SLP Diaries - Part 1

Today was the first day of my department's Service Learning Program. My staff in charge said a prayer to inaugurate the session. The session was scheduled to start at 2 pm and go on for an hour. However, we started the session a little late, since we had trouble splitting the school children into groups. The teachers of the RSL school were gracious and helped us settle the students. 

The students were split into groups at random. Each group had students from grades 1-5. Once the students were split into groups, it made things easier for us to handle them. We had stories ready to tell them and jumped into action. Some of the older children already knew the stories we were going to tell, but the younger ones were captivated and paid close attention. Once I finished telling my story, I asked one of the children to narrate it. When she got it right, I felt something warm in my chest. It showed me that they had listened to what I was saying. 

After the stories, we had a set of vocabulary that we taught. I wrote the words out in my notebook and read out the letters. The children repeated the letters and learned what they meant. After teaching them, we had an art activity. Most groups drew pictures - which were supposed to be related to the stories they heard. One group's instructor decided to teach children origami - which was a brilliant idea. 

For a first day, it was magnificent. It felt empowering to see my vision become a reality. More than that, it felt nice to do something that mattered. When I saw those little faces looking up at me, waiting for what I was going to teach them, it told me that I had to get this right. Not for my sake. Not for my own pride. Not for something to add to my resume. But, for those children who deserve so much.