In Service of What?- Kahne & Westheimer- Talking Points #5

   I found this article very interesting because it relates to the topic of service learning. Service Learning is a way to help out the community, and to also help children who need help. There were a couple of quotes that I found interesting from the article.

 "Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students". I personally enjoy doing service learning. I get to work with children that face a little bit of difficulty in the area of rhyming and learning their syllables. I just love the look on their faces when I teach the first graders a technique on how to rhyme, and their faces just bright up. It makes me feel so good about myself because I am helping them face a challenge that they have a problem with. While me being a service learning tutor, I am helping the community by going to the elementary school and by helping them tutor, and spending some time with them for an hour and a half. 

 "Recognizing the potential of service learning, policy makers, legislators, and educators have promoted initiatives at the local, state, and national levels." I feel like there are more service learning projects now than there were five years ago. There is always some type of service learning project to do. There are more people and children that need more help now a days, and this a way of helping them. Service learning came a long way from how it was many years ago. When there are people tutoring children for to improve their knowledge, it is making a difference in the community. When more people tutor children, the more children are improving and learning fast.

  "Moreover, when asked what they gained from the experience, many students said simply that it taught them "that people can be different" from what you expect." Service Learning makes us think in a different way because of the location on where the elementary school is located. At first, when someone goes to an elementary school, the first thing that they notice is where the elementary school is located, and by that, people tend to judge the elementary school. I must admit that when I first saw the elementary school, I was in complete shock. Just by the location of the school, I thought the students were going to be mean. I was completely wrong by that theory. I absolutely love them, and I am glad that I got the chance to do the service learning project. Tutoring little children is one of the best experiences that I have had. Just seeing them improve weekly just makes me really happy. It is like I am helping them, and that is a good feeling.