EntreLeadership

The book I am reading is EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey. I choose this book because I have only heard good things about Mr. Ramsey’s work and advice, so I though reading one of his books would be very interesting and educational.  This book also talks in depth about being a an entrepreneur which is interesting to me because I have been an entrepreneur in the past and have dreams about being one again in the future.  So far my book has been very interesting, it started out with Mr. Ramsey telling what kind of leader he was and how that didn’t turn out for him until he took a new approach.  Then the book moved into the basics of what a leader is and how to develop the unique leader inside each of us.

MBTI

Doing the MBTI test is always surprising to me because of how right on it is with its findings; this test says I am ESFP, which stands for extravert, sensing, feeling, and perceiving.  During this session on the MBTI tests I looked at what the MBTI told me about how I teach and work with others so I could improve my mentoring abilities. 

My first letter is E, which stands for extraversion. I am not just a little bit this way I am an extreme extravert which means that I get my energy and excitement from the world around me.  Being an introvert is different than being an extrovert because they get their energy and excitement from within.  Knowing this about myself and others has taught me to be aware of the fact that I can be a little much for people sometimes, so when I am teaching I need to be aware of this.  Ways that I can tailor my teaching for introverts is by having more personal reflection time on things we are talking about in class.

My second letter is S for sensing which once again came out pretty strongly.  Sensing means I use the five senses when learning or doing something more than those that have the intuition characteristic.  This can make it hard at times when teaching or mentoring because students and mentees will ask a lot of what if questions which sensing people don’t usually pay that much attention too.  Knowing this, it will be important for me to pay close attention when asked and presented with situations that have to do with the unknown, so I don’t just blow them off.  Knowing that I have the sensing characteristic has helped me to know how to help my own studying and work habits.

My third letter is F which stands for feeling; I worry about how things and situations will affect others.  This can and has been a problem for me in the past because I let my feeling dictate in places where I should have though more logical.  Since last spring when we retook this test I have paid more attention to this and it has really paid off.  In the classroom using my feelings can help in some situations because I might be able to help the students learn about something before it becomes something they really need.

My fourth letter is P which stands for perception; which means I look at the world as being concrete and I like to keep my choices open, go with the flow.  This can be handy when working with others because you as an individual may have a set of plans, however those plans may not work with everyone else’s so being able to just go with the flow makes it easier.  When it comes to teaching and peer mentoring being able to keep my choices open will make it easier when working with others because you never know when something may take a different amount of time or course of action.  Being able to roll with the punches will make it easier on me and those around me when plans change.

Taking the Myers Briggs test has always been beneficial to me and I recommend everyone take it if they have the chance.  

Final Week!!!

I was super excited to finally get my partner!!  I ended up being a part of one of the groups of three so I am partners with Anthony; however Joey is Anthony’s other partner, so I will be doing a lot with him also.  I feel strongly that we will be able bounce off of each other to be the best mentors we can be for our recitation.  Knowing Anthony has two recitations I know that I will have to be very on top of things, so if he ends up needing to be with his other group I can handle everything myself.  Along with that when we are working on lesson plans and everything like that it will be nice to have an extra person to work with. 

The only other thing we did on Tuesday was some ice breakers…I love icebreakers!!  I have always found doing ice breakers fun because you are able to learn a lot about others while having fun.  I also find it interesting that there are so many different ice breakers that accomplish the same things.  Next, year I plan to use different ice breakers throughout the year to let the first years have fun and learn at the same time. 

I can’t believe this semester is almost over already.  We have come a long way as a group and I think we are ready for next fall all the new Hixson mentees, at least I know I am! J  I hope everybody is having a good dead week and good luck on finals next week!  See everyone later today!

Stories of Undocumented Youth

The diversity event I went to was, “Stories of Undocumented Youth.”  This film and discussion was very eye opening, I never knew there was so many youth that were/are undocumented in the United States.  Every year there are around 65,000 high schools graduates that are not able to continue their path through life in the United States because of not have the right papers to make them US citizens.  This eye opening  event was started with the film “Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth,” which was about four youth that have lived in the United States for as long as they can remember but their parents were illegal’s. When these high school graduates came of age they had problems getting jobs and going to college, because they were not US citizen because of their parents’ actions.  However, since the DREAM Act was passed those individuals that are undocumented now have the opportunity to gain permanent resident status here in the US and follow their dreams.  Following the video there was a short break followed by a discussion on this issue, which was also very eye opening.  

Before attending this event I never had put any thought into the fact that individuals all over this country of all different races and backgrounds are affected by their parents’ choice to come to America illegally.  There is nothing that makes them any different in the everyday life, until they find out they have no papers saying they are American citizens.  If I was one of those individuals that found out I was “undocumented” I don’t know  what I would do….I would be devastated that I couldn’t follow my dreams and lost when  I had to give up everything I had  ever known.  I feel that the DREAM Act was a great piece of legislation for our government to pass because now individuals are able to pave their own paths to life.  Undocumented youth don’t have to be punished for what their parents did anymore. 

Scavenger Hunt!!

I hope everybody had a great VEISHEA!  It was a great week for the Hixson program with Christiana getting her award and all of us getting so much work done on our video.  This past week in class we had to do a scavenger hunt of important places to know about on campus.  I found the Scavenger hunt relaxing, educational, and fun.  Some of the places we had to find were the Thielen Health Center, the Study Aboard office, the Financial Aid offices, and the Student Services main offices.  We were also gave points for every sculpture, piece of art, and donated object we could find around campus.  We did this scavenger hunt, so we would know where some of the commonly needed places by first year students are located, so we can better help our groups next year. 

I wish I could have come to more of the retreat yesterday; it looked like you guys were having fun.  I am happy to say I think the movie is going to be a success!  Big thanks to Zach and Brandon for all their hard work with the video! Well that is all for this week, see ya’ll tomorrow.  I CAN’T WAIT for tomorrow so I can find out my mentoring partner!!! J

GOALS!!!

I hope everybody found Zach and my lesson at least a little interesting.  Our lesson was about goals and using the SMART and 4 M’s methods to make goals more realistic.  I found the SMART goals method is what I use the most, it might be because I have know about this method longer or just because I like using this method more.  The SMART goals method entails five things a goal should be, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-limited.  The SMART goal that I made for myself this past week is that I will know the names, one fact, and the county that each person in my recitation is from and I will know the names of at least five other students by the third week of classes.  By using the SMART method by goal would be classified like this.  My goal is specific because I am going to know the names, one fact, and county of each member in my recitation and the names of at least five other students.  My goal is Measurable because after each class I can see what I know about each of my mentees and on Mondays I can see if I can remember any new mentees not from my recitation.  The goal is Attainable because I know I can memorize things if I try.  It is Relevant because I need to know these facts to foster better relationships between me and my group.  Lastly, it is Time-Limited because I gave myself three weeks.  As you can see using the SMART method makes the goals very specific and makes you think about every little thing obtaining to the goal.

            The 4 m’s in the 4M’s method stand for motivation, making commitments, modifying the environment, and monitoring actions.  Even though I like the SMART method more, this method can also come in very handy when working on making goals and achieving them.  For my goal above my motivation is being the best mentor I can be for the individuals in my group and the whole program.  Those that can help me achieve this are my follow mentors because we are all trying to do the same basic thing.  I will modify my environment by making sure that when students are doing their intro there are no distracts in the room, so we can pay attention and get to know each other better.  Lastly, I can monitor my actions by seeing what I remember after each class.  Setting goals have always been important to me because goals give me something to work for and I love having something to work forwards. 

I hope everybody is enjoying this beautiful weather, I know I am!  See everybody Tuesday for sure and maybe Monday to work on the video! J

Digital Storytelling

Hope everybody is having a great weekend and loving this beautiful weather, I know I am!! J This past Tuesday in class we talked about our Digit Storytelling project, which I think is going to be a blast to film!  As a freshman I remember our video being a ninjas and fighting theme, so we had ninjas taking over the campus and attacking random people throughout the day.  Not only did we have ninjas, but we also had a Debra look like (me).  I think we will be able to make a great video this year, because of all the thoughts that have been talked about.   

This year our project is using music to tell about resources on campus and how to be a reasonable leaner.  I feel that using little clips from all kinds of songs is going to be fun to figure out and is going to make a pretty entertaining video at the end of all of this.  I believe that we got some great things figured out in class and through our brainstorming we should be able to come up with a script pretty easily.   Using the timeline of a pretty common weekday school day was a great idea; we were/will be able to come up with so many ideas.  Well the time has come for Zach and me to finely present our lesson.  I am pretty excited to do our lesson Tuesday, so fellow mentors get excited!!  

Facilitating Learning

I don't know about all of you, but I think I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the Spring semester!  Only five weeks left!  Last week we discussed facilitating learning and one of the major things we talked about was learning styles.  There are seven different learning styles that are the most common.  Among these seven styles the two I use the most are Bodily/kinesthetic and Musical/rhythmic intelligence.

I really enjoy exercising, being healthy, and learn about health issues.  Therefore, when something can be intertwined with those areas I understand them better.  When I can study while exercising or relating what I am learning to health I understand it the first time instead of having to go over what I am studying a hundred times.   Now for Musical/rhythmic intelligence I have always loved dancing and singing (even though I am not good at singing).  For many years of my life dance/twirling has been a big focus for me, which is probably why things come easier to me if I can put it into a routine to a rhythm.  An example of this is when I had to learn the bones of the body I made a song up with all the names and how they are connected.  Now when I am studying having country or music with no words playing softly in the background makes it easy for me to concentrate and learn what I need to faster.  Also if I can’t concentrated I give myself a little break to go twirl, when I come back I can focus a lot better.

Remembering that there are at least seven different ways to learn is important, because in our classes next semester we will probably have every one of those learning styles represented.  I hope everybody had a good start to their week and are looking forward to working on our digit storytelling project this evening! J

Commutating!!

Communicating can make or break a relationship which is why I feel that I communicate with different people in different ways.  With professors and people I work with I communicate in a professional way through e-mails and face to face talking.  When it comes to talking with friends and family I am very open and I communicate in all ways, face-to-face, e-mail, and facebook, whichever way is the easiest.  With both the professional and close people in my life I find that communicating face to face is what I prefer to do.  When I am communicated with people I find it very helpful to be able to see the body and facial expressions they have.  I will be communicating with my students face to face, so I know what they are actually thinking instead of just what they can think up to write down in an e-mail or blog.

Now for the tweeting we had to do this past week, I am not sure I like the fact that we were told we had to tweet 20 times.  Some people may not like to share as most about themselves as others on a daily bases.  Some may say that those individuals need to open up more, because you many need to does this later in a job, however not everybody is going to in a  job that communicates that way.  Some people are in a career that only involves talking face to face, e-mailing, and blogging.   I, myself found tweeting fun and different, I have never really changed a status that many times in a week.   I do feel though that it is good for students to learn about twitter and try it.  I think that figuring out a game to play would be the best way to get students excited about twitter and help them get the experience they need with it.

Yay for Diversity!!

This week we covered diversity!  First we had a lesson taught by Cory and Jenna, they did a great job!  Then on Friday we went to ISCORE it was great!! I wish I could have gone to Zach’s and Allie’s sessions but couldn’t, I hear they did great though!! 

My first session was Minority Student Athlete Experiences at a Predominately White Institution was great!  It was fun to hear about how athletes from all over talked about coming to Iowa State and what it was like coming to a school that has mostly white students.  It was very interesting to hear first hand from some of the student athletes about their experiences on the campus and on the court or field.  A couple things they all had in common were, they didn’t like the snow, they thought Iowa State as a community was very friendly, and not being white was not a problem.  They are proud of where they came from and that has made coming to Iowa State a great choice from each of them.

I decided to stay for the Keynote speaker who was John Carlos, he was great!  He was one of two USA team members at the 1968 Olympics who raised a fist in pride causing political controversy and a long journey of hard times for him and his teammate.  However, Mr. Carlos used this journey to make a difference.  He now goes all over talking about his journey and helping individuals find a path of their own.  Listening to Mr. Carlos was very inspirational he discussed how God tells each of us where we are going, all we have to do is be ready.  God’s journey for Mr. Carlos was to stand up for his rights along with all black’s rights.   He stood up for what he believed was important, which is why people like Mr. Carlos and Rosa Parks were able to make a difference.  They made a difference because they were not afraid to stand out which is something we could all learn from.  Standing up for differences instead of looking down on them is important.  One last quote from Mr. Carlos that sums up diversity is “one person’s ego can destroy a colony.”   We each need to remember that the next time we are going to say/do something that could hurt somebody else.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words!!

This past week’s lesson was about how the values you represent make you into the role model others see.  I feel that Amy and Rachel did a great job of making each one of us realize what values we showcase and which ones we are a little weaker at.  To start out we had to tell about one of our role models.  I picked my grandpa because even though I have a lot of people I look up to I feel that he is one of my all round greatest role models.  Throughout his life he always acted in a way that showed people he valued life, people, farming, and making everything around him better when he left.  In my mind he showed all 12 of the values we talked about, however the top four that he represented was purpose, perspective, dependability, and service.  He knew that his purpose was to farm, be a father/grandfather, and be an active community member.  Knowing he had reasonability to each of those areas he worked to make balance time for each of those areas.  Knowing he had a duty to his community made servicing others something he saw as part of life, not something to do just in his free time.  When it came to servicing others he would survey the scene to see where the most help could he used and he jumped in.  With his willingness to just jump right in, being dependable was something that just happened.  People always knew that they could depend on him if they needed help with something, someone to talk something over with, or just a friend to be with.  The value that is the most profound of my grandfather’s is the perspective he took on things.  Whenever there was a problem on the farm or in his life he viewed it as a chance to show growth in him has a person and the life he lived.  Not only did he act this way, but when I would have a problem and we would talk about it, he would always help me find a way to overcome the obstacle.  Even though he is gone now, I always know that if I can live a life like his I will be a role model to others like he was to me. 

          After thinking about my grandfather and doing the activity of picking a value that best describes and least describes you.  I realized once again that, yes all 12 values we talked about are important and we should pay attention to all of them.  However, being a role model is more about finding out who we are as an individual and not being afraid to stand up for what values we believe are important and representing those values through our actions and words.  One of those values I really want to represent is open-mindedness.  Seeing as the mentees along with each of us mentors are in a time in our life where everything is changing I believe that is it important to let go of the past and live in the moment.  We are in or entering into a stage in our life where the past should stick with us as memories, but we need to be willing to change and grow.  We need to be willing to change in grow, so we can get that career, family, and life style we each dream of.  I hope that through my actions I show that moving into a different stage of life is fun and exciting, not horrible or scary.  Through this process we will be coming into contact with many people, so the quote the girls chose from Jesse Jackson, “don’t look down on someone unless you are helping them up,” fits in well.  Each of us could learn something from everybody we come into contact with, so don’t looks down or you might miss the lesson.

Self Awareness!!

          This past week we talked about becoming self aware and helping mentees become self aware in their transition to college.  I would like to give a quick shout out to Anthony and Beth, good presentation and nice job getting everybody to open up.  This week’s readings and lesson was to understand that helping students become self aware comes from being able to ask questions and have lessons that make mentees think about themselves.  I think that the best way to help mentees become more self aware is by having a thought question for them to answer each class.  Also having a question about a different area of life each week for mentees to blog about would be another way to get them thinking.  Lastly, I believe that having lessons about each area of awareness would help students to thinking about themselves and if they are aware of themselves in that way.  I believe that thought questions having to do with how you view yourself in different areas and what things make you act a certain way will make mentees think about themselves.  Before I start helping others become more self aware I plan to develop better awareness of myself by researching resources available to me.  Secondly, I would like become more aware of how I physically present myself when around others.  I plan to do that by watching myself when around others and recognizing what I need to change.   Lastly, I believe an individual can always become more spiritual which I plan to do by becoming more active in my church and in bible studies.  Well it is time to sign off for now so see ya’ll in a couple days.

O Relationships!!

On Tuesday we had two groups and they both did a good job!!  The first group of Nick and Kelley they had the topic defining roles.  The second speaker group was Joey and Deb they discussed establishing and maintaining relationships, which is our topic of the week.  They had us do skits to show the different relationship situations we could get into next year.  They ranged from a student wanting more to a bad assistant mentor and ended with a drinking/mentee that wanted a personal relationship with a mentor.  When thinking about relationships I always just think about the relationship in the classroom and the positive relationship of helping and being there to help with the transition.  Seeing the skit about a assistant mentor that had a problem with time opened my eyes to the fact that being a mentor is a lot of responsibility and since we are put into groups of two it is important to be responsible yourself and also be willing to help your fellow mentor.  If we do this we will be a better team, which will help the mentees to have the best experience possible.  Now for mentees, it is important to be a role model and friend that they can talk to and trust in, however there is a line that we each need to be aware of.  This line is the line that keeps the relationships between us, the mentors, and the mentees working and going in the right direction.  This means we have to be responsible about the way we conduct ourselves in and out of the classroom, and if we get into sticky situations we just remove ourselves from the situation. 

Can’t wait to see everybody Tuesday!!   I hope all the mid-term tests went well and any still coming up good luck!!

2 speakers and a reading

It seems like forever since I have seen everybody!  

            Two Fridays ago I attended the “Underprepared vs. Underperforming” session of the Learning Institute.  During this session we discussed the differences between students underperforming verse underpreparing.  I thought it was very interesting to be in a group with teachers and students because it brought about a different view about students and how they perform in the classroom and what causes the behaviors students show.

            The next day I attended ISLE which I found to be very interesting because the “Date Doctor” was very entertaining to listen to and I had no voice so that was interesting also.  He had some very interesting views on relationships and tips about living life from day to day.  The little activity he had us do in the first session opened my eyes to how we relate with each other without even knowing it. 

            In the readings for this week, we learned about the many different roles we will have to play as we become a peer mentor and how important they are to those that we are mentoring.  One role that peer mentors play that I had never thought about, is being a trusted friend.  I knew it was important to be a friend, however I had never really thought about how important it is to be trusted.  If the mentees do not trust their mentors they will never go to them about anything or ask for help.  Something else I had never thought of as being something that would be important is the habits I have in my everyday life.  My study, work, thinking, and planning habits can have an effect on the relationship between me and my mentees, so I am going to start trying to make good habits now, so I don’t have to worry about it next year.

Week Three: MBTI test

Doing the MBTI test was once again very fascinating to do!  I find it very impressive that from answering a few questions so much can be revealed about someone.  By doing this test I have seen that I am a extraversion, sensing, feeling, and perceiving person, which means that I am an outgoing, friendly and  realist person.  I try to find solutions that work best for everybody and quickly, while also knowing that I prefer to talk things over and I love to ask questions.  I live in the moment and take things one issue at a time.  I need to remember these characteristics along with many others next year when working with mentees and the other mentors, so things can go as smoothly as possibly.

In class the exercises we did I thought were very interesting because they showed first-hand how the different types of people react to different situations. The exercise I found to be most interesting was the Concrete-Abstract Activity because I have never really seen how a group of people can look at the same picture and see two very different set of things.  The group I was in saw the actual objects in the picture, the piano, numbers, the wine glass, and many more objects.  The other group saw abstract things like a party, and a busy café and many other places and activities.  Doing this activity showed me that when working on something having all types of people involved is important because each person can bring something different to the work being done. 

Week 2: Helping Students Make the Transition to College

                From my own experiences last year, I know that the transition from high school to college can be a little overwhelming at times.  The feeling of being overwhelmed can be helped if you have people, in our case a mentor that knows how to relate and encourage.  The focus this week of helping students make the transition to college was very interesting to me for a couple of reasons.  The first reason is because it made me think about last year and how my mentors helped me through my first semester at Iowa State.  The second reason I was interested was the Schlossberg’s Transition Theory. 

           Schlossberg’s Transition Theory which used the four Ss, situation, self, support, and strategies, I feel really helped me to better understand how to help first years transition to college and how to relate to them in the most beneficial way.  Some of the things I learned from this was each person has their own story and I have to remember that when working with my group next year.  Secondly I learned that I need to help mentees figure out their own strategies to overcoming different issues, so that they feel it was their own idea.  If you can make it their own strategy the person is more willing to buy into it.  Through reading the end of the chapter and the discussion we had in class, I realized there are a lot of different areas that one has to be caution of when making the transition.  Remembering how my mentors interacted with me and Schlossberg’s Transition Theory I believe I will be able to better help my mentees transition to college life. 

Hixson Week one

For week one I felt that the reading and class worked started at a great place.  The reading got us thinking about becoming a peer mentor and gave us things to think about and remember throughout the process. While at class we were able to get to know each other a little better and understand what we were going to be doing this semester to prepare for next fall. 

                Coming into this I felt I had a pretty good understanding of what a peer mentor does, however after the reading I see there is a lot more to it than what appears to the eye.  For example one has to find motivation that is a mix of self and other focused.   I had never thought about focus in mentoring, but after reading about it I see there is a big need for a balanced motivation, so both the mentor and mentee can get as much as possible out of the experience.  The second big point from the reading that affected me was that there is not only a responsibility to those you are mentoring, but also to yourself.  A mentor has to be aware of what they are doing and how it will affect the mentee which I knew.  However, I never thought about how reflecting, goal setting, and studying smarter as an individual would  affect how one was able to mentor others.

  

           After going through the syllabus in class I realized that we will be expected to do a lot of different things throughout the duration of the semester.  Two that I am looking forward to is the twittering for a week because I have never done it and it should be interesting.  The second is the digital story telling because when I did it as a first year it was a blast.  The diversity event and Iowa State Leadership Experience sessions should show for a lot of learning on my part.  Overall, I feel that I am in for a lot of new experiences, which will be exciting!