Final Reflection:

Four Major Strands of Work

Communication:

            I feel that the communication in this class has improved this semester. Maybe it’s because we are more on task with our agenda and  our practicum. I feel that communication with eachother while sharing our thoughts, feelings, and opinions on our experiences at Apache have portaryed fantastic communication skills in the classroom. For me personally I think because I am getting to know people from class better, it’s easier to communicate with them

            I have been able to work with my communication skills with  the students that I have been working with at Apache. That has been fun and a knew task for me. I do feel that with every class that I have and every opportunity that I have to work with students, my communication skills will only improve.

Research:

            I feel that coming up with my family story involved a lot of research. After a lot of brainstorming through memorable times with my family, I chose one that stood out  the most. I wrote abou the Christmas that I got my first puppy as a present from my Mom. Writing this story was so much fun because it brought out many memories and feelings that had been tucked away!

            I also did a lot of research in the textbook! I used the text to study for my TESOL exam and I actaully at times forgot that I was really studying. I have to say that I really find this book interesting! One night I read through five chapters and I really didn’t  even feel like I was reading it to study!

Technology:

            Well Technology and I don’t really get along! I think that I am starting to get better with learning about computers. I feel that creting the website opened me up to a whole new world of technology! Though, I have had some frustrating times with just logging in and posting my reflections, it has been a huge learning expereince for me.

Collaboration:

            I enjoyed collaborating with my Apache students. Though at times it got a little frustrating, I think that I learned just as much or more from them than they did from me.  It was great having a class of students that all of the UNM students were able to work with (except for Nicole) I feel that getting to work with the same students every week was a great for both me and my students. We had the opportunity to get to know eachother and this made the entire practicum experience more valuable to me.

            I also feel that our entire class had been collaborating while trying to organize our Authors Chair night. I think that we all have been doing a great job at communicating and working togther to meet our deadlines.

Five Demensions of Learning

Confidence and Independence:

            I was a little nervous about going to Apache at first. I have had very little experince with working with students considering this is my first semester at UNM. I don’t know what I was expecting tha tmaybe the students were going to not like me or not learn from me? I’m not really sure why I was so nervous! Much to my surprise, when I entered the classroom at Apache for the fist time, all of my anxiety went away! The students were great and actually very willing and eager to learn.

            My confidence level as a future teacher has risen drastically from the beginning of this semester. I know that there is sill a lot of learning to be done and mistakes to be made, but I think that I will approach next semester with more confidence.

Knowledge Content:

            I have learned so much from this class! I have learned a tremendous amount from my practicum experiences. I  have had the opportunity to learn not only about the ways that students learn to write, read, and communicate, but I also learned a lot about mysel. Just from my short practicum experiences this semester, I have been able to recognize many aspects of myslef that will benefit me as a teacher, and also some things that I knowe I need to work on before I start teaching.

            Studying for the TESOL exam helped me learn more abou this class than I imagined! I had to really read every singlel section of the book. As I was reading the book I really tried to analyze the readings and absorb as much as I could. I wasn’t just reading the book because I had to, I was reading the book because Iwanted to learn more.

Skills and Strategies:

            I have learned knew skills and strategies from the practicum at Apache. Because this was one of my first true experiences with working with students one on one, I gained a lot of useful skills to help teach writing. I will only continue to learn more and more as I take more classes.

Use of Prior and Emerging Concepts:

            Like I said before, I have never helped students write. This was completely knew to me. I understand the writing process from my previous English classes, therefore I understan how to structure the writing process. But what I learned is that even if you know the writing process like the back of your hand, doesn’t mean that it is easy to teach it to students.

Reflectiveness:

            I try to refelct on my daily life on a regular basis. I have had the opportunity to do so while working with the Collin and Tristin. I have been able to reflect on and ask questoins about certain situations that I had never thought of prior to this class. I also was able to reflect on myself and what my strengths ans weeknesses are as a student and a future teacher. While in my other methods courses, I have been able to reflect on my expereinces with the Apache students and that has been very beneficial to me.

Final Evaluation:

            This semester has been a geat learning experience. I have had my ups and downs with working with students and just trying to dig deeper to try to find the correct answers or ways to handle situations. I almost feel like working with the Apache students was an introduction to the rest of my school career working with students. Though we only had a limited amount of time to work with students at Apache, I feel that I have gained a tremendous amount of experience!

            I feel that I deserve an A because I  have been to every class and practicum, I participate in discussions, and I have completed all of my work.