Thursday, November 5, 2015

Blog 11 - Lesson 1 Reflection



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

I am most proud of my hook activity because it really engaged the audience into the lesson.

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 an AE. I felt like I did a good job at presenting the topic and I didn't stutter too much how I normally would. The hook activity was well within the two minutes and my lecture had enough content with real life scenarios about Child Development.

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?


I would probably bring in more props that the audience can interact with. That would help my Lesson 2 in keeping the audience more interested. 

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection


1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

At my mentorship I am at a daycare. I get to have one-on-one experience with the kids as if I were a teacher there, but only under supervision of the other teachers there. I get to do activities with the kids and watch over them with the other teachers. There are many teachers there that are experts for my topic, so I will always have more than one person to rely on for information.

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?   

I found my mentor through my sister. She used to babysit a kid that went to that daycare and Mrs. Martha was his teacher. I just told her about my senior project and she said yes to being my mentor. 


3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person

I am comfortable with my mentor to the point where I don't feel the need to hesitate to ask any questions. I have been working with her since last year in November. 


4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

I liked that I didn't have to ask her so many follow up questions to get information. She answered the questions with a bit of reasoning which was good. I still need to improve on making the interviews longer because this one was only about two minutes. For the next few interviews I will ask more questions that are long response.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3


1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).

I currently do have a mentor. I have scheduled the interview for next week on Monday. 

2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.  


My research has guided me more towards the educational side of Child Development. By the educational side, I mean on how to best educate a child at such a young age and what to expect throughout those ages.
 
3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?


The sources that will help me in the next month to gain more research depth will definitely be books. I will hopefully be getting them from local libraries or I will purchase them online. 

4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.


A possible EQ could be: What are the best ways to educate a child under the age of 5?

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Blog 8 - Independent Component 1 Proposal


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

For the thirty hours of independent component one I'd like to conduct several activities with the kids at the day care. Each activity will be based on a core subject such as science, literature, math, or history. My mentor told me that at the day care there are already similar activities that they do with the kids that are educational but instead I will be coming up with ones of my own and "taking over the class." I will then be seeing what activity works best for the kids in every subject and be able to interpret how they learn best. 

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

To meet the expectations of showing 30 hours of evidence I will be taking picture (with the permission of the parents allowing their kids to be photographed) and also possibly taking videos of the kids doing the activities. 
3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

The activities will help me explore my topic more in the sense of seeing how kids around the ages of 2-3 learn best given that this is the age where they start getting more control of their own bodies and more verbal control. 

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation


1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert? 

My mentor is Mrs. Martha. She works at Montessori Academy of West Covina as a teacher for children ages 2-3 years old. My topic is Child Development, so I feel that she best suits the position as my mentor because she has the experience of working with different kids of a variety of ages and also has children of her own.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

The five questions I will ask them about their background are:

1. How long have you been working at Montessori Academy of West Covina?

2. Did you have to go through any training/classes to be at the position you are here?

3. What interested you in becoming a daycare teacher? Have you always had an interest in working with kids?

4. Did you raise your kids the same way you are teaching here at Montessori? Is there anything you would have done differently?

5. What is the most difficult position you've been in while working here?

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep



1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?   

What has definitely worked well for me concerning the senior project this year is the experience I am getting at my mentorship. Though the schedule we follow may be repetitive, there is always some different situation that we deal with that teaches us something. What has made it such a positive experience is the people I get to work with. Not only the kids but the teachers there. They are always open to helping me with the senior project. 


2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

What I'm finding difficult concerning the senior project is trying to find ideas for the independent components. Taking a college class about the topic is something I'm not leaning towards because I want to be more hands on with the component. I will turn to my classmates to help me find ideas and also talk to my house teacher about an independent component I had in mind. 

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Blog 5 - Interview 1 Reflection


1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

The most important thing I learned from the interview is to value patience. Asking Mrs. Denise questions about Child Development and the answers that she gave me all revolved around informing myself about the topic and developing patience when working with kids. For other interviews I would like to ask questions that are more into depth.

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

The additional resources and contacts I got was to look into a class at Mt.Sac called child 10. Mrs. Denise told me it is a difficult class but it really teaches about the development of children from embryo to birth and so on. Also, she told me to interview Mrs. Nina who is the director of the Montessori daycare. 

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me? 

My interviewee was qualified to help me because she has the experience of what I am looking for. She's had children of her own so she has the experience as a parent. Also, she is a daycare teacher so that alone gives her a different perspective on how to deal with certain children. 






Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1




Throughout my senior topic on Child Development, I hope to learn more about what I don't already know. The topic name in itself is pretty self explanatory but I want to dig deeper. I want to learn about how a child develops and their journeys along the way. I want to understand why they do certain things they do or why the say the things they say. Just being able to find a deeper understanding on a phycological level would be an accomplishment in itself.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation



1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?

I plan on interviewing my mentor. I feel like she will have a lot of reliable information to speak on about Child Development. When working with about 20 kids a day in a classroom, there is a lot to learn from each one and how to handle certain situations. She has the expertise to show me the ropes about my topic. I will also ask her who else she thinks I can interview. 

2.  Five questions will be assigned to all seniors to ask.  What additional questions do you plan to ask? 

In addition to the five questions, I plan on asking: 

6. Tell me about your experience from working here at Montessori and about being a teacher for two year olds. 

7. What are some of the biggest challenges you have dealt with in your position?

8. What are the best words of advice you can teach me about working with kids at such a young age?


Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

This is the classroom where I do my mentorship at.



1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

The person who I worked with is Mrs.Martha. The phone number of the organization is (626) 917-0767. The organization is called Montessori Academy of West Covina. 


2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?


This person has the qualifications as an expert in my topic choice because she is not only a teacher at the organization, but a mother as well. She has the experience to teach me about my chosen topic and is passionate about working with kids.


3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.

  1. Does exposing younger kids to technology such as t.v. and tablets affect a child's development?
  2. How does setting a schedule for such a young child help them in their lives?
  3. When a child reaches the age of two, why do people call it the terrible two's? Is that the age where a toddler acts out the most?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

The most important thing I gained from my experience at my mentorship is patience. Patience is something that I had very little of, but being at the day care really showed me that patience is necessary to be able to learn about my chosen topic. Working with toddlers around the age of 5 and under, a person needs to have patience in order to learn about kids and what they're like. That is one of the most important things I gained from being at my mentorship, because from being patient I can value and learn more about how kids are. 

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?  Please explain.

My senior project topic is going to be Child Development. My mentorship is at a Day Care where I work with kids around the ages of 3-5. My mentor Mrs.Martha and I discussed my senior project and she helped me come to making my decision about the topic. We had two choices, either Child Development or Pre School teaching. We decided to go with Child Development because we are working with such young kids and we even have a set schedule for them to go through every day that they are there. With such discipline that is much stronger that Pre School teaching, we chose Child Development for my senior project topic.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Blog 1 - Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection


1. What three lessons were most helpful for you to see, and why?
   
 Three lessons that were the most helpful for me to see were Teaching Kindergarden, Teaching Elementary, and Early Childhood Development. They were the most helpful because they all have one thing in common, which is young children. For my potential topic I'd like to work with kids in day care and observe and learn about their early childhood development and behaviors. Learning about these different topics showed me what to look out for in my mentorship and what to look forward to in my topic. 

2. List one thing that you learned about the senior project in interviews that will help you get off to a good start?
   
 One thing that I learned about the senior project interviews that I think will really help me off to a good start is prioritizing. Having a set schedule and following through with it will be really helpful and a huge stress-reliever to avoid any procrastination. 

3. What topic(s) are you considering, and why?
    
 A topic that I have been considering since second semester in my Junior year is Child Development or Day Care Teaching. I'm not sure what it will fall under but I really enjoy working with kids and learning something new about them and their behavior. 

4. What EQ do you think might be interesting to consider in guiding a project like this? (Please don't worry about any sort of formula...we want this question to come from your genuine interest).
  
  An EQ that might be interesting to consider is, "What is the best teaching method to consider when working with kids under the age of 5?" 

5. What are some ideas you have about finding summer mentorship?

I have actually already found my summer mentorship at Montessori School and Day Care. My mentor is a teacher that works with 2 and 3 year olds. I found out about the day care because my sister babysits for a lady whose mother is the owner of that Montessori School and Day Care. As we became close to the kid and his family, his mother and I talked about iPoly and what I was doing and she offered that I volunteer and go there for my mentorship.