Third Interview Preparation - What is the best way to ensure that middle school students retain what they learn in class?

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

• I plan to interview the other 7th grade teacher Mr. Kawakami. He teaches the advanced class of mathematics. 

2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 

• I have not yet scheduled the interview but plan to do so this week when I go to mentorship.

3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.

• What has helped you with teaching advanced middle school math?

4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).

• What do you do when you see that some students are struggling with a lesson you taught them?

5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ. 

• How do you know when students understand what you taught them in class?
• What do you recommend to new teachers who are having trouble with teaching students?

Blog 13: 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

• I am completing my mentorship at Sparks Middle School located in La Puente. (15100 E Giordano St, La Puente, CA 91744)

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

• My contact is Mr. Roberto Alvarado. He has been a teacher for over 10 years, with experience on teaching different grade levels.

3.   How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).

• I have done as of January 7th I have completed 35 hours and 35 minutes with my mentor excluding my summer hours. I am including my independent component hours, I just need to separate the hours.

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.

• Every time I go into mentorship I start off by sitting and doing service learning by watching how my mentor teaches his class either science or math. After that I stay in after school and tutor some of the students that stay after school so that I get a feel of what teaching could feel like. 

EQ: What is the best way to ensure that middle school students retain what they learn in class?

Blog 12: 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?

• Right before we got off for break I was able to squeeze in two hours into my mentorship volunteer hours. Over the break I was able to read sections of a book my mentor had lent me. It was called "The Structure of Schooling: Readings in the Sociology of Education."

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

• The most important thing I learned from what I did over the break was I saw what kind of material students studying to become teachers read and it gave me an idea of what to expect if I were to take classes such as the ones my mentor took.

3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

• I plan on talking/interviewing  one of the other teachers from Sparks (where I go for mentorship) whether it be a teacher teaching the same thing to the same grade or an eighth grade math teacher teaching. This is because a seventh grade teacher would be teaching the same students I'm working with when I'm with my mentor. But on the other hand if I interviewed an eighth grade teacher it would give me a different perspective of students.