TEL: 311 Signature Assignment

Alexandra Guillen

Arizona State University

Hi there! My name is Alexandra Guillen and I am a Spanish teacher at Central High School. My

education includes earning my bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education with an emphasis in

Spanish from ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. I also graduated from Washington

High School where I was a member of the Educators Rising Organization getting hands on

experience in the classroom. Throughout my years as a student I’ve had those teachers that I

wasn’t a match with. I wanted my career to make a difference and help others. I've always

enjoyed comforting students in content areas to enhance their educational experience and prosper

in life. I wanted my career to be exciting and challenging as well as inspirational. As a Hispanic

female I want to be that role model for every student, especially minorities who often don’t see

themselves as role models. I am a public figure and I want to show others that with education

anything is achievable.

My philosophy of education is my vision which is to educate students and help them develop

into young adults by challenging their weaknesses and reinforcing their strengths. I will create a

safe learning environment by nurturing all minds and meeting the needs of each student.

Based on the research of Madeline Hunter, Dr. Fred Jones and Dr. Harry Wong, I believe that

education is the great equalizer and that every child no matter what circumstances should be

exposed to that opportunity. Students often times need that role model from a teacher if it is not

present at home or elsewhere.

These students are engaged with projects so long as they tie into what is being taught in the

lesson. It’s motivational to see students create and challenge themselves with these projects. It’s

important to invite students to get hands on and expand their creativity with project learning.

Things are learned and remembered best when they have a purpose and especially when it

becomes and everyday life task. Projects help students connect what they learned in the
classroom with their common life activities or to continue exploring. Although using projects in

schools is effective, not all project-based learning will be. Projects can be useful when

appropriate but not relied on. That becomes difficult when your students aren’t exposed to the

common required school supplies or barely any arts and craft.

To some students the classroom is a technology gadget with a computer, white board, smart

board and a few other little things like erasers, staplers, pens/pencils and hole punchers. These

are just some of the tools that students notice in the classroom and are helpful. Most students

don’t have simple tools like paper and pencils at home just to come to school and be unfunded of

these necessary materials.

Central High School is located down central avenue between Camelback and Indian School,

touching Indian Steele Park. The student population is majority minorities including first

generation students to finish some type of education. This is a title 1 school where the majority

of students, if not all, receive free or reduced lunch. Funding is low for classroom materials such

as books, papers and pencils, computers etc. The most important is having access to better and

up to date books. Technology such as laptops or tablets would be very helpful in creating a more

hand on interaction.

Project Impact

The project is creating a presentation as a group to showcase different colleges

and universities and see what they have to offer. This is needed in my school and

district because the majority of students come from low income families with no

resources or guidance. Most of the students are potential first generation students who
don’t have the adequate resources to know that they deserve to achieve a higher

education. They are all capable of attending a post-secondary institution and following

their dream careers. Education is the great equalizer and these students need more

exposure and involvement to a post-secondary education. The idea is that students will

be informed of the school of their choice from a list that I provide. They will create a

group presentation and educate others on the resources available at certain schools.

Not only that but what they can do to get there. This will impact students by encouraging

them to achieve a higher education and seek new interests. Slowly but surely we will

have higher graduation rates since students should want to potentially attend college or

even just graduate. The project will not be limited to colleges and universities only but to

institutions and fast pace certification institutions as well.

The teacher will be impacted by having student engagement and

encouragement. It is a fun and interesting project that will show the teacher how well the

students researched everything and how educated they have become on the subject.

The teacher could learn about new schools or options available for students and then

have that knowledge to share with other incoming students.

The community impact is imensful. More and more students will have access to

a post-secondary education and support. Support is critical for minorities and especially

in post- secondary education. In a community like ours, where resources are limited and

many people are uninformed and uneducated about certain issues, these types of

projects are essential to prosperity.

Summary of Project and Learning Goals:

 The project taking place is having students become familiar with Google Drive and most

specifically Google Slides. They will be asked to get into groups and do a research project that

they will then present to the class. The research will be based on any college, university or

institution that someone would be interested in attending. It is the groups job to research any

resources that the school offers and what it is that they are known for. For example, if the school

is known for their education majors, business, arts etc. They will gather the information they

research and present it to the class so that they can know what changes they need to make to

attend that school. The project will go into greater depth, needing them to also include what

students are required to do before attempting to attend that school of their choice.

Learning Goals and Outcomes:

· Students will identify the institution of their choice as a group once approved

· Students will research what majors or careers the school offers

o The benefits

o Goals

o Expectations

o Requirements

o Pre-requisites

o How to pay for it

o Who can attend?

o Why should students attend or be interested?

 Arizona’s World and Native Languages Standards:

https://cms.azed.gov/home/GetDocumentFile?id=56cb7d3baadebe16d8c83dc

Description of Project-Based Learning Unit Activities:

· The class will search the top three post-secondary education institutions of their

choice. This will be an in-class activity to make sure the teacher approves of their

choice. They will also need to make sure the information they know about that

place is correct

· Students will be able to gather the information from online, an advertisement,

book, newspaper, article or even a person who attended that institution.

· Differentiated learning styles will be able to complete this by having more time

for their research and have guided instructions. They will have a list of places to

check for the information and a list of the possible institutions they might want to

research.

· It is a student-centered project where they will do most of the work to prepare

them for college, but teachers will provide differentiated instruction by using

guided sheets. A resource to help them find resources.

Assessment:

The assessments throughout the project will not be formative assessments but more like

checkpoints. These checkpoints serve as the assessment to make sure students are meeting their

dates so that the project will be completed on time. At these checkpoints, each student in the
group will be assigned different roles and parts that they are responsible for. That way each

student gets a grade based on their individual work and I can see who is slacking, needs more

assistance or can help others.

Technology Support:

For this project I will need technology support. I will need either tablets or laptops and

Wi-Fi. The students need to have access to the internet at school and a device that they can use to

access the internet. The project is technology centered so that students can become familiar with

technology and potentially turn it into a career. The world is advancing, and it is our job as

educators to make sure students are up to date. Therefore, I will need either laptops or tablets

with internet that has good speed. It shouldn’t take more than 5 seconds for a page to load.

Sustaining the Project After the Proposal Period:

I plan to sustain the project after the proposal period based on the results of the project.

The whole point of the project is that it will better the lives of students and the community. It’s

only beneficial to everyone because it’s gathering important information that needs to be spread

to those who need to know. As a community we want more students to attend a post-secondary

institution and stay educating themselves. The more advocacy the more impact on our

community.

Innovation:

This project is innovative because it’s using technology in multiple ways through

research and presentation. It’s allowing students to be creative and communicate in distinct

ways. Our community is full of low-income families who most likely don’t have these resources

at home and this way I can help students stay up to date with learning styles through technology.

There are so many helpful resources online, students will be able to learn how to access these on
their own and one day make it a career. It also helps me learn new styles of technology and ways

to navigate. There’s always something new to learn so each year I will learn along with my

students.