INTRODUCTION

Service Learning is an educational approach where a student learns theories in the

classroom and at the same time volunteers with an agency (usually a non-profit or social
service group) and engages in reflection activities to deepen their understanding of what is
being taught. As a result of service learning, students learn more about the community
and themselves while fulfilling a need in the community and meeting classroom or degree
requirements. Students in any discipline can participate. I am a sophomore at Thu Dau
Mot University and I am interning at a knowledge center called "TRUNG TAM GIA SU
TRI THUC CO HANG" of TAM PHUC KHANG Education Limited Company in Ben
Cat town. The target audience of the knowledge center is primary school students and
middle school students. I teach English to primary school students at the center, and I
teach them the social skills, traditions, and culture of our country.

This is a new form that allows students to reflect and reflect on their own learning
experiences, develop their skills through organized activities to serve the community, and
meet the identified needs of that community. Through it, the students can also accumulate
more knowledge about their subjects, have a broader view and assessment of the major as
well as increase their sense of responsibility for the profession. society. In addition,
community service can also be understood as a learning method to master and apply
knowledge and skills in certain situations of life and to meet the necessary needs of the
community.

What would people of my age do to the world in a positive way?

Teach the children – the future of the planet is in the hands of our children. Teach them
acceptance and tolerance towards other people, regardless of their differences. Show them
that variety is the spice of life; that we need different ideas, cultures, foods, etc to make
up an interesting world. Learn new ways to heal our planet and put them into practice.
Show them that giving back to the community that nurtures them is a win-win situation.
Encourage them to help less fortunate people. Teach them gratitude for everything they
have.

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Take our ideas into the wider community – don’t keep your ideas for a perfect world all to
yourself; share them with your local community. Look for charities that are aligned with
your ideas and offer assistance; this doesn’t have to be money; most charities need
volunteers. Talk to community groups about how you can work towards a perfect world
within your local area.

What can happen in this project is that maybe I won't get the right job placement that I
want, because for companies or knowledge centers we are just inexperienced interns, so
maybe they will let us do other jobs that are not related to our major.

My desire in this service learning project is to study and participate in activities associated
with the training program of the major. Contribute time, effort, and skills to solve the
problems of one or more communities. What I'm worried about is balancing my studies
and internships. Because the timetable is not uniform sometimes the schedule and the
internship schedule are duplicates. What I can learn from this project is:

Training communication skills: through community and social activities, students will
have the opportunity to interact and increase their ability to communicate in front of the
crowd through meetings, negotiation sessions, etc. .. knowing how to listen and absorb
effective methods of communicating. Students participating in community service
learning activities will also improve their ability to communicate effectively.

Improve career skills and teamwork: Service learning helps students develop leadership
skills and learn how to work effectively in groups. Besides, it also helps you better
understand the reality of daily responsibilities at work, know how to make specific plans
for yourself, set career goals, and be determined to achieve them.

Increasing understanding of self-responsibility: Service learning helps to shape students'

thinking about civic responsibility and devotes more time to community closure. In
addition, students will also be exposed to many people, different cultures, and different
nationalities.

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 REFLECTIVE WRITING
1. Description of the assigned job

University helps students get the basic knowledge of theory. However, with this
knowledge, we can not work and complete the job in practice. So we need additional
knowledge and new skills to learn additional methods in the workplace and in society

At first practice in the knowledge center, I was still crestfallen, although the school is also
the teacher to share practical experience much, but when the reality is arising a lot of
situations and problems. Require a student person must have the expertise and soft skills
to handle situations.

On the first day of applying for an internship, I was arranged by the manager of the center
to be a teaching assistant to support the main teacher of an English class for elementary
students. The manager spent a few sessions guiding and training me on the job of teaching
assistant. My job is to help teachers and lecturers in the process of teaching English at the
knowledge center. This is a job that helps when the teaching activities of the main teacher
are too much. However, it brings a lot of experience and skills in teaching to students.

The academic staff is in charge of sending course information and timeline to teachers
and teaching assistants via Gmail before these classes are officially opened. By
monitoring cameras, they will check if I strictly follow the work of the teaching assistants,
complete all assigned tasks well, and whether there are serious class issues so that they
can have immediate solutions. Moreover, academic staff’s frequent attendance is required
to follow and inform new teachers of any inappropriate matter.

With students needing extra help in keeping track of lessons, I am responsible for
assisting them with more exercises. In addition, my responsibilities include notifying
students’ parents of the test date, and invigilating students doing tests, then sending the
results to them.

At the end of the short apprenticeship days, it was also time for me to practice what I
learned at the university and in the center. On my first day as a teaching assistant, I was
quite surprised because I was not used to the job. The first is to stabilize the classroom
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because children at this age are very active. Our teachers must both teach and control
them, not letting them distract from affecting the learning and lesson quality of that
lesson, help teachers in the teaching process, such as preparing materials, pictures,
flashcards,….

Classroom management (attendance, class stability...) when the main teacher is not
present in class and notify the student's homework status to the main teacher.

Organize games in English in the classroom for students.

Correcting homework for students.

2. Working process and working method

2.1. The first week: (June 6, 2022 – June 12, 2022)

Tuesday (June 7, 2022) (morning from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m) I came to the center to ask
for an internship and heard a little bit about the center's activities. Then I gave them a
specific timetable at my university so that they could easily reasonable work
arrangements with my timetable that is not uniform. My job is to be a teaching assistant
for English classes at the center. On the first day, the center manager helped me get
acquainted with the main teachers at the center and arranged classes for me to be a
teaching assistant, handing over the work.

Wednesday (June 8, 2022) (morning from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m) I came to practice my
teaching assistant job. I have a tutoring schedule for class 1A and class 1B at the center.
My job is to lead the children to the classroom, help the main teacher to stabilize the class,
take attendance, and check the children's homework. Support the main teacher in teaching
such as going around the class to see if the children have any difficulty in copying or if
there are any children making noise in the classroom. I also assist the lead teacher in
grading homework. When the main teacher gives the children exercise, I will go around
helping them with the homework and explaining it to them. I also have to try to memorize
the names of the children and note down which ones do well and which ones don't so that
I can notify parents of their children's learning progress. After the lesson, the main teacher

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and I discussed the class and the lecture together and prepared the next lesson for the next
day. As a new teacher, I was also welcomed by many children, they were very friendly
and quite cooperative with me in teaching and learning.

Thursday (June 9, 2022) (morning from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.) today I was a teaching
assistant for classes 2A and 2B. I resumed my job of leading the children to class,
stabilizing the class, and taking attendance. While the main teacher prepares the new
lesson, I check and grade the children's homework. Then the main teacher will write down
the date, lesson title, and vocabulary to learn for that day. Teaching young children is not
easy, because they are still young, and not good at writing, so writing is quite slow, even
many children are lazy without writing. I had to dedicate myself to helping and reminding
you to copy the papers. I had to think of some more subject-related games for the kids to
learn while playing. Especially during the time of class change, the children ran around to
change classes, I had to always observe and maintain order, avoiding the children jostling
and pushing each other. (Evening from 7:00 p.m to 8:30 p.m.) This is a class that I can
teach by myself. I was assigned to teach life skills tutoring and drawing lessons for the
little ones. It's also quite busy. I have to prepare my lectures and PowerPoint according to
the topics that the center sets out. In the first week, I teach the children about the topic
"TRAFFIC SAFETY". First I needed to compose animated slides with images that
matched the theme. Then I found another short film on the topic of "TRAFFIC SAFETY"
for the children to watch and learn without getting bored. After 30 minutes of completing
the tutoring lesson, I immediately let the children learn to draw. Children at this age
almost love to draw and color. Because the children are still young, they can't hold their
writing well, so I let them draw simple things like draw an apple or an orange and then
color them. Because it is a learning and playing session, the children and I can have more
fun together, different from the strict classroom.

Friday (June 10, 2022) (morning from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and evening from 7:00 p.m.
to 8:30 p.m.) Today is another day of my life skills tutoring. . Teaching a class alone is
quite difficult for me now. I have to alone prepare lectures according to the topic of the
center, write PowerPoint alone, stand alone to teach, and take care of the class, all of

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which I have to do alone. I had to arrive about 15 minutes earlier than the teaching time to
fully prepare for the class such as connecting the computer to the projector to project the
lesson for the children to see. Lecture while keeping order for the class to avoid disturbing
other classes. During the few days I worked as a teaching assistant, I also accumulated a
little more experience to teach myself. Before going to the lecture, I will take class
attendance and agree with the children about the lesson that day. In a class, there will be
good students and weak students, so I had to try to help them study better. In terms of life
skills, I will help them to be able to protect themselves when their parents are not around.
Teach them about "TRAFFIC SAFETY", "Rules for dealing with strangers",... After
completing the tutoring, I will teach them to draw. Since this class is class 3 so I let the
children draw more detailed pictures. When it's time to color, I'll have them review the
colors they learned in English class. This can help them learn while playing and
remember the lesson longer.

2.2. The second week: (June 13, 2022 - Jun 19, 2022)

Tuesday and Wednesday (June 14-15, 2022) (morning from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.)
today is the first session of my second week of internship. I have also gradually gotten
used to this job. And then I was also assigned a few other tasks such as grading English
tests, checking tests that other teachers had graded for mistakes, preparing tests, and
tutoring weak students. This job is quite hard but it gives me a lot of experience in
teaching and office. As a student intern, I am experienced many different types of work at
the center.

Thursday and Friday (June 16-17, 2022) are two days a week when I get to practice
teaching. I have to prepare my lectures, PowerPoint, and drawings in advance at home so
that I can teach the class properly. When teaching children, I always have to be gentle and
soft. Because at this age they are very stubborn, if I speak harshly, they will think that I
am fierce and hate them, and they will not listen to me. So, through the few days of the
internship, I changed a lot and also accumulated a lot of work experience.

2.3. The third week: (June 20, 2022 - Jun 26, 2022)

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This week, I tried my hand at advising the parents of children coming to enroll at the
center. The manager at the center gave me a brochure with information about general
classes, specialized English classes, and day-boarding classes. Tuition fees for each
course and each class. The center also has a shuttle service for students. When parents
come to register, I will ask them for basic information about their children, and how well
they are doing at school so that I can easily arrange 3 trial sessions to check their learning
level. After finishing 3 trial lessons, parents can return to register their children for
official classes at the center. I feel I am quite suitable for this consulting job. In addition
to those jobs, I was also tasked with arranging classrooms for classes. Receive and print
materials for teachers.

2.4. The fourth week: (June 27, 2022 – July 3, 2022)

After days of studying almost all the work at the center, now I can do most of the
assigned tasks such as translating documents, preparing lesson plans, grading
assignments, marking tests, teaching assistant, teaching, consulting,... This week I was
quite busy with school assignments and center work, but I tried to finish all of them
although it's not very well.

2.5. The fifth week: (July 4, 2022 – July 10, 2022)

This week my main job is back to teaching assistant and teaching. There were also quite a
few problems that occurred, such as some omissions in grading, causing parents to
complain. I receive suggestions from colleagues and managers - who guide my work.
Since then I have tried harder in completing my work. I meticulously review the work I
have just completed, minimizing the mistakes that I have made. After 5 weeks of
internship, I got closer to my colleagues. Can share about work and a little bit about daily
personal life. They share more of their experiences with me.

2.6. The last week: (July 11, 2022 - July 17, 2022)

This is my last week of internship at this center. Due to my busy schedule at school this
week, I was only able to attend two sessions. During more than a month of teaching at the
center, I have had a pretty good relationship with the children here. They are always
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happy to surround me. When I entered the teaching class, I informed the children that this
was my last lesson, they seemed sad and so was I. But we also tried to do an excellent job
today. The children cooperated very well. Not too noisy as usual, not running around in
the classroom but just sitting quietly listening to me lecture.

3. Reflective writing

If at school, we have the habit of relying on and waiting for teachers and friends to remind
us to study, study, submit assignments, etc., then entering a social working environment is
completely different. Everything you will need to be proactive if you do not want yourself
to become weak, regress, and not receive good reviews. At work, people don't care about
the process you take, they just need the results. Moreover, everyone has their job, they
won't be able to come and guide you little by little. You lack initiative, you wait, and you
are losing your opportunity. Being proactive is the first and biggest lesson that I and my
fellow students need to learn. It's as simple as taking the initiative to get to know people,
actively tinkering, finding out about work, suggesting help, cooperating with people, etc.
All these will help you quickly get along. enter and develop skills.

The internship is a very rewarding time, an opportunity for me to gain a lot of experience,
valuable experience from reality, and future orientation for me. It will be the lessons
learned in the internship report so that I have better results, the university degree will
become brighter and more beautiful. These lessons are certainly no school can teach us
but can only be obtained after a period of working and applying theoretical reality in the
school of life. Besides, the results achieved after the internship will also help us improve
ourselves in terms of knowledge, skills, or lifestyle.

After the internship period, we will still have the opportunity to expand and enrich our
relationships. Before, I just hung around within the school, had a few close friends, and
nothing else. However, after going through 1-2 months of internship, I have had more
colleagues, good friends outside, even seniors who have gone before, experienced people,
and talented people in the profession, … These relationships will be very good, it helps
me to learn and have the opportunity to develop my career in the future.

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 CONCLUSION
The difficulty during the internship is that the actual working environment is far different
from the theory that I learned in school. The job I take on requires more soft skills than
the short learning sessions that I get in school. I feel quite pressured about time. I had to
go 10 minutes earlier than the center's regulations, while I struggled to get to the
classroom to take attendance. The work pressure is extremely obvious. The internship
environment is very close to the working environment, although you get a mentor, the
work is done and completed by you. Making mistakes is inevitable and will receive
criticism. When in previous years, I only needed to focus on studying, but now I have to
do many jobs such as internships, going to school,... The internship period, also helps me
realize my strengths and weaknesses. My strengths are probably office work, consulting,
and customer care. I don't feel like I'm a perfect fit for teaching.

The challenges I faced during my internship were teaching classes alone. Because my
communication skills are not very good, my lectures are not good. I am not confident
enough to stand teaching alone. But the center manager trusted me and let me practice
teaching for a few sessions at the center, making me a lot more confident than before.

I am quite passive and lack confidence in communication. So the lesson on the initiative
is the biggest and most valuable lesson after the practice. So changing from passive to
active was a huge step forward for me. Although this initiative has been used in
professional training programs, instead of the instructor being the one to guide the job, the
lecturer is the guide with the requirement that the learner's study by themselves and do
their research according to the prescribed standards. direction. However, the internship
and practical working environment is the one that promotes the strongest and is also the
environment to learn proactively quickly, and deeply. Standing in a real environment, we
will have to learn and apply the initiative from the smallest things such as actively
greeting and getting acquainted; proactively learning about work, proactively finding a
guide, and proactively raising questions and problems at work.

Soft skills that are equipped in schools are the basic soft skills that are needed and
required in all working environments. However, in specific working environments, in

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addition to basic soft skills, we need other soft skills to serve the job. The specific and
advanced soft skills of each specific work environment are the most used and effective in
my work.

Soft skills are like a catalyst for us to bring the learned theories closer to work practice.
This is something that not only students but also working people must constantly
cultivate. Subtle skills are easily demonstrated through communication, listening,
teamwork and presentation, problem-solving, thinking to make quick and effective
decisions, etc.

In addition to the two great experiences mentioned above, the internship brought me new
relationships with friends and colleagues. I have to maintain and develop these
relationships because they are people who are more or less related to my field of study as
well as my future work, it is these people who can bring development and future, open
expand the opportunity to express myself and find my job opportunities.

The benefits and experiences gained during the internship are valuable lessons for
students entering the labor market after graduation. From there, each individual has a plan
for career development and personal development. The above lessons learned after the
internship are summarized, which are essential for students

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 RECOMMENDATIONS
Advice for future students

Actively seek internships: Do not rely too much on recruitment news from companies on
advertising websites, or posters, or "ask" the school, but actively contact the company you
are interested in. In addition, you should learn more about the governing body, know the
information of the leadership positions, the office culture, how many departments,
competitors ... this will help you "score points". ” and may become a full-time employee
in the future.

Salary or no salary? Many students often have questions such as “Do you get any
compensation for an internship? What is the salary and remuneration like?”... But who
knows that when there are interns, experienced employees must both complete the work
and spend time guiding you. This can affect their efficiency and work progress. As a
young person, instead of always thinking "will I get a salary", you should be concerned
about "what will I learn, how will I create relationships"...

Associate with positive people: Building and expanding relationships is extremely

important. Actively getting acquainted with characters who have a positive influence on
you will help promote your strengths as well as learn a lot of valuable knowledge,
creating a premise for future development.

Professional style: Although you are an intern, you need to show professionalism such as
coming to work on time, wearing correct clothes, completing the assigned tasks well...
Always work with a spirit. as a full-time employee, this helps you to build trust from your
superiors and the host company. The internship is not a place to hang out, but it is a
premise to help you build your development platform. Good luck!

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Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................1
REFLECTIVE WRITING...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................................9
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................................11

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