Breakfast with Dr. Ed Zlotkowski

        This morning I attended a workshop presented by Dr. Edward Zlotkowski, a nationally known presenter and scholar on academic service learning. Beyond leaving with a full stomach, the experience was very rewarding. The basis of the presentation was on building deeper, more effective learning experiences by connecting the community with the classroom. He started the workshop by asking each of the guests to recall a learning experience of their own more influential than any other. And then we were to share with our tables. My most influential learning experience was not classroom based at all. It was hardly academic for that matter either. I shared of my first tutoring job in which I helped several at-risk children with their after school work at their group home here in Marquette Michigan. Reflecting on this learning experience brought two things to mind: First off, teaching is hard. I found that I only had success with the children if I had an opportunity to get to know them first. I found that when I let the students release any pent up emotions, be them of joy, anger, jealousy or any other, more learning would occur. Which brings me to the second thing I learned from that experience: this community alone is more diverse than I could have ever imagined before. One cannot begin to  guess what experiences have molded another person. I heard several stories from young boys and girls about their lives that brought them to that group home. It is imperative that I as a future educator and other educators consider the diverse backgrounds of their students. We need to be sensitive to all possible scenarios, because a smile can hide a lot of dirty truths. 

         The majority of my table-mates told other stories of profound learning experiences which occured outside of the classroom.  As Dr. Zlotkowski had anticipated and was the moral of this presentation, the experiences that stick with us the longest and have the greatest impact on us are those that we experience, not those that we read about or are lectured about.