March 29, 2013
Finally Feels Like Spring!
First off, I want to say I LOVE THIS WEATHER! It is such a nice refresher after a winter that did not want to give in to spring. Hopefully, the warm weather is here to stay! Especially for VEISHEA. That'd be great! Second off, I want to just acknowledge that I am incredibly flattered by my secret admirer post on the Iowa State Secret Admirer page. It certainly made my Wednesday and was such a nice surprise after my test that day! :) I think the page is a really good idea; I love knowing the fact that there is so much love on campus!
I think Jess and Megan did an excellent job this week going over campus resources. I know ISU has an incredible amount of resources to help students out. I personally have used quite a few: the Hixson building, the library help desk, CyRide, CyRide app, the Help Van, Thielen, the MWL hall desk, the maintenance request service, among several other things. It will be good to let our recitation sections know the various student services available as well as other campus resources. You never know when you might need something! For example, it was a cold morning a few weeks ago a few days after a snow storm. I had cleared off my car the evening before so I would not have to do it in dress clothes. However, when I arrived at my car the following morning, the frost had effectively frozen my door. I had to go back to my apartment to find a screwdriver to pry open the door. Once I had the door open, I began to proceed to scrape the windows, but as I go to shut the door, the latch froze and refused to shut properly (or at all). I called the help van after being stuck with my car for an hour and the guy came out and fixed it with whatever was wrong with it. I was effectively an hour late to work, but the help van came in handy, especially on that cold morning.
A little late on this, but I hope everyone had a great spring break. Mine was pretty good. I went to Chicago over St. Patrick's Day weekend. Yes, the river really was green. Yes, there were tons of people. And yes, I traveled with Iowa fans who gave me a lot of grief over the weekend. However, when Iowa basically gave up what was I think a 20 point lead to Michigan State during the B1G tournament and LOST, my night was made, especially after the debacle of a game against Kansas earlier. They told me I could walk home. (I didn't have to walk, thankfully!)
On Sunday, the men lost a complete heartbreaker to Ohio State. I was in complete shock. My heart goes out to the guys on that squad. We could have gone so far and the game was ours! Ugh...Just thinking about this gets my stomach in knots again. Moving on, the Mayor himself signed a new 10-year, $20 million contract last night! Iowa State's man is here to stay long-term. Great things are on the horizon here in Ames between Paul and Fred (and the other sports as well). I look forward immensely to what the future holds in store for our Cyclones!
By the way, if my calculations are correct, there are only 155 days until the first football game of the season! Who's ready?
Until next time, enjoy the weather, have a great Easter weekend, and go Cyclones!
Katie
Friday, March 29, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
March 14, 2013
March 14, 2013
And...break!
I hope everyone had a great day today. I know I did. The men won their first Big 12 Tournament game in eight years. I got to wear jeans, a sweatshirt, and tennis shoes to work (normally it's business casual = dresses and high heels), which I thought was particulary awesome. I got to watch the game with people as equally as invested into the outcome as I was. (I work at the Alumni Association, so the staff had a game watch party in the SALC office. Normally I watch the game in my room, pacing back and forth, and freak my roommates out when I get a little vocal at some of the calls.) I didn't have to find lunch (Pizza!!!). And to top it off, I had Chipotle for supper.
Yes, I know Chipotle's been open for like two months already now, but has anyone had it? If not, you are missing out. And if you eat at Chipotle, you get to eat good, moderately healthy food! And when you eat that food, you support local, Niman Ranch farmers (like my parents). And when you support local, Niman Ranch farmers (like my parents), you support me! (Excellent logic, I know!)
If you don't know what Niman Ranch is, here's the exact history from their website:
http://www.nimanranch.com/niman_story.aspx
Niman Ranch began in the early 1970s on an eleven acre ranch in a small coastal town just north of San Francisco. The cattle were raised using traditional, humane husbandry methods and given wholesome all-natural feeds. Before long, Niman Ranch beef became a favorite in local grocery stores and at San Francisco Bay Area restaurants.
In 1995, Niman Ranch was introduced to Paul Willis, of Thornton Iowa. He was working to revitalize sustainable hog farming methods in the Midwest. Paul's commitment to raising hogs in a humane, old-fashioned way matched Niman Ranch's principles. Niman Ranch was now able to proudly offer beef, pork and lamb.
Today, the Niman Ranch network has grown to include over 700 independent American farmers and ranchers. Whether they’re raising hogs, cattle or lamb, they all share Niman Ranch's dedication to the strictest protocols and the belief that all-natural, humane and sustainable methods produce the best possible flavor.
So that's a little bit of more informaiton about me. I'm a proud supporter of sustainable agriculture and while the work my parents do may be hard and difficult, I wouldn't ever change the way we do things just because we could make more money in confinements.
Okay, this is getting quite lengthy, so I'll quit my PSA announcment and move on to a more relatable topic.
Shelby and Stephanie did an excellent job ths week discussing student learning styles. In high school, we did the Gardner Mutliple Intelligences Test at least two or threes times and it was even brought up in my CI 202 class last semester (although the professor tried to denounce that students actually learn in the styles prescribed by Gardner). According to Gardner, there are eight intelligences: musical, linguistic, interpersonal, bodily/kinesthetic, naturalist, mathematical, spacial, intrapersonal. My personal ones are musical, linguistic, and interpersonal.
They posed the question: How can you apply knowing your learning style and the strategies associated with it to improving your academic success? I know that I like things orderly and adequately described. I like things laid out, perferably in a topical or chronological order. I like my PowerPoints to have titles, and adequate bullet points that relate to the title. I like to-do lists and I color coordinate my class notebooks/folders. I say I'm organized, but as I write this, I'm in my room, which looks like a disaster. I perfer things in a linear or heirarchical order. With this knowledge I can help students who learn a similar way and create lectures and presentations with a more detail-oriented outlook.
I apologize for the exceptionally long post this week. I hope everyone has a good spring break! Let's BEAT KANSAS tomorrow to set the week right!
Until we all get back,
Go state!
Katie
And...break!
I hope everyone had a great day today. I know I did. The men won their first Big 12 Tournament game in eight years. I got to wear jeans, a sweatshirt, and tennis shoes to work (normally it's business casual = dresses and high heels), which I thought was particulary awesome. I got to watch the game with people as equally as invested into the outcome as I was. (I work at the Alumni Association, so the staff had a game watch party in the SALC office. Normally I watch the game in my room, pacing back and forth, and freak my roommates out when I get a little vocal at some of the calls.) I didn't have to find lunch (Pizza!!!). And to top it off, I had Chipotle for supper.
Yes, I know Chipotle's been open for like two months already now, but has anyone had it? If not, you are missing out. And if you eat at Chipotle, you get to eat good, moderately healthy food! And when you eat that food, you support local, Niman Ranch farmers (like my parents). And when you support local, Niman Ranch farmers (like my parents), you support me! (Excellent logic, I know!)
If you don't know what Niman Ranch is, here's the exact history from their website:
http://www.nimanranch.com/niman_story.aspx
Niman Ranch began in the early 1970s on an eleven acre ranch in a small coastal town just north of San Francisco. The cattle were raised using traditional, humane husbandry methods and given wholesome all-natural feeds. Before long, Niman Ranch beef became a favorite in local grocery stores and at San Francisco Bay Area restaurants.
In 1995, Niman Ranch was introduced to Paul Willis, of Thornton Iowa. He was working to revitalize sustainable hog farming methods in the Midwest. Paul's commitment to raising hogs in a humane, old-fashioned way matched Niman Ranch's principles. Niman Ranch was now able to proudly offer beef, pork and lamb.
Today, the Niman Ranch network has grown to include over 700 independent American farmers and ranchers. Whether they’re raising hogs, cattle or lamb, they all share Niman Ranch's dedication to the strictest protocols and the belief that all-natural, humane and sustainable methods produce the best possible flavor.
- Humanely Raised by the Largest Network of
- Never Given Antibiotics or Added Hormones – Ever
- Fed Only the Finest All Vegetarian Feeds
So that's a little bit of more informaiton about me. I'm a proud supporter of sustainable agriculture and while the work my parents do may be hard and difficult, I wouldn't ever change the way we do things just because we could make more money in confinements.
Okay, this is getting quite lengthy, so I'll quit my PSA announcment and move on to a more relatable topic.
Shelby and Stephanie did an excellent job ths week discussing student learning styles. In high school, we did the Gardner Mutliple Intelligences Test at least two or threes times and it was even brought up in my CI 202 class last semester (although the professor tried to denounce that students actually learn in the styles prescribed by Gardner). According to Gardner, there are eight intelligences: musical, linguistic, interpersonal, bodily/kinesthetic, naturalist, mathematical, spacial, intrapersonal. My personal ones are musical, linguistic, and interpersonal.
They posed the question: How can you apply knowing your learning style and the strategies associated with it to improving your academic success? I know that I like things orderly and adequately described. I like things laid out, perferably in a topical or chronological order. I like my PowerPoints to have titles, and adequate bullet points that relate to the title. I like to-do lists and I color coordinate my class notebooks/folders. I say I'm organized, but as I write this, I'm in my room, which looks like a disaster. I perfer things in a linear or heirarchical order. With this knowledge I can help students who learn a similar way and create lectures and presentations with a more detail-oriented outlook.
I apologize for the exceptionally long post this week. I hope everyone has a good spring break! Let's BEAT KANSAS tomorrow to set the week right!
Until we all get back,
Go state!
Katie
Saturday, March 9, 2013
March 9, 2013
March 9, 2013
Leadership
Four blogs in one week? I am feeling just a tad bit like an overachiever, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I figure today (Saturday) is a good time as any to get my blog done for the week.
This week in class, Brady and Josh led discussion on leadership. According to my trusty dictionary.com app on my phone (Yes, I have a dictionary app on my phone. Who doesn't?), leadership is defined as:
1. The position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group.
2. The ability to lead.
3. An act or instance of leading; guidance; direction.
4. The leaders of a group.
That definition needs to be further defined by the word lead. Lead is defined as:
To guide in directon, course, action, opinion, etc.; bring.
I believe this definition (out of some 30) pertains the most to what we will be doing in the fall when we facilitate our recitation sections. We will guide the incoming freshmen towards being good Hixson scholars and being good representatives of Iowa State in their courses and actions as they proceed through college.
I also had not given much consideration to seating arrangements. Most classrooms are set up in a theatre style setting, which makes it hard when trying to discuss something. For example, in my HIST 360 class (US History: 1900-1945), we have lots of discussions. However, the classroom we are in is not set up very well to facilitate that. As a future history teacher, where discussion is an intergral part of history, a good classroom set up will be imperative to facilitate good discussion.
Tomorrow is our second retreat and I'm looking forward to the icebreakers that everyone will come up with. Bring your thinking caps for the one Sebastian and I came up with!
As always, have a good week next week! It's almost spring break! And that is a fact I am certainly most joyous about!
I'll leave you with this quote which I feel relates well to what we'll be doing this fall:
"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee." - Marian Wright Edelman
Go State!
Katie
Leadership
Four blogs in one week? I am feeling just a tad bit like an overachiever, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I figure today (Saturday) is a good time as any to get my blog done for the week.
This week in class, Brady and Josh led discussion on leadership. According to my trusty dictionary.com app on my phone (Yes, I have a dictionary app on my phone. Who doesn't?), leadership is defined as:
1. The position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group.
2. The ability to lead.
3. An act or instance of leading; guidance; direction.
4. The leaders of a group.
That definition needs to be further defined by the word lead. Lead is defined as:
To guide in directon, course, action, opinion, etc.; bring.
I believe this definition (out of some 30) pertains the most to what we will be doing in the fall when we facilitate our recitation sections. We will guide the incoming freshmen towards being good Hixson scholars and being good representatives of Iowa State in their courses and actions as they proceed through college.
I also had not given much consideration to seating arrangements. Most classrooms are set up in a theatre style setting, which makes it hard when trying to discuss something. For example, in my HIST 360 class (US History: 1900-1945), we have lots of discussions. However, the classroom we are in is not set up very well to facilitate that. As a future history teacher, where discussion is an intergral part of history, a good classroom set up will be imperative to facilitate good discussion.
Tomorrow is our second retreat and I'm looking forward to the icebreakers that everyone will come up with. Bring your thinking caps for the one Sebastian and I came up with!
As always, have a good week next week! It's almost spring break! And that is a fact I am certainly most joyous about!
I'll leave you with this quote which I feel relates well to what we'll be doing this fall:
"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee." - Marian Wright Edelman
Go State!
Katie
Monday, March 4, 2013
March 4, 2013
March 4, 2013
Ending Racism in About an Hour
Tonight I attended the lecture "Ending Racism in About an Hour" which was given by W. Kamau Bell, of FX's Totally Biased.
It was a very good lecture and tied in well with Social Media Week and ISCORE. Bell's presentation was a mixture of laughter and comedy and racism. Bell interlaced the comedic aspect with very real notions of racism in our society. Bell presented news stories in recent times, pictures and tweets that people have posted. One was over Jeremy Lin, the basketball player. We all remember "Lin-sanity" and how Jeremy Lin proved to be an excellent basketball player. Well, Lin got into a slump where he started playing bad, and ESPN published an article entitled "Chink in the Armor." As Bell showed a screen shot of the article, the crowd fell silent. The context of the title was not appropriate and that was clear to everyone.
Bell emphasized that today's racism is completely different than racism of the 1950s and 1960s. He told the crowd that he considered the stories of his mother's experiences with racism were "awesome." He jokingly compared it to an action movie. However, he contrasted, today's racism is more covert than overt. People say things that are meant to be encouraging but come off as offensive. As with the case of Jeremy Lin, a native of California. Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream created a favor that attempted to celebrate the milestone that was Jeremy Lin with their "Taste the Lin-sanity" flavor. It had fortune cookies in it.
Bell also went into detail about how the media created the term "post-racial." It's a made up term, just like race is an invented notion. Since Barack Obama became president, we have heard this "post-racial" term a lot. America, Bell said, is in a post-racial era according to the media. But is it? Bell pointed out examples of sports teams and their logos: The Washington Redskins, the Atlanta Braves, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cleveland Indians. Bell commented that when asked about their team name, the Washington Redskins defended it by saying they had 81 years of tradition. "Tradition?" Bell questioned, "Pretty sure the Indians were in American before 81 years ago."
Bell brought up other great points as well that really opened my eyes and reminded me of the things I learned in the ISCORE session I attended. It brought both Social Media Week, especially with the Kansas game Twitter incident, and ISCORE together in a good way.
For anyone who wants to follow W. Kamau Bell on Twitter, his handle is: @wkamaubell.
Katie
Ending Racism in About an Hour
Tonight I attended the lecture "Ending Racism in About an Hour" which was given by W. Kamau Bell, of FX's Totally Biased.
It was a very good lecture and tied in well with Social Media Week and ISCORE. Bell's presentation was a mixture of laughter and comedy and racism. Bell interlaced the comedic aspect with very real notions of racism in our society. Bell presented news stories in recent times, pictures and tweets that people have posted. One was over Jeremy Lin, the basketball player. We all remember "Lin-sanity" and how Jeremy Lin proved to be an excellent basketball player. Well, Lin got into a slump where he started playing bad, and ESPN published an article entitled "Chink in the Armor." As Bell showed a screen shot of the article, the crowd fell silent. The context of the title was not appropriate and that was clear to everyone.
Bell emphasized that today's racism is completely different than racism of the 1950s and 1960s. He told the crowd that he considered the stories of his mother's experiences with racism were "awesome." He jokingly compared it to an action movie. However, he contrasted, today's racism is more covert than overt. People say things that are meant to be encouraging but come off as offensive. As with the case of Jeremy Lin, a native of California. Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream created a favor that attempted to celebrate the milestone that was Jeremy Lin with their "Taste the Lin-sanity" flavor. It had fortune cookies in it.
Bell also went into detail about how the media created the term "post-racial." It's a made up term, just like race is an invented notion. Since Barack Obama became president, we have heard this "post-racial" term a lot. America, Bell said, is in a post-racial era according to the media. But is it? Bell pointed out examples of sports teams and their logos: The Washington Redskins, the Atlanta Braves, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cleveland Indians. Bell commented that when asked about their team name, the Washington Redskins defended it by saying they had 81 years of tradition. "Tradition?" Bell questioned, "Pretty sure the Indians were in American before 81 years ago."
Bell brought up other great points as well that really opened my eyes and reminded me of the things I learned in the ISCORE session I attended. It brought both Social Media Week, especially with the Kansas game Twitter incident, and ISCORE together in a good way.
For anyone who wants to follow W. Kamau Bell on Twitter, his handle is: @wkamaubell.
Katie
Sunday, March 3, 2013
March 3, 2013 - Part 2
March 3, 2013 - Part 2
Social Media Week
Another week has come to an end. Has anyone else been completely surprised by how fast February went? I mean it's MARCH THIRD already?! Nonsense. But I suppose time flies when you're busy "studying" to get that all-mighty degree, right? That's what I thought.
I know this past week has been filled with the insanity that was the Kansas - Iowa State debacle. I'm still not entirely over it, but I have to say one thing: yesterday's loss was horrendous. I didn't watch the whole game, but the parts I did see - it was borderline ridiculous. We needed a win, badly. Hopefully the next game will go better and we will be more in sync. We can't get to the tournament by losing games.
So yesterday was the Air Force ROTC's Dining Out night. I went as a date with a neighbor and it was not a bad time. Although no clapping was allowed (except when the Brigadier General Clinton E. Crosier, an ISU grad, bashed Iowa), which I found strange (you had to hit your spoon or knuckles against the table instead of clapping), it was a pleasant evening. I did find out, however, that I can't ballroom dance to save my life. I'm not a very good follower and I can't keep time. The waltz and fox trot are lost on me. Sorry to Isaac for not being very coordinated and being a good foot shorter than him (even in four-inch heels).
I believe that Social Media Week was a success. I enjoyed interacting with everyone - it certainly made my week more interesting. I'm an avid Twitter user, so I didn't really have any trouble tweeting 20-25 times in a week. I didn't like, however, to unprotect my tweets. However, it was only for a week, and while I gained several followers (for example, all of you, @cyrideprobz, and @PeopleOfISU to name a few), I did get favorited or retweeted by random accounts, such as Andrew Grossman, Nick Lavigne, Barack Hussein Obama (over a tweet about CyRide??), and one by Justin Bieber (not the real Biebs). That was a little unnerving to know that my tweets were out there for everyone and random people can favorite or retweet them.
I think that Kat and Tyler did a good job presenting in class over group dynamics. I liked the sardine video, it's kind of amazing how a group of thousands can manuever like that. It reminded me of the scene from Finding Nemo when Dory and Marvin are asking for directions.
Gotta love Pixar. :) I also liked the activity with the poles and how we had to work together as a group to get the timing down. It took a little bit, but we finally got the hang of it. Props to Tyler and Kat!
Until next time.
Go State!
Katie
Social Media Week
Another week has come to an end. Has anyone else been completely surprised by how fast February went? I mean it's MARCH THIRD already?! Nonsense. But I suppose time flies when you're busy "studying" to get that all-mighty degree, right? That's what I thought.
I know this past week has been filled with the insanity that was the Kansas - Iowa State debacle. I'm still not entirely over it, but I have to say one thing: yesterday's loss was horrendous. I didn't watch the whole game, but the parts I did see - it was borderline ridiculous. We needed a win, badly. Hopefully the next game will go better and we will be more in sync. We can't get to the tournament by losing games.
So yesterday was the Air Force ROTC's Dining Out night. I went as a date with a neighbor and it was not a bad time. Although no clapping was allowed (except when the Brigadier General Clinton E. Crosier, an ISU grad, bashed Iowa), which I found strange (you had to hit your spoon or knuckles against the table instead of clapping), it was a pleasant evening. I did find out, however, that I can't ballroom dance to save my life. I'm not a very good follower and I can't keep time. The waltz and fox trot are lost on me. Sorry to Isaac for not being very coordinated and being a good foot shorter than him (even in four-inch heels).
I believe that Social Media Week was a success. I enjoyed interacting with everyone - it certainly made my week more interesting. I'm an avid Twitter user, so I didn't really have any trouble tweeting 20-25 times in a week. I didn't like, however, to unprotect my tweets. However, it was only for a week, and while I gained several followers (for example, all of you, @cyrideprobz, and @PeopleOfISU to name a few), I did get favorited or retweeted by random accounts, such as Andrew Grossman, Nick Lavigne, Barack Hussein Obama (over a tweet about CyRide??), and one by Justin Bieber (not the real Biebs). That was a little unnerving to know that my tweets were out there for everyone and random people can favorite or retweet them.
Gotta love Pixar. :) I also liked the activity with the poles and how we had to work together as a group to get the timing down. It took a little bit, but we finally got the hang of it. Props to Tyler and Kat!
Until next time.
Go State!
Katie
March 3, 2013 - Part 1
March 3, 2013
ISCORE
On March 1, I attended a session during ISCORE called "Dumb Things We Need to Stop Saying and Other Practical Steps to Increase Our Effectiveness Around Diversity," which was presented by Luiza Dreasher.
The description of the session reads: "How many conversations involving diversity have left you 'walking on eggshells?' Have you ever said something that you wish you wish you could take back immediately? How many times have you said nothing because you were afraid to say the wrong thing? In this fun and interactive session, you will" (1) Understand how comments such as "I don't see color, I am color blind" impact others (despite our good intentions, and (2) Learn different strategies that will help you increase your diversity skills and competence."
I thought that this was a very informative session. It brought up a lot of topics that I hadn't thought about previously. It was very eyeopening.
The presenter gave us four concepts that can help one navigate the waters of diversity.
Concept 1: Intent v. Impact: The Cornerstone of Sustaining Successful Conversation
This concept talked about what to do if you do offend someone during conversation. Don't become defensive; take responsibility for the thing that you said and apologize. While it cannot take back what you said, the apology is a first step towards healing and understanding.
Concept 2: P.O.P. (Pile on Principle)
In this concept, we may not know the whole story behind a person's actions. We only see a snapshot of their life at a particular moment. Luiza Dreasher gave the example of stubbing one's toe. A person woke up and stubbed their toe and all day people either stepped on it or had something drop on it. Once home, the person's spouse simply grazed it and the person yelled at their spouse. Their spouse might not know why, but the simple action of grazing the person's hurt toe sent the person over the edge. We don't know the whole story, but we need to show empathy towards others in all situations.
Concept 3: Recognize our Privileges
This concept is based on what groups we belong to. A great quote that Luiza shared was one by Barry Switzer: "Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they've hit a triple." I think this quotes explemifies what Luiza described as an "advantaged group." Members of that group have to remember that they have been given a "head start" and that what matters most is what they do with the privileges they have been given.
Finally,
Concept 4: Raising the B.A.R. (Breathe, Acknowledge, Respond)
Breathe: Take a deep breathe. You can't talk and breathe deeply at the same time. This is an effective, but often underutilized method of relaxing.
Acknowledge: Ask clarifying questions: "Did I hear you correctly? Is this what you meant when you said...?" Be an active listener.
Responding: Responding is different than reacting. Responding requires thought and an analysis of the situation whereas a reaction is often off-the-bat and without much thinking - it is instantenous.
I plan to use these concepts not only for the fall but also in every day life. With America diversifying rapidly, it'll become imperative to have a background in dealing with diversity.
Katie
ISCORE
On March 1, I attended a session during ISCORE called "Dumb Things We Need to Stop Saying and Other Practical Steps to Increase Our Effectiveness Around Diversity," which was presented by Luiza Dreasher.
The description of the session reads: "How many conversations involving diversity have left you 'walking on eggshells?' Have you ever said something that you wish you wish you could take back immediately? How many times have you said nothing because you were afraid to say the wrong thing? In this fun and interactive session, you will" (1) Understand how comments such as "I don't see color, I am color blind" impact others (despite our good intentions, and (2) Learn different strategies that will help you increase your diversity skills and competence."
I thought that this was a very informative session. It brought up a lot of topics that I hadn't thought about previously. It was very eyeopening.
The presenter gave us four concepts that can help one navigate the waters of diversity.
Concept 1: Intent v. Impact: The Cornerstone of Sustaining Successful Conversation
This concept talked about what to do if you do offend someone during conversation. Don't become defensive; take responsibility for the thing that you said and apologize. While it cannot take back what you said, the apology is a first step towards healing and understanding.
Concept 2: P.O.P. (Pile on Principle)
In this concept, we may not know the whole story behind a person's actions. We only see a snapshot of their life at a particular moment. Luiza Dreasher gave the example of stubbing one's toe. A person woke up and stubbed their toe and all day people either stepped on it or had something drop on it. Once home, the person's spouse simply grazed it and the person yelled at their spouse. Their spouse might not know why, but the simple action of grazing the person's hurt toe sent the person over the edge. We don't know the whole story, but we need to show empathy towards others in all situations.
Concept 3: Recognize our Privileges
This concept is based on what groups we belong to. A great quote that Luiza shared was one by Barry Switzer: "Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they've hit a triple." I think this quotes explemifies what Luiza described as an "advantaged group." Members of that group have to remember that they have been given a "head start" and that what matters most is what they do with the privileges they have been given.
Finally,
Concept 4: Raising the B.A.R. (Breathe, Acknowledge, Respond)
Breathe: Take a deep breathe. You can't talk and breathe deeply at the same time. This is an effective, but often underutilized method of relaxing.
Acknowledge: Ask clarifying questions: "Did I hear you correctly? Is this what you meant when you said...?" Be an active listener.
Responding: Responding is different than reacting. Responding requires thought and an analysis of the situation whereas a reaction is often off-the-bat and without much thinking - it is instantenous.
I plan to use these concepts not only for the fall but also in every day life. With America diversifying rapidly, it'll become imperative to have a background in dealing with diversity.
Katie
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