Jennifer Lung

October 3, 2007
8am to 11:30am

A few days ago I completed a second day of service learning. I was in a different classroom this time and it was 1st grade. While I was there, a math lesson was being taught. To watch the students learn and interact with their assignments was incredibly intriguing. I could definitely tell what types of learners were in the class and which students were advanced or behind for their grade level.

The differences in the student's learning styles were huge. Some students immediately caught on to what was being taught. Other's needed repeated examples, some needed pictures drawn, and yet some needed to count on their fingers for something tangible. There was a wide range from auditory to visual to tactile learners.

Not only were there different learning styles but there were also different levels the children were on. To keep the students that finished first busy, the teacher allowed them to color in their workbooks. Some students took the entire allotted time for the assignment and did not have time to color.

One student in particular stood out to me. This student was done with his assignment and coloring before most of the class were finished with doing the math problems. He was obviously gifted. His classmates were asking him simple math questions so they could finish and he was spitting the answers out without even thinking twice. I could clearly see this student was not being challenged due to the way he was acting out. He kept looking for approval and attention from the teacher by interrupting her. The teacher finally asked him to help his classmates complete their work. The students were grouped with gifted, average, and below grade level in a group so they could help each other.

What I saw as far as the wide range of students was shocking. When I become a teacher it will be important for me to consider ALL of my students when creating lesson plans.