Reflection Paper

I was extremely lucky to be placed in a first-year seminar that had such a unique topic with great individuals to share the class with. Throughout the last few months, I have gained friendships and knowledge within the course, Plants and Human Affairs. Within this course, I have learned and extended my understandings on the interactions between humans and plants. Throughout the semester, the class has read a variety of books, all relating to plants and people interaction. We have also been exposed to films and projects that have helped further our understanding of the plant world. I feel that I overall have learned very important lessons during this class in a wide range of areas including my personal life, how to approach college and about a variety of plants.

My friends and I were speaking on our past relationships from high school and earlier semesters. Reflecting on those times, a lot of effort and devotion went into making golden moments with someone I care about, and it’s a shame that things didn’t work out. Although I have graduated high-school a mere two years ago, I ponder why I stay up late nights thinking about those moments, grateful that I had the chance to experience something so wonderful. Yes, love can be an amazing thing; laughter, comfort, and friendships are all products of love I deeply care for. Despite this, it can be our strongest obstacle when trying to find happiness.

In Elizabeth’s classroom there are various activities going on all about Egypt, there are students demonstrating how ancient kings were mummified for burial. The students are learning about Ancient Egypt, but they are doing it in an atypical way. The activities and lessons are not teacher driven, instead the students are working in collaborative groups except one student and they are working on student driven projects. Some students are learning about pyramids. The classroom brings on a new meaning to organized chaos. A teacher who really needs structure in the classroom may have a difficult time with a classroom that is organized like Elizabeth’s. There are a few areas of concern when approaching student driven activities like what is being done in Elizabeth’s classroom. One concern is how can she ensure that all her students are learning the required content. To me this can be done a couple of ways. She could use formative assessments throughout the learning process as a way to assess if the students are learning the content. These can be as simple as observations of the students collaborating together, or as concrete as a pen/paper quiz over the required content. Another way is to establish content specific rubrics that are differentiated to meet the needs of each group’s specific projects. Of course the rubrics need to be presented and reviewed with the students several times throughout the process. Prior to beginning their assignments and then revisited in weekly

On September 12, 14, and 19, 2017 I had the pleasure of tutoring Haven. Haven is a nine-year-old, who is in fourth grade at Mark Twain Elementary School in Hannibal, MO. In each session, we would work together for 60 minutes. I was able to learn a lot of things while tutoring. First off, going in to tutor Haven and not knowing really anything about her and her learning preferences. It was hard not knowing what strategies helped her the most when reading or which ones made it more difficult for her. But that is going to be with any student(s), you just have to go with the flow. You will learn those things as you get to know the student. That is what happened with Haven and I, within the first tutoring session she let me know her learning preferences and what she liked. Then within the sessions we were together, I knew which strategy helped her while reading and what she struggled with.

ugust 9, 2014, Michael Brown’s body laid in the Missouri sun for four hours after being killed by a Ferguson police officer. As his body lay there, I sat in my kitchen packing for freshman move-in with tears of anger streaming down my face. I knew the unarmed Black teen could have been my older brother or a high school friend. What I did not know, was that Brown’s death would be my intellectual and personal catalyst. Just days after Brown’s death, I participated in my first protest. As I walked chanting “Black Lives Matter” through the streets of Atlanta in a crowd of passionate, disillusioned, mourning, energetic comrades, I found my niche.

During my time with Diego, we did a lot of different activities, and I really enjoyed working with him, I am going to share my assignments that I did with Diego, in my essay, I hope that by reading this paper, you can understand or visualize what I did with my student. Diego is 6 years old, and he is in 1st grade, he is a huge Minecraft fan, and his favorite character is Steve, and he loves to play soccer.

Life can change in the blink of an eye. One moment it is smiles and laughter and the next moment it is tears and feelings of hopelessness. I never fully comprehended the reality of this life idea until I was coming to the end of my freshman year of high school. Just like any other day at school, he was radiating with joy and happiness. However, that night many lives changed. It was apparent to me and many others that the radiating joy and happiness was fake. That specific night, May 2, 2017, his joy turned to sorrow and his happiness turned to an excruciating pain. On this very night, my innocence was stripped away and my outlook on life was drastically changed.

This past year has been a learning experience that has led me to where I am today, attending Citrus. I graduated from Glendora High School in May of two-thousand sixteen with the intention of moving away to school and attending the University of Arizona; however, within the week post-graduation I decided it would be in my best interest to take some time away from the books. I love education and every ounce of learning. My school work, grades, and attendance have always been a top priority, but I began to feel as if I was a car running out of gas, I knew that if I went into my freshman year at a university with the mindset I had and the drive I was lacking, I probably would not be very successful nor would I get very far. For me to figure out myself and where I desire to be a break was needed from not only school, but also this town. Unfortunately, my gap year wasn’t filled with any crazy stories of finding myself while lost backpacking or traveling, but it was filled with personal growth amidst new coworkers, a newer environment, and a boyfriend as well as some family. I moved to Arizona anyhow and that is where I did most of my recent growth. Now you’re probably wondering how I landed myself back in Glendora, a question I now have the confidence to answer. Arizona was great, I love it, and it holds such a large part of my heart however I could not muster up an ounce of motivation to go back to school. I felt too comfortable with what I had and feared going back with

At this moment there is currently 7,430,931,842 people in the world. Nearly 3 billion of those people are currently living in poverty. Today, 350,000 babies will be born. The world, continues to grow, to prosper, as I sit in my bedroom staring out the window waiting for creativity to strike and give me the words that so effortlessly describe me. There is currently only one person in the world with the name Gabrielle Vozzi, and right now she is attempting to describe something that is indescribable: herself.

Throughout our discussion there were several intriguing and engaging questions that were asked and sparked a good conversation among our group. One moment where I believe I was most successful in the discussion, was throughout minutes six through sixteen. Throughout this time, we discussed how the Party’s control in 1984 can be seen in the world around us today such as in North Korea. This question was first prompted by Leo but what I feel made this our groups most engaging point was how everyone added to the question by rephrasing it, or adding additional information and perspectives, or incorporating it into aspects they are most passionate about in their lives. From this point, I related it to history and how history can be rewritten to correct ways a nation or person has morally failed. I used the example of slavery to show this point. Starting from about minute eight I discuss with my group how according to an article my English class read last year, Texas history textbooks teach slavery based on how it economically impacted the South rather than by teaching the dehumanizing and awful treatment of other people. This question and the points brought up by this question were what I found to be most engaging. Our group spent nearly ten minutes on this point, because this point took a personal side and everyone had something to discuss from it. I believe the passion developed from this point is what made this not only my most successful moment but one of our groups best

During this course, I have developed a new and useful skillset. One skill I can away from this course is that developed better argument skills. We have been assigned several assignments revolving around what is an “argument” and learning when and how to argue. My arguing skills have since increased and become more polished. I can use my new-found skills at work, in conversations, and at work. These tools will help me advance my conversations and language. I believe that this skill will benefit me primarily in work settings.

Reflecting on the past two terms in school, I would constantly find myself preparing and delivering a lesson which I felt were missing something. I was constantly asking my mentor teachers how I could have better differentiated lessons, especially at senior level. I believe on completing this assignment I have discovered three extremely beneficial frameworks which will improve my lessons and I believe develop a flexible curriculum which allows differentiation for all students to develop their learning capacity and engage them throughout the lesson.

Every student deserves the best chance at getting the highest level of education they can, however, some students need a little extra support that others may not. A student, Axel, who is currently in my classroom has had a hard time keeping his focus and is often avoidant when it comes to his work. It has become clear that his avoidance becomes a distraction to the whole class. His behaviors currently include but are not limited to: rolling around on the floor during rug lessons, yelling across the room, walking around the room talking to friends, sharpening his pencil five or more times throughout the day, asking to go to the bathroom at inappropriate times, spending fifteen to twenty minutes in the

From the early moments of my childhood, I remember seeing my parents go to Russian Orthodox Church a lot. They would explain to my younger brother and me what was right and what was wrong from the religious perspective. On my 4th birthday, my grandma gave me the Bible for kids as a present, and I remember my mom reading it to me before going to bed. Back then it was just another interesting story that happened somewhere very far away. And yet mom would always find a way to tell these stories in such a manner so they translated really well into the reality we were living in. The more I grew up the more I realized that there was something missing in the big picture of my understanding of the world. I saw a lot of suffering that was happening everywhere, death, natural disasters, and I thought there must be a reason for all of it. Otherwise, the God does not care about any of us. I started to look for the answers everywhere: in the philosophical and religious books, movies, wise counsel from the people who lived a long life. I could not find the truth in church because the whole purpose of its existence with all its rules and restrictions, its idea of God who is something or someone out there, separate from us, and the only being that knows all the answers, was totally alien to me; mainly so due to my unwillingness to accept the fact of transferring all the responsibility for everything one does to someone else. I believed it to be a weakness to acknowledge one’s bad thoughts and deeds as something natural, as an external influence of the evil spirits. For me, it sounded like people who agreed with this concept simply wanted to escape the punishment for what they had done, choose an easy way out.

In this world everything happens for a good reason but the result of everything that happens in our life is not a joyful. In order to find happiness and joy in this world even in the most sad or lowest point of the chapter in our life, we have to pay attention to the universe in the present moment. The universe has voice and it tells us the truth, so for us to find happiness we need to pay attention to the universe at that moment to find the true reason behind everything. The true reason behind everything that happens in our life brings us peace. The major focus of the teachings of the Buddha in Life of Buddha, the book of Ecclesiastes, and The Alchemist is the need to exist in and pay attention to the universe at the present moment in