Blog 14: Independent Component 1

LITERAL

• (a) I, Joseph Galarza, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
  (b) Roberta Negrette (909) 971-8203
  (c) Log of Hours
• (d) For my independent component, I met with Mrs. Negrette's class on several occasions.  I spoke with them about STEM careers and did several activities with them regarding the careers of STEM in hopes of getting them interested.

INTERPRETIVE 

• I had originally planned to make posters for the students, in which I would present to them with, however, after hours of creating the posters, I had to find an alternative, due to my shoulder limiting my movements. I decided I would make a powerpoint instead, and in doing so, spent many more hours creating, researching, planning, and perfecting this powerpoint. The first day I met with the students, I gave them a presentation with the powerpoint I made, which spoke about STEM and the corresponding careers. The second time we met, I did a science experiment with them, mixing oil and water, in hopes of getting them interested in science. We spoke briefly about an activity I arranged for them in the computer lab, regarding Technology.  The third time we met, I showed them a few videos online regarding engineering and how planes fly, then we made paper airplanes and flew them outside. Each time I met with the kids, they were happy to see me, and were eager to work on the next activity. I actually heard kids telling one another, "I want to be a scientist!" and "Engineering is cool!"

APPLIED

• I had conducted my Independent Component, not knowing it had to be related to my foundation, however, it did better my understanding of my topic overall. In researching STEM in order to create my powerpoint for the children, it forced me to understand the concepts entirely so I could put them into words a third grader would understand. Also, in doing the oil and water experiment, and in doing the paper airplanes, I needed to research how and why these things happened, so I could explain them and answer questions the children had, which overall bettered my knowledge of the concepts I was teaching.