"The Dictionary Game"

OK, it is a day after I played the "dictionary game" and I am very disappointed on how I did. I have always felt that public speaking was one of my strong points this game made me rethink it a little. I felt like I was choking, the words would not come out. I tried to keep myself composed but I think the class could see my state of panic. Like a good sport I am I have taken this dreadful experience as a warning that I have to be prepared for everything when I present. I would not like it all to choke in front of the audience like I did yesterday. So I take his experience as a lesson and a warning. Overall, I liked this exercise. 

"Mr. Levitan's Visit"

Answer some of the following in short paragraph format. 
• What did you learn from Vic Levitan’s visit today? 
• What new ideas do you have for your project? 
• How has your course of action changed? 
• At this point, which are your greatest challenges for pulling off the Project portion of Senior Project Seminar? 

What I learned from Vic Levitan's visit yesterday was to better enforce or even clarify what a presentation should look like and what content it should contain. Some of the ideas that I found interesting was that the format that is typically followed be changed up for instance leave the introduction for the middle of the presentation instead of the usual starting with my name is...and this is my project... I also learned that you want to keep it simple and short he stressed the fact that the average individual tunes out or losses focus in less then five minutes or shorter. He has given me a couple ideas but funny was that my mentor and I had gotten together and actually came up with some really great ideas and how we are going to present my project. In my opinion the greatest challenge I face is what am I going to put into the presentation itself! I have so many ideas and things to incorporate but I am constantly reminded that I have to keep it K.I.S.S. so that is one of the most challenging obstacles I face. 

Ms. Carroll:

Hello my name is Cindi Tapia and I am interested in the education field. Over the course of the year I have decided to create a product in which I can teach social studies which will allow students to interact with me and their fellow classmates. As we know technology has revolutionized how concepts and lessons are being thought to children, my project will incorporate technology into the curriculum I plan to teach to Mrs. Mahoney's fourth grade class. The form in which I will accomplish this is by using the smart board. What makes my project unique is not the tools I use but I will actually create using these tools. Over the course of my visits to the class I have noticed based on my own experiences that games, grab students attention. Games teach without the student realizing they are learning.

I plan to further familiarize myself with the smart board and how to use it to its maximum potential. That alone I feel is an obstacle in itself because I have to admit I am not the best in all things technology. Another obstacle that I think I will face is actually keeping the lesson running without me losing the attention of the students and viewers at the presentation.

"A Great Time"

Today I had an amazing time, I took my brother to the academy of Natural Sciences which has been around for nearly 200 years (AMAZING). Call me weird, or a dork I had a great time. The day was against us (it has been raining non stop since yesterday) but we managed. We arrived at 8th and Market Street around ten and made our way to the museum. The price of admission was incredible only eight bucks with student I.D. I decided to use Spring Break as an opportunity to venture out with my partner in Crime (Antonio my little brother) and learn something new. We saw one of the new exhibit which was the return of Hadrosaurus Foulkii.I was fascinated I mean who would know that before this dinosaur nobody even knew such creatures existed and literally in our back yard history was made, which lead to countless stories and new discoveries. Apart from us having fun in the Butterfly exhibit and searching for dinosaurs in the bone yard. I learned a lot, such as the museum dedicated to dinosaurs that was never constructed due to corrupt politics. So somewhere uncharted in Central Park there are dinosaur bones buried who never found their way to such anticipated museum. I would have never known that if I had never gone. I have to say that if you want to go somewhere where you will have fun for all ages. I strongly suggest going to the museum you'll have a blast.

"Little Ones, Spring Fever?"

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet up with my sponsor. When I got there they were all seated listening to what the teacher was saying. I could see although in their faces that they were light years away from the actual lesson. I couldn't really blame them the day was horrible it was raining with thunder and lightning. It felt like a Sunday when you don't even feel like rolling out of bed to drink coffee or anything. It surprised me because I could see clearly that they were a bit distracted but that was just the first ten minutes. After twenty to thirty what I thought was just the rainy blues was coming out short. I worked with "giggles" and I had a somewhat hard time to keep focused. Usually he goofs off but pays attention after I grab his attention. Today he was just melting on his desk along with the rest of the students, I was shocked to see that they were affected by spring fever. He didn't want to even copy what the teacher had written on the board. I felt like I had to practically pull teeth to get him to pay attention and participate. After a few haggle here and there. He managed to pull through but, whoosh was it a challenge! I guess even little ones can get a little spring fever, I suppose they are entitled to some extent usually they are all on fire! I hope that when we come back they will be ready to rock and roll!

"The Product"

Lately, well since yesterday really I spent my evening thinking of what I would like to do as my final product. I thought and talked to people who I value about what they thought would be good for my final product. My main concern which I stressed was I didn't want to create something dull in which I am going to bore the people that are going to be sitting there listening to me for an entire HOUR. It's bad enough that overall people really doze off after a couple of minutes during an entire presentation. I have to admit that I am guilty as charged. I watched the "Last Lecture" and although I followed along during the entire time I have to say I got lost and dazed for a brief moment. That is what I have taken upon me to conquer. How will I grab the viewers attention?, how will I leave an impression? and what will I do to create such an effect? As for now I feel that I can grab and transfer knowledge by creating some type of game in which it will not only recommend student-teacher interaction but also stimulate them to actually apply their previous knowledge. Something that I learned about education and how technology affects while I was writing my research paper was the philosophy of "Constructivism". The essesnce of "Constructivism" is to apply additional knowledge on top of knowledge. So my product will not teach a new subject but another aspect of what has been already thought to them. Again it will be composed in a way in which the whole class will work together to execute the lesson and learn something new about a social studies unit. For the time being I have laid my foundation...all I have to do now is BUILD THE HOUSE!

"To Sir, With Love"

As we all know I appreciate old movies because I find something interesting to them. I try to watch movies that have something of moral that is meticulously intertwined in the plot of the story. This one is by far one of the best in my "admire teacher" category. The story takes place in England. I liked this movie because the patience that the teacher had in the tough neighborhood of England he endured and changed the teens perspective on things. It might had been old but I felt it quite refreshing. I had watched it first by myself on a lazy Sunday but when it re aired I made my brother watch it. I feel that he should see oldies once in a while to compare and contrast for himself the distinction from good thought out movies that have a message embedded then pointless ones that allows him to only memorize a line here and there. So on my list I give it five stars!

"Bye Bye To the Letters"

Growing up I used to push for straight A's and B's. Where an A was a 90-100 and a B was 80-90. Then when my brother began to go to school they had changed the whole thing a 92-100 was considered an A and a 83-91 was a B. We are in the year of 2009 and some schools across the country have decided to say goodbye to the letters and hello to the numbers. According to the New York Times some school districts in New York and California among other select few have changed the traditional A,B,C,D, and F, to numbers ranging from 1-4. The science to the madness of this concept is to improve and allow consistency. The numbers are being adopted by struggling districts to ensure and see what areas are their students struggling the most. I was impressed because a few months back I had read something in the Courier posts about colleges having a tough time with measuring and calculating which student would best exemplify the qualities they want to see due to the differences of the grading system each state or even district haves. In my opinion I believe this is good because it unites education overall. Now, no matter where the students come from their grades stay the same. In a way the number scale has made it more easy to pin point what the problem is which allows the school to correct the problem or at least give them the idea for improvement.

"A Few Good Kids"

This Monday I was scheduled to have gone to School Four to participate in the classroom with their lesson in Social studies I had asked Mrs. Fitzpatrick if I could come in when she taught that. I was literally cheesing when she told me that she would be happy to change social studies from Friday to Monday so it could accommodate my schedule. I was thrilled, but due to unseen technical problems I encountered on Monday I apologized and asked if I could attend on Tuesday. They agreed. Tuesday rolled around and I made my way excited to see what new things I would learn. When I got there Mrs. Mahoney told me that the projector was out of service so their entire lesson was thrown out the window. She decide to continue working on the social studies so we ending up breaking the into groups. I had so much fun because I got to see what real class has to go through or how fast teachers have to react to problems that are hurled at them like fast balls. I was amazed how Mrs. Fitzpatrick and Mrs. Mahoney handled the situation with composure. I had a tremendous time. Towards the end of class, I asked Mrs. Fitz if I could give her a form in which I would explain my purpose in the class and if I would have the parent consent to take pictures and include their children in my final project to be presented in June. She agreed so I can't wait to start taking pictures. These kids are amazing they are vivacious and quick to jump into their lessons. I am very fortunate to be able to attend that class filled with shining stars.

"Ferris Bueller's Day Off"

OK I am such a fan of movies that have sense to them such as my recent favorites like "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" to "Changling" or "Steel Magnolias" but once I like to switch from the heart breaking tear jerkers to fun and whimsical movies. My all time favorite is "Ferris Buellar's Day Off". Ever since I have watched this movie which was probably two summers ago I fell in love with it. The movie gave you an inspiration to actually go out and take a day off yourself. I know that is far from a real life scenario but once in a while you have to believe or at least dream it can actually happen.