Wilkerson A Better Person

One lesson I learned from my grandmother took me two years to learn. I grew up around a family who praised you for good grades. I grew up thinking that getting good grades was important in life and that helping

Through my time in his classroom, I have become a patient listener, yet one who is not afraid to ask questions. Mr. Kovach has also fostered within me a critical eye for examining all forms of expression in my personal and professional life. Further, and most importantly, I learned from Mr. Kovach’s class that people are capable of changing. Never before his class had I yearned so much to learn and improve myself; a burning desire that continues to this day.

Throughout the years that I lived in, there has been many bad things happening to me. The only bad thing that I give thanks to were the time when my dad would spank me for very good reasons. At the time I would be crying and hoping he wouldn’t but they were well deserved. With every spank it hurt, I know that, but later on with every mark I had I knew that pain is temporary it may last for a minute or an hour or a day even a year but eventually it will subside and something else will take it’s place. While that something is getting back it’s time to come back stronger and better because of it and I’m showing that the world is not a happy and peaceful place no it’s a mean and nasty place and it will beat you on your knees if you let it. I have shown that it hasn’t beat’n me from all the hits it has given me, I was able to look up and get up from that situation because it’s not how hard you hit the world it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward how much pressure you can take and keep moving forward.

Lindsey’s mother told her to “always take the extra step.” She took that message to heart and continuously pushes herself in her academics, her service to the community, and her involvement in the lives of others. Although Lindsey has only been on campus for three months, she’s brought light into the lives of everyone she’s met.

First, I want to congratulate all of you for making it here today. We have all had a long four years filled with longs days and hard work, but here we are! In order to get here though, we all had obstacles to overcome. However, I have found that the biggest obstacle to cross is the way we, as people, are perceived. This obstacle is unique because it is one that not only other people force upon us, but we force upon ourselves as well. We have had to overcome not only the way other students perceive us, but also how our teachers do too. The way we perceive ourselves and other people perceive us can put many roadblocks into our futures, that can be rather difficult to get over. All of us are more than meets the eye, however, we need to make other people understand the pieces of us that aren’t always the most apparent.

In the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten it states basic things all good people must follow. It tells you to put things back where you found them. It also states that one should play and work some every day, or in other words: stay active. The book tells you to hold hands and stick together, meaning to not forget about the people you meet. I agree with what this book is trying to tell people to do.

Todd Whitaker presents seventeen different practices in his book called What Great Teacher Do Differently that argue both the practices of “good” and great teachers. “Good” teachers and great teachers may possess similar skills, certifications, content knowledge, and behaviors but great teachers put their variety of skill sets, abilities to accurately self reflect, and adaptability in order to become effective teachers. Whitaker emphasizes the importance of teachers who know how they come across to people, how others receive their behavior, and the ways in which they are able to reflect on their self-awareness as one of the key components between “good” verses great teachers. I believe a teachers ability to both self reflect, correct, and

Authoritative teachers will often “try to catch their students being good” and will reinforce the good behavior, rather than focusing on the bad. (Iannelli, 2004). It is critical that teachers praise their students for their efforts. A teacher can teach the entire classroom by recognizing one child’s positive action. Children desire praise and they will learn appropriate behavior when their fellow students receive praise. When teachers focus on bad behavior and make an example of a particular student to the entire classroom, it only makes the child that is being reprimanded feel alienated, ashamed, embarrassed, or possibly revengeful.

Surround yourself with good people. People that are good influences to you. In To Kill A Mockingbird,

You’ve taught me to never let myself down. The only way that I can be happy is to try my hardest. Sometimes that means changing the way I do something, or getting away from the people who won’t change. But there is always a way. A way to make sure that it all goes okay, or really well. You’ve taught me that you can in fact put together a show in a week. I now realize that I have mentioned speech and it’s too late to take it back. If you haven’t noticed, this is in pen. And I am not rewriting this because of one little thing. So to get back to what I was saying, sometimes we have to make changes. It can help us, hurt us, or both. But we will never know until we take the

Since beginning this course, I have really been focusing on the word change. Taking a closer look at myself, I discovered that change was needed. When it came to personal change, when I was willing to understand that change was needed I began to evaluate what direction I wanted to go in my life. Then I began to figure out the things in my life that I might have to change then I slowly stepped away from them. To maintain the change that I had for my life I constantly reminded myself, “Angel you’re trying to make yourself a better person for yourself and the people around you”. Reminding myself of that often kept me on the right path in my life.

Hanging out with the wrong crowd leads to unintended consequences. It does not matter how smart I am, if the people around me are not smart then I will be judged the same as them. An individual’s own self-importance is overlooked when the whole crowd is involved. That is the lesson that I learned this summer. I obtained the knowledge of the importance of personal responsibility as to who I surround myself with. I did not realize the importance of having privileges’ until I lost them. I learned that good friendships are a privilege, that hanging out with the wrong crowd leads to nothing but trouble, and that their trouble will lead to my privileges being revoked. The lesson that I learned was to be more responsible about my choices and the people that I surround myself with.

I have learned a great many things from being in the Practicum of Human Services. It has changed my entire outlook on and my attitude toward my life. Before my senior year at Irving High School, I was shy, had low self-esteem, and avoided seemingly impossible challenges. This class has altered all of my worst qualities. On the first day helping the L.I.F.E. skills kids, I was afraid because I was clumsy and socially awkward. These qualities have not gone away, but I do not let them disable me. The fact of the matter is, I was not really open to this new challenge at first. I did not want to be the one at fault if something went wrong. I did not want the responsibility because I was too afraid of making a mistake. All the while, this became

I chose this topic because I believe every individual can better themselves, but also embrace the good qualities that it has. For young students I believe it is important to help influence how they treat others and look at themselves in a positive manner.

During the first week of placement I was given an opportunity to observe each class. I saw many students who needed additional support, especially those with behavioural problems. One day I was assigned to a student who was going through a rough day and was experiencing anger issues. When I got to the classroom I saw the student making a huge mess by throwing things across the room and trying to push students off their chairs while I was trying to stop him to calm him down. This particular student was putting the whole class at risk for injuries. Another day I was told by my preceptor to help a different student who was experiencing difficulties in his work. I came into the classroom and saw that the student was not in his seat. I decided to look for him and saw that he was hiding, feeling heated, and avoiding everyone that was around him. I heard negative thoughts from students with behavioural problems about not wanting to do work and most of the time refusing to try. Students with behavioural issues often screamed at their teachers and myself when they are instructed to do work or told to stop playing around. In these types of situations I am involved, the principal, teacher, students, and student needs assistance are also involved. Whenever I am assigned to work with students that are experiencing difficulties, I observed negative communication and attitudes from them. Most of the time these students refused to do to work or participate in activities even though they are