Blog 18 - Answer 2

1. What is your EQ?

My EQ is, "How can a caretaker best ensure the proper development of a child under the age of five?"

2. What is your first answer?

One of the best ways to educate a child is by using visual and verbal communication.

3. What is your second answer?

Nurture and understand the child to ensure they're receiving the best possible guidance.

4. List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• The toddler ages(2-5) is when it is imperative for them to receive the most attention and care.

• Don't just meet the child's needs when they're missing something. Provide them with different opportunities for learning.

• Help them reach their milestones by providing the resources necessary. Get on their level so they don't feel alone and give them guidance.

5. What printed source best supports your answer?

• This article: Planning for Positive Guidance: Powerful Interactions Make a Difference

6. What other source support your answer?

There are many sources from research check that have helped me come to this answer, then there's also some influence from my Interview 3.

7. Tie this together with a concluding thought.

My second answer, Nurture and understand the child to ensure they're receiving the best possible guidance, was influenced from my interview, research, and experience. Toddlers need guidance but also need to be allowed the freedom to explore for themselves. There isn't always a right or wrong way on how to do certain things, but the best things a caretaker can do to help with their development will be answered in the final presentation.

Blog 17 - Interview 3 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?

The most important thing I learned from the interview is that in order to provide the best type of education to a child for their development is to get to know them. Interact with the kids one on one and meet their needs.

2. How has your approach to interviewing changed over the course of your senior project?

I've learned how to phrase interview questions better over time and just how to phrase open ended questions. I don't get so nervous because I know what I'm asking most of the time.


Link to interview: https://soundcloud.com/elizabeth-195/interview-with-miriam

Blog 16 - Independent Component 2 Approval

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

For my 30 hours, I plan on continuing something similar to my previous Independent Component 1. I evaluated that the kids learn most from kinesthetic and visual learning. For this component, I will be doing different activities that involve kinesthetic and visual learning but under different subject areas such as science, history, math, art, and language. I will not be conducting this by myself because I need approval from my mentor and daycare teachers, but with their help I will be able to complete this component. 

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

I will be taking pictures, possibly video as well and logging my hours.

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

This component ties into my component one, but acts more of a part two on it. I know the kids under 5 are more of kinesthetic learners, so with the activities based on different subject areas it will be a beneficial experience for the children and for me.
4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

Independent Component 1

• Literal
(a) "I, Elizabeth Plascencia, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work."

(b) What helped me complete my independent component was of course my mentor, Mrs. Martha, the kids at the daycare (simply their cooperation) and the daycare teachers at Montessori Academy of West Covina.

(c) refer to senior project hours link

(d) What I have done for my Independent Component 1 is observe and interact with the children on what ways they learn best. There are four different ways of learning; visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. What mostly applied to the kids under the age of five were visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. By following the routine at the daycare with their lesson plan and some ideas that I had for input, such as working on puzzle pieces with different objects on it, I had gathered enough information based on observing the kids on which ways they learned best. 

• Interpretive
In the collage below you can see several pictures of the kids doing different activities. For safety reason I will not disclose any of the kids names nor have I tried to get any facial shots of their identities. With the activities that they have around them they learn through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. They are very hands-on learning children. The two pictures in the center are the crafts that they have made themselves. They learn new things such as their colors and different words. Also, when they play with different objects such as toy house-hold supplies, they learn what those supplies are called and how to properly use them. It's activities such as these that may seem so simple but are imperative for their education and development at such a young age.

• Applied

What I did for my independent component helped me understand the foundation of my topic just by being around the kids. The daycare has a routine and lesson plans for the kids everyday, so being able to observe the different types of learning the kids go through helps me understand how they learn best. Making an observation like this and also interacting with the kids doesn't just take a days work. It takes several days and several hours, which is why I saw it best fit for my independent component one. Just how my mentor once told me, every kid has their own personality and their own flaws. You'll see something different in them everyday. Hardly anything at the daycare will seem repeated because as a caretaker there will always be something different to handle everyday. Now how it applies to my independent component; kids learn new words best when people say it to them repeatedly. And it's a big plus when you show them what the object of the word is. For example, if you are teaching them the word caterpillar you should also show them what it looks like. That way whenever they look at a caterpillar they'll know what it is and vice versa. This is an example visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. 

This is an example of one weeks lesson plan

Lesson 2 Reflection

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

I am most proud of my whole lesson in general. The hook went better than I expected, as well as the activity. Everyone seemed to be really into it. I felt like I did a good job at projecting myself.

2. a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation?

I would give myself an AE

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

I believe I deserve an AE because I have met all of the P requirements. I used a lot of examples from my mentorship and from research. I don't think I had a problem with presenting, my speaking time was around 12 minutes and from the feedback I've gotten from my peers everyone heard me clearly. My activity really engaged everyone into working effectively and it related to my Answer 1.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

What really worked for me in my Lesson 2 was the feedback from my Lesson 1. It taught me what to do properly and what not to do. I didn't have a hard time with my enunciation and I didn't get as nervous.

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

I don't think I would have changed anything. Everything went as planned and I was very proud of it.

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

I don't have any sort of thought put into it right now, but as I do more research and talk to several people that I know have studied Child Development I will have a solid answer.