4H Learning Reflection

When I was in seventh grade I decided to take painting classes. I did well in them and the next year I signed up for them too. The next year proved to be a challenge. I was having a difficult time with the first painting of the year. My teacher pointed it out that I wasn’t doing it right. I got discouraged and I didn’t attend class again. That same year I also signed up for piano lessons. I had unsuccessfully tried to master the skill before, but I would always quit. I was one of the oldest in the class of about fifteen. I remember two kids in particular. A boy and a girl about two years younger than me. They came from families that had been playing the piano for generations. And wow, I had thought then, they were naturals. I started feeling discouraged when they were ahead of me. I was older, so I thought I was supposed to be more skillful. I blamed it all on the fact that they probably had piano playing talent in their genes. When the lessons got more challenging and I couldn’t yet master the basics, I thought that there was no hope for me and

For the past eight years, I have been apart of the First Town Veterinary Science 4-H Club. In this club I have held leadership positions such as reporter, secretary, treasurer, vice president, president and junior club advisor. A major take away I have from participating in 4-H is community service and learning how to feel confident in myself. By having leadership roles and being an active member in the club, I was able to feel comfortable speaking in front of others and showing off my abilities through public speaking, projects and essays. As I went through high school I was able to do presentations in front of the class, present a concussion project in front of 100 plus coaches, run for shad derby queen which included speeches in front of

making Practice-Based Learning work Reflection on PRACTICE A resource commissioned by the Making Practice Based Learning Work project, an educational development project funded through FDTL Phase 4 Project Number 174/02 and produced by staff from the University of Ulster. www.practicebasedlearning.org Author Patricia McClure School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster www.practicebasedlearning.org contents Reflection on Practice 02

Music has always been a major part of my family and my parents were determined that my sister and I were well acquainted with music from a young age. Inspired by the sound of the piano by the time I was six, I knew that I wanted to learn how to play it. Fast forward to the first day of class, my teacher, Ms. Lilly, guided me through the school and into a narrow hallway that held five doors. Each door opened to a cramped room that each held a piano, a stool, and a chair. Ms. Lilly’s hand softly held my shoulder as she led me to the first room. I became excited to finally expand my knowledge of music, excited to be given the opportunity to not only listen, but play music, excited that I had the opportunity to inspire others. But I soon became apprehensive about the idea of playing in front of a crowd. I worried that I wasn’t ready to excel in such a complex instrument. I held my breath and sat on the wooden stool beside my teacher, my conflicting emotions, making me dizzy, but

The next year, I finally was able to start playing the flute. I loved it more than anything and I would practice every day because it was fun, and made me happier. As a fifth-grader I wasn’t always the most delicate, smart, or eloquent person to live. Often times, I felt as if I wasn’t great at anything. But, while playing the flute, I felt as if I belonged somewhere and like I was

4H has made some amazing changes in my life and continues to change it in so many different ways. I am not the person I was 6 years ago when I joined 4H and it has made me the person I am today. I continue to learn new knowledge, make new friends, and make new memories.

After taking the SmarterMeasure assessment and reviewing the results, I was quite amazed to see the substantial amount of my strengths dominating my weaknesses. Firstly, I am going to state my results of the significant components of this assessment including Personal Attributes, Learning Styles, Reading Comprehension, Technical Competency, Technical Knowledge and Typing Speed with Accuracy. Initially, you will get a picture of my strengths and weaknesses. Later on, I am going to devise an action plan specifically on how to tackle my weaknesses in a way it can be terminated.

Between 03:10 and 04:05 I challenged my focus learner to use her inferencing skills to predict what would happen in the story. As I read the story I asked my focus learner, making sure to use key vocabulary, what would happen next in the read-aloud. At 03:11 I asked my focus learner “then what do you think is going to happen next” referring to the story. I paused, allowing my learner to think. when I realized that my learner needed more support I asked again repressing the question for clarity “After I get the apple, Then what happens?”. My learner modeled my behavior by shrugging her shoulders. At this time my focus learner classmate was able to correctly identify the next step which was taking a bite of the apple. My focus learner was able

At four years old, my mom made me take piano lessons. Given my stubborn nature as a child, I would only practice when absolutely forced by my mother. Hovering over me, she'd scream "You'll thank me later!" as I miserably sobbed while playing the G major arpeggio for the fiftieth time that night. Of course, my mom ended up being right. In ninth grade, I moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina to play tennis at a boarding academy and was forced to live on my own. Alone in this new environment, I turned to the one thing I had known my whole life: piano.

Tutoring these courses including six other biology and chemistry courses, highlights my proficiency in this competency.I acquired this competency by completing over 10 laboratory sections for different sciences course, including physics, biology, and chemistry. As a paramedic instructor, I also have experience conducting laboratory skill stations for students. These laboratory stations consist of a variety of procedure and assessment

"…reflection in a mirror is an exact replica of what is in front of it. Reflection in professional practice… gives back not what it is, but what might be, an improvement on the original…" Biggs (1999).

Reflection is considered as a vital element of professional practice as it precedes to insight and then subsequent change in practice. The hypothesis of reflection is not new as it can be tracked as far back in the 5th century by the influential Greek philosopher, Socrates and to the 1930s primarily focusing on John Dewey’s work. Dewey is one of the founders of learning from experience. He theorised reflection as ‘active, persistent and careful consideration’ (Dewey, 1933) initiated by a specific situation which was opposing, perplexing or uncertain. One of its most common use today is coming up with a thought, an idea, or opinion made or an observation made as a result of concentration, suggesting in essence a way of thinking in which one looks back and meditate upon (Agnes, 2004).

ENGL 1143, is a technical writing course that enlightened me on how to create technical documents such as cross-cultural business letter, letter on inquiry, professional memo, graphics creation and analysis, finding general web sources, conducting research in library database, individual recommendation reports, group proposal and group presentation professionally. I would consider my learning in the class a successful one because, I met the required goals of the course including communicating effectively, using correct APA format and citation, conducting detailed research. Above all I was able to work effectively both individually and collaboratively which helped in the successful execution of my group proposal paper and presentation.

In today’s competitive world, people are expected to be highly effective and efficient. They need specific skills and knowledge for their education or work purposes. This has enforced various skill enhancement programs proposed by fraternity all over the world.

I believe that true learning requires much more than simply listening to a lecture, reading from a book, or watching a video. While these all may be involved in the process of learning, hands-on experience and a real desire for knowledge of the subject are needed to truly learn.