Hello World,
This week was a jam packed one on top of class this week for Hixson, we had a leadership session on friday, and ISLE on saturday. So we have lots of stuff to talk about this week.
Let's start with class! Class was extremely interesting this week since we spent the majority of the time talking about MTBI results. I was quite skeptical of MTBI after taking the quiz "choose the word that stands out to you" to me did not seem like a efficient way to test someone since to me it seems like they are petty useless choices. But, Debra proved my thoughts wrong tuesday in class, my results seemed very much like me and the people around me in the individual groups were a lot like me. Now we weren't the same on every level, but on the little levels we were split into were very accurate. I believe taking this test is important because it is important to know and understand yourself if you are supposed to lead fellow students.
This is my second year attending ISLE, I went last year for my fraternity for the entire time rather than just a couple sessions this year. I believe ISLE does a great job of introducing students to large variety of leadership topics which can jumpstart their interest in leadership activities.
This year I went to a session on entreprenuership and one on stress management for leaders. The entreprenuership session was led by one of my old professors and I was interested to see if he changed any of the topics from class for ISLE, he did not. In this session we talked about leadership skills and what it takes to be an entreprenuer. For those students who are going into majors that will cause them to have their own business someday it was an extremely useful session.
My last session was stress relief for leaders. This session was good because the speaker was very interesting. One thing that really opened my eyes was we did a activity were we marked our stress relief habits and pinpointed which were good and which were bad. It really made me think about my own habits and if I should change them.
So although it was a busy week I believe i got a lot of good out of all of these sessions and learned lots about myself and my leadership style.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Chapter 2 and Class
Well Friends,
I apologize for the late post my computer died last night and I did not have my charger so I did not get this posted in time. I know I know it breaks your hearts to have to wait to read my thoughts and opinions on classroom topics and readings. Rest assured I will do my best not to let it happen again!
The case study we read in chapter two was very interesting especially since you find out later in the study that it is the same student. I think the case study depicts what lots of students go through. This story although has a very positive ending, while some who get knocked down like this student did get back up a lot just give up. It proves a point of how important mentors, formal and informal, are to new students and their transitions to college.
The difference between college and high school is drastic and some students are not ready for it. In my opinion independence is the major factor in the difference between high school and college. Students face the dilemma of doing what they want to do and doing what they have to do. Do I go to class even though its cold? Do I stay in tonight and do my homework thats due tomorrow or do I go out? These are just a couple examples of situations that students have to face. Students need guidance and help to find their way through these difficult times.
My role as a peer mentor is to help students make those right decisions and share the knowledge he have gained from our experience from a few years here at college.
Class is becoming more interesting. It was nice to see a group finally do their presentation and they did a good job. It gives me some ideas for Chelsea's and my presentation. I am becoming more comfortable with the other peer mentors which is good. I hope we all continue to grow and develop our skills as peer mentors together.
I apologize for the late post my computer died last night and I did not have my charger so I did not get this posted in time. I know I know it breaks your hearts to have to wait to read my thoughts and opinions on classroom topics and readings. Rest assured I will do my best not to let it happen again!
The case study we read in chapter two was very interesting especially since you find out later in the study that it is the same student. I think the case study depicts what lots of students go through. This story although has a very positive ending, while some who get knocked down like this student did get back up a lot just give up. It proves a point of how important mentors, formal and informal, are to new students and their transitions to college.
The difference between college and high school is drastic and some students are not ready for it. In my opinion independence is the major factor in the difference between high school and college. Students face the dilemma of doing what they want to do and doing what they have to do. Do I go to class even though its cold? Do I stay in tonight and do my homework thats due tomorrow or do I go out? These are just a couple examples of situations that students have to face. Students need guidance and help to find their way through these difficult times.
My role as a peer mentor is to help students make those right decisions and share the knowledge he have gained from our experience from a few years here at college.
Class is becoming more interesting. It was nice to see a group finally do their presentation and they did a good job. It gives me some ideas for Chelsea's and my presentation. I am becoming more comfortable with the other peer mentors which is good. I hope we all continue to grow and develop our skills as peer mentors together.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Peer Mentor Chapter One and Class
Hello World,
In chapter one of my peer mentor book we covered what it means to be a peer mentor, how it is different from tutoring, the difference between formal and informal tutoring, realizing our motivation, balancing your other responsibilities and mentoring, and many other topics. Most of the reading was basically a refresher of concepts that are commonly known, but clarifying the difference between informal mentoring (taking a mentor role without being assigned) and formal mentoring where a mentor is assigned to assist a person (usually in an educational setting).
Another important part of this chapter was clarifying the difference between a mentor and a tutor. Tutors mostly focus on student mastery of topics of specific concepts, while mentors can do that, but also promote success in other areas of the students life such as social development and the transition to college life.
During our first class we did two truths and a lie which was very interesting, especially since I know several of my fellow peer mentors fairly well, trying to see if I knew the lie hidden amongst the truths. In some situations I did in others I didn't. I really feel the best part about being a peer mentor will be becoming good friends with the other 15 mentors and our facilitators.
I must admit my mind was elsewhere rather than being on the topic on hand since I was battling a bout of the flu, which I lost by the way, that night.
Well thats all I have to talk about about my thoughts and experiences in class and while reading the chapters this week.
See ya later,
In chapter one of my peer mentor book we covered what it means to be a peer mentor, how it is different from tutoring, the difference between formal and informal tutoring, realizing our motivation, balancing your other responsibilities and mentoring, and many other topics. Most of the reading was basically a refresher of concepts that are commonly known, but clarifying the difference between informal mentoring (taking a mentor role without being assigned) and formal mentoring where a mentor is assigned to assist a person (usually in an educational setting).
Another important part of this chapter was clarifying the difference between a mentor and a tutor. Tutors mostly focus on student mastery of topics of specific concepts, while mentors can do that, but also promote success in other areas of the students life such as social development and the transition to college life.
During our first class we did two truths and a lie which was very interesting, especially since I know several of my fellow peer mentors fairly well, trying to see if I knew the lie hidden amongst the truths. In some situations I did in others I didn't. I really feel the best part about being a peer mentor will be becoming good friends with the other 15 mentors and our facilitators.
I must admit my mind was elsewhere rather than being on the topic on hand since I was battling a bout of the flu, which I lost by the way, that night.
Well thats all I have to talk about about my thoughts and experiences in class and while reading the chapters this week.
See ya later,
Why Blogging is Weird
Hello World,
I have started this Blog for my peer mentor class so many of my posts will be related to that, but if the feeling arises maybe I will blog often. Only time will tell.
So I have postponed getting a blog for many reasons one I feel that people who blog about random things like "Why chocolate chip cookies are good" and "Why I would marry Taylor Swift" could spend that time being productive in other ways. I say that now, but most likely I will be one of those people that fall into that routine very much like those who twitter what they are doing every five seconds "eating lunch"......... "apples are awesome"....... "wow I wish I wouldn't have ate that apple for lunch."
I feel blogs have become the socially acceptable format to drone on and on about useless random topics that no one in the actual physical world cares about, very much like I am doing right now........ actually the longer I sit here writing my thoughts about blogs and my feelings toward them the more and more I begin to understand why people do it. They use it as an outlet to express their feelings, to get things off their chest, to clear the air, to become one with themselves.
This could very well be the start of a beautiful friendship or the onset of a weekly chore. For my sake and the sake of all of you I hope blogging for me becomes like Facebook or Twitter, where I was skeptical at first and now I love it. As I said before only time will tell!
I have started this Blog for my peer mentor class so many of my posts will be related to that, but if the feeling arises maybe I will blog often. Only time will tell.
So I have postponed getting a blog for many reasons one I feel that people who blog about random things like "Why chocolate chip cookies are good" and "Why I would marry Taylor Swift" could spend that time being productive in other ways. I say that now, but most likely I will be one of those people that fall into that routine very much like those who twitter what they are doing every five seconds "eating lunch"......... "apples are awesome"....... "wow I wish I wouldn't have ate that apple for lunch."
I feel blogs have become the socially acceptable format to drone on and on about useless random topics that no one in the actual physical world cares about, very much like I am doing right now........ actually the longer I sit here writing my thoughts about blogs and my feelings toward them the more and more I begin to understand why people do it. They use it as an outlet to express their feelings, to get things off their chest, to clear the air, to become one with themselves.
This could very well be the start of a beautiful friendship or the onset of a weekly chore. For my sake and the sake of all of you I hope blogging for me becomes like Facebook or Twitter, where I was skeptical at first and now I love it. As I said before only time will tell!
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