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I remember the first day of class when we introduced ourselves and began talking about our backgrounds. Hearing different backgrounds and serving learning experiences I noticed that the class share and common interest in helping others. I learned a lot of new techniques and researching methods which can be used in my life. Even though I didn’t have the opportunity to actually connect with my assigned mentee I feel as if next time around this class would be a class that both ends of the mentoring will be fulfilled. As mentioned in previous classes I think that linking up with either freshmen’s or sophomores who have not really adjusted to the college life should be encouraged. Relating this back to me and my mentee we were both seniors and the library eventually became our friend. If we re-imaged this class it would be more organized in a way that the mentor could connect with the mentee even if it’s through having mandatory meeting times with one another. I think that we should keep on writing in journals as we progress through the quarter. The one thing that I would do different is to mentored freshmen’s and sophomores and not upper class college students who have already established their own learning system

On my mind

I learned a few things within today's class. I learned many things that I can use in the future with who ever I mentor, weather its a family member, my son or later in my career. Mentoring is something that I see myself practicing and improving everyday, life lessons can be used when my son ask specific questions which i have an answer for. This was a great class and I learned some new techniques and resources that will benefit me for the rest of my college here at western.

Prizi is awesome

Prizi is a very different presentation application which is off the wall. I thought that power points were cool and everything but after exploring this type of application it makes me want to start doing presentations and most of my class work on this program. I like how everything is right in front of my face when creating presentation. I like how you are able to zoom in and how; it makes it easier when you’re focusing on one specific thing on the slide. It makes the viewers interested and more engaged in my opinion. The zooming effect makes this program unique and fun!!!!

Black Males/ mentoring

The average young African American boy does not have a mentor/ someone that they can look at as a model. Most Black households lack role models due single parent homes (consisting of only their mother), absent of a father figure. After reading my book I learned that young boys are much better off when compared to someone who father is present and playing an active role in their Childs life. Most boys do not have a mentor or a father figure in their life which can have a negative effect while growing up. My father played a huge roll in my childhood and I tend to find myself following in his footsteps, even if it’s something little such as knowing how to cut the grass or showing respect.

Another week, with a little success!

I finally got in contact with one of my mentees! She told me that she have been really busy but apologized for not responding. She asked me how to check find CD’s which I guided her straight to the resource. This is a small step in connecting with my mentee but find it kind of late, being that this quarter is almost over, wish that I really had an opportunity to build a successful relationship with my mentee. I was shocked to even get a feedback from her being that she is a senior who really do not need any direction or help. She stated to me in the beginning that she uses the library a lot and so hoping that what I’ve taught her she can use in the future. Even though my connection with my mentee for this class was not as successful, I feel as if I learned new techniques and searching strategies that I can use in the future. The last part of the article that we had to read reflects my success with my mentee. (Remember that success is a word used to measure. It describes dollars made, people counted, votes cast. In other words, it's a swindle. The rejection of quantification, the emphasis on the role of the individual, is what makes anarchism unique. There is no one battle I can fight to win this, even if I were to sail across the Delaware to fight it.)

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This week I had the chance to complete a few chapters of my book that I am doing my book report on; mentoring is something that acts as a learning mechanism. We all had a mentor growing up; a teacher is considered a mentor by passing down information which can benefit the student in their future. A mentor is an individual, usually older, always more experienced, who helps and guides another individual’s development. This guidance is not done for personal gain. I was a mentor ( Big Brother) I enjoyed taking a youngster under my wing and teaching him how to act in public, someone that they can talk to, or even if it’s just helping them with homework.

random

So far, I noticed that my mentees are really independent and haven’t really needed my help since the beginning of class. I still find myself reaching out and being a go to person for them if needed. This past week I have been reading my book and learning new things about minorities and their source of help, in neighborhoods and in schools. I learned that it is less likely for a minority male to have a role model/ mentor growing up, which can hinder them in the future.

Start of Book report

For my book report I decided to read and gain a better understanding of a mentor. I had several options to pick from but really decided to read specially “Mentoring young Men of Color.” I also checked out another book along with my main book. I also wanted to read about parenting and how it relates to mentoring. In my opinion being a parent is diffidently a type of mentoring, you are their role model and what they learn is from the parent, so parenting is the first step in mentoring.

Week 4!

This week was a great learning experience. When Roberta visits our class this past Tuesday, I found her methods of picking a specific topic or narrowing our questions down very useful. After class I told her that I never used this technique through out my schooling. It’s funny how some very basic could solve most problems, in this case just choosing a book. I meet with two out of three of my mentees just to touch basis with them and figure out how far they were in their research project. Both of them are still at the beginning stage of their research project, still undecided what they want to do their project I then stepped in and used the Question tool to narrow down their search.

Week 3!

This week was an okay; I got in contact with two out of three of my mentees which we spent an hour or so going over the simple research methods that we learned in class a few sessions’ ago. I briefly gave them a virtual tour of the library, and how to use the search engine on the WWU Library home page. One of my mentees found this overview to be a learning experience, being that she was a sophomore; I could see how and why it was such an educational experience being that she rarely used the Library. I thought that this would be something that they could use for their project and projects in the future; my goal is to pass down whatever knowledge I come across directly to my mentees. As mentioned, in my previous post, I am learning as we go along and this is not only benefiting them but me as well. Hopefully I will be able to contact and meet with all three of my mentees rather than just one or two at a time, I want all three of my mentees to meet one another and use each other as a source of help as well; so that it is not only me giving out information pertaining the research project but them as well.

Advancing the Promotion of Information Literacy Through Peer-led Learning

I believe that these courses should be a requirement for incoming freshmen entering a University. It would be a great way transitioning new students coming from high school into a more challenging and indenpendent environment. If I was giving this opportunity to take certain classes like these as a freshmen in college, I would be more successful in my academics overall. Most individuals that are now seniors are still lacking the knowledge and resources available to them on a daily basis. I can personally say that it was not until spring of 2010 where I taken Library 201 course which opened my eyes to the resources available here in the Western Library. After a few years into college I learned that we have to be proactively and really engage ourselves in a way that can really beneficial and useful from one class to another. Having such tools and basic understanding of how to research and use our surrounding resources could be very helpful but here at Western Washington University it is something less valued and should be taken into consideration for the future students. I really never had a mentore or someone who was able to guide me in a direction of being successful academically while here in college. Relating this to this course to this class (Research Mentoring), I believe that we will in some way be a source of help for our mentees and hopefully learn new things that they can use in the future.

Touring the library and its pros!(Week 2)

Today I had the opportunity to finally meet face to face with my mentee. Today’s time was used specially to introduce ourselves and getting to know one another. I found out that my mentee was actually a senior and eager to graduate. Being that she was very familiar with the whole college experience and the library, I told her that this would be a great chance for not only her but me as well to use one another as a go to person. I myself am a senior who just recently learned a few research tools that I found, really beneficial. As mentioned before I have taken Library 201 which is basically (Introduces students to the nature of research with emphasis on strategies for carrying out inquiry, locating electronic and print sources, assessing sources for authority and selecting and incorporating material from sources into writing.) I find it funny how we (students) do not actually know how resourceful the library is until a big midterm or final is around the corner, which is when the library is really full. After we got to know the basics of one another we then ventured out into the library along with a few other mentees alonside with a couple of my peers; which made the process less stressful and fun. After meeting one another and touring the library I came to conclusion that I and my mentee will benefit each other overall. Today was a start to a new learning experience!

First Assignment!

My mission in this class is to acquire skills that will benefit me as well as my mentee. I have taken Library 201 which was a brief introduction into basic research methods and hopefully will be useful throughout this course. In my opinion the course goals are achievable and can be beneficial skills that I can use in my future career as a social worker dealing with kids. The reason why I am taking this class is basically to be able to perform the outcomes of the course when finished. The two outcomes that stood out to me were: Understand concepts of service-learning and mentoring and appreciate diverse perspectives and be able to engage in civil dialog with people who have differing views which will be very useful in my career after college. Another reason why I chose this class was for the credit towards my general study major.