Blog 24 : Last Presentation Reflection

1. Positive Statement 
• What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or senior project? Why?
• I'm most proud of my whole presentation. I had a mini panic attack in the morning but it went away with all the help I got. I believe I did very good because when I was presenting I could see that the students were paying attention, meaning that they were into my topic. I also noticed that the students had a lot of fun during my activities.   
2. Questions to Consider
• What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation? Use the component contract to defend that assessment.  AE P AP CR NC
• I would give myself an P, because I did everything that was asked on the contract. I guess I went above and beyond with timing because I went over my 30 minute talking time and my presentation ran through almost the whole block.
• What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment. AE P AP CR NC
• For my overall senior project I would give myself an AE, because I learned a lot through out the school year. I learned about things that I never knew existed or things that are very important in a classroom. I had a lot of fun learning at my mentorship and I know that I'm planning on doing something with special needs kids in my future. 
3.  What worked for you in your senior project?
• A lot worked very well with my senior project. There was always a lot of things to research and my mentor and mentorship were very helpful and kind to me. The interviews that I took from the staff helped me a lot with my three answers and the students were the ones that helped me the most during my project. 
4. (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?
• If I had a time machine, I would like to find a closer mentorship. It was a struggle to go down to my mentorship everyday. I wished I could've found a closer school so it would be a lot easier for me to go to. I know there are some schools in the area but since I was already well known at my brother's school, I just decided to go there because it was the easiest route. 
5. Finding Value 
• How has the senior project been helpful to you in the future endeavors? Be specific and use examples. 
• Like I mentioned above, after going through the whole process of senior project I fell in love with the idea of helping those in need. It felt great to be able to help someone learn something. I felt like a role model when I would help the students do a worksheet and so with this is mind, I have decided to continue with working with special needs in my future. I plan on either becoming a nurse that specially works with special needs children, or perhaps become a social worker, or even just become a special education teacher. I hope my project also helped other realize that theres others out there would need or help. Although they are different it, that doesn't mean that they aren't capable of doing things that we can do. 

Blog 18 : Answer 2

Are We Done Yet With Senior Project?

1. What is your EQ?
• What techniques can an elementary special education teacher use to ensure that each child is learning?
2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
• The best technique that an elementary special education teacher can use to ensure that each child is learning is to have one teacher design and teach the, but then to also have more teachers that tour the classroom, providing support by answering questions, re-explaining key concepts, and assisting with behavior management.
3. What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
• The best technique to ensure that each child is learning is to have good communication / contact with the student's parent.
4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
• Without talking to the student's parents the parents wouldn't know what is going on with their child at school.
• At my mentorship we had a class party and each student brought in something except for one student, because the parent didn't know we were having a party. 
• Sending out updated classroom handouts to parents. 
• Each parent should know how the classroom, that their child, is in is going. There should be updated schedule and important dates so the parents are up to date with everything that is happening.
•  My classroom sends out a handout to the parents every Monday to let the parent know what is going to happen in the class that week. 
• Talking to the Parents face-to-face. Conference meetings
• Each parent should come and speak with the teacher at least once a week. Each student have different needs and because of this each student needs different type of care. 
• Student in my class has a teacher aid with him 24/7 and at the end of the day the aid writes down what the student did throughout the day. The parent should always read what the aid said because the parents should help their child at home too when the teachers aren't around to help.
• Parents should know how to take care and help their children when they are at home so the student won't forget what they are learning and keep the same behavior at home and school. 
5. What printed sources best supports your answer?
• http://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/the-parent-teacher-partnership/making-a-smooth-transition-to-school/
• http://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/the-parent-teacher-partnership/where-to-turn-when-you-have-concerns/
• http://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/the-parent-teacher-partnership/consistency-between-the-classroom-and-home/
• http://theparentacademy.dadeschools.net/pdfs/Effective_Communication.pdf
• http://center.serve.org/tt/Comm_SpecialNeeds.pdf
6. What other source supports your answer?
• Another source that really helps my answer is my mentorship. I see a lot of interaction with the parents and teachers. I'm also one of the people who create the week schedule, prints them out, and makes sure each student has one in his or her backpack. 
7. Tie this together with a concluding thought.
• This answer is an important to my EQ because without communication between a teacher and parent there is no way the student is doing better with his or her need. The student shouldn't be learning just at school, the learning should continue at home or else the student will only behave at school and not home. There should always be repetition so the student understands a concept and it can only work if the parents repeat the concept at home too. 

*note to self*

On Friday, 2/26 for Advisory, you will be presenting what you have from this blog.  The presentation is more like a share-out and should not last longer than 2 minutes. You don't need a visual, and you should not read what you have written. 

Lesson 2 Reflection

FOR NOW! ):

1. What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
• What I'm most proud of in my lesson two presentation is the fact that I know my topic so well. My senior is very important to me because of my younger brother. Ever since my brother was born I was always so interested in why he was born the way he is, and how I can help him to make "life easier". 
2. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

               AE       P          AP       CR       NC

• I would give myself a P.

• Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
• I personally believe that I did all the points on the contract in order to get a P. And so this is why I think I deserve a P! haha.

1. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
• I believed a lot worked well in my lesson. I liked how the class was interested into my activity and hook. That showed me that they were willing to participate.
2. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
• I think my speaking skills could've gone better. I would go back in time to change the way I talked because I got nervous and spoke to fast, and somewhat stuttered at some points.  
3. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?
• I think my answer two will focus more on the behaviors that the children have and how the teachers can help and how the behaviors affect their ability to learn. 

Blog 11 : Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?
• What I'm most proud of in my lesson was that I had a lot of information to talk about. I'm proud of this because it's shows that I really know my topic and that I'm always learning more with research checks and at my mentorship. 
2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.
• I think I would give myself a P on my lesson because I knew what I was talking about, my hook activity really tied in with my lesson, I had constant eye contact with the audience. I also mentioned my interview one, two, and my mentorship, and I believe I showed three months worth of research throughout my lesson, However, I unfortunately went over time. I had to be cut off! Who knew that ten minutes would pass by so quickly ):
3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?
• If I could go back, I would change the way I spend my time. I would make sure that I don't go over time and that I manage what to say or else to speak less of certain things. I would also try not to use note cards on my next presentation and try to be more confident in myself. I can use this knowledge to give a better lesson two by not only practicing my presentation at home but to also time myself so I know not to go over time. Also if I practice more then this will help me with the fact of not using note cards and being more confident in myself next time.