The book I decided to read for the semester is Inside Mrs. B's Classroom. It is a book about a journalist in the southside of Chicago that decides after all she has seen going on in the public schools through the news she decides to join the Teacher for Chicago program to try to make a difference in some of the kids lives.
I am just over halfway done with the book, when I started I wasn't sure if it would be interesting but whenever I sit down to read it I just cant stop it's extremely good and really opens your eyes about things that go on in these schools and the problems that many of the inner city children face. At times the book is very heart wrenching.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
MBTI
Hey Everyone!
This was a very busy week with lots going on but I thought it went very smoothly! The Christina visit went very well and I think all of the students enjoyed getting a chance to meet her and see who she was. In my personal opinion being a peer mentor is a great opportunity to get to spend a little more time with Christina and get to know her a little more then the freshman year meeting. It was a great experience.
As for MBTI, I love when we look at the MBTI reports because I think it is so interesting to see what everyones preferences are and to see what their opinions about why they are those is very interesting to me. I think my results, ISTJ fits me almost perfectly. One thing that is beginning to change is I still love to have everything planned out and color coded of when it needs to be done by but I have been starting to put my homework and projects off to the last minute kind of like someone who likes to work under pressure, I am really not sure why I have been doing this but it is way out of my comfort zone and I need to work back into my normal grove of things! Every time we discuss MBTI I always learn something new about myself or someone else in the class.
Hope everyone has a great week, see everyone tonight!
Jenna
This was a very busy week with lots going on but I thought it went very smoothly! The Christina visit went very well and I think all of the students enjoyed getting a chance to meet her and see who she was. In my personal opinion being a peer mentor is a great opportunity to get to spend a little more time with Christina and get to know her a little more then the freshman year meeting. It was a great experience.
As for MBTI, I love when we look at the MBTI reports because I think it is so interesting to see what everyones preferences are and to see what their opinions about why they are those is very interesting to me. I think my results, ISTJ fits me almost perfectly. One thing that is beginning to change is I still love to have everything planned out and color coded of when it needs to be done by but I have been starting to put my homework and projects off to the last minute kind of like someone who likes to work under pressure, I am really not sure why I have been doing this but it is way out of my comfort zone and I need to work back into my normal grove of things! Every time we discuss MBTI I always learn something new about myself or someone else in the class.
Hope everyone has a great week, see everyone tonight!
Jenna
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Scavenger Hunt!
Last weeks class Allie and Silas put on a scavenger hunt for us peer mentors. I thought it was really fun to go around and try to find all the places that were listed out such as Study Abroad Center, Thielen Health Center, Student Services, Financial Aid Office, and a few others. I felt that this activity was a great one for us peer mentors to participate in because next year when we have our mentees they might have questions for us about where certain places on campus are and it would be great if we could lead them right to where they need to go. I thought it was also a great group bonding time because we had to work together in our groups to figure out where everything was and manage our time to get back to the Hixson Building before the time limit!
This blog is extremely short but there’s not much else to say about class except it was a great scavenger hunt and filming after class went pretty well I thought, we have a lot to work on before Tuesday but we will get it done!!
See you all at the retreat in a couple hours! Hope everyone had a great VEISHEA weekend!
:)
This blog is extremely short but there’s not much else to say about class except it was a great scavenger hunt and filming after class went pretty well I thought, we have a lot to work on before Tuesday but we will get it done!!
See you all at the retreat in a couple hours! Hope everyone had a great VEISHEA weekend!
:)
Diversity Event
Last Sunday I went to my diversity event, World Religions 101. This event consisted of a panel of students who were from different religious backgrounds. They each discussed their religions and what each of their religions believed. They had it set up so if you had a question to ask any of the panel members or just a general question for the panel as a whole you could text in your question and they would answer whatever question you had.
There were a couple different students that talked in depth about their religions some included Muslim, Atheist and Christianity. I thought it was really interesting to hear what they all had to share about their religions and the different outlooks they have about religion. Some of the students weren’t very religious until they came to college or until they started high school and they all shared their experiences on how they found their believes and everything.
I thought the diversity event was really interesting and I’m glad we went to it because it very educational and interesting to have these students from the different religions inform us about things about themselves that I didn’t know.
There were a couple different students that talked in depth about their religions some included Muslim, Atheist and Christianity. I thought it was really interesting to hear what they all had to share about their religions and the different outlooks they have about religion. Some of the students weren’t very religious until they came to college or until they started high school and they all shared their experiences on how they found their believes and everything.
I thought the diversity event was really interesting and I’m glad we went to it because it very educational and interesting to have these students from the different religions inform us about things about themselves that I didn’t know.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Goals- Week 12
Hey Everyone!
Last week Zach and Karen presented the topic of different types of goals to us. SMART Goals and the Four M's. The SMART goal I chose for next year, as a peer mentor was to learn all my students’ names within the first 2 weeks and learn a handful of people in the large lectures names as well. I believe this goal is very specific because I want to be able to have the connection with my mentees right away, whenever a mentor, t.a, professor knows my name it always makes me feel like the care, that may sound weird but I want to have that connection with my mentees. This goal is measurable because I will be able to tell by the end of the two weeks if I have accomplished this goal, I believe that I can accomplish this goal because I am very good with remembering names and faces. Attainable I think falls under the same reasoning as measurable; I know that I can know all of their names by the end of the second week. Relevant, I believe it is very relevant because knowing my students names will help build that connection between us and I wont always have to be saying "What’s your name?" I think the daily introductions will really help me with reaching this goal because hearing someone say the same things over helps them stick with you. Time Limited because I have limited myself to reaching this goal within the first two weeks of the semester.
The Four M's, I thought this strategy was a little hard to make goals for a short-term goal because to me the four m's is a more in depth goal setting strategy. Overall I think that the SMART goals work best for me and with the incoming freshman having them set SMART goals would be most beneficial for them during their first semester.
Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful VEISHEA weather!
Last week Zach and Karen presented the topic of different types of goals to us. SMART Goals and the Four M's. The SMART goal I chose for next year, as a peer mentor was to learn all my students’ names within the first 2 weeks and learn a handful of people in the large lectures names as well. I believe this goal is very specific because I want to be able to have the connection with my mentees right away, whenever a mentor, t.a, professor knows my name it always makes me feel like the care, that may sound weird but I want to have that connection with my mentees. This goal is measurable because I will be able to tell by the end of the two weeks if I have accomplished this goal, I believe that I can accomplish this goal because I am very good with remembering names and faces. Attainable I think falls under the same reasoning as measurable; I know that I can know all of their names by the end of the second week. Relevant, I believe it is very relevant because knowing my students names will help build that connection between us and I wont always have to be saying "What’s your name?" I think the daily introductions will really help me with reaching this goal because hearing someone say the same things over helps them stick with you. Time Limited because I have limited myself to reaching this goal within the first two weeks of the semester.
The Four M's, I thought this strategy was a little hard to make goals for a short-term goal because to me the four m's is a more in depth goal setting strategy. Overall I think that the SMART goals work best for me and with the incoming freshman having them set SMART goals would be most beneficial for them during their first semester.
Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful VEISHEA weather!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Facilitating Learning
Hello Everyone!
This week in class we had two lessons plans due and Silas and Allie led us in the discussion about Facilitation and learning styles. We were asked to write down what we thought facilitating meant to us and I wrote down I thought it was leading a new group; introducing new topics to a group.
The activity we did as a group was really fun and interesting to see how different peer mentors learn best. We had to decide which learning styles were our top three between bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical/ mathematical, musical/ rhythmic, naturalist/adventurer, verbal/linguistic, or visual/spatial. I think this is a good idea of an activity to use next fall with our mentees to get them to understand maybe what kind of learner they are or distinguish between what works well for them. Coming to college maybe quite the change for some mentees and adjusting their learning styles, their learning styles may have to be altered due to big class sizes or teaching styles of professors, I believe that it is our job as peer mentors next fall to give them ideas, strategies, or ways to help them adjust.
Thankfully the weather didn’t turn out as bad as it was going to be :)
See you all Tuesday for a wonderful Movie-making day!!
:)
This week in class we had two lessons plans due and Silas and Allie led us in the discussion about Facilitation and learning styles. We were asked to write down what we thought facilitating meant to us and I wrote down I thought it was leading a new group; introducing new topics to a group.
The activity we did as a group was really fun and interesting to see how different peer mentors learn best. We had to decide which learning styles were our top three between bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical/ mathematical, musical/ rhythmic, naturalist/adventurer, verbal/linguistic, or visual/spatial. I think this is a good idea of an activity to use next fall with our mentees to get them to understand maybe what kind of learner they are or distinguish between what works well for them. Coming to college maybe quite the change for some mentees and adjusting their learning styles, their learning styles may have to be altered due to big class sizes or teaching styles of professors, I believe that it is our job as peer mentors next fall to give them ideas, strategies, or ways to help them adjust.
Thankfully the weather didn’t turn out as bad as it was going to be :)
See you all Tuesday for a wonderful Movie-making day!!
:)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Communication
Hey Everyone!
I hope you all had a great week of spring break! But now back to blogging, the last class Chelsee and Brandon talked about effective communication, I thought they did a wonderful job presenting the topic and their activity was a great one you use for the topic, I thought the activity was fun to see how the picture ended up at the end of my line and we all realized that I cannot draw a lawn mower very well :)
My favorite way of communicating is via text messaging, I think it is very beneficial to be able to just send a quick message to someone and have them read it and be able to respond right back, but it isn’t the most effective in some instances because it is not easy to read how people are coming across in a text message. I personally just like how fast a quick someone can receive your message and you can get a response through a text because I hate waiting.
The biggest change in my communication in coming to college is using e-mail, I had an email account in high school but I hardly ever checked it let alone sent an email from it. When I came to college I started using email on a daily basis to contact different people around campus and my professors or T.A's with any questions. I think it is hard for some people when they come to college to get into the routine of checking their email everyday and learning that is a necessity here at school. Also email is becoming accessible just as fast as a text message in some cases because a lot of people have smart phones that receive emails right away.
I loved the week of twitter and I found it so easy because before I always tweeted so it wasn’t hard for me to tweet and add #ust311 to the end of my tweets. I think twitter is a good way of communicating and I know a lot of people dislike twitter and don’t want anything to do with it but once you start using it, I think it becomes just as addicting as facebook. I read Chelsee's blog the other day and she mentioned having a scavenger hunt or a question of the day for your mentees to answer and I think that is a great idea because it will give them something to tweet about on top of some other random tweets that they feel like posting.
See everyone tonight! :)
I hope you all had a great week of spring break! But now back to blogging, the last class Chelsee and Brandon talked about effective communication, I thought they did a wonderful job presenting the topic and their activity was a great one you use for the topic, I thought the activity was fun to see how the picture ended up at the end of my line and we all realized that I cannot draw a lawn mower very well :)
My favorite way of communicating is via text messaging, I think it is very beneficial to be able to just send a quick message to someone and have them read it and be able to respond right back, but it isn’t the most effective in some instances because it is not easy to read how people are coming across in a text message. I personally just like how fast a quick someone can receive your message and you can get a response through a text because I hate waiting.
The biggest change in my communication in coming to college is using e-mail, I had an email account in high school but I hardly ever checked it let alone sent an email from it. When I came to college I started using email on a daily basis to contact different people around campus and my professors or T.A's with any questions. I think it is hard for some people when they come to college to get into the routine of checking their email everyday and learning that is a necessity here at school. Also email is becoming accessible just as fast as a text message in some cases because a lot of people have smart phones that receive emails right away.
I loved the week of twitter and I found it so easy because before I always tweeted so it wasn’t hard for me to tweet and add #ust311 to the end of my tweets. I think twitter is a good way of communicating and I know a lot of people dislike twitter and don’t want anything to do with it but once you start using it, I think it becomes just as addicting as facebook. I read Chelsee's blog the other day and she mentioned having a scavenger hunt or a question of the day for your mentees to answer and I think that is a great idea because it will give them something to tweet about on top of some other random tweets that they feel like posting.
See everyone tonight! :)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Developing Cultural Sensitivity
Hey Everyone,
First of all like I just wanted to take the time to apologize to everyone in the class if Cory and I's activity offend anyone. I know that Cory and I both felt like we were getting a lot more negative feedback from our lesson than positive and we are both truly sorry if we offended you. I wanted to take the time to say that we got the idea of the activity from David Coleman the speaker at the ISLE presentation we all went to. It was said in class "what if there was someone in the class that was homosexual and you label them?" And I just wanted to point out that was not the point of the activity, when David Coleman labeled all of us in his session and he had no idea who we were or what background we came from, the point of the activity was to show that even with a name tag how each one of us stereotypes towards other people and how we all unconsciously treat others different, it is something that happens everyday and we as mentees need to step above that and realize that is wrong.
I think diversity is a subject that there are so many lines that you can cross and I personally think it is a very hard topic to teach to a class and not step over a line with a certain person, or step on someone’s toes by saying something they don’t agree with. We ALL know how touchy of a subject diversity can be and I hope you all understand that Cory and I were not trying to hurt anyone at all. I think it could have been handled a little better instead of personally attacking Cory and I about the situation, if you have constructive criticism I am totally okay with that but please think before you say something when talking about how you may have been offended by something we said and then turning around and saying something to hurt another persons personal feelings as well.
Its over with and I am not upset with anyone I just wanted to take the time to apologize to all that left on Tuesday unhappy with Cory and I's activity. When teaching this lesson next fall I hope you all can teach it to your mentees and have it go over as a success because I feel like the activity is a very good eye opener to show people how everyone unconsciously acts towards others who may be different that ourselves.
On Friday I went to the ISCORE session on Coming out Mulit….in a White Society and it was about how people from different backgrounds and cultures feel and are treated in the white society. I thought the three presenters of the topic were really good and very well practiced on their topic, they answered lots of questions and it was a subject they had a lot of knowledge on and it was interesting to hear all their findings in their research.
I hope everyone had a great weekend, looking forward to Chelsee and Brandon's presentation on Tuesday!
First of all like I just wanted to take the time to apologize to everyone in the class if Cory and I's activity offend anyone. I know that Cory and I both felt like we were getting a lot more negative feedback from our lesson than positive and we are both truly sorry if we offended you. I wanted to take the time to say that we got the idea of the activity from David Coleman the speaker at the ISLE presentation we all went to. It was said in class "what if there was someone in the class that was homosexual and you label them?" And I just wanted to point out that was not the point of the activity, when David Coleman labeled all of us in his session and he had no idea who we were or what background we came from, the point of the activity was to show that even with a name tag how each one of us stereotypes towards other people and how we all unconsciously treat others different, it is something that happens everyday and we as mentees need to step above that and realize that is wrong.
I think diversity is a subject that there are so many lines that you can cross and I personally think it is a very hard topic to teach to a class and not step over a line with a certain person, or step on someone’s toes by saying something they don’t agree with. We ALL know how touchy of a subject diversity can be and I hope you all understand that Cory and I were not trying to hurt anyone at all. I think it could have been handled a little better instead of personally attacking Cory and I about the situation, if you have constructive criticism I am totally okay with that but please think before you say something when talking about how you may have been offended by something we said and then turning around and saying something to hurt another persons personal feelings as well.
Its over with and I am not upset with anyone I just wanted to take the time to apologize to all that left on Tuesday unhappy with Cory and I's activity. When teaching this lesson next fall I hope you all can teach it to your mentees and have it go over as a success because I feel like the activity is a very good eye opener to show people how everyone unconsciously acts towards others who may be different that ourselves.
On Friday I went to the ISCORE session on Coming out Mulit….in a White Society and it was about how people from different backgrounds and cultures feel and are treated in the white society. I thought the three presenters of the topic were really good and very well practiced on their topic, they answered lots of questions and it was a subject they had a lot of knowledge on and it was interesting to hear all their findings in their research.
I hope everyone had a great weekend, looking forward to Chelsee and Brandon's presentation on Tuesday!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Role Models
Hey Everyone!
This week’s chapter was about being a Role Model. I just want to say that Rachel and Amy did a great job leading the class. I thought the activity that Rachel and Amy had us do was a great one because it got everyone thinking about the 18 values and choosing between which ones are considered weaknesses and strengths. Some people do not like to talk about or admit to their weaknesses but I thought this activity was a great one to get to talk about the things we do well at as well as things that we could improve on. I thought it was hard for some of the words to determine which one was a weakness or strength but it also made everyone think about things that made some of the words weaknesses or strengths and why they are considered that. I thought the activity was also good because you got to see other people that were opposite of you or had completely different insights on some of the values that we discussed and it always interesting to hear what someone else has to say about how they feel.
The question of the day being who is your role model and what values that are discussed in the chapter do they have, and the role model I chose was my mom. I chose her because I feel like my mom has all the values talked about in the chapter and I look up to my mom so much because she has been a single mom to me since I was very little and she has always been my support system. She never missed and activity that I was involved in all through my school years and I could depend on her so much. I hope that someday I can be the mother to my children that she has been to me, she is amazing and sometimes I do not know how she does the things she does. :)
I hope everyone had a great weekend, and has a great start to the week! Get excited for Cory and I's presentation on Tuesday! :)
This week’s chapter was about being a Role Model. I just want to say that Rachel and Amy did a great job leading the class. I thought the activity that Rachel and Amy had us do was a great one because it got everyone thinking about the 18 values and choosing between which ones are considered weaknesses and strengths. Some people do not like to talk about or admit to their weaknesses but I thought this activity was a great one to get to talk about the things we do well at as well as things that we could improve on. I thought it was hard for some of the words to determine which one was a weakness or strength but it also made everyone think about things that made some of the words weaknesses or strengths and why they are considered that. I thought the activity was also good because you got to see other people that were opposite of you or had completely different insights on some of the values that we discussed and it always interesting to hear what someone else has to say about how they feel.
The question of the day being who is your role model and what values that are discussed in the chapter do they have, and the role model I chose was my mom. I chose her because I feel like my mom has all the values talked about in the chapter and I look up to my mom so much because she has been a single mom to me since I was very little and she has always been my support system. She never missed and activity that I was involved in all through my school years and I could depend on her so much. I hope that someday I can be the mother to my children that she has been to me, she is amazing and sometimes I do not know how she does the things she does. :)
I hope everyone had a great weekend, and has a great start to the week! Get excited for Cory and I's presentation on Tuesday! :)
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Self-Awareness
This week in class Anthony and Beth focused on Self-Awareness and the discussion we had in class required everyone to open up a little bit more about things that were a little more difficult to talk about. I know for me I tried to say as little as possible about the situation because it still kind of frustrates me to talk about it but I thought the activity was very effective for everyone to open up a little bit and help us recognize some things about self-awareness that we can take with us to our fall recitation next semester.
One of the things I think I can help the incoming freshman with becoming self-aware is just realizing who they are and what they need to do for themselves. Even though they will have a lot going on with school and the new journey they are beginning to remind them they cannot forget about the things that are important to them and also the necessities they cant forget to make the best of themselves. I think the biggest thing is getting plenty of sleep! I think one of the biggest things in students mind is they never have enough time to do anything and have to stay up really late because they are in college and that is what you are "suppose" to do. The activity we did in class may be a little hard for the mentees to want to open up in recitation but a exercise that is similar to the one we did would be good for them to open up and share different things that make them who they are, I think if us peer mentors shared personal stories with the mentees about things that have shaped us into the person we are now they would be more open to sharing things with us as well.
Another way to help the mentees would be to help them with their time management, campus resources, ways to get involved and other things that will help them through their first semester.
By asking the students every class how their classes are going, how they are managing their time between their classes and other activities, what activities they are involved in and reminding them of all the other things they can get involved in if they are interested.
I scored lowest in physical activity when doing the activity in the book. I think the two biggest things I need to start getting more in a routine of and making myself more self aware in the physical activity category would be: To get in more of a routine working out, going to the rec and running or going back to the yoga classes. I think it just makes you feel better have you have worked out and you feel like you have accomplished something with you day/time. Get more sleep, I try to get 8 hours of sleep on a regular basis but I am such a procrastinator that it usually doesn’t turn out that way and I need to get in more of a habit starting my homework after class in the afternoon rather then waiting until 9 o’clock to start.
I hope everyone had a great weekend, See you all Tuesday!!
One of the things I think I can help the incoming freshman with becoming self-aware is just realizing who they are and what they need to do for themselves. Even though they will have a lot going on with school and the new journey they are beginning to remind them they cannot forget about the things that are important to them and also the necessities they cant forget to make the best of themselves. I think the biggest thing is getting plenty of sleep! I think one of the biggest things in students mind is they never have enough time to do anything and have to stay up really late because they are in college and that is what you are "suppose" to do. The activity we did in class may be a little hard for the mentees to want to open up in recitation but a exercise that is similar to the one we did would be good for them to open up and share different things that make them who they are, I think if us peer mentors shared personal stories with the mentees about things that have shaped us into the person we are now they would be more open to sharing things with us as well.
Another way to help the mentees would be to help them with their time management, campus resources, ways to get involved and other things that will help them through their first semester.
By asking the students every class how their classes are going, how they are managing their time between their classes and other activities, what activities they are involved in and reminding them of all the other things they can get involved in if they are interested.
I scored lowest in physical activity when doing the activity in the book. I think the two biggest things I need to start getting more in a routine of and making myself more self aware in the physical activity category would be: To get in more of a routine working out, going to the rec and running or going back to the yoga classes. I think it just makes you feel better have you have worked out and you feel like you have accomplished something with you day/time. Get more sleep, I try to get 8 hours of sleep on a regular basis but I am such a procrastinator that it usually doesn’t turn out that way and I need to get in more of a habit starting my homework after class in the afternoon rather then waiting until 9 o’clock to start.
I hope everyone had a great weekend, See you all Tuesday!!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Defining Relationships
Hello Everyone!
This week’s class was very fun and interesting. To start off class Nick and Kelly did a wonderful job presenting their chapter and topic. I thought the activity they did was very fun and interesting. It was great to hear the other group’s definitions of the words that were brought up in the chapter. My group was assigned connecting link and we thought it meant connecting students to clubs, organizations, tutors, etc. if they have questions you can link them to the place they can find the correct answer. I thought this chapter was a great one to read about the responsibilities of becoming a peer mentor. The most important thing from the chapter is to make the boundary between the mentors and the mentees, you want them to respect you from the start and you want to be able to help them with the transition but you also have to remember you are their to mentor them not to become best friends with them.
Deb and Joeys presentation of their chapter was great! I thought the activities where we had to act out the skits of the different situations that may arise and I would not have been able to act but those who volunteered did a great job. I thought it was very interesting to see what everyone else would do in certain situations because I wouldn’t have known what I should have done in those situations. I thought Joey and Greg did a fabulous job of acting out their skit of being at a party and having an underage mentee approach them and show a little "crush." The skits were a good thing to do during class because they got everyone thinking about all the different possibilities that could happen when in the role of a peer mentor and all the correct things that you should do. In the situations that we talked about I believe the best option is to completely remove yourself from the situation and just save yourself from having to deal with it.
I found the Strategies the book suggested on page 62 to be very good strategies to keep in mind when being a peer mentor I think these all help with building the trust between you and your mentees when you are available to help them and are willing to do the best you can to help them succeed but at the same time you have the boundaries between you and them. I thought Anthony and Chelsee brought up a great point when we were discussing boundaries in class if a mentee were to ask you to meet outside of class to talk about personal issues that it would be a great idea to bring your co-leader with you so it becomes less personal between you and the mentee and it involves more people that are their to help.
I hope everyone has a great week! Happy Valentines Day!!
See you Tuesday!
Jenna
This week’s class was very fun and interesting. To start off class Nick and Kelly did a wonderful job presenting their chapter and topic. I thought the activity they did was very fun and interesting. It was great to hear the other group’s definitions of the words that were brought up in the chapter. My group was assigned connecting link and we thought it meant connecting students to clubs, organizations, tutors, etc. if they have questions you can link them to the place they can find the correct answer. I thought this chapter was a great one to read about the responsibilities of becoming a peer mentor. The most important thing from the chapter is to make the boundary between the mentors and the mentees, you want them to respect you from the start and you want to be able to help them with the transition but you also have to remember you are their to mentor them not to become best friends with them.
Deb and Joeys presentation of their chapter was great! I thought the activities where we had to act out the skits of the different situations that may arise and I would not have been able to act but those who volunteered did a great job. I thought it was very interesting to see what everyone else would do in certain situations because I wouldn’t have known what I should have done in those situations. I thought Joey and Greg did a fabulous job of acting out their skit of being at a party and having an underage mentee approach them and show a little "crush." The skits were a good thing to do during class because they got everyone thinking about all the different possibilities that could happen when in the role of a peer mentor and all the correct things that you should do. In the situations that we talked about I believe the best option is to completely remove yourself from the situation and just save yourself from having to deal with it.
I found the Strategies the book suggested on page 62 to be very good strategies to keep in mind when being a peer mentor I think these all help with building the trust between you and your mentees when you are available to help them and are willing to do the best you can to help them succeed but at the same time you have the boundaries between you and them. I thought Anthony and Chelsee brought up a great point when we were discussing boundaries in class if a mentee were to ask you to meet outside of class to talk about personal issues that it would be a great idea to bring your co-leader with you so it becomes less personal between you and the mentee and it involves more people that are their to help.
I hope everyone has a great week! Happy Valentines Day!!
See you Tuesday!
Jenna
Monday, February 7, 2011
Defining Roles and Leadership Conference
Hey Everyone!
I am sure you all were extremely upset about not having class last week and all are anxiously awaiting class tomorrow night! :)
On Friday, I attended the Biofeedback session and like the others who attended the session it was not what I was expecting, it turned out to be very interesting when I thought it was going to be extremely boring but I am glad I choose to go to this session. The session walked us through an orientation view of what the Student Counseling Service would do for you if you went into seek help. The program offers many different things to students in different types of counseling, if you get really stresses before tests and need a place to go and relax and really get your mind of things this would be an excellent place to go. I thought the Friday session was very interesting he said he was willing to come present to groups of students on campus to show what this program has to offer and to reach out to more students on campus who are unfamiliar with the services, I thought this would be a great idea to include in next semesters Hixson class with the incoming freshman! :)
On Saturday I was not looking forward to getting up early and going to listen to presentations but after I got their I was very thankful that I went and spent some time listening to the presenters. The keynote speaker David Coleman was fantastic he was an awesome speaker. He talked about a lot of things that I never think about and he brought up some very good and interesting subjects. One of the things that I took from his speech was when he said every one in the audience should go APE and it stands for, Attitude, Preparing and Effort. For my follow up session from the keynote speaker I went to David’s second session and it was also very good, the first activity that we did was very similar to the one we did in class the first day where we all wore note cards with a name on it that we had no idea what it was and we were trying to figure out "who we were" I thought this was a great game to play to show how some people react to different people, the stereotypes, or the things they had written on their names tags. Overall I thought David, was a great presenter and I am glad that we got the chance to be involved.
The last thing to discuss is Chapter 3. The chapter discussed defining roles and the one thing that really sticks out to me and can be hard for some people to accomplish is becoming a trusted friend, we all are going to become mentors to a group of kids and spend time with them each week helping them the best we can but we all have to remember that we are in a leadership role and we cannot let the students get to comfortable around us to not listen to us or to behave in an inappropriate manner. Every time I see my old peer mentors on campus we talk to each other but we aren’t hanging out on the weekends together I think it a good thing to have a little fence between the friendships with your mentees!
Hope everyone had a great weekend, see you tomorrow in class!! :)
I am sure you all were extremely upset about not having class last week and all are anxiously awaiting class tomorrow night! :)
On Friday, I attended the Biofeedback session and like the others who attended the session it was not what I was expecting, it turned out to be very interesting when I thought it was going to be extremely boring but I am glad I choose to go to this session. The session walked us through an orientation view of what the Student Counseling Service would do for you if you went into seek help. The program offers many different things to students in different types of counseling, if you get really stresses before tests and need a place to go and relax and really get your mind of things this would be an excellent place to go. I thought the Friday session was very interesting he said he was willing to come present to groups of students on campus to show what this program has to offer and to reach out to more students on campus who are unfamiliar with the services, I thought this would be a great idea to include in next semesters Hixson class with the incoming freshman! :)
On Saturday I was not looking forward to getting up early and going to listen to presentations but after I got their I was very thankful that I went and spent some time listening to the presenters. The keynote speaker David Coleman was fantastic he was an awesome speaker. He talked about a lot of things that I never think about and he brought up some very good and interesting subjects. One of the things that I took from his speech was when he said every one in the audience should go APE and it stands for, Attitude, Preparing and Effort. For my follow up session from the keynote speaker I went to David’s second session and it was also very good, the first activity that we did was very similar to the one we did in class the first day where we all wore note cards with a name on it that we had no idea what it was and we were trying to figure out "who we were" I thought this was a great game to play to show how some people react to different people, the stereotypes, or the things they had written on their names tags. Overall I thought David, was a great presenter and I am glad that we got the chance to be involved.
The last thing to discuss is Chapter 3. The chapter discussed defining roles and the one thing that really sticks out to me and can be hard for some people to accomplish is becoming a trusted friend, we all are going to become mentors to a group of kids and spend time with them each week helping them the best we can but we all have to remember that we are in a leadership role and we cannot let the students get to comfortable around us to not listen to us or to behave in an inappropriate manner. Every time I see my old peer mentors on campus we talk to each other but we aren’t hanging out on the weekends together I think it a good thing to have a little fence between the friendships with your mentees!
Hope everyone had a great weekend, see you tomorrow in class!! :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Week 3- MBTI
Hey Everyone!
This week in class we did Myers Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI). I found this class very interesting because I found out quite a few things about my personality that I never really thought about it depth before taking the survey. I thought the Step II to MBTI was awesome because it took the original MBTI test one step farther and it gave us many more incitements that we may have not known or thought about ourselves before. My type was ISTJ, which stands for introversion, sensing, thinking, and judging. I thought my type preferences were right on. One thing it said about ISTJ people is "They do not enter into activities impulsively, but once committed, they are hard to distract or discourage. They lend stability to projects and persevere in the face of adversity. I thought this bullet point was very true about my personality because I am someone who likes to be involved with things but I don’t want to make the first step in anything, but once I begin something I am determined to get it done.
On the initiating-receiving part of the report I thought the bullets about this part were exactly about me, they couldn’t have been any closer to describing me then they were some of them included, " Will initiate conversations in social situations with people you already know or if your role calls for this. " "Appear at ease socially in familiar situations, and much less so in large gatherings." This describes me perfectly. I am not one to strike a conversation with someone that I have never met before; I love talking to people that I am familiar with and that I know. I am a very outgoing person but like the second bullet says in familar situations, I love having fun with people I know but am very shy around unfamiliar people or situations.
There were many more parts of the MBTI report that described my personality very well but those were a couple that I thought were identical to myself. I thought this class was super interesting and fun to see all the people you shared similarities with and those who had a little bit of a different outlook on things then me. Also it was a great thing for all of us to get to understand ourselves a little better and find out things we may or may not have already known!
Hope everyone is having a great Monday, see you tomorrow!! :)
This week in class we did Myers Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI). I found this class very interesting because I found out quite a few things about my personality that I never really thought about it depth before taking the survey. I thought the Step II to MBTI was awesome because it took the original MBTI test one step farther and it gave us many more incitements that we may have not known or thought about ourselves before. My type was ISTJ, which stands for introversion, sensing, thinking, and judging. I thought my type preferences were right on. One thing it said about ISTJ people is "They do not enter into activities impulsively, but once committed, they are hard to distract or discourage. They lend stability to projects and persevere in the face of adversity. I thought this bullet point was very true about my personality because I am someone who likes to be involved with things but I don’t want to make the first step in anything, but once I begin something I am determined to get it done.
On the initiating-receiving part of the report I thought the bullets about this part were exactly about me, they couldn’t have been any closer to describing me then they were some of them included, " Will initiate conversations in social situations with people you already know or if your role calls for this. " "Appear at ease socially in familiar situations, and much less so in large gatherings." This describes me perfectly. I am not one to strike a conversation with someone that I have never met before; I love talking to people that I am familiar with and that I know. I am a very outgoing person but like the second bullet says in familar situations, I love having fun with people I know but am very shy around unfamiliar people or situations.
There were many more parts of the MBTI report that described my personality very well but those were a couple that I thought were identical to myself. I thought this class was super interesting and fun to see all the people you shared similarities with and those who had a little bit of a different outlook on things then me. Also it was a great thing for all of us to get to understand ourselves a little better and find out things we may or may not have already known!
Hope everyone is having a great Monday, see you tomorrow!! :)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Week 2
Hello Everyone!
In this weeks readings Chapter 2 covered how to help your mentees make the transition from high school to college. We all know how scary it was to think about coming to college. It is one of the biggest transitions in someone life. When I was coming to college I was so scared because coming from a high school where I knew everyone and graduated with only 60 classmates coming to a school with 25000+ students was a little intimidating. I want to be able to help my mentees with any problems or concerns they may have with anything about making the transition and getting situated into the the new "lifestyle" they are starting. When I was a freshman having my Hixson Peer Mentors was so great it was nice to have someone there to help that knew what was going on and had been through all of it before.
Another transition that was very different from high school to college was that there isn't someone always asking you if you have all your assignments turned in or if you studied for your tests that are coming up. In high school my mom was always on my case to make sure I had everything done on time and wasn't getting behind in anything, which I thought was super annoying when I was in high school but looking back now I was very lucky to have a mother that cared about my success. I thought this Chapter was very interesting to read because almost everything it talked about hit home because I went through almost everything that was discussed last year and I am excited to be able to be a mentor for someone next year with the same problems and be there for them just like my mentors were there to help me.
In class on Tuesday Josh and Greg led the class in the discussion and I thought they did a very good job with covering the topics in the chapter and the ice breakers they played were fun and interesting to hear everyone else's opinions to the questions that they asked!
Hope everyone is having a great week! See you all on Tuesday!! :)
In this weeks readings Chapter 2 covered how to help your mentees make the transition from high school to college. We all know how scary it was to think about coming to college. It is one of the biggest transitions in someone life. When I was coming to college I was so scared because coming from a high school where I knew everyone and graduated with only 60 classmates coming to a school with 25000+ students was a little intimidating. I want to be able to help my mentees with any problems or concerns they may have with anything about making the transition and getting situated into the the new "lifestyle" they are starting. When I was a freshman having my Hixson Peer Mentors was so great it was nice to have someone there to help that knew what was going on and had been through all of it before.
Another transition that was very different from high school to college was that there isn't someone always asking you if you have all your assignments turned in or if you studied for your tests that are coming up. In high school my mom was always on my case to make sure I had everything done on time and wasn't getting behind in anything, which I thought was super annoying when I was in high school but looking back now I was very lucky to have a mother that cared about my success. I thought this Chapter was very interesting to read because almost everything it talked about hit home because I went through almost everything that was discussed last year and I am excited to be able to be a mentor for someone next year with the same problems and be there for them just like my mentors were there to help me.
In class on Tuesday Josh and Greg led the class in the discussion and I thought they did a very good job with covering the topics in the chapter and the ice breakers they played were fun and interesting to hear everyone else's opinions to the questions that they asked!
Hope everyone is having a great week! See you all on Tuesday!! :)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Chapter One and First Class
Hello Everyone!
I am so excited to begin the journey of being a peer mentor and building friendships with the fellow mentors. I am anxious to be able to be more involved in the Hixson Program and be able to give back to the program because it has been very beneficial to me as a student and I am sure to the rest of you as well :)
The first chapter of the peer mentor book covered the topics of tutoring, mentoring and the differences between the two. There were also many other topics that were covered in the Chapter. Knowing your role of being a peer mentor is very important and I feel that this semester is going to be very beneficial in U ST 311 learning the different tasks that are needed to be a successful peer mentor and how to help the incoming freshman Hixson students. Peer mentors have a great effect on a students transitions into college. I am very excited to take on the role as a Peer Mentor, the book as so many good tips and ideas for one to become a good peer mentor. I am a very shy person and I think that this class is going to be very beneficial for me to start opening up to new people.
Last week in class we played two truths and a lie, at first I thought to myself this game is going to be so hard because I only know one other fellow peer mentor. But it turned out it was very fun and interesting to learn things about each of the other peer mentors and it was also a good game to note down to play as an ice breaker with our students next semester in our recitation classes we will be leading. I am excited for this semester to get to know ALL of you and build some great friendships with you!
See you guys in class!! :)
I am so excited to begin the journey of being a peer mentor and building friendships with the fellow mentors. I am anxious to be able to be more involved in the Hixson Program and be able to give back to the program because it has been very beneficial to me as a student and I am sure to the rest of you as well :)
The first chapter of the peer mentor book covered the topics of tutoring, mentoring and the differences between the two. There were also many other topics that were covered in the Chapter. Knowing your role of being a peer mentor is very important and I feel that this semester is going to be very beneficial in U ST 311 learning the different tasks that are needed to be a successful peer mentor and how to help the incoming freshman Hixson students. Peer mentors have a great effect on a students transitions into college. I am very excited to take on the role as a Peer Mentor, the book as so many good tips and ideas for one to become a good peer mentor. I am a very shy person and I think that this class is going to be very beneficial for me to start opening up to new people.
Last week in class we played two truths and a lie, at first I thought to myself this game is going to be so hard because I only know one other fellow peer mentor. But it turned out it was very fun and interesting to learn things about each of the other peer mentors and it was also a good game to note down to play as an ice breaker with our students next semester in our recitation classes we will be leading. I am excited for this semester to get to know ALL of you and build some great friendships with you!
See you guys in class!! :)
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