This week's lesson was all about using your resources on campus.  I thought that Megan and Jessica did a very good job of coming up with their lesson!  I really thought that they put some very creative work into it!  Their clues for the different resources on campus were very fun to listen to.  I found it a little bit troubling to come up with unique clues for my campus scavenger hunt, so I thought that they did a very nice job!

I think that using your campus resources is a very important tool to be able to master.  Being able to get help in many different ways when you need it is very important.  It ties in with being self-reliant and being able to get yourself the help you need, when you need it.  If you are aware of most of the helping resources on campus, you are more likely to use them and to get the help you need.  Whether you are sick, struggling with a class or paper, wanting to socialize, help with a situation with housing, and much more!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday!

This week's class was very interesting for me.  We started off having a class discussion about the Harlem Shake video that has recently become the latest trend on YouTube.  After Allie had told us that we needed to have a discussion about putting it in our digital storytelling video, I started to wonder the reason.  After the discussion and the videos we watched on Wednesday, I now realize that we really shouldn't put it in our video.  I didn't realize that these people were that offended about this video.  I had never even thought of where this mocking video of the Harlem Shake had originated.  This is one question that I would someday like to find an answer to.  I really felt for these people who felt offended at someone mocking their culture.  I would feel the same way if it was something I identified that strongly with.  Overall, I'm glad that we had the discussion in class, I thought that it was a very good topic to discuss, and it was a very mature and interesting conversation.

The second part of class, Shelby and Stephanie taught us about our learning styles.  I automatically knew my learning style before we took the test.  However, I thought that the test was a really good and creative activity to do for the class.  I assume that a lot of the incoming freshman that we will be teaching might not know their learning style; it would be a good activity to do with them!  I really enjoyed them teaching class on Wednesday, I thought that they did a fantastic job!

I hope you all have a wonderful spring break this week, see you Wednesday!

Well here comes the end of another busy week, and the start of a new one!  The last week of school, and then spring break! I am very excited to have a week off of school, I think that we all deserve a break. (:

This week’s lesson was about how to lead groups effectively.  I thought that Josh and Brady did a very nice job of teaching class on this topic.  When we first listed qualities we thought made up a good leader, I really enjoyed when everyone else shared their ideas.  I thought that others came up with some really good answers that I didn’t think of at the time. 

One thing we were asked to reflect on is whether we think a leader is born or made; a good question to think about.  I definitely think that the atmosphere you are born into and the genes you are dealt do play somewhat of a role.  However, I do think that a leader is made.  Just like the traits we were asked to think of at the beginning of class…you can’t tell me that you were just born with all of those traits.  You develop them over time through experience and learning situations.  Everyone is their own kind of leader.  That is what I like about leadership, there isn’t just ONE correct way to act as a leader.  Everyone brings different things to the table.

At the retreat today, I really enjoyed Allie’s presentation on financial literacy.  I am not very familiar with loans, so I always find it interesting to hear statistics and learn about them.  I feel very fortunate to not have to take out any loans while I am in college.  However, I know that once I am out, I will one day take one out!  Another interesting topic that was brought up at the retreat was Sebastian’s article.  I wasn’t aware that undocumented citizens could attend college.  I guess I had just never thought about it before.  It’s definitely something I am going to look up and learn more about.

Good icebreakers today too! (:

On Friday, I was able to attend two sessions at iScore.  I knew that the event was all about diversity, but I wasn’t aware that I would learn so much. 

The first session I attended was called “Where are all the Men of Color?”  This session was all about this group on Iowa State campus, and just men of color in general and their successes.  I found it very interesting to know that as a minority on campus, it can be hard and maybe even a struggle to find your identity in order to achieve success.  Many men of color expressed in the session that they would rather other races (or the majority race on campus) not ignore the fact that they come from a different culture.  They felt that they should be able to embrace their culture, and we shouldn’t be afraid to talk to them about it.  Stereotypes are not at all fair, just as anyone wouldn’t like to be stereotyped or judged.  I really enjoyed listening to all of the discussions in this session.

During the second session, I gained a lot of useful insight towards race and what multiracial means.  I had always thought of multiracial as lots of races coming together in an atmosphere, such as Iowa State being an atmosphere of many races.  This multiracial session was all about racial identities of people that come from more that one race (multiracial).  At the beginning of the session, three pictures of toddlers were shown.  We were asked to discuss with a partner about what different ethnicities we thought that the children were.  At the end of the session, they revealed what different ethnicities they were, and I was surprised to hear that two of them had a very diverse background, and one a background that I guessed completely wrong on.  This ties together with the main point of the session, asking,“What are you?”  The students leading the session described what it is like to be asked this question.  Just because someone looks of a race, doesn’t mean they are that race.   Judging them by this makes them feel uncomfortable and disrespected in a way.  It’s okay to discuss ethnicities with them, maybe share some of your background too, if you know it.  Just remember that just because someone looks different or has different skin than you, it does not give you the right to ask them, “What are you?!”

This week’s chapter was about working as a group.  When I looked up the word GROUP in the dictionary, this is what I read: A number of people or things that are located close together or are considered or classed together.  Some synonyms are cluster, team, and troop.  I like that TEAM was a synonym because when I think of a group I think about how important TEAMwork is.  As the definition states, a number of people or things, meaning that a group can be any more than one single person or thing.  That is what is neat and also useful about working in groups, you can adjust the number of people in each group to satisfy the activity you are doing.  I think that in classes like we will be teaching this coming fall, that it is always a good idea to include group activity.  For me, anyways, when participating in a group doing activities that pertain to me learning about resources, college, etc. I get more out of a group experience; it seems to stick in my head for a longer amount of time.  I also liked reading about the ten things that define people as a group in the chapter, I found it very interesting and fun to read.  I am really looking forward to using group discussions and activities in my classes next semester. 

Some ways in which I find groups really useful (observed in Hixson class):

-Discussing a class question in small groups, then reporting from each group back to a class as a whole. 

-Doing icebreakers or small activities

-After completing an assignment, switching or sharing assignments with the  person next to you (Learning more from both of your experiences).

-Acting as a whole class as a group in discussion