Service Learning at the Dual Language Academy of the Monterey Peninsula
Fall 2017
I did my service learning in the fall of 2017. I have always wanted to be a teacher, and more recently a Spanish teacher, so I thought what better place for me to do my service learning than at the Dual Language Academy of the Monterey Peninsula (DLAMP). I started out, per my request, in an eighth grade, U.S. history class taught in Spanish. DLAMP is a dual immersion program, meaning that half of the curriculum is taught in English and half in Spanish. The percentage of the curriculum taught in the target language is higher in the lower grades and eventually becomes 50-50 at the upper grades. My first day was nothing short of a complete disaster. The kids were rude to their teacher, rude to each other, and rude to me. Their teacher was very nice but had very few tools in her tool belt for controlling her class. It was mayhem. Having a complete stranger come in to “help” just added to the chaos. Swear words and shoes were flying across the room, the kids refused to speak in Spanish, and for some reason no-one seemed to be able to find a pencil. Two weeks into my service learning stint, I had loaned out all my pencils and I was completely disillusioned about teaching altogether. I requested to be moved to kindergarten.The sweet, little kindergartners were a complete delight. I grew very fond of all of them and I realized that if I do pursue a career in teaching, perhaps I’m better suited to the younger grades.
Aside from making me doubt my desire to be a teacher, this experience gave me a chance to see first hand the inner workings of a dual immersion program in my community. I have a renewed compassion for educators, one of the hardest jobs there is. Regarding social responsibility I learned that our kids are suffering at the hands of failing schools (or at least failing classrooms). In the case of the eighth grade history class, those were not “bad” kids. They were smart, able kids how were not thriving because they were in an environment that did not support their learning needs. I don’t claim to know exactly what type of environment would have worked for them, but anyone could have seen that the situation wasn’t working for anyone. In terms of diversity, DLAMP does have a diverse student body and that is one of its successes. It draws a whole variety of students from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds which allows the kids to learn about and appreciate different cultures. As for justice, certainly at the upper grades justice was not being served. The adults in that system were failing those kids and, as such, there was no educational justice for them. As a whole, it was a positive experience for me. I learned that I still have a lot to learn with regards to what I want to do “when I grow up”. My Spanish improved some, but since I spent most of my time in kindergarten much of the language was remedial. I was introduced to the poem, El Cancion del Pirata by José de Espronceda which I later studied in my Spanish Literature class. It has become one of my favorites. I don’t think the eighth graders appreciated it as much as I did.
Aside from making me doubt my desire to be a teacher, this experience gave me a chance to see first hand the inner workings of a dual immersion program in my community. I have a renewed compassion for educators, one of the hardest jobs there is. Regarding social responsibility I learned that our kids are suffering at the hands of failing schools (or at least failing classrooms). In the case of the eighth grade history class, those were not “bad” kids. They were smart, able kids how were not thriving because they were in an environment that did not support their learning needs. I don’t claim to know exactly what type of environment would have worked for them, but anyone could have seen that the situation wasn’t working for anyone. In terms of diversity, DLAMP does have a diverse student body and that is one of its successes. It draws a whole variety of students from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds which allows the kids to learn about and appreciate different cultures. As for justice, certainly at the upper grades justice was not being served. The adults in that system were failing those kids and, as such, there was no educational justice for them. As a whole, it was a positive experience for me. I learned that I still have a lot to learn with regards to what I want to do “when I grow up”. My Spanish improved some, but since I spent most of my time in kindergarten much of the language was remedial. I was introduced to the poem, El Cancion del Pirata by José de Espronceda which I later studied in my Spanish Literature class. It has become one of my favorites. I don’t think the eighth graders appreciated it as much as I did.
span301s_ensayo_final.pdf |
span_301_service_learning_presentation.pdf |