Blog 22: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Block Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
I was really proud of successfully decorating my room with props and posters, which really brought the MPR to life. I am also very proud of beginning and ending my presentation in a very strong, solid way. The way I realized this is because throughout the day students came up to me to congratulate me for doing a good and the always looked at me in the eye and shook my hand. I actually began my presentation by lining up everybody and shaking everybody's hand, so I really feel this might have had an impact in my audience.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Block Presentation (self-assessment)?

AE       P          AP       CR       NC  

This is because I feel that not only did I prepare and organize a regular presentation, but I worked arduously to  go above and beyond. I did everything in my power to make my presentation deep and complex to actually convey meaning, I ensured to create the right type of ambiance by decorating with a wide array of props. I tried to give meaning to both my EQ and my answers, I feel I did have an impact in my audience, and I do believe I managed to pull off a memorable experience for both the senior and junior viewers of my presentation. In general, I really do believe I managed to pay it forward and help a pair of juniors who approached me after my presentations with questions about their future senior projects on karate.
b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

AE/P          AP       CR       NC

I have to say that I've worked really hard on my project throughout the whole year. I've been working at improving my teaching skills for five years now, and my mentor(who's known me for over ten years) has actually told me that I improved more this year than I ever have in all the years I've been learning to teach karate. I also put in a great deal of effort into creating effective independent components, especially considering that my second independent component was designed to effectively prove which of my answers was the best. To culminate my project, I worked day and night to make sure I delivered a presentation that has shown the skills I've learned both in Ipoly and my mentorship for the last 4 years. All in all, I worked restlessly to the end to display the best I could develop with what I had and with the time I had.
(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

My mentorship really worked for me since I've already been helping out with karate classes for years, therefore finding a mentor was very easy, although he was very hard on me. As a result of my mentor knowing me for so long, he felt very comfortable at pushing me to my limits to so that I could regularly improve my teaching abilities. I also think that my final senior presentation was very successful. Without regard to what grade I may get, I really feel satisfied with what I displayed, I really feel that is showed not only how much I've learned throughout this year, but through the last four years. I can confidently say that my presentation was a successful culmination of my high school experience, one where I learned to present, be resourceful, and to work hard to the end.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

If I could change anything in my project, I would go back in time to my presentation and include giving out cookies and showing my bo staff form during the presentation, not after I had concluded it. I was able to give out the cookies and show my bo staff form and still give their corresponding explanations, but I would have liked to do it before the timer stopped taking my time. Mind you, this was by design since I felt that I was better to do that part after the fact, but as I showed the form I realized I would have been better to include it in. Other than that, I would just go back to my interview and actually talk about how much time I've put in my project, as I received a slightly unfortunate grade as a result of not properly displaying evidence of a nine- month project. From there on out, I feel that I had a pretty solid senior project.  

(5) Finding Value
How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   

Its one thing to develop a five minute presentation, and its a complete other to organize an hour-long presentation. Senior project prepared me for the future by enhancing some of my researching skills, creativity, presentation skills, perseverance, entrepreneurial skills, and ability to gain and benefit from a mentorship/internship. Overall, I feel that my senior project prepared me for conducting experiments/projects throughout my life, and having better foundations for successfully completing college. For example, as a result of gathering over 63 pieces of good research and doing our ESA we learned how and were to look for quality research. Another clear example is the fact that most incoming freshmen at college don't have the extensive presentation skills that we as ipoly students have. I really do feel that being able to complete my senior presentation really prepared me to be able to stand out and make a different at the college I attend. In order to stand out in a school of over 5000, I know that I need to be able to speak up, and that's exactly what my senior presentation had me do. This is the beauty of Ipoly, although our GPA's suffer so greatly because of this, but by the time any student walks at graduation they have learned invaluable skills that aren't taught in traditional high schools. Thusly, giving us an advantage to succeed in our college experience.

Blog 16: Advisory Meeting #2

EQ: What is the most important factor to effectively teach karate to young children?

Answer #2 Having good teaching skills and background knowledge enables a sensei to effectively teach a class.

Details:

- My 3rd interviewee told me that in order for a person to teach anything, they must actually know how to teach. The skill of teaching is quintessential to actually teach karate to children. A few years back I met a sensei who taught close to my house. I joined his class for a little while and realized that even though he legitimately knew karate, he did not know how to teach. I showed in how his students didn't really understand what he was trying to teach.

- Having a full understanding of karate is the first step to actually be able to teach karate. My sensei/mentor has been practicing karate for almost 20 years and this really shows in his ability to teach. Since he has so much experience and knowledge, he is able to really transfer his skills to the students he teaches.

- If you don't have background knowledge and/or good teaching skills, you are not likely to be very successful in teaching that subject. Both of these skills go hand in had, and without both of them, it would be very challenging to be able to teach karate. Having background knowledge is of karate is not all that helpful if you don't know how to communicate it. Recently, during a tournament, I had the chance to talk to a sensei who was barely starting to teach. He was very knowledgeable and you could outright tell that he really knew a lot about karate. Then I got to watch him review with a few kids before they went to compete and I realized that even though he was brimming with enthusiasm, he was effectively communicating the kids. In other words, even though he really knew a lot about karate, in the end he didn't do the best he could have since he lacked some teaching skills. 

- Teaching is truly an art that can only be mastered with time and experience. You not only need to have patience, but you need to know the right balance between putting your foot down and having the kids do as you say and simply stepping back and allowing the kids to follow what you do. This skill is clearly described in "The Non-oppressive Authoritatian." It basically describes how to be an effective teacher.

The research source (s) to support your details and answer

- Schine, Roberta. "Teaching Karate: The Non-oppressive Authoritarian." Off Our Backs, 9.5 (1979): 25-26.

- Interview 2, and 3

-Caile, Christopher. "Teaching Karate-Do: Interview with Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura, Founder and Chairman of the World Seido Karate Organization." FightingArts.com. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.

- Sang, Kim. "5 Principles of Martial Arts Teaching." Turtle Press. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.

- Fontaine, Sheryl I. "Teaching with the Beginner's Mind: Notes from My Karate Journal." College Composition and Communication, 54.2 (2002): 208-221.

Concluding Sentence

Having good teaching skills and background knowledge enables a sensei to effectively teach a karate class.

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

Content:

1. Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

I'm proud that I was able to make time. In my first presentation I had an issue with that but this time around I made time. Also I feel like I did an ok job connecting both my research and my answer so I felt pretty good about that.

2. Questions to Consider
       a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
I feel like I deserve a P because I made sure to meet all the requirement. I tried to make everything work out to the best of my ability. For example, I made sure to write speaker notes, I brought a decent amount of books and printed research, I brought a lot of props, and I tried to connect my research and mentorship to my answer. I strived to get an AE, but I honestly feel that I wasn't fully able to go above and beyond enough to fairly deserve an AE.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
I would have to say that my lesson 2 gave me the foundations I needed to begin effectively formulating my next answers. I also feel like my activity was effective enough to perhaps be used in me final presentation.

4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
Maybe I would change my wording of a few things. I feel like I might have unintentionally put too much emphasis on the fact that teaching karate is an actually business and that my answer (parental involvement) was not only important to my EQ (which focuses on teaching only) but also in creating a healthy business.I guess to a degree, I might have come off as if I was putting my effort on keeping a business alive and not on effectively teaching kids, which is the point of my topic.

5. Finding Value
What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

I think that my answer 2 will be: A positive and encouraging attitude from an instructor can go a long way to encourage and inspire students to learn. My research for this is still in the works, so I'm not entirely certain about it quite yet.