Hey guys!
VEISHEA week is upon us! Too bad I have 2 tests, 3 papers, quizzes, group projects, digital storytellings, and a portfolio all by Thursday. GREAT. Alright enough ranting. On to my goals.
My main goal I wanted to focus on was connecting with my students on a deeper level than I did last year. I knew a lot about each of them and still am in contact with a lot of them, but I felt like I could have done more outside of class to make a difference in their lives.
When my co-leader Taylor and I did our one-on-ones last semester we just got all our students together to watch Toy Story 3 (which was the movie for their digital storytelling) and just pulled them out one by one to talk to them and see if there was anything going on with them that they hadn't informed us about. It was surprising to see how fast all the students opened up about really important issues with their family, friends, roommates, grades, and more. All of this did not come out until about midway through October, or halfway through the semester. I was glad all of my students could open up to me like they did, but it upset me to know they were dealing with all of these problems for so long and hadn't told anyone.
I think back on this day when I think about how I want to improve my mentoring skills in the fall. If I had connected on a deeper level sooner than I had, they wouldn't have had to experience these problems for such an extended amount of time. Last fall I had classes right before and right after my recitation and I would really like to make sure that doesn't happen this coming fall. It was more difficult for me to get to know my students when I was rushing in and out of recitation which is a time where I should be focused solely on them. Even just talking to your students before and after class if you both have time can greatly improve your relationships with them, which is something I really want to do this fall.
It should be a mentoring goal of every one of us to make class a worthwhile time for our students. Creating an experience where they can learn and still have fun and enjoy themselves is so important in what we do. This is something I tried to do every week last fall, and even recently I heard from a friend of a former student that "she hated coming to class!" Not only was a shocked but I was personally hurt. Making that class enjoyable was something I thought about every week when I would create a lesson plan and to know that even one of my students hated my class was painful to hear. Keep in mind that while you make think you have reached a goal, there is always room for improvement. I know not everyone of my students will enjoy every class I teach, but I'll keep striving for that as long as I'm still mentoring!
-Chels
Sunday, April 10
Tuesday, March 29
Making Poverty History
Sorry for skipping out on class a little early today, but it was for a good cause!
Kelly and I attended "Making Poverty History" which was given by Scott Lacy, Ph.D. the executive director of African Sky, a non-profit working to end inequality and extreme poverty in Mali, a country in West Africa.
Dr. Lacy did a great job presenting on this topic. He gave a lot of facts and statistics and then backed them up with personal stories of his experiences over the past 16 years helping in Mali.
He started off talking about how fighting poverty is the biggest social movement in the world. The UN also created the Millennium Development Goals which include ending poverty and hunger, universal education, child healthcare, combating HIV/AIDS and many more. There goal is to halve poverty by 2015 and end poverty in our lifetime which is a HUGE goal. Dr. Lacy said that the World Bank estimated that halving poverty in the next 5 years would cost $20 billion. That sounded like a lot until I learned that $1.3 TRILLION is spent a year on global military. Seems like ending poverty could be a little easier than we originally thought huh?
Dr. Lacy told many great stories about what he has done in Mali. He has a "teach them to fish" philosophy, where he will initially front groups a small amount of money when they have an idea to start a project, like making and selling peanut butter or soap, or holding literacy classes for women in their village, and then let them go with their idea and work for themselves. These projects tend to work out incredibly well because people can work for themselves and see their hard work thrive. He also said being grateful and accepting thanks from those he helps builds their self esteem and puts them on a peer level, instead of making them feel like a charity case.
Overall I really enjoyed his presentation and anecdotes about his hard work. People like Dr. Lacy are incredibly inspiring to me. If only I could be as good of a person as people like him are. Its something to strive towards.
Kelly and I attended "Making Poverty History" which was given by Scott Lacy, Ph.D. the executive director of African Sky, a non-profit working to end inequality and extreme poverty in Mali, a country in West Africa.
Dr. Lacy did a great job presenting on this topic. He gave a lot of facts and statistics and then backed them up with personal stories of his experiences over the past 16 years helping in Mali.
He started off talking about how fighting poverty is the biggest social movement in the world. The UN also created the Millennium Development Goals which include ending poverty and hunger, universal education, child healthcare, combating HIV/AIDS and many more. There goal is to halve poverty by 2015 and end poverty in our lifetime which is a HUGE goal. Dr. Lacy said that the World Bank estimated that halving poverty in the next 5 years would cost $20 billion. That sounded like a lot until I learned that $1.3 TRILLION is spent a year on global military. Seems like ending poverty could be a little easier than we originally thought huh?
Dr. Lacy told many great stories about what he has done in Mali. He has a "teach them to fish" philosophy, where he will initially front groups a small amount of money when they have an idea to start a project, like making and selling peanut butter or soap, or holding literacy classes for women in their village, and then let them go with their idea and work for themselves. These projects tend to work out incredibly well because people can work for themselves and see their hard work thrive. He also said being grateful and accepting thanks from those he helps builds their self esteem and puts them on a peer level, instead of making them feel like a charity case.
Overall I really enjoyed his presentation and anecdotes about his hard work. People like Dr. Lacy are incredibly inspiring to me. If only I could be as good of a person as people like him are. Its something to strive towards.
Sunday, March 27
Mad Facilitation Skillz
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
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 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
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