Prompt 1

I am completing my service learning at Ambition High. The hallways of the high school resemble the busy city street it is situated on during passing periods. The school itself is divided into two separate learning communities, arts and technology, and classes are based on the community a student has chosen to participate in. There are instances when students from the arts and technologies groups intermingle but it happens very rarely when there are not enough students to justify having two classes. Theoretically, the learning communities focus on the interests and capabilities of the students to further engage them in the classroom and make abstract topics more relevant to their lives.

I am tutoring in an arts based geometry class and so far I have seen very little introduction of art into the curriculum. It seems that it would be easy to incorporate more visual learning into a geometry class and when students are asked to draw diagrams for problems or use visual manipulation to understand concepts they respond positively. This classroom is definitely on the rowdier side than any I had ever experienced. The students are outgoing and chatty but for the most part I have not seen it become much of a problem. Both the students and teacher (Ms. H)have made me feel very welcome in the classroom. The students often do work in partners or on their own during class and no one has hesitated to ask me for help if they need it. There is also an advisory period that I have observed and participated in. The two advising periods I was present for happened directly after report cards were sent home. During the first session Ms. H held private conferences with the students to discuss their grades and how they could improve in courses they had failed. The second session was spent discussing as a group the students plans after high school. In this session they had a lot of questions about everything from the SATs to what college is really like. In this instance I felt like my presence in the classroom was very valuable to them. As a more recent high school graduate than Ms. H I was able to answer their questions and tell them the things I wished I had known in tenth grade.

This focus on seeking out higher education is present throughout the school. The main hallways contain important dates for seniors including field trips to CCRI to take placement tests and the registration dates for classes. Various posters and signs throughout the school are in both English and Spanish, suggesting a high concentration of ELL students. There are also posters that announce those with perfect attendance records from each grade and learning community, being present and participating is obviously valued here.