Post Service

In my time at Rock Island High School, I noticed that all of the students from different countries acted just as a classroom full of American students would act. There were rowdy students who would not stay in their seats or be quiet, and there were quiet ones that were serious about their work and wanted to obey the teacher. No matter where the student was from, they still showed similar characteristics to each other and American students. I also saw that most of the time, the students portrayed some of the same communication techniques as American culture. Across all cultures, similar communication techniques are used to display emotion or display how something should be interpreted. In the future, I will know not to judge someone from another culture quite as quickly and think about how their values or ideas about behavior may be different from my own. As should everyone else. People should not be so quick to judge those of different cultures and automatically label them as weird just because they have different values and beliefs and may behave differently.

During Service 3

This last time going to Rock Island High School, I took a special notice to their nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is defined as messages expressed by non-linguistic means. For the most part, these messages are universal among all cultures, but there are a few that differ based on the culture. For instance, all of the students send messages with their body when they get something wrong, when they want to be left alone and want to study, or when they are bored. They also have different spacial levels for personal space. The students from Africa tend to get a little closer than those from America would. This shows that their "bubble" for personal space is closer than people from America. The personal space "bubble" is divided into 4 levels, as described by Edward Hall. The closest  level is intimate space designated for those very close to us and loved ones. Then there is personal space which is for friends and family. After that there is social space which is for acquaintances or co-workers. Finally, there is the public space which is open to anyone in public. These students tend to enter into the personal space level even though I do not know them well enough to enter this area. Them entering this area did not make them feel uncomfortable because they are used to being that close to a person. I, on the other hand, became a little uncomfortable because they were so close. I was understanding of them being that close because I know what their culture taught them. From now on, with any culture, I hope to be more understanding of what someone may do that seems different to me because of the difference in cultural backgrounds.

During Service 2

I have encountered, at Rock Island High School, that most of the kids from Africa or Asia seem to have integrated their own culture with American culture. When I say that the majority of them have integrated, I mean that they have kept their own culture but also adopted some of the aspects of the new culture. To be specific, a lot of them still speak the language that they spoke at home with each other but wear the clothes we wear and listen to music we listen to. I have also seen it another way when the kids wear the clothes that they would wear in their country and listen to music from their country but adopt English as a language. Not only that, but they also have iPhones and other smartphones. This is not a behavior they have changed after coming to america, but it is a material item that they would not normally have in the area whee they are from. The fact that they have and constantly use their phones just like Americans would, results in another aspect that they have integrated into our culture. These kids integrating like this is because they are young and it is easy for them to adopt aspects of a new culture. Their parents, on the other hand, would not have as easy a time integrating because they have had a history of behaving a certain way or owning certain things from their culture back home. The younger ones also have more opportunity and resources to integrate because they are around kids from America all day when they are at school. All they have to do is see what their American peers wear or how they behave and try to copy that the best way they can. The parents or adults do not have the same opportunity because they may be stuck at home all day or they only focus on their job and do not have the time to integrate. The kids may also be more open to the idea of adopting some characteristics of a new culture, while the adults may have a more conservative approach to culture and do not even open themselves up for new cultures. I can apply this to the future by noticing how much someone is integrated and base what I talk about or how I act. If a kid is integrated, then I will be able to talk to them about phones or sports depending how integrated they actually are. If someone is not integrated really at all then I will try to talk to them about their culture and introduce them to our culture in an effort to enlighten them about American culture.

During Service 1

My first time going to Rock Island High School, was a slightly scary experience because I was in a new situation, by myself, and without nearly any direction. I had to find my own way through the school and find the classroom I needed to be in. Once i found the right place I was supposed to be in, one of the girls needed help right away. This girl did not know much English which caused the language barrier to be quite significant. She was having trouble reading what she needed to do in the assignment. I needed to try my best to translate what the assignment was asking her to do. It went pretty well once we started. She get better at spelling the words and knowing what words to put to make the sentence make sense. This was all in one session of tutoring that she was able to learn better ways to write out a sentence. At first, attempting to translate was difficult because I had never done it before, but once I got rolling with it, I picked up better ways on how to teach her the language. After I got the hang of it and some tricks on how to explain, the rest of the assignment was much easier. I plan on using how I taught her on other students that do not know much English.

Pre-service to Rock Island High School

From this service project of going to Rock Island High School to tutor kids, I hope to learn about the people of different parts of the world and how hard or easy it is for them to become familiar with American culture. I also hope for myself to become more cultural. I assume that this school I will be tutoring at is going to be very diverse with all kinds of cultures and the school will be full of kids. I also assumed that the kids would not be dressed the nicest because it is not in the best part of town. I already know that the kids have been tutor by other students before and they will have some idea of what they need to do. The teachers at the school will be helpful if I have any questions about what to do or what something means. Also, the students that I will be helping will not have the most knowledge of school in subjects like math, science, and English. They also do not have a lot of money so they may not have as nice of clothes or materials for school. I honestly do not have any connections with these kids other than the French language. Because some of them are from parts of Africa that speak French, I have one thing that I can connect with them on. Other than that one thing, there is nothing that would cause me to do this project on my own. I hope that with this experience I will learn a lot and possibly go back after this project is over.