CODES 221 Reflection #2

Marques Rutlin

Dr. Martinez

Research Team

23 September 2025

Reflection 2

After meeting with our partners at JJK and compiling lesson plans in preparation for the water fair, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work at JJK and contribute to the future of water infrastructure education. As a team, my group has worked well, communicating effectively with the educators at JJK, always having questions to ask, taking down notes during discussions, and being respectful. Individually, I could improve a bit more and take more initiative in talking to the JJK members during online meetings. On multiple occasions, it’s usually Peyton or Alexandra communicating the main idea, and I may add or explain how I will contribute. It’s important for me to step up because, as a future educator, I want to improve my communication skills, as this is what I will be doing on a regular basis. As a band director, I will be collaborating with parents,teachers,staff,and others on a regular basis, and I will be using public speaking on a daily basis, leading activities and large group ensembles. During the site visits, I believe I’ve been confident and observant during our time at JJK. I made sure to introduce myself to the kids and interact with them. At JJK, my group got the opportunity to observe and participate in a lesson where kids were tasked with identifying trees using the types of leaves and other clues that were on a flash card. During this activity, I was paired with 2 other kids,one of whom was more laid back, and the other kids were very active and joked around a lot with me. It’s important to have a balance between fun and work because this after-school program shouldn’t feel like a chore to kids. Our goal as a team is to make water conservation education interactive . Personally, that site visit as a whole was refreshing to me, validating my knowledge of working with kids. This experience also validated how fun it is to work with kids. I enjoy it because of how random and intelligent they are. Kids pick up on the small things and will surprise you every day. In the future, I plan to be more outgoing and more present during discussions with the partners. This will be my time to finally step it up, since we will be doing something education-focused. I want to be a resource for my partners for designing their lesson plans and basic classroom skills. I have prior experiences leading, for example, during my senior year, I job shadowed the middle band director for my education teaching class,I volunteered at the Pattonville High School’s summer band program,and during my senior year, I was drum major of the marching band. All of these experiences required me to lead and demonstrate knowledge to others confidently. These experiences have shaped me into who I have become today as a future educator, and I can’t wait to use these skills at JJK.