Running Head: IU8 REFLECTION 1

Lydia DeFazio

EDUC 320

IU8 Reflection

2-13-2020
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IU8 Reflection

On February 12th, 2020 I completed all three of my learning service hours with the IU8

Bridge Program from Ebensburg, PA. When I first heard about this assignment, I was so excited

because I have seen the IU8 students cleaning tables at lunchtime just about every year I have

been here. Even though I had seen some of the IU8 students around, I still did not know much

about the program, so I was excited to learn more and get to know the students! I was with the

students from 10:15 to 1:25 so I got to be with them for a variety of their activities. When I first

arrived at Cosgrave the students were in charge of cleaning off the tables from breakfast and

making sure the chairs and tables were clean for the lunch crowd that would arrive in about an

hour. This is when I began introducing myself to some of the students and trying to create some

conversation. For example, there was one girl I talked to quite a bit just because I told her I was

tutoring at Northern Cambria, and that is the school she went to. Then the students got to each

lunch around 11am. I got to sit with the students and talk to them while they ate, and ask them all

sorts of questions which was so much fun! The students were much more talkative than I thought

they would be since I am a stranger to them. I even tried to include the students who were a little

more quiet to make them feel comfortable as well. After lunch we headed downstairs in

Cosgrave to play pool, and air hockey. I played the “champion” in air hockey and ended up

losing and then played pool with some of the students and lost that as well! It was so fun to play

these games with them because they were really good at them and so conversational! After the

games, we all walked up to the main building to give Connie some Valentine’s Day cookies as a

group. Lastly, I joined the students as they worked on their workbooks with Brian back in
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Cosgrave. This was another new thing to me because I have never sat in on a special needs or

exceptionality lesson before. It was so interesting to see that most of their work was focused on

personal relationships and learning how to properly interact with people. Also, most of the

instruction was instructor lead instead of individual which I thought was interesting as well.

Overall, I had so much fun hanging out with the IU8 students. I learned so much about them and

from them. I hope I get to do more things like this in the future!