Out of the Classroom

I am working with two of the Peer advisors in the Transfer Center. They have been working on developing a Peer Blog for new students. The plan is to have the imput from as many Peers as possible. Since I am no longer working with the Academy Program, I need to rethink how I will offer the idea to new students. There are several options I am presently considering and I will have to make a decision by next week.

I still need to meet with the Business / Technology department to discuss the details of the Facebook link with the Academy Program. One of the Academy Coordinators is in contact with the Business / Tech department and will contact me.

Reflection on Fall & Goals for Spring

The direction that Marianne and I decided to take during the Fall semester was to have upper class students (SSY 260 Group Dynamics) guide and support new students (FSM 011 College Discovery Freshman Seminar). After reviewing several BLOGS from other participants, it was clear that our approach was very different. Instead of reviewing term papers or commenting on classroom assignments, our students were providing strategies and receiving information on how to become successful in college.

I think this past semester has provided me with an opportunity to create another venue for peers to help peers, to utilize a form of social networking on line, and to build non face to face connections. This method is presently a non traditional way of developing Group Dynamic skills. My original interest was to observe group interactions who have no face to face contact. I feel this small pilot may lead to ways for others and myself to develop a study of this type of group connections.

For the upcoming Sp 11 semester, I would like to use the same concept of providing strategies and receiving information but on a larger scale. As a coordinator for second year in the Academy Program, I have an opportunity to create a venue that could reach a few hundred students during a semester. I am presently working with one of the coordinators from the 1st year Programs to develop a Facebook type format to connect the Business / Technology students with each other and to possible alumni.

Last Class Presentation

Some students in the New Student Seminar have responded to the comments posted by the SSY 260 group. This Saturday the SSY 260 group will present their project on WEB 2.0 to the class. I am not sure if this process helped alot of the new students. I think the idea is good but still needs to be developed. I like the concept of continuing students sharing their experiences with new students but we have to work on a better structure. I would like to try a non class structure to provide new students with information from continuing students.

Time to Develop

Now that a group of my students in the SSY 260 class are connecting with new students in Marianne's Freshman Seminar class, I hope that this project will be helpful to as many students as possible. I think that having this type of contact can be useful but it needs time to develop. The group in the SSY 260 class really want to help out but can only be helpful if the new students have questions or concerns. I think we need to find additional ways for new students to benefit from this type of support.

Hope Foe The Best -Steve

Last week one of the groups in my SSY 260 class decided to participate in this project. We are working with new students in Marianne's FSM. I was able to visit the FSM class to encourage the students to use the Blog for information. We had some trouble logging onto the Blog set up by the FSM students. This week we will try again. My students will help guide the new students and try to answer questions or address concerns. We hope that the new students will be able to benefit from the experience of 2nd year students.

Week Two - A plan

I think I have a plan with Marianne and her College Discovery New Student Seminar class. One of the groups in my SSY 260 class is interested in working with the new students in FSM 011. This Saturday I will meet with my students and create our 2.0 Community.