Nothing New

I have been currently procrastinating on my senior project. I haven't been working on it as much as i'd like to. I haven't been able to meet with my mentor, and the distance makes it harder for me to see her. But i'm hoping to find a time to go over and shadow her at her work. I am not able to be in the same room with her when she is with a student, since it is confidential and I am under the age of 18, but she always has something  I can work on.

Blog 9: EQ

Content

1. I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ.

Essential Question Once a topic is chosen, the student will develop a working essential question. The purpose of the working essential question is to help the student build a strong foundation of research which will allow him or her to create an essential question that encourages depth and rigor in the chosen topic. An essential question must:

• Provide a framework for studies (It calls for breadth and depth of research, Is not a yes/no question)
• Takes a stance (Allows you to argue some point, Cannot be a recitation of facts or a list)
•  Format (It is specific, The wording makes sense)

2.  Review the following EQs and

• Tell us if it meets the rule of 3 criteria.
• Tell why it does or why it doesn't

 a.  What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?
This specific EQ does meet the rule of 3. Because it doesn't have one specific answer. The answer can be debatable and the wording of the question is easy to understand. 

 b.  What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?
This EQ seems to follow the requirements that an essential question must have. It is very specific and the answer can be debatable. It is also easy to understand and find out what it is asking for. 

 c.  What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?
This EQ has all the factors needed. It has many different answers and so much research can be done on the topic. It also seems to be debatable, so it wont always have one solid answer.

 d.  How can an Anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?
In my opinion, the format of this EQ can be changed. Maybe it can be, "What is the most effective way an Anesthesiologist can treat chronic pain?" Aside from the format, the rest allows it to be a good essential question.

3.  Based on your review of the rule of 3 and your experience with assessing four EQs, please write another draft EQ for your senior project.

"What is the most effective way to help a college student succeed in both school and life?"

There's No Going Back Now

So after a while, I have finally decided to stick to one topic. I am now committed to College Counseling. After putting in so much thought, I now realize that there is no going back now. My topic is set in stone. It's been two months since I've last gone with my mentor, I would go more often but she leaves pretty far from where I do and I have to go on a weekend that I don't work. But once everything gets back on track, I will be seeing my mentor more often.

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

Content:

1. "What is the most effective way to help a student succeed in school?"

2. Encourage them to ask questions and for help whenever needed.

3. "The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained" I believe this is my most important source because to understand children and to understand what the best way to talk to them is, you must first learn about how the think and what their background is.

4. My current mentor is Evelyn Luna and she is a college counselor at UC Riverside. It relates to my topic because I want to be a counselor like her as well.

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

Content:

1. I plan on shadowing a mentor and see what she does during school hours, with and without her students

2. For evidence, I plan on taking  pictures of the work that I do.

3.  I might do more research on psychology and maybe child development since I will be working near if not with them.

Reading with an open mind.

After my first interview, I started to do more look at the different types of school counseling. And I started looking at Middle School counseling and how much different it was compared to College counseling or Advising . And I will continue to do more research on that to see which one will suit me best. And once I figure that out, I will focus more on it.

Blog 6: Second Interview Questions

Content:
1. My Mentor is Evelyn Luna and she works at UC Riverside
2. My five questions are:
How did you choose your major?
If you didn't have the job you have now, where do you think you would be?
When you were in High School did you know what career you wanted to pursue?
What college did you attend?
How long did it take you to be where you are now?

Blog 5: Project Reflection and Working EQ

Content:

The Pentagon:
1. Positive Statement: So far, the things that I have completed have made me realize that Counseling isn't a career that is easy, at least not as much as I thought it would be.

2. EQ Content: Counseling Psychology is the piece of research that I am going to pick because I feel that it has really helped me understand how Psychology is involved in Counseling. At first, I just thought about it in the simplest way possible. People come in your office, ask you questions and leave with answers. But with my research and my mentor, I have learned that-that isn't always the case. There are or can be many complications in between that can affect answers as well as the questions.

3. What has worked with my senior project is that I know my mentor well. I've known her since I was a toddler. We both get along and I feel extremely comfortable with her. I can ask her any question and she can answer then thoroughly.

4. What hasn't worked is that my mentor lives about an hour away from where I live. So having to schedule a meeting with her, or simply being able to talk to her is pretty tough but I know she always tries her best to include me in her daily hours so even though, this is and will be something that can bring complications to my senior project, I know that with her help, I can succeed.

5. Finding Value: I don't really have a question in mind yet and yes I know that isn't good but i'll figure it out soon. And for my mentorship, I plan in seeing my mentor and shadowing her more often to understand her job better and learn from her past and present experiences involving her job. With that, i'll be able to determine if Counseling, will be the right job for me.

Thoughts on Research

I have been doing some more research on my topic lately and the first thing that I realized was that School Counseling is known by different ways. Before, people used to know them as Guidance Counselors, and yes, there is a difference. I have also been realizing that counseling goes far back. As children, being raised by a parent or guardian, they automatically, become our first counselors. They are the first ones we go, or at least, used to go to for assistance in our everyday lives. When we would fall and get hurt, they were the ones there for us. When we couldn't tie our shoes, they were there to show us the steps.

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

Content:

1. I plan on interviewing my mentor first, mainly because I feel more confident in talking to her. Then I plan on interviewing her supervisor and the other counselors I was introduced to during my orientation.
2. Some open ended questions that I plan on asking are, "What do you think is the hardest part of your day?" "What is the most satisfying part of your job?" "What education is needed for a career in your field?" and "What career did you think you'd be in when you were in High School?"

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Semester 1 ESLR Goals

Content:

1. School Counseling
2. I-Poly Citizen: I am and will continue to put my school work first. I had started learning about the importance of punctuality and commitment since freshman year and since then, I am sure that I have the punctuality part covered. As for the importance of commitment, I am willing to commit to my current mentorship. I am willing to keep the same project topic throughout the year even if there are some minor pebbles in the way. I will be committed and I wont give up at the first pebble I trip over.
    Effective Learner: I am and have been assuming responsibility for myself for a while now. I have also started to assume responsibility when it comes to getting school work done, when it comes to assignments and getting them done. I am sure to write down the date that they were assigned as well as the date in which they are due. By doing so, I am helping myself be more responsible for my own learning and my own future. As for my creativity, it is and will continue to be shown in various ways. Which will be either through words, paper and or actions, to name a few.
   Effective User of Technology: This year, more than others, I am willing to learn more about technology as a whole. One thing that will really be a big help is the blog assignments and the work that needs to get done online, whether its digging deep for good information or simply sharing a URL, I will be willing to learn each day something knew that will also help me in more ways than one. Another example would be with research, I am and will be willing to get out of my research comfort zone. I will begin to explore more pages, click on more websites and keep an eye out for many new interesting pieces of research.
   Effective Communicator: I am more than willing to speak to people who I am not so familiar with. I am also willing to expand my circle of peers. I will be more open minded when it comes to talking to other people, especially those who are older than me. For example, when I had started talking and interviewing my mentor, I had a bit of an idea of what to expect, but when I began interviewing her supervisor, I realized that it wasn't as simple as I thought it would normally be. So this year and the ones that come along, I am willing to talk to more people older than me so that I can get rid of my shyness of talking to the elders around me.

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship Component

Literal:

1. Mentorship Log
2. Evelyn Luna, (951) 827-1766
3. Is it the same routine everyday?
    Can it affect you mentally?
    What is the difference between a counselor, adviser and therapist?
    How many years does it take to be a counselor?
    Normally, how many hours do you work a day?

Interpretive:

4. The most important thing that I learned from this summers experience is that being organized and professional is really important. For example, you can't just arrive at work and put your feet up on the desk and relax and let time pass by. As soon as you arrive to your office, you must put all home situations aside and focus on work and get ready to start your day. You must be organized because you can't just do what you want. You must keep an agenda in where you write down the appointments that you will be having and be very open with your schedule. When a student comes in to talk to you, you must listen to their problems or concerns and help them come up with a solution. You mustn't solve all their problems or else they wont know how to do it themselves.

Applied:
5. I chose counseling as my topic because I like helping others in solving their problems. I am very much a people person, and seeing them satisfied when all their questions are answered makes me feel accomplished because I helped that person have one less thing to worry about. Another reason why I chose that as my topic is because the counselors that I've had, have helped me in so many ways and I am grateful to have them. They have made a difference in my life and I wanted to return the favor by helping others the same way.

Blog 1: 2-hour Presentation Reflection

Content:

Literal:  

1.  The presentations that I saw were the following: 
-Hair Dressing by Ana
-Karate by Rene
-Marine Biology by Elijah
-Stage Managing by Gabriel
-Early Childhood Education by Perla
-Foster Care by Victoria
-Physical Therapy by Elizabeth
-Computer Analysis by Brent
-Photography by Austin
-Special Olympics by Logan
-Theoretical Physics by Hannah
-Violin by Alexa

2.  One question that wasn't really answered was if they had changed their senior topic after summer or throughout the year itself. And if it was challenging for them to find a mentor over the summer.  

Interpretive:

3. For the senior project itself, I feel as if time management was and is extremely important. Since you have a whole year to work on the project, there is that one thought in your mind, "I'll just do it later." and that only brings bad things along. Procastination must be out of the question. Many of the presentations that I saw, seemed to be done neatly. By neatly, I mean organized. And when I would compare presentations, I was able to clearly see who was ready and who wasn't. 

Applied:

4. One of the topics that I'm considering doing involves Human Rights. Since freshman year, I have been interested in helping people and making them aware of their rights in the world.