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...)
 My mentorship time is being spent at an elementary school in the kindergarten section. I am working with a teacher named Mrs.Aguirre, i work with the students on different little lessons and i am helping teaching them how to read and basic math concepts. I do believe the work and things i do at mentorship are meaningful to my senior project topic.
2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?  

I started off with a  different mentor but that mentor was too far and i was finding it very challenging to work with that person, so i decided to look for a teacher closer to me so i went to my old elementary school and i talked with the office first and they told me to talk to the teacher Mrs.Aguirre because she was more likely to help me. Once i went to her classroom i just told her about Ipoly and the senior project and i asked if she would help me out by being my mentor and she agreed.

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 feel very comfortable with my mentor at this point, all the time ive spent at mentorship has brought us closer together and we kind of formed with cool bond with each other. 

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 believe the whole interview went well, we made the interview into a sort of conversation so it wasn't too formal and it wasn't awkward or anything. Something that could be improved is maybe having more follow up questions for the questions i already have.  

Second Interview questions 4 and 5 voice audio.

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 do currently have a mentor, she is a kindergarten teacher at Edgewood Elementary. I've been working with her for a couple of weeks now. I have scheduled my interview for next Tuesday October 27th.  
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.  
         The two most promising areas i have found is teaching methods and classroom management, i've also come across many articles about effective teaching methods with common core standards for kindergarten classrooms. 
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 source i want to try to focus on within the next month is to try to find more book about common core so i get more ideas and help for what i want to do for my independent component lesson. The library is probably the most likely place i will be able to easily access the books i need to find. 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.
        What are the most efficient and effective methods to teaching a kindergarten class and keeping classroom control?
    

Blog-8 Independent Component 1 proposal

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

   For my first independent component I am planning to do a lesson plan with the kindergarten students, and then i want to do different activities with the students based on what they should be learning in school such as writing reading and counting. 

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

   In order to get evidence i was planning to get a separate log that will record how long each activity with the students is and the lesson, then discuss with my mentor the privacy of being able to record certain sections of my activities and lesson. . 

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

   This independent component will give me a taste of what it would be like to actually be a kindergarten teacher and run a classroom for a little while. This would also give me some insight on how to teach a class and create a lesson plan efficient enough for all the students to understand and be engaged. 

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.

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 Ms. Aguirre , she works at Edgewood Academy in La Puente. She is a kindergarten teacher and she has been for a couple of years now. I feel as though she is some what of an expert in my topic because she works in the kindergarten workplace.

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

1. What has been the most challenging experience while being a kindergarten teacher?
2. Was it a difficult time switching over from teaching older students to younger students? 
3. Do you think being a kindergarten teacher changed you as a person in any way? 
4. What was it like going into the teaching profession did you expect anything different from it? 
5. Is there anything about the education system that you wish you could change? 

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?  

    My mentorship is working very well concerning my senior project, its given me very useful resources about my topic. The teacher and students i work with have made my senior project so enjoyable and its been a great experience overall so far.

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?

     At first i was having a very difficult time with my mentorship because my mentor kept pushing back our meeting and set days for me to come in so eventually i just had to go out to find a different mentor. Something i could use help and assistance with is my time management skills for the senior project concerning my senior project. 

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?

 I learned so many interesting and new facts while doing this interview. The person i interviewed was Ms. Aguirre from Edgewood Academy . She explained to me the importance on how to successfully run a classroom. She gave me an insight on what its like to be a kindergarten teacher. Ms. Aguirre taught me that even though patience is a given for teaching a kinder class you also need a lot of class control and she says that helpers come in handy especially with the younger students because they like being active.

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

   Additional resources that I received were books that were recommended and also some websites that could come in to use. The book i was recommended was "Common Core standards in diverse classrooms". Ms. Aguirre says that this book is very helpful and insightful for teacher of grades. I looked into a few of the website recommended and they held really useful information. Contacts that were given to me were other teachers one preschool and then elementary teachers as a resource to see how the children succeed over the years and to see how much they improve.

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me? 

My interviewee is qualified because she is a kindergarten teacher and my topic is teaching  kindergarten.  She knows what its like because she works in the field of teaching which is what i'm looking into. 

Interview 1

Blog 4- House Advisory Prep. 1

Throughout the course of the whole senior project I would like to learn about the most efficient methods to teaching in a kindergarten classroom such as how to keep all the students focused and involved in the lessons and most importantly on how to ensure that all the students successfully learn throughout the school year. I also want to get the whole experience of being in the position  of a kindergarten teacher, I want to see if i have what it takes to work in education with younger children such as the patience and teaching skills.