Extra post: May

I'm finally done with mentorship and senior project. I am so glad I chose kindergarten teaching as my topic because it was something I enjoyed doing. I am extremely grateful to have mentored with such an amazing women and incredible kindergarten teacher Mrs. Michelle Handley. She was such a huge help to me and she was also very supportive. Also I am glad I got to work with the students in her class they're all so smart and they're such sweethearts. Senior project was tough but it was an amazing journey and I'm glad I got through it.

Blog 23: Final Lesson Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

•  I’m really proud at the fact that I made my “talking time” because I was extremely nervous and when I get nervous I talk really fast, sometimes I even blank out even though I know my information really well. I knew all my stuff and I was prepared, so that is what I am most proud of in my presentation block. For my senior project I am very proud that I did my research and that I stuck to my topic and didn’t give up even when it got extremely stressful.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

·         What really worked for me in my senior project is that I had a great mentor who really helped me understand what kindergarten is really like. She also helped me with my answers to my essential question and gave me real life experiences of each learning style. Overall, she was just really helpful. What also worked for me is that it was a topic that I was actually interested in and I was doing something I enjoyed, working with younger children.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

•   If I had a time machine, I would definitely turn in assignments on their due date because that really affected my grade. I procrastinated a lot and I was also very lazy when it came to senior project stuff, so that is what I would change. I feel like if I turned in assignments on time I would have done way better.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

•  Ever since I was a little girl I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, but as I got older I realized that I loved being around younger kids so I came to a conclusion that I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. This project really opened my eyes and helped me realize that it is not easy being a kindergarten teacher. You have to have a lot of patience with little kids because they are hard work. Mentorship really helped me see this also because the children in Mrs. Handley’s class were very energetic just as any other young children and sometimes I just felt like yelling at them to calm down but I can’t do that if I become a kindergarten teacher I would have to be very patient with them and ask them to calm down in a less negative way. This project helped me realize that I would still like to be a teacher but maybe with like 1^st graders, 2^nd graders, or 3^rd graders.

Blog 22: Mentorship

 Literal

·     Senior Project Hour Log updated.

·     Michelle Handley, kindergarten teacher at Kellogg Polytechnic Elementary School

Interpretive

I think the most important thing I learned from this experience is the hand-on experiences that I was able to do in a kindergarten classroom. I was able to work with young children and help them learn while having fun because I enjoy being around children. Mentorship allowed me to see what a kindergarten classroom is like on a daily bases and it also allowed me to see how the students learn best. Mentorship gave me plenty hand-on experiences that I would have never gotten if I just did research the entire time.

Applied

Volunteering in a kindergarten classroom helped me answer my essential question because Mrs. Handley used different methods of teaching in her class and I was able to see which learning style worked best for all of the students. Mentorship allowed me to see how each of the VAK learning styles work and in some cases don’t work as well. This experience mostly helped me with my first answer, which is “Teaching students through a kinesthetic learning method will allow them to do hands-on experiences and will enhance their outcomes.” Mentorship helped me come up with this answer because Mrs. Handley mostly taught her students with that type of learning style and it was very successful, the students learned but they were also entertained and very engaged in the material being taught.