My name is Brandon R. Brown and I am a graduate student in the Educational Leadership program at the University of South Alabama. This blog was created for educational purposes for my Microcomputing in Education course, EDM-510, taking at the University of South Alabama.
B. Brown
Please watch the short video and ask yourself, "Was I a champion today?"
Classmates,
After viewing the video, Dr. Pierson points out the "value and importance of human connection." Each day, we interact with so many students and we forget what one conversation or interaction can do for a them. Did you make a difference in their life, did you make a mark in their journey, or did you make a connection? If you can, talk about an interaction or and experience you had with either a student or colleague that made your day or you thought made theirs. As Dr. Pierson mentions from George Washington Carver, "All learning is understanding relationships." What relationships have you made that you have learned from?
I look forward to reading your responses.
"Every child deserves a champion — an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be." - Dr. Rita Pierson
One relationship I’ve developed recently is with a student I’ve tutored twice so far this semester. After our successful first sessions together we began establishing a recurring appointment for every following week; this week marks our third session.
ReplyDeleteA couple weeks ago a student came into the Writing Center to work with me and she immediately exclaimed that she was a horrible writer. Automatically I could tell this would be a case of having little writing confidence. The student (let’s call her Sue) pulled out an assignment from her professor of which she only earned half credit. Sue expressed that she felt like she couldn’t get her thoughts out onto the paper properly and she is concerned with her paper sounding too informal so she tried to insert more formal sounding words that really only disrupted the flow and only added to the professor’s confusion.
After reviewing the paper with her I noticed that she had some great ideas but they were so finely buried into this paper that was all over the place. We broke down her response sentence by sentence and soon I began to demonstrate to her that she did have the ideas all along. I expressed that all she needs to do is treating her reflective essays like a free writing exercise; just get your ideas down first and worry about editing/revising last.
I felt like I made such a strong connection with this student and it really brightened my day. Like many other university positions that involve meeting with many students daily, I’ve had appointments that were amazing and had me smiling at the end and I’ve worked with students that literally stressed me out from either not caring to really learn something or I felt that I hadn’t really helped them.
To address your second point, one thing I really learned from this encounter was that sometimes all a student needs is a confidence builder. No, I don’t attempt to simply boost one’s ego in a tutoring session but I like to recognize someone when they really do have great ideas and their only issue is simply putting those ideas onto a piece of paper. I tell other tutors that commending students when they deserve it goes a long way and with Sue I’ve definitely had the point driven home even more. I view every session with a student as an opportunity to establish a great, professional and instructional relationship. Sometimes these relationships can be kindled when there is a connection between tutor and student but other times this just isn’t possible. Some students just don’t work well with particular students and the same is true in the opposite direction. Regardless, making that one good impression on a student who leaves the Writing Center with new found confidence in their writing always puts a smile on my face.
Alexander,
DeleteI always wanted to work in the writing center at my undergrad institution, but never had the time due to being highly involved with Housing and Student Leadership. I definitely enjoyed reading your response. While the work we do often goes unnoticed, it is amazing to have students not only say that they valued the interaction, but also continue to comeback to speak and ask for help. is what makes the job rewarding.
ReplyDeleteBrandon, the first thing I want to say is I love love love this video. I have to say my favorite part about the video was the child who made the F on the test and they asked if they really made the F and the teacher said 'yes' and they asked, "Well why did you put a smiley face on it?" and she explained, "Because you didn't miss them all." Then, she explained how she knew that they can do better. I really think if a person can have a positive effect on a student that makes the biggest difference. In the College of Nursing, I advise students on a daily basis. We have a GPA requirement that we base our admission on to get accepted into the program. When I see a student who knows they do not have quite the best grades to get into our program, I love being able to show them how they can really turn that around easily by just following certain steps. I love knowing that I can boost their confidence by just giving them some helpful tips on how to bring that GPA up. It is my goal to make every student feel like they are important because I want all of my students to be successful and to reach their career goals. I have to say the most rewarding thing is when we are accepting our students and I see those students names pop up on our acceptance list. I have had some students who have came back and thanked me for my advice and honestly I always feel so rewarded when I hear that. I love that I can relate to the students because I was once there in their situation. I had to work 30 hours a week while taking a full time load with being a single parent and I managed that. I say if I can do it you can do it as well and I give them helpful advice and sometimes show students my planner and how crazy organized it looks and how they could do this as well.
Brennen,
DeleteI am glad you enjoyed my video, it definitely makes one think after watching it. Furthermore, advising can be tough, especially for those who enjoys supervising over advising, but once one encounters that one student whose light bulb goes off because something you have said, makes advising rewarding - much like any job.
Amazing video! College has definitely taught me the importance of relationships and keeping them. One of my freshmen professors really made an impact on me. I had her for two classes freshmen year and they were larger seminar classes. I answered a few questions in class, but wasn't very vocal. I just did my work and turned it in on time. However, despite my little interaction with the professor, she still remembered me when I saw her on campus and always asked how I was doing. Three years after taking her class, she invited me to lunch with her to discuss my future plans. I had just found out that I needed knee surgery and would have to red-shirt for volleyball, so I was lost on what to do. We had lunch and she gave me Dr. Delmas's phone number and told me all about the educational leadership master's program. She gave me the confidence to pick myself up and make some decisions. I will ever be grateful for that relationship.
ReplyDeleteBrandon,
ReplyDeleteFantastic video. I am such a huge fan of Ted Talks- in fact I have one on my blog as well. "Minus 18 sucks the life out of you, plus 2 says I ain't all bad"- I love this quote so much. There are often times, where you fail tests and things just aren't going your way and it can seem so depressing. However sometimes you just need a positive message, or someone encouraging you to keep going. That is what makes me love my job- the connections that I make with students. As a Community Director, I am often faced with the challenge of breaking through to students (both Residents and Resident Assistants). Although I have made it a point to make connections with all of my resident assistants, I have one in particular who I have made that connection with who I am working on to get his resumes, applications, and help with interviews. Today, he let me know that he was accepted into a program that he had been applying for and he thanked me for helping him and being his encouragement. That to me made such a world of difference. I had a champion (actually quite a few) to get where I am today, and I am glad that I can be someone else's champion.