Blog 24: Last Presentation Reflection

IT'S DONE I'M SO HAPPY

(1) Positive Statement

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

I am most proud of the fact that I was able to make time, almost 10 minutes over in fact. Presenting in general did not make me worry, it was the fact that I had to have 30 minutes of quality research time. I had plenty of information to talk for that half hour, but when I present I have a habit of talking fast, tripping over my words, and skipping over information due to all the pressure. I was worried that I would do those things and not make time in the end. I noticed that when I was talking about my first answer, I was talking pretty quickly, so when it came to my second and third answers I calmed down, breathed, and did better. Still fast I'll admit, but not as much as before. 

I am also proud of my second activity, Name Bingo. When I revealed to the class what the activity would be almost everyone in the room got excited. During the process of it all they were all very enthusiastic yet focused. I had a good time and so did the students, which really took the pressure off. 

(2) Questions to Consider

a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation?  Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

I'm stuck between giving myself a P or an AE. I felt that I made the requirements on the component contract, making my presentation worthy of a P. But after presenting and talking with seniors and juniors I heard comments like "This is the best presentation I've seen so far," "Wow you never made it boring," or "I really enjoyed your hook and activities, they were so fun," I realized that I did better than okay. I engaged my audience well throughout my presentation, my two activities better explained how preschoolers/kindergartners learn and were still very fun, and I also gave out awards to those who would answer my questions, which really kept the students involved. After reflecting I feel that I deserve a more than a P. I feel like my presentation is worthy of a an AE.

b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

AE      P         AP       CR       NC

I think I deserve a P overall in my senior project. Besides my presentation, nothing was extraordinary or anything like that. I completed all the work I needed to do and I did this on time. The only thing that was late was my IC#2 out of plain forgetfulness. Not my proudest moment, but I feel as though the fact that I've always done my work with proficiency on time, it should make up for that. 

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

The incentives I had. Throughout my presentation I would ask my audience questions about what I talked about and when they answered correctly I would hand them an award with their name that said "Congratulations!" and "You're out of this world!" This really excited them and made a good portion of the class raise their hands when I asked a question. It kept them involved during my presentation, which I'm glad I did. While watching presentations I liked when presenters let their audience get involved, and not just in the activity. This incentive made them pay attention to what I had to say and them constantly participating. 

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

As much as my audience and I liked the Bingo activity, I felt that too much time was spent on it. A lot of the names and numbers I would call would not always be on the card. So that was a bit of a time waster. It was not as well executed as I would have liked it to be. 

(5) Finding Value

Working with kids is something that I want to do. Senior Project was a good way of letting myself get hands on experience and seeing if this is really what I wanted to do. After completing it, I now know that I would still very much like to work with kids, but not at the preschool age. I have found that I'm not as patient as a preschool teacher should be, so a different and older age would be best for me. I have realized that I would very much like to go into the education field; senior project solidified that for me. 

Exit Interview

1. What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

My essential question is: What is the most important skill a preschool teacher can teach her students to best prepare them for kindergarten. My three answers are social skills, motor skills, and letter and alphanumeric skills. In my opinion, the best answer is social skills. I consider this the best answer because of the large emphasis there has been on cooperation and collaboration for young kids in school. This is also my best answer because social skills aren't as easy to pick up on. Children need to be around a group of people to help develop this skills. Unlike motor and alphanumeric skills, it cannot be learned at home as easily. The best way to teach and learn it is a school environment when they are surrounded by others like themselves. 

2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

I first came to this answer by research. When gathering research for assignments, I noticed that social skills were highly stressed in the sources that I read. It was later confirmed to me during my Interview 3 with Bonnie Avalos. After asking her my EQ, she responded with social skills without a second thought. In her transitional kindergarten class, a grade meant to prepare students for kindergarten, she tries to teach them as many skills as possible, the biggest among those being social skills. 

3. What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

When researching about social skills, I noticed that the information seemed to get repetitive. Though there were some minor differences that did help, a big problem for me was knowing that I was not getting anywhere further with my answer. I was able to resolve this by simply talking with other teachers about why they think social skills are so vitally important to a preschooler. They gave me lots of personal examples that explained to me why they were so important and how it applies to students.

4. What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

One of my most significant sources I used to answer my essential question was Bonnie Avalos. She was able to explain to me why social skills were imperative to the life of a preschooler entering kindergarten and also helped my find my third answer. Whenever I had a question she was always there to answer. I probably wouldn't have gotten here without her. My other most significant source was Renee Ambrovitz. A source I found online, Ambrovitz proved to be an excellent source through her many years as a childhood educator and the detailed articles she would write online for her viewers. Ambrovitz goes in depth with each topic she writes about which I found to be incredibly helpful to my project. 

Blog 22: Independent Component 2

IC 2 is complete! :D

LITERAL
(a) I, Kimberly Ramos, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 44 hours of work.

(b) The teacher I had been working with, Bonnie, helped me a lot throughout my IC, along with articles "Gross Motor Development"  and "Fine Motor Development" by Renee Ambrovitz. These articles helped me expand by knowledge on motor development by providing specific details and examples. 

(c) IC 2 hours log updated. 

(d) For my IC 2, I volunteered in a transitional kindergarten classroom. This new, implemented grade is meant to help prepare kids with the proper skills needed for kindergarten, which is perfect in regards to my EQ. In the time I spent volunteering, a big part was mainly office work, so copying, laminating, cutting, etc. That was mainly after class was dismissed. After school I would also help clean and organize the classroom. When class was in session, I would mainly observe, hand out materials, and talk to/help students around the classroom. 
  
(e) My component demonstrates 30 hours of work because I volunteered for that amount of time and more. In the time that I volunteered, I got a taste of what it's like to play teacher and see how students are learning throughout the year. I found my component to be extremely significant, more than the first component. For my first, I worked in a preschool classroom, which only gave me background information. For this one, I worked in a TK classroom, which helps me figure out the most important skills needed for kindergarten. I was able to talk to other teachers and visit their classrooms to get a feel of different teaching/learning styles. Due to liability issues, for my evidence, I was not able to get any photos of the students, so I did what I could. I got a picture of the classroom, an activity the students did, and some work they completed. 

The classroom after a long time of cleaning. Kids are really messy.

We read Green Eggs and Ham during reading time and followed up with a writing assignment of the book.

Another writing assignment the kids worked on 

This is a sight word concentration game that Bonnie had the students play.

(f) My EQ is what is the most important skill a preschool teacher can teach her students to best prepare them for kindergarten. For my IC 2, that's exactly what the teacher's focused on. Preparing their students for kindergarten. Watching what they teach and how kids respond to it, it's kind of difficult to see what exactly their teaching. From the outside, it doesn't seem like they're teaching anything. It looks like they are just handing kids some art materials and seeing what they do from there or singing a song with them to enjoy themselves. I had to ask the teacher what exactly they were learning in order to see more into it. When I was answered with motor skills, I could see how handing them that crayon or paint brush helped with their grip and helped move and control the small muscles in their hand. When I was answered with number skills I could see how that game of bingo helped them with recognizing numbers and understanding their significance. There was a lot I couldn't see from just observing, so I did what I had to do and reflect from there. 

Blog 21 - Interview 4 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?

The stress of social skills. I knew they were important to a child's kindergarten education, but I never realized how important it actually is. It's a teacher's number one priority skill to teach. Because of the recent emphasis on group work, children need this skill for not only kindergarten, but future grades too.
   
2. How will what I learned affect my final lesson?

I'll have a lot more to talk about that will help me in regards to my EQ. I would say I learned the most from this interview. Even with things I thought I knew about, there was so much more about them. Because of the greater knowledge I now have, I think it will help me on my final presentation with not only my time, but sounding like more of an expert in my topic. 

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14Cp1MQ-kQXrt5-TTDyR3qqKJSZCICYt8DUZD1rFVcaw/edit?usp=sharing

Sound: https://soundcloud.com/kimramos56/interview-4

Fourth Interview Questions

1. Who do you plan to interview? What is this person's area of expertise?

I plan to interview a family friend, Bonnie. She is a transitional kindergarten teacher, which I  find to be very helpful for my EQ. Her job is to help kids by preparing them for kindergarten, which is what my EQ is about. 

2. Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.

1. What is a way you think helps preschoolers enter kindergarten better prepared? 
2. What is transitional kindergarten?
3. How is transitional kindergarten beneficial to a young child’s life?
4. How important would you say is preschool and transitional kindergarten is a kid’s life?
5. What is taught in a transitional kindergarten classroom? 
6. What should children know when entering kindergarten? 
7. What do you think they should know when entering kindergarten?
8. In what ways kindergartners tend to struggle during the school year? 
9. How can transitional kindergarten help the kids who struggle?
10. Do struggles that kindergartners face affect their academic 
performance? 

11. Do those struggles affect their social interactions with teaches and 
students? 
12. How would you suggest a preschooler best prepare for kindergarten so that they can
      be successful in the kindergarten year?
13. In what ways would you suggest parents get involved to help their child prepare for
      kindergarten?
14. What do you think is the most important skill a child can take to kindergarten with
      them?
15. How would you go about effectively teaching students the essential skills needed for
      kindergarten?
16. As a teacher for transitional kindergarten, what are some goals you have for your
      students?
17. Besides working/volunteering in classrooms, how else might I find an answer to my
      EQ?
18. Are there any books that you recommend that would help me answer my EQ? 
19. What is the most important skill a preschool teacher can teach her 
students to best
      prepare them for kindergarten?
20. What is an experience that you would say highlights being a transitional kindergarten
      teacher?

Blog 19: Third Answer

1. EQ 

What is the most important skill a preschool teacher can teach her students to best prepare them for kindergarten? 

2. Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*

The most important skill a preschool teacher can teach her students to best prepare them for kindergarten is alphanumeric skills. 

3. 3 details to support the answer

• Being able to recognize the letters of the alphabet and numbers is an expectation in
   itself for entry level kindergartners, whether they attended a preschool program
   or not. 

• Children will need to know the basic mathematical number concepts that their
   kindergarten teacher will requires according to Common Core Standards.

• Reading and writing activities are heavily implemented in a kindergarten education so 
   it's imperative that entry level kindergartners know these skills so that they don't fall 
   behind in class.
4. The research source(s) to support your details and answer

• Source #34

Abramovitz, Renee. "Classroom Expectations." Schoolsparks.com. SchoolSparks, 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.schoolsparks.com/early-childhood-development/classroom-expectations> 

• Source # 55

Abramovitz, Renee. "Math and Number Awareness." Schoolsparks.com. SchoolSparks, 2012. Web. 2 Mar. 2016. <http://www.schoolsparks.com/early-childhood-development/math-number-awareness> 


5. Concluding Sentence

Children who enter kindergarten without awareness of letters and numbers will experience difficulty in the school year. Children are expected to recognize them upon entrance to kindergarten. If they don't come in with alphanumerical skills, either time is taken away from lessons to teach them, or children will struggle as these lessons are taught.

Blog 18 - Answer 2

1. What is your EQ?

What is the most important skill a preschool teacher can teach her students to best prepare them for kindergarten? 

2. What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

The most important skill a preschool teacher can teach her students to best prepare them for kindergarten are social skills.

3. What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

The most important skill a preschool teacher can teach her students to best prepare them for kindergarten are motor skills.

4. List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

◦ Learning fine motor skills will improve kids' abilities to coordinate the small muscles in
   their hands and fingers. This helps them in assignments such as writing, drawing,
   painting, etc.  
◦ Improving upon fine motor skills also helps when it comes to pencil grip. Coming into
   kindergarten a child will be expected to have a dominant hand and to be able to write
   their name, basic words, and numbers. 
◦ Learning gross motor skills will improve a child's ability to move the larger muscles in
   the arms, legs, and torso. This helps with the physical activities they'll engage in when
   they are in kindergarten.

5. What printed source best supports your answer?

Research Check #16, Source #48 

Pica, Rae. "Why Motor Skills Matter." Naeyc.org. National Association for the Education of Young Children, Jul. 2008. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. <https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200807/BTJLearningLeapsBounds.pdf>

6. What other source supports your answer?

Research Check #15, Source #43:

Abramovitz, Renee. "Gross Motor Development." Schoolsparks.com. SchoolSparks, Dec. 2014. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. <http://www.schoolsparks.com/early-childhood-development/gross-motor> 

Research Check #15, Source #44: 

Abramovitz, Renee. "Fine Motor Development." Schoolsparks.com. SchoolSparks, Nov. 2014. Web. 28 Jan. 2016. <http://www.schoolsparks.com/early-childhood-development/fine-motor> 

7. Tie this together with a concluding thought.

Knowing or not knowing motor skills when entering kindergarten will have a significant impact on a child. A lot of the activities kids will engage in rely upon their motor skills. A child with these skills will breeze through, whereas a child without will experience some difficulty throughout the year as he picks up on the skill.