Is this for me?

Before I started doing my mentorship hours, I still didn't know if Special Education Advisory was the best topic for me. I constantly asked myself,"Is this something I could see myself doing?" I had thought about choosing a career in education a few times over the years but it never really stuck. At first, I was nervous and I didn't feel comfortable in the classroom. Though as I started going more frequently I found myself more comfortable and I was able to communicate with the students better.They were able to open up to me and let me help them with their homework or if they just needed to talk to someone their age.
Just the other day I asked myself again,"Is this something I could see myself doing?" The answer was yes. I didn't even hesitate to answer this time because I knew that it was true. I enjoy talking to people, and helping them understand what they don't, and just being there to make their life (education life) easier. I like the idea of being a coordinator, a teacher, and somewhat of a motivator all at once. I feel that with a career in Special Education Advisory I could not only bring happiness to myself but to those of my students as well. I still don't know if I would only want to focus on High School students the way I have been for my mentorship hours. Though I do know that I took a chance on this topic and I'm finding that good things come out of taking chances.

Blog 6: Second Interview Preperation

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

 My mentor is Sylvia Valenzuela and she works as a Special Education Advisor at Montclair High School.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

What kind of qualifications did you need for your position?
What do you think is the hardest part of your job?
How did you decide that this was what you wanted to do?
How have you seen this program grow since your employment here?
Do you think that there is a different way to improve the Special Education System here at Montclair High School?

Blog 5: Mentorship and Research Reflection

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.

It was actually really easy for me to find a mentor for my Senior Project because my mentor just so happens to be my aunt. Growing up I always knew that she was a teacher at Montclair High School but I never really knew anything more than that. She's always been interested in the things that I would tell her about Ipoly concerning the groups,projects and homework. So when the time came to do my 10 hours of mentorship for the summer I started talking to her about it. I explained all the details to her and that's when she suggested that I do my hours with her. At first I was worried because I didn't know what she actually did but after completing my mentorship hours, I think that pursuing a career in Special Education Advisory is something I would enjoy doing. It is definitely something that I had never considered before but am now looking into.

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

I think that the most important article that I've read so far is an article called "Special Education Teacher Career Facts and Working Environment." by the Career Education Advisor. It has helped me the most out of all my other articles because it provides more detail and description. The article not only tells me the general idea of this job but always goes in depth and gives examples.

Senior Project Research

I think that it is extremely beneficial to us to be able to start our senior project research before school even begins. The ten hours of mentorship required over the summer give us a just a taste of what life in our topic consists of.  Research checks allow us to take our time to understand all the information that we are looking at. Starting our research so early in the year really helps us to grow and see what our chosen senior topic is all about. Taking our time with the research will help us with our final product which would be our 2 hour presentation at the end of the year. As presenters, it is very important to understand the information you are talking about. It is also important to be able to explain everything you talk about. Not having to rush and try to comprehend all of our research within one semester or even a few months is really great. I truly appreciate the senior team for having us start our research now because I know that my deep understanding of it will reflect in my final presentation. 

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

Content:

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?
I plan on interviewing my mentor for my first interview. Mostly because I think that she will be able to answer my questions clearly and help me better understand what her career really entitles.
2. What is the most appealing thing about your job?
    What techniques do you use to encourage your students?
     How did you decide that this was what you wanted to do?
     If you could better one thing about your job what would it be? Why?

Blog 3:Topic Choice and Working EQ

1.  List your topic here: 
My chosen Senior topic is Special Education Advisory.

2.  Write a question that helps to focus your research this month.
What is the best way to motivate students with special needs to have a better academic performance?

3.  Post the working bibliography (WB) on the right hand side of the blog and share it so anybody can view it.

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship Component

1.) Mentorship Log
2.) Silvia Valenzuela (909)621-6781 ext 2421
3.) Some questions raised through my 10 hours of mentorship were:
What is your everyday schedule like?
What kind of qualifications did you need for your position?
Why did you choose this career?
What kind of techniques do you use to help your students?
What do you think is the hardest part of your job?
4.) The most important thing that I've gained from this is that when you are doing this job, you need to push your students to continue on. If you don't do this then they will eventually give up on the class or on themselves like they have before.
5.) My Senior Project is going to be on Special Education Advisory. What I did during my summer mentorship helped me choose this topic because I got to fully understand a career that before I could never see myself doing. Though after completing my hours I saw that there was more than meets the eye with a career like this.