Student Reflection

Over the course of this semester, I have spent an ample amount of time serving as a mentor with Gonzaga’s Center for Community Engagement Youth Program, Campus Kids. In Campus Kids, we develop one-on-one relationships with mentees between the 4th-6th grades to assist them in succeeding academically, socially, and emotionally. Every Thursday afternoon at 3:10 PM, each of the Campus Kids mentors in our group meet up in the Center for Community Engagement in the basement of the Hemmingson Center. We spend this time doing icebreaker activities with the other mentors to get to know each other while we wait for our mentees to arrive in their school bus from the local Garfield Elementary in Spokane, WA. From 3:30-5:00 PM, we spend one-on-one time with our mentees where we engage in a variety of different activities such as playing educational games, working on homework together, sharing a healthy snack, talking about the activities we have done the past week, and exercising outside. In addition to meeting with my mentee every Thursday, I also ride in a carpool with 3 other mentors to Garfield Elementary every Friday from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM for a school visit where I get to sit in on my mentees’ PE class and provide support and encouragement for him as he works on developing his physical education. In this class, I help him out if he’s having difficulty understanding what his teachers are asking him to do, or I will help count the number of push-ups or sit-ups he has trying to reach

The most important experience that has positively impacted my academic performance is being in AVID for the past 5 years. AVID is an acronym that stands for advancement via individual determination, a college preparatory class that helps prepare you for college, get organized, and set goals. I have been enrolled in AVID since 8th grade learning how to become a better student, improving study skills and the way I communicate with the students and teachers around me.

My time spent in the Clinical setting, so far, has been extremely inciteful as to how to become a better educator in a classroom setting. Through the data I collected I was able to connect Borich’s Seven Variables of learning to the students. By being in the clinical setting for nearly two months, I have been exposed to new ways of thinking when it comes to structuring a classroom and instructing a classroom. Within this reflection you will find out how I would better plan an effective lesson for the pupils in my future classroom. You will also discover what I will do about certain issues in the classroom and how I will address/fix them.

After a long eight months, I can now look back and say that I completed my first year of college. It is safe to say that during that time, life was not the same as it was in high school. Many adjustments, such as sacrifices and prioritizing had to be made. However, I think that those adjustments had made me a more accountable student, but more ultimately a better rounded human being. As I am about to enter my second year at Loyola, I am ready to tackle whatever challenges I may face. I personally feel that I am still a planet’s distance away from figuring out who I really am, but I think that as long as I can keep being the best person I can be, I can accomplish what I want to do during my post-collegiate career. In this essay, I will talk about my undergraduate career at Loyola University Chicago, emphasizing my field of study, college experience, and my career goals including the route I plan to take to get there.

The first semester in 9th grade is usually very challenging and difficult to go through for many of us. Taking AVID as a freshman was also a challenging experiment to go through. From taking notes in all core classes, doing weekly reflections (D.L.L.), getting grade checks signed, organizing my binder, turing in all my assignments on time, I felt very overwhelmed at first. During the transition from a middle schooler to a high schooler, I felt pressured, but as I moved continued, I finally got into the habit of doing my work and turning them in on time. In my first semester as a freshman AVID student, I have improved in many different areas. Putting effort and time into the works I have done, I feel very accomplished.

As long as I could remember, I’ve always wanted to go to college. it always seemed like a life altering thing that could positively affect many aspects of life. I have always known college was for me. I am excited to see how college will help me grow into a more productive person in society by furthering my education. For me, it is huge accomplishment of being the first of my family to attend a four year University, I am doing this to break the cycle of academic underachievement; while also setting a great example for my younger brother. Most importantly, I want to further my education, there are still so many things I can learn. This will help guide my future into a well suited job for me that will allow me to do what I love.

Being a teacher, I want to ensure that my students know that even though we may have different back grounds and be different from others that we will all love and respect one another. I worked at a school once and they had things labeled throughout the whole school. Like for Bathroom they school had it labeled bathroom and Bano. Taking this Idea, I will use it for my classroom and label everything in both the English language and whatever language the child speaks.

Today at my placement, I noticed a different kind of interaction my teacher was having with his students. Instead of focusing on academics or connecting with the student, the teacher was trying to monitor the language, attitudes, and dialogue that happened in the classroom space. The interaction happened before the first period started. There was a student at the teacher's desk getting help with an essay and two other students talking a few feet away. One of the students who was talking made a comment that one of his female African American teachers was horrible because she did not know how to teach or speak. Though the student did not directly say the teacher did not know to teach or speak, the emphasis he placed on the teachers race and the explanation, “she does not speak well but I guess she cannot help that”, made it clear that he meant that the problem was because she was female and African American. My cooperating teacher upon hearing the comment stopped helping the student he was with and turned to the student calling him out saying that the student was being, “Racist, sexist, and a jerk”. They had a brief discussion about how what the student said was inappropriate and that he should try talking to this teacher if he needs help. Overall, the incident was not that intense with the student simply walking away afterward and it ended quickly, but it made me realize this was the first time I had seen a teacher address a student who was looking down on a specific group of

Over the next several pages I will discuss many aspects of education. This will include the role that I am employed, the demographics of the area I work in and specific responsibilities I have as a paraprofessional. I will explore the classroom setting I am in, including the relationship to my students, supervisors, and other disciplines within the educational system.

While reading chapter 3 this week, there were three main concepts that stuck out to me more than some of the other did. The three major concepts which got my attention while reading were; literature as content, reading hypothesis, and question of transfer. To me, all three of these concepts have a major part in today’s education system and making sure that all children are getting the correct information and knowledge needed. Of course, everything that was mentioned in this chapter holds an important key to writing and reading in the education field. Although for me these three concepts listed made me really think about.,m;lpo9 what I will want to do within my future classroom. To give all students the best start to the rest of the school career and in later stages of life. I want to be the teacher who does everything possible to make sure every student feels like they are given the best care and aren’t stressed or overwhelmed with the things going around them. Reading and writing are one of the most basic life skills needed for everyone and starting at a young age and continue to expand the student's knowledge of information.

In today’s society, it is important for educators to know the problems taking place in the classroom and outside the classroom. The two class readings encourage exploration of these ever changing ideas. Both novels complement each other in educating emerging teachers about these controversial topics. The key topics and main themes that reoccur in both texts are gender roles, stereotypes of teaching and lastly, race and racism.

With the new requirements of this lesson in adding a focal point in the arts, I feared this would produce a challenge for my host teacher’s students. She had warned me on their lack of ability to deal with change as a group. In trying to balance time for an art piece, my plans were to add a small group activity and make a page of their portfolio apart of the assessment. I believe most of the students understood the lesson, but many only seemed to understand parts of the directions alone, and I think that inhibited their quality of work for the pretest, post test, and activity.

1. After it was all said and done, the presentation was a success in the fact that a good sample of the technology was out to all. The slides appeared to be in a good order that flowed well with the presentation. It was simple and straight forward, and it was in keeping with the technology that I was presenting. Interesting and not so much boring. I like the video clip of the technology that I was presenting. It was a good length and clear audio that was easily understood at the back of the class.

On November 6th, 2017 at Fulton County Juvenile Court Center. Upon my arrival at the building, I was immediately asked to see my ID, but I had left all my items in the car so the two officer had to make sure that I did not have a phone and proceeded to let me enter the court house through a metal detector and asked me to place my notebook in a gray box to be sent through a dual-energy X-ray system. As I walked in the courtroom, it took me by surprise of how the set-up was because I was thinking that it would look like the courtrooms that are presented on television. Although, this set-up was very different. In the courtroom they had a total of four benches on the right side and three on the left side. Most of the probation officer, school counselors, and other people that were working on the behalf of the juvenile defendant were sitting on the left side of the room and that is where I decided to sit as well. There were no raised layers except for the judge. There was no defendant box, but there were two stands on each side facing towards the judge for both parties. While observing the people that were coming in for a hearing it took me by surprise that none of the young adults or parents were in business causal clothing. Majority of the cases that were being heard were dealing with the African American ethnicity.

The compelling question that I plan on using for my inquiry lesson is; “What are some important physical and behavioral adaptations that help animals survive in their environment? Students will work in pairs to investigate two animals in a symbiotic relationship, for example, Oxpecker birds and Zebras. Students will research the animal’s habitat, the animal’s physical and behavioral adaptation and how it helps the animal survive and how the animals interact with nonliving and living things.