School of Dreams

The book I am reading is called School of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top American High School. The book is documenting what jouralist Edward Humes witnessed at Whitney High School in California. At the time, it was ranked as one of the top public schools in America. Humes gives an interesting behind the scenes look at how great of a high school it really is. I am about one third of the way through the book and I have already learned so much. Whitney high school may be one of the best, but it is terrible on the students that attend the school. Many students only average about 2-4 hours of sleep per night and are expected to be involved in about everything they possibly can be. It have realized that students do not just struggle because they may be poor or find school challenging. They also struggle because they are put under far too much pressure and are expected to do things that even adults should not be expected to handle. I have really enjoyed this book so far and I am excited to read more about Whitney High School.

Reflecting on MBTI

It is always nice to have a good MBTI refresher. I learn something new about myself everytime we discuss this assessment. I feel that in the last few years that I have became very comfortable being an 'I'. But I also know that I am a little more on the 'E' side than I would have ever imagined. The experience I have gained by being a peer mentor and other experiences on campus have made me more comfortable with expressing my ideas. I know that I am definitely an Introvert because of my need for alone time and my very independent nature, but I am glad that I have become more comfortable expressing myself around Es.

I have a very strong preference for sensing. Some of the things listed under this preference really stand out to me because they are very true to my personality. It says that I am reluctant to change things that are working well. This is very true for me because I have a very hard time with change especially if it in unnecessary. It also says that sometimes I get stuck on detials at the expense of larger considerations. This is so true for me. I get easy distracted by the small little details of projects such as my landscape designs. I can spend hours making all the little details right when I still have large parts of the project to complete. I am very particular about certain details and I do not feel right about the project unless they are complete.

I also have a very strong preference for perceiving. I am completely aware that I am a pressure prompted person. I do my best work under pressure and no matter how hard I try to change this, I just cannot. It is a part of me. I am also a very spontaneous person. I really do try and plan things out, but I find myself just going with the flow and doing things when i randomly feel like it.

I really enjoy MBTI and I think it is a great way to take a deeper look at why we are they way were are. It is important to know how we handle situations so we know how to plan for school and other activities. It is also a great way to look at ways to improve on your skills and make communicating with other people easier.

Internship

This summer I am working as the Education Intern at Reiman Gardens. This internship helps incorporate both of my majors which are Agriculture Education and Horticulture. I get the opportunity to give tours to both adults and children at the gardens. I will be in charge of the Summer Day Camp in July and I am working on various other projects throughout the summer.
Being an intern is also great because we get to go on field trips. Last week, we took at trip to Des Moines. Although the weather did not cooperate, it was still a lot of fun. We toured the Better Homes and Gardens test garden, the Des Moines Art Center, Terrace Hill and the Botanical Center. It was a great experience and it also gave us interns time to get to know each other even better.
I also get the opportunity to docent in the butterfly wing. This is an awesome experience and allows for more time to help educate the public. It seems like everyone who enters the garden wants to learn which makes my job enjoyable. This coming weekend, the gardens will be having an event called Rose Festival. Many of our roses are now in bloom and we will be having the Iowa Rose Society Annual Rose Show. We host many wonderful events through at the year at Reiman Gardens and there are many more coming up soon. In July, we will be having a Wine Festival and Garden Art Fair. I am very excited to get the opportunity to work these events and make our visitors' visit worth while.

Diversity Event: Truth is on Its Way

Truth is on Its Way!

I went to the diversity event called Truth is on Its Way. It was a lecture with guest speaker Nikki Giovanni. She grew up during the 1960s Black Arts Movement. She is one of America's most distinguished and widely read African American poets, authors and essayists. She has been a very well spoken activist for a quarter of a century and is determined as ever. She fights for civil rights and equality in education. Nineteen of her twenty books are sill in print today. Some of her books are Black Feeling, Black Talk, and Black Judgement. She also writes children's books.

She shared with us the process of her children's book, Lincoln and Douglas: An American Friendship. It was about how Ab Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas had a friendship in the sense that they were both working towards freeing the slaves. She told of a story when Ab Lincoln received too much change and was honest enough to give it back. It was only a nickel but a nickel would have bought an acre of land in Lincoln Heights at the time. Lincoln Heights is where all the African Americans fled to from Cincinnati when the lynching was going on and it is where Nikki grew up. Lincoln and Douglas had a few things in common like a dry sense of humor and they both loved food.

She also read some of her love poems. She told us, that if you are not in love, you should be. Get rid of the ideas about what you think love is or who it is and just find something, anything that you love.

She is an African American, who is constantly fighting for her rights and others. She is currently a professor at Virginia Tech and has survived lung cancer. I found her very inspirational. She definitely has a strong voice and knows where she stands.

My favorite quote of hers was, "All you have is your voice."

Resources

Last week, we spent the class period traveling around campus to find where all the important campus resources are located. It was a lot of fun and I think it was a great team building activity and it incorporated information that we will need to know for next fall. My group decided to find the easier places but we learned that there are A LOT of donations of different areas on campus. It was a lot of fun to race around and find out new things about campus.

I found out last year, that it is a very effective tool to take your students to different places on campus. There are places like the Study Abroad office and the Career Counseling services that we know about, but our students might not be familiar with. It is really helpful to students to show them were things are located so they feel more comfortable going there themselves. I think it is important that we as peer mentors have a good base knowledge of the resources around campus. Although, I know it is hard to know about ALL the resources so we need to be effective in finding out information and getting back to our students about it.

I think we can be a good tool for each other when it comes to campus resources. It is important that we share our past experience with other peers to help them reach out for their students. I know that last year we fed of each other as peer mentors a lot and it was a very successful tool. I am constantly trying to learn more about Iowa State, and what is has to offer. I have found that you can learn the most by just checking places out yourself, and researching what different areas on campus has to offer.

Have a great week everyone!

Goals

I thought that Karen and Zach did a wonderful job explaining and facilitating their lesson on goals. I think it is important to take a look at how we make our goals and really map out if they are manageable or not. I sometimes catch myself setting goals that I know are far beyond my time limitations or skills. I know that I should set my goals high, but I also need to keep in mind how I operate as a student and a person. I know that if I set goals that have a lot of time constraints that I will feel trapped. I like to have a list of things to do and come up with a plan but I know that I may very well change that plan 100 times before something gets done. I do work well under pressure, but I need to be under pressure at the last minute for that to work out. I cannot make my schedule so tight that I have not time to do things I want to or to unwind.

I think SMART goals are great for short term goals. I know I have set a few smart goals that I would like to reach before dead week, so that my finals will not be as stressful as they usually are. I know that I will have to work hard in my free time to reach these goals, but I think that they are very reachable goals. I need to sit down, and decide what my Four M’s goal is going to be for the rest of my college career. Every time I think I have my next two years planned out, I find out new information and it changes my perspective. So I really need to do so long term planning, to help me guide the rest of my time here at Iowa State. I really liked how this lesson got me thinking about my future, and really gave me some tips for when I do really take time to set goals.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Movie Making!

Woo Hoo for the video project! I can already tell that this is going to be a very entertaining project! I am very excited about the ideas that we came up with on Tuesday in class. I think it is important in the process that remember what the video is actually for, to help our students with ideas but also teach them something they did not know about Iowa State. I think the ideas we have came up with so far are very good and that the project is finally off to a good start! Once again, thanks Nick for finding that awesome video! It is now a hit with all of my friends as well!

I found last year when our students were doing the project that it works best when we give them as many restrictions as possible but still leave room for creativity because it is harder to come up with ideas when you can choose anything. I know this first hand from designing. I have a lot easier time coming up with an idea when I know what the program elements for the design are and not just told to design a random landscape. It is important that we encourage our students to work on the project early on because some groups of students really need the encouragement or the project may never get done. My group last year was pretty good about working on it, but it just took them a while to get the ball rolling. It is a great activity for class bonding, and I could tell that my group got a lot out of the project last year and I think as peer mentors we will get a lot of good out of it as well.

I think the hardest part about our project is going to be to slim down all the wonderful ideas we have. I can already tell that we have more ideas than we even have time for but that is a good place to start. I really liked how Zach went ahead and broke down the time frame. That was a great idea and will help us to have a starting point to go from.

Have a great week everyone!

Week 10!

I really enjoyed the activity that we did as a class over being a facilitator. I have really started to realize that I really enjoy being a facilitator and I hope my career involves it in some way. I will actually get to be a facilitator this summer when I do my internship at Reiman Gardens. I will be education intern and I will be working with groups as they tour the garden. I think I will really be able to use the skills I have learned through Hixson to really help me be successful this summer. Then I plan to use my skills from the summer to help make the students' experience next year the best it can be.
I realized during the activity how much my own learning style in the past year. I am becoming a very visual and verbal. I learn very well by watching something happen and then discussing why the event happened. I also have used my visual skills to help me in my plant ID classes. I have to know a lot of traits about plants and it is very important to be able to see the differences between two plants that look very similar. I will use my knowledge of my own learning styles to help my students realize theirs and be understanding that some students learn in different ways. Some students may not realize their style right away because of the change in atmosphere of college. It is important ask them questions and help them understand what works best of them so they can gain an understanding of their own style.
It is really important to grasp the role of being a facilitator. It is an important role of a peer mentor because students need to self discover college but many of them need a little guidance. It will be very important in the fall to help your students but not give them all the answers. Students sometimes need a boost their self esteem on a subject but then discover the answers on their own. I can already tell that our group of peer mentors are going to be great facilitator because we all really care about the Hixson program.

Communication

Communication is one of the most important things about being a peer mentor. I thought that Chelsee and Brandon did an excellent job with this topic. I really enjoyed the activity that we did. It was a good illustration of how important good communication is and how easily it can fail. I really enjoyed how they made us think about how we do communicate. I know I communicate a lot by email and text although I would rather talk on the phone than either of those choices. I like to talk face to face with people because it is easier to read people’s emotions that way. I know I have had a few situations where either text messages or emails were taking the wrong way. It is very easy to take something the wrong way especially if you are in a bad mood or just confused about the conversation. I am a very sarcastic person and sometimes I forget that not everyone knows that about me.

I think that twitter is a great way to communicate especially with our students next fall. It is very easy to just ask students questions and spark conversation over twitter! I know that I communicated a lot with my students via twitter last year. It is also a great way to fine about resources within your profession. It can be hard to get the students excited about Twitter but I know that after my students tried it about 50% of them really enjoyed it and I still see them on there today. I think you just have to encourage them to try it and interact with them on there so they know that you care about it as well. I also plan to communicate by email with my students and let them know how important it is to check your email on a regular basis. It is always important to communicate well with your students and set the example that you want them to follow!

Diversity/ISCORE

This is always one of my favorite weeks! This week is off to a VERY stressful start, but I am trying to keep my positive attitude. I thought last weeks class was great. I know that Cory and Jenna got put on the spot a little but that is what 311 is all about. We get to learn from each other so that we can make our students experience the best it can be. I really thought that they put a lot of thought into the activity and their lesson. I thought it was very interesting how Cory has not been around much diversity but Jenna has. It is always exciting when you get to work in a team with people who have different experiences with the topic. It always makes the project more successful. I think diversity is the hardest topic to talk about. It means so many different things, to different people. I know that I am a lot like Cory in that, I did not grow up around a lot of diversity. I think it is really exciting though to learn about all the diversity we have here on campus. Diversity just hits on the fact that we are all different and no one should be put down or treated differently because of their differences.

For ISCORE I got to attend the Defining an Ally session. This session was absolutely terrific! I learned a lot about what an Ally is and that it can mean very different things to different people. The session focused a lot on group discussion so we got to hear a lot of different point of views. We discussed the definition of an Ally. Some people thought that it was a person who stood up for the minority or a person being oppressed. But we also talked about how it can mean just simply not oppressing the oppressed. For some people, it is not easy to stand up to people who are saying or doing hurtful things, but that doesn't mean they are not an Ally. We also talked about how being an Ally is also realizing that as a white person we do have privilege. We cannot always change the fact that we are privileged in some situations, but we can be aware of the fact that we are and be more understanding and helpful to those who do not necessarily have the privilege. I thought that it was an amazing session, and I really learned a lot about different views of an Ally. I would definitely recommend this session if they offer it in the future.

Chapter Six - Rachel and I's Lesson Plan

This week was a great learning experience for Rachel and I. I really enjoyed our lesson and I felt that the other peers thought it was a helpful activity. Our activity really made us dig down deep to realize what our weaknesses really are. It is hard to step back and evaluate ourselves but it is a very important step in becoming a great peer mentor. As I have been reflecting on the different values associated with a role model. I have realized I really need to become stronger in the area of focus. I have a hard time focusing in on tasks when I have a lot of time to complete them. I know that I have plenty of time to do it so it makes it hard for me to focus in on it. Therefore, I am a huge procrastinator. I know that I work best under pressure but it is not the best habit to have as a role model. I really liked how we paired focus into the group with creativity because it made it clear on how people work on things. More creative people often have a harder time focusing because they are thinking of some many other ways to do it. I find myself having this problem because sometimes I cannot apply everything that I am thinking about. It is nice to know that I am not the only person who thinks and works like this, but it is something that we can all work on to make us stronger peer mentors.

The activity went a little longer than Rachel and I had expected to we had to use the value of adaptability to change to fit the need of the class. It is very important to be adaptable when working in front of the classroom. Students can sense when you start to panic so it is always important to keep your cool. I enjoyed teaching the class and working with Rachel! I remembered how much I enjoy being on the teaching side of things.

Chapter 5: Understanding Self Awareness

I thought class this week was excellent. Anthony and Beth did an awesome job of getting us to reflect about self-awareness. I have never really thought about how my past has truly shaped how I am today as a peer mentor. As I discussed in class, two really close friends of my family past away when I was in high school, one of which was one of my best friend’s dad. This had taught me to not take things for granted and to enjoy every day. Another situation that has impacted my life today happened when I was in high school. The truth came out about a member of my close family and we found out that he was not the person he had been portraying for a very long time. I had an extremely hard time with this and it is part of the reason it takes me a while to trust someone. It has had a negative impact on how I form relationships with people, but in recent years I have tried not to let it influence my choices as a person. After class, it really hit home to me that it does impact me more than I realize it does, and I am very thankful that I had the chance to come to the realization that I did.

I want my past to help me to become a better peer mentor, and for it not be a negative thing that I just let hang over my head. I want to honest with my students so that they will be honest with me and most importantly themselves. I want to help them self-reflect as they are making a turning point in their lives so that their choices can be a little clearer to them. I think it is very important to take a step back every once in a while and reflect on yourself and on the path you are choosing to take. I ask myself constantly, is this what I imagined myself doing 2 years ago and if it is not, then am I taking the right alternative path? I think it would be a good exercise to have students self-reflect at the beginning of the semester and then again at the end as a way to see how they have changed over the semester. It would help them to reflect about the decisions they have made and if they like the path they have chosen.

I also took some time to reflect on the twenty words that I wrote down to describe myself. I was just thinking about why I describe myself the way I do and why I am the way I am. I am a very casual person because I do not spend a lot of time on a normal day to doll myself up. I prefer comfort over fashion because I am such a laid back person. I am very easy going and just go with the flow because sometimes I feel like my opinion is not work sharing or may sound dumb. I am usually more self-confident about things I am truly sure on or are fact based. Overall, I am just really glad that I had the opportunity to self-reflect because I have not dug this deep in a long time.

Have a great week everyone!