March 19th: Emily

For the last seven months I have been working in a nearby pre-school classroom with about eighteen 4-5 years olds, a teacher, and an assistant teacher. The classroom setting has changed tremendously since the beginning of my time at this school. Originally, the class met as a whole and the teachers attempted to balance the time between center time, lessons, and recess. Now the kids are split into two smaller groups (8-9 students each) depending upon their reading proficiency. While one group moves through center time and classroom lessons, the other group is outside for recess or in the library. Then the groups switch. I have found that I feel most helpful when I remain in the classroom to play and aid in teaching lessons. I can see enormous growth in the kids’ reading levels and social skills -- much of which can be attributed to the smaller class sizes and personal attention from their teacher.
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This semester I am working on my service learning project in partnership with my pre-K. After talking with the teachers and observing the classroom setting, I decided to focus my project on the art center. This space is currently very disorganized. There are old/mixed supplies, messy bins, no clear rules, and no set art projects. I hope to tackle these problems individually to establish a center that provides opportunities for creation and exploration. The students are currently mainly using the space to cut up paper, but I forsee the potential for actual projects and lessons. I am looking forward to the rest of my time with my kids and implementing my service project!