Reflection In The Photo-Cultural-Ecological Journey

Currently, I am a Personal Care Instructional Aide for a nonverbal Down Syndrome student at West Hempfield Elementary. I work hand and hand with the special education teacher to devise lesson plans to suit the needs of my student. I am responsible for implementing the lesson plans one-on-one with my student in Language Arts, Mathematics, and social skills interactions daily. On a daily basis, I am also responsible for molding and shaping my student's behaviors and prompt when necessary. Working in the learning support room has taught me a variety of ways to incorporate differentiated instruction to suit the needs of all students. It has also shown me the type of teacher I should be, a teacher who adapts content to meet the needs of all learners and the importance of inclusion.

I am committed to working with all persons of diverse backgrounds, disabilities and other special needs. Every student should have the experience and ability of working with quality and caring teachers who care enough to take the time to make sure that they are given the tools they need to succeed. My life experiences have shown me how to be a better person and teacher for my students.

Working with children and supporting their learning is my passion. I have always been inspired by the opportunity teaching offers each child to reach their full potential; which understandably plays a crucial part in children achieving lifelong learning.

In this class you work with special education students and learn about different disabilities. In this class, you also get to learn about different careers where you could work with people that have these disabilities. One job we learned about was occupational therapy, and my teacher brought in a occupational therapist to talk to us and give us more information about her job. As soon as the occupational therapist started sharing about her job and experiences, it caught my attention. I love working with people and always want to do whatever I can to help others. In this job you get the opportunity to work with people of all ages that have different disabilities and struggles that they face going through their everyday lives.

I truly enjoy being able to support the children along their learning and discovering adventure with new concepts, ideas and experiences. The children should be introduced to understand about themselves so that they can learn who they are, who they can be and will be. It is a fulfilling feeling to know that as an early childhood educator, I can help to support the children to open their minds. At times, as cooperate in learning

I enjoy spending my spare time with my children, this always helps me relax and unwind after a very stressful day as they always put a smile on my face. Over the year, I have watched children grow physically, mentally and academically. Despite problems they may face at home, these children want to play and fun with a smile on their face. This gives me motivation to become a social worker that I can help improve their lives.

I have been working with the Coweta County School System since August of 2000. I began as a paraprofessional working with students with Autism through the Emory Autism Program. I enjoyed working with special needs students so much that I entered the TAPP program to obtain my teaching certificate. I began working at East Coweta Middle School in the fall of 2002 and am still currently working there as an interrelated special education teacher. I have taught resource, collaborative, and co-teach classes. I have even had one year where I worked one-on-one with a student that required specialized instruction.

Hello, my name is Yajaira Gilkes. I am a mother of three and a grandmother to one. I have worked with children for over twenty-two years. I love teaching children and most of all I know that God's plan for my life is to work with children because when babies or children in public consistently have conversations with me I know that this is beyond me. So far, being a substitute teacher or working with students in an after-school program has grown my love for children.

Also enjoy working in a partnership with my families. I provide children a diverse and developmentally appropriate environment that allows them to meet their individual needs. In my program I help families achieve their goals. For instance, if a parent tells me that they want to take English classes but don’t know how to enroll. I find resources for them in the community and help them to accomplish their goals by providing the information. In the past I had a parent who wanted to further her education but did not know what to do. I provided her with information regarding enrollment, fafsa, and made her an appointment for an assessment. I informed her that the library has computers she can use in order to complete her application.

When thinking about what career I wanted to pursue, I knew that I wanted to work with children and be able to make a difference in their lives. Volunteering has been a passion of mine since I was young, and as I have grown up I came to the realization that the opportunities I have enjoyed the most and felt that I made

I am a Family Advocate for Head Start program for 16 years. I work directly with families conducting needs assessments and making referrals to resources in the community. I provide support and link them to community resources so they would be able to be self-sufficient. I gain cultural knowledge when working with families from culturally diverse backgrounds and help me be more confident and work effectively when engaging with the families. I always want to give the best at my job and always strive to improve myself all the time.

As I was looking for a job where I could have direct contact with patients, I found a pediatric office in which I started working as a medical assistant. I enjoyed working and fell more deeply in love with children as I closely observed their innocence.

Did the activity go as planned? Why or why not? Overall the lesson didn’t go as planned, but I think overall it was still an effective lesson. The time I thought I would have to teach the lesson was a lot different the time I actually got to teach the lesson. I had to just scrap certain part of the lesson to make it fit in the time I was given. I didn’t get to work with all the students because the concurrent center my cooperating teacher was doing. The

I have always loved working with children. I taught hip hop classes in high school and mentored and tutored underclassmen my junior and senior year of high school. When I went to college after my freshman year, I continued to teach underclassmen, in sciences (biology: botany, zoology, human physiology, algebra, statistics, TMI tests). This past spring semster, I did some tutoring with a 3rd and 5th graders both for math.

Since I got my first camera in 8th grade, photography has always been my prefered means for self expression. Before I took up photography, drawing and painting were my main artistic outlets. These mediums always frustrated me because while I could visualize exactly what I wanted to portray in my head, I could not easily translate these thoughts onto canvas. With photography, however; I am able to communicate my ideas with control and clarity. Photography allows me to interact with people in a very special way. I have always loved being around people, and photography is a very social art. I developed an interest in photography around the same time I was transferring schools, and I used it as a way to meet people and transition into a new environment. My subjects are all peers who I admire. I prefer shooting my peers and not professional models because one of the most rewarding parts of photography is making someone who is not usually in front of the camera feel comfortable. Photography gives me an opportunity to form a stronger connection with the people I respect. In my photography, I strive to accurately capture the person I am shooting in a way that expresses who they are in an unbiased way. I only photograph the people I love. These are the people I spend my life with and shape me to be the person I am now. By portraying them as accurately and honestly as I can, it is a reflection of myself in that the viewer can understand the people I love, and then can, in a way, have