Service learning is unique, and a very important part of education today. However, service learning and community service within the classroom are two very different things. Service learning is an act of service done for the community or for specific individuals, with a significant amount of learning and education behind it. Service learning consists of five different crucial parts. Preparation and planning, action, reflection, and demonstration/celebration are the five parts which make service learning effective (Amle.org). Preparation helps lay the foundation for the students and gives them an understanding as to what type of service they will be doing, and why they will be doing it. It also helps students to be able to connect the service work with classroom material. Action is the exactly what it says: the act of completing the service. Reflection is what comes next, and reflection is very necessary because it helps students to be able to look back and connect the work that they did to the content that they are learning about. This is what makes service learning effective. Demonstration/Celebration is the part of the process where students show what they have learned. This can be through a project, classroom discussion, homework, etc.. This helps validate the service learning and reaffirms that it was effective. Clearly, service learning is much different that community service. Service learning is the act of completing community service projects, while connecting it to classroom content and material.
In my future classroom, I plan to use service learning in many different ways. One way that we could use service learning would be to make it a goal to have one service learning activity per unit. Therefore, the students will be able to be doing service, while also experiencing the material hands-on. This will help to create a greater understanding of the classroom material as well as positively impact the community.
In my future classroom, I plan to use service learning in many different ways. One way that we could use service learning would be to make it a goal to have one service learning activity per unit. Therefore, the students will be able to be doing service, while also experiencing the material hands-on. This will help to create a greater understanding of the classroom material as well as positively impact the community.