This semester as part of our class we are required to perform service hours in the field of education and teaching those with exceptionalities. I chose to volunteer at Wood Lane teaching swimming for the special Olympics. This experience has proven to be a growing experience for me in many ways that I would never have even thought possible. I would really like to share how my experience working at Wood Lane has been enjoyable and frustrating at the same time.
When I arrived on the first day of practice at Wood Lane I had never worked with kids who had disabilities or even been around them very much. I did not know what to expect and I was a little nervous about this new experience. The first thing that I learned while working with the Special Olympics is that you have to have a large amount of patience with those who you are working with.
Sometimes I would teach a swimming stroke over and over and the swimmer would still not understand or refused to try the new technique. This frustrated me a little, but I knew that I could not give up! The main thing that kept me going is the fact that many of these students are suffering from some condition that limits their ability in one way or another. It soon struck me that these same skills that I have taken for granted in my life might not be so easy for the kids I was teaching. I took a step back and tried to incorporate different strategies to help them learn and appreciate what I was teaching them. I soon discovered that if I gave them some encouragement and was someone that they could trust they were more willing to try these new skills.
One of the swimmers that I have been teaching has a fear of not being able to touch the bottom of the pool and putting their face in the water. When I first began working with this student they would swim a couple of feet and stop and hang on to the wall. To discourage this, I would put myself between the wall and the swimmer and when they felt like they could not go any farther I offered encouragement instead of allowing the wall to be their sense of support. To my amazement the swimmer was able to swim alone to the other end of the pool without stopping on the wall. When the swimmer reached the other side of the pool they were so proud that they were able to not use the wall.
This gave me a sense of pride in what I was able to accomplish that day. My swimmer was able to overcome his fear that day and that is what learning is all about. Sometimes it takes a great deal of uncomfort and disequilibrium before any growth occurs. This is true in whatever we do in life. It takes hard work and situations that we have never been in before to learn new skills. It was really evident to me today just how powerful this can be and I walked away that day knowing that I had just succeeded!
From that day on, I have worked with the same strategy of pushing the student into uncomfortable situations so that they will grow and learn and gain confidence in their abilities. Now I need to apply this strategy to my life more and experience new things that get me out of my comfort zone. I know the first step for me was volunteering at Wood Lane and I will learn from this and apply this strategy in my life for years to come.