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.

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

Lol, so I couldn't find a picture of my mentor but when I did a Google search for her this picture came up. This is what she almost looks like. (:

1. Who is your mentor and where do they work?

• My mentor's name is Monica Hidalgo who is a high school teacher at Nogales High School. she teachers 10tha and 12th grade hsitiry and previously taught English. She has reciveid her education from UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and Cal State Long Beach.Ms. Hidalgo's life-long goals are to constantly develop her Teaching and knowledge of history.

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

• How long and where have you been teaching?
• What inspired you to become an educator?
• What were the different experiences that shaped your teaching style?
• In the past, have you ever thought that teaching high school was not the right path for you? When did you have that thought, and what made you stick to teaching?
• What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of teaching in terms of classroom management? 

Click on the link to go to my mentors page on her school website. Ms. Hidalgo

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

1. What has worked well for you concerning your senior project this year? What has made it a positive experience for you?
• My senior project has been going pretty well because I haven't really had to struggle to finish any assignments on time. I have enjoyed completing my work within a reasonable amount of time before the due date. Holding myself accountable for my actions has worked for me because I hold myself responsible for the outcome of my actions. Not only has accountability helped me but time management has aided me, but hard work and determination have definitely played a role in my pleasant experience. I have been working really hard this year to be the best student I can be and I know that my efforts will pay off in the future. But even though I have been doing well, everything is quite easy for me which makes me unsure if I am doing everything correctly.  Either that or I am doing everything wrong. 
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?

• The most difficult thing I have had to experience this year was balancing my priorities in terms of my social and academic life. I have had trouble in the past with choosing between what was most important but that seems more of a personal problem rather than one that can be fixed with the help of my senior teachers. I can only learn how to prioritize my senior project by doing in myself instead of having my parents or an overshadowing adult tell me what I should be doing. The only way I can fix this problem is by constantly evaluating my situations and the possible outcomes of my actions. I feel as if this senior project was designed to help the iPoly seniors grow up develop into adults that will have the ability to realize what they want in life. Overall I just need to learn to grow up, that's my biggest problem. 

Blog 5: Interview 1 Reflection

Here is a picture of my little sister who is barely starting pre school. My younger siblings had the advantage of having me as an older sister because I was able to teach them and help them develop into young ladies

Interview #1 Link

1. What is the most important thing I've learned from this interview?
• The most important thing I have learned from my interview was that education starts at the very beginning of a child's life though multiple ways of instruction. Although they may learn from the very beginning it does not mean that each child will learn from the same style of teaching or progress at the same rate as others. Some children may excel, and the other children may struggle a little more than usual, which is what makes learning such a strenuous task. Teaching is not a form of work where you can teach a lesson one the, each individual child learns through various ways so it is impossible to teach the same every time. 

1. Did I get additional resources and contacts? What is the most useful? Why?
• After the interview I asked my interviewee for some additional contacts of people that would be willing to give me an interview in different grade levels. The most useful contacts that I had gotten were members of the Rowland Unified School District, these were the most important to me because they have more experience and experience with multiple grade levels as well as an extensive educational background.
2. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me?
1. My interviewee was qualified to help me with my senior topic, High School Education, because the foundation of knowledge begins in pre school. Good education begins when the children are not in school but rather when they receive an education from pre-primary education, not primary education. Julie Stevens was a pre school teacher who has graduated from college and has experience in the field of child behavior science, this gives her substantial credibility in aid of my senior topic. 

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1

My senior topic is on high school education. For my project I have been focusing on the developmental process students experience as they learn, I have also been studying outside factors that may have an effect on the outcome of the students grades. In this area of study for my senior topic I hope to understand how the adolescent brain functions and operates while trying to absorb information. Not only is the motion of learning interesting to me but I would also like to become more aware of how patience plays a role in teaching. Because I have short tolerance for disruptions and people I don’t like, my goal is to learn how to be more patient with those who need more manners. In my short amount of mentorship I have observed that some students do not put much effort into their work which makes me sad because I feel like education is the best path to a successful future. School is so important to me and I want to show others how great learning can be if you are motivated and excited enough to put energy and effort into your own education. Through my senior topic I am also focusing on myself, I aspire to be more in touch with the way I feel about my future and the decisions that I am going to make. I hope to accomplish a better understanding of want I want for my future.I hope to succeed in all aspects of my senior topic in terms or receiving an AE on my presentation or the components of my senior project because I really don't want to become a loser. By the end of my senior year I would like to say that I accomplished all of my goals I had set at the end beginning of the year with the most amount of determination.