Freshman Reflection

Over the course of this semester, I have spent an ample amount of time serving as a mentor with Gonzaga’s Center for Community Engagement Youth Program, Campus Kids. In Campus Kids, we develop one-on-one relationships with mentees between the 4th-6th grades to assist them in succeeding academically, socially, and emotionally. Every Thursday afternoon at 3:10 PM, each of the Campus Kids mentors in our group meet up in the Center for Community Engagement in the basement of the Hemmingson Center. We spend this time doing icebreaker activities with the other mentors to get to know each other while we wait for our mentees to arrive in their school bus from the local Garfield Elementary in Spokane, WA. From 3:30-5:00 PM, we spend one-on-one time with our mentees where we engage in a variety of different activities such as playing educational games, working on homework together, sharing a healthy snack, talking about the activities we have done the past week, and exercising outside. In addition to meeting with my mentee every Thursday, I also ride in a carpool with 3 other mentors to Garfield Elementary every Friday from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM for a school visit where I get to sit in on my mentees’ PE class and provide support and encouragement for him as he works on developing his physical education. In this class, I help him out if he’s having difficulty understanding what his teachers are asking him to do, or I will help count the number of push-ups or sit-ups he has trying to reach

What I learned in the documentary called “The First Year” is the aspects of each teacher’s way they deal a classroom with students as first-timers. Especially when coming across to many challenges and the struggle they had during their first time ever as educators. Watching what lengths they will go to for the benefit of the students is admirable. The teachers who are into five separate schools in the Los Angeles area are known to be George Acosta who teaches English as a second language, Joy Kraft-Watts teaches high school history, Genevieve Debose teaches middle school language arts and social studies, Maurice Rabb teaches kindergarten, Nate Monley teaches fifth-grade bilingual education, and Andrew Glass teaches elementary special education.

The most important experience that has positively impacted my academic performance is being in AVID for the past 5 years. AVID is an acronym that stands for advancement via individual determination, a college preparatory class that helps prepare you for college, get organized, and set goals. I have been enrolled in AVID since 8th grade learning how to become a better student, improving study skills and the way I communicate with the students and teachers around me.

Sophomore year I was told to go to a community college for a two-year degree. By my application to Ohio University, I picked the road that everyone thought I was not capable of. Although my transcripts are not perfect, especially my GPA and ACT score the reasons are complicated. The Tuesday of my ACT week I got into a survive car accident which left me with a brain swelling concussion. I had never taken the ACT and did not want to have October be my one and only time. Therefore I took the test anyway, which led to a horrible scoring rate. Although it was not my best overall I think that for having a concussion my writing was well done. Unfortunately my car accident injuries lasted for five months, leaving me busy and injured. I again took the

This semester I have grown as a student in the area of college readiness. This has allowed me to feel more planned for college. I have gained knowledge about college and how to prepare in order to be successful. In advisory we read a “college- going 101 timeline,” which provided steps on how to get ready for college. It gave me a list of procedures I can follow throughout high school. Some procedures it gave me where to; begin keeping a folder of important information, create a list of possible colleges to apply to, and attend a college fair.

Also, the students should complete a form regarding allergies and preferences(for example some may be vegetarians) so we know what to buy in order for everyone to be happy. Students will have to pay for their own transport, but the groups will be guided by seniors and floor reps, in order to be sure no one gets lost. Another thing that should be taken into account is weather. We need to set a date and check with a week before if the weather will be pleasant, so we can have enough time to change the date if

My time spent in the Clinical setting, so far, has been extremely inciteful as to how to become a better educator in a classroom setting. Through the data I collected I was able to connect Borich’s Seven Variables of learning to the students. By being in the clinical setting for nearly two months, I have been exposed to new ways of thinking when it comes to structuring a classroom and instructing a classroom. Within this reflection you will find out how I would better plan an effective lesson for the pupils in my future classroom. You will also discover what I will do about certain issues in the classroom and how I will address/fix them.

As a freshman entering college, I was still skeptical if teaching was the right major for myself or if I wanted to go to college at all. That was four long years ago for me. Since then, I have taken classes I excelled in and I have taken classes I have struggled with and could not find the end of the semester. I am the first person in my family to go to college and not get pregnant or drop out before graduation. I am a member of Kappa Delta Phi: education honors society at Shepherd University and I was also a member of Alpha Phi Omega: the community service fraternity. I have worked extremely hard as a full time manager at two retail stores to put myself through college.

Incoming Freshmen reflecting on my first semester, some things that you might want to think about when coming into the High School. Teachers are one of the main concerns that I had when coming into the High School. Some people are nervous about oh are these good teachers or are these bad teachers. I do have to say there is a very wide variety of teachers here that have different standards. Also the schedule I advise that you try and memorize it as quick as you can. Once you memorize your schedule you are able to navigate the hallways much easier to navigate. It really helps when you want to get from point A to point B without getting a tardy. If your nervous about the work your going to be given wether its harder or if you given a lot more

During my time at Patrick Henry Community College I have had many ups, downs, and in-betweens. Looking back I thank God for each one of them because I have learned and grown so much since my first day here. In addition to that, I have met wonderful people, staff and students.

The first semester in 9th grade is usually very challenging and difficult to go through for many of us. Taking AVID as a freshman was also a challenging experiment to go through. From taking notes in all core classes, doing weekly reflections (D.L.L.), getting grade checks signed, organizing my binder, turing in all my assignments on time, I felt very overwhelmed at first. During the transition from a middle schooler to a high schooler, I felt pressured, but as I moved continued, I finally got into the habit of doing my work and turning them in on time. In my first semester as a freshman AVID student, I have improved in many different areas. Putting effort and time into the works I have done, I feel very accomplished.

For the 2016 Fall Semester, I am taking 16 credit hours. My classes include Ecology, Microbiology, Multicultural English, Research and Design in Psychology, and Physiological Psychology. The classes I am expecting to take during Spring 2017 are Physical Education, Cell Biology, Social Psychology, Research Analysis in Psychology, and a Literature course. I am involved in an experiment this Fall semester in the Psychopharmacology lab and will remain involved throughout the Spring. In the Fall and some of the Spring, we will be administering different treatments to rodent groups and observe the effects. For most of the Spring semester, I will be helping with the data analysis. Every week for an hour, I volunteer at the East Athens Tutorial Center,

Sophomore year of high school the required science class was Biology. I was excited because I've always loved science, but terrified because even though I loved it, I wasn't very good at it. I loved doing experiments and hands on but had trouble understanding the science behind it. When the first exam came, I was so anxious. But she was there for us the entire way, she stayed before and after school to answer questions. We would go through the review sheet and talk through what I didn’t understand. She made sure that I not only knew the information but knew why it was the way that it was. Ms. Bredeweg helped me understand the importance of knowledge and my love for science. She is the reason that I so passionately am becoming a nurse.

I feel that I had an exceptional freshman fall semester. Throughout the semester I attended meetings of various organizations such as African Student Association, Maryland Association of Black Journalists, Real Talk, and The Collective UMD (of which I joined the E-board). At the end of the semester, I finished with a 3.87 GPA. Not only was I able to stay on top of my grades, but I was also able to explore, which is essential for freshman. During the fall, I was able to find out what worked for me and what did not work for me in terms of interests and study habits. For instance, I realized my Math 111 TA was not very useful, and so I decided to sit in another Math 111 class with a different teacher for most of the semester. I ended the class with an A, which was also attributed to study groups and tutoring from AAP and OMSE. I feel that the summer transitional program and AAP prepared me for a heavy workload which made my classes more manageable, adding to the fact that I was only taking 12 credits. In the fall, I was able to grasp the college experience in one semester and try my best which is why I feel I did well.

As the semester started, I had set my mind that I was destined to achieve a lot. During the start of the semester, I had several difficulties writing English assignments especially in terms of grammar. During the first week of the semester, I sat down, organized my thoughts and comprehended that throughout the semester, I had to achieve all that I had planned for. As a student of English, I had planned that throughout the semester, I had to improve my skills as a scholar, writer and critical thinker. Now that the semester has ended, I can reflect all the semester activities to depict how my writing skills and critical thinking skills have drastically improved. This paper presents a reflection paper of how this