Community Service Reflection
Josie Bartelt
In August of 2021, one of my brother’s classmates reached out to me saying that the
daycare in town needed more staff members and thought that I would be a good fit for the
position. At first I was a little nervous to apply because I had never worked with that many kids
at a time. However, I didn’t let my nerves get to me and I applied. I figured since I enjoyed
babysitting, I would like this too. I ended up getting the job and I fell in love with working with
the kids more and more every day. The kids’ ages range from infants to school age. Some of the
tasks I have to do include changing diapers, helping prepare meals, read, and prepare crafts for
the kids. The first couple days were a bit rocky since I hadn’t yet learned all the kids’ names and
wasn’t into the groove of things yet. However, after those first couple days things got a lot easier.
I have gained so much knowledge and hands on experience that will help me become a great
teacher.
One of the things that I have learned so far is that you should want to have a good
connection with the kids you are working with. When I first started at the daycare and the kids
would be upset or get hurt, they wouldn’t come to me because they weren’t comfortable with me.
After some time and building connections, they were a lot more comfortable with me and would
be okay with talking to me when they were upset. This would be important in the classroom
because without good connections, our students wouldn’t feel supported by us. Without the
support they may be unwilling to interact with not only us but their peers. I learned that you
could build these connection by spending 1-on-1 time with children, try to find common
interests, or by going to some of the events that they are involved in. By putting in the work to
get to know the children, they will feel that you genuinely care for them, which is something you
should do.
Another thing that I have learned is that you must be very organized when it comes to
crafts. Even though I had everything planned, sometimes there would be something that would
go wrong. By keeping my stuff organized, I was able to fix problems that we had along the way
instead of getting frustrated because things didn’t go exactly how I had planned for them to. This
leads into the third thing that I have learned, which is patience. The children at the daycare
would often get upset if something didn’t go their way and would start to throw tantrums. I
would have to get them to calm down and then we would try to figure out solutions to the
problem together. However, if I wasn’t patient with them, then their tantrums would have
continued, and the problems wouldn’t have been solved as easily. As a teacher it is our
responsibility to try and keep everyone on track and happy. Without patience and organizational
skills, these could be very difficult tasks for us to do.
Lastly, I learned that it is okay to ask or look for help when needed. There were days
where I felt as though I couldn’t find a good project for the kids to do or a good book to go with
it. That is when I turned to my coworkers or my supervisor for help. They were always willing to
help and would never turn me away. I feel this is something that teachers could also do because
no teacher is perfect in what they do. Everyone has their own ways of teaching and maybe we
could learn from each other as long as we ask for the help.
Every day that I have been at the daycare has been so fun. I have never regretted putting
in the application. It is an amazing thing to be able to watch kids learn and grow. I can’t wait for
the future when I will be able to work with my own students every day and help them learn new
skills.
