Monday, February 6, 2012

Independent Component 1

See Log Here


“I, Madelene Santizo, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 37 hours of work.” 

Literal
I attended a course, which was taught by a Pomona College professor, where I was part of the collaborative community that was composed of Claremont Colleges' students and Pomona High school students. I attended several meetings both in Pomona College and Pomona High to get to know each other and work on our specific topics. I worked with a group of variety of students on our topic of Migration and interviewed several people. For our final presentation we shared the stories of our interviewees and learned about the topics (Education, Housing, Communities, etc.) of our fellow peers. 

Interpretive
I had meeting for three months were we learned what a community really meant, and we visited and learned about two educational institutions  (Pomona HS and Pomona College) that are close to each other yet very different. These meetings themselves added the majority of my 37 hours (and additional meeting times), and were very productive since we were able plan our own curicculum. Within the Migration group that I picked we wanted to compare migrants from Claremont and Pomona, but instead focused on reoccuring themes and shared their stories. I was able to interview a Scripps college professor who was from Vietnam and an I-Poly student who was from Ecuador with a Claremont College partner, while my other peers focused on their own interviews. The interviews themselves lasted a couple of hours, but I first learned how to properly conduct an interview and transcribe it. The proof of all of my, and peers, hardwork could have been seen in our final presentation, which was like an exhibition, that was held on December 3rd at Pomona College.

Applied
I took into consideration that a large portion of Latinos/as  are recent migrants and have traveled to the United States from their home countries. I felt like this was a very important topic that I had to learn about in order to discover why so many people left their homes and why the US intrigued them so much to leave, which I assumed was due to opportunities such as acessibility to education. One of the many reocurring themes that I found throughout the interviews was that the young migrants took advantage of being able to be educated in the US. This leads me to conclude that many first generation Latinos/as are most likely to try harder in school then later generations. I believe that this is because they know what it is like to live in a place where there is lack of education. Later generations may not appreciate this because they have never had to face any struggles and do not value its importance. From this I feel like I could answer my EQ by stating that there must be an awareness for ALL Latinos/as of their roots and where they come from. If they are shown their potential conditions, whether its living in Mexico or Cuba, then they will appreciate everything that was done for them and be more likely to take advantage of their opportunities.

Also, while hearing my fellow peers presentations I found something interesting. Claremont, which is now a heavily populated with whites. used to be the home of many Latinos/as. Living by this neigborhood I never thought that any Latino/a even lived in Claremont. Basically, Latinoa/as were forced out of Claremont because they were going to be build new homes. and in recognition for their bad actions they made a little park called, "El Barrio." To me this shows that their is much oppression that we are not even aware of and I can tie this to my answer of rejecting imposed ideas from oppresionists.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Answer 1

EQ: What is the best way to increase the number of Latino/a students who attend higher educational institutions? 

(1) What is answer 1 to your EQ? Be specific in your answer and write it like a thesis statement.


If community members inform Latino/a students about resources like enrichment programs at an early age, then the number of Latino/a students who attend higher educational institutions will increase. 


(2) What possible evidence do you have to support this answer?

  • College Board is a not for profit organization that supervises the SAT, SAT II, etc. and even they see the need to increase the number of Latinos/as in college. Written by professors in CSU Sacramento and UC Davis Professor it entails the step by step process for Latinos/as to attend college. They believe that a relationship must be fostered with Latino parents, communities, and schools by:
1. a two-way communication process;
2. support of the child, family, and the school;
3. a process to learn about each other, and how to work
together;
4. sharing teaching responsibilities; and
5. collaborating in decision making and advocacy. School
and community partners should engage these techniques
in daily practices.
  • My own experience by having my 6th grade teacher inform me about a non-profit organization, Uncommon Good, helped me learn about the college process. Now for my service learning I am working with them and I am able to inform elementary students about the program, and get them excited about going to college! It really helped me a lot, and honestly I would have no clue what I would do without a program like this. 
  • The Influence of Academic Support on Latino Adolescents' Academic Motivation is an article that looks for the major influences of academic motivation on Latino/a students. It found that for boys the dad was seen as a more significant role model and for girls the mother was seen as a more significant role model. However, for both genders the teachers were equally important. This is important because it shows how each one can impact the lives of the students. The community has to equally be active in the lives of the students in order to motivate them to pursue college. 




(3) What source(s) did you find this evidence and/or answer?


  • Carlos Nevares and Timo Rico. Latino Education: A senthesis of Recurring Recommendations in P-16 Education. 2007. College Board. http://advocacy.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/Latino-Education-A-Synthesis.pdf. 
  • Service Learning with Carlos Carrillo (program coordinator) from Uncommon Good.
  • Alfaro, Edna C., Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, and Mayra Y. Bámaca. "The Influence of Academic Support on Latino Adolescents' Academic Motivation." Family Relations55.3 (2006): 279-91. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 20 Oct. 2011.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Service Learning

  • Where are you working for your service learning?
    • I am working at a non-profit ogranization, Uncommon Good, that is located in Claremont, CA and serves the Inland Valley. I am personally assisting Carlos Carrillo who is the program coordinator there. 
  • What is your contact?
    • My contact is Carlos Carrillo, the contact information is provided in the list of contacts. 
  • Summarize the services you have performed to complete the 10 hour requirement
    • I have helped by filing
    • Inserted data on to the computer
    • Helped recruit people to adopt a family for Christmas
    • Made phone calls to members (families and students) of Uncommon Good
    • Help with Freshman activities by cooking and creating activities
    • I helped lead activities at monthly meetings in elementary/middle schools
    • This Thursday I will be presenting on my experience at I-Poly to prospective Uncommon Good students and help them start thinking about financial aid/ scholarships! 

Friday, January 6, 2012

ESLR Blog

Through my senior project I believe that I have been an effective communicator, user of technology, and effective learner:

  • I have been an effective communicator because besides giving a presentation for my independent component, I have also done many interviews. When I did my first interview I did not know what were the proper techniques to interview someone. I decided to take my laptop and record the interview while I typed out the main points. I later learned through my independent component class that it was not the right thing to do. The instructor explained how all the attention should be given to the interviewee and to continue the conversation with follow-up questions. I will now use this style to get a more in depth conversation when I interview someone the next time. Along with effective communicating, I learned how to use technology that I was unfamiliar with - a recorder! I know it may sound silly, but I had never used that device before and by using the Dropbox program it made my life much easier to share and communicate with my classmates from Pomona College and Pomona High School. 
  • I have been an effective learner because I have had to be responsible for my own learning. I had to contact all the people who provided me with service learning and my independent component, so I had to assume responsibility for my learning. I complete tasks that I am supposed to do, but most of the time I am looking for new ways to expand my knowledge on my Senior Project; whether it is watching documentaries, or Spanish news channels, I am always eager to learn more!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Third Interview Questions

  1. Why do you believe that many Latinos/as are not pursuing higher education? if you do not believe this is so, why not?
  2. What is the best way to increase the number of Latino/a students who attend higher educational institutions? 
  3. What benefits and advantages are there for Latinos/as who pursue higher education compared to those who do not?
  4. Are there any benefits for the community and society as a whole if Latinos/as attend college?
  5. There are many different higher educational institutions such as community colleges, California State Universities, private colleges, etc., will they offer equal opportunities to Latinos/as? 
  6. Who is responsible for the lack of Latinos/as attending educational institutions? 
  7. What can a regular individual do to help solve this issue? 
  8. What factors (or information) would any student require in order to apply and attend college? 
  9. Do you believe that media portrays dishonest perceptions of Latinos/as that in some way discourage Latinos/as to attend college? If so what are they, and why do they discourage them? If not, why not?
  10. At what age should Latinos/as start preparing for the application process of higher educational institutions? 
  11. How does the fact that not many Latinos/as attend college directly impact you?
  12. If you are Latino/a or Hispanic, were you able to attend college and how did you manage to do this?
  13. What would you tell high school students if you could tell them one crucial piece of information about college or anything of that matter that will help the students immensely? 

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Self Reflection

(1) How do you think you are doing so far in your senior project and why?  AE, P, AP, CR, or NC


I feel like I'm doing awesome! I'm done with my independent learning which I presented on Dec. 3rd. I've also just finished my college class in Spanish Morphology, which connected to my senior project because even though it is a linguistic class it opened my eyes by allowing me to see that all Latinos are different, which could be seen from the social dialects that we have. I felt like this was important and should be identified when dealing with Latino Education since many parents or students may speak a different type of Spanish. Language is very important because it is the way we communicate and if we don't all understand each other then we are going to have problems. I've been doing my service with Uncommon Good, in which I have been calling parents for monthly meeting reminders, speaking to elementary kids, and doing anything he needs me to do. I went to a lecture hosted by Victor Villasenor, who is a Latino author, and all the things he said were very inspiring. I've also started to contact another professor so I could possibly enter her Chicano/Latino Experience course, which should give me more great information. I'm also considering volunteering in La Plaza, which is a Mexican-American museum. I feel like I've done a lot and I've really gained new information so I would give myself a P <-> AE. 




(2) What one thing do you think you have done well on and why?


I am proud of the fact that I've been going out of my way to look for more information, yet I still focus on what is required. I've really been concentrating on local and current events that all have something to do with education. I've been sitting down and watching documentaries about immigration, which all seem to connect to education in some way or another. I also have been keeping up on the Pomona College situation and the peaceful protests that they have been doing in order to make their college change the way they treat people who cannot present their identity papers. 


(3) What is one thing you would like to improve on and why? 


I feel like I should do more research, by actually reading books or articles that relate to Latino Education. I really haven't had time to do that, but will when I get the chance.