Saturday's I.S.L.E. conference was pretty fun. I couldn't make it to the main speaker but it sounded like he was really interesting. The first session I went to was the one held by Dave, "hi Dave", about icebreakers. Time went by so quickly and it was great!
We went through and played the notecard game again. He used a bunch of different famous people and cartoons which was much harder than the one we played in class. He also taught us 3 new ones that will be great to use in class next year. On the SAC website there is a link with a whole bunch of icebreakers that will also be helpful next year. I am really glad I went to this one.
The next one I went to was not so fun. Identifying your strengths was the title of it and it was surprisingly boring. I regret going to this one and would have rather spent my time at another one but at least I picked up a few good tips. I learned enough at this conference that I will most likely go again next year!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
It's Class Time!
This week's class was pretty insightful. We had to look back on our freshman year and think of things we were grateful we had some help with. Doing that made me realize again how thankful I am for this scholarship and this class. I would have been pretty lost without my peer mentors.
Making friends, finding a job, and dealing with the new way of life were major points brought up in discussion. I remember talking to my friends already up here my first week of college about not making any friends yet and I was really bummed about it. Going to the zoo was a good way to just forget about that and have fun with the people in my Hixson group. My peer mentors played a key role in that too.
My peer mentors were both really good about keeping us all together and making sure each of us got to see what we wanted to. They were really patient with the big group of us and made the time there really enjoyable. Being patient is a good quality to have as a leader. Dedication for what you do is also a big thing.
They volunteered their time to help us, which made me want to do the same for the upcoming freshman. Another key thing to leadership is being open-minded. In a fairly decent sized group you have to be willing to take in everyone's opinion. All of these things are qualities I am going to have to work on, but I am really excited to grow as a person and as a group to take on this responsibility. It is going to be a fun year!
Making friends, finding a job, and dealing with the new way of life were major points brought up in discussion. I remember talking to my friends already up here my first week of college about not making any friends yet and I was really bummed about it. Going to the zoo was a good way to just forget about that and have fun with the people in my Hixson group. My peer mentors played a key role in that too.
My peer mentors were both really good about keeping us all together and making sure each of us got to see what we wanted to. They were really patient with the big group of us and made the time there really enjoyable. Being patient is a good quality to have as a leader. Dedication for what you do is also a big thing.
They volunteered their time to help us, which made me want to do the same for the upcoming freshman. Another key thing to leadership is being open-minded. In a fairly decent sized group you have to be willing to take in everyone's opinion. All of these things are qualities I am going to have to work on, but I am really excited to grow as a person and as a group to take on this responsibility. It is going to be a fun year!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The Next Dot on the Adventure
The idea of being a peer mentor is one I really like, but I don't think I fully know what being a peer mentor truly means. I will probably look back on this post in a couple months and realize I still currently have no clue. From our first class and the first two chapters of the book I have already learned so much!
A peer mentor is someone who has been selected to help other students attain their goals, whether academically or as a person. Peer mentors are there to guide, help, assist and point peers in the right direction. One important job they have is to know where to draw the line between their knowledge and someone else's. They must be aware of the fact that to give adequate assistance to a student might mean to point them in the direction of a professional helper. This is something I hadn't even thought of before reading the book.
In chapter two I found myself relating a lot to the challenges they had listed. There weren't very many that I hadn't experienced. While going through these lists I remembered my class last year and how much my peer mentors support helped me through them. I see now that they had to be prepared for their roles as peer mentors and they had more responsibilities than I would have ever imagined. I hope we all can have as big of an impact on our students as my peer mentors, and I'm sure many others, had on me and others.
I have tips for helping and tips for being a good peer educator marked in my book to go back to, which I'm sure I will many times before this semester is up. The book says a little bit of knowledge in a lot of places is a key factor to a foundation but the knowledge means nothing if you cannot communicate it well to others. There are a lot of skills needed to be an effective peer educator and while that's an intimidating idea, it is also a very exciting one. I am very excited for this semester and all the chances to grow as a class and individually!
A peer mentor is someone who has been selected to help other students attain their goals, whether academically or as a person. Peer mentors are there to guide, help, assist and point peers in the right direction. One important job they have is to know where to draw the line between their knowledge and someone else's. They must be aware of the fact that to give adequate assistance to a student might mean to point them in the direction of a professional helper. This is something I hadn't even thought of before reading the book.
In chapter two I found myself relating a lot to the challenges they had listed. There weren't very many that I hadn't experienced. While going through these lists I remembered my class last year and how much my peer mentors support helped me through them. I see now that they had to be prepared for their roles as peer mentors and they had more responsibilities than I would have ever imagined. I hope we all can have as big of an impact on our students as my peer mentors, and I'm sure many others, had on me and others.
I have tips for helping and tips for being a good peer educator marked in my book to go back to, which I'm sure I will many times before this semester is up. The book says a little bit of knowledge in a lot of places is a key factor to a foundation but the knowledge means nothing if you cannot communicate it well to others. There are a lot of skills needed to be an effective peer educator and while that's an intimidating idea, it is also a very exciting one. I am very excited for this semester and all the chances to grow as a class and individually!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)