Blog 16: Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

My mentor is letting me have my very own group of students to teach. I've already began teaching them at 1:45pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The students I work with are Diana, Itzel, Julio, Andrea, and Eric come work with me on math. 

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

I've already began working with the kids and I can take pictures of them working or take pictures of the worksheets that we do together to show as evidence. I will definitely have worked with them for over 30 hours by the time this second independent component is due.

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

This helps me explore my topic more in depth because it is hands on experience. Teaching this small group teaches me skills necessary to keep kids engaged during the lesson and lets me practice being able to make students of different tempers and personalities work together. 

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

SPH Link  

Independent Component 1

Content:   

• LITERAL
  (a) Write: “I, Miriam Leon, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 32.5
  (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component. 

My source was basically my mentor, Jessica Sosa. 

• (c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.

Updated Link 

• (d) Explain what you completed.    

I continued going to mentorship and got to be more involved in helping the kids instead of just doing lesson prep. 

• INTERPRETIVE 
  Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work. 

I really got to spend time in the class actually helping out all the kids and getting to know each ones personalities and needs. 

Family Unit

Tis the season

Kids painted Jack o lanterns

I taught a lesson on floating and sinking

"Harvest of the month"

• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this.

I got to get a look into what teaching is all about. Just by being in that environment I saw all the challenges that a teacher faces when trying to keep a positive learning environment. These little ones need constant attention and you can't catch a break. they aren't afraid to ask for help which is good, but also very tiring. This independent component has been a very good learning experience, and for my second independent component I am going to be working regularly with a certain group of students. This first independent component is what has prepared me to move onto my second one. 

Lesson 2 Reflection

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?


I am most proud of how my activity worked out, because everyone participated and had a lot more fun with it than I expected. The people in my advisory house were so happy with their drawings, it was adorable.

2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC


     b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

I am pretty sure I met all the requirements necessary to be considered for a P right off the bat. That's 

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

I felt that my presentation was well organized, so that helped me reach the time requirement. Having notecards to help me keep track of giving my information also worked, and the activity worked well.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

One thing that I would change if I could re-do this presentation is maybe sign up to go earlier in the day, or the week, because by the time I presented everyone was looking dead. 

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

I think my answer numero dos is going to have to do with classroom management strategies uch as reward systems, and positive reinforcement to motivate kids. 

Blog 14 - Third Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

• I plan to interview Monica Leon (Isaiah Leon's mom). She was a teacher for eleven years, has been a principal for three years at Pedley Elementary, and she's written a children's book. 

2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 

• I'll be interviewing her two weeks from now on a Wednesday at 2pm.

3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.

• What sources did you find most helpful when you began teaching in the classroom. 

4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).

• As a principal, what kinds of sources or advice do you give to your teachers.

5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ.

• How can a kindergarten teacher create a positive learning environment?
• What methods have you personally found to be most effective in the classroom. Are the students engaged?

Blog 13 - 10 Hour Mentorship Check-in

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

• I am mentoring at Berlyn Elementary School in Ontario. 

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

• My contact is Jessica Sosa. She's an amazing teacher and she loves what she does. 

3.   How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).

• I've done like 100 hours, man. Overachiever, whoot whoot, amiright? 
• Link 

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours

• I've done so much in this time at my mentorship, I honestly feel like a useful asset to the classroom. I love working with my mentor, and the kids and I have really grown attached to each other. I'm very comfortable with my mentor and we work very well together. She leaves me sticky notes on the small tasks she needs me to do when she's busy, and we text each other any details that come up in class when either she isn't there, or I'm not. It's been amazing watching the kids grow so much from the very beginning of the year. I no longer have to help them spell their names, or tie their shoes. I've been able to be apart of all the skill building lesson plans and the fun learning atmosphere. I've already completed my hours, but that's not going to stop me from continuing to go to mentorship. I've already talked about my second independent component with my mentor. We will be beginning to do reading groups where she will be with the intensive reading kids and I;ll be doing guided reading with the rest of the class. I'm gonna be the teacher :)

Blog 12 - Holiday Project Update

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in

school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?
I didn't really have a chance to do much for my senior project in an actual classroom during break because schools were closed. I did however continue to work on my upcoming lesson, came up with interview questions, and I think I have a better idea of what I'm going to do for my activity.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why? What was the source of what you learned?
The most important thing senior project wise was me coming up with the ten interview questions we will be doing soon.

3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

My wonderful boyfriend/best friend Isaiah Leon has tons of family members who are teachers. His step mom teaches 6th grade, his aunt teaches kindergarten. His dad taught physics for 10 years. And his amazing mom taught 5th grade for 15 years and has been a succesful principal/ children's book author for 3 years now. So i could interview any one of those amazing/experienced people. 

Blog 11 - Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson and why?

• I am most proud of the poster I used as a prop and the content of my presentation. The poster was helpful for me to remind me of what I wanted to talk about, and was a nice visual for my audience to understand what I have been learning from my mentorship. In regards to the content of my presentation, I feel that it was very informative and I was able to cover all my bases in the allotted time. 

2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

• I would give myself at least a P for my first lesson, because I hit all the P requirements stated at the top of the contract.  Also, I personally believe my research was clear and concise and I cited two of my sources (including my interview with my mentor.) Overall, I think I did what was asked of me, so it was a successful first lesson.

3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson? How can you use that knowledge to give a better lesson 2? 

• If I could redo my first lesson, I would probably rehearse it the night before instead of accidentally falling asleep and winging it (in my defense, it's been a busy/tiring week). Rehearsing would force me to iron out what exactly I will be saying and in turn will help calm my nerves to give a better lesson in the future.