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!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
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.
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