Graduation Speech : Class Assignments

Good Morning, Mrs. Williams Jones, Mrs. Babb, Mrs. Semper, Mr. Heaton, 8th grade teachers, families, friends, and the graduating 8th grade class. Thank you, for that very kind introduction, (INSERT NAME OF PERSON WHO INTRODUCED ME). And thank you, all for being here today at our graduation to celebrate our achievements and success. Most of you might know me, but for those who don’t, I am Jassnjot Kaur. I have been attending PS124 for nine years and I’m honored to speak to you today as your Valedictorian. Today is a very special and memorable day for not just me, but for all of us which includes us graduating students, our proud parents, and our pleased teachers.

Good afternoon [name of members of the head table], teachers, parents, students, fellow graduates and distinguished guests. I must first and foremost thank God for this blessing and honor to stand before you today as Valedictorian of the Class of 2011. Yet, today is not only my day to shine. Every graduate present here is deserving of high praise and recognition and I would like to congratulate each of you on reaching this milestone in life. I think I speak for my fellow graduates when I say that this is a moment we have always imagined and one we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Coming into this class at the beginning of the semester, I expected a lot of writing but not so many other extra assignments. My main target was improving the quality of my introduction and conclusion paragraphs in my essays. I learned a few new ways of arranging introduction and conclusion both in class and at the Writing Resource Center.

As result of creating and implementing this artifact, I realized that the most effective lesson plans are those which initiate with the final assessment in mind. So, I applied a pre-test at the very beginning of my lessons with every different group I would be teaching to measure a starting point or the amount of pre-existing knowledge on the topics to be taught. Based on this, I planned the instruction to deliver and how to differentiate it.

I remember seventh grade like it was yesterday. Everything was falling into place. I was happy with my life, had a strong relationship with God, and was content with where I was headed. My elementary and middle school years were just like any other Catholic school student. My schedule consisted of going to school, attending church, a sports practice, and then completing homework like everyone else. It wasn’t until eighth grade, where I was uprooted from that cookie cutter lifestyle, that I was actually challenged and pushed harder to be the best person possible, and to overcome the diversity and influences that I faced in the public school setting.

As for Teacher C, this is her first year teaching as a full-time kindergarten teacher. Prior to being a kindergarten teacher she worked as an instructional support teacher for kindergarten. The primary socioeconomic status of School C is low. It is considered a Title 1 school which means that they reach out to lower socioeconomic families to provide quality education to their children. Most of the families that they work with are single parent families, or divided households with more than one child. Teacher C claimed that most of these parents are incredibly hard working and busy. She said you can see this with the amount of support students are sometimes not able to get at home due to the parents working. Therefore, at School C teachers try their best to provide as much meaningful instruction in school, so that that the families can focus on providing for their children in other ways. Teacher C only utilizes 1-2 hours of technology a day due to the fact that her only access to technology while in school is a computer and projector. These are the only tools that they have available to enrich students’ learning. Through the computer, Teacher C uses power point presentations, short videos, pdf documents, and learning based games. The use of the projector is how she gets everything onto the board and makes it big enough for everyone to see. During the day, Teacher C tries to use these resources at least 2 different times for content such as learning phonics, or

Colin Powell once said, "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." The secret to success is preparation; however, preparation for college does not come easy, and there is only so far you can go by preparing yourself. I tried that, and if you look at my first college semester grades you can see that did not work. High school really is only there to prepare you for college; however, not everyone goes to college, and there is only so far you can go with a high school diploma. You really have to go to college to succeed, but when you come to college everyone is on different levels academically. Some come to college not even knowing what they want to major in. That is absolutely inexcusable of the high school system, which should better prepare students for college and their future careers.

Did you know that school schedules haven’t changed much since the late 18th century? The school schedules of today are designed for the needs of someone during the Industrial Revolution, and not for kids of the 21st century. Education Secretary Arne Duncan once said in a recent interview with The Associated Press, that "Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today." Today’s jobs are vastly different from the jobs popular during the 18th century, but school schedules haven’t changed to compensate for this difference. The easiest and most effective way to prepare student for these new jobs is to increase the length of school days. Increasing the length of school days will

In this journal, I will be reflecting on my last eight weeks of this course. In this class, I was unfortunate enough to receive the opportunity to practice writing essays in APA style format. If I were to describe this class to others, I would tell them to stretch their fingers, because of the sheer volume of essays is staggering, considering the topics. If this were a marketing class, I would not sell this class to anyone, unless there was a high monetary profit for me, but morally and ethically, I would not recommend this class. For me personally, now at this point in my life, I don’t think the information will help me.

After graduating college, many aspects of your life start to change. For example, now you have to find a full-time job within your degree, your social life starts changing, you are no longer able to afford the same luxuries as before, and lastly you are learning how to live independently without the help of your parents. Now is the time to move to the next phrase in your life, away from everything you once knew.

According to the 2015 National College Health Assessment, over 85% of college students have felt stressed or overwhelmed in the last year. As an undergraduate, I am fully aware of the pressure we, as students, feel. We are a machines, constantly trying to balance studying, our classes, working, having a social life, and preparing for our future. And we are still expected to get eight hours of sleep every night? I know first hand how this feels. I wake up early every morning, go to class, spend countless hours studying and doing homework between classes, attend more classes, come home, clean, go to work, and study some more. Every day is a work in progress of what I will become in the future. What will be my occupation? How much money will I make per year? How am I going to pay off my student loans? These are all questions college students ask themselves everyday. William Zinsser reflects on his own college experience in his article “College Pressures” and discusses why college students feel such an intense load of pressure these days.

College students have two choices when it comes to spring break, either go home or to go on a wild vacation with their friends. I recently had to make a similar choice between going to Destin, Florida, which includes partying with my friends or going home to Chicago, Illinois to rest. In order to make a decision it was best to compare and contrast my two choices.

Hello and Welcome and Thank you for joining me in celebrating my graduation. This has been the milestone that many of us have been looking forward to, but first I would like to say congratulations to all students of the Class Of 2015! We are the last class that can be held on a hand. If you haven 't noticed, I am referring to the 5. I attended Bishop McDevitt High School. Now I remember when I was in 7th and 8th grade, I was not fond of going to high school. I pictured highschool as this big place where I’d seem to be so small. I did not think that I would fit in. That could have ruined my high school journey. If you do not have a open mind, you will never get anywhere in life. That is almost what happened. I was open to people. Now that may have backfired on some occasions. In highschool you win some and you lose some. You will not always walk out with the same person you walked in with. Luckily I have. In 6th Grade I met Brianna. We instantly clicked when she first got on my cheese bus. My first thought was, who is this little skinny girl, but it turned out that the little skinny girl would eventually become my best friend. Never had a dull moment or argument. Never could think of us having a problem. She has been there for me, even when I was wrong on things. If it wasn 't for Brianna, my high school journey would have been rough. So I’m here to say thank you. Thank You for being you and being a good friend. If you haven’t noticed,that is why I am up here for the Thank

At the elementary level, we need to ensure that our teachers understand essential concepts and skills, and are able to identify the contributing facts affecting the desired student outcome. Such goals are derived by using a variety of methods to teach, and are reinforced via a variety of assessment tools that ascertain authentic student mastery of content. Thus, a cookie cutter approach to the education of our students is not an effective practice, as every student learns differently. However, within our current educational model, most teachers do not have the time, or resources to foster, and manage a truly individualized student learning program. This is where technology integration bridges this gap, and solves this ever pressing dilemma, as students can not only use technology to master key content, but also develop twenty-first century “commencement and career” readiness by being well versed in cross-curricular STEM, and technological application. Subsequently, technology integration allows students to develop necessary real world skills by applying technological concepts in a work specific competency. As a result, it is my goal that teachers will use technology tools to insure that students are learning not only elementary content, but also “power work place” skills such as planning and organizing, problem solving, decision making, teamwork, communication, collaboration, and respect. Thomas Friedman in The World in Flat, indicates that our current model of

on behalf of the 2016 Leadership Launch graduates, welcome! We stand here today in celebration of new leaders in the CSM community ready to embark a lifelong journey of leadership. We began this program eight weeks ago curious and with a willingness to improve in our leadership skills. During the first week, we learned our top five leadership strengths, self awareness and self confidence as leaders. Through these, we learned how to use our strengths to form our identities and become great leaders. The second week focused on individual core values and its impact on each decisions, whether big or small. As we age and grow, our values are shaped, modified and play an important aspect in our self identity and leadership style.