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.

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.

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. :)

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".

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.

(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.

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!

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.

January Extra Post

Answer two quest
What is the most important skill a child develops in preschool that helps them best excel academically in kindergarten?

The new year is finally here, 2015, and along with that many new challenges and experiences are awaiting. We [seniors] have faced our first challenge of the year and have finally finished second lesson presentations and are now just that much closer to our actual 2-hour!
Putting aside all the stress and anxiety of our second presentation I actually really enjoyed the whole process of finding my first answer for my EQ: Fine motor skills are the collective skills and activities that involve using the hands and fingers, which are a predictor of achievement involving common neuronal wiring, experience-dependent learning, and direct classroom learning.
So now that I explored a type of physical skill I now want to learn more about a emotional/social skill that  may affect a child's ability to communicate with others that may have an impact in the way the succeed academically in later years.

In my last research check I found this article that helps parents understand their child's issues with social skills and what can be affected because of that.

This is something I really want to know more about and I hope will be a second answer to my essential question. In the meantime I will be looking up some books that discuss what a lack of social skills can do to a child academically and the long term effects. 

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
I am most proud of the way my PowerPoint was organized and about how I was able to engage my audience with the small prizes I had. I think that when you have something available for your audience it not only makes them pay attention to what you're saying but it also gives you a little ease of mind when you know people are at least looking at your information.

2. 
    a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?
         AE      P      AP      CR      NC

    b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
        I think I deserve to at least be considered for a P because I turned in my lesson plan on time,
        my materials and equipment were ready to go, my EQ was clearly visible on my PowerPoint,
        I cleaned up after my presentation, and I do believe I at least made 20 minutes.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
I think what really worked for me was my activity because not only was my audience engaged but I felt a little more confident afterwards because I took that pause.
 
4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
I know that I probably rushed through my research and didn't say all I wanted to say about it. If I could go back in time I would have taken a deep breath and just focus on what I was going to say because I was fine when I was going to talk but just for a small second I freaked out when I looked out into the "crowd" and I feel like that threw me off.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?
I think my answer 2 will have something to do with social development in young children. Social development, like fine motor skills, have a subconscious affect on a child and the way they view academics because if a child is more open to people they have an easier time asking for help compared to a child who may be more shy.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 hours check

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?
    I am doing my mentorship at the Montessori Academy of Chino.

2. Who is your contact?
    My contact there is Ms. Chami, who is my mentor.

3. How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?
    Unfortunately I have only completed 11 hours for my mentorship. I am thinking of instead of
    going once a week (Mondays) I will start to go both Monday and Friday for 3 to 4 hours.

4. Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
    The only difference from what I did in the summer and what I do now is that I am no longer in the
     front office answering phones and what not. I am now in the classroom helping out the kids
     with their work, helping Ms.Mary with grading, and running small errands for Ms.Chami.

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

1. It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school. What did you do over the break with your senior project?
As I previously mentioned in my December blog post, I mentor at a daycare/school and they were also on break, so I didn't get the opportunity to spend time with the kids. However, my mentor, Ms. Chami and I were talking about coming up with activities to present to the children. So, I scoured the internet, and Pinterest, to find stuff that both benefits the kids and lets them have fun and then I will show what I found to my mentor and we will see what we are going to do with them.

2. What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why? What was the source of what you learned?
Well my essential question is, "what is the most important skill a child develops in preschool that helps them best excel academically in kindergarten?", so began to think about how a child, or person in general, gains a new skill. I believe we learn something new either by seeing and/or doing. In my opinion, and from what I've seen at my mentorship, a child best learns when they are interacting with something new. So when I was looking up different activities I came across this link which explains what an activity in a Montessori learning curriculum is.
Another thing I learned from my mini activity research, is another solid piece to help me come up with an answer to my EQ, which is that fine motor skills are the most important. I found that information on this link; it also has various activities for a child to do. I read that many children have weak fine motor skills and in effort to improve upon those skills a teacher talks about different things you could teach the child to strengthen those skills.

3. If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?
If  I was going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for my EQ, I would most likely talk to my mentor's assistant, Ms. Mary, because she gets to observe the children who are preschoolers/transitional kindergarteners/some kindergarteners for a full school day, five times a week. She knows what a child lacks when they get to the kindergarten level and how to help them and she also gets to help improve the skills of the preschoolers before they get to kindergarten.

December Extra Post

The new year is finally here! A new year brings resolutions and new goals, in regards to my senior project there is a lot I hope to accomplish. I wasn't able to go to my mentorship these past two weeks because it is a school and like us a break was given. However, I have been talking with my mentor over the phone and we have been talking about possible things to do for the kids this upcoming year which I am looking forward to.
My essential question talks about what a child needs to learn in preschool -skill wise- in order to succeed in kindergarten which is the start of their education for years to come. So I've been looking at possible crafts and assignments to have the children do to focus on specific skills: motor, reading, vocabulary, writing, etc.

I found this very useful link that shows me a variety of activities a child can do that primarily focuses on their motor skills.

When my mentorship resumes a normal school day my mentor and I will be going over some of the activities I found and will be, hopefully, doing it soon with pictures to come.

In the meantime I will be enjoying the rest of my break, with Netflix, a nice fire, and my warm pjs :).
Happy Holidays!