September Update

The month of September is normally when everyone goes back to school. It's the time to bid farewell to summer and greet autumn. For teachers though, it is NOT the time to be making lesson plans or creating class activities. Yes, procrastination is very much ill advised (shocker). Preparations made for the new school, an idea adopted from my mentor, should be done well in advance. If an unforeseen event were to arise during the school year, having had things sorted out from the very beginning would diminish the damage of the unforeseen event. 

An elementary school classroom arranged and run by my mentor, Mary Peterson, who teaches both first and second grade.

My mentor's classroom is both clean and organized. Its neat really. Elementary school classrooms, especially those belonging to lower grades, have a distinct scent. The mixture of liquid glue and apple juice would be the best way to describe it. Having that said, I was surprised by how well maintained the classroom was in. How is that possible? ORGANIZATION and CLEANLINESS. The teacher, my mentor, not only covers common core standards, but also teaches them about good citizenship and order without them realizing it themselves. Below are some examples for organization. 

I will continue to attend mentorship on Friday and I look forward to learning the tips of what my mentor has picked up over the years in her profession. In previous years, I volunteered at an after school tutoring program called THINK Together. I personally had a great time with the kids and contacted the program coordinator for the possibility of mentoring with them. I haven't received a confirmation as to whether or not I'll have a second mentor, but whatever the outcome I'll be volunteering with them Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now, to close of this post, I decided to leave a lovely quote about the seasons changing.

"Come said the wind to the leaves one day, come o'er the meadows and we will play. Put on your dresses Scarlet and Gold. For summer is gone and the days grow cold." 

- George Eliot

Blog 6: Second Interview Preparation

The purpose of this second interview is to justify your mentor as an expert in the field. Thus, you will be asking them at least 5 questions about their background and/or the background of the organization or company where they work. 

1. Who is your mentor and where do they work?

My mentor, Mary Peterson, is an educator who teaches both second and third grade. She works at Lark Ellen Elementary school in Covina. 

2. What five questions (a-e) will you ask them about their background? 

a) Where did you attend college/university and what were your reasons behind your choice of major?
b) How did you begin your career path to elementary school teaching and is it different to how others (previous teachers, colleagues, etc) begin? 
c) What are some pros and cons when working in early childhood education?
d) Based on your own experiences, what have been some challenges you've had to face as a public educator? Are there any current obstacles?
e) Could you name and describe skill-sets that would prove to be beneficial when working in this field?  

Blog 5: Mentorship and Research Reflection

Based on what you have done for your senior project so far, answer the following questions (be specific and use examples). 

1) Mentorship question: Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship? If you haven't found one yet, describe your experience so far in the search of a mentor.

For my senior project, I knew that I wanted to do something in education and the psychology behind it. But, it was a challenge to find a mentor in that field of study due to the fact that most psychologists require people to be at least 18 years old to work or intern with them. In late November, I will be reaching the tender age of 17 which, unfortunately, limited me when trying to find a mentor. 

I like to think that I am the definition of a visual learner. Just today, I had a presentation for my social studies class where my group and I had to discuss two court cases that dealt with matters of equal opportunity. We were required to create a poster for both cases and had to draw out five visuals that represented our case. When researching information on the assigned cases, I would read the text and understand the factual information. But it wasn't until I drew out pictures to represent the cases, that I actually grasped the information. Everyone in the world is different, so I understand that education may differ upon factors such as geographical region, gender, religion, etc. But what if applying arts into the curriculum could give someone a competitive edge over someone without that influence?

After some great thought, I decided upon the idea of having my senior project explore teaching, with fundamentals found in art. At first, I wasn't sure of what grade levels or age group to focus on, but then I remembered that I generally found younger kids, six to seven year olds, more compelling because both my brothers were once in that stage of life. I had emailed a couple teachers from my local elementary school and was able to complete my summer mentorship with them. When I had to search for my current mentor, my fifth grade elementary school teacher came in mind, and so I sent her an email as well. I discovered that she was teaching a combo class this year, second and third grade, so I took it as a sign and graciously asked if I could mentor with her.               

2) Research question: What has been your most important article you have read so far and why?

From what I have read so far, I believe that my most important article would be by Sally Gifford from the NEA, National Endowment of the Arts. The article New NEA Research Report Shows Potential Benefits of Arts Education for At-Risk Youth was electronically published in March of 2012, so the information is current for my topic and the author provided specific references to data by the U.S. Department of Education. The article itself reports of a study where students have a "better academic" standing if they have had accessibility to art. The activities used to track the levels are art forms were music, theater, leadership, and more. The author wrote that students with these high exposures to art have a 47% higher rate in volunteering and were "more civically engaged" than low income students. I believe this article was important because it reveals that the arts could help low income students due to the studies results of better academic outcomes from those with significant art exposure.