because those students had already
grown on me. I wanted to keep going just because I wanted to learn more from them as they are
learning from me.
Revisit the prologue. Have your expectations been met?
Yes, above and beyond my expectations! I did not think I would fall in love with first grade, but sure
enough, I did. This experience was different with the teacher also. I felt wanted and needed. She just
kept telling me over and over that she was just so blessed she got to have me in her class. That built
up my self-esteem.
How have you been surprised, delighted, or dismayed by the experience? Give specific
examples.
I was so surprised by how much the teacher supported and acknowledged every student in her class.
Not every teacher does that, so I was very blessed to have been in her class for this experience. I was
so delighted that my mentor teacher wanted me there just as much as I wanted to be there, and that
made the experience so rewarding.
How could this experience be improved?
I have no complaints on this experience because my expectations were blown away! I am thankful I
got the opportunity to work with this specific teacher. With that being said, I honestly do not know if
there is any way this experience could be improved.
VISION FOR MY FUTURE
Here is what I want to accomplish in the next five years:
Education: In the next five years, I would like to have graduated from ETSU and have gotten a
teaching job.
Career: I hope to get caught up in the love for teaching that I do not consider it my job. I want
to love my job, school, and students.
Family and Friends: I hope to be married and possibly start a family, or begin talking about
starting a family of my own.
Involvement and Service to My Community: I hope to give back more to my community
because while going to school I have gotten caught up in doing just that. I want my small
community to excel.
Personal Growth: In my personal life, I would like to become more outspoken and build my
self-esteem a little more. Right now, I doubt myself and my ideas a lot. I would also like to be
more creative.
Other: In five years, I would like to exceed my list of accomplishments I have, but as long as I
reach them I will be happy.
REFLECTIONS
Here are the Knowledge and Skills that I have acquired as a direct result of taking part in this
Service Learning project:
I got to learn another form to try getting the students quiet when I have my own classroom. I also
learned that you cannot give up on the students that need the most help and attention. I got to
witness this by listening to another teacher talking bad about a couple of her students saying how
terrible they were. She also said that she knew they needed to be held back, but she was not
teaching them again so she was making sure they moved on.
Here is how this Service Learning project ties in with my
EDUC 2300 Introduction to Education class:
I got to see the flipped classroom in action. Some days it works, and some days it does not. I also
got to witness my mentors lesson plan not getting through to the students, so she had to alternate
it and try another route.
My Contribution to the Community
I have devoted 18 hours to my Service Learning project. Here are four lasting experiences that
are an outcome of my Service Learning project:
1. I actually do like the lower grades better than I thought.
2. If the students are restless, do not make them keep sitting there; let them stand
up and stretch or move around.
3. Centers are everyones go-to teaching strategy for the time being.
4. Try to go over what the students learned either the day before or over the
weekend for a recap.
