Independent Component 2 Approval

Content:

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

For the next 30 hours, I will role-play completing a mock-grant proposal for a socioeconomically disadvantaged school, justifying funding for equipment.


2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

I will submit the mock grant proposal, and the evidence of 30 hours will be found in my Independent Component 2 Log.

3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

The main objective of a nonprofit would be to write grant proposals. Since my EQ has to do with nonprofits, it would allow me to explore the nonprofit aspect of my project more, and would allow a more in-depth view on these organizations.

Independent Component 1

LITERAL
 
(a) I, Adrian Gallegos, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

My two sources most important to this component was Source ID#16 - "The Fluency Development Lesson Gets Graphic." by Belinda Zimmerman, and Source ID #19 - "The Case for Graphic Novels" by The Communications in Information Literacy Organization.

(c) Provide a digital spreadsheet (aka log of the 30 hours).   Post it next to your mentorship log.
Done.


(d) Explanation of what you completed. 
For my Independent Component, I have completed the beginning phases of a professional comic book production.  
 
INTERPRETIVE 
Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.

I have completed about 32 hours of my Independent Component. My original plans were to produce a full, professional comic book structured around Personal Finance, but I have undermined the amount of work that goes into producing the average graphic comic. Planning phases, and various elements going into pre-production alone account for nearly 8 hours of work. I have timed myself doing pages, and average a little less than 1 page every 2 hours. I have worked with others on this project, but to maintain consistency, a majority of the content was unused. Every page was created from scratch on Adobe Illustrator, including the text. I am remorseful that I have not completed the entire comic book within 30 hours, but shall continue working on it throughout the year in order to finish something that may enlighten students how to effectively manage their money - a skill essential to surviving the real world - without a lot of unnecessary technical jargon.

A delightful screenshot of the beginning pages.

 

APPLIED
How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

This component helped me understand the foundation of my topic in a lot of ways. It has enlightened to the amount of resources out there which are already dedicated to teaching people - especially students that fall under the category of my essential question. However, there aren't enough good resources - That is; A lot of educational resources exist, but little to none of them are engaging or easy to understand, especially when the target audience usually aims for a general understanding rather than a scholarly pursuit.

Lesson 2 Reflection

Content:

1. Positive Statement

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

I am most proud of my poster. I will cry if my EQ is changed.

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

      I would give myself a P.

       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

I did what was required on my presentation, and I made everything look professional and well done. I also met time. My activity, poster, and presentation have all met the requirements, and served their purpose well.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

Everything. I graphically designed and printed the poster, which came out great! I was initially afraid the activity was too long, but it actually worked out with the students, and my talking portion of the presentation went swimmingly.

4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

Provided it could only be used to change my 30 minute presentation for some odd reason, I would just rehearse a little more, and perhaps change a few fonts so that they were bigger. I felt most of my presentation was well done.

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

It's still a work in progress, but I am considering incorporating my new found skills of web design into this. Perhaps something like "By offering young teens an opportunity to work interdependently online." Again, a work in progress.

Third Interview Questions

Content:

Post 10 open-ended questions for approval you want to ask an expert in the field of your senior project.  The first question should be your essential question and the other nine must be about the foundation of your essential question or help you answer your essential question.

1. How can a nonprofit best promote High School Graduation to socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Los Angeles?

2. In your experience, how does a solid education affect an individual's ability to be a functioning member of society?

3. In your experience, how does an individual stemming from a lower income environment differ from an individual stemming from a higher income environment?

4. Within a business or organization, how does one best satisfy its clients?

5. How can an individual best promote an idea to a client?

6. In a community aiming to progress itself economically, what issues must it address first?

7. What powers does a nonprofit [business] contain that may affect the behaviors of its consumers in modern society?

8. In your opinion, what issue is the United States facing that currently limits the job market and economy?

9. How can the United States as a whole, best prepare its labor force for the future job market?

10. How can the United States as a whole, best progress society so that the aforementioned issues are resolved?

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours

Content:

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

I am completing my mentorship at Edwards Jones' Financial Advisory.

2.   Who is your contact?

My contact is David Bower, a financial broker.

3.   How many total hours have you done?

I have completed 11 hours.
  
4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

The service I have completed so far has mostly involved observing and talking to my mentor about what his job entails, and how he works with clients both on a personal and intellectual level.  I have learned a lot from him about how to deal with clients, and how working in any financial field is both extremely competitive and structured. Of course, we have many future plans ahead of us.

Senior Project, The Holiday.

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

Over Winter Break, I have completed a number of pages in my infamous Independent Component - the Comic Book of Business, and I have completed over a day's worth of mentorship under my mentor, David Bower, asking him various questions pertaining to my independent component as well as assisting him in any way I could.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

The most important thing I learned was the art of creating visual elements, and effectively implementing both educational and entertaining elements together. The source of what I learned was the result of experience messing with designing my comic book in Photoshop, stacked with a list of resources my mentor had given to me.

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers of your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

I would ask any questions about my topic to my mentor, David Bower, because he has been an enormous help with my project, and is very educated in not only his own topics of business and administration but also in the realms of education; He has a very unique perspective, and I would enjoy the chance to be able to explore his perspectives further.

Post New Years.

 "The more that you read, the more that you will know. The more that you know, the more places that you will go."

- Dr.Seuss

 

This January, I had been suggested by an unknown soul to continue on my mission of education by looking at the world's leading examples, and comparing them to ourselves. My search has led me to examine the educational systems of Finland, Singapore, and China. So far, Singapore and Finland seem the most likely candidates, but Singapore has major problems with income distribution, and I would not like to further complicate my issue. Finland has its own distinctive cultural problems, but I feel it has more to offer because of its unified and exemplary education.

"Learning and Competence 2020: Strategy of the Finnish National Education Board" was a recent article I examined, and it revealed stirring revelations of Finnish success. As it turns out, the recent successes have only really taken place in the past 10-20 years, as the system was barely implemented in the 1970s as part of a cultural reform. Finland still has strong cultural stigmas within its culture that may hinder its educational system from staying the world's best in the future.

Finland owes multiple things to its success. All teachers require a Master's Degree, and the teaching profession is a very competitive, prestigious field viewed in the same way that we currently view lawyers and doctors. In addition, it seems to be fed by the demands of the job market. In other words, if the demands of the market changes, so do the curricula of the children in the Finnish system.

Overall, my holidays were fantastic. I learned a lot about foreign educational systems, and how we may be able to implement them here. Cheers!