Blog 10: Interview 2 Reflection

 Here is the link to my second interview: Interview #2

And if you don't feel like listening you can read my transcription. :)

1. Please explain how you're 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...)

-I have been mentoring at Nogales high school with a history teacher named Miss Hidalgo. When I am at my mentorship I usually grade papers, converse with my mentor, look over lesson plans with her, and observe her teaching methods. Everything that I have done at my mentorship is related to my topic so it's beneficial to my research and I enjoy doing the tasks assigned. There are other teachers at the school I could possibly mentor with but my current mentor was the most willing to take on the responsibility of an extra high school student.

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

- I found my mentor by sending emails to the different schools in my area. The email consisted of information about iPoly's senior project and my topic. I stated that I needed someone to help me gain a better understanding for teaching and to commit to helping me for about 60 hours in total. I didn't really have to persuade anyone into helping me I just asked and they either email me back or they didn't and that's how I found 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?

-At this point am I mentorship I've had the ability to form a relationship with the person I'm working with. On a scale of 1-10 I would rate my relationship with my mentor at a 7, pretty chill but also serious. I've gotten comfortable with my mentor to the point where I can ask questions without feeling awkward or scared to do so. My mentor has told me about her past and what it was like for her in high school and I've also told her about some impactful experiences that I've had, so it's giving me the opportunity to form a bond. Every Tuesday and Thursday I go to mentorship   for two hours unless something comes up. This has given me the ability to create a relationship because of the large amount of time that I've spent with my mentor.

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?

-The best part of my interview was he answers that I was receiving from questions that I was asking. I thought this was the best aspect of my interview because I had prepped my mentor with the questions that I was going to ask her so that way she could prepare herself for the type of answers she would provide me with. However I still need to improve on my awkwardness, I didn't really know when my mentor was done talking so I felt like I was cutting her off at some points in the interview. During my interview I felt a little weird when I would start to ask a follow-up question but then she still had more to say about the previous question and that's what made me feel a little awkward. This conflict is more of a social problem, so I'm just going to have to learn when it is my turn to speak. 

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

• State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person. 
• I have a mentor and I have completed my interview.
• At this point, your research is properly guiding your studies towards more specific areas within your topic. Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons. 
• The areas that have given me most interest in research for my topic are, the different methods of teaching that are the most effective, as well as the various types of learning.
• What kind 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 kind of sources that will give me the most depth are the ones that have been written by doctors who have experience with the way the brain works. To get these sources I will go to the library, or online to forums that discuss the best possible methods of teaching.
• 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 more interested in understanding your thought process. 
• What is the most effective method of teaching high school students?

Blog 8: Independent Component 1 Proposal

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

          For my senior project I plan to research and create two lesson plans, and a quiz for 10th grade World History. I plan to research the common core standards for World History and create a lesson plan that follows the standards. Not only will I research the standards but also the topic of the lessons which will be about the Industrial Revolution to ensure that I am educated well enough to answer questions about the topic. I have spoken to my mentor about this and she feels comfortable with me teaching her class for three periods of fifty-sis minutes. The lesson plans will be able to appeal to all students with different levels and learning abilities through auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles. The lesson plans will follow a combination of lesson plans, including the Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan and my own style of teaching. Because some students are more advanced than others the lesson plans will have challenging aspects but still be easy enough for students who are slower to complete the learning objective. Once the lesson plans have taken place there will be a short quiz that will be the closing to the lessons.In total there will be

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

          In order to meet the expectation of 30 hours I will document my Individual Component by logging my progress and how long I have worked on completing my component. There is a lot of research to be done before I actually have to create a lesson plan. I have to research the 10th grade standards and make sure that I follow the ones that apply to the topic that I will be teaching which will be tedious because I have to actually apply them to the lesson. I estimate that this will take me about five hours to research and select. After I have researched the standards I must also research the most effective ways of teaching and how to accommodate students with disabilities because of the No Child Left Behind Act. This is going to take a while to do because the all of the different obstacles I will have to face when making changes to my lesson plans to better assist the different students. Once I know all of the standards and the different ways to teaching effectively I will create my lesson plan, worksheets/ activities, and quiz. I feel like this component to my project will take the most\ time because I will have to change and revise to reassure the effectiveness of my planing. After everything has been completed then I will teach the two lessons to an actual class of 35 and then give a quiz.

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

         This will help me further my knowledge of my topic because I will have an actual experience where I can draw information from on what is the most effective way of teaching which will also help me answer my essential question. The experience I will gain from teaching a lesson plan will put the research I have recently done into effect by aiding me in creating my lesson plan. My depth of knowledge will increase from lesson planning because I will be learning about the most effective ways of teaching.