The Student Affairs Blog

Got Game?

At the Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience, I was excited to attend a session with Loriann Irving, of Kutztown University. Loriann has built a creative portfolio of exercises for use in her first-year seminar course that she changes up to appeal to the different learning styles of students in her first-year seminar. Thinking along the lines of Scene It or Cranium, games with a variety of tasks, you have many options for interactive learning in your next course.

Sharing Props: Seek a volunteer from the class and invite them to reach into a pre-assembled basket of "props" and select an item. Gather your props ahead of time, looking for random items that could have potential beyond their intended use. Examples could be a chip clip, kitchen sponge, nametag lanyard, pocket pencil protector, mousepad...you get the idea, whatever may be around your home or office. Ask the student volunteer to share uses for the selected item. Following the prop suggestions, discuss with students that different uses for the props allow us to see things through different lenses. Just as perception of material in a class can differ from student to student, we learn and visualize in contrasting methods. This is a great introduction to learning styles and useful for students early in the transition to college.

Can You Hear Me Now: For a lesson that appeals to auditory learners, identify 4-5 audio clips from inspirational speeches or movies and play them for the class. Loriann shared clips from a Martin Luther King speech, Mr. Holland's Opus, and The Pursuit of Happyness in her presentation.  Following each clip, ask students to individually identify who was speaking and how it could be motivational or inspirational for them in their quest for a college degree. As you ask students to share their responses, link to educational goals and aspirations and what students hope to achieve.

Visualize This: Any PowerPoint presentation is helpful for vision-based learners, but making it interactive is the challenge. Loriann uiltized basic Photoshop techniques to distort common images related to the first college year. Creating distorted filter overlays that are slowly peeled back to reveal an alarm clock, student planner, wall calendar, and student ID card can be fun ways to introduce time management and responsibility. 

Can't Touch This: Using Scrabble tiles or paper letter squares to create word scrambles is a tactile game for engaging students in group problem solving. Distribute letter tiles that create words related to the first-year of college. Examples would be "dreams', "calendar", "organize", "grade point", "homework". Invite groups to share the importance of their word when the letters are unscrambled.

Interactive learning in the first-year seminar keeps students engaged and builds community. Another fun Loriann Irving classroom idea can be found here. 

What's your game?

Gone FISHing!

We just completed the first of four half-day mini retreats for our peer leaders. These students will be facilitating our first-year seminar course in the fall and they spend this semester building team relationships and studying student development in preparation for their work. A favorite concept that we utilize is the FISH! Philosophy. We introduce the unit early and refer back to it throughout the year. FISH! includes four simple interconnected practices that are easy to remember and fun for activity transitions.

Be There is being emotionally present for others. It's the idea that respect and engagement improves communication and strengthens relationships. For our peer leaders, this means setting personal issues aside so that they may focus on issues and challenges facing their students whenever needed.

Play emphasizes that being creative and enthusiastic, whatever the job before you, can make work and tasks more enjoyable. Our first-year seminar focuses on college transition and exposure to campus resources. We encourage peer leaders to try new instructional methods and not be afraid to step outside the box or the classroom. Play-doh, crayons, and an occasional set of Guitar Hero all have potential for Play application.

Make Their Day is about finding simple ways to serve those around you in a way that is memorable and has meaning. It's about contributions and service to others, without expectation that it will be returned. Peer Leaders are encouraged to learn student names right away to help ease early transition. Many leaders bring class treats or host surprise field trips to the ice cream shop.

Choose Your Attitude is about taking responsibility for whatever your day or life brings to you. It's about how your demeanor and mood impacts others around you. Does your attitude help people around you? Grumpy moods contribute little to our program goals. We focus on accepting life's obstacles, then getting on with the day. This concept is particularly handy in our 8:00 a.m. class.

We borrow the FISH! video from the campus resource library and purchase supplemental materials when needed. FISH! is a simple, fun method for generating a service philosophy with new student leaders and is great practice for our staff as well.

Create your Cover Story!

In need of a fun, interactive "getting to know you" icebreaker or class energizer? Barbara Nixon offers this gem for getting to know a new group of students: create a magazine cover! Nixon, an assistant professor at Georgia Southern, utilizes her blog to share assignments in her Public Relations courses. She shares a virtual file cabinet of creative ideas for integrating social media into the classroom which are applicable in a variety of student development arenas.

I am considering using the magazine concept to introduce our peer leaders to new first-year students in the fall, or as a catchy promotional piece for our new scholarship students. I may also use this in our next staff development. 

What's your cover story?

Work and Play in Student Affairs: Are we having fun yet?

While recently interviewing a prospective graduate assistant, the subject of MBTI arose as I am a bit of a Type enthusiast on our campus. Discussion ensued on work/life balance and how work can be play. I shared that I have been known, upon occasion, to crank the tunes  and dance around our office seeking inspiration to write last minute recommendation letters. Fortunately, the poor grad was not frightened away by that admission. Let's face it folks, we don't choose a profession in Student Affairs to get rich. This profession frequently chooses us because of our ability to transfer student development facilitation into dynamic and creative outlets. 

This post by Chris Brogan got me thinking about work vs. play. Which is more important? An exercise that I use in MBTI programs demonstrates work and play attitudes in comparison to the Judging and Perceiving preferences, or how individuals organize their lives. This is a great activity with new student leaders or in any work team for understanding differing approaches to getting work done. Participants are instructed to place themselves on an imaginary line or continuum where one end is "Work Before Play" and the opposite is "Play Before Work". When asked why individuals placed themselves where they did on the line and how they feel about where they are standing, responses range from "I can't play if my work isn't done" to " I can play, regardless of my work". There is frequently admiration for the folks in the middle of the continuum who express that they can balance both or "My work is play." 

That's where I strive to be, finding balance. Making work enjoyable means that you are never left to wonder "Are we having fun yet?" Chances are that your students will know it too.

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.  ~~Plato

A Twitter note from Chris Brogan on his post above.

Mission Impossible? Making a Statement

Earlier this summer Del Suggs challenged us to create contemporary mission statements that address why we do things. Sure enough, upon examining the missions of my scholarship and exchange programs, I found dusty and tired lists of the services provided, but not much about the benefit. The statements were certainly not representative of the active, evolving organizations or the students in them.

I struggled for weeks with rewriting why we do things in order to convey a new message of the vibrant nature of our students and goals. I found the best inspiration at a summer staff retreat. The homework exercise required writing a personal mission statement. And BAM. That's what it took. My struggle to define program mission statements had been hampered because I needed to define myself.

Helpful resources were found here and here to point me in a new direction for crafting a personal statement. By redefining self and the values that shape my work in student affairs, my program mission statements found new life and purpose.

Facing mission statement impossible? Try looking within.

Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't. --Richard Bach

Do you have a personal mission statement? How does it enhance the work that you do?

Using the Five Whys

"The Five Whys" is a method of distilling the true cause/effect of an issue.  Simply put, it involves asking the question "why?," and then asking "why?" of the answer.  The pretense is that if asked five times, that simple question will take you to the heart of the matter.

When I first heard of the Five Whys, I was told it was an ancient Chinese technique.  Later I learned it was neither ancient nor Chinese-- it had been developed by  Sakichi Toyoda at his automobile company to aid problem solving.  Whatever the source, it's a useful tool.

A quick example:  My car won't start.  Why?  Because the battery is dead.  Why? Because the alternator isn't working.  Why?  Because the belt broke.   Why?  Because it was worn out.  Why?  Because I didn't follow the maintenance schedule. 

So the root cause of my car failing to start is my own neglect of the required maintenance.

The concept is to peel back the layers of an issue, and get down to the true problem or concern.  But is also works in helping to determine a purpose.  I like to use it to analyze a situation, condition, proposal, or issue.

It's especially useful in developing a purpose or mission statement.  While assisting an SGA to create a mission statement, I began by asking them why the SGA existed.  "To be the voice of the students" they replied.  Why?  "So the administration will know the students' opinion on important school issues."  Why?  "So the school can better meet the students' needs."  Why?  "So more students can get an education."  Why?  "So they can become successful productive citizens."

So the SGA's real purpose is to help students become successful graduates.  That's a totally different idea and more powerful purpose that just being the "voice of the students."

While it may seem a little hokey, and the number five is pretty arbitrary (could be three, could be six), it does seem to work.  Maybe looking at the path we've come will make the path ahead seem more clear.

The next time you're faced with a decision, issue, or question try the Five Whys.  You might just get down to the "heart of the matter."    

Creating A Contemporary Mission Statement

Every organization on campus needs a Mission Statement.  As a matter of fact, every department and office on campus should have a Mission Statement.  While it sounds like a pretty simple matter to create a mission, it's more difficult and requires more thought than you might initially consider.

The modern mission statement is far different than it's predecessor.  How can that be?  Isn't a mission statement just the purpose for an organization?  Shouldn't it be simple to capture your purpose in a few words?

Here's the difference in the modern Mission Statement:  it explains why. 

Old school mission statements defined what an organization did.  Contemporary mission statements define why an organization does what it does.

See, it's really the why we do things that matters.

Let me give you an example.  I worked with a history and natural science museum to create a new mission statement.  Their old mission was typical.  It explained what the museum did:  maintained a collection of native plants, animals, and historic buildings and presented programs to the public.

I started out the rewrite by asking everyone why the museum was important.  I talked with staff, volunteers, board members, visitors, any one who had an opinion.  Why was all the stuff the museum did important?

I discovered that the museum had a higher mission than just collecting artifacts.  All of the collections were simple tools serving a bigger goal.   

In the end, this became the new Mission Statement:  "The Museum promotes knowledge and understanding of the area's cultural history and natural environment, inspiring people to enrich their lives and build a better community."

The real mission of the organization was to inspire people to enrich their lives, and to thereby create a better community.  That was why volunteers gave their time.  That was why staff members worked long hours without complaint.  That was why donors provided funding.  Collecting artifacts and presenting exhibits just assisted in reaching that end goal.

Think about applying that lesson to your organization and office.  Take a look at your mission statement.  Does it define what you do?  Redevelop it so that it explains why you do what you do.  What is your ultimate purpose?

Cultivating Student Creativity

David Warlick is one of the many EdTech bloggers I follow via RSS. Often times I worry about EdTech people (including myself) getting so wrapped up in the world of technology that we forget about bringing it back to the face-to-face world of education. On David's recent post he addresses this concern:

Earlier in the morning, I spent a little time watching parts of several Poptech videos, and jotted down just a few comments. For instance, I’ll have to remember this one for when people say in my presentations, “Yeah, well, technology is great, but what about people.” Somebody in one of the panels, which was not introduced, said:

If humans weren’t important in education, libraries would never have evolved into universities.

I’ve heard this one before, but it was shared again by Will Wright, creator of The SIMS, and I wrote it down word by word.

There was a professor who went into a kindergarten class one day and asked students to raise their hands if they could dance. Of course they all raised their hands.

Draw? Sing? Again, they all raised their hands.

Then he went into a college class and asked the same questions of students there, and of course, no one raised their hands. He concluded that education is the process of teaching us what we can’t do.

Then I found this video on Youtube that shows the endless possibilities when we allow students to dream and be creative.

Leadership...

When asked “what’s leadership?” all of us most likely have our own mental image and list of characteristics of what we equate with a successful leader.  Recently, when meeting one-on-one for our monthly “updates” session, I had the opportunity to ask several students, who are each officers in campus organizations, what leadership is to them. I had no expectation of what type of responses I would get, but was curious to hear the answers.

In as much length and detail that they felt would answer the question, I asked each to finish the statement “In campus activities, student leadership is…”.

I have listed demographic facts about the respondent as a reference point.

Here are several responses I received:

“…an experience that will profoundly impact your life, if you attack it with gusto!” (Senior, Female, Bio Major)

“…a chance to have a diverse resume.” (Sophomore, Male, History Major)

“…like playing in a sandbox. You have great toys, that sometimes you share, but you just love playing. If someone comes in your sandbox and poos in it, you get angry – immediately booting them out of the area, but accepting them back in when you think they’ve learned.” (Junior, Female, Legal Studies Major)

“…better than working at McDonald’s.” (Senior, Female, Business Major)

“…like Frogger. To succeed, you have to cross a very busy road, missing obstacles and choosing a path that works out for you. Sometimes, you don’t make it – but at least you stepped out into traffic.” (Freshman, Female, Undeclared)

Personally, I relate strongly with the Frogger answer. The object of the video game referenced is for a frog to cross a multi-lane highway of traffic approaching at various speeds. The frog gets a couple of lives, with the best case scenario (winning maximum points) being to cross the street without incident.

Reflecting this example to leadership…isn’t that our best case as well – to succeed in reaching our goal without too many setbacks? When we make it to the other side, we’re probably grinning just like the frog – celebrating a job well done. The end of the statement “but at least you stepped out into traffic” confirms a student leader’s mind frame – as student leaders are often those who are willing to step in front of the crowd even when the challenge ahead could be win or lose.

I thank all of my students for allowing me the privilege to share your insight. I learn so much from each of you every day. 

If you were asked to complete the statement, what would your answer be?

Fifty Low-Cost Program Ideas in Fifty-minutes

It started out with the ambitious goal of soliciting 50 low-cost program ideas in a little less than an hour.  Fifty minutes later, the delegates at the APCA National Advisors' Summit in Las Vegas had suggested 91 ideas!

Ashley captured these for you, and I wanted to make sure they got posted.  If you weren't there, then some of the ideas may sound odd (or make no sense at all).  If that's the case, drop me a note and I'll explain it to you.

Fifty Ninety-One Ideas in Fifty Minutes

1. Grocery Bingo

2. Medallian Hunt

3. Life-Size Monopoly

4. Game Hunting

5. Pot Luck Dinner

6. Video Gaming

7. Iron Chef Dorm Room/Ramen Noodle cook-off

8. Game Show Contest

9. Poetry Slam

10. Day of the Dead

11. Dark Side of Oz (Pink Floyd & film)

12. Walk-in movie

13. Dive-in movie(pool)

14. American Idol

15. Talent Show

16. Bed Race

17. Bean Bag Toss

18. Themed Dances

19. Halloween Contests

20. Live Haunted House

21. Campus Ghost tours

22. Halloween Casino

23. Recycle plastic bottles into planters (Arbor day)

24. Leadership retreats

25. Water World  (slip ‘n slide)

26. Movie on the Lawn

27. Bonfire & S’mores

28. Themed movies

29. Stress-Free Spa Day

30. Chair Massages

31. Oreo Stacking (Guinness Records)

32. Star Gazing (astronomy club)

33. Leap Frog

34. Twister

35. Reflective Movies

36. Commit a Random Act of Kindness

37. Family Fest

38. Canned Food  Sculptures

39. Food Bank Drive

40. Frozen turkey bowling

41. Campus Fear Factor

42. Photos with Christmas mascot

43. Easter Bunny Pictures

44. Dogoween (pet costume contest at Halloween)

45. Scavenger Picture Hunt

46. Campus Idol

47. Parking space lottery

48. Campus Safety (self-defense)

49. Sleep-out

50. T-Shirt relocation (collect rival school T-shirts and take to Salvation Army in another city!)

51. Clothesline project

52. Women’s forum

53. Cultural showcases

54. “Get Into Your Genes”; Too small Blue Jean give away

55. Campaign for real beauty (acceptance of normal bodies)

56. Mary Kay (or Avon) day

57. Financial Education

58. Monster.com (Free financial planning)

59. “Girls” or “Guys” Night out

60. $2 Movies in town

61. Mock weddings

62. YouTube Contest

63. Hillbilly Olympics

64. Human auction

65. Mentoring

66. Study night with pizza

67. Midnight Breakfast   

68. President for a day

69. Parking ticket raffle (pay your fines)

70. Pre-release movies

71. Unhomecoming Faculty King and Queen

72. Kiss the Pig (Spam loaf)

73. Pageant and formal dinner auction

74. Pie a professor

75. Hot topic lunch

76. Glow in the dark easter egg hunt

77. Pie your RA

78. Recycle drive with prize

79. “Big dog on Campus” Fun Olympics (Bulldog is school mascot...)

80. Cinderella project (Prom Dresses for high school girls)

81. Graffiti party

82. Change drive into mosaic

83. Car show

84. Speed dating ideas

85. Cow patty bingo

86. Mardi Gras Sidewalk Parade

87. Art festival/contest

88. Nametag Day (everybody wears a name tag)

89. Parking lot sale (like rummage sale)

90. Pumpkin Carving Contest

91. Holiday Window Decorating