So March craft ideas are a great time to work within a specific theme, especially for younger kids, so this artist/educator, among her many videos, talks and shows what teachers or even parents can do with their kids. This is definitely something I would do, have a video where I am making some sort of craft every two weeks, along with keeping up with my activities/craft blog. How exciting!
Saturday, February 28, 2015
February Extra Post
For my independent component 2 I wanted to make videos and create a blog where I would have different activities, crafts, etc. up for others to look at and since that was approved (yay!) I began looking into what people with existing vlogs did to sort of get a better idea for what exactly I wanted to do.
So March craft ideas are a great time to work within a specific theme, especially for younger kids, so this artist/educator, among her many videos, talks and shows what teachers or even parents can do with their kids. This is definitely something I would do, have a video where I am making some sort of craft every two weeks, along with keeping up with my activities/craft blog. How exciting!
So March craft ideas are a great time to work within a specific theme, especially for younger kids, so this artist/educator, among her many videos, talks and shows what teachers or even parents can do with their kids. This is definitely something I would do, have a video where I am making some sort of craft every two weeks, along with keeping up with my activities/craft blog. How exciting!
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Blog 16: Answer 2
1. What is your EQ?
What is the most important skill a child develops in preschool that helps them best excel
academically in kindergarten?
2. What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
The most important skill a child develops in preschool that helps them excel academically are
fine motor skills; they are a collective skills and activities that involve using the hands and fingers,
there are several explanations as to why fine motor skills might predict academic achievement:
common neuronal wiring, experience, and direct classroom benefit.
3. What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
Another important skill a child develops in preschool that is a predictor of success in school are
executive function skills; an umbrella term for the management (regulation, control) of cognitive
process, including working memory, reasoning, task flexibility, and problem solving as well as
planning and execution.
4. List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
o It helps a child's ability to self-regulate
- I noticed at my mentorship that the kids who had good reasoning skills had an easier time
controlling their emotions and behavior, so they had an advantage when it came to focusing on
tasks.
o Good executive skills have a long term affect
- A study done in 2008 has proven that poor executive function is associated with high dropout
rates, drug use and crime.
o Positive behaviors are developed
- A Montessori belief is that children need to be able to develop positive behaviors by themselves
but with adult help. At my mentorship Ms. Chami does this by promoting teamwork and leader-
ship among the older and younger kids in the classroom.
5. What printed source supports your answer?
Spiegel, Alix. "Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills." NPR. NPR, 08 Feb. 2008. Web. 08 Jan.
2015. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514>
o Talks about the psychological aspects of letting children play and how it builds self-regulation
skills.
6. What other source supports your answer?
Information gathered from my interview 3 with a Kindergarten teacher from Sultana Elementary
school in Ontario.
7. Tie this together with a concluding thought.
The reason I believe that executive function skills are essential in a child's early learning stage is
because in a rush to give children every advantage, our culture has unwittingly compromised one
of the activities that helps children most.
What is the most important skill a child develops in preschool that helps them best excel
academically in kindergarten?
2. What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
The most important skill a child develops in preschool that helps them excel academically are
fine motor skills; they are a collective skills and activities that involve using the hands and fingers,
there are several explanations as to why fine motor skills might predict academic achievement:
common neuronal wiring, experience, and direct classroom benefit.
3. What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
Another important skill a child develops in preschool that is a predictor of success in school are
executive function skills; an umbrella term for the management (regulation, control) of cognitive
process, including working memory, reasoning, task flexibility, and problem solving as well as
planning and execution.
4. List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
o It helps a child's ability to self-regulate
- I noticed at my mentorship that the kids who had good reasoning skills had an easier time
controlling their emotions and behavior, so they had an advantage when it came to focusing on
tasks.
o Good executive skills have a long term affect
- A study done in 2008 has proven that poor executive function is associated with high dropout
rates, drug use and crime.
o Positive behaviors are developed
- A Montessori belief is that children need to be able to develop positive behaviors by themselves
but with adult help. At my mentorship Ms. Chami does this by promoting teamwork and leader-
ship among the older and younger kids in the classroom.
5. What printed source supports your answer?
Spiegel, Alix. "Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills." NPR. NPR, 08 Feb. 2008. Web. 08 Jan.
2015. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514>
o Talks about the psychological aspects of letting children play and how it builds self-regulation
skills.
6. What other source supports your answer?
Information gathered from my interview 3 with a Kindergarten teacher from Sultana Elementary
school in Ontario.
7. Tie this together with a concluding thought.
The reason I believe that executive function skills are essential in a child's early learning stage is
because in a rush to give children every advantage, our culture has unwittingly compromised one
of the activities that helps children most.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval
The Independent Component 2 is an opportunity for you to add dimension of creativity and/or an additional outlet for research. The goal of the component is for you to explore your answers in more depth. Please answer the following questions.
1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
For my previous independent component I did 30 extra hours of mentorship because I believed
that to truly understand my topic I had to observe the kids in their natural environment and that
proved to be very useful to me. However, I wasn't able to implement my own ideas for activities
because the kids are in school and they have their academic material they must get through, which
unfortunately didn't allow me to explore my topic. So for my independent component 2 I want to
be able to do so but with myself as a subject.
If approved I want to collaborate with a fellow I-poly senior [shout-out to Ingrid Mata] who has a
topic similar to mine and make videos and create a blog where we make activities, crafts,etc., for
others to follow. This way we get to share ideas, bring them to life, and maybe even help teachers
out there in the world who need inspiration!
2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
As I mentioned we would create a blog- we would post a link to each of our individual
blogs- and share new ideas for activities, post up videos, discuss topics of interest related to either
of our specific answers. We would also post pictures of things we have completed and the process
of completing them.
3. Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.
This component will help me explore my own topic in that I will be in control of what I want to do;
prove or disprove any of my possible answers for my essential question, what is the most
important skill a child develops in preschool that best helps them excel academically in
kindergarten? I will also have someone who will help me think of possible ideas for my own
presentation and I will hopefully provide new ideas for her too.
4. Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.
Done. :)
1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.
For my previous independent component I did 30 extra hours of mentorship because I believed
that to truly understand my topic I had to observe the kids in their natural environment and that
proved to be very useful to me. However, I wasn't able to implement my own ideas for activities
because the kids are in school and they have their academic material they must get through, which
unfortunately didn't allow me to explore my topic. So for my independent component 2 I want to
be able to do so but with myself as a subject.
If approved I want to collaborate with a fellow I-poly senior [shout-out to Ingrid Mata] who has a
topic similar to mine and make videos and create a blog where we make activities, crafts,etc., for
others to follow. This way we get to share ideas, bring them to life, and maybe even help teachers
out there in the world who need inspiration!
2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
As I mentioned we would create a blog- we would post a link to each of our individual
blogs- and share new ideas for activities, post up videos, discuss topics of interest related to either
of our specific answers. We would also post pictures of things we have completed and the process
of completing them.
 |
| This is an actual blog of a teacher who discusses and gives details of what she does to help her children learn certain subjects while also posting activities for others to do for themselves. This is something we would try to simulate. |
This component will help me explore my own topic in that I will be in control of what I want to do;
prove or disprove any of my possible answers for my essential question, what is the most
important skill a child develops in preschool that best helps them excel academically in
kindergarten? I will also have someone who will help me think of possible ideas for my own
presentation and I will hopefully provide new ideas for her too.
4. Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.
Done. :)
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Blog 14: Independent Component 1
LITERAL
(a) I, Alexis Crisanto, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours
of work.
(b) My mentor, Chami Jayasinghe from the Montessori Academy of Chino, really helped me
throughout the entire process just by being patient and by telling me about possible articles
and books that would help me. An article that really helped me answer my EQ was the one
written by Timothy Curby and Abby Carlson, "Fine Motor Skills and Academic Achievement".
(c) Hours have been updated.
(d) During my independent component I observed my mentor's classroom and did small tasks for her.
Which included: preparing activities for her for another day, grading papers, occasionally helping
out the kids when they needed it, and mostly just asking questions myself. I spent a lot of my
time jotting down possible ideas for activities/crafts to do relating to my EQ, what is the
most important skill a child develops in preschool that best helps them excel academically in
kindergarten? I also did some independent work at home by spending time looking at other
teacher's blogs and creating a board on Pinterest which led me to links about activities that work
specifically to improve a child's fine motor skills-which was my first answer-among other things,
like ways to best arrange a classroom to promote academic stimulation, developmental charts,
helpful websites, etc.
INTERPRETIVE
As I mentioned I observed Ms. Chami's classroom for my independent component and it was such an essential part of my research and gaining knowledge about early childhood education. I was not able to take pictures of the children working because it would require me getting permission from all of their parents and the Director didn't feel very comfortable with that, however I did take pictures of work they've done. Since they go to a Montessori school a lot of their work revolves around it being very independent, with help if needed, but for the most part they were working by themselves and since the classroom had ages from 4-6 the older children helped the younger ones, which helped strengthen their skills. By watching them from my little corner I was able to observe how they used their gross motor skills, fine motor skills, social skills, etc., and like I mentioned before that was how I was able to come up with my first answer to my essential question. The opportunity of going to mentorship for an extra 35 hours really helped me gain insight to the developmental process of a child because I was not only able to see how the children actually interact in a classroom but I was also given the opportunity to have a first hand experience in their learning processes/methods.
APPLIED
My topic is Early Childhood Education, when I had first proposed the idea of doing an extra 30 hours on top of my 50 for my independent component, I honestly saw it as an easy way to get the hours out of the way but along the way I realized that the component on it's own really helped me gain a deeper understanding on my topic by having a professional available to me multiple times a week and it also gave me the chance to explore my topic in my own way. For example, I created a Pinterest board which helped me combine something I enjoy doing, pinning, with doing school work. It helped me explore a possible career in my own way which I think was the whole purpose of the component.
(a) I, Alexis Crisanto, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours
of work.
(b) My mentor, Chami Jayasinghe from the Montessori Academy of Chino, really helped me
throughout the entire process just by being patient and by telling me about possible articles
and books that would help me. An article that really helped me answer my EQ was the one
written by Timothy Curby and Abby Carlson, "Fine Motor Skills and Academic Achievement".
 |
| This article I found really helpful because it talks about the influence that fine motor skills have on early education and it also helped me come up with my activity for my second lesson. |
(d) During my independent component I observed my mentor's classroom and did small tasks for her.
Which included: preparing activities for her for another day, grading papers, occasionally helping
out the kids when they needed it, and mostly just asking questions myself. I spent a lot of my
time jotting down possible ideas for activities/crafts to do relating to my EQ, what is the
most important skill a child develops in preschool that best helps them excel academically in
kindergarten? I also did some independent work at home by spending time looking at other
teacher's blogs and creating a board on Pinterest which led me to links about activities that work
specifically to improve a child's fine motor skills-which was my first answer-among other things,
like ways to best arrange a classroom to promote academic stimulation, developmental charts,
helpful websites, etc.
INTERPRETIVE
As I mentioned I observed Ms. Chami's classroom for my independent component and it was such an essential part of my research and gaining knowledge about early childhood education. I was not able to take pictures of the children working because it would require me getting permission from all of their parents and the Director didn't feel very comfortable with that, however I did take pictures of work they've done. Since they go to a Montessori school a lot of their work revolves around it being very independent, with help if needed, but for the most part they were working by themselves and since the classroom had ages from 4-6 the older children helped the younger ones, which helped strengthen their skills. By watching them from my little corner I was able to observe how they used their gross motor skills, fine motor skills, social skills, etc., and like I mentioned before that was how I was able to come up with my first answer to my essential question. The opportunity of going to mentorship for an extra 35 hours really helped me gain insight to the developmental process of a child because I was not only able to see how the children actually interact in a classroom but I was also given the opportunity to have a first hand experience in their learning processes/methods.
 |
| One of the first spelling tests I graded and she was just off by one. :( |
 |
| Getting cotton ball fluff off of kids is really hard especially when the glue has dried! |
.JPG) |
| Another almost completely right paper :( she got really good at writing her ones though :) |
 |
| I remember Ms. Mary, Ms. Chami's assistant teacher, was so sad to take down her scarecrow, she worked so hard. |
 |
| I got to make my own ornament and I brought it home to my mom! |
APPLIED
My topic is Early Childhood Education, when I had first proposed the idea of doing an extra 30 hours on top of my 50 for my independent component, I honestly saw it as an easy way to get the hours out of the way but along the way I realized that the component on it's own really helped me gain a deeper understanding on my topic by having a professional available to me multiple times a week and it also gave me the chance to explore my topic in my own way. For example, I created a Pinterest board which helped me combine something I enjoy doing, pinning, with doing school work. It helped me explore a possible career in my own way which I think was the whole purpose of the component.
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