Diversity Event

For the Diversity Event I attended the Keynote Speaker at ISCORE, Ariel Luckey. Ariel Lucky is a hip-hop theater artist. He talked about how he started off, and also preformed for us. He preformed 2 scenes from his monologue "Free Land." "Free Land" is a monologue about him going on an adventure to find out the true story of how his family got their land in the United States. When he asked his grandpa this question he simply responded it was empty. Luckey knew that was impossible, so he did some searching. What he found was nothing he learned in his high school history class; instead it was much more brutal. The Americans took Native American's land just so they could give it to families, such as Ariel's grandfathers, for free. Ariel is also working on a lesson plan that talks about the real American history, so everyone can be aware of what our founding fathers did. For now he goes to colleges and high schools performing "Free Land."

ISCORE

ISCORE
Last Friday I attended ISCORE, Iowa State's Conference on Race and Ethnicity. I went to two sessions and also was a presenter for one.

The first Session I went to was "The Language of Cultural Racism." In this session the presenter talked about racist language and actions. Two examples that she gave were the "chink eye" which insults Asian Americans and "being gangster"/"acting black" aimed to insult African Americans. Her main purpose of the presentation was to bring awareness of these actions, and to inform people why it is considered racist. Even if everyone else is doing it, or you have someone of that race with you that does not make the action right. Towards the end we broke into group discussion and talked about more actions that would be insulting to other races. One that came up was everyone thinking that if you are Latino, you have to be an illegal immigrant.

The second session I attended was "Where We Place Race". I have read an article closely related to this topic calles, "When Place Becomes Race" by Sherene H. Razack. I would highly recommend it reading it. I the article it talks about why we associate certain race with certain places, for example, Chinatown with Asian American, Ghettos with African Americans and so on. It goes on to talk about how these races came to those places. In the session I attended at ISCORE the presenters talked about where we place race on the Iowa State Campus. They mentioned spots such as SUV apartments or the Multicultural Center. One thing they mentioned that I never thought about was the ethnic section in grocery stores. Why do they need ethnic sections? Why can't they just put it by the other food?

Overall I highly enjoyed ISCORE and hope to go again next year!

Learning Styles

This past week in class we focused on learning styles. Over the years I have developed study habits that work best for me. By knowing what my learning style is I am able to get the most out of my classes. For example, I would say my learning style is Visual/spatial. I can remember material best when it is shown in an image or a graph. I feel I am able to comprehend the material more easily. I would say that is my main learning style, but I also learn best using the Interpersonal as well. If I have someone help explain to me what the professor was talking about I feel I better understand it. This might be because I went back to the topic and repeated what I learned, therefore helping me remember the material. I feel it is great to know what your learning style is as well as knowing what other people's learning style is. Being aware that everyone learns in different ways is very important when working with our students next semester. If we are aware of this we will be more help to them.

In class we talked about many different techniques for communication. In our class we use the think/pair/share. This is the best way to get to know the other people in my class on a personal level. I feel when mentoring students next year the think/pair/share would also be the best way of communication. With the think/pair/share we will get to know our students on a personal level as well. When having that type of relationship with your students, they will feel more comfortable coming to you for help. They will not be afraid to ask questions, and will also get to know their mentor and trust them with their opinion.

Diversity

For the past couple of weeks we have been talking about diversity. I feel this is a great topic to talk about as peer mentors. We will not just be dealing with students of different races or ethnicity, but also with people from different backgrounds. For example, some students will be coming from larger high school and others from smaller ones. The best was to deal with diversity is to go into each class with an open mind. This will also help out the students open their minds to diversity. One way to keep an open mind is to not be judgmental. I feel this is something I myself needs to work on,, not only for this class but for life in general. It is hard not to judge someone at first site. We have these stereotypes in are head ans we assume because of how they look those people will act the same way. In my experience of getting to know people they never compare to the general stereotype. So I try my hardest not to be judgmental, but I find this difficult to do.

My Values

Values are those important qualities that make you, you. This past week in class we talked about our values and how they relate to others. I feel like through my past experiences, They have aloud me to find myself as a person. I feel I know who I am and what is important to me. I take these values you apply them to my daily decisions. I use these values as a foundation to who I am and where I want to go in life. For example My family is my number one, They are the people I go to for advice and the people that I know will always be there for me. When I am at school and dont have my family close by to help with the quick decisions I relay on my friends. Therefor they rank at number two.

We related our values to diversity. How does our values rank compared to others? Is there a right and wrong to what you rank first or fifth? Of course not! But even when I compared my rankings to another member in class I still felt weird that they didn't have the same ranking as mine. Even though it was perfectly fine, I still asked the question why? I feel this is one thing I need to work on. Understanding that not everyone holds the same values I do. When you look at the picture as a whole this makes sense. Not everyone is the same therefor they would not value the same values. This is what create diversity, this is what creates change. It is great to have change in this world without it everyone would stay the same and not venture out and try new things, new ideas and obtain new values.

Mentoring Relationships

This past week in class we talked about Mentoring relationships. We talked about different levels into being a good peer mentor. I feel the most difficult level would be the second level which answers the question, why are we here? To start off, the first level answers the question Who are you? You gain interest in your students, get to know them and figure out their interest. Start off with a good impression. Some people in the class said this would have been most difficult to do, I agree but I feel to keep them interested you have to answer the question, why are we here? Let the students know why you are a peer mentor what we have to offer them and help them through their transition to college. Keep them interested in the class and have them be excited for it each week. Become the type of mentor the student can go to when they have a problem, someone they can relate to.

When I start my class I hope to give a great first impression on the first day, and then with the days that follow to keep the students interest in the class. Some ways I could do this is to focus on making the lesson plans now informative as well as interacting with others. If I do my research ahead of time, the students will know I am confident in the information I am providing them, in return they will respect the class a little more.

I am here to be a peer mentor and help first year students transition into college. I feel the best way to make there transition smoother, is to dedicate time this semester in planning the class they will be attending next semester. And I plan on doing exactly that.