Last weeks class was definitely one of the most interactive, fun sessions we have had thus far. All the activities gave us a really good insight into the importance of communication in group work. I also think that it is all very valuable information that we can utilize as peer mentors. These are also great skills to be able to pass down to our peers that we will be teaching.
The first activity we did with the blindfolds and getting through the obstacle course by communicating with our partners was a great activity that showed us how important effective communication is in being successful when working with others to achieve a goal. Next, we went on to the blanket activity that proved to be a challenge. However, everyone in the group communicated efficiently and achieved the goal of flipping it over.
All the activities gave us a look from another perspective about group work and how to be successful in it. I enjoyed the class a lot and feel like I took a lot away from it.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Week 6 Blog
Well, judging by everyone's blogs it seems like class last week went really well. I am sad i missed out on all the fun. I did read through the chapter however and still got a lot of useful information out of it. There were a lot of useful strategies in this chapter about goal setting, action planning, problem solving and much much more. The section on goal setting was a really large and focused section, and it seems like that topic has been coming up a lot this semester. I have really been noticing the the importance of it too.
While reading this chapter, I felt like I could relate to it a lot too. I am in my third year of the teacher education program and I noticed a lot content in this chapter that I have been taught to think about previously in my classrooms. I was glad to see how these strategies carry over into many different situations, and I feel like I really am getting some great experience that will help my future in teaching too.
I look forward to moving through the rest of the semester and seeing what everyone is coming up with for lessons. See you all tonight :)
While reading this chapter, I felt like I could relate to it a lot too. I am in my third year of the teacher education program and I noticed a lot content in this chapter that I have been taught to think about previously in my classrooms. I was glad to see how these strategies carry over into many different situations, and I feel like I really am getting some great experience that will help my future in teaching too.
I look forward to moving through the rest of the semester and seeing what everyone is coming up with for lessons. See you all tonight :)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Interpersonal Communication
Last week Dylan and I got to teach a lesson about interpersonal communication and advice giving. Since we were actually teaching the lesson, I got to really dig into the chapter and take a lot away from it. I never realized that there was actually a term for interpersonal communication. I always thought advice was advice, whether its about something simple, or something extremely complicated.
I took a lot away from the chapter that will be useful to all of us as peer mentors. I learned a lot about interpersonal communication and how it is not just telling someone what to do in a sticky situation. It is not just telling someone what they should do about it, its helping to guide them to make the decision the right way on their own.
One point I would also like to make is that, the chapter did not say that advice giving was bad and should not be used whatsoever. It showed us that in some situations, advice giving would be more appropriate as well. That is one of the points I wanted to stress in the lesson we taught too.
Overall, teaching was a great experience, and I thought it went very smooth. I am excited to continue planning lessons and getting in as much experience in teaching as I can.
I took a lot away from the chapter that will be useful to all of us as peer mentors. I learned a lot about interpersonal communication and how it is not just telling someone what to do in a sticky situation. It is not just telling someone what they should do about it, its helping to guide them to make the decision the right way on their own.
One point I would also like to make is that, the chapter did not say that advice giving was bad and should not be used whatsoever. It showed us that in some situations, advice giving would be more appropriate as well. That is one of the points I wanted to stress in the lesson we taught too.
Overall, teaching was a great experience, and I thought it went very smooth. I am excited to continue planning lessons and getting in as much experience in teaching as I can.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Learning Community Annual Conference
A session I attended at the learning community event we attended this past Friday was, "Using Gallup's Strengthsfinder for Leadership Development". At first, I had no idea what this was going to be about, but as soon as I got in there I found all the information presented to be really interesting. Gallup's Strengthsfinder is actually an assessment that is taken and tells the participant all of their strengths, well it gives you your top five at first, but you can purchase the entire list if you wish to do so.
Following the assessment, people utilize these results in their academics to recognize talents, themes, and strengths. While we were discussing this assessment, it reminded me a lot of our MBTI surveys that we did, even though they are not exactly the same type of assessment, but they are both used to help further our knowledge of who we are and qualities we hold.
Reflecting back to the talents, themes, and strengths; we discussed a lot about strengths and what those actually are. One point that was made that stuck out to me was that strengths are built upon talents using knowledge, skills, etc. They stated that when you have a consistency to perform, it is a strength. I think that is an important statement, because we can all be good at things and that is considered a talent, but being consistent is the key to making it a strength. Therefore, I think it is important to stress applying meaningful efforts to develop talents into strengths.
There were students who had taken this assessment and received their results that spoke at this session as well, and it was interesting to hear how they applied their results to improve in areas where they wanted to. They made it a point that they were getting the same tasks accomplished, but doing it in a way that works best for them based on their individual strengths.
I found all of this information to be really interesting, and what I got out of this session is that knowing ourselves more in depth is a great way to change what we want to change and improve what we want to improve.
Following the assessment, people utilize these results in their academics to recognize talents, themes, and strengths. While we were discussing this assessment, it reminded me a lot of our MBTI surveys that we did, even though they are not exactly the same type of assessment, but they are both used to help further our knowledge of who we are and qualities we hold.
Reflecting back to the talents, themes, and strengths; we discussed a lot about strengths and what those actually are. One point that was made that stuck out to me was that strengths are built upon talents using knowledge, skills, etc. They stated that when you have a consistency to perform, it is a strength. I think that is an important statement, because we can all be good at things and that is considered a talent, but being consistent is the key to making it a strength. Therefore, I think it is important to stress applying meaningful efforts to develop talents into strengths.
There were students who had taken this assessment and received their results that spoke at this session as well, and it was interesting to hear how they applied their results to improve in areas where they wanted to. They made it a point that they were getting the same tasks accomplished, but doing it in a way that works best for them based on their individual strengths.
I found all of this information to be really interesting, and what I got out of this session is that knowing ourselves more in depth is a great way to change what we want to change and improve what we want to improve.
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