Blog 17 : Interview 3 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  
• The most important thing I learned from my interview, was a possible answer to my EQ. My interviewer gave me a possible answer and also gave me lots of background information so I can do more research and have more information to support the answer. 
2. How has your approach to interviewing changed over the course of your senior project?
• My approach to interviewing has changed a lot. I feel a lot more confident when it comes to interviewing anyone. It has also become a lot easier for me to come up with follow up questions, and it has also helped me in my other classes, such as in Yearbook. In Yearbook we do lots of interviews in order to create a story, and now I can say that I'm a lot more confident and feel comfortable with giving interviews. (I still feel nervous when getting interviewed though, especially for a job)

Blog 16 : Independent Component 2 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
• What I plan on doing for my 30 hours is to teach my own lesson to the students. I had originally planned to do this for independent component one but there was a problem with me getting to my mentorship. I plan on doing a followup lesson from whatever the teacher is teaching and so I will need to get creative and come up with activities and ways to teach the students.  
2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
• To meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence, I plan to take pictures of me teaching the students and the students working on the worksheets that I provide them. Also upload the worksheets that I create and perhaps upload a couple of pictures of the student's work. 
3. Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.
• This component will help with my topic because it will help me to see what technique is best way to teach and help the students. It will also help me to see how each student is learning differently and find more ways to help the students learn. It will prove to me how my answers really work and help me to find my last answers and figure out which is my best answer. 
4. Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.
• Done. 

Note to Self:
Please review the component contract in the senior project packet.   The Independent Component 2 is an opportunity for you to add a dimension of creativity and/or an additional outlet for research.  The goal of the component is for you to explore your answers in more depth.  On Friday, April 22, 2014, you will be turning in the following to your blog to prove completion of this component:

• Blog post answering specific questions posted by senior team
• Log of hours clearly delineated as Independent Component 2 on the senior project hours spreadsheet (with total number of hours included)
• Evidence of the 30 hours of work (e.g. transcript, essays, tests, art work, photographs) as digital artifacts   

Your answers to the questions should be supported with details and examples for the senior team to understand what you plan to do. Once we review your Blog Post 16, your house teacher will discuss with you the approval of your plan.  If it is approved, please start working on it.  If it is not approved, your house teacher will explain why. It is your job to address the concerns so you can get your component approved.  Additionally, any changes requested must be addressed to your house teacher well in advance of the completion date for full credit on the assignment.

Blog 15 : Independent Component 1

LITERAL

• (a) Write: “I, Pauline Miramontes, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 33 hours of work.”
• (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
• My mentor and mentorship helped me complete my independent component. 
• (c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.
• Up on Senior Project Hours link.
• (d) Explain what you completed.    
• Since my first plan of independent component one didn't go as plan. I just did extra hours at my mentorship. 

INTERPRETIVE 

• Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work. Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
• What I did for my 30 hours was the same thing as what I did everyday at my mentorship. I helped with the students, made copies, helped around the school, and just offered my assistance to anyone who needed it. 



The classroom that I spend most of my time.



The rest of the students that I spend most of my time with. 



Some of the students that I watched over during an assembly.  



Students watching a movie celebrating it being Friday!

APPLIED

• How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 
• This component helped me to understand the foundation of my topic because it gave me more time with the students. I believe that the students are more comfortable with me because they refer to me as a teacher.  I'm also the youngest within the staff and so I'm able to do more fun activities with the students because I don't get tired as quickly like others. Doing these extra hours made me feel more welcomed into the staff and I believe I'm well known around the school to the point where everyone is comfortable to ask me for any help that they may need.

Grading Criteria 

• Updated log in Senior Project Hours Link 
• Evidence of 30 hours of work 
• LIA submitted to blog

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 14 : Third Interview Preparation

1. Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?
• I plan to interview my mentor, Jenna Baumann. She has been teaching special education for plenty of years and has been rewarded a higher position in the school, vice principal, because of all the great work she has done for the school and students. 
2. Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 
• Friday, February 12, 2016 at 1:30 PM. 
3. Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.
• What is the technique that really captures the students attention and help them learn?
4. Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).
• Who / What do you believe helped you learn the most about teaching special education?
5. Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ. 
• What helps with the students focus on their work and keep them from keeping distracted?
• Do you believe that my EQ is a open ended question? Do you believe that I can get more than one answer for this question?
• Since my mentor is easy to talk to, it is quite easy to keep the conversation going. I'm also very close with her to the point where I feel comfortable to be straight up with her and ask what she thinks of my EQ. 

Note for me 

(The interview transcript  is due to turnitin.com with the 5-minute audio excerpt and entry to the blog on Friday, February 19th. In addition, you need to turn in the verification sheet to your house teacher)

Blog 13 : 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

• Where are you doing your mentorship?

• I am doing my mentorship at Anderson Elementary School. 

• Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

• My contact is my mentor, Jenna Baumann. She's an expert because she has worked with special needs children for many years. She has been my brother's teacher for the last two years and the improvement in him is astonishing. Therefore, I knew Mrs. Jenna would be a great mentor, because of the impact she has on her students. 

• How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog)

• I've done about 15 hours. I haven't updated on my mentorship log though. ):

• Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.

• I help with the students, make copies, clean, and just help whenever my mentor / school may need it. My comfort level is very strong with my mentor only because I would always volunteering before I actually asked her to become my mentor. We kinda already knew on another because of my brother. I plan on remaining my hours with the same school only because I'm already familiar with everyone in it and I also plan only finishing my hours with my brother when I work with him. 

Blog 12 : Holiday Project Update

• It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?
•  Over winter break I was unable to attend my mentorship because the school was off for winter break too. However, my little brother was assigned homework to do over his winter break, and I was the one to sit down with him for an hour each day helping to complete his homework. Also, since my brother has special needs I needed to use some of the techniques I learned from my mentorship in order for him to learn and finish the homework. 
• What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?
• I learned that each student learns differently. My brother can fully learn only with the technique of hand-over-hand. But others students learn by repetition or speech. The source that I learned was a possible answer for my EQ and I was able to notice when helping my brother do his homework.   
• Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?
• I plan to interview my mentor, Jenna, because in my previous interview she was able to provide me a lot of research. I also find her interview to be the most helpful from my research so far. With the information she gave me I was able to come up with my EQ, and therefore I feel like she would be the one to help me the most with my possible answers.