Evan Hallam
Learner Portfolio
Reflective Essay
This essay will reflect upon how and why I meet or exceed the Alameda Unified School District / Alameda Community Learning Center Graduate Portfolio standards, which include personal qualities, work habits, work attitude, new basics, thinking and reasoning skills, interpersonal and collaborative ability, and technology literacy.
My personal qualities are conservative; in most tasks I work conventionally and in accordance, consistently, to what rules, standards, guidelines, or orders are in place at the time, and this plays well into how I work. Typically, my traditional work ethic is complementary to my reserved personality, as it allows me to take my work more seriously, to command my focus effectively and appropriately, and most importantly, it allows me to be absolutely free from distraction.
My new basics competency is adequate; I have proven over the course of my time in interning, schooling, and volunteering that I am capable of communicating, reading, writing, and listening sufficiently. Over the duration of my time in high school and community college I have also demonstrated that I retain a satisfactory knowledge of the liberal arts. In the disciplines of communication and languages, arithmetic, social sciences, current events, civics, and the arts, I have developed and learned extensively of these topics; as well have I learned to apply all the concepts related to these subject to everyday life. With this, I have learned extensively about health and fitness, the importance of it, and how I can improve my health through fitness and nutrition knowledge.
My thinking and reasoning skills are satisfactory; in all tasks I have the ability to cognate situations and problems and determine a solution for them. My thinking process when working is thorough, methodical, conscientious, and timely. I retain the ability to reason properly and sufficiently in regard to the task at hand, and in the event of an unexpected situation occurring, I retain the ability to adapt, evolve, and excel to solve the problem.
My interpersonal and collaborative ability is extensive; throughout my academic and working experiences I have adequately demonstrated the ability to work and solve problems collaboratively in teams. Especially during my time at community college and in internships, I have been met with challenges to overcome through group work, and have overcome, whether it is a real-world situation or college-level course work. When working in teams, I have demonstrated the ability to communicate what is necessary to my teammates that will contribute to solving the problem or problems at hand.
My technology skills are sufficient; in many tasks I have been assigned I utilize the technology available to me that will help me solve what problem or problems are at hand and that will help improve the solution. Through my experiences interning, volunteering, and taking courses in community college, I have been tasked with using technology and computers or computer-based programs, and at that, to satisfactory levels. When an issue arises wherein the technology I must use is faltering, I am capable of competently troubleshooting and maintaining the equipment being used.
Personal Resume
Evan Hallam
1808 Magnolia Drive
(510)-707-4080
Alameda, CA 94502
Education:
Student, Automotive Technology, January 2013
College of Alameda, Alameda, CA
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Repaired and inspected wide range of vehicles
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Worked with a team to solve difficult problems
Student, Geography, June 2014
College of Alameda, Alameda, CA
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Assisted in organizing course documents and schoolwork
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Studied the fundamentals of Earth science with a team
Student, Astronomy, January 2015
College of Alameda, Alameda, CA
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Educated in proper, clear, and concise scientific report writing
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Conducted complex experiments independently and in a timely manner
Student, Anthropology, June 2015
Laney College, Oakland, CA
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Studied fundamental principles of socio-cultural anthropology
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Completed several essays pertaining to anthropological studies
Student, August 2012 to Present
Alameda Community Learning Center, Alameda, CA
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Educated in a variety of subjects
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Developed leadership and teamwork skills while contributing to the school community
Experience:
Alameda Fire Department Volunteer Assistant, February 2012
Alameda Fire Department Station 1, Alameda, CA
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Organized data entry and files as a volunteer clerk
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Filed and enveloped fire inspection reports
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Organized and boxed materials for fire awareness activities at local schools
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Enhanced organizational, patience, and preparation skills
Volunteer Bay Historian, Save the Bay, October 2014
Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA
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Taught to middle school students the history of the San Francisco Bay
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Supervised and educated middle school students in wetland restoration
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Developed leadership, patience and flexibility skills
Learning Ally, Northern California Branch Volunteer, February 2015
Learning Ally, Menlo Park, CA
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Recorded a variety of audiobooks for blind and visually impaired students
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Edited audiobooks to meet quality standards of Learning Ally
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Grew problem solving, patience, and time management skills
1 from outside of ACLC while attending
(in relation to ACLC Profile Standards of Work Habits and Personal Qualities).
1 from ACLC classes
Junior Year- Telenovela, Entrevista Script
(in relation to ACLC Profile Standards of Technology competence, Work Habit).
Work Samples
1 from ACLC classes
Junior Year- Duckweed Investigation Report - Ecology
(in relation to ACLC Profile Standards of Technology competence, Work Habit).
Internship Section
Description of Internship
Interning at the Northern California Branch of Learning Ally in Menlo Park, Cal., I undertook and was instructed in such tasks as audiobook recording, quality controlling of audiobooks, and editing of audiobooks using such software editing programs as Sound Forge and Easy Books. Learning Ally is a non-profit volunteer-run organization that produces audiobooks for free to blind, dyslexic, or visually impaired students and individuals.
Greater detail of what was done while interning at Learning Ally is described below.
Evan Hallam
Alameda Community Learning Center
27 August 2015
Internship Weekly Journal – 9 July 2015 to 27 August 2015
9 July 2015-
Officially beginning weekly internship at the Menlo Park studio of Learning Ally where the basics of audio editing using Sound Forge have been introduced.
15 July 2015-
Continuing training on audio editing, including volume, cutting, and smoothing techniques.
16 July 2015-
Continuing training on audio editing and quality control work using Easy Books.
22 July 2015-
Continuing practice on audio editing, quality control, and recording of audiobooks.
29 July 2015-
Continuing practice on audio editing and quality control, with an introduction to compression and dynamics tools.
30 July 2015-
Continued practice on production of audiobooks, including tasks of editing, quality control listening and recording.
6 August 2015-
Continued application of skills learned from editing techniques such as cutting, volume enhancement and reduction, compression, smoothing, and mastering of audiobooks using Sound Forge and Easy Books software.
13 August 2015
Continued practice of recording audiobooks and editing/producing audiobooks.
20 August 2015-
Continued practice of quality control of audiobooks, overwriting and picking-up on non-producible audio files to make them producible.
26 August 2015-
Final day of internship. Continued work on recording audiobooks and editing them through quality control, compressing, and cutting.
Evan Hallam
Alameda Community Learning Center
27 August 2015
Internship Closing Report
To open this closing report of the Alameda Community Learning Center internship engagement, and to account for all volunteer work I have completed in the past of my academic career, this one has been not only the most fulfilling, for its cause and its experience, but it has also been the most educational for me. The following closing report will address in more detail all the aspects of the internship including specific skills used, daily duties, a general synopsis of what was learned in the internship, one example of an obstacle during the internship, and a comparison between my initial expectations of the internship and in retrospect how the experience really turned out.
Specific Skills-
During the internship I acquired a diverse range of skills specifically contoured for the daily duties I had at hand. Of these included the ability to record an audiobook; this comprised particularly of the conventions of reading a book while recording, checking marks where appropriate, checking voice level, microphone technique, and the ability to speak clearly when recording. Quality-controlling recorded audiobooks was also a major skill learned, wherein I listened through audiobooks and checked for conventions errors, misreads, mispronunciations, stumbles, hesitations, and other errors that may impede the audiobook from being produced, using the program Easy Books. Other skills learned were more technical; using the audio-editing program Sound Forge I learned about cutting, compression, dynamics, distortion, smoothing/enhancing, volume, and marking completed audiobooks ready for production.
Daily Duties-
The responsibilities of my internship were various and always included the aforementioned skills listed above. My duties were always given to me by my supervisor and mentor of those skills; he typically giving me a task (or tasks) and allowed me to independently to practice the skills and techniques he taught me. Some days I would be tasked with recording an audiobook for the day, or that in combination with quality control, or that in combination with editing an audiobook.
Synopsis of what was Learned-
Over the course of my internship with the Menlo Park studio of Learning Ally I learned a wide range of skills regarding the technicalities and processes of audiobook production. I as well learned about the importance of work ethics, punctuality, responsibility, and time management. All of the many things I learned while interning and volunteering at Learning Ally I value as long-lasting, vital for my future experiences working, and, moreover, for a great cause; for making learning for blind, visually impaired, and dyslexic students easier.
An Example of an Obstacle-
One of few obstacles I encountered over the duration of the internship, and perhaps the most prevalent in regard to how often it occurred, was balancing schedules and time management to the best effect with my supervisor.
Initial Expectations and Afterwards-
Before my duties at Learning Ally evolved to become a more in-depth, rigorous internship I worked there as a volunteer wherein my daily tasks mainly included recording audiobooks and minimal quality control work. With this said I was expecting to learn and perform some more extensive skills that went deeper into audio-editing, specifically compression and volume manipulation of the wave forms. This expectation was met after a couple weeks and I began to learn of these aspects of audiobook production and practice them thoroughly and independently throughout the duration of the internship.
Internship Time Sheet
Evan Hallam
Internship Site: 431 Burgess Drive, Suite 120, Menlo Park, CA
Supervisor Name: Harry Hall
Date Hours Paid Unpaid
9 July 2015 5pm-7pm - x
15 July 2015 5pm-7pm - x
16 July 2015 5pm-7pm - x
22 July 2015 5pm-7pm - x
29 July 2015 5pm-7pm - x
30 July 2015 5pm-7pm - x
6 August 2015 5pm-7pm - x
13 August 2015 5pm-7pm - x
20 August 2015 5pm-7pm - x
26 August 2015 5pm-7pm - x
Total Hours: 20
20 Year Vision
Contact
Personal Vision with Action Plan
This personal vision organizes a comprehensive vision for future goals and a detailed action plan of how to achieve these goals. This personal vision encompasses the next twenty years and is demonstrative of how the Alameda Community Learning Center Graduate Profile Goals relates to this action plan. This action plan will include explanations of short term goals and long term goals.
At this moment, my career goal is to become a TEFL teacher, or a teacher who teaches English as a Foreign Language. To achieve this goal, what immediately must be done is to graduate high school with the best grades I can possibly achieve, as well as continuing to take community college courses while still in high school. Community college courses in education . and English would be most helpful in fulfilling my ultimate goal.
Subsequent to high school, my short term goals would be to enroll in a university and pursue a major that would benefit me considering my goal. A major to pursue may be education, English, or a foreign language. While attending college full-time, it would be a benefit for me to partake in internships as a teacher’s assistant abroad.
After graduating college with one of the preferred majors, I will obtain TEFL teacher’s certification, which is a requirement to be competitive in being hired as a TEFL teacher in a secondary or primary school setting. Additionally, I may choose to pursue a graduate degree in order to acquire a university position with better pay and benefits.
