Vygotsky's Theory of Development

Vygotsky mentions that mentors could be teachers, tutors, parent, or peer and each of these provides scaffold learning. When Vygotsky mentions that we scaffold children’s learning he means that us as mentors assist to children’s learning to their needs with the intention of achieving their goal.  We add support to their learning in order to make it easier for them.  Scaffolding is a method in which mentors use for children to help children gain the knowledge that is necessary.  I am an elementary school tutor and drill team coach and I am constantly thinking of ways to help make students learning easier for themselves.  One method that I frequently like to use has to do with teaching my students math.  Children tend to learn well with visual representation so I like to use physical objects in the classroom to tutor them.  The time that my mom first started teaching me how to dance is an example of scaffold learning that I can explain.  It wasn’t something that I was very good at besides the little wiggle and wave your hands type of thing that most 5 year olds do.  My mom decided to take time to teach me to dance properly.  We would stand in the living room and dance to music of her preference but when I wasn’t quite getting it, she let me pick the music.  That is when it became easier for me when she would say “move your hips” or “sway your body like this.”  There wasn’t a handbook that she could teach me off of or an instruction manual but she managed by adjusting her teaching method to my abilities to make it easier for me.  She assisted me to my benefit. In high school I decided I wanted to try something different in my life besides dancing and running, which is when I decided to learn how to play the guitar.  It was too late in the school year to try and join the guitar class so I asked my older cousin.  He began by explaining all of the chords to me and how they are each supposed to sound when they are played.  It was difficult to learn how to switch from chord to chord while playing a song but watching him play the song “Trouble” by Never Shout Never made me mesmerized and excited to learn more because I too wanted to be able to  play that song like him. I can see myself using both scaffolding and the zone of proximal development at home with my brother and at school while tutoring my first grade class or with my drill team class.  At home I will be able to use assisted teaching to help my brother with his homework.  Instead of giving him straight forward answers to his homework I can help him learn how to get to that answer by assisting him to reaching that goal.  While tutoring my first grade students I can help them by using visual learning and giving them examples of my experiences that way they can come up with their own experiences.  My drill team students will be able to learn through watching me and being able to choose what kind of music they like to dance to most that way I can make it easier for them to learn the routines that I am trying to teach them.

My view on the No Child Left Behind Act

No Child Left Behind Act is not as effective as it is portrayed to be.  What makes it so ineffective to some and who believes it is ineffective?  There is a reason why the Act was passed and why it has been in place for so long.  Ever since Betsy DeVos was appointed to be the Secretary of Education, she has made it quite clear that she does not believe the Act is effective.   Her mission is to prove to the others that this Act isn’t in place to help each child individually but in place to help the children as a group. DeVos is trying to prove that charter schools have better programs to offer without actually considering what public schools have to offer. The No Child Left Behind Act has grants that are for these programs in the public education system that Betsy DeVos seems to be ignoring. Here, I am going to go into great detail and explain why the No Child Left Behind Act is effective for the public education system. I’m going to write about the Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

My favorite actor, book, and movie

Rachel McAdams was born on November 17, 1978 in London, Canada. Rachel McAdams completed a four year theatre program at York University near her hometown London, that is a city in Ontario, Canada. She started her career as a Canadian actress but in 2002 she made her first Hollywood appearance in her first American movie “The Hot Chick.”  She has starred in more than twenty five movies and is most famous for the movie “Mean Girls.”  Rachel McAdams has won twenty one awards including, the two awards she won for “Mean Girls.”


Ronnie’s parents are divorced and she lives with her mother in New York. Ronnie’s mother takes Ronnie to her father’s house in North Carolina for the summer where Ronnie meets Will at a carnival. While Will helps Ronnie rescue sea turtles outside of her father’s house, Ronnie finds out that her dad has cancer.  Her dad is in the hospital and eventually passes away, so Ronnie has to pack up her father’s house. Because Ronnie tells Will that she is now going back home to New York, Will decides to follow Ronnie and applies to a college near Ronnie’s home.




The main character, Jack Skellington, lives in Halloween town where he has grown tired of having only Halloween every 365 days.  Jack goes into the woods and finds a door that leads to Christmas Town.  Halloween Town citizens agree to have Christmas instead of Halloween, so Jack’s helpers kidnap Santa Claus from Christmas Town.  While the town makes presents out of Halloween decorations, Jack dresses up as Santa Claus.  Because the toys scare the people of Christmas Town, Christmas is ruined for Christmas Town.  In the end, Jack returns Santa Claus to Christmas Town and Santa Claus fixes Christmas.

Book out of my past

The book that I have chose is A Child Called "It" by the author Dave Pelzer.  I have read this book multiple times but I first picked up the book when I was in the sixth grade.  I have read this book a total of five times but it was first recommended to me by my sixth grade teacher Mr. Valdez.  I have never been the type to easily pick  up just any book and instantly be interested in it but this book was different.  I was having a hard time finding a good book in the library when Mr. Valdez pointed it out to me.  The book is about a young boy who was treated badly by his own mother.  She tortured him and treated him less than his siblings.  This book stood out to me because it is based on a true story and that young boy is the author Dave Pelzer.  The most interesting part of the book is that he wasn't always treated this way.  When he was younger his mother would take him and his two brothers on family trips while their father was away on work.  It wasn't until his mom became an alcoholic that she started disciplining him more and more.  By the time he was twelve years old he was being questioned by the school nurse for his bruises that seemed to multiply by the day. He lied about it because he was scared his mother would hurt him for saying anything.  I recommend this book to everyone to read because it is a powerful book with a powerful message.  It is a story about a child's life while being neglected and mistreated by the person that experienced it himself.  He goes into great detail and the way that he describes it grabs the reader's attention and makes you want to read more.

Two Truths and One Lie

1. I am twenty years old and I have lived in El Centro my whole life. One of my hobbies is running. In high school I was a mid to long distance runner.  I had ran cross country and track and I made it to state for cross country.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to run in state because I had dislocated my knee in the IVL finals.  It was in the last turn going into the finish line where I stepped wrong and that was it for my knee.  I was supposed to stay off of it for 6 months but I had only let it rest for 3 months because track season was about to start and I needed to start running again.  It wasn’t my best idea because my knee never healed correctly.  After high school I wasn’t able to run the same anymore but I still manage to go for a run every now and then.2. I’m a first grade tutor and drill team coach at Martin Luther King Elementary School.  I am also an insurance broker at an insurance company.  Throughout my days during the week you will always find me either at work or at school.  In the mornings until midday I am working at the insurance company selling policies for auto insurance and home insurance.  In the evenings I am working the Elementary school tutoring 1st graders for an hour and then coaching drill team,which consist of 1st through 6th grade students, for 2 hours.  After I get out of work at the Elementary school I usually have a night class from 6:30 pm to 10 pm.  

3. When I was younger my dad used to take my family and I out to the desert to ride quads.  I was eight years old when I finally built up the courage to ride one on my own and with great hesitation my dad finally agreed to it.  It was a smaller bike that belonged to my sister who is just a few years older than me so it was just a perfect size for my first try… at least we thought it was.  I hopped on the bike and was fine with my dad following me just a few feet behind.  It was when I decided to speed up my bike while going over a hill that I realized I had made a mistake.  Luckily I had a helmet on but I had flipped over on the quad and broke my arm and sprained my ankle.  The worst part was that I had ruined my sisters bike and I had knew in that second that the only thing that mattered was that my sister is going to kill me once she finds out. Luckily she got over it by the time my arm and ankle healed so she never got to the chance to actually kill me.

Don't Stop Believing

“Don’t Stop Believing” is about taking a leap of faith.  People work hard to feel happiness but some may never get that feeling.  Just because you don’t feel that happiness everyday doesn’t mean you have to let go of that hope and have faith that happiness will find its way to you.  In an interview Steve Perry, the lead singer of Journey, explains that “streetlight people” are an embodiment of loneliness of people who are looking for a bit of faith after a long day they had.  These people strive for happiness and live to find that emotion.  At the end of Candido’s days at the labor exchange his thoughts are how much he has missed America that day and what she is doing.  He gets lonely without her and just wants to feel happy and see her happy.  So everyday Candido wakes up with hope that he will find happiness and doesn’t stop believing in that and holds on to that feeling of “one day.” There are people walking down the street at night at the end of their day hiding their emotions and hiding their loneliness as they walk into the darkness.  Steve Perry stated that the song was inspired by those days that he would look out of his hotel room and watch figures appear under the streetlights and vanish into the darkness as they walked out of the light. After leaving the labor exchange, Candido and America would walk at night with the occasional streetlight shining on them before they would vanish into the darkness and crawl into their little shack that they used as their home.  “Some will win, Some will lose, Some were born to sing the blues.”  People will do anything to get a shot a success, and will probably keep on trying their luck till they end up successful. On the other hand some people will never catch a break, thus being forced to “sing the blues” their whole life because they can’t win.  Candido tries everything that he can to give his wife her american dream but can never catch a break with his luck.  He is always left “singing the blues” because he can never win.

Is Betsy DeVos the equipped to be the Secretary of Education?

This poster was made by a famous magazine that goes by the name of MAD Magazine. MAD magazine was designed for American humor and is credited for its political satire. This magazine is famous for their parodies in the American culture.  This poster is of Betsy DeVos. She was appointed to be the Secretary of Education by President Donald Trump. This caused controversy amongst the Teachers Union simply because Betsy DeVos has no background in public education.  

The poster states,  “ We the Unqualified….Purchase Cabinet Positions.” This remark specifically refers to Betsy DeVos’  lack of educational background. During Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, Betsy DeVos made a 9.5 million dollar donation to his campaign. By making this very big donation her goal was to  win over Donald Trump and convince him to appoint her as the Secretary of Education if he were to win the presidential election, which he did.  Another important part of the poster is the way the pearls around her neck are displayed.  In the image the pearls that Betsy DeVos is wearing are not of ordinary size but quite big. This just goes to show that being rich for Betsy DeVos is no complication but rather a luxury that she has been able to use to her advantage.

The  main colors of the poster are dull and ordinary except for the red in her eyes, on her lips, and on her jacket. This is the first visual element that grabs the attention of the audience. The emphasis of the red brings out a significance and true meaning in Betsy DeVos character and personality.  Red is known to be an intense color and represents danger, evil, and power.  All of which describe Betsy DeVos’ character.  Her view on education for children is based upon her liking and not what is best for the children as a whole group.  

Tattoo Analysis

This tattoo has a sentimental value to me because of two reasons. It was six years ago that I lost the most important person in my life, my mother, when she passed away when I was only fourteen years old. I grew up in a very religious family where it was believed that whenever a loved has passed away they become an angel that guards you. My mother has become my angel even though I wasn’t ready for her to be.   

This tattoo that I have chosen has images of birds flying away in a distance around the quote that says “Your wings were ready but my heart was not.”  On the left side of the quote is a giant feather that seems to be left behind from one of the birds. I think what that feather symbolizes is that even when someone has left, such as passed away, there is always a part of them that is left behind.  That part of them can be left behind by the memories of them or something else, such as a tattoo.

Tattoos are often used by individuals as a form of remembrance of some of their most important memories.   Some examples that support this are a few tattoos that the rapper Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem has.  One of the tattoos is a tribute to his uncle Ronnie who had passed away from committing suicide. This tattoo includes some of his best memories with his uncle and the words “Ronnie RIP” at the bottom.  Another tattoo that Eminem has that would support this is his daughter’s name Hailie Jade on his arm.  He got this tattoo the day his daughter was born because it was one of his favorite memories that he wanted to keep close to him at all times.

Although some believe tattoos are not meaningful but just a way to “fit in”, I would get a tattoo because I believe that tattoos are used to represent some sort of remembrance that people want to keep close to them.  The reason I chose the tattoo with the quote stating “Your wings were ready but my heart was not” is because that is a tattoo in remembrance of my mother who I lost at an early age.  Everyone expresses themselves and their beliefs in different ways.  I believe that being able to express yourself is up to each individual and to some a tattoo is what helps express that individual in ways that they can only understand