Independent Component 1

Literal:

(a) I, Xena Perez-Angeles, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

(b) My mentor helped me complete my 30 hours for my independent component. My mentor has 12 years of experience as an elementary school teacher.

(c) Independent Component Log

(d) So I basically completed my 30 hours for my independent component. Overall for those 30 hours I helped my mentor as her TA in her class and helped her with the 1^st graders as well as helped her with them in class.

Interpretive:

So during my 30 hours for my independent component, it helped me formulate my answer of having visuals. During my 30 hours, I helped my mentor during class, sometimes by reading a book with the plush toy to the children and I was able to notice that the English learners in that class were able to enjoy reading time because the books I would help read to these kids were mostly bilingual.  (pics)

Applied:

  My component helped me understand my foundation of my topic better by helping me formulate my first answer. It helped me by giving me the experience of what kinds of difficulties English learners in first grade face, and the articles during my research check also helped because they gave me a more detailed example of how teachers, elementary teachers “deal” with them.

Lesson 2 Reflection

1. Positive Statement

What I am most proud of in my Lesson 2 is of my hook activity as well as my activity. I say this because I was able to tie in both in the use my answer. I was able to tie in my hook activity by incorporating listening, like the game. For my activity I was able to help my peers better understand that difficulties that English learners in 1^st grade can have and how as a 1^st grade teacher you can better understand those difficulties to be able to teach better for student comprehension.

2. Questions to Consider
       a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?
                                       P    
       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
            What worked for me in my Lesson 2 I would say my activities because I felt that it helped my peers better comprehend the English learner difficulties these 1^st grade students face in 1^st grade and how it would hard to improve there test scores if they had first didn’t understand these difficulties.

4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

          I would have talked a lot slower and I would have tried to better phrase my answer because I explained it but the point of the answer is to do all the explaining without the need of the person to do it.
5. Finding Value
    What do you think your answer #2 is going to be? 

            Oral language- how students learn more of a specific language if they converse with other students by being interactive with them and being able to pick up the language they are learning( like in my case would be English)

January Blog Post

So when I went to volunteer, I just basically helped the kids in class who still have to catch up in writing down in their agenda the homework. I just sat with the individual student and told them the next word they needed to write and after I finished with one student I went and helped the next student until they were all finished and I had checked their agendas so they could go and sit down in the carpet for the end of the day activities. 

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

1. What is the best way for a 1st grade teacher to maximize an E.L. ( English Learner) student's score on their districts' test?

2. In what ways can a 1st grade teacher help? What are some tips for 1st grade teachers to use to better help their students that have worked for you?

3. How can a 1st grade teacher build up to the district testing to better help the E.L. students?

4. If a students' district test score drop from the previous how can the teacher bring the student up to par with the rest of the students in his/her class?

5. What are some tips on helping a teacher better help E.L. students in his/her class  through communication?

6. How have you as a teacher tried to bring E.L. students up to par with English speaking students?

7. How has what you have answered to the previous question , yielded in results that you have seen that are positive? Negative?

8. As a 1st grade teacher , with which subject do you see E.L. students struggle with most?

9. How have you helped or have tried o help?

10. How effective was your assistance in accordance to the previous and present district wide assessment tests?

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours Check

1. I am doing my mentorship At Cortez Mathematics and Science Magnet school. It's a K-8 grade school in Pomona.

2. My contact is Ms. De La Peña at Cortez  Mathematics and Science Magnet school. Her e-mail address is Valeria De La Pena - valeria530@yahoo.com .

3.I have a total of 58 hours and 8 mins.

4.For the 10 hours, I basically helped the teacher with filing, making copies of the themed upcoming event and make three copies of the same number of papers and give them to the 1st grade teachers, and helped the students who were slow catch up on finishing writing the homework into their agenda.

Senior Project: The Holiday

1.  Over break, I was not able to do my mentorship however, I did a lesson plan( tried to). I do my mentorship with Ms. De La Peña, who is a 1st grade teacher at Cortez Mathematics Science and Magnet school. Since my mentor does work at a school she was not teaching for two weeks and today because they will not start classes until tomorrow. In my lesson I decided to do it on math.

 

2. I learned how hard it is to create a lesson, even if I just did 1 subject alone. I based my lesson on what Ms. De La Peña told me one day about her students and what they were struggling on. She told me that her students were struggling in math, but how do get more carrots, your partner shares or gives you the "carrots" so you have more than you original had. 

 3. I think I would talk to Mrs. Alvarez or Mrs. Smith who are both 3rd grade teachers at Cortez but years prior were teaching 1st grade for several years. I would probably ask them what they think makes it easier or harder for E.L. students to do good on their district's test? I would also ask them if they believe that the DWA 's have any impact on students who are not and are E.L. students be it negative or positive, as the students take them every 2-4 months.  These 2 teachers have seen the impact of test scores rising and lowering, especially for E.L. students. They will be able to guide me on how practicing for the DWA's can better help or not, those E.L. students. 

December Month Post

So for this month when I went and volunteered to Ms. De La Peña class I noticed that on one of her walls she had the Candy-land theme of snow. Below is the picture of the "snow" themed wall. The kids were being extra nice and not trying to get the color orange or else "Santa" might not bring them presents. Next to the "Snowflake Wall" is the "path" and the Students clips as to how they were behaving in class. If the children got "Reflecting" and "Thinking About it" it meant that they were talking while the teacher was talking, they didn't follow directions or that they were distracting their peers from learning.