digital portfolio

Katie // 12th Grade // est. 2016

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Week 2

11.5.18-11.9.18

This week, we kept largely the same routine as the week prior. During our PIE time, we continued to work  on answering questions and comparing text. ELA was also a continuation of the opinion writing we’ve been doing thus-far. 

Guided Reading finally picked up this week, though, and so far has been the most interesting part of my day. We finished most of the reading testing we had to do, but two of the students get a periodic test. I was able to observe and follow along for a few of these and similar tests, and then I was able to administer one on my own! During the reading period, we read articles about current events. One reading group took place the day after the mid-term elections, so we read about that and discussed it. I struggled to find a way to relate the definition of ‘majority’ to my students at first, but eventually I was able to come up with something that worked. The following reading group, I was able to use that experience to find a way to help the students understand why midterms often result in a shift of what party is in power.

The TLDR of that example is: If Obama was to ban cookies and the Democrats supported that, Republicans who love cookies would try and get their own cookie supporters into the congress so they can stop Obama and the Democrats from banning cookies!

Eventually, I will hopefully be taking on guided reading myself, so I need to continue to observe and work on identifying areas students  might struggle in a text, and how to best format the questions  I might want to ask to help form deeper understanding.

In science, we worked on an experiment called Light The Bulb where students were given the task of trying to make a circuit. I was able to observe the pros and cons of teamwork, because half the group was supposed to be working hands on while the other half was recording the information in their notebook. This was a challenge for the students because everyone wanted to be hands-on, but eventually everyone was able to ‘light the bulb’.

Overall, this placement continues to be a great learning experience and I look forward to the start of the fresh week!

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Week 1

Oct. 31-Nov. 2

This week, we got into our TAP classroom placements for the first time! My co-op teacher is the nicest person, and worked so hard to make sure I felt included and was active in the classroom from day one. I don’t currently have the journal I was taking notes in with me, so I can’t recount everything that happened, but I’m going to give a basic summary!

Day 1

This was the first day where we got into our placements, met our teachers and students, and got settled in. I was introduced to the format of the schedule, too. When I arrive, it’s during “pie” time, meaning the students are placed in classrooms based on level of need. Our pie kids are “right below gifted” according to my teacher, which is a contrast to the co-taught nature of our main “homeroom” kids. After pie time, we have ELA and writing, followed by science or social studies. Day one, we had an assembly, so we skipped ELA and went directly to a science test. Due to the challenging nature, we read the test aloud with the kids, to make sure to emphasize some of the more important words and make sure they didn’t get lost in the text. I was able to read some of the questions and also go around and answer questions from students!

Day 2

This was a normal schedule for the first time, due to the assembly on day one. It was similar to the first day at the start, but then we did get to do ELA. The students are writing an opinion essay, and I was helping them edit and get their thoughts across with enough detail. I worked with a small group, at the back table. Science we were working in the workbook, learning about types of energy. I was monitoring and following along.

Day 3

This was the very exciting day that I got my own desk!

The main focus of the day for me was ELA, where I worked with two students on their opinion essays. We were looking to add as much detail as possible. One student had a good start, but his second reason was not really related to his second set of examples, so we worked together to find a new reason that would tie his examples together. 

Overall

It’s been a great start to the year! I’m so excited to continuing working with my students and my co-op teacher, and I’m so thankful that she’s working so hard to include me!

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Above are some key pictures from my second lesson in TAP. There’s the lesson plan, not critiqued yet, and some highlights from my powerpoint including the title slide, part of the brainstorm, the objective, purpose, main definitions and key questions, a blank copy of the worksheet the students did, and the exit slip.

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Above is the gist of my first TAP lesson. I had a lesson plan (that has my critique notes on it as well, from after the lesson finished), alongside a power point that included some intro slides and content/instruction based slides, as well as an exit slip. The last document is page one of a quiz I made after the lesson was taught as a supplement assignment. Not shown above are the primary sources I used as mentioned in the lesson plan.

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

TAP (and the Start of Something New)

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything to this blog, but I’ve felt newly inspired to start it up again thanks to my TAP course! TAP stands for Teacher Apprenticeship Program, and it is a course that is designed to help students who are interested in enter the field of education both learn important ideas and get first hand expiriance in the field. 

I’m not exactly sure what sort of posts I want to use this blog to make, but my teacher mentioned daily blogging as an interesting option, and it made me remember this blog! I don’t know if I can maintain a daily blog, but I do think it would be nice to have an easy-to-navigate digital curation of my progress through the program.

To start off, I’ve been in this program for about two months now, and we’ve spent time in the classroom learning the basics of things like lesson plans and classroom management. Initially, I had some misgivings about the way certain things were run, likely due to my headstrong nature. But as I’ve gotten more comfortable with the course, the teacher, and my peers, I’ve lost any and all negative feelings about the course and how it functions. 

I think the content we have learned thus far is very valuable to our future as teachers, and covering the basics was a great way to start with the program. Being given the opportunity to do lesson plans ( [1] + [2] ) was also a great chance to really expiriance some of the important things that come with being a teacher. 

For me, those lesson plans were important not only for the practice they gave me, but for the lessons in flexibility and improvement they taught me. One of my weaknesses is being a perfectionist, and it was not easy to hear some of the criticisms on my lessons, but upon reflection, those remarks were not only important in helping my lessons improve, but also in helping me develop more of that flexibility and adaptability that teachers (and people in general!) need.

We are going to our placements at the schools tomorrow, and get to meet with our co-op teachers and students for the first time! I’m excited for the opportunity, and hope that my cooperating teacher is someone I can get along with and work with, to continue to grow and learn. It’s only been two months, and I already feel like this course has helped me in some very important skills that I didn’t want to admit I need to develop, and I both look forward to and face with apprehension the learning opportunities to follow. I hope that I can use my current expiriance in TAP to help myself be more open to criticism and change, and work to constantly develop as we move forward!

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

To Be Read - Stephen King

This is the first post of a few that will make up my “to be read” list. Each post will have a focus on one genera or author. Every title is a link to a full description of the book. The little sentences under the title are mostly for sorting purposes, and to get a quick idea of the book. This post will be focused on Stephen King. The list continues below the cut. It’s a bit long (it contains 68 books or short story collections!), so if you are interested in a specific letter of the start of a title or something similar I recommend you use CTRL+F or the similar ‘search bar’ shortcut feature on your keyboard. Enjoy!

LAST UPDATED: January 18, 2017 - 68 Works Read!! Officially Complete!!

All books I’ve already read will be crossed off, but won’t be removed.

Keep reading

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Favorite Photographers

This year, I’m taking digital photography. One of the projects my teacher is having us do this year is picking our favorite photographer. I thought this would be a good opportunity for a post, because it will also be a good warm up for the presentation. 

My favorite photographer is Brandon Woelfel. He’s a photographer that started on Instagram and, due to his unique style, quickly developed a name for himself. He’s worked with brands like urban outfitter and apple, and has been able to use his photography to carve out a freelance job for himself in the field. 

His style is characterized by neon lights, smoke bombs, and pinks and blues.

[X]

[X]

He’s an interesting photographer because he doesn’t do his editing in Adobe Lightroom, like most photographers. He does all his editing in photoshop, allowing him to have even more control over the final product. His before and after pictures really show how important editing in post can be:

[X]

[X]

Overall, his unique style and creative editing really make his photos stand out. I love the general aesthetic of all of his pictures, and they’re super cool to look at! 

Find his Instagram here

Find his website here

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

To Be Read - Stephen King

This is the first post of a few that will make up my “to be read” list. Each post will have a focus on one genera or author. Every title is a link to a full description of the book. The little sentences under the title are mostly for sorting purposes, and to get a quick idea of the book. This post will be focused on Stephen King. The list continues below the cut. It’s a bit long (it contains 68 books or short story collections!), so if you are interested in a specific letter of the start of a title or something similar I recommend you use CTRL+F or the similar ‘search bar’ shortcut feature on your keyboard. Enjoy!

LAST UPDATED: October 27, 2017 - 55 Works Read

All books I’ve already read will be crossed off, but won’t be removed.

Keep reading

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

To Be Read - Stephen King

This is the first post of a few that will make up my “to be read” list. Each post will have a focus on one genera or author. Every title is a link to a full description of the book. The little sentences under the title are mostly for sorting purposes, and to get a quick idea of the book. This post will be focused on Stephen King. The list continues below the cut. It’s a bit long (it contains over 50 books or short story collections!), so if you are interested in a specific letter of the start of a title or something similar I recommend you use CTRL+F or the similar ‘search bar’ shortcut feature on your keyboard. Enjoy!

LAST UPDATED: August 15, 2017 - 50 Works Read

All books I’ve already read will be crossed off, but won’t be removed.

Keep reading

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Bio Blog

For my biology class, we did a project where we focused on a species and looked for evidence of it’s evolution. You can find my blog on human evolution HERE or in the links on my blog page under “bio blog”!

If those don’t work, you can find it under evidenceforevolution.tumblr.com

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Time to pick up the pace - 20Time

As both the school year and 20Time are warping up, I need to start getting things done again. I’ve been kind of coasting as I’ve been dealing with things like finals and other wrap-up school work. However, now it’s time for me to start working towards the finished product of my project, the flower dictionary. I have all the information I need, but I need to really get started on the physical product, and hunting down all the people I want to work with and encouraging them to start finishing up their parts as well. 

[X]

I’m not too worried about the time, though. I think that the rest of this is still very manageable in the time I have, and I should still be able to create a good product. I just need to start scheduling my time a little better and working towards it. As a result, I plan to do my best to work on some of the project on every weekend and free time after school, so I can make sure the product isn’t rushed!

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

To Kill A Mockingbird - The End

My class has finally finished the wonderful book, To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAMB) by Harper Lee. This book was really interesting, because even up to the end, it was able to hold my attention and keep me involved with all of the characters. In particular, I was supposed to be focusing on Scout, the main character. 

[X]

One of the really interesting things about the book was that even though Scout told the story, I felt like we never really got to know her as a result. We learned about her actions from others, and her own perception of how things happened, but since she was the main story-teller, we were unable to see all the angles of her like we might have been able to for some other characters. And in the very end, we still know very little about her ‘current life’. We know she is telling us this story from some time in the future, but we don’t know anything about that future time. According to some class mates, the other book by this author shows a little more about that, but this one ends with her as a bit of a mystery. 

During our conversation post-book, my class focused a lot on some of the interesting parallels throughout the book. For example, the first line is about Jem breaking his arm, and in the very end, he ends the story with a broken arm. And, something I noticed, Boo ends the story having stabbed someone, after starting it as an alleged stabber. These were interesting to me, because it conveyed the idea of a full loop, or the idea that even as things change, they are still the same in many ways. 

[X]

After we had that conversation, we switched topics, to an essay by William James called On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings. It dealt with the idea of being ‘blind’ to other humans and creatures that exist, simply because we are not them. It was an interesting idea, and can clearly relate in a lot of ways to the concepts dealt with in the book, like racism. An interesting question from my teacher was offered, about Scout and Jem, and their potential ability to see the world in a clearer (less blind) way, due to their young age. I think it does offer them a different insight, especially Scout, the youngest. Even if she sees the world in a certain way and other people based on that, she is fluid, and able to change her concepts and ideas without being held back in most cases by stubborn pride that comes with age. 

Overall, I think this book was really powerful, and at the same time, nice to read. It offered a lot of controversial ideas that are still relevant today, and is a great way to spark conversation about certain topics. I’m glad we were able to read it. 

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

To Kill A Mocking Bird #2

This book is developing in an interesting way. Somehow, possibly through the quick pace or the casual language, the book has also managed to hold my interest. In the chapters we most recently read, we were able to learn a lot about a lot of the characters.

[X]

As for the character I am tracking, Scout, the main character, we also learn about her. She is growing up, and developing as a person. She is able to do things such as respect, or at least behave for, her Aunt, because her father asked it of her.  She is moving along at a steady pace. But as I go more into this book, I start to think that this book might not be about her. It is told by her, but it seems to focus on the experiences of others, from her prospective, and less of her own experiences. 

Through this, we are able to learn a lot about other people. For example, something I found interesting was the scene where Calpurnia tried to block Jem and her with her body, so they wouldn’t see the dog being shot (on page 95). This shows how much of a mother she can be to them, and how she wants to protect them. This is also interesting because it contrasts with a part later in the book, where Aunty claims that the children have no mother figure.  However, Atticus steps up and argues that Calpurnia was doing an ok job of filling in. 

[X]

As this book moves forward, I hope it keeps the same pace and interesting conflicts, and has a solid ending. It’s a really interesting look at the lives of people in an interesting time in history.

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

To Kill A Mocking Bird

My English class just started reading To Kill A Mocking Bird (TKAMB), and despite my earlier post about how reading for school can ruin any book, I’m actually enjoying this one. The language isn’t too complex (despite more advanced vocabulary at times). The story line is also interesting and captivating, sucking me in (once I got past the initial world-building). There are a lot of clear conflicts, and some less clear ones, that are really driving the story forward.

[X]

I’m tracking the main character, Scout, as she explores the small-town world she lives in. Time moves quickly though this book, and that allows me to watch her as she grows an learns new things. Her father is doing his best to tech her the ways of the world, and it is interesting to see her prospective. I work with kids her age over the summers at camp, and I like to compare how she acts to the modern day kids her same age that I am also able to observe.

[X]

As per usual, my class had an interesting conversation about what we have read so far. The topic of conversation that really had me interested, however, was the idea of Boo Radley, their next-door neighbor who has been spoken of often, but seen seldom or never. Particularly, the idea that Boo doesn’t get to tell his own story. His identity is written by someone else, and even though we see him do nice things for Scout and her family such as leaving gifts in the tree, he is still seen in a negative way.

Something I noticed right of the bat was the quote from Atticus, her father, about Boo. He said: “There (are) other ways of making people into ghosts”. This was said on page 11, very early in the book, and it stuck out to me right away. Not only is the line just ominous in general, but it had interesting implications. Now that we are deeper into the book, the line only makes more sense, and I started to wonder if it could be applied to other people and conflicts as well. I’m not sure of the connection yet, but from the little I can infer about what will be happening, I think this will be an important line to keep in mind. 

[X]

Overall, I think this book is really interesting, and has a lot of potential. There are some things I want to keep in mind as it progresses, and some ideas that I want to develop. I’m looking forward to reading the next bit!

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Learning Goals

As I move through my 20Time project, I am moving closer and closer to a research paper that will be due by the end of this month. This will be about the project, and what I learned and am learning, both about flowers and about myself. Thus, I need to set up some learning goals, or in other words, things I want to make sure I learn, so I can begin to outline for the paper. 

I want to learn more about flower language, obviously. I want to make sure I know more about it than when I started, and am able to explain the knowledge I gain. 

I want to work with others and learn how to collaborate with other creators. That means working with deadlines for a group, and reaching out to other people and requesting their help.

[X]

Lastly, I want to practice my dead lining skills, and keeping myself on strict schedule. I tend to work in fits and bursts of inspiration, but I think a steady stream of smaller things would be a better idea for a project this big.

So my goals are defined, and my essay is a work in progress. I think so far, I’m meeting these pretty well. My project as a whole is moving forward, and I’m really excited to work towards the final product!

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Evolution -  The 20Time Type

My project for my 20time project, creating a book for flower language, has been going through some small changes over the week as I’ve been getting closer to starting the physical project. I’ve started to take some steps back and look at what’s realistic, and what changes I can make while still keeping the soul of my project in the same concept. 

I’m still doing a book for flower language, and I still want to make sure I have as many definitions as possible, to ensure that it is of some use to people interested. But there are a lot of flowers out there, and some of them are pretty universal in their meaning. So I’ve narrowed it down to 20 flowers that have many different meanings. This way, people will be able to find the project helpful, rather than a list of flowers that have already understood meanings. I also tried to pick flowers that had useful or conversational meaning such as ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘forgive me’. I don’t think anyone wants to look up the meaning of and send someone a flower that means something obscure “Persian ambassador of love” (that would be the damask rose, if you were interested). 

To compensate for this ‘small’ number of flowers, though, I want to make this book with a 'crafty’ and multimedia element. On one page, I will have the flower, definition, and other relevant information. But on the page beside it, I want to include things like drawings, poems, or other relate things. I think this will add a cool depth to it, and allow me to do something even more creative with this. I think people who read it will also be interested to see these things, and it may grab the interest of even people who aren’t interested in flower language, allowing them to learn something new. 

As this week continues I’m going to try to wrap up my research and reach out to some other people to see if they would be interested in contribution to the ‘crafty’ pages. I think this project is moving along at a pretty good pace!

And as a last note, my current flower lineup is as follows:

Aloe Basil Begonia Candytuft Carnation, Red Carnation, Striped Carnation, Yellow Chrysanthemum Columbine, Purple Daffodil Daisy Dandelion Forget-me-not Hyacinth, Purple Lilac Passion Flower Poppy Orange Blossom Orchid Stephanotis

[aka-enlightenment-blog]

Huckleberry Finn Project

My English class just recently finished reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and instead of the typical final essay or test one might normally be assigned, we had the option to do a project instead. This could be a project off of a list, or one we made up on our own, as long as it was related to the book. 

Seeing the opportunity to do something creative with the text I had just read, I got together with two other like-minded classmates (find them HERE and HERE), and decided to create a piece of ‘metaphorical architecture’ (as explained in this New York Times article). In the end, we ended up with a cool structure that was packed with symbolism; everything we put into it had a meaning behind it, if you cared to look deep enough. 

For example, the colors symbolized the fight between white and black, racism, and purity versus corruption. The heart symbolized the famous quote about the story by Mark Twain: “A sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat”. And while we, the creators, may have thought a lot about each part and the meanings, it is also important what these are interpreted as by the viewer. So, I will leave some up to your interpretation, as there really is no correct answer. Whatever each individual took away from the book will project itself into how they view this work, and that becomes the ‘correct interpretation’, for them. 

Interpretations aside, however, it is interesting to also take a step back, and look at how this project came to be. It took a lot of time and dedication to get this together in the deadline we were given. But before we even thought about construction, we had to start with ideas. 

We drew out some tentative concepts, some that kept better than others. The drawing on the left was the first idea, that eventually developed into the idea we ultimately went with. 

For there, we had to start drawing and measuring. 

Once we had the lines, my partners had to head home. But we had done the important parts, in preparation for the actual assembly. 

I was able to cut out the shapes we needed (with help from my dad, since we were working with big, spinning blades).

With our assorted base shapes cut out and sanded down, we could now start to put things together. 

A lot of hot glue later, we had a pyramid! And our heart was ready to go as well. 

That meant it was time for the supporting structure. First thing was finding wood that met the criteria.

Once we had that, we had to cut it to the correct lengths.

Some more sanding ensued, and I manged not to lose any fingers.

Finally, we had to find and sand down the wood that would become the base of the entire structure. Once this was done, we had all the basic parts we needed!

After some drilling and wood glue, we had our support together.

We put in all of the needed attachments, things that we would later use to hold up all of the hanging things, and then I spray painted the entire thing black. The structure was good to go!

This is when the partners reentered the picture. We painted the pyramid white, and sprayed the heart silver. We also got the chain all set up with the heart, and sorted out the gimp with the pyramid, so they could both hang. 

(It was a many-handed job)

Once everything was hanging nicely, we set about painting the bottom of the pyramid black, and doing the drips. The drips were done with a pipet, and a paint-water mixture.

We also gave the heart its black tip.

Then, we drilled holes into the heart, and drops of wood we had made, and they were hing with thread. They were then painted assorted colors. 

For the final touch, we wrapped ribbon around the legs of the support, and super-glued them there. 

And once the heart was re-hung, our project was finally done!

The actual process of making it was rather long, but it was a lot of fun to do. We learned a lot about problem solving and cooperation, and managed to make something that looked pretty cool in the process!