SALT CONFERENCE

Hello again and welcome to the second annual Zach goes to an event blogpost. For this second event I chose to write about the professional development conference called SALT. SALT stands for the Student Affairs Leaders of Tomorrow. This conference is run by NASPA. See the link below.
http://www.naspa.org/

This conference was for myself and seventy other student professionals who applied and were accepted out of a total of one hundred and fifty. We were going to learn strategies for future job searches, connect with professionals already in the field, and evaluate dozens of graduate school programs within the area of students activities. This conference couldn't have come at a better time. Its crucial that I decide my path before the end of this semester because grad school applications are going to need to be turned in and I need to start planning for after graduation. I can't say that I am one hundred percent ready for the next step in my life but this conference definitely helped. I would like to that Kristen Salemi for helping me through this process because she pushed me into this conference and even paid for myself and another RIC student to attend. She is definitely the biggest reason that I am going to succeed in the field of student affairs and that's because of her push.
http://www.ric.edu/news/details.php?News_ID=1602
The link above is for a picture of Kristen as she received an award from NASPA years ago. Her information can be located on the RIC website.
At the conference we learned how to develop our resumes to attract future employers, we also learned how to interview correctly, and finally we got to talk to two separate panels of professionals about the field. That was only the first day.
We got to spend the night in the Regency Hyatt in Newport for the night and we also got a banquet for all of us future professionals to talk to the distinguished professionals in a non-formal setting. This was extremely beneficial because we got to develop personal connections for the future.
On the second day dozens of grad schools spoke to us about their programs and we got to walk around and talk to each of the programs individually. This was great because for someone who didn't know much about the programs I needed some guidance. This was a wonderful experience.
Since I am majoring in Youth Development, this conference was very beneficial. I plan on working with college level youth and in student affairs this would potentially be a dream job. I want to work with the student in residential life or in the counseling aspect of student affairs. This is important because I don't want kids to struggle through college and I believe I can help them by being the best student affairs person I can be. I may also be able to use my guidance to help mold them towards the future. Potentially I would pushing them towards youth development or other fields that work with youth.
I like to think that guidance during young adulthood benefits the youth the most because they are already questioning what the want to become or which direction they want to take their life. The area that I am working in right now is Life Skills coaching and I have learned that kids need this guidance throughout young adulthood to help push them. It is a wonderful program and it has helped me in my pursuits of a future career.
http://ricorp.org/class-schedule/

ResilientKids 2013

 

Let me begin by saying the last line of the video pretty much sums up how kids should be taught. You need to teach to the whole child. This is why I feel as though Resilient Kids is such a wonderful program. Like they said during the video it is easy for kids to build themselves up in to a frenzy but they are never really taught how to calm down. I know from experience that mindfulness exercises work and if the data supports it in younger children then I don't understand why this isn't something that is being utilized in every school.
This could be great for different classrooms settings because as they stated they can tailor the exercises to the lessons being taught so that they are beneficial to the learning environment. Not only do these exercises work with younger students but they can also work with older students as well. Older students need this just as much as the younger students because they get worked up in different ways and could use deep breathing and mindfulness to get things together.
When we talked about the jar last Thursday I though it was a dumb idea and I had no idea how it was going to have anything to do with what we were being taught in class. After seeing the video the bottle is supposed to represent the student and the glitter being shaken up inside the bottle is supposed to represent what happens when the child gets riled up. As the bottle comes to a rest it takes time for the glitter to settle and that is why learning to calm down is so important for the children. If they every what to refresh and think with a clear head these strategies can help them. I understand the metaphor and I think this is a great way for kids to understand just exactly how their bodies work. It is ingenious. I love this program and I think it is a program that works. Who knew breathing would be such a success.
Below is a link to a guided imagery session:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar_W4jSzOlM
 

YIA Visit and Documentary

Today Youth in Action made another special guest appearance to the classroom. Not only did they get us thinking once again but they did it with minimal interaction. We watched a documentary about relationships between teachers and students. At first I thought that this session would be pointless because every teacher is different and I know that even if most teachers want to build a positive relationship, it is hard. Many students don't understand that teachers aren't their to be your friends, they are there to educate you. At the end of the day this is a job for a paycheck and if it comes down to losing their job or not the teacher is most likely going to focus on teaching versus having a positive relationship. This isn't my complete opinion though. I do feel as though there has to be a healthy relationship on some level in order to keep the student interested but in the end that is not most teachers priorities.
Through the years I have many teachers and I can only think of a few who I had a negative relationship with. Many did their best to keep us kids happy while having us work towards our education. My school however is set in rural part of Rhode Island in a predominantly white neighborhood. I hate to say that we were affluent but I do think that that has a lot to do with the teachers and the effort that they put into the job.
The video that we watched in class made it seem as though the students have a tough time forming bonds with the teachers and they feel like it effects them learning. I can understand that even if I don't relate. Hindsight being 20/20 I know now that the teachers have a hard enough time trying to teach us the materials while attempting to be our friend. I wish kids could see when teachers are really trying to help them even if it seems like they are being neglectful.

Open House- Event #1

Hello everyone,

On Saturday we had the first Open House of the year. I always enjoy this time of the year because many of the faces you see during the open house are going to be the future faces of the RIC campus. Unfortunately for me this is the last time I am going to see the students this way because I am graduating this year. Since I am an Resident Assistant I could not attend the YDEV part of the Open House. http://www.ric.edu/residential-life/rar.php
 I had to give tours of the Residential side of campus to the hopeful new students. This didn't stop me from throwing in a few shameless plugs about Youth Development while I gave my tours. I had very few people ask me about Youth Development but because of our practice with the elevator speeches I was able to convey my mentality on the major. We had very few students this year and I think that helped contribute to why the number of questions was so low. The groups didn't seem very interested about the academic portion of RIC by the time they got to me but seemed more focused on how their living arrangements would be setup. I'm sure the topic on Youth Development got to a lot of these individuals before they got to me though.
I have to say though this Open House really got me thinking about the future. Mainly because the youth I am working with at my internship now are of a very similar age to the kids who will be coming to RIC in the upcoming years. That means the youth that I am learning to work with could potentially be the youth that will help the Youth Development major prosper. http://www.ric.edu/educationalstudies/youthDevelopment.php

This cycle was awesome to think about because if I am able to impact the lives of these kids then maybe in the future they will do the same. Its a crazy thought.  This next hyperlink isn't what Youth Development is RIC but it's one of the very few other YDEV programs that I have seen and I thought it has a lot of great ideas.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/youth/training-events/understanding-youth-development-work/


Stayed tuned for my next event evaluation coming next Monday based on the SALT (Student Affairs Leaders of Tomorrow) Conference.

What is context mapping?

In a nutshell context mapping is a very simple concept. It is throwing all of your ideas on a piece of paper and organizing them to show their intertwined relationships. Its very similar to the Ven diagrams that we used to do as kids, or that some may still do now. This is useful because it gets all of the ideas out in a pretty picture for everyone to see but after that I think it's not that useful. Everyone knows the concept of six degrees of separation. Everything in the world is connected by six steps or less. I feel as though this assignment showcases that greatly. My concept map would include.

Family Zach: Mom, Dad, Grandma, Brother

RIC RA Zach: Staff, Residents

RIC Student Zach: Staff, Students

RIC Frisbee Zach: Team, Spectators, Other Teams

Social Media Zach: High School Friends, Acquaintances, RIC Friends, Staff

Soccer Zach: Indoor Teammate's, Spectators

Boyfriend Zach: Girlfriend

Professional Zach: Employers, Staff, Employees, Customers



These are many of the different identities of myself. Im sure there are dozens more that don't initially come to mind but Im sure other people see. Im glad to know that I have different identities but ultimately I am me and that is the bottom line.

Nakkula Chapter 2
I did not enjoy this reading I thought it was very dense and I just couldn't grab hold of it. the one part I did enjoy was the example of how an adolescent who grows up in a household where they love the red sox and despise the Yankees may never consciously choose to like the red sox because they are already conditioned too. Obviously that can be said for anything but I thought this was funny because in my household growing up my mom liked the Yankees and my dad liked the red sox. I was never a big fan of baseball but when myself and my brother were younger we picked sides and ever since I have liked the Yankees and he the red sox. I don't know why I chose them, I guess my mom just brainwashed me that way.

Nakkula Response

           I would like to begin by mentioning that I had never thought of rebellious kids in such a way. To suggest that they are only being rebellious a way to adapt and better understand their surrounding is actually amazing to think about. if you had asked me years ago when I began my undergraduate degree in education I would have said that Nakkula was wrong. But after my brief amount of time in the classroom setting I have noticed that not only are the kids who act up doing it because of this reason but that many of the kids who act up actually are on the higher level of learning than those who don't. I see many kids act up for many reasons but it all makes sense after reading Nakkula's paper.

           When you think of educators and their effect on children many don't see the little things that educators do to help mold the children in their entirety. When kids ask questions about life and are searching for an answer most people think that it has little effect on the child but that is false. Kids hold you to every word and when they are seeking those answers they aren't seeking them just because, but they are seeking them in order to help mold their lifestyle. This also makes a lot of sense.
              The biggest thing that I took away from this reading is that educators aren't just teaching subject but they are also teaching life lesson that will stick with these children forever. Every childs mind is like a sponge trying to absorb not only knowledge about the classroom but also about how to adapt and survive during the day to day. This is a collaborative process between the child and the teachers and everybody else in that childs life.

                I also took away that every child is different and each child must be taught in a way that is conducive to their full potential. I know that I like to have some familiarity before I stretch te boundaries of what I can learn but I also know for some people that they like to jump right in and try something new.

Response to the Egg Drop

Today we did in egg drop in class with specific educational undertones. Although  The event wasn't about saving the egg as much as it was about access versus ability. From this class discussion I think everyone can safely say that I feel as though ability out ways access. I have done this activity in the past an have had different results every time. I have been successful with less and I have failed with more. Its all about creativity and how you use the materials. As I said in class its about the experience you get by either succeeding or failing. You will learn either what you did right or learn from your mistakes. I am a firm believer in if you set your mind to something then you can complete it. What I learned from our discussion is that access over ability is opinion based. Its kind of like the chicken and the egg, you can argue one way or the other. Everything comes down to structural problems especially if you argue for access. In schools if children don't have access to the right materials and stuff like that then it is the fault of the school system and that kind of stuff has to change. Yes it wasn't fair that we had more materials then the other groups but in a school setting all the kids would have the same materials. They would be on an even playing field and they couldn't argue if one group did better then the other. Same could be said for people with all the materials in the world. If the groups have equal materials then they would be responsible for whatever product they come up with. I have to say that ability will always outway access because you can always do what ever you put you mind too.