Reflection Paper

Academics is a large part of what determines the future of the typical college student. With an education and a degree, it is assumed that the individual will be an active member in a work space, a family, and the various forms of community that will be encountered after graduation. However, for an individual to fully participate and utilize their skills to the best of their ability, they will need to practice participating and helping within a community. This is what a service learning project is. This project will integrate the student's into a community, whether it be a town, church, school, and any other community. The student's will be given multiple opportunities that allow them to enrich the lives of the other members of this community.

Service Learning is learning through experience to gain sociological observation, concepts, and theories so I decide to do my service learning hours in one of the two high schools that is part of the Oceanside Unified School District. The name of the school is called El Camino High School. El Camino High School is a high school that is located at 400 Rancho Del Oro Drive in Oceanside, California. It has over 3,000 students currently attending. The school’s mascot is the “Wildcat” and their colors are gold and red. El Camino High School is a public school that is part of a system of free public education that is maintained at a public expense for the education of students who are part of that community or district. El Camino High School is a place is a public school where students are coming out of middle school and are

When asked to reflect on what I have learned in relation to Canada’s celebration of its 150th year the first word that comes to mind is ignorance. By celebrating Canada as a nation people are celebrating all types of histories, but many parts of Canada’s history should not be celebrated. Canada’s 150 is something that can be comparable to celebrating Columbus Day; a celebration of genocide. Moreover, the celebration of Canada’s 150 also disregards current struggles occurring within Indigenous communities, overlooking the multiple years and traumas that have tormented Indigenous women. The image of Canada as a successful and thriving melting pot is what the banners of Canada 150 convey. This works against its history as it erases and shadows the stories of trauma and resiliency that have occurred since the beginning of colonization. Overall, I have many personal opinions on Canada’s 150th but from my personal experience and from what I have learned in this class I find that this celebration negatively affects Indigenous people and condones the continuation of poor treatment towards Indigenous women in Canada.

“Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities” (Learn and Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse). This assignment gave students the opportunity to go outside of their comfort zone, which is typically the classroom and see what the “real world” is like. As Gandhi would say “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others” (Gandhi). I believe that this project really allowed us to appreciate what we have because many people are not as fortunate. During this service learning project I had certain expectations going into the project, but in the end, my results were not exactly as I expected.

I chose to participate in service learning and I am excited to be volunteering with the Washington Trails Association (WTA) this quarter. A few years ago, I took an English class that also included a service-learning component. I spent time tutoring math and science to middle school students in Seattle, and I feel that by doing so I gained a perspective that I would not have otherwise obtained by doing individual research or by sitting in a lecture hall. I decided to participate in service learning this quarter with the hope that I would have a similar experience; to gain knew knowledge, or a new outlook that can only be experienced in a hands-on learning environment.

Service-learning is an educational involvement that balances the academic development and a personal experience with the opportunity to serve the community. During this second semester I have the opportunity to experience again what a service learning is. I did my service learning at the Gladys Porter Zoo here in Brownsville, which give me a significant experience by having learned how important the zoos are, specially the Gladys Porter Zoo. Brownsville have this great opportunity of having a Zoo, which plays an important role in education, recreation and conservation of animals. In fact, during this 8 hours that I offer my service, by having dealt with animals, the Gladys Porter Zoo show me how they make the life of the animals go easier than

Service-learning programs offered by PLT and other EE organizations provide students and teachers with support through grants and other resources for action projects.” When you build knowledge there wouldn't be as much car crashes because people will have common sense. When people have common sense in this world less crimes happen because they know it's wrong.” EE gets students outside and active, and helps address some of the health issues we are seeing in children today, such as obesity, attention deficit disorders, and depression. Good nutrition is often emphasized through EE and stress is reduced due to increased time spent in nature.” You can also incorporate health and get healthier because there's not just a mcdonalds in the mountains kids can get better at eating in nature.

Service-learning involves students in community service activities and applies the experience to personal and academic development. Service-learning course objectives are linked to real community needs that are designed in cooperation with community partners and service recipients. Service-learning engages students in a three-part process: classroom preparation through explanation and analysis of theories and ideas; service activity that emerges from and informs classroom context; and structured reflection tying service experience back to specific learning goals. Volunteering is any activity that involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the environment or someone (individuals or groups) other than, or in addition

This is an event that is 80% student-led and 20% advisor-led. Besides making arrangements with building hosts and the elementary school busing system, the advisor maintains a mostly supervisory role in the service learning activity. About 20-25 students help with this activity each year, with only five of those students being chapter officers. There is a great interest in this activity because students realize how much they are helping the youth of their home county understand the agricultural industry as much as their young minds can possibly conceive. Students have noted how they enjoy seeing the physical change in the young children’s perspective and knowledge about agriculture as they continue through the day’s activities.

Over the course of the semester, there has been numerous amount of areas where I believe I have improved in comparison to high school. What has helped me in my writing is the writing class and the in-class writing workshop. The writing class that is located in the Kremen education building has helped me with my writing greatly because in the writing center the person in charge teach us lenses and we apply those lenses to the writing, draft, or reading that someone brings in. The in-class writing workshop has helped me because other students get to read my writing. This is helpful because I get feedback from many students and they let me know what needs to be fixed. A new tool I have been using is They Say I Say. The book is very helpful because of the information and examples it provides such as the templates. I have been applying the templates into my essays and I have seen a significant difference.

Reading and writing is a fundamental part of our learning experience. Reading allows you to enter worlds and experience things you wouldn’t be able to experience anywhere else and writing expands your knowledge not only on a specific topic but you learn more about yourself, you’ll be surprised how far your imagination can take you as soon as your pen hits the paper.

Since the beginning of the semester, my writing has changed and evolved to accommodate and sustain longer essays. With longer essays, there is more room for in-depth analysis. Further analyzing a topic has led me to findings that I did not know existed. As I continue to write, I uncover addition and superior methods to approach my writing to the benefit of me and therefore, my audience. Throughout the semester, I have incorporated techniques to further my narrative throughout my writing.

It is sunrise yet again, as I begin to do my duties for the day. I begin sweeping the floors of the castle and then proceed to the rest of my routine. Next, I usually make my way out to the farm to collect goods to begin breakfast. Breakfast usually consists of eggs, bread, and some sort of fruit. Usually in these times, fruits were a rarity, however when you are a servant living under the roof of the political unification of Spain, rarities aren’t as rare. While I’m outside, I head to the corner to gather grain to feed the livestock. Recent times have been difficult, because my only son, who is allowed to live in the same quarters as me, has been taken to be a squire. In another area, he learns chivalry, how to handle weapons, and other things necessary for any battles that he may encounter as he ages. Although these duties will be relatively important throughout his life, the education system is not what it should be. If my son were of upper class, he would be learning grammar, proper Latin, rhetoric, and philosophy. This infuriates me because my son did not have control over into which class he was born. If he did, he could be acquiring a mastership, studying in a cathedral school, or attending a higher university when he’s older. In exchange for my son, I have been given the duty of looking over the spinners, weavers, and embroiderers in the workshop that makes Queen Isabella’s medieval clothes. While I do my duties, the King and Queen usually attend different masses and

Writing is a tool that will be used throughout my lifetime. It is a tool that is worth taking the time to perfect because it will only be beneficial in the long run. On my writing assignments, I earn A’s, but I still have areas that I need to work on. The areas that I struggle the most would be with simple grammar errors such as the use of commas, writing with an active voice, and writing short,simple sentences. First of all, I often do not know where to place commas in my sentence. I struggle with this because I tend to add commas in the wrong place, so I have become confused with the proper use of commas. This is a small grammar error that I can easily correct by learning where and when commas are needed. I have also found and been told that I write in a passive voice when I should be using an active voice. This is a technique that I have to work on by practicing it and noticing the difference while I am writing and reading. Finally, I often write run on sentences or sentences that include unnecessary information. This makes my writing unclear and difficult for the reader to understand. I could improve by writing shorter and simpler sentences that include only the essential information to get my point across. I have noticed these mistakes in my writing and it has also been brought up by others, so I am currently working on improving it.

When I evaluate my school year,many things come to mind. I think about friends. I think about all the craziness and emotional things that have happened. I also think about how I've grown as a person.My 7th grade year was full of concepts learned,memorable experiences,and personal growth.