Hello Hixsons!
This week, before we were so rudely interrupted by inclement weather, we discussed facilitation and what it means to us.
I found a great definition of a facilitator on Wikipedia.
“One who contributes structure and process to interactions so groups are able to function effectively and make high-quality decisions. A helper and enabler whose goal is to support others as they achieve exceptional performance.”
I think this fully describes what we do here with the Hixson program. As a facilitator in your class you need to be able to pose thoughtful questions and ideas to your students and then let them take over and think it through on their own. They need to be able to contribute to class and come to realizations on their own about their education and goals and what it means to be a college student. You are just the spark to start the conversation, they will be the ones to fuel it.
Outside of class, you need to be there for your students when they think they need your help, not when you think they need your help. Being supportive, caring, and present when your students come to you is of the upmost importance. They might be going through things in their life that you are not able or qualified to help them with. And that’s ok! Being able to provide those referrals to your students is your way of helping them. With our guidance, we can help lead them through difficult times during this important adjustment period.
I’ve found through being a Hixson peer mentor that I thoroughly enjoy being a facilitator and that it is something I would like to continue to do well into my future. Student affairs is something that I love being involved with, and I hope all of you are starting to feel the same way. If you aren’t, I’m sure you will change your mind once you are put with a co-leader and given students. It’s a fun and exciting experience and one that has definitely taught me a lot about myself and about working with other people.
See you all Tuesday for an exciting day of movie making!
:) Chels
Sunday, March 27
Sunday, March 20
Communicating Effectively
Hello everyone!
I hope you all are well rested and had as wonderful of a spring break as I did. Now let the blogging begin!
About 2 weeks ago Brandon and I did our lesson on communicating effectively. I hope everyone enjoyed it, I know we both did. Going off of our quote, there are times when we may think we are communicating effectively when in actuality we are not. Trust me I know I can talk a lot, but that does not always mean I am communicating to others to the best of my abilities or in a way they can fully comprehend it. Its something every person can work on improving.
My favorite way of communicating has to be face to face conversations. I love sitting down and learning about a person and having them learn about me. This unfortunately isn't the way I usually get to communicate though. Written forms like e-mail, texting, Facebook, etc., all seem to be the preferred form of communication for our generation and though it is definitely the most convenient way, it isn't always the most effective. I've always found written language to be easily misconstrued, where as if someone misunderstands you in a face-to-face discussion they can usually reword what they're trying to say to make it more easily understandable.
Since coming to college, the main change in my communication strategies is the role of e-mail in my daily life. When I came to college I rarely used my e-mail account at all and now I'm looking at phones that will receive my e-mail so I can get them instantly. It's obviously the preferred way of communication on campus and that was a big adjustment for me. It tends to be a big adjustment for first year students as well. Most of my students barely checked their e-mail or wouldn't respond to them when they did. Its a crucial part of teaching in the fall to get the point across about the importance of e-mail in our daily lives.
I really hope everyone learned something from our Twitter week as well. Its a really fun tool and though it might not seem very interesting or useful now, the more you use it and the more people and groups you follow, the more worthwhile it will seem. Some of your students in the fall may already have a Twitter or at least have heard about it, but there will be students who won't understand its purpose. Its really important to try and be as enthusiastic as possible with Twitter that way your students will hopefully jump on board. I'm going to be brainstorming some ideas this summer about fun ways to incorporate Twitter into my recitation. Possibly some sort of scavenger hunt or question of the day so students will be more likely to access Twitter other than just saying "I hate studying" or "I'm going to Seasons".
Alright thats it from me. See everyone on Tuesday night!
I hope you all are well rested and had as wonderful of a spring break as I did. Now let the blogging begin!
About 2 weeks ago Brandon and I did our lesson on communicating effectively. I hope everyone enjoyed it, I know we both did. Going off of our quote, there are times when we may think we are communicating effectively when in actuality we are not. Trust me I know I can talk a lot, but that does not always mean I am communicating to others to the best of my abilities or in a way they can fully comprehend it. Its something every person can work on improving.
My favorite way of communicating has to be face to face conversations. I love sitting down and learning about a person and having them learn about me. This unfortunately isn't the way I usually get to communicate though. Written forms like e-mail, texting, Facebook, etc., all seem to be the preferred form of communication for our generation and though it is definitely the most convenient way, it isn't always the most effective. I've always found written language to be easily misconstrued, where as if someone misunderstands you in a face-to-face discussion they can usually reword what they're trying to say to make it more easily understandable.
Since coming to college, the main change in my communication strategies is the role of e-mail in my daily life. When I came to college I rarely used my e-mail account at all and now I'm looking at phones that will receive my e-mail so I can get them instantly. It's obviously the preferred way of communication on campus and that was a big adjustment for me. It tends to be a big adjustment for first year students as well. Most of my students barely checked their e-mail or wouldn't respond to them when they did. Its a crucial part of teaching in the fall to get the point across about the importance of e-mail in our daily lives.
I really hope everyone learned something from our Twitter week as well. Its a really fun tool and though it might not seem very interesting or useful now, the more you use it and the more people and groups you follow, the more worthwhile it will seem. Some of your students in the fall may already have a Twitter or at least have heard about it, but there will be students who won't understand its purpose. Its really important to try and be as enthusiastic as possible with Twitter that way your students will hopefully jump on board. I'm going to be brainstorming some ideas this summer about fun ways to incorporate Twitter into my recitation. Possibly some sort of scavenger hunt or question of the day so students will be more likely to access Twitter other than just saying "I hate studying" or "I'm going to Seasons".
Alright thats it from me. See everyone on Tuesday night!
Sunday, March 6
Diversity
Hey everyone!
So this week we covered diversity and lots of it. Cory and Jenna did a great job on Tuesday in class, and Zach and Allie both did awesome at ISCORE.
I attended both of their sessions Friday. For those of you who didn't attend them, Zach's was about the Martin family, a black couple who lived in Ames and housed black students for free when they could not find housing. They are also the people Martin Hall is named after. I had never heard anything about the Martin family, and this was kind of upsetting to me after I left the presentation. The Martin's did so much for minority students in the early 20th century and most people know nothing about them. They are a very hardworking, honest, and caring family and more people should know about them and admire them for what they have done for our community and university. I wanted to thank Zach for his work on that presentation and for teaching me something I really wish I would have previously known.
I also attended Allie's session where she spoke about her graduate thesis research about Muslim women on our campus. I was pretty surprised when I heard that Allie's research concentration was on Muslim women, and I'm glad I got to hear her story about how she realized that she held stereotypes about Muslims and that they were unfounded and she wanted to change that in herself. That's a very noble quality to have! I see many Muslim women on campus and never really considered how they must feel wearing their headscarfs to class, or finding somewhere to pray during the day.
Some many times we become to self-centered and lose the compassion and empathy we should have for people of diverse backgrounds who might not have the same privileges as we do. Though some people think diversity issues are overdone and a waste of time, I think they serve as a good reminder to students to treat others with respect, and also helps us better understand cultures, religions, sexual orientations, and genders different than our own, among many other things. Hopefully this week taught everyone how important diversity is and that it is central to come people and that needs to be fully respected by us all.
Hopefully everyone is enjoying their week of Twitter! It's a really fun tool, not only for connecting and socializing with others, but also for getting information instantly and finding out about the latest headlines and news stories. Its also a really fun way to communicate with one another, and your students in the fall.
Get excited, I'll be teaching class this week! EEK! Hopefully I don't disappoint. :)
-Chels
So this week we covered diversity and lots of it. Cory and Jenna did a great job on Tuesday in class, and Zach and Allie both did awesome at ISCORE.
I attended both of their sessions Friday. For those of you who didn't attend them, Zach's was about the Martin family, a black couple who lived in Ames and housed black students for free when they could not find housing. They are also the people Martin Hall is named after. I had never heard anything about the Martin family, and this was kind of upsetting to me after I left the presentation. The Martin's did so much for minority students in the early 20th century and most people know nothing about them. They are a very hardworking, honest, and caring family and more people should know about them and admire them for what they have done for our community and university. I wanted to thank Zach for his work on that presentation and for teaching me something I really wish I would have previously known.
I also attended Allie's session where she spoke about her graduate thesis research about Muslim women on our campus. I was pretty surprised when I heard that Allie's research concentration was on Muslim women, and I'm glad I got to hear her story about how she realized that she held stereotypes about Muslims and that they were unfounded and she wanted to change that in herself. That's a very noble quality to have! I see many Muslim women on campus and never really considered how they must feel wearing their headscarfs to class, or finding somewhere to pray during the day.
Some many times we become to self-centered and lose the compassion and empathy we should have for people of diverse backgrounds who might not have the same privileges as we do. Though some people think diversity issues are overdone and a waste of time, I think they serve as a good reminder to students to treat others with respect, and also helps us better understand cultures, religions, sexual orientations, and genders different than our own, among many other things. Hopefully this week taught everyone how important diversity is and that it is central to come people and that needs to be fully respected by us all.
Hopefully everyone is enjoying their week of Twitter! It's a really fun tool, not only for connecting and socializing with others, but also for getting information instantly and finding out about the latest headlines and news stories. Its also a really fun way to communicate with one another, and your students in the fall.
Get excited, I'll be teaching class this week! EEK! Hopefully I don't disappoint. :)
-Chels
Sunday, February 27
Role Models
Herro!
First off, shout out to Amy and Rachel, you guys did an awesome job this week! I loved the activity and how we were forced to really look into ourselves and discuss our weaknesses when it comes to being a role model. No one really likes to talk about their weaknesses and when we do we always try to twist the words to make it sound like it really isn’t that bad, or that it’s something we are working on changing. It was nice to have this discussion activity to look at how we all have some weaknesses in our values, or values that some values do not hold the most importance to us, but that we can accept those faults and focus on our strengths.
I am the type of person that is very open about myself, and that is no different when it comes to discussing my weaknesses or faults. While looking through the values in the book, it is clear to me that the three I struggle with are focus, purpose, and gratitude. I am a very spontaneous person and with that I am not good at keeping a schedule or staying focused. I am incredibly forgetful and need to constantly write down things as soon as I think of them in order to remember them later on. If I try to schedule my time to get things done, it is VERY rare that I stick to that schedule and instead switch things around last minute because, as usual, I have changed my mind. To combat this I just try to keep my head in the game and focus on the task at hand, which is important while leading a class of students.
When it comes to purpose, the only thing I can say is that I’m still trying to discover myself and what I like and how I think I can make the most positive impact on the world into the future. We can only plan so much before we have to let fate step in and guide us, and I think that is the point I am at in my life. I know one day I will know what my purpose is and where I am destined to end up, but at this moment I’m just along for the ride, and I’m perfectly okay with that!
Lastly, expressing gratitude is something I have noticed especially lately that I struggle with. It is not because I am not grateful, in fact I think about how lucky I am on a daily basis to have the people in my life that I do and have the opportunities I have been given. It’s outwardly expressing this gratitude to people that I realize I need to do more often. Sometimes I feel like I may take people for granted and that I need to tell them how thankful I really am for what they give me and how they treat me. They have shaped who I am and I want them to know how positive of an impact they have made on my life.
See everyone in class on Tuesday!
First off, shout out to Amy and Rachel, you guys did an awesome job this week! I loved the activity and how we were forced to really look into ourselves and discuss our weaknesses when it comes to being a role model. No one really likes to talk about their weaknesses and when we do we always try to twist the words to make it sound like it really isn’t that bad, or that it’s something we are working on changing. It was nice to have this discussion activity to look at how we all have some weaknesses in our values, or values that some values do not hold the most importance to us, but that we can accept those faults and focus on our strengths.
I am the type of person that is very open about myself, and that is no different when it comes to discussing my weaknesses or faults. While looking through the values in the book, it is clear to me that the three I struggle with are focus, purpose, and gratitude. I am a very spontaneous person and with that I am not good at keeping a schedule or staying focused. I am incredibly forgetful and need to constantly write down things as soon as I think of them in order to remember them later on. If I try to schedule my time to get things done, it is VERY rare that I stick to that schedule and instead switch things around last minute because, as usual, I have changed my mind. To combat this I just try to keep my head in the game and focus on the task at hand, which is important while leading a class of students.
When it comes to purpose, the only thing I can say is that I’m still trying to discover myself and what I like and how I think I can make the most positive impact on the world into the future. We can only plan so much before we have to let fate step in and guide us, and I think that is the point I am at in my life. I know one day I will know what my purpose is and where I am destined to end up, but at this moment I’m just along for the ride, and I’m perfectly okay with that!
Lastly, expressing gratitude is something I have noticed especially lately that I struggle with. It is not because I am not grateful, in fact I think about how lucky I am on a daily basis to have the people in my life that I do and have the opportunities I have been given. It’s outwardly expressing this gratitude to people that I realize I need to do more often. Sometimes I feel like I may take people for granted and that I need to tell them how thankful I really am for what they give me and how they treat me. They have shaped who I am and I want them to know how positive of an impact they have made on my life.
See everyone in class on Tuesday!
Sunday, February 20
Looking Inward
Hello all!
This past week we covered self awareness and self concept. Understanding yourself and being aware of how you think, feel, and act is incredibly important. It is something I feel is overlooked a lot of the time because people do not fully understand self awareness as a whole or they think they already know themselves well enough when in actuality they may not. I feel like I know myself fairly well, but I also feel like I learn something new about myself often, that I have thoughts and feelings deep down that I never express. Most of the time when these feelings come out, I don’t even know they existed or how to correctly express them.
Our future mentees will be in a very confusing situation when we meet them in the fall. They will be on their own for the first time and will be doing things for themselves that they never had to do in the past. It is important for them to understand how being self aware is important in their new environment. Coming from high school to college is a big transition and most of the freshmen may not be aware or understand their own actions and feelings. It is our job as a peer mentor to help them transition into college life and in some ways adulthood, and in order to do this well we need to let them make their own discoveries about life and about themselves.
To accomplish this goal, it’s important to pose questions to students often about reflecting on different points of their lives or how recent events make them feel. This can easily be done with the question of the day right at the beginning of class. It’s a great way to get class started and get them thinking from the beginning. Also, if your co-leader and you decide to do some sort of activity in class, having a short reflection time at the end of class can be important for students to understand how the activity had an impact on them. Though becoming self aware is a lengthy process, taking little steps such as these will help get the ball rolling.
As for myself, there are many ways I could become more self aware. Overall, I would love to have a time set aside at the end of everyday where I could reflect on what had happened to me and how those events made me feel. There are many times where I think of how something effects me, or a reason as to why I behave in a certain way, but then time passes or I get distracted and I quickly forget my previous thought. It’s times like this I wish I wrote down my thoughts and feelings to better understand myself. As always, it is an ongoing process.
Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather this past week. Spring break is just around the corner! Think warm thoughts!
-Chels
This past week we covered self awareness and self concept. Understanding yourself and being aware of how you think, feel, and act is incredibly important. It is something I feel is overlooked a lot of the time because people do not fully understand self awareness as a whole or they think they already know themselves well enough when in actuality they may not. I feel like I know myself fairly well, but I also feel like I learn something new about myself often, that I have thoughts and feelings deep down that I never express. Most of the time when these feelings come out, I don’t even know they existed or how to correctly express them.
Our future mentees will be in a very confusing situation when we meet them in the fall. They will be on their own for the first time and will be doing things for themselves that they never had to do in the past. It is important for them to understand how being self aware is important in their new environment. Coming from high school to college is a big transition and most of the freshmen may not be aware or understand their own actions and feelings. It is our job as a peer mentor to help them transition into college life and in some ways adulthood, and in order to do this well we need to let them make their own discoveries about life and about themselves.
To accomplish this goal, it’s important to pose questions to students often about reflecting on different points of their lives or how recent events make them feel. This can easily be done with the question of the day right at the beginning of class. It’s a great way to get class started and get them thinking from the beginning. Also, if your co-leader and you decide to do some sort of activity in class, having a short reflection time at the end of class can be important for students to understand how the activity had an impact on them. Though becoming self aware is a lengthy process, taking little steps such as these will help get the ball rolling.
As for myself, there are many ways I could become more self aware. Overall, I would love to have a time set aside at the end of everyday where I could reflect on what had happened to me and how those events made me feel. There are many times where I think of how something effects me, or a reason as to why I behave in a certain way, but then time passes or I get distracted and I quickly forget my previous thought. It’s times like this I wish I wrote down my thoughts and feelings to better understand myself. As always, it is an ongoing process.
Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather this past week. Spring break is just around the corner! Think warm thoughts!
-Chels
Saturday, February 12
Putting Them First
Hello friends!
This week we discussed establishing and maintaining relationships with our mentees in the fall. The book talks about some very important ground rules for mentoring relationships which I found to be very important to remember. Under the “Why are we here?” section on page 60, they listed honesty, commitment, boundaries, confidentiality, and expectations as key things to keep in mind in a mentoring relationship.
Honesty is something I strive for in my day to day life with people, and it’s just as important to be honest with your students this fall. It seems so simple to be honest with your students. You can’t do everything and your students need to know that. Don’t be afraid to tell your students you don’t know what advice to give them in a certain situation and forward them to someone else who can. Remember to always keep their best interest in mind.
Being committed to your students is of course something to keep in mind, but it’s definitely not difficult to do. You’ll learn in the fall that you care more about your students and how they are adjusting to college life then you could have imagined. Committing yourself to setting a positive example for your students and following through on promises you’ve made to them is essential in order for them to respect you.
Setting boundaries with your students should be done from the moment you meet them. You have to make sure your students understand that you are in charge and in control of class and that they need to answer to you. You can be a friend to your students very easily, but remember to not let your guard down and get too comfortable with them. Be personal and thoughtful, but keep the stories of your crazy weekend in Campustown to yourself.
Your students will be coming to you with a multitude of questions and concerns. They will be trusting you to listen to some very personal information and not to tell other people. Talking to your co-leader and higher-ups in the program should be the only person you relay this information to unless you’re in some sort of emergency. Don’t break any of these confidences unless you absolutely have to.
Finally is expectations. Setting expectations for your students from the beginning is necessary to start the semester off right. You need to understand how your students work and encourage them in any way possible to make sure they can live up to their own potential. Support them and help them whenever and however you can (within reason of course). And if all else fails, don’t be afraid to go to others for advice. The number one rule is to ALWAYS keep your students best interest in mind.
Hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather this weekend. And have a lovely Valentine’s Day! :)
-Chels
This week we discussed establishing and maintaining relationships with our mentees in the fall. The book talks about some very important ground rules for mentoring relationships which I found to be very important to remember. Under the “Why are we here?” section on page 60, they listed honesty, commitment, boundaries, confidentiality, and expectations as key things to keep in mind in a mentoring relationship.
Honesty is something I strive for in my day to day life with people, and it’s just as important to be honest with your students this fall. It seems so simple to be honest with your students. You can’t do everything and your students need to know that. Don’t be afraid to tell your students you don’t know what advice to give them in a certain situation and forward them to someone else who can. Remember to always keep their best interest in mind.
Being committed to your students is of course something to keep in mind, but it’s definitely not difficult to do. You’ll learn in the fall that you care more about your students and how they are adjusting to college life then you could have imagined. Committing yourself to setting a positive example for your students and following through on promises you’ve made to them is essential in order for them to respect you.
Setting boundaries with your students should be done from the moment you meet them. You have to make sure your students understand that you are in charge and in control of class and that they need to answer to you. You can be a friend to your students very easily, but remember to not let your guard down and get too comfortable with them. Be personal and thoughtful, but keep the stories of your crazy weekend in Campustown to yourself.
Your students will be coming to you with a multitude of questions and concerns. They will be trusting you to listen to some very personal information and not to tell other people. Talking to your co-leader and higher-ups in the program should be the only person you relay this information to unless you’re in some sort of emergency. Don’t break any of these confidences unless you absolutely have to.
Finally is expectations. Setting expectations for your students from the beginning is necessary to start the semester off right. You need to understand how your students work and encourage them in any way possible to make sure they can live up to their own potential. Support them and help them whenever and however you can (within reason of course). And if all else fails, don’t be afraid to go to others for advice. The number one rule is to ALWAYS keep your students best interest in mind.
Hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather this weekend. And have a lovely Valentine’s Day! :)
-Chels
Sunday, February 6
Defining Roles
Hello everyone!
As someone who has peer mentored with the Hixson program before I thought I would relate each of the defining roles from the chapter to my experiences from mentoring this past fall. The book determines the 5 roles of peer mentoring as trusted friend, connecting link, learning coach, student advocate, and peer leader.
Trusted friend: Of course we all want to be friends with our mentees, and in fact you will become fairly good friends with all your students. I still see almost all of my students randomly on campus and all of them at least say hi and ask how each other is doing. It is good to keep boundaries up between being a trusted friend and a best friend. Your students need to respect you and in order to do that it is essential to maintain some sort of boundary and not get too comfortable with each other.
Connecting link: You will soon learn that your students are pretty clueless about how Iowa State and college in general works. It is important for you to help them become acclimated with our campus and everything it has to offer. Encouraging your students to attend WelcomeFest, ClubFest, the study abroad fair, their major’s learning community or major specific club, as well as introducing them to tutoring, SI, financial aid, the multicultural center among many other things is essential to their experience here.
Learning coach: My fellow peer mentor and I learned quickly that our class was loud and group oriented. We tried many times to break them into small groups or pairs, but they always seemed to find their way back to a large group discussion with the entire class. We eventually embraced this and made our lesson plans to accommodate them. By constructing your lesson plans to meet your students needs, they will learn on an even higher level than they may have originally.
Student advocate: I had a student last fall that was in need of assistance that neither I nor my co-leader could provide. We had been there in the trusted friend roles, trying to be the connecting link to other resources that might give her the help she needed, but eventually we had to go to Silas, Allie, and Debra to do what we knew we couldn’t. I cannot stress enough that THIS IS OK TO DO. As the book says we are not magician and we cannot make our mentees problems just go away. Be respectful and responsible to your students who are in need and get them the help they deserve.
Peer Leader: I don’t have to tell you that we are all leaders in our respective communities and this is just as true within the Hixson community. Your students, as well as other students in the program, will be looking to you as a leader and an example of what they should strive to be. It is in your best interest to lead by example and take this role as a peer mentor seriously. It will build your leadership skills and helps those who may be looking to you for some guidance as they transition into adulthood as a college student.
Hope everyone had a good week and enjoyed their snow half day/the Superbowl! See you all Tuesday :)
-Chels
As someone who has peer mentored with the Hixson program before I thought I would relate each of the defining roles from the chapter to my experiences from mentoring this past fall. The book determines the 5 roles of peer mentoring as trusted friend, connecting link, learning coach, student advocate, and peer leader.
Trusted friend: Of course we all want to be friends with our mentees, and in fact you will become fairly good friends with all your students. I still see almost all of my students randomly on campus and all of them at least say hi and ask how each other is doing. It is good to keep boundaries up between being a trusted friend and a best friend. Your students need to respect you and in order to do that it is essential to maintain some sort of boundary and not get too comfortable with each other.
Connecting link: You will soon learn that your students are pretty clueless about how Iowa State and college in general works. It is important for you to help them become acclimated with our campus and everything it has to offer. Encouraging your students to attend WelcomeFest, ClubFest, the study abroad fair, their major’s learning community or major specific club, as well as introducing them to tutoring, SI, financial aid, the multicultural center among many other things is essential to their experience here.
Learning coach: My fellow peer mentor and I learned quickly that our class was loud and group oriented. We tried many times to break them into small groups or pairs, but they always seemed to find their way back to a large group discussion with the entire class. We eventually embraced this and made our lesson plans to accommodate them. By constructing your lesson plans to meet your students needs, they will learn on an even higher level than they may have originally.
Student advocate: I had a student last fall that was in need of assistance that neither I nor my co-leader could provide. We had been there in the trusted friend roles, trying to be the connecting link to other resources that might give her the help she needed, but eventually we had to go to Silas, Allie, and Debra to do what we knew we couldn’t. I cannot stress enough that THIS IS OK TO DO. As the book says we are not magician and we cannot make our mentees problems just go away. Be respectful and responsible to your students who are in need and get them the help they deserve.
Peer Leader: I don’t have to tell you that we are all leaders in our respective communities and this is just as true within the Hixson community. Your students, as well as other students in the program, will be looking to you as a leader and an example of what they should strive to be. It is in your best interest to lead by example and take this role as a peer mentor seriously. It will build your leadership skills and helps those who may be looking to you for some guidance as they transition into adulthood as a college student.
Hope everyone had a good week and enjoyed their snow half day/the Superbowl! See you all Tuesday :)
-Chels
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