Final CAS Reflection: Strengths And Areas For Growth

Teaching is not merely about methods used and material presented in the classroom, but about shaping students’ lives to help them construct a firm foundation for a successful future. I desire to teach my students basic life skills as well as challenge them to set and reach their highest goals.

Standing on a stage with over a thousand pairs of eyes watching every second, nerves beginning to fill your stomach, and smiling from ear to ear trying to hide those nerves was what I had to do. All that can be done, at this point, was count down the time left before a single word had to be released from my mouth. The numbers three, two, one, ran like lightning through my mind, and finally, my name was called. I knew this was my time to shine. “Hello, I am Crystal Sandoval, and I want to become one of your next SkillsUSA National Officers.” My life stood still as I felt the nerves suddenly be released and transformed into words. At this point, there was no turning back, but rather share to over three hundred students from across the nation and our United States territories, what SkillsUSA has done for me. “SkillsUSA changed my life, and it has granted me the opportunity to make a difference not only in my life and in other students’ lives, but as well as making the difference in the United States of America.”

(43) Schools give one the time and materials to achieve all what one desire in life. (43) In the same way, I would challenge the students to leverage their energy and time to become the best they can be in their life. (43)

I see students as the next generations’ heroes in so many fields. In my vision, I have to inspire students and prepare them with confidence, knowledge, experience and skills. Which means I encourage, communicate, guide, teach, and assess students in order to enrich their infrastructures.

Some of the goals of schooling and society in the United States are to develop students and citizens, who have high aspirations, believe in their capabilities, are hopeful they can realize their aspirations, and are optimistic about their future in general. Such characteristics are important because each leads to overall well-being (Bandura, 1977; Scheirer & Carver, 1985; Snyder et al., 1991), student achievement and higher graduation rates (Snyder et al., 2002) through a personal sense of urgency which allows them to take control of their life, challenge themselves, persevere through difficulties, and cope when obstacles arise (McBride, 2012).

I believe that through the opportunity to research the different aspects of students’ lives I will learn different needs from both theory and practice.

Two of these themes correlate directly with the mission statement previously created; lifelong learner and student empowerment. A student centered candidate who is a lifelong learner would be able to “provide a safe and effective learning environment in order to develop students with active and creative minds, a sense of worldly understanding, critical thinking skills, self-reliance, a compassion for others and a love of learning.” as stated in the mission statement.

To briefly review my performance and skills gained this year, I worked on improving my teamwork and interpersonal skills and I gained exposure to various roles and stages of software methodologies and team development. In addition, I have gained experience observing how IT functions in the corporate environments of two different industries: Retail and Finance. I have developed a better understanding of team dynamics and I am learning how to contribute to them more effectively. Over the course of the year I worked two at client sites Meijer’s POS (Point of Sales) team as a QA tester & SME and recently as an agile tester for Comerica’s fraud Traffic team.

In this vector, students must learn how to function independently and take full responsibility for themselves. Students must grow their instrumental independent for example, self-direction, problem-solving ability, and mobility. In the final step of this vector, students start to recognize and accept the importance of interdependence and the awareness of being accepted by others.

The author describes three preconditions all students need and have to receive for there to be effective and life-long leaning to take place. They are (1) there has to be an opportunity, it doesn’t matter how, as long as there is

As a continuation of the CA1, we have explored the potential promotional tools to be used in conjunction with the launch of our online SIM service. I’ve realised that it not as simple as I thought as reflected in the CA1 individual reflection paper.

Our challenge is to embrace the ever-changing requirements of the 21st century. We will strive to assure that our students are properly prepared to become productive citizens in their communities. To accomplish this, we will provide our students with: a high level of personalization in every aspect of their

Students need to develop thinking skills, content knowledge, and social and emotional competencies to steer complex life and work environments. Meanwhile, life and career skills include leadership and responsibility, productivity and accountability flexibility and adaptability, social and cross cultural skills initiative and self-direction,

students develop skills that prepare them for the work force or continued education. School to post

The education we receive today holds the power to shape the individuals we will be in the future. Not only does our education aid our choices throughout school, but also the choices we make in our personal lives like where we choose to work and how we portray ourselves to society. Personally, I have enjoyed my educational experience. I have enjoyed learning new concepts and interacting with new people. Of course, there are obstacles along the way. However, these obstacles have given me the opportunity to realize my strengths and weaknesses and learn to improve in both areas. As a student, I hold onto my perseverance, seek guidance from influential figures in my life, and embrace my challenges to which all contribute to my hope to become the finest version of myself.