(so funny story I went to comment on two blogs this evening and realized that this was autosaved as a draft and not sent...... whoops)
I have actually gave quite a bit of thought to values prior to this class due to my experiences with fraternity. Values are a part of life that everyone has. Granted some people have poor values, but values none the less. Analyzing and actually thinking about one's values really make you think about what you believe to be right in the world and how you run your life.
When I was asked the question who is/ has been a role model in your life I thought of one person. My grandfather. I have always said since his passing that if I live the life he did I will die a happy man. The core values I picked for him were creativity, responsibility, dependability, and positive thinking. He was a man whom everyone loved and cared for. This goes to show that these values are important in the relationships we build and that is why they are important to peer mentors.
I feel I share many of these values with him and I have used and developed them to build relationships with my friends, residents, and co-workers. Responsibility is one value that I treasure, even tho I sometimes fail on some of my efforts I try to take responsibility of everything I do, i.e. my work responsibilities, family, and school work. I think it is important to have all of these values if you plan on making a difference in the lives of your students. It was a common trend for the role models of several of the peer mentors to exhibit several of the listed values, so become that responsible role model/mentor we need to work on and exhibit as many of these as possible.
One of my weak points is focus, I am involved in so many things that stopping and focusing on one is a hard task and one that I have tried to work on more as of late. It has not been a hinderance to me since I have adapted to functioning this way, but it does affect my life when I have to stay up late to do homework because I put it off and didn't do it because I was thinking about something else.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Becoming Self Aware
- What is your role in helping the freshmen students become self aware?
My role as a peer mentor is to facilitate students in their own journey of becoming self aware. I set up the situation for them to analyze their own awareness and guide them as they ask questions and share their own experiences.- How do you think you can do this?
I set up the situation by doing activities very much like the ones we did in class on tuesday. Another thing that is extremely important is reflecting on what you realize during these activities. I have learned from being a education major that reflecting is a integral part of developing and becoming aware of how things work and how you can make them better. I believe this is so because once your thoughts and feelings get put on paper you can go back to them and rethink them from time to time. This is why in lecture I brought up the fact that perhaps our students should blog more then they have in the past, perhaps for every class period like we do!
- What kinds of questions can you ask to make them more self aware?
Questions like those posed in activity 5.1 are very good, questions that make you think about yourself and how you perceive the world you live in. for the most part I believe that people don't really reflect everyday on who they are and how they interact with the world, so this activity poses questions that make them do that.- After looking at your activity 5.4 results, make 3 goals to improve your self-awareness.
My lowest area was emotional awareness primarily the areas of self content and change. I have never been good at dealing with change that was not controlled by me, I always like to be in the middle of everything that is happening and being a part of the change not just affected by it. I need to become a little better at going with the flow and taking stuff as it comes.
I also used to be overweight and I have worked hard over the last three years to be where I am today. I believe that my low self content is a after effect of my low self esteem during that period of my life. I am still working towards being content with my self so my goal is to become whole and happy.
My last goal is to become more spiritual, maybe not in the go to church every Sunday sense, but spiritual in the sense of finding something that makes me feel whole and happy!
My role as a peer mentor is to facilitate students in their own journey of becoming self aware. I set up the situation for them to analyze their own awareness and guide them as they ask questions and share their own experiences.- How do you think you can do this?
I set up the situation by doing activities very much like the ones we did in class on tuesday. Another thing that is extremely important is reflecting on what you realize during these activities. I have learned from being a education major that reflecting is a integral part of developing and becoming aware of how things work and how you can make them better. I believe this is so because once your thoughts and feelings get put on paper you can go back to them and rethink them from time to time. This is why in lecture I brought up the fact that perhaps our students should blog more then they have in the past, perhaps for every class period like we do!
- What kinds of questions can you ask to make them more self aware?
Questions like those posed in activity 5.1 are very good, questions that make you think about yourself and how you perceive the world you live in. for the most part I believe that people don't really reflect everyday on who they are and how they interact with the world, so this activity poses questions that make them do that.- After looking at your activity 5.4 results, make 3 goals to improve your self-awareness.
My lowest area was emotional awareness primarily the areas of self content and change. I have never been good at dealing with change that was not controlled by me, I always like to be in the middle of everything that is happening and being a part of the change not just affected by it. I need to become a little better at going with the flow and taking stuff as it comes.
I also used to be overweight and I have worked hard over the last three years to be where I am today. I believe that my low self content is a after effect of my low self esteem during that period of my life. I am still working towards being content with my self so my goal is to become whole and happy.
My last goal is to become more spiritual, maybe not in the go to church every Sunday sense, but spiritual in the sense of finding something that makes me feel whole and happy!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Week Five
Hey World,
Well I am super pumped about this week. Around 50 degree weather and of course Hixson Class!!! I enjoyed class last week, the format was a bit different because of having to have two complete lessons in one class period, but I believe the message got across very well and both groups did a great job! Well since I messed up and talked about chapter four last week I don't have a lot to talk about this week.
With that said I thought I would just review some of the highlights of my learning the last several weeks. I believe a high point for me so far would have to still be the MBTI. I was amazed at how accurate that test was in seeing what kind of person/personality I am and was able to break it down in to such accurate little sections. I still believe that it is a test that everyone should take once in their lives. Another highlight is really getting to know the other peer mentors. It has been relieving to know that there are other people out there that share the same concerns as I do. It is also great having so many people I feel like I could talk to if I had to.
To kind of revert back to chapter four and last weeks class the subject of confidentiality stuck with me. In my previous work and leadership experience I have noticed that it is hard for a lot of people not to gossip or talk about fellow coworkers or students behind their back. This is always something that has made me uncomfortable. I am glad it was covered in our lesson we discussed it somewhat. Nothing can hurt a relationship more than being caddy or talking about information that was supposed to remain personal with others.
All in all I have had a good experience so far and I hope I continue to have a great time and an interesting and developing experience.
Well I am super pumped about this week. Around 50 degree weather and of course Hixson Class!!! I enjoyed class last week, the format was a bit different because of having to have two complete lessons in one class period, but I believe the message got across very well and both groups did a great job! Well since I messed up and talked about chapter four last week I don't have a lot to talk about this week.
With that said I thought I would just review some of the highlights of my learning the last several weeks. I believe a high point for me so far would have to still be the MBTI. I was amazed at how accurate that test was in seeing what kind of person/personality I am and was able to break it down in to such accurate little sections. I still believe that it is a test that everyone should take once in their lives. Another highlight is really getting to know the other peer mentors. It has been relieving to know that there are other people out there that share the same concerns as I do. It is also great having so many people I feel like I could talk to if I had to.
To kind of revert back to chapter four and last weeks class the subject of confidentiality stuck with me. In my previous work and leadership experience I have noticed that it is hard for a lot of people not to gossip or talk about fellow coworkers or students behind their back. This is always something that has made me uncomfortable. I am glad it was covered in our lesson we discussed it somewhat. Nothing can hurt a relationship more than being caddy or talking about information that was supposed to remain personal with others.
All in all I have had a good experience so far and I hope I continue to have a great time and an interesting and developing experience.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Week Four- Let it Snow
Well here I am writing my blog for the week, I know everyone in class was very upset about not having class this week because of snow ;)
As I read this chapter I tied everything I read to experiences I have had as a Community Advisor. This helps me analyze the way I have handled situation and the how I could improve them in the future. The part of this chapter that really made me think was the mentoring relationship. The chapter says that mentoring is primarily about creating and enduring a meaningful relationship with another person. This made me think about why I wanted to become a community advisor. I wanted to have/build a close relationship with students that I am supposed to be an authority figure over. It is important for me to master this because I plan on becoming a teacher and i need to know how to build meaningful relationships, while maintaining distance and authority. I believe being a peer mentor will help me learn and develop this talent more as well.
Another part of the peer mentoring relationship were the attributes that improve the peer mentor relationship. Many of these included knowing and utilizing campus resources and drawing on previous experiences. One thing that I need to work on is the acting and coming across as authentic. I sometimes have a tendency of coming across as sarcastic when I really don't mean to be. I need to put a stop to this because a peer mentor needs to come across as caring and authentic in order to have a positive affect on their students.
These were a couple of things that really stuck out to me in the chapter!
As I read this chapter I tied everything I read to experiences I have had as a Community Advisor. This helps me analyze the way I have handled situation and the how I could improve them in the future. The part of this chapter that really made me think was the mentoring relationship. The chapter says that mentoring is primarily about creating and enduring a meaningful relationship with another person. This made me think about why I wanted to become a community advisor. I wanted to have/build a close relationship with students that I am supposed to be an authority figure over. It is important for me to master this because I plan on becoming a teacher and i need to know how to build meaningful relationships, while maintaining distance and authority. I believe being a peer mentor will help me learn and develop this talent more as well.
Another part of the peer mentoring relationship were the attributes that improve the peer mentor relationship. Many of these included knowing and utilizing campus resources and drawing on previous experiences. One thing that I need to work on is the acting and coming across as authentic. I sometimes have a tendency of coming across as sarcastic when I really don't mean to be. I need to put a stop to this because a peer mentor needs to come across as caring and authentic in order to have a positive affect on their students.
These were a couple of things that really stuck out to me in the chapter!
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