Blog 19: Answer 3

1. What is your EQ?
• What is the most effective method for a high school teacher to ensure that her students comprehend the material?
2. What is your third answer?
• A teacher must utilize the amount of space and keep an aesthetically pleasing classroom in order for students to have to ability to comprehend the material without distractions.
3. List three reasons why your answer is true with real-world application for each.
1. Students are more likely to learn in an environment where they feel comfortable and safe in rather than a classroom that is dirty.
2. The colors in a classroom has an effect on a students likeliness to pay attention.
3. Most classrooms are set up so that the custodial staff will have easier access to the class room which means that the students will be individualized and placed in rows. Studies have shown that students learn best in groups and it would be okay to sacrifice the custodians time rather than the students education.
4. What printed sources best supports your answer?
• Basic Color Theory
• Creating an Effective Physical Classroom
• A Place for Learning: The Physical Environment of Classrooms
• School Design, Classroom Layout Can Heavily Affect Student Grades, Learning: Study
5. Tie this together with a concluding thought.
• In various sources a contributing factor to  a student's ability to focus has always been based on the type of classroom set up and the colors that were in the room. In one of the sources below it was directly stated that the students who had the opportunity to influence their environment were more likely to pay attention and to focus on what they were doing. Most of the classrooms that students were in had a dull color and were no set up so that they could socialize in a group. Instead of altering an environment for the sake of custodians, the desks should be arranged in a group set-up. It was also said that the classroom environment will be most effective if it is clean and well lit.

Blog 18- Answer 2

1. What is your EQ?
• What is the most effective method for a high school teacher to ensure that her students comprehend the material?
2. What is your first answer? 
• A high school teacher can best ensure that her students comprehend the material by altering lesson plans so that every students leaning abilities are used.
3. What is your second answer?
• In order for students to comprehend the material being taught to them, teachers must first understand how the brain processes information and reacts to certain stimuli.
4. List three reasons why your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
1. My answer is true because if a teacher doesn't know how the brain works then they won't be able to understand why a student is not processing the material being taught to them and they won't be able to fix the problem.
2. Because the teenage brain is sensitive it will react and make impulsive decisions without fully thinking through the situation.
3. There are some student who have learning disabilities and it can hinder the speed in which they grasp specific concepts. A teacher will not be able to accommodate their needs unless they understand how their brain works, until that happens they will not be able to help the student further their education. 
5. What printed source best supports your answer?
• What Teachers Think About the Brain
• Nine Things Educators Need to Know About the Brain
6. Tie this together with a concluding thought.
1. The teenage brain is so unique in terms of the processing of information. People around the world have studied and worked with the most important organ so those who are influencing the most powerful part of the human abody need to understadn how it works. Educators need to have the knowledge and understanding necessary to aid young adults on their pathway to a higher education.

Blog 17 - Interview 3 Reflection

Here is a picture of Mr. Yousef, the principal of Nogales High School.

Link to Interview #3 
Link to Interview #3 Transcription

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?
• While I was interviewing Mr. Yousef not only was I asking him questions but I was also paying attention to his body language and the tone of his voice. From those two things I could really tell that he was passionate about his job and that he also cared for the students. I think teaching can be a very rewarding job, but in order to be successful you must want to do your job in order to do it greatly. Mr. Yousef has been recognized by the Rowland Unified School District for his outstanding changes in the high school and I believe that was only possible because he wanted to do the job. I learned that in order to be good at something you must be passionate about it.
2. How has your approach to interviewing changed over the course of your senior project?
• At the beginning of the senior project I didn't see the interviews as something I could benefit from, and I thought it was a waste of time. After this interview I feel as if I had a better experience with talking to people and interacting because it is more personal that it seems. This interview has really opened my eyes as to what the interviews are really meant for.

Blog 16: Independent Component 2 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
• For my second independent component I plan to make a life size models of a newborn/toddler, adolescent, and teenage brain. These models will show the different areas of the brain as well as represent the changes that it goes through. At the very end I will use the models during my final presentation when I explain how different chemicals affect the brain as well as the different learning abilities that correspond with certain areas of the brain.
2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectations of showing 30 hours of evidence.
• In order to show 30 hours of evidence I will document my progress on the building by updating my blog with pictures with a small description of what has been done. Because the human brain is so unique and detailed there will be a lot of research that will go into how the brain functions as well as the different chemicals that are used to process and retain information.
3. Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.
• This will help me explore my topic more in depth because I will learn how the brain functions and the external factors that contribute to a students ability to retain information. High school students are notorious for their impulsive decisions and their inability to prioritize, this is because of the different changes that takes place in the brain. The creation of a human brain in different stages of its life will help me gain a greater understanding of how childhood has an effect adolescent learning. My topic is high school education but doesn't revolve much around curriculum but rather on how a teacher can ensure that students comprehend the material presented to them. A teacher must first understand how the brain changes and how hormones will change a students process of thinking, I will be able to understand this through the completion of this project. If this independent component is approved then it will further the research I have for my second answer to my essential question. 
4. Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.
• Done

Lesson Two Reflection

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

• I am most proud of my props they were aesthetically pleasing as well as my presentation because it had a lot of valuable information on it.

2.  (A)What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

• I would give myself a P on my presentation.

     (B) Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

• My presentation skills were fine, my volume was appropriate and I was organized and ready to go. The research that was presented was well done and it gave justification for my answer. My activity gave the audience a greater understanding of themselves as well as how teachers have to accommodate for their students learning abilities.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

• I had practiced my presentation at home and I had also created note cards but I didn't really use them. It was nice to have them for reassurance just in case. It has also helped that I has finished my presentation two days before and I had gotten all of the materials needed on time.

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

• I COULDN'T SEE THE STOPWATCH!!! If I could go back I would have brought my iPad and had the stop watch in front of me so that way I would be able to see the time without struggling. Making time was the hardest thing for me, not because I wasn't prepared, or I didn't have enough information, but because I couldn't see the stopwatch. In the beginning I had thought that i was going to go over time because of my activity but I was wrong because my perception of time was off. I would have also done the activity I had planned in the beginning because then the students would have had the opportunity to engage with each other.

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

• I think that my answer two #2 will be about the psychology of a class room and how it effects students learning as well as the emotional environment of a students life.

Blog 15: Independent Component 1

Below are the links the digital copies of the work I complete for my Independent Component.
Link to Independent Component Hours
Link to Lesson Plan
Link to Students Worksheet

Literal:

• "I, Perla Navarro, affirm that I completed my Independent Component which represents 33.5 hours of work."
• Contact Information:
• Monica Hidalgo 
• Cell: 626-290-5817
• For my independent component I created a lesson plan for a 10th grade World History class and I taught my lesson plan for one class for three periods. In order for this to be done I had to observe the class that I would be teaching and research extensively to prepare myself for the actual instruction of the material.

Interpretive:

• There are three main parts to my IC. 
• The first part is the research. For this section of my IC I observed my mentor's classes to familiarize myself with the students so that they would get used to my presence. Not only did I observe her students but I also had to look up resources that would aid me int he creation of my lesson plans, this took more time that I had expected because I was unsatisfied with the rules that had to be followed when making a lesson plan. I had to read the section in the 10th grade world history book so that I could understand the content that was going to be taught to the students, then i also used outside sources so that I would gain  greater understanding of what the students would actually be learning. This area of my Independent component took up more than half of the time because of the amount of resources I had to find to best suit what I wanted to teach especially because I learned the material two years ago.
• The second part of my independent component consisted of the construction of the actually lesson plan and the worksheets that would be used in my teaching. It took me around 10 hours to complete this section because I had to redo what I had planned int beginning so that my mentor would be okay with the activity that the students were going to do. My mentor explained to me that teachers don't really make lesson plans unless they are going to be observed, instead they will just remember the content and the way that they want to represent the information.
• The final of my Independent Component was the instruction of my lesson plans. I taught on three different occasions to one class. This was by far the hardest part of my independent component. Because of this experience I don't think that I want to become a teacher. I dealt with a particular student who just made me doubt myself and it was a horrible experience that I wouldn't want to deal with on a daily basis. Even though I had a not so great experience this gave me hope for my final lesson. If I can teach 36 students on three different occasions then I can teach another class of 35 for an hour.

Applied:

• My essential question asks; What it the best method for a high school teacher to ensure that her students comprehend the material? My independent component helped me answer my essential question. Through the entire process I learned that the students are only as good as their teacher, if the teacher puts effort into their lessons then it will reflect int he work of the students. The students will understand what they are being taught if and only if the lesson plans are made so that every students unique learning abilities are accommodated.