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.