Class 1: second entry

I thought I'd look around indigo and amazon this morning and see if I could pick my text book. Although the prof (Tina) said we can change books during the semester if necessary I feel a need to pick the best book possible Now. It's hard though. I like to browse through books and choose slowly, reading a bit here, a bit there... That's just not going to be possible since Windsor's bookstores are few and not very well stocked - and since I must submit my choice by next Monday. I've got it narrowed down to Under Her Wing I think, although Mentoring Heroes looks good too. I think the first one will be more useful as a text book as far as completing the assignments goes. The second one just looks interesting. There's A Hand Up about mentoring women in the sciences which deals specifically with mentoring grads and undergrads in a university setting, but I think it might be more academic than is necessary for this course. I'll think about it some more and make a decision tonight hopefully. I'd like something that will be a handy reference next semester, and I'd like to read more about gender differences in mentoring and success. I was reading a bit about Camille Paglia which I'm hoping we'll cover in my feminism and philosophy course and she claims that there are biological differences to learning.

Arrrgh. Got carried away and now I'm almost late for class.

Class Number 1

Today's class left me feeling a bit overwhelmed. The class is full of Drama in Education and Community students. I am not a Drama in Education and Community student. The classes I take are generally seminar or lecture style...with a class plan or overview given at the start of class with clear expectations given at the outset. That was not the case with this class. I don't think I will ever see that in this class. I can be open to new things. ;)

Drama in Education and Community Students (aka 'dreds') seem in general to be bubbly and energetic. This can be a bit much in a small classroom with poor air circulation. They already know the games the prof is going to make us play (since they've all had her before). And they already know each other. It's a good thing I'm a grown-up or I might feel left out. To her credit, the prof ('Tina' as she asked us to call her -- mann blows the barrier between this student/professor thing) tried really hard to reassure the non-dred students that we needn't panic.

I'm really hoping that there will be an academic portion to this class. I'd like to know what research this class is founded on - if there is any. I agree that mentorship is a great idea. I'd like a mentor. Or two. Or three. But from a scholarly perspective, I'd enjoy looking at the stats and process of who benefits the most, who doesn't benefit, who statistically makes a good mentor, how we as individuals were selected for the course, how to make a good mentor/mentee match...many more things.

The course is designed so that this semester a group of about 40 University of Windsor seniors will be trained in how to be kindly and effective mentors. Next fall, we will be mentoring a group of 8-10 first year students. It should be interesting.

Tonight's activities were basically some ice breaker/name games. There were a couple of "tell a funny story", "tell an embarassing moment", "tell your innermost personal details to a room full of strangers" games too. I am not used to this in a universtiy course. Bizarre that people get degrees for this stuff. It's certainly not easy to do, and I can't see that it would be easy to grade either. My past theatre experience has left me rather jaded about that whole world. But I can be open to giving things another chance. Especially when my GPA is riding on it.

And hence the journals.

Part of our grade is writing reflection papers based on these journal entries. She wants to see that the learning process is indeed occurring. I imagine that Tina (the prof - I do really want to call her Prof. Tina at least) will be checking that the entry dates are different (approx. one perweek) or that if in hard copy format that the ink is appropriately faded. Since today was only the first day of classes I'm not too bogged down yet with papers, exams, etc. I'm hoping to get ahead on this one. ;)

So what did I learn today?

• I've learned this before but it's always a good reminder: the same information can be conveyed in many different ways, but the words you choose can influence the connotation of the message and receptiveness of the audience. Saying "I hope we don't just play a lot of drama games" is very different from "I hope we use a variety of learning methods."

• I also was reminded that different people fear the same things (like public speaking or leading a group) but they may fear them for different reasons.

• I noticed that some people are comfortable with some things, other people aren't comfortable with anything. Choice is good.
  

The woman beside me said she was going to drop the class. Yikes. Not sure what happened there. Could just be a tough academic semester for her. This class does look like it will be a huge commitment.

I was a bit surprised when the prof called two different students 'hun' (hon?). I know I'm ultra alert to these things because it rattles me when people I barely know call me 'sweetie', etc. And then I thought it was a little insensitive when talking about whether or not anyone had an issue with being videotaped in class (for archival and research purposes) she made the question public to the entire class and asked for a show of hands. Ick. If someone *did* have an issue, I wouldn't guarantee that they'd want to make it known to the whole class. When no one volunteered she just suggested that anyone with an issue could see her outside of class. Phew. That was a close call.

Next week there's a reception with the Committee - food and everything. I'm bringing Earthquake Cake I think. Yummmm. I don't need much excuse to make that one. ;) This class is a project of five different professors who all participated in the research and design of the course and the interview/selection process. It's a brand new thing, with no precedent of which I'm aware.

Oh, and get this - our first assignment is to pick a second text book. There is one assigned (not yet available/ordered late) but our second is to be our own choice. Due next Monday. My first assignment of the semester. Better get busy.

First Post

Soooo...this course requires me to keep a journal of the learning process, detailing my reflections, feelings, comments on the course and coursework as it progresses. Being a pseudo-geek and pretending that I will indeed complete that minor in IT I though it would be clever to turn the journal into a Bllllogggggggg. I also thought it would be handy since I spend more time in front of the computer than anywhere else these days. And my handwriting is atrocious. And I'll be able to work on it from campus as well. A paperbound journal would be awfully cumbersome to carry around anyway. We'll see if the choice does indeed turn out to be a good one.