Batch 4: Leadership and my internship!

Leadership plays a role in my internship in many ways.  At my internship it is important to demonstrate strong leadership skills.  Many people interpret leadership and how to lead differently.  For me, being an intern, I do my best to set a good example for others.  I take a pragmatic approach to solving problems and listen to other people without trying to tell them what to do.  I am a good listener and assist others in their efforts to make good decisions. I set a good example for others by staying on task, completing tasks, having a passion for the work that I do even if it’s just laminating papers.  Just because I am not in a leadership role I am still able to demonstrate my leadership skills. I demonstrate my leadership skills by having positive interactions with students, parents, and colleagues.  I give help where it is needed without prompting from others.  I take the initiative to seek out more work if I’m not busy.  My supervisor displays leadership in a different way because he is in a leadership role.  Not only does he exemplify the traits of a leader similarly to me, he also has the power to delegate work.  He is very approachable and I am able to learn a lot from him for that reason.  I think he is an amazing leader.  He really takes the time to check in with all of his employees and find places where he needs improvement and always accepts feedback from others well.  This to me is a sign of a great leader!!

Batch 4: Free Write Dining on a Budget

Last Friday I had the pleasure of dinning at my favorite restaurant called Shadowbrook.  It is a little pricey but dining out doesn't always have to be expensive.  The first tip I have to dining out and not spending a whole lot of cash is to look for places with deals.  Groupon is a great resource for finding great dinner deals for two.  Many times you can get a free meal with the purchase of an entrée item. Restaurants also have great happy hour menus and the portioning is a little less but so are menu prices.  If you are dining with a friend try splitting an entree.  There is always usually enough food for two on an entree item.  Yelp is a great way to pick a restaurant, I use yelp to look at the reviews for the restaurant and look at pricing.  Order water, not only is it healthier but drinks add up!  Drinks can take a 8 dollars meal and make it an 11 dollar meal.  My question to you is it really worth the extra cash?  3 dollars a day can add up pretty quickly.  There are many ways to dine without spending a lot of money.  The first step to saving money on dinner is reading this blog post, so your already there.  Now try planning and doing a little research to find the best deal.

Batch 4: Interview with My Supervisor

I met with my supervisor today and got to pick his brain on the pros and cons of working as a teacher.  I got some really good insite Enjoy!

My Interview with Teacher:

Me:  What are their main job responsibilities?

Teacher: My main responsibilities vary from day to day.  Managing a classroom is the main responsibility.  I manage 12 aids and am in charge of creating student programs.  I create the schedule and make sure all the students are receiving the 1:1 hours with their aids.  Students receive anywhere from 3 to 6.25 1:1 hours per day.  It is my job to create schedules to ensure we are appropriately being paid by the student’s school districts.  Every student has a quarterly IEP (Individualized Education Plan).  I collaborate with The Speech Language Pathologist and write student qaurtley and yearly goals individualized to meet each students need. 

Me:  How did you choose this career?  

Teacher:  I started working at the school my senior year at UCSC as an intern.  I really enjoyed the work and was hired on as an aid the following year.  Three years later I became teacher trainee and went back to school for my Master’s in Special Education.  After receiving my teaching credential I was promoted to full teacher.

Me:  What type of education or training is needed for this position?

Teacher:  I started out in this field my senior year of college.  After working in the field a few years I decided to go back and get my Master’s in Special Ed.  I continued moving up the lateral chain.  Two years into my Master’s I received my teaching credential and was promoted to full teacher.  I am currently still working on my Master’s with about a year to go!

Me: What advice would you give to someone interested in this field?

Teacher:  I would say make sure you’re committed to the field.  There is a high turnover rate for teacher’s especially special education.  The work is hard and a lot of us feel under paid for the work we do.  Continuing education can be costly.  My best advice is working in the field for a couple of years and make sure that it is something you’re going to stick with.

Me: Do they notice any new trends in the field?

Teacher: A new trend for teachers is technology.  Technology has changed the way we teach and has created lots of new opportunities for learning.  It is important to stay current and do research on how we can use technology as a tool for learning and understanding new ideas.

Me: Why would you be interested in this career or position?

Teacher:  Working with children with autism has been challenging at times but for me has no bigger reward that teaching to those who face moderate to severe challenges.  I enjoy what I do and that’s the best reason for me to continue.  I love going to work and feel passionate about my job.  I get to wear so many hats it’s hard to be bored but easy to get overwhelmed, but that’s part of the fun for me.


I hope you guys enjoyed my interview with Classroom Teacher Ben!  Thanks for reading!!

Batch 3: Free Write

I thought I would give everyone out there an update of how my internship is going.  Well, I'm in week 7 and started to remember names and faces.  Also, people are finally starting to pronounce my name right!  After all the awkwardness of being the new girl I am starting to familiarize myself with the setting and getting to know my fellow colleagues a little bit better.  I am really enjoying the work that I am doing and feel like I am learning ALOT!  I am glad I picked a school to do my internship, I great after a days worth of rewarding work.  Although there is a lot about the internship that I enjoy, I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all the work.  There is a lot of policies and procedures to learn, and a lot of terminology that I have never heard of until now.  My favorite part of my internship is getting to work with the students.  It makes the day go by much faster when I get to interact with students.  Over all it has been a really great experience and I am looking forward to pursuing a job in education after my internship is over. 

Batch 3: Career Service Write-up Talking to My Career Mentor

Today I spoke with my career mentor, a teacher that works at The Bay School.   I wanted to know what made him go into teaching special education and how he got a job working in the field after college.  What surprised me is that he started interning (just like me) at the school before becoming a teacher.  He said that he interned for a year and then was offered a job working as an instructor the following year.  He said that continuing his education was a big part of him moving up the career ladder.  It wasn't until he received his teaching credential that he was officially offered a job teaching with his title as a Teacher.   He said the whole process took about four year of work experience with a combination of schooling and education.  After speaking to him I felt extremely good about my internship and the possibility of growth and potential.  I believe my internship is the first step into getting my foot in the door and gaining experience in the field I wish to pursue.

Batch 3: Free write - Tuition For Everybody

The problem is tuition cost have sky rocketed and more student are having difficulties getting into college because they do not have the financial means.  Here are some ideas of how we can make it so all who want a college education have a better chance of achieving that goal, without major structural changes we can’t make it happen, but we can start.  Paying students to go to high school, creating a network of employers who work with colleges to pay tuition for students, and recreating John Edward’s college for everyone program will all help to make tuition more affordable to students who want to attend college. 

The college for everyone program will offer one year free for students willing to take part-time jobs, more grants awarded to continuing second, third, and forth year student, and make tuition affordable to all those who want to go to college.

A College for everyone program already exists.  The program works with college summit and North Carolinas Universities and community colleges, to pay for the first year of tuition, fees, and books for college students who agree to work part time.  Student must also complete coursework that prepare them for further education, and stay out of trouble.  The projected college going rate has increased form 54% before the program to 74% today.

Recreating this program, that already exists in North Carolina and expanding it to other parts of the country would help to make college tuition more affordable for everyone.  An estimated 200,000 college qualified graduated fail to attend college each year.  This Program would ensure those qualified and those who want to go to college can.  The program is intended to encourage poor students to go to college the goal is to get a foot in the door and ultimately be successful.
 

Another way to reduce tuition costs is to pay student to go to high school.  Allow students to earn money for tuition by working at their high school education. It need not be exclusively money for college, but programs that gave a higher wage for students who put at least some of their money in to a "tuition savings account" would provide a base of dedicated money for college and would also provide students an incentive to go to college in order to get the most for their working dollars.

Finally, the last way to make college more affordable to students create a network of employers who work with colleges to pay tuition for students working for them while in college. Ideally this network should at least include community based organizations funded by foundation and corporate sponsorship programs, it should also include corporate and apprentice based employment that provided students applicable life and career skills.

High School student are shocked by high tuition costs and scared of student debt with a college for everyone program, pay student to go to high school, and  creating a network of employers who work with colleges to pay tuition accomplishes many positives, but most importantly it get more kids to strive and attend college.

Batch 3: Free write

I am privileged to have a family who is very interested in Art.  My mother, when she was young, was an Art major, and grew up to draw and paint whenever she could.  She put my sister, my brother, and me in art classes since we were able to hold a crayon in our hands.   I am the youngest in my family, and my brother and sister were always very involved and talented in art.  I am also very privileged in the way the I have traveled a lot in my 29 years of life, and gotten to seen many famous and amazing pieces of art and architecture all over the world.  I do not think I could be as happy without art in my life.

I have always grown up appreciating art, but I have only grown to make my own art in the last couple of years.  I actually grew up to believe that I was the “oddball” or untalented one in my family.  My brother and sister are older and have always been tremendously good and talented in art, but neither of them was able to concentrate on their academics because of it.  I on the other hand was great at academics, and classes that were not art, so I made myself believe that I just wasn’t made to create art.  This I have come to realize is not true.  Once my sister and brother moved out, I gained the confidence to take studio art classes.  It turned out I happened to be better than I realized.  
  
My sister, now an interior designer, and my brother, an architect, never thought that they had such an impact on me, nor did I until I had to sit down and right this paper.  I always compared myself to them, which was unrealistic because I was a different learner than them, and talented in different ways.  Although I take art classes now, I do it for enjoyment rather than for a career: whereas my siblings have made art their careers. 

Even though I have the experience of living with an artist as a mother always support of me wanting to make art, it turned out my siblings had more of an impact on me.  And in the end I had to mature enough to get back into art and not feel inferior to others.  Everyone has different styles and no one can really say who’s better or who’s worse.