Throughout this course, the history of Portland was discussed and I found it extremely interesting. In my high school I took only one class on history our side of my state and it was the simple world history and we never covered the histories of other states within the United States. With in the Hawaiian culture, our history is so important and we study it constantly because we feel that it is information that is crucial to knowing who you are and where you come from. So when I came to Portland and I learned that this state has a history too it surprised me a little because I realized how much we as highschool students were sheltered from the rest of the world and their histories. Though learning the history of Portland and how it became the beautiful city that it is today really was exciting. Learning about all of the events and obstacles a city faces to create such a diverse environment like this is truly humbling and made me appreciate the journey so much more.
I was really impacted by the bi-weekly reading responses. These responses when you are doing them seem to be nothing and almost information that is cool to read but doesn't really apply to what you are learning in the class, but as you start to do the bigger assignments I found my self referencing and pulling knowledge that I learned from the responses all the time. The responses also really encouraged a lot of different ideas and perspectives to be pushed out into the class discussions and they really made me
My involvement in all subject matter, both in and out of class I found that through the reading, writings, and class discussions I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the material. I also found that even outside of the class I was still thinking about what we were discussing in the class and I found that the material
The one class that really opened up my eyes to see the world in a different point of view was Entrepreneurship and Creativity. I may have not gotten the best possible grade, but I will never forget the learning principles that inspired me to create and explore many different options. The course had a marketing pitch competition that has gotten me to think in an entrepreneurial mindset ever since. As my parking app pitch came close with the runners-up, I am still trying to improve and innovate from previous models.
This week in class something that stood out to me was the “pageant”. I think that this activity was a really good way to get us out of out comfort zones. I would never be presenting or talking to my class by choice. We also finished watching Poverty Inc. I really enjoy learning more about the topic of poverty because I feel like we are only given the basics of the topic normally. I think the activities that get us out of our comfort zones are teaching me some life skills for my future.
Three days, two nights is how long we’ll be staying in Portland. First we have to get through the morning briefing, survive the excruciating safety talk on how “Portland is not Salem”, and how “Portland is a much more dangerous place”. These few minutes will probably be the longest minutes of the trip, not including the ride there, but I obtained some audiobooks the day before for this one hour ride. We start to move our bags from our classroom to the cars we’ll be riding in, six can ride in Mr. Abel’s car, our advisor, fourteen on the bus, and another six in the Mrs. Jones's car, she volunteered as chaperone. I decide to ride in the bus, but my friends who were both crushing on the same girl go in Mr. Abel’s car, that was probably the most awkward car ride of the century.
I learned more about the level of learners that I have in my class. My mentor teacher told me some names of high and low level learners, but observing them being taught and teaching them are two very different realities. I also learned that even my high level learners were struggling second grade counting skills (ex: ten more, ten less). This lesson also re-emphasized the importance of modeling learning for students (I do, we do, they do).
I can relate to assignment five and nine being harder than I had expected them to be. I have a deeper understanding of what is involved in a treatment plan. More importantly, I learned that
I feel that there is a lot of important information that can be learned from the Units we have been covering in class. The ones that I feel have directly made a difference in my life would have to be, understanding how affirmations can cause an impact on how we are successful. Another example would have to be the realization on how efficacy can either make or break your dreams. As I previously said, there are a lot of different things that can help someone grow but I feel as though, for me, these are the most significant.
Another key class for me was the Social and Cultural Diversity in Counseling. I have not been around many people from a different culture. I took the time to become immersed in the Mexican culture and worked with a few Spanish speaking people. That was very interesting for me. I do have a few Spanish speaking parents in my school district and this helped me realize how hard things are for them when dealing with the school system. One thing I did change was that letters that these children take home are now in Spanish. I feel this can be helpful for the families and the children to be equipped for
One huge impact I learned instantly is how you communicate with your client. I had to strengthen my communication skills because I needed to communicate with my clients in vocabulary that I knew they would understand. Communicating with a fellow peer, who is knowledgeable about taxes, is a different situation that of when you are speaking with a client. A client most likely doesn’t know the exact, in-depth details about taxes, which can lead to complications and confusion, so I had to adjust my lexicon to fit the clients’ needs and understanding. Also, working with partners was great. It gave me an opportunity to work with others and solve problems in a group. Sometimes, when one of us didn’t know the answer, the other one would step in and help. Also, I felt like the class was a gigantic supportive group because we would ask and answer each other questions, when we a confused about a topic or area.
During this week three things I learned were that I learned how to set up the Blackboard Collaborate Discussion, I learned more about certain myths, and I got to learn in depth what this whole class was going to be about. Even though I took a long while to figure out and download the BB Collaborate Discussion, I managed to get it done and know how to use it. During our class discussion I also got to learn about different myths I didn't know about like the Pandora's Box and The Willow O' the Wisp. These were two very different myths that I got to learn about and found pretty interesting. Also I was able to hear the recording of the BBC discussion and be able to learn more about Mythology and the five common traits.
Throughout this semester reading about different ways of interpersonal communication I came to the realization that there were many things I could work on to better myself as a person. Things I never thought about in depth until taking this class. Areas I have improved on throughout this semester are using I language more than the use of you language, what empathy was and how I choose to become better and lastly how I deal with conflict.
Without a doubt the lessons and exercises on time management were the most meaningful to me. They brought insight into why I seemed to be constantly working yet still never really got anything I wanted to accomplish throughout the day finished. I realized the majority of the activities I had been spending the most time on didn’t reflect my values of hard work and self discipline and long term academic goals to be successful in college. This motivated to completely change the way I managed my time by effectively striking a balance between my maintenance, committed, and free time.
The other part that also appealed to me is through discussion post from Megan and Gabrielle that were in the same group with me. Every week I was looking forward to learning from the students mainly because the way each responded to question made it easy to learn and through both commenting on my post made me realize what I may have missed while I was reading or responding to the questions I had chosen to answer. I liked the way Gabrielle was always ready posting her answers on Monday night while at other times I had no idea what to answer on Monday until I go and read her post and from there I was able to get it too. One example is when I answered my post on week 12 Megan made a comment on my post that helped me there was another sense of feeling different to the one I had mentioned on my initial discussion post. Discussion board has really played a big role on this class to me, I was able to know how to use different wording so my response is not basic or short of words.
This semester in Child Development has helped me a great deal. I came into this class wanting to be a Child Development teacher at the high school level. I am leaving this class with the same ambition to become a Child Development teacher. I have learned so much by taking this class and I know it will all be helpful in the future once I am standing at the front of a classroom. Also, just by watching the way Mary teaches the class, I have learned things that I want to take into my own style of teaching.
I have learned so much in this class to prepare me for a successful college experience. There were some topics that caught my attention more than others. Such as, time and stress management, University resources, and critical thinking.