Topical Service Learning Reflection #1

After conducting research and tutoring, I found that my formative literacy experiences and my sessions at the Cohn Adult Learning Center were enlightening and satisfying.

From my interviews with Belmont songwriters, I learned techniques to write songs. Belmont songwriters tend to isolate themselves from others while they write songs. They prefer to write in insulate spaces because there are fewer distractions and their thoughts are not influenced by others' judgements. The correspondence between their insular predispositions and my preliminary attempts at songwriting gave me immense satisfaction. It was pleasing to know that my initial spatial reaction to the songwriting process was the technique that Belmont songwriters employed. Additionally, Belmont songwriters have multiple ways to overcome writer's block. While some choose to use a stream of consciousness, others like to take a break and revisit their work later. I could not find an universal tactic that Belmont songwriters employed because each songwriter had his/her preferred method of tackling his/her writer's block. Although there was no unifying theme in respect to writer's block, I was satisfied by the songwriters' answers because their divergence demonstrated the individuality of songwriting.

My students at the Cohn Adult Learning Center taught me how to help others. While I tried to formulate a teaching approach, I learned that I needed to adapt said approach to each student because a generic method would not account for my students' unique circumstances. Thus, my experiences at the learning center demonstrated the necessity of paying attention to the particular aspects of my students and incorporating said aspects into my teaching approach. I felt satisfaction when my students proficiency improved after I refined my method based on each student's particulars.

While my formative literacy experiences and my sessions at the Cohn Adult Learning Center taught me different lessons, I experienced satisfaction throughout my learning process.