Reflection Essay

It is still so surreal to reflect back on my first semester as an incoming college student in the ENC1101 course, analyzing at my progression as a reader and writer in literacy. Since the first day of class I set in stone my goals for this class: receive a 4.0 GPA, develop my connecting theories skills in writing, and become more aware of objectives for each Unit throughout the course. All of these goals became achievements that not only make others proud but most importantly give me self pride. In order to earn the grades and achieve these goals, I went after every opportunity that I was given as an incoming college student, such as office hours and extra credit. By taking this course I have gained confidence with the utilization of literacy, and made an addition to my group of impactful literacy sponsors. Once students are finished with high school they assume that there is nothing else to learn beyond the stereotypical five paragraph essay, but they are so wrong. I was able to obtain so much knowledge about numerous course concepts from Writing about Writing, articles, and my professor. These concepts will carry on with me throughout a bright future of writing courses, job interviews, and any other skills that require literacy. The four outcomes listed below will help illuminate how I improved as a writer, by being a driven college student and going out of the way to earn my achievements in this course. In the first outcome I improved comprehending scholar texts,

Coming into Drexel this year, a necessity, I learned was to have a clear understanding of the mechanics for literature composition. I learned that it would mature my writing to a higher level of thinking. This is seen as past experiences in my writing through high school English teacher feedback indicated my writing to be full of flaws. I often would receive feedback on my writing being awkwardly worded or lacking fluidity. The one valuable skill I learned from English 101,102 and 103 was the idea that exposure to different readings, formulas and informal writings give practice, for me to find my own voice in writing.

For the last ten years, I have taught third grade. Though mathematics is just one of the many areas of discipline I am responsible for to teach my students, it is definitely the hardest curriculum for my students to both understand and master. With both formative and summative assessments, including the annual state standardized assessments, it seems as if every year my students are struggling more and more with understanding and applying mathematical concepts. This is also evident with an increasing number of mathematic Academic Improvement Plans (AIPs) that my students bring with them from second grade.

As I read J. K. Rowling’s commencement speech for a graduating class of Harvard University, I found myself connecting with the text on a very personal level. As I reread the speech for tis assignment I was able to reconnect with the text and old memories came rising up to the surface of my mind. I connected with the following quote: “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all- in which case, you fail by default.” Rowling’s statements regarding failure relate to the time when I failed my math class last year and how that experience changed my life.

During the first semester of this English course, I have discovered that it was a challenging and exhausting class because of the constant learning and discipline. Although this class was not what I expected, I began to realize the importance of the academic challenge because it was for my own benefit. Although I have failed to meet many of my own expectations, such as my writing exams and assessments, I believe I overcame my comfort zone and I created more opportunities for myself and my PIE. I have supported myself and my PIE in every aspect. I experienced many challenges due to many issues regarding assignments or exams, but it is evident that I have shown growth through my academic improvements and work ethics. I strongly believe that I deserve an A- because I have proved my understanding throughout this semester.

When I was a child, I was a real menace. My mother told me my behavior could clear out a playground. Obviously changes have happened since my playground days and today I’m going to tell you a story prior to my metamorphosis. This is a story that I am not proud to say happened. My parents think it’s funny; however, at the time of the incident they did not. This happened about ten years ago, so I can now look back on it and laugh about what happened with them.

Early in my second year at Laurentian University’s McEwen School of Architecture, I was dealing with a very severe illness. Along with navigating the everyday stress of my second-year program I was also dealing with severe anxiety and depression. I was unable to attend any classes due to anxiety attacks and a constant fear of them hitting me at anytime. This was my third year spent away from home and due to my constant fear of an attack I didn’t feel safe anywhere I went. Thanks to the help of my professors and friends I was able to start to get back on track towards bettering myself. The previous Director of my program, Terrance Gavin, allowed me to withdraw from the program to finally seek medical aid. He gave me the opportunity to better my health before returning to school. Thanks to his support I started to seek counselling along with working on making my own health better. I made a routine for myself, I started to eat healthier and go for daily walks. Since the year ended I believe I have made a dramatic improvement towards my health. I am able to wake up early in the morning and successfully accomplish my daily tasks without feeling anxious and depressed. I also try to visit home on a bi-weekly basis as living so far from my home has also effected my health. I have attached a doctor’s note to this document for verification.

1.0 Prepare an individual reflective submission demonstrating awareness of academic skills required for your learning journey.

In 5th grade there was a hearing and seeing test and I was waiting in line when something was wrong I can't walk what is happening. I don't know what to do. But my hip hurts.well my hip hurts and I can't walk and the doctor doesn't know what I have.

Inclusion: Means the action or state of including or of included within a group or structure. In education this means everyone has the same opportunity, there should be no boundaries to stop a learner reaching their full potential in the learning enviroment. (wikipedia)

As the first semester of my first year as an undergraduate student has progressed, I have realized how quickly time is passing by. I can easily recall back to the beginning of the semester when it was Frosh week and how nervous and excited I felt as I was about to commence the new chapter in my life that is post-secondary. As the mid-semester quickly sneaks upon us with another five weeks left, I have found myself to be stumbling from morning to morning and from deadline to deadline. I am mentally and physically exhausted as well as overwhelmed with the amount of work I am required to complete; I am burnt out.

Practicums are a time to put into practice what we as pre-service teachers have learnt in theory. This experience can be challenging and rewarding all at the same time as it makes a pre-service teacher face both their strengths and challenges as an individual and an educator. Lesson planning can be time-consuming during the hours when one is not teaching but makes the teaching time run more smoothly. There are standards that graduate teachers need to adhere to and relationships with mentors, children, families and colleagues to establish all in such a short time.

Tune in and listen without judging the other individual or rationally condemning the things she lets you know. In the event that what she says alerts you, simply stay quiet, yet don't state to yourself, "Well, that was a dumb move." As soon as you enjoy judgmental bemusements, you've traded off your adequacy as an audience. Tune in without forming a hasty opinion. Keep in mind that the speaker is utilizing dialect to speak to the contemplations and sentiments inside her cerebrum. You don't recognize what those musings and emotions are and the main way you'll discover is by tuning in. Try not to be a sentence-grabber (Wolvin, 1985).

A few years ago, I had a Chinese student in my classroom, Evan was his name. He was very bright and inquisitive. His parents spoke very little English and ran a local Chinese restaurant close to the school. While this student was one of my highest readers his comprehension and background knowledge were not strong. I discovered this early in the year during a social studies lesson. In the lesson, I was using vocabulary words that would be in the unit. I had a picture pulled up on the smartboard of a little girl carrying a stack of folded towels. The lesson was about citizenship and helping others. This girl in the picture was helping her mother by folding towels and putting them away. When I asked Evan to explain to me how the girls was showing good citizenship in the picture, he could not. He did not know the name of the objects that the girls was carrying. When I asked him if they used towels in his house, he could not answer me. He could not make the connection between what the girls was carrying, and how that meant she was helping her mother. Obviously, they use towels at his house or they would all go around soaking wet! But Evan did not have the vocabulary as an English Language Learner to make a connection so that he could learn what I was trying to teach him. He shut down and appeared embarrassed and did not want to participate further in the class discussion during that lesson.

Throughout life, we learn things; this can be practical things such as how to tie shoes or the fastest way to do dishes. These are simple things in life that do help, but these lessons do not help in developing as a person. I believe in the lessons we learn about how people work, and how we work, matter more than simple tasks. In The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, a man who is dying of cancer capitalizes on these life lessons that contribute to our development as people, he introspects himself. I would like to look into myself and explain what life lessons I have learned and why they matter to me.