Midterm Self Reflection

Hays (2008) discussed privilege and biases based on culture and how these privileges and biases can affect a therapist’s work. Having a healthy understanding of self-identity can help understand the role of privilege and biases. In order to help self-reflect, Hays (2008) presented the ADDRESSING model which includes age, disability (born with), disability (acquired), religion, ethnicity/race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, indigenous status, nationality, and gender. This ADDRESSING model will be applied in this paper.

Throughout this semester I have learned many valuable resources, and tools. The big thing you taught us was how to write and argument paper. Also I have learned different tools on summarizing, how to better my skills for peer reviews, new library skills, and MLA format. Most of these I already knew, but you taught us them more in depth, and you gave me better understandings of them.

Attendance is an area I did well on in this class. I showed up on time and for the most part I was prepared for class. A couple of areas I think I could have done better on was class participation and procrastinating on my work. In class I think it would have helped me if I had been more involved and asked the professor more questions. Procrastination was probably my biggest weakness. I would wait till the last minute to write a paper and get a decent grade on it, but not an A like I would have liked. I know that if I had wrote my papers ahead of time and had more time to plan them out I would have gotten better grades on my papers. In my next English class I will continue to have good attendance and be prepared for class. What I plan on changing in my next class is my extreme amount procrastination. I plan on getting all of my work done well before the time it is due. If I can continue my good attendance and stop procrastinating, I will put myself in a good position to be successful and make an A in my next English

I have improved in numerous ways during this semester in Composition 1. I have enhanced my writing skills such as being able to write proficiently, and being able to form an essay in a set amount a time similar to the 50 minute essay tests in class. This course has taught me to broaden my vocabulary throughout my essays in order for them stimulating and captivating. While writing essays and creating the works cited pages, I have learned to accurately cite websites, books, and articles. I have also learned to suitably place and refer to where I found the material used for the essays within, and at the beginning of, paragraphs. When writing my essays I have learned to transition smoothly, however, I still struggle with it every once in a while, the writing I do continues to enhance. My speech has also improved from standing in front of the class and presenting a group project along with fellow classmates. I now know what it is like and what to expect the next time I do it. I have improved in many ways during this course and I feel, overall, the portfolio represents my progress greatly.

This year I have learned a lot from College Writing, this class has taught me a lot about my own writing and what makes a good essay. I have learned a lot about myself as a writer and as a person throughout the course. In this reflection of the past semester I will be going through my past papers and talk about what I liked and how I could’ve made them better. I will also be going through the activities that have shaped my writing the most. Hopefully, I will be representing how I have grown as a writer throughout the year because of this class. Before taking this class I was already relatively confident in my writing abilities and was excited to take the class. Now that the course is completed I am even more confident in my writing because of all the new techniques and helpful tips I learned.

As I worked as a behavior therapist my job was to implement programs created by my supervisors for the participants. I did not have many chances to assess the children I worked with before working with them as it had already been done. However, I have had many opportunities throughout the program to practice the techniques it takes to understand the underlying reasons for specific behaviors that are in need of change. I have also had the chance to practice using ABC (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence) recording forms to identify the function of tantrum behavior.

I chose to base my studies on J because we shared a lot in common; we are both Christians living in a predominantly Muslim country. He is eleven years old. His parents are Jordan nationals who have lived in Bahrain for at least two years. J goes to school at Naseem International School where I work. The school offers PYP programs. Lessons are conducted in English; however, Arabic lessons are also offered per week. Majority of kids in this school are Muslims most of whom are Bahrainis. Other nationalities making the student population are Saudis, Lebanese, Jordanians, few South Africans, and other Arabian Gulf countries. Teachers are a mixture of nationalities. Some of them are Arabs, others South Africans, while some are Europeans.

Growing up is a journey we all have to travel. Everyone makes their own paths on an adventure of change. Along the way, the path will be beautiful and smooth-sailing, bumpy and rough, and sometimes conflict will appear out of the blue. At times forks in the road will show up and decisions must be made. Change is inevitable. Throughout a lifetime decisions made will be small and slight, or huge and major. It does not matter because one decision can change one’s path completely. Even the slightest change can make the difference. The decision could even be a change of hairstyle. A change in hairstyle could lead to a new fashion sense, to a new genre of music, to a completely new person. I myself have noticed many differences and similarities between my middle school self and now; and it is only the beginning.

Finally, I was able to realize how inattentive I am during my classes. Although I am almost always physically present, I am not always mentally. I learned that I need to be more attentive in all of my classes. For example, while I remember hearing and reading that a term needed to be included in my Weekly News Analysis, it slipped away as I was writing and submitting. In addition, I forgot to complete my math homework due to my missed deadlines. Being more attentive in class will help me overall in learning and in receiving good

The purpose of this assignment is to self-reflect on what has been learnt in the topic this semester and how it is going to influence as a health professional in our chosen field. This assessment is made to encourage us to be able to identify the values and beliefs we have as individuals and how these impact on our ability to interact without others in a diverse society. This self-reflection will include the results from an Implicit Association Test to help gain a greater awareness of my own unconscious thoughts as well as evidence from reliable sources to help back up statements and give evidence to support this assessment.

My gut reaction about my style and way of being during counseling session has changed. For example, certain things came along so natural and others were and are still in transition. In the counseling process certain techniques (e.g., exploring, silence, restatements, and probing questions) with already in my tool kit without even knowing they were skills. Then, other techniques such as guiding the client through insight, immediacy, and homework strategies started of f as challenges. Perhaps, it was just feeling comfortable using these techniques in a more natural way. At first, I kept second guessing myself by

If a student does not attend class they present themselves as not interested in learning; or not to put in any effort at all on trying to improve. I have attended every class except one, which I had a family emergency. I made sure that I was mental present not just physically. A student can be in class everyday but not pay attention to anything, which shows they have no interest in trying to learn new skills nor have no interest to try and improve the skills they do have.

As a reader on a scale from 1 to 10, I rate myself a 5 because I rarely read. The last time I read a full novel was in January 2015. In class, if I am told to read, I try to only read the parts I require or is the answer. On very rare occasions, I do read news articles, but usually only a few parts or lines of it. I usually try to watch the news rather than read it which doesn’t benefit me as a reader since I have a little to no want in reading. I probably have to learn quite a bit more than just how to be a great reader but perhaps actually how to read.

Every one has their subjects that they love and hate, and for it was defiantly writing. Writing is something I dreaded for a long time; I developed my hatred towards writing since probably elementary school. I hate writing when I’m expected to put a spin on a subject that just doesn’t work for me, personally. There are many times when I have papers due and sometimes I feel like I have nothing to say towards the topic. I could write a paragraph but to continuously write paragraphs after paragraphs it gets a little harder. I always contradict myself in my writings but that is something I have grown out of. Writing is time consuming and requires a lot of effort. They require a lot of planning and usually some accompanying reading and note taking. Taking notes is one of my weaknesses. In some intuitions like my high school for instances there was not enough time is given to the rough draft and not enough feedback is given before the essay receives a final grade. I personally believe that not everyone is a "natural-born" writer; but I do believe that everyone has the capability to become a decent writer.

I believe a successful learning experience is engaging and valued by the students. I believe students’ will value what they are learning if they believe what they’re learning is relevant. Relevance is important to teaching and learning because it is directly related to student engagement and motivation (Frymier & Schulman, 1995; Martin & Dowson, 2009). Marsh (2008), states a positive classroom environment provides a sense of security, community, belonging and identity (Marsh, 2008). Based on my experience as a practicing teacher, I have found establishing clear expectations within the classroom assist in maintaining control and discipline, to create a safe learning environment (Fatt Hee, 1996). I believe within all classrooms, students’ diversity should be valued. This creates a discrimination free environment and ensures students feel safe and included (Philips, 2010). According to Stanford & Parkay (2007) students are more engaged in class when learning experiences are satisfying, challenging and friendly.