The effectiveness of the project, considering each component and reflecting on your learning experience as well as the impact on the school or community.
The project was indeed effective, because after the proposal teachers started being aware of the learners that may be bullied by other learners. They also started paying attention to those that are now all of a sudden introverts, because an experienced teacher knows when something is wrong with one of his/her learner. The project has also helped me in understanding why bullies bully other learners, it has made the community aware of the things that are happening in and around the school under their watch.
The successes and challenges of the project
The only challenge we faced with this project was finding the perfect time for it, because learners had already started with their exams and tests. So this made things very difficult for the whole team to work progressively, because the team that i was working with had been fully scheduled and i had to change the dates of my showcasing. While the successes were when the learners paid full attention and participated well in the sketch that they were supposed to be doing, the only worry was them forgetting their lines but that didn't happen. The learners also showed initiative when the speakers were speaking in front an the younger ones were playful,the older learners made sure that there is silence and everyone is listening.
How has service-learning changed you personally?
When I first began my practicals in semester one i was nervous and didn't have much confidence. I had trouble in addressing a large group of learners, this was because the class i was placed in was combined with two grades being the grade 6 and 7 learners. I had difficulty in teaching the grade 7's while the other teacher was teaching the grade 6 learners. I also experienced being frightened by my mentor teacher. But soon as the first week passed things changed and i could now teach without any trouble, i had confidence to teach in the presence of my mentor teacher. I was able to ask if she needed help with anything. Because i was now used to the environment and the project helped me a lot.
How has service-learning developed you professionally? What new knowledge, skills and attitudes have you gained?
Service-learning has improved my self confidence in the classroom and it has boosted my courage as a teacher, I can now stand in a class full of learners and three teachers and not have a problem. Also, I now have better understanding of subjects and pedagogical knowledge has improved all together. I'm now an inclusive teacher, this is because during the service-learning I was working with five different groups of learners namely grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6 and grade 7. The reason for this was because I wanted to gain knowledge and understand learners better. I have also learned that as a teacher you have to be positive towards your learners, including those that you dont teach. This is because majority of learners draw their attitude from their teacher, because they look up to them.
Describe the benefit of this initiative to the school and community on its sustainability.
This initiative will help the community in seeing the early signs of bullying and be able to help the learners that need help. The school will also be able to help learners to speak up about their experiences on what is happening, how it started and how long has it been happening.