Blog 21: Independent Component 2

Literal:

1. I, Alex Ayala, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
2. There are many sources that can verify my 30 hours. The first is Mr. Ogden, who signed off my hours for whenever I tutored students in the Senior class. The second is Mr. Estrada, who allowed me to watch him teach his class on fourth block, usually on Mondays and Wednesdays. The final, whom I have received the most hours from, is Eddy Silva. She monitored the hours that I tutored underclassman.
3. Independent Component 2 Log
4. Like I said for then second question for the Literal, I did a variety of things in my Independent Component 2. I went to Mr. Estrada's class usually every Monday and Wednesday to watch him teach his class. Since I was not here when he became the Freshman math teacher, it was a new experience. Aside from seeing a different teaching style, I also received new activities that are based off of Common Core. I only tutored once for the Senior class, and it was helping a student with their Aleks. I received the most hours from tutoring 2 students, one being a sophomore and the other being a freshman. The sophomore, Brian Arteaga, asks for help with Geometry and Science, while the Freshman, Jayson McIsaac, asks for help with Algebra and Spanish. Jayson was a newer student, so he has not improved as much as Brian did. In the beginning, Brian did not seem like he wanted assistance, but now he constantly asks for help if he is unsure of his answers.

Interpretive:

Mr. Estrada, Common Core Activity, Tutoring Senior Students

Applied:
Watching Mr. Estrada teach helped me realize how important it is to connect mathematics to real life, which is my third answer. The Common Core Performance Task is a great example of this. It asks for the students to find the most profitable way to produce a combination of breads and batches of cookies. Not only that, but is ask for the students to provide evidence of their answer, as well as evidence to disprove other answers. Tutoring students that are Seniors and underclassman helped with my first answer, which is knowing the right teaching steps (Conceptual Understanding, Problem Solving, and Procedural Fluency). If the students were having trouble, I would run through these steps until they got the hang of the subject. At the beginning I did not really use this strategy, I would only answer questions about problems and show them techniques that I previously learned. Now I use it because it ensures that similar problems will be understood.

Blog 15 Independent Component 2 Approval

1. For my Independent Component 2, I was planning on tutoring students at I-Poly once again. It will be exactly like what I did for my first Independent Component.

2. I believe my plan will meet the 30 hours because this time I will count every hour I work, instead of every hour for each student. Since I will usually tutor from 12:30 to 3:00 PM twice every week, I would assume that I would meet my 30 hours in 6 weeks.

3. My independent study component relates to my essential question because I will personally experience teaching students algebra related problems, even though we will be tutoring on Statistics and Physics.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

Literal:

1. I, Alexis Ayala, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
2. Mr. Ogden, since I did the majority of my tutoring in his class.
3. 30.5 Hours

1. I tutored students from I-Poly for Statistics and for Physics. Sometimes we would study the days before a test or quiz, but we also just worked on the homework.

Interpretive:

• My independent component demonstrates 30 hours of work because I counted my tutoring hours for each student I helped. The significant part of these 30 hours was when I would help students understand concepts in their math and science classes right before a test.

Applied:

• This independent component not only helped me understand the foundation of my topic, but it also helped me with my first answer to my EQ. When I tutored the students I noticed that both Statistics and Physics contained problems that can only be understood with a solid Algebra background. Also, I was able to make a first answer (knowing the right steps to teach a concept) and actually use those steps on my friends. These steps were making a foundation and understanding the purpose, constant practice, and being available to the students.

Individual Blog Post #4

This is Kayla studying for the Physics test on Relativity on 1/24/2013. As you can see, she really focused on studying.

Individual Blog Post #3

These are the hours I tutored for Deanna, Jeanette, and Genavieve. We studied for 1 hour and 30 minutes each, which leads to 4 hours and 30 minutes for the day.

Individual Post #2

In this picture, Deanna and Jeanette were studying for the Relativity test that was on 1/24/13 for North, East, and West House. I helped them understand the difference between T and To.

Individual Post #1

Last tuesday (12/4/12), I tutored Cynthia, Marilyn, and Genavieve from 2:00-3:00 PM. We finished up Mrs. Pittman's assignment, which was Momentum, Energy, and Work (Day 3).

Blog 10: Senior Project Update

1. For my independent component, I am tutoring for our statistics class and our physics class. Usually I  tutor for fourth block on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but somedays I tutor the day before a test.

2. One important research that I finished margin noting was Insights into Algebra 1, Workshop 8. It did not have any groundbreaking information that changed my senior project plan. Instead, it was my last research on the guidelines to an exceptional algebra education. The rest of my research will focus on other math courses and outstanding teaching strategies.

3. The following is a picture of all the students I tutored with their signatures and the corresponding dates and times.

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

1. For my independent component, I was planning on teaching an 8th grade algebra class at Rivera Middle School.

2. To meet my 30 hours work requirement, I was planning on teaching for about 4-5 days for 5 hours each. The rest of the work hours would be done on lesson planning.

3. My independent study component obviously relates to my working EQ; what are the most important factors of a healthy algebra classroom? By teaching an actual algebra class, I will be able to understand what works well with students, and what does not.