Running head: SIX VISITS

Six Visits
Michael Truman
Ivy Tech Community College

SIX VISITS

INTASC Standard Observed

Standard #8: Instructional Strategies
The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to
develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply
knowledge in meaningful ways. (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2011)

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Rationale
Over the course of this semester in a total of six visits, I spent time doing a service
learning project at Danville North Elementary School. I spent my time over these six visits in the
first grade classroom of Mrs. Diana Blankenship. I was made aware that the experience would be
enjoyable, but it was not made aware to me how profound the experience would be. I went into
my volunteering hours with a very open mind. I was expecting nothing other than to learn and
observe. The experience far surpassed that. It was truly wonderful. Being in that environment felt
very comfortable for me. I will explain the impact of diversity in the classroom, environmental
factors that effected the classroom, and my general stance toward methods and practices used by
my teacher in managing her classroom to make for a comforting environment for learning. The
overall point to my essay will be to examine more closely how being in the classroom made an
impact on my choice to continue my path toward becoming a teacher. With such a profound
experience, it will not be hard to go into details I personally found to make an impact on said
choice.

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In life, we all experience things that seem rather insignificant. With the vast amount of
experiences being mundane and unimportant, it is often easy to fall into a cyclic existence that
further solidifies our viewpoint to only see moment to moment of plainness. This style of living
can become very discouraging, as it does not breed happiness, creativity, or a lasting impact.
However, in life there are sometimes moments that stand out. These moments are the times that
call for an everlasting stamp in our memories. An example of some of these moments might
include falling in love, getting married, having children, graduating from college, and so on.
These moments stick with us because they let our brains know that some things deserve to be
remembered forever. Recently, an experience such as this occurred to me. This experience might
be one of the most important events to happen for me from a personal standpoint of where I wish
my life to go. Over the course of this semester, I completed six visits at Danville North
Elementary School. During my six visits, I spent time with a wonderful teacher named Mrs.
Diana Blankenship; a first grade teacher with a true love toward making an impact on her
students lives. It was a blended classroom with all different individuals who had one goal: to
learn. The experience for me was life affirming. Some would say that they are unsure of the
direction in which they choose to take their lives. Some would say they do not care. While there
might have been a hint of uneasiness toward my personal direction before, I can honestly say
after this experience I am no longer unsure. My name is Mr. Truman and I am on the road to
becoming a teacher. At the end of this road, I will know that my six visits had a lot to do with the
continuation of my journey.

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Relate Service Learning Experience to the Classroom

Danville North Elementary is a rural school. It is located in the quaint town of Danville,
Indiana. The town itself paints a picture of a different time. With the historic town square filled
with mom and pop shops visited by locals looking to keep a sleepy community alive, the town
itself will make you feel at home. The school system is no different. Upon my first moments at
the school, I step out of my vehicle to see the principal greeting the children as they arrive for
their day. She welcomes them all with a warm and genuine smile. Walking in to the small rural
school led me to front office, where I myself was greeted with a warm smile from the faculty.
Looking around it was very clear that the children were treated with love and positivity. The
makeup of the student population was how you would imagine it. A majority of the students were
Caucasian, most likely from all different levels of socio economic status. As discussed in class,
not all diversity in a student is shown in the tip of the iceberg. The diversity in this school setting
came from the personalities of the students. You had a balancing mixture of extroverted students
to the shy introverted individuals. During my time volunteering, not once did I witness any
bullying or discrimination toward any students. The environment felt very comforting and safe.
This was not an urban school environment. With a large majority of the students being of the
same ethnicity, you would not run into any problems of discrimination based upon race.
However, diversity comes in many different forms. In the classroom, my teacher made it very
aware that every students needs would be met. I would do my volunteering in the morning hours,
which was during their reading block. The students were broken up into different reading levels
and had their instruction designated toward the specific needs of the group. This fit in very well
with Gardners multiple intelligence theory. As Gardner states, the multiple intelligence theory
helps us to reach more children who are trying to understand important theories and concepts in

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the disciplines. (Gardner, 1997: 2) From the students who were excelling to the ones who did
fully comprehend, there truly was no child left behind. It seemed as Mrs. Blankenship was very
aware of the personalities of her students. The ones who were antsy and active were not chastised
for such behavior. They would stand at their desks and read, or walk around with the book. She
would start conversation with the timid students to create a comforting relationship that made
them feel accepted. If a student would succeed, she would praise. If a student would falter, she
would console and more importantly, teach.
Classroom Environment and Student Learning
She was very observant. One morning, she had me catch a student up who had missed
school because of family reasons. You could tell there was a genuine concern in her heart for this
child, as she informed me of the need for the positive male role model in his life. I could
personally relate to that, as at that point in my life I needed the same thing. Getting the
opportunity to have that experience was very important to me as an individual, as I hope it was
for him as well.
As I walk into the designated classroom for my volunteering, I first meet my supervising
teacher, Mrs. Blankenship. She was very alive and vibrant. Never did I feel uncomfortable or
intimidated in her presence. Every morning, regardless of any personal experience she would be
going through, she greeted her students in a very motherly manner. You could see the love for her
students in her eyes as well as the students toward her. I cannot say how she truly felt, but it
never seemed as if there was any favoritism placed upon any child. All of her students were
equally loved in her classroom.

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There morning routine was the same every morning: put your books down, get breakfast
if you had not, and read until announcements. To maintain control of the excitement of her
students, the morning section fit very much so into the behaviorism category of teaching. The
classroom was by no means a factory, but had elements of maintaining certain behavior to
maintain a calm and inviting atmosphere. As An overview of Schooling in America made aware,
her teaching style weighed more on the progressive style, as she enabled her students to explore
ideas that arise; teachers can vary the curriculum to match the needs and interests of students.
(Koch, 2009 pp. 76) After the announcements, the students would go off to their different
reading groups. The next group of students would enter the room with the same love and
attention as the last. One thing I found to be a little discouraging was the blocked reading
section. The time it took for the students to get from one classroom to the next, get settled in, and
begin the lesson for the day seemed very rushed. The process took out a lot of time for the
teacher get in a full lesson while taming the excitement level of the students. It was very rushed
and scripted. It did not seem as if there was very much room for diversifying the lesson.
However, Mrs. Blankenship did a very good job adding excitement to her scripted lesson plan,
but you could see her discontent with the systems structure. It is understandable to have to do
things that you do not want to do in any profession, but I believe Mrs. Blankenship handled it
with intelligence and creativity. She would turn worksheets into songs and standard reading into
problem solving discussions. It seemed very fun for the students, as she enabled them to show
their personalities in everything they did.
Future Teacher
One part of my service learning was spent walking around observing the different styles
and layouts of teachers rooms. From blocked seating arrangements to free and open layouts,

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every teacher made it a point to show their personality to create the environment that they
wanted for their students. I believe that the layout of a classroom is a very important tool
teachers can use to address different needs of students. When dealing with a class that has
disciplinary issues, you could use a very structured layout to promote following rules and
regulations. On the other hand, using a more open layout could promote creativity and create a
very free environment. Using your classroom as a tool itself is a very different way that I never
imagined could be used to maintain order and structure in a classroom. Mrs. Blankenships
classroom was very open and had a frog theme. The students seemed to really enjoy this, as it
also tied into a lot of her lesson plans. I believe this is an area of strength as it was always
overlooked from me personally. To the eye of an outsider, this is something you do not readily
see as being important. In the eyes of a teacher, however, this is a very important option for
furthering a students learning.
An area I saw as a weakness for the school was the continued use of worksheets and an
extremely structured curriculum. Like I stated earlier, Mrs. Blankenship did a magnificent job at
creating lessons of differentiated learning styles, but the over use of worksheets seemed to hinder
the classroom. The need for students to truly comprehend a subject is very important, but not
every student can excel using the worksheet format. I saw it personally, as many students seemed
to be very engaged during a lesson involving a game or a song, but when it came to the
worksheet they would freeze. It was discouraging for myself and I imagine Mrs. Blankenship to
see a student enjoying learning something new, but have it thrown out the window the moment
they felt the pressure of a worksheet. I believe this to be the biggest problem facing the education
field. Students will learn better whenever they find an approach that caters to their style of
learning. I believe it hinders further leaning and could make the student feel discouraged or that

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they are not intelligent. While the logical assessment might be beneficial for some, it can be
detrimental to anothers progress. If a classroom were to be under my leadership, I would use
differentiated teaching strategies such as Mrs. Blankenship to reach every child in the classroom,
while pushing the school district to open discussion for the benefits of said strategies. As Sir Ken
Robinson stated, The real role of leadership is climate control, creating a climate of possibility.
(Robinson, 2013)
Summary
I did my service learning in six visits. It only took one for me to realize that it is in my
nature to teach. The feeling of joy I felt in the classroom was breathtaking. It is as if I was
designed to be in that environment. Assisting children on their journey to self-discovery and
educating them on all subjects involving the world they live in brings the greatest joy I have ever
felt in a professional setting. If I were to be a teacher right now, it would not feel like a job. It
would be more of a calling. I spent a lot of time in my life analyzing which direction I should go.
At the end of the day, it always came back to teaching. I love to learn. I love to socialize. I love
the look in someones eyes when you mention something they are truly passionate about.
Actually being in the classroom confirmed that. Being in that environment felt more satisfying
and fulfilling than any other professional experience I have had. This project turned out to be
more than a project for me. It was a period on a sentence I had always been looking to complete.
Like I stated earlier, my name is Mr. Truman and I am going to be a teacher. I discovered this
after six visits. Now I digress to normalcy and the mundane.

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Reference
Council of Chief State School Officers. (2011, April). Interstate Teacher Assessment and
Support Consortium (InTASC) Model Care Teaching Standards: A Resource for State
Dialogue. Washington, DC: Author.
Gardner, H. (1997) An Interview with Howard Gardner. Mindshift Connection: Multiple
Intelligences. Tucson, Arizona: Zephyr Press.
Koch, J. (2009) So You Want to Be a Teacher?:Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Robinson, K. (2013, April) How to Escape Educations Death Valley. Retrieved from
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley

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