My Personal History

By Claire Mastrandrea
 Ages 0-3

March 22, 2000 I was born to Mike and Lucy Mastrandrea.

My two sisters gained an amazing little sister.
I would relate this time in my life to the beginning stages
of Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs because my family
provided the basis for my growth providing physiological
needs, safety, and belongingness in my family.
In this time frame my grandparents came often to help my
parents out with my sisters and I. This allowed us to not only
build close connections with our grandparents but with the
cultures and ancestors each of them came from.
During this time my mom was going through residency but
family was never far and always willing to help.
 Pre-School!
Did you meet your best friend in pre-school too?

I attended University of Buffalo daycare/preschool where I met my first best friend Kathryn.
We were inseparable and fueled each others creativity and imaginations in everyway.

This part of my life reminds me of three educational theories:

• 1. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

1. - I remember learning how to tie my shoes with my dad on the couch in the
living room

2. - Having imaginative thought and creativity with Kathryn. The picture on the
left is from the fashion show Kathryn and I started at our preschool.

3. 2. Vygotsky sociocultural theory

4. - scaffolding being introduced through allowing me to write my letters and be

creative with my writing even if I thought I had to fit as many lines as possible
in my uppercase E’s

5. 3. Malaguzzi

6. - I remember my parents allowing my creativity to flow and not limiting it to

any on particular thing. I would constantly play pretent and create elaborate
backstories to games I would play for hours.

7. - I was also encouraged to keep a journal in the summers and write/draw in it

at least once a day about anything going around me.
In preschool I made my best friend Kathryn. She was the
defining part of my preschool years and we are still friends
today. Her creativity and humor is contagious and has
always made for hours of fun and laughter.
 Elementary School
I attended St. Mary’s K-8 school with my older sisters. I was introduced
to sports, music, and Spanish.

This stage in my life reminded me of:

1. Montessori

1. - My parents constantly took me hiking and our to parks it was

really important that I spend time outside in nature.

2. - My mom would even let me work in her garden with her.

2. Bruner’s Social Constructivism

1. - When I started to learn I needed help from my teachers and

parents to learn concepts. I struggled a lot with reading and
attended an extra help program at the University of Buffalo

3. Kohlberg

-At this point in my life I was still learning social norms by

avoiding punishment and aiming at rewards. I remember sitting at the
dinner table with my plate of peas for 30 minutes because I had to eat
them before I could have dessert and a show.
At St. Mary’s my joy for learning grew, but a defining part of my elementary
school years was my struggle to learn to read. My parents would spend
hours with me every night trying to get me to read with little success. I
remember seeing a speech specialist and reading specialists. Ultimately
what worked was the special help from reaching specialists at the
University of Buffalo where I would go and work with two specialists on
mastering different books. They made it a welcoming and low stress
atmosphere and at the end I got to pick out books that I wanted to read.
This allowed me to see that reading wasn’t just something I had to do it was
something I wanted to do.
 Middle School
In middle school I still attending St. Mary’s, but in fifth grade my
oldest sister Sarah went to college. She described this as the time
in my life where I “got a personality”
This time in my life reminds me of:
1. Dewey’s Experiential learning theory
a. I began to realize that I excelled in math and science
especially when we did concrete examples and
experiments. This made me realize I was more of a
concrete experiential learner.
2. Bloom’s Taxonomy
a. I remember trying to grasp the concept of fresh water
and being told that the pond in my backyard and lake
Erie were fresh water while the beach in North
Carolina was not. I went through all of the levels of
bloom’s taxonomy to understand that fresh water
doesn’t mean there isn’t dirt in in. For my ecosystem
project I was even given that chance to create visual
representations of what this meant.
The small atmosphere at St. Mary’s allowed me to be a part of many
different extra curricular activities. I joined swimming basketball, track,
band, theater, and documentary clubs. A defining part of my middle school
years were my love for sports I began taking swimming more seriously and
showing more commitment to club teams. This allowed me to excel in swim
and make so many amazing friends. I also joined the basketball team
where my dad was my coach. We used to practice dribbling drills every
morning while waiting for the bus. Sports allowed me an avenue to express
myself, relieve stress, and create close friendships.
 High School
I attended Sacred Heart Academy, an all girls Catholic high school in Buffalo, NY. This atmosphere gave me the chance to truly find myself and establish my identity as a woman in an all female
environment. This time in my life reminds me of:

1. Gardner

1. Highschool was were I started to understand the idea of well rounded. At a Fraciscan School they really emphasised the idea of a healthy Mind, Body, and Spirit. This encouraged
me to not only work hard to improve my logic smarts but my people, nature, and body intelligence.

2. Bronfenbrenner

1. Being in the SHA community truly put into perspective the spheres of community I had around me. It wasn’t just me, my family, and my schoolm it was the entire Buffalo
community and the social norms that helped shape me

2. I remember understanding this when the Feburary Storm hit my freshman year. We got 6 ft of snow in the south towns and school was closed for a week. As a community Buffalo
band together to help all people in the south towns, but also we hurt as a community even when the north towns had only a few inches of snow.

3. Growth Mindset

1. In high school I began to realize that the things I learned in school were worth far more than a grade. This helped me grow in my ability to take constructive criticism and not shut
down when critiques are given.

2. I was often told in high school that I was a coachable swimmer because I was able to take criticisms and turn them into change with my stroke.
The defining part of my high school career was the friends that I made at
Sacred Heart. I honestly believe they are the best friends I will ever have
and the people I can call my people. Sacred Heart brought so many of my
best friends into my life. These women empowered me to embrace all parts
of myself, laugh everyday, and be creative. These women have influenced
who I am beyond belief, and showing me what a true judgement free zone
and unconditional love feels like.
 College

For me college is a time for growth, self exploration, experiencing things outside my community and my own experiences, and challenging
myself. I did this my joining the Butler women’s swim team, Tri Delta, and exploring avenues for my career outside of what I original thought it
would be.
In this part of my life I see:
1. Erikson’s Stages
1. Throughout college I have explored my own identity separate from my family and community, while still acknowledging their
impact. I have done some personal searching to figure out where I feel I align politically and what personal identity communities I
feel I belong to and which ones I am ready to belong to.
2. Current and ongoing research about learning
1. Throughout my time at Butler and with the social unrest in the United States I have been pushed to analyze the spaces I am in for
inequities. It has allowed me to dive deeper into the racism within healthcare and education, bringing in all parts of my degree.
Pertaining to education specifically I have done a lot to better understand what types of biases are contained in standardized testing
and what rubrics and reevaluating exams can do to help this.
3. Social and Emotional learning
1. Before Butler I had never heard of Social and Emotional learning; however, that does not mean I did not experience it. Through the
education school I have been able to analyze my learning and allow myself the space and grace for social and emotional learning.
Especially when pertaining to stress, I have done work to improve my reactions to stress in order to respond in a healthier way.
My college career has been most greatly defined my COVID. No one could
have predicated the whirlwind a global pandemic would have played in our
lives, especially as a college student. My experience in the COVID era was
not bad though, it was filled with self reflection, amazing new hobbies,
seeing my parents as people, tough decisions, lots of hikes, and a new
maturity I didn’t realize I was capable of yet.
Thank You