THIS IS IT: The final blog post of the spring semester! This semester has brought a lot of good things to me as a student, and I'm so thrilled to end this semester with lots of good memories and a handful of new friends!
This week's 311 class was a lot more laid-back than previous Wednesday nights. The first half of the class was dedicated to creating our co-recitation leader agreements! I'm very excited to being planning the recitation for Jessica and me's freshman mentees, and to creating a fun yet productive environment in the classroom for everyone involved. We also agreed on a meeting time between us to organize things, as well when we should meet with Allie and Chelsee every week to update them on our progress throughout the fall semester.
The second half of the class (and MOST fun) was a variation of charades between the Wednesday and Thursday recitation sections! Us Wednesday people kicked butt, as was expected. ;) I've never played this version of charades before (every item to be guessed was a "couples" item), but it was a great way to get our first experience in working together as co-leaders! Jessica and I kinda struggled at first (Saved by the Bell - really?!) but got there in the end. I think our impression of David and Victoria Beckham was spot-on. No matter what anyone else said about my soccer imitation!
I'm definitely looking forward to the summer, but with the 2013 Hixson Scholars coming in the fall, I'll be wanting the Fall 2013 semester to get here pretty quickly before I know it. Very excited for what's to come!!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Week 15: April 28
Even though we are now done with peer-facilitated lessons in UST 311, this final week of regular classes turned out to be an eventful one as a Hixson Peer Mentor! We gained some valuable knowledge from former/returning Hixson Peer Mentors on their experiences and advice for success, we found out our co-leader pairs and recitation times for the fall semester, and we had our final Hixson Peer Mentor retreat of the semester today! A lot went on in the past week, but now only Dead Week and Finals Week separate me from SUMMER!! Woo!
The past peer mentor panel was definitely a great idea (by whoever came up with it!) to allow us to ask questions that only a former peer mentor would know. They gave us a lot of insight into their experiences last fall, including their most rewarding moments, how much time they realistically spent working on Hixson lessons/etc each week, and how they handled behavior problems in their respective recitation sections. They also each gave their advice on how we should handle our tenure as Hixson Peer Mentors.
I found out that my co-Peer Mentor for the fall will be Jessica! Next semester should be a good time; we'll both be taking around 17 credits (which after our talk with the former peer mentors kind of scares me) but I think we'll be okay and for sure organized enough to help our section become amazing Iowa State students! Also, we had our retreat today (Sunday). It was such a nice day, and a cookout at Allie's along with fun icebreakers was a great way to get outdoors and enjoy each other's company. Looking forward to the summer and next semester!
The past peer mentor panel was definitely a great idea (by whoever came up with it!) to allow us to ask questions that only a former peer mentor would know. They gave us a lot of insight into their experiences last fall, including their most rewarding moments, how much time they realistically spent working on Hixson lessons/etc each week, and how they handled behavior problems in their respective recitation sections. They also each gave their advice on how we should handle our tenure as Hixson Peer Mentors.
I found out that my co-Peer Mentor for the fall will be Jessica! Next semester should be a good time; we'll both be taking around 17 credits (which after our talk with the former peer mentors kind of scares me) but I think we'll be okay and for sure organized enough to help our section become amazing Iowa State students! Also, we had our retreat today (Sunday). It was such a nice day, and a cookout at Allie's along with fun icebreakers was a great way to get outdoors and enjoy each other's company. Looking forward to the summer and next semester!
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Week 14: April 21 (2 of 2)
My super stressful yet eventful week has come to a close, and another (probably even more so on both levels) is coming up starting tomorrow!
This week in 311, we discussed peer mentors in higher learning. Brooke and Tanner lead the discussion; although they did a great job, I thought that it was strange to have that topic at the end and not at the beginning of "Students Helping Students." Also, it was a differently-paced chapter. But, just as Brooke and Tanner correctly mentioned, it was nice to just kind of review all the topics we have discussed this semester (which is what the chapter sort of did in my opinion).
We also discussed social intelligence with our article that we read for Wednesday's class. We learned that the seven characteristics of social intelligence are: empathy, attunement, organizational awareness, influence, developing others, inspiration, and teamwork. For our blogs, we were to give 2 characteristics that we feel we excel in, and one trait that we struggle with or would like to work on. The two traits I chose that I think I excel in are inspiration and attunement; I chose inspiration because I'm generally a positive and optimistic person and I enjoy cheering others up or boosting morale, and I chose attunement because I believe that I am a good listener and I am capable of attentively listening to others' needs. The trait that I probably struggle with most out of the 7 is organizational awareness. With 100 students in the freshman Hixson Seminar, it's going to be challenging trying to combat 100 different personalities and learning styles, and trying to get them to work together to increase their chance of personal and academic success.
I definitely can't wait to see the final product for our digital story-telling project on Wednesday. I hope everyone enjoys it and finds it as funny as we did when we were filming it! I'm also very excited to find out who my co-Hixson peer mentor will be for the fall. No matter who it is, I'm very optimistic that we'll be able to make a positive impact on the 2013 Hixson Scholars and help them become successful Iowa State students and leaders!
This week in 311, we discussed peer mentors in higher learning. Brooke and Tanner lead the discussion; although they did a great job, I thought that it was strange to have that topic at the end and not at the beginning of "Students Helping Students." Also, it was a differently-paced chapter. But, just as Brooke and Tanner correctly mentioned, it was nice to just kind of review all the topics we have discussed this semester (which is what the chapter sort of did in my opinion).
We also discussed social intelligence with our article that we read for Wednesday's class. We learned that the seven characteristics of social intelligence are: empathy, attunement, organizational awareness, influence, developing others, inspiration, and teamwork. For our blogs, we were to give 2 characteristics that we feel we excel in, and one trait that we struggle with or would like to work on. The two traits I chose that I think I excel in are inspiration and attunement; I chose inspiration because I'm generally a positive and optimistic person and I enjoy cheering others up or boosting morale, and I chose attunement because I believe that I am a good listener and I am capable of attentively listening to others' needs. The trait that I probably struggle with most out of the 7 is organizational awareness. With 100 students in the freshman Hixson Seminar, it's going to be challenging trying to combat 100 different personalities and learning styles, and trying to get them to work together to increase their chance of personal and academic success.
I definitely can't wait to see the final product for our digital story-telling project on Wednesday. I hope everyone enjoys it and finds it as funny as we did when we were filming it! I'm also very excited to find out who my co-Hixson peer mentor will be for the fall. No matter who it is, I'm very optimistic that we'll be able to make a positive impact on the 2013 Hixson Scholars and help them become successful Iowa State students and leaders!
Week 14: April 21 (1 of 2)
This is my post about the Diversity Event that I attended for the Hixson Peer Mentor program! The session I attended was on Wednesday, April 18th at 8:00PM in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. Besides having to battle the rain before and after, it was overall a good time! The session was entitled "How to Be Black" and was given by comedian Baratunde Thurston.
This actually wasn't what I was expecting as a diversity event. I looked up the details of the presentation about 45 minutes beforehand ( lectures@iastate.edu ) and realized that this diversity event would not be so much a lecture as it was a comedy show. This presentation took a much more comedic and laidback approach to the topic than I would have previously expected. But there was plenty of heavy stuff (as can be expected when discussing racism and African-American history). The speaker focused more on his up-bringing than African-Americans as a whole, including discussing his family and his prior experiences.
He is also very active with social media, and has an apparently deep hatred of the "Twilight" film series. But seriously, who can fault him for that?
Overall, it was very hilarious AND well-meaning. I learned a couple of important things about diversity while feeling like I was at a show hosted by Comedy Central! That's a success in my book: learning something about diversity in as light-hearted a tone as you can!
This actually wasn't what I was expecting as a diversity event. I looked up the details of the presentation about 45 minutes beforehand ( lectures@iastate.edu ) and realized that this diversity event would not be so much a lecture as it was a comedy show. This presentation took a much more comedic and laidback approach to the topic than I would have previously expected. But there was plenty of heavy stuff (as can be expected when discussing racism and African-American history). The speaker focused more on his up-bringing than African-Americans as a whole, including discussing his family and his prior experiences.
He is also very active with social media, and has an apparently deep hatred of the "Twilight" film series. But seriously, who can fault him for that?
Overall, it was very hilarious AND well-meaning. I learned a couple of important things about diversity while feeling like I was at a show hosted by Comedy Central! That's a success in my book: learning something about diversity in as light-hearted a tone as you can!
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Week 13: April 14
In the thirteenth week of UST 311A, we learned from Haley and Cole about the importance of correct ethics when working with our mentees. This lecture (for me) brought back a lot of what I have learned in my education classes concerning professional ethics and how to handle myself in a teacher-student or a teacher-teacher situation.
The question that Haley and Cole posed to us for blogs that the end of their presentation was "out of the twelve ethical principles that peer educators should use, which five do you think will be most important in the fall and why?" This was interesting, since all are important to the success of a peer educator. The five I have chosen and the reasons why are in the next paragraph.
First, I chose "when in doubt - consult." This is fairly similar to the first principle "know your limits," and I think it is of vital importance to know where to draw the line with your mentee and know when it might be prudent to seek help from another source. For us, this would probably include referring the mentee to Allie and/or Chelsee. Second, I chose "maintain your client's privacy" because as an education major I have learned all about FERPA and other educational privacy laws - and confidentiality is probably the most important thing we will have to use with our mentalities. Obviously, we can't keep secrets that conceal a crime or harm to others, but hopefully a student will be able to come to us peer mentors with a personal issue without fearing that we will betray their confidence - again, assuming that whatever they're telling us isn't something that Allie and Chelsee would need to know. Third, I chose "act appropriately when dealing with persons for whom you feel attraction." As a peer mentor, I would deem any inappropriate mentor-mentee relationship absolutely unprofessional. Not only do we monitor their academic progress throughout the semester, but we are also a bridge between Allie/Chelsee and the students, and unearned bias could blossom from attraction and starting a relationship. Fourth, I chose "show respect and dignity for other individuals" for obvious reasons. And lastly, I chose "remember you are a role model," which accurately sums up everything: as peer mentors, we need to be able to represent the Hixson Program well both in the classroom and in public.
The question that Haley and Cole posed to us for blogs that the end of their presentation was "out of the twelve ethical principles that peer educators should use, which five do you think will be most important in the fall and why?" This was interesting, since all are important to the success of a peer educator. The five I have chosen and the reasons why are in the next paragraph.
First, I chose "when in doubt - consult." This is fairly similar to the first principle "know your limits," and I think it is of vital importance to know where to draw the line with your mentee and know when it might be prudent to seek help from another source. For us, this would probably include referring the mentee to Allie and/or Chelsee. Second, I chose "maintain your client's privacy" because as an education major I have learned all about FERPA and other educational privacy laws - and confidentiality is probably the most important thing we will have to use with our mentalities. Obviously, we can't keep secrets that conceal a crime or harm to others, but hopefully a student will be able to come to us peer mentors with a personal issue without fearing that we will betray their confidence - again, assuming that whatever they're telling us isn't something that Allie and Chelsee would need to know. Third, I chose "act appropriately when dealing with persons for whom you feel attraction." As a peer mentor, I would deem any inappropriate mentor-mentee relationship absolutely unprofessional. Not only do we monitor their academic progress throughout the semester, but we are also a bridge between Allie/Chelsee and the students, and unearned bias could blossom from attraction and starting a relationship. Fourth, I chose "show respect and dignity for other individuals" for obvious reasons. And lastly, I chose "remember you are a role model," which accurately sums up everything: as peer mentors, we need to be able to represent the Hixson Program well both in the classroom and in public.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Week 11: March 31
It's the eleventh week of the semester; this week in University Studies 311, we learned about resources on the Iowa State campus, as well as different methods of informing our mentees on all the on-campus ISU resources that they can take advantage of once they come here as freshmen.
Megan and Jessica led the discussion this week, and I thought that their activities were very relevant to how we'll have to act as recitation leaders in the fall. Their "resource recall" activity was a great way to refresh our memories on the numerous resources at Iowa State that we have at our disposal; I even learned about several more, including an all-hours on-call nurse for non-emergency medical situations! This was an especially important exercise, because as peer mentors we are going to be something of a resource ourselves; leaders who can point out the experts to help our mentees (with any of their problems including health, academics, registration, etc.).
Their ending activity was a variation of Jeopardy to test our knowledge of ISU's on-campus resources, including a couple I had never even heard of! I love incorporating this game into lessons; I added it to my own "ISU History and Traditions" lesson plan for the fall, because it is a great way to increase the students' interest while still allowing them to learn something relevant to their experiences as an Iowa State student. I wish we would have had more time to finish the game, but it was nevertheless a nice change of pace to just have fun and unwind in the middle of class!
Megan and Jessica led the discussion this week, and I thought that their activities were very relevant to how we'll have to act as recitation leaders in the fall. Their "resource recall" activity was a great way to refresh our memories on the numerous resources at Iowa State that we have at our disposal; I even learned about several more, including an all-hours on-call nurse for non-emergency medical situations! This was an especially important exercise, because as peer mentors we are going to be something of a resource ourselves; leaders who can point out the experts to help our mentees (with any of their problems including health, academics, registration, etc.).
Their ending activity was a variation of Jeopardy to test our knowledge of ISU's on-campus resources, including a couple I had never even heard of! I love incorporating this game into lessons; I added it to my own "ISU History and Traditions" lesson plan for the fall, because it is a great way to increase the students' interest while still allowing them to learn something relevant to their experiences as an Iowa State student. I wish we would have had more time to finish the game, but it was nevertheless a nice change of pace to just have fun and unwind in the middle of class!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Week 9: March 17
Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody!
It's the ninth week in my experiences as a Hixson Peer Mentor (Nine weeks?! Wow!), which means another week in University Studies 311A has come and gone. This week we continued with student-led lessons, and this week we heard from Shelby and Stephanie about academic success and how it relates to peer educators and their mentees.
I thought that the icebreaker and activity were very well-executed; either of these activities could be used in any club or organization in order to evaluate the strengths of the members. The first activity we did was an icebreaker in which we were given three cards (each having a trait or interest on it), the object being finding other people and trading cards so that you have the three cards that most suit you. My three cards fit me to a tee: teaching (my passion and my planned future career), social (I'm a huge people person, and I love meeting new people), and organized (if you saw my planner, you would understand this trait completely; hint: lots of labels).
The second activity involved a personality assessment that evaluated our individual learning preferences. The four types were visual, kinesthetic, reading and writing, and audio. I've known I'm a visual learner ever since learning about Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory, so it wasn't a surprise that the same rang true with this quiz (although hands-on learning/kinesthetic was a near second).
I loved the fact that these two interactive activities were something that could be carried on to our mentees in the fall, as well as in other organizations or even in my teaching career (knowing my students' learning styles just might be helpful!).
That's all for this week! On to Selection Sunday and the rest of my spring break! I can't wait to see my Cyclones in the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and to fill out March Madness brackets!
It's the ninth week in my experiences as a Hixson Peer Mentor (Nine weeks?! Wow!), which means another week in University Studies 311A has come and gone. This week we continued with student-led lessons, and this week we heard from Shelby and Stephanie about academic success and how it relates to peer educators and their mentees.
I thought that the icebreaker and activity were very well-executed; either of these activities could be used in any club or organization in order to evaluate the strengths of the members. The first activity we did was an icebreaker in which we were given three cards (each having a trait or interest on it), the object being finding other people and trading cards so that you have the three cards that most suit you. My three cards fit me to a tee: teaching (my passion and my planned future career), social (I'm a huge people person, and I love meeting new people), and organized (if you saw my planner, you would understand this trait completely; hint: lots of labels).
The second activity involved a personality assessment that evaluated our individual learning preferences. The four types were visual, kinesthetic, reading and writing, and audio. I've known I'm a visual learner ever since learning about Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory, so it wasn't a surprise that the same rang true with this quiz (although hands-on learning/kinesthetic was a near second).
I loved the fact that these two interactive activities were something that could be carried on to our mentees in the fall, as well as in other organizations or even in my teaching career (knowing my students' learning styles just might be helpful!).
That's all for this week! On to Selection Sunday and the rest of my spring break! I can't wait to see my Cyclones in the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and to fill out March Madness brackets!
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Week 8: March 10
Another week in University Studies 311A, and this week was even more eventful than normal (and it's ALWAYS eventful) because this was the week that Josh and I facilitated the lecture discussion. I thought it went very smoothly, and I actually was not nervous at all - surprising!
This week's topic was leadership and how to effectively lead a group. I hope everyone enjoyed our "question of the day" -- I certainly was cracking up when I first read the idea on the Internet! If you were a contestant in the Miss America pageant, what would your talent be?
Me and Josh's takeaway thought that I've decided to blog about was "in your opinion, is a leader born or made." For me, I definitely think that a leader can be made, and is not born with the ability to lead a group. It's takes a lot of training and experience to be able to stand in front of a group comfortably and facilitate a discussion or lead a group, and even the most seasoned leaders need improvement with their communication and presentation skills. For me, I also look to my personal experiences; when I was a freshman in high school, I was as shy as it gets. But I became involved in FFA and student government as the freshman class president, and slowly became more of a leader. By the time I ran for and successfully became the FFA secretary in November of my freshman year, I had learned what it takes to be a leader and learned that talking in front of a group can be scary but can also be rewarding. I owe all of my leadership abilities to what I experienced from FFA!
Today (Sunday) was also our March retreat, which featured some more fun icebreakers. The first icebreaker especially was a great way for us to get to know each other more fully, and the second was almost like a cross between the trust exercise and telephone! We also got to explore our coloring and creativity skills with making a group logo. It was definitely a great time (until we saw the monstrous snowflakes falling outside.) On a more depressing note, I found out a little more than I wanted to about my personal college debt. Hopefully I can figure out my finances so that I can be confident and secure come graduation time!
This week's topic was leadership and how to effectively lead a group. I hope everyone enjoyed our "question of the day" -- I certainly was cracking up when I first read the idea on the Internet! If you were a contestant in the Miss America pageant, what would your talent be?
Me and Josh's takeaway thought that I've decided to blog about was "in your opinion, is a leader born or made." For me, I definitely think that a leader can be made, and is not born with the ability to lead a group. It's takes a lot of training and experience to be able to stand in front of a group comfortably and facilitate a discussion or lead a group, and even the most seasoned leaders need improvement with their communication and presentation skills. For me, I also look to my personal experiences; when I was a freshman in high school, I was as shy as it gets. But I became involved in FFA and student government as the freshman class president, and slowly became more of a leader. By the time I ran for and successfully became the FFA secretary in November of my freshman year, I had learned what it takes to be a leader and learned that talking in front of a group can be scary but can also be rewarding. I owe all of my leadership abilities to what I experienced from FFA!
Today (Sunday) was also our March retreat, which featured some more fun icebreakers. The first icebreaker especially was a great way for us to get to know each other more fully, and the second was almost like a cross between the trust exercise and telephone! We also got to explore our coloring and creativity skills with making a group logo. It was definitely a great time (until we saw the monstrous snowflakes falling outside.) On a more depressing note, I found out a little more than I wanted to about my personal college debt. Hopefully I can figure out my finances so that I can be confident and secure come graduation time!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Week 7: March 3 (2 of 2)
Now I am going to move on to the second half of this week's reflection: my experiences at this year's Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity (abbreviated as ISCORE). This conference is in my opinion a great way to open the eyes of college students to the differences around them and allow them to be more aware and tolerant of diversity on the Iowa State campus.
I attended the session entitled, "Dumb Things We Need to Stop Saying and Other Practical Steps to Increase Our Effectiveness Around Diversity." I thought it was a very eye-opening experience about some of the things we say that may be offensive or suggestive to those of different ethnic backgrounds, which usually was never the intent of the speaker. I know I'm guilty of that a lot of times, since my level of diversity tolerance could definitely be higher.
The presenter used four main concepts as tips for dealing with the "oops" things that come out of our mouths when it relates to diversity. First, she told us about the "intent v. impact" concept; just because we may not intend to harm another person with our words does not mean we still don't end up harming that person. A tip to handle this was apologizing without becoming defensive. The second concept was P.O.P. (pile on principle), which basically meant that people of different backgrounds may already deal with intolerance during their daily routines, and what you just said to offend them could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. A tip to handle this is to show empathy for that person. The thrird concept was to remember our priveleges (a head start in life; every group has it and doesn't have to ask for it). A great metaphor the presenter used was "some people are born on third base and think they've hit a triple." Tips for handling priveleges include reminding ourselves that we've been given a head start in life, not everyone is as fortunate as us, and what matters most is what you do with the advantages you've been given. The final concept was called "raising the BAR." BAR stands for breathe, acknowledge, respond. To me, this is similar to "think before you speak." We spent the rest of the session going over examples of derogatory comments that are sometimes said, and whether the speaker meant it to be offensive or not.
Overall, I thought it was a very enjoyable workshop, though I did have a feeling that some of the derogatory comments that they were using as examples didn't really apply to the whole group. Some people don't have to deal with the horrible or racist comments that other ethnic groups do. It was definitely something to think about, though!
I attended the session entitled, "Dumb Things We Need to Stop Saying and Other Practical Steps to Increase Our Effectiveness Around Diversity." I thought it was a very eye-opening experience about some of the things we say that may be offensive or suggestive to those of different ethnic backgrounds, which usually was never the intent of the speaker. I know I'm guilty of that a lot of times, since my level of diversity tolerance could definitely be higher.
The presenter used four main concepts as tips for dealing with the "oops" things that come out of our mouths when it relates to diversity. First, she told us about the "intent v. impact" concept; just because we may not intend to harm another person with our words does not mean we still don't end up harming that person. A tip to handle this was apologizing without becoming defensive. The second concept was P.O.P. (pile on principle), which basically meant that people of different backgrounds may already deal with intolerance during their daily routines, and what you just said to offend them could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. A tip to handle this is to show empathy for that person. The thrird concept was to remember our priveleges (a head start in life; every group has it and doesn't have to ask for it). A great metaphor the presenter used was "some people are born on third base and think they've hit a triple." Tips for handling priveleges include reminding ourselves that we've been given a head start in life, not everyone is as fortunate as us, and what matters most is what you do with the advantages you've been given. The final concept was called "raising the BAR." BAR stands for breathe, acknowledge, respond. To me, this is similar to "think before you speak." We spent the rest of the session going over examples of derogatory comments that are sometimes said, and whether the speaker meant it to be offensive or not.
Overall, I thought it was a very enjoyable workshop, though I did have a feeling that some of the derogatory comments that they were using as examples didn't really apply to the whole group. Some people don't have to deal with the horrible or racist comments that other ethnic groups do. It was definitely something to think about, though!
Week 7: March 3 (1 of 2)
It's another double-blog week in UST 311A! The first blog post (the one you're currently reading) will cover the lecture from Wednesday night, and what we learned about working in a group. The second blog post (yet to come) will cover my experiences and observations from the 2013 Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity (ISCORE). Let's get to it.
This week in University Studies 311A, we learned about the importances of working as a group when you are a peer educator. Tyler and Kat lead this week's discussion and activities, and they kept the tradition of great presentations alive. I especially enjoyed the interactive icebreakers that we did as a group.
The "question of the day" was a much deeper and reflective question that I think I have had with my Hixson introduction: if you were a piece of clothing, what would you be? I decided to go with my classic FFA pullover, because that signifies my passion for FFA and agriculture and also alludes to my future career as an agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor.
We also participated in an activity involving wooden dowels, that definitely tested our balance and hand-eye coordination skills! It involved us peer mentors working as a group to pass off our batons using only our right hands.
A group dynamic is definitely important to any organization or business, especially the Hixson learning community. We peer mentors will be responsible for working together to ensure the successes of the freshman Hixson Scholars coming in in the fall semester. Also, it will be our duty to ensure that the freshman are able to work with each other and make themselves better college students and better people.
This week in University Studies 311A, we learned about the importances of working as a group when you are a peer educator. Tyler and Kat lead this week's discussion and activities, and they kept the tradition of great presentations alive. I especially enjoyed the interactive icebreakers that we did as a group.
The "question of the day" was a much deeper and reflective question that I think I have had with my Hixson introduction: if you were a piece of clothing, what would you be? I decided to go with my classic FFA pullover, because that signifies my passion for FFA and agriculture and also alludes to my future career as an agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor.
We also participated in an activity involving wooden dowels, that definitely tested our balance and hand-eye coordination skills! It involved us peer mentors working as a group to pass off our batons using only our right hands.
A group dynamic is definitely important to any organization or business, especially the Hixson learning community. We peer mentors will be responsible for working together to ensure the successes of the freshman Hixson Scholars coming in in the fall semester. Also, it will be our duty to ensure that the freshman are able to work with each other and make themselves better college students and better people.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Week 6: February 24
My blog post is slightly late this week, but I have a valid excuse: watching the 85th Academy Awards!
The fifth week of University Studies 311A has come and gone! This week in class we learned about the importance of problem solving in being a peer educator, and how some mentees will inevitably have problems that they will come to you with as a confidant.
Sebastian and Brad led the learning session this week, which focused on problem solving (found in chapter five of "Students Helping Students"). It's three for three, folks. Brad and Sebastian also did a great job, which worries me for my presentation on March 6th (these guys and girls are setting the bar too high!).
One of the activities we did was to look at a specific scenario of a problem that a freshman might come to us peer mentors with in the fall. From there, our group was to decide if a formative (keeping track of a goal at certain checkpoints along the way) or summative (checking on the progress of a goal once it has been completed) assessment. As an education major, I have had formative and summative assessments hammered into my skull, so I thought it was a great exercise to apply the knowledge I have already gained through my education courses and applying them to a situation that is not technically formal education.
In other news, all of ya'll need to head over to Hilton Coliseum tomorrow (Monday) to cheer on the Iowa State men's basketball team as they take on #9 Kansas in the first ESPN Big Monday matchup for ISU since 2006. With a win, ISU will have 23 home wins in a row. It's Gold Rules at 8:00! Go State!
The fifth week of University Studies 311A has come and gone! This week in class we learned about the importance of problem solving in being a peer educator, and how some mentees will inevitably have problems that they will come to you with as a confidant.
Sebastian and Brad led the learning session this week, which focused on problem solving (found in chapter five of "Students Helping Students"). It's three for three, folks. Brad and Sebastian also did a great job, which worries me for my presentation on March 6th (these guys and girls are setting the bar too high!).
One of the activities we did was to look at a specific scenario of a problem that a freshman might come to us peer mentors with in the fall. From there, our group was to decide if a formative (keeping track of a goal at certain checkpoints along the way) or summative (checking on the progress of a goal once it has been completed) assessment. As an education major, I have had formative and summative assessments hammered into my skull, so I thought it was a great exercise to apply the knowledge I have already gained through my education courses and applying them to a situation that is not technically formal education.
In other news, all of ya'll need to head over to Hilton Coliseum tomorrow (Monday) to cheer on the Iowa State men's basketball team as they take on #9 Kansas in the first ESPN Big Monday matchup for ISU since 2006. With a win, ISU will have 23 home wins in a row. It's Gold Rules at 8:00! Go State!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Week 5: February 17
This week in University Studies 311A was another eventful one! In class we learned about the importance of interpersonal communication as it relates to being a peer mentor, and we also had another retreat today (Sunday) that was an opportunity to get to know my fellow peer mentors a little more.
Coreen and Katie lead the discussion in class, which this week centered on the different aspects of interpersonal communication and how to implement that into a curriculum designed for mentees (chapter four in "Students Helping Students"). I thought they did a very good job! Every question that they asked was very thought-provoking, and in my opinion there was a lot of good discussion on the book chapter's content. We also discussed the characteristics of a helping relationship, which included aspects such as: the relationship involves feelings, communication and interaction, respect for individual self-worth, clear structure, collaboration, and involvement. A peer educator must also be approachable and secure as a person for a successful helping relationship to exist, which to me just means that we need to be a resource for our mentees while still being able to relate to what they're going through and show empathy.
We also went around the room and threw out different characteristics that a mentor should possess (we used our actual mentors as examples and inspiration). I thought this was a great activity to get us thinking about what kind of traits we want to exhibit with our freshman students in the fall and what kind of mentor we want to be remembered as by those first-year students.
We also had a retreat on Sunday, which was a very fun time. It involved four icebreakers, each of which allowed us to get to know one another in a completely different way: the first tested our communication and revealed fun facts, the second definitely tested our physical abilities and strategy, the third tested our critical thinking and teamwork, and the fourth allowed us to think about our own values and preferences while still keeping a light-hearted tone overall.
I really enjoyed this week, and can't wait for the next one!
Coreen and Katie lead the discussion in class, which this week centered on the different aspects of interpersonal communication and how to implement that into a curriculum designed for mentees (chapter four in "Students Helping Students"). I thought they did a very good job! Every question that they asked was very thought-provoking, and in my opinion there was a lot of good discussion on the book chapter's content. We also discussed the characteristics of a helping relationship, which included aspects such as: the relationship involves feelings, communication and interaction, respect for individual self-worth, clear structure, collaboration, and involvement. A peer educator must also be approachable and secure as a person for a successful helping relationship to exist, which to me just means that we need to be a resource for our mentees while still being able to relate to what they're going through and show empathy.
We also went around the room and threw out different characteristics that a mentor should possess (we used our actual mentors as examples and inspiration). I thought this was a great activity to get us thinking about what kind of traits we want to exhibit with our freshman students in the fall and what kind of mentor we want to be remembered as by those first-year students.
We also had a retreat on Sunday, which was a very fun time. It involved four icebreakers, each of which allowed us to get to know one another in a completely different way: the first tested our communication and revealed fun facts, the second definitely tested our physical abilities and strategy, the third tested our critical thinking and teamwork, and the fourth allowed us to think about our own values and preferences while still keeping a light-hearted tone overall.
I really enjoyed this week, and can't wait for the next one!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Week 4: February 10
Wow, I'm already in my fourth week as a Hixson Peer Mentor! This semester really feels like it's flying by, which is fine by me because I'm very excited to welcome in the new freshman class of Hixson Scholars!
This week in University Studies 311A, we witnessed the first student-taught lesson of the semester, this one being presented by the very capable Easten Lovelace. He did very well (which actually makes me even more nervous for when I give my lesson!), and included a lot of interactive activities that engaged the audience very effectively. His lesson, as well as chapter three in "Students Helping Students," is about cultural and differences among people, including religion, food, music, ethnicity, and art. This was a very interesting topic for me; if there's one major flaw in my being a peer mentor, it is that I'm very dead-set in my beliefs and my values (which can lead to difficulties in practicing tolerance!). I hope that I can open my eyes a little and be a little more tolerant of everyone around me, even if they don't always agree with my background and my personality.
I also thought the introductory game was a great way to kind of see some of the other peer mentors' backgrounds. It'll be great to get to know all of them a little more as the semester continues on! I also think I've got the most of the peer mentors' names down - still working on it!
This Sunday is our February retreat, and it should be a fun time. I'm definitely looking forward to it, although I'm hoping I'm not absolutely exhausted from my club officer retreat in Kansas City on Friday and Saturday! We'll see, I guess. Here's to another great week at Iowa State!
This week in University Studies 311A, we witnessed the first student-taught lesson of the semester, this one being presented by the very capable Easten Lovelace. He did very well (which actually makes me even more nervous for when I give my lesson!), and included a lot of interactive activities that engaged the audience very effectively. His lesson, as well as chapter three in "Students Helping Students," is about cultural and differences among people, including religion, food, music, ethnicity, and art. This was a very interesting topic for me; if there's one major flaw in my being a peer mentor, it is that I'm very dead-set in my beliefs and my values (which can lead to difficulties in practicing tolerance!). I hope that I can open my eyes a little and be a little more tolerant of everyone around me, even if they don't always agree with my background and my personality.
I also thought the introductory game was a great way to kind of see some of the other peer mentors' backgrounds. It'll be great to get to know all of them a little more as the semester continues on! I also think I've got the most of the peer mentors' names down - still working on it!
This Sunday is our February retreat, and it should be a fun time. I'm definitely looking forward to it, although I'm hoping I'm not absolutely exhausted from my club officer retreat in Kansas City on Friday and Saturday! We'll see, I guess. Here's to another great week at Iowa State!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Week 3: February 3 (2 of 2)
Also during this week, the Hixson peer mentors took time out of the week to attend two conferences at the Iowa State University Memorial Union. On Friday, we attended the Learning Communities Mid-Year Institute; on Saturday, we attended the Iowa State Leadership Experience (or ISLE). Both were meant to expand our leadership skills and enhance the success of both the new Hixson scholars and ourselves.
My overall reaction of the learning communities institute was that it was well-organized and very informative and relevant to our work as peer mentors. I attended three workshops on Friday: one about four-year academic plans, one about highlighting a peer mentor experience in a resume, and one about using social media within learning communities.
Arriving at the Memorial Union bright and early (alright, it was 10AM), I attended my first session. It was hosted by the Kinesiology peer mentors, and was over how to handle four-year academic plans for freshman and transfer students. However, they also wanted to stress that peer mentors should not emphasize the term "four-year plan," because many students will extend their college experience because of the following: by adding a second major, a teaching endorsement, or a minor; by participating in student teaching, ROTC, or study abroad programs; or by needing extra course requirements, transfer credit issues, "last 32 credits" rule, and other delays. I thought it was very informative, but the peer mentors leading the discussion were also very Kinesiology-centered in their presentation (whereas we Hixson peer mentors will be handling many different majors in our recitation sections alone).
Next up was a presentation over highlighting a peer mentor experience in a resume, hosted by a representative of the College of Engineering student services office. I really paid attention to this workshop, because as a college student I feel like everyone has differing opinions on what a resume should look like and include and no one can seem to agree on the ideal format. Some of the tips I took away from the presentation include: be VERY specific and descriptive with your experiences, use action words instead of passive or vague/boring words in your descriptions, and keep your resume to one page but definitely consider including an objective. He also gave some interesting advice about interviews, including making sure to use the STAR (situation, tasks, actions, results) method when giving answers to behavior-type questions.
Lastly was a social media workshop hosted by the Women's Studies peer mentors. Just like with the Kinesiology presentation, I thought that this content was very good and informative, but their personal examples were not exactly transferrable to the Hixson Program because their learning community is all-female, whereas our freshman group will be co-educational. Nevertheless, we did learn about the various social media sources that are currently popular and how we can incorporate them into a learning community's curriculum. One interesting activity that we did at the end was a scenario (a learning community) that had the demographics of the group (such as "only 75 percent use Facebook) and other details; as groups, we had to determine what social media sources would be best to use so that the entire group would feel like they belong and could participate in discussions.
I attended one ISLE workshop on Saturday; it was over emotional intelligence and how that affects your students and you as a facilitator/coordinator. It was definitely interesting, because we never really think about how emotions or personal feelings will impact us when we're making decisions or giving advice to a large group. The presenter also gave a description of our generation as a general whole (some traits on this list on definitely spot-on!): interpersonal skills are less developed, strong computer skills, skeptical and desensitized, multi-tasking and distracted, high expectations of everyone, and negotiating everything.
My overall reaction of the learning communities institute was that it was well-organized and very informative and relevant to our work as peer mentors. I attended three workshops on Friday: one about four-year academic plans, one about highlighting a peer mentor experience in a resume, and one about using social media within learning communities.
Arriving at the Memorial Union bright and early (alright, it was 10AM), I attended my first session. It was hosted by the Kinesiology peer mentors, and was over how to handle four-year academic plans for freshman and transfer students. However, they also wanted to stress that peer mentors should not emphasize the term "four-year plan," because many students will extend their college experience because of the following: by adding a second major, a teaching endorsement, or a minor; by participating in student teaching, ROTC, or study abroad programs; or by needing extra course requirements, transfer credit issues, "last 32 credits" rule, and other delays. I thought it was very informative, but the peer mentors leading the discussion were also very Kinesiology-centered in their presentation (whereas we Hixson peer mentors will be handling many different majors in our recitation sections alone).
Next up was a presentation over highlighting a peer mentor experience in a resume, hosted by a representative of the College of Engineering student services office. I really paid attention to this workshop, because as a college student I feel like everyone has differing opinions on what a resume should look like and include and no one can seem to agree on the ideal format. Some of the tips I took away from the presentation include: be VERY specific and descriptive with your experiences, use action words instead of passive or vague/boring words in your descriptions, and keep your resume to one page but definitely consider including an objective. He also gave some interesting advice about interviews, including making sure to use the STAR (situation, tasks, actions, results) method when giving answers to behavior-type questions.
Lastly was a social media workshop hosted by the Women's Studies peer mentors. Just like with the Kinesiology presentation, I thought that this content was very good and informative, but their personal examples were not exactly transferrable to the Hixson Program because their learning community is all-female, whereas our freshman group will be co-educational. Nevertheless, we did learn about the various social media sources that are currently popular and how we can incorporate them into a learning community's curriculum. One interesting activity that we did at the end was a scenario (a learning community) that had the demographics of the group (such as "only 75 percent use Facebook) and other details; as groups, we had to determine what social media sources would be best to use so that the entire group would feel like they belong and could participate in discussions.
I attended one ISLE workshop on Saturday; it was over emotional intelligence and how that affects your students and you as a facilitator/coordinator. It was definitely interesting, because we never really think about how emotions or personal feelings will impact us when we're making decisions or giving advice to a large group. The presenter also gave a description of our generation as a general whole (some traits on this list on definitely spot-on!): interpersonal skills are less developed, strong computer skills, skeptical and desensitized, multi-tasking and distracted, high expectations of everyone, and negotiating everything.
Week 3: February 3 (1 of 2)
Another week has gone by in U St 311A, and this past week was a very busy and eventful one. I learned a lot about myself and my fellow Hixson peer mentors on Wednesday night, where we were given our results for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment.
We started with a presentation from Debra that explained each of the eight areas where we could fall into: extraversion (E) v. introversion (I); sensing (S) v. intuition (N); thinking (T) v. feeling (F); and judging (J) v. perceiving (P). As she explained the traits that correlated with each of the eight personality areas, I found myself thinking, "Yep, that's me for sure." I guessed that I was an ESTJ, which was confirmed shortly after when I received my detailed results.
It turns out that I knew myself better than I thought. All of my facets (subcategories within my 4 major personality areas) were in-preference, with only one facet classified as a "mid-zone" preference. None of my facets were out-of-preference, something that was surprising to me. I found out that I am a 29 out of 30 for extraversion, and I have maximum preferences for being initiating, expressive, active, experiential, planful, early starting, and scheduled.
When we started comparing notes on our types among us peer mentors, I began to learn about the specific details of the opposite facets that I preferred. I may or may not have called the people with a preference for "accommodating" (as opposed to my preference of "questioning") pushovers, something that I definitely did not mean to come across as offensive. Sorry for that, guys!! I also learned where a lot of us stand when it comes to starting a project, from the two extremes of starting a big project the night it's assigned to the morning that it's due. I would say that I'm more in the middle, but it was definitely interesting to see the diversity that we have just in our group of 17 peer mentors (and how that will of course translate to the diversity of the 100 freshman in the fall!). I'm looking forward to using my type preferences to good use, and keeping in mind the limitations of my personality when communicating with others that may not have the same views as me.
We started with a presentation from Debra that explained each of the eight areas where we could fall into: extraversion (E) v. introversion (I); sensing (S) v. intuition (N); thinking (T) v. feeling (F); and judging (J) v. perceiving (P). As she explained the traits that correlated with each of the eight personality areas, I found myself thinking, "Yep, that's me for sure." I guessed that I was an ESTJ, which was confirmed shortly after when I received my detailed results.
It turns out that I knew myself better than I thought. All of my facets (subcategories within my 4 major personality areas) were in-preference, with only one facet classified as a "mid-zone" preference. None of my facets were out-of-preference, something that was surprising to me. I found out that I am a 29 out of 30 for extraversion, and I have maximum preferences for being initiating, expressive, active, experiential, planful, early starting, and scheduled.
When we started comparing notes on our types among us peer mentors, I began to learn about the specific details of the opposite facets that I preferred. I may or may not have called the people with a preference for "accommodating" (as opposed to my preference of "questioning") pushovers, something that I definitely did not mean to come across as offensive. Sorry for that, guys!! I also learned where a lot of us stand when it comes to starting a project, from the two extremes of starting a big project the night it's assigned to the morning that it's due. I would say that I'm more in the middle, but it was definitely interesting to see the diversity that we have just in our group of 17 peer mentors (and how that will of course translate to the diversity of the 100 freshman in the fall!). I'm looking forward to using my type preferences to good use, and keeping in mind the limitations of my personality when communicating with others that may not have the same views as me.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Week 2: January 27
This week in University Studies 311A, we analyzed the first two chapters of "Students Helping Students," as well as participated in a few icebreaker exercises during class.
It's a busy week coming up for us peer mentors. On Friday, we will be attending two sessions for a workshop over learning communities at the Memorial Union. On Saturday, we will attend two sessions for the Iowa State Leadership Experience (or ISLE), also at the Memorial Union. It should a very rewarding and relevant experience, and I am looking forward to it!
The first two chapters in "Students Helping Students: A Guide for Peer Educators on College Campuses," our textbook for this semester, give a lot of pertinent information to my current experiences as a Hixson peer mentor. One concept that the book outlined that I had not really considered before is the label "peer educator," and all the various ways a college student can be a peer educator to their classmates. I hadn't thought about it, but besides being a Hixson peer mentor, I am also a peer educator with my College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Ambassador role. It's good to learn how to combine the best aspects of these two experiences in order to maximize my peers' success.
We did one fun icebreaker during class, which was throwing a ball that had several personal discussion points written all over it. We threw it to each other and answered the questions or statements that our thumbs landed on, all while attempting to remember twenty different names around us. I am getting better at learning everybody else's names, but it obviously could use some more practice. This activity was a great way to learn a little about our peers, and could be something to incorporate into my future classroom as an introduction activity!
It's a busy week coming up for us peer mentors. On Friday, we will be attending two sessions for a workshop over learning communities at the Memorial Union. On Saturday, we will attend two sessions for the Iowa State Leadership Experience (or ISLE), also at the Memorial Union. It should a very rewarding and relevant experience, and I am looking forward to it!
The first two chapters in "Students Helping Students: A Guide for Peer Educators on College Campuses," our textbook for this semester, give a lot of pertinent information to my current experiences as a Hixson peer mentor. One concept that the book outlined that I had not really considered before is the label "peer educator," and all the various ways a college student can be a peer educator to their classmates. I hadn't thought about it, but besides being a Hixson peer mentor, I am also a peer educator with my College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Ambassador role. It's good to learn how to combine the best aspects of these two experiences in order to maximize my peers' success.
We did one fun icebreaker during class, which was throwing a ball that had several personal discussion points written all over it. We threw it to each other and answered the questions or statements that our thumbs landed on, all while attempting to remember twenty different names around us. I am getting better at learning everybody else's names, but it obviously could use some more practice. This activity was a great way to learn a little about our peers, and could be something to incorporate into my future classroom as an introduction activity!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Week 1: January 20
I felt so honored to be selected as a 2013 Hixson Peer Mentor last November. Now here I am, in the first week of the spring semester, just starting out on my journey as a Hixson Peer Mentor. I am currently enrolled in University Studies 311A, and took part in my first official course discussion last Wednesday night.
The first thing we did in class (as if I was really surprised) was our Hixson introductions, bringing back of lot of memories from when I was a freshman Hixson Scholar at ISU. "My name is Brady Eischeid, and I am a 2010 Hixson Scholar from Guthrie County, majoring in agricultural education." Yep. Same old, same old. In the future, it will be kind of nice to get back in the habit of saying those introductions; for right now, I'm a little rusty.
I thought the "Fish" video that was shown in class was very thought-provoking and relevant to today's society, but I don't think I enjoyed it overall as much as everyone else seemed to. A lot of the group was cracking up at every little bit of dialogue, but I sure didn't. Maybe I just need to watch it a couple more times to understand it more. However, it did give a lot of good tips on how to make a work environment more meaningful and how to interact with a group of people more successfully. I learned a lot!
I am very much looking forward to the rest of the semester course, and getting to know all of my fellow peer mentors. Perusing the syllabus and skimming the textbook, I can see that we will be covering a lot of interesting topics and gaining a lot of valuable information that will not only make us better peer mentors, but better and more-prepared student leaders. I'm very excited for what this experience will bring me!
The first thing we did in class (as if I was really surprised) was our Hixson introductions, bringing back of lot of memories from when I was a freshman Hixson Scholar at ISU. "My name is Brady Eischeid, and I am a 2010 Hixson Scholar from Guthrie County, majoring in agricultural education." Yep. Same old, same old. In the future, it will be kind of nice to get back in the habit of saying those introductions; for right now, I'm a little rusty.
I thought the "Fish" video that was shown in class was very thought-provoking and relevant to today's society, but I don't think I enjoyed it overall as much as everyone else seemed to. A lot of the group was cracking up at every little bit of dialogue, but I sure didn't. Maybe I just need to watch it a couple more times to understand it more. However, it did give a lot of good tips on how to make a work environment more meaningful and how to interact with a group of people more successfully. I learned a lot!
I am very much looking forward to the rest of the semester course, and getting to know all of my fellow peer mentors. Perusing the syllabus and skimming the textbook, I can see that we will be covering a lot of interesting topics and gaining a lot of valuable information that will not only make us better peer mentors, but better and more-prepared student leaders. I'm very excited for what this experience will bring me!
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