Confidence

The article Chelsee had us discuss this week was really interesting. Personally I really enjoy reading about science behind social interactions and behavior psychology but the whole time I was reading it I kept coming back to a TEDTalk I watched about body language by Amy Cuddy. When the article was talking about the mirror neurons and how the brain reacts to what it sees, instantly I thought about how the hypothesis of she presented about the importance of body language, not only picking up on others but also using our own to influence our own mind. 

In her Talk, Cuddy talked about how our body can trick our mind into thinking or feeling anything we want. Kind of like how if you force yourself to smile long enough you’ll start to feel happier. Mainly it covered the idea of a “power stance” which you can do before going into any stressful situation (such as a stressful interview) and it will help you project confidence. This can help you, as in the article, “leverage” yourself in the interaction. I’ve actually tried this technique a few times before tests and its actually helped me a lot. Confidence is key to get your mirror neurons the upper hand and hopefully help us next year in the classroom.

Here’s the video I talked about, its kind of long but a really great watch:

Diversity Event

     For my diversity event, I attended Professor Ann Taves’s talk on Mormonism. She talked a lot about different points of view on the religion but mostly focused on different ways to look at the Golden Plates found by Joseph Smith, which is a huge centerpiece for the religion.

      Although the talk was not what I was expecting from the description given on the lectures website, I thought it was really interesting. She presented a lot of information about how different groups can view the Plates in different ways. She had a lot of insight in this topic both from a sociological point of view but also religious studies view. Every event she talked about surrounding the Plates was presented from a believing and nonbelieving way and never discounted the claims of the religion.

       I learned a lot about the religion in a way that isn’t accusatory or converting, which I appreciated. I didn’t know a lot about the religion and definitely not what it was based on. All I know of the religion I’ve only ever come across from the stereotypes given to Mormons and my experiences staying with a Mormon family for a few weeks when I was in high school.

I would really enjoy hearing more from Taves and I’ll probably pick up the book the presentation was based on that she wrote to get more insight into Mormonism. 

Ethics

The book outlined a lot of great principles that as peer mentors we should look to when we are defining our ethics in the classroom in the fall. They are all important but some of them aren’t the easiest. Principle 6, about understanding personal bias and avoiding spreading the bias to others, is a huge one. We talked earlier in the semester about diversity and seeing that some things we say or do, although unintentional, can be seen as a bias or a judgment. I think this is an area I need to grow in.

I some times find myself perpetuating some stereotypes or saying oversimplified things that are inline with some biases that I hold towards different things or not stepping up and ending things I hear. There’s one big one that I want to work on is that I let people say things that imply or explicitly degrade certain majors. I know everyone on campus has run across these quips every once in a while and I recently had a friend push some stereotypes about business majors too far and I’ve really seen how these biases can hurt others.

I want to make sure that that behavior is not present in the classroom because this kind of stuff does get hurtful and can really limit points of views of the students. If they wanted to switch majors to something they’ve heard made fun of they might not do it even if that is the best fit for them.

Really thinking about the lines between what is right or wrong before stepping into the classroom next semester is going to make things go a little smoother and we will be more able to conduct ourselves in a manner we are happy with.

Using Resources

When writing the lesson this week, I found a lot of resources I still wasn’t familiar with that I had wished I knew more about. A few of the ones I didn’t think of that Allie suggested, such as Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support (ACCESS), I’ve noticed throughout my comings and goings on campus. I sought out a conversation about ACCESS with a friend to learn more about it. I think the most important thing for us as peer mentors is to be able to shed light on resources, especially ones that students might not hear about regularly. This way they have some sort of guide if they run across problems instead of just feeling lost.

We want to create trust in the group and between ourselves and the students so that they come to us if they have problems and we need to be able to point them in the right direction if the issues are above what we can help them with. Taking time to reflect on different resources on campus before the Fall can make tricky conversations easier because the last thing we’d want to do is inadvertently making them feel like this is not a normal problem or something that you’ve seen before, even if it is.

The book they suggested that as mentors we should role play how to refer students and I think this is a great tip. As it has been mentioned throughout the semester, there will be times in the next semester where you will be caught off guard and having a little bit of practice on how to deal with any information shared with you will be really important to keep level. It will cut down on processing time in the conversation and also be helpful in the some-what routine issues like roommate disagreements or studying problems to have a quick answer ready. 

Leading Groups Effectively

One of the things from this chapter that I want to really implement in the lessons for next semester is the different seating arrangement. Its very easy to just leave the tables in rows and have the students just occupy the first rows for class but as it was discussed in the chapter the way the room is set up can really influence the mood and attitudes in the room. Although I don’t anticipate having attitude problems within the section next semester, it’s a lot easier to do preventive actions than try to adjust throughout the semester. I think for the most part I would want to use the horseshoe set up. This should help with any situations when problematic personalities could come up. As co-leaders we can place students in an order that will facilitate better conversations and could help with building a great group dynamitic.

I found the interpersonal growth section of the chapter really interesting. Its going to be really important to create an environment where the students feel comfortable so that get the most out of the course and there time at Iowa State. As it says in the book, “A leader has responsibilities for establishing an ambience in which personal information can be safely shared and a process through which self-exploration and discovery can take place.”  The book touched on this but I think its really important to present yourself and be relatable. I think its appropriate to not only tell the students about the topics but also present examples, especially in our own lives, of how the topics have helped our success. I wish I had done this more towards the beginning last semester because my students really appreciated when my co-leader and I shared struggles and challenges we had faced.