Welcome to my Blog!
This Blog will be used for educational purposes within my EDM 510 Course for Fall 2014.
Please watch this short video below:
I feel that as educators and administrators, we often forget how much something small we do can have such a large impact on someone else. I know especially in housing we are in the "business of people", and therefore it is our job change lives.
After watching this video, how do you feel someone has made an impact on you or has someone told you about something small that has changed their lives? How can we take simple moments and make them lollipop moments? There are no right or wrong answers to this- just a place to share some of the good things we do, and remind ourselves why we chose this profession.
A. Hughes
One of my favorite parts of the video was where the presenter said we need to stop forgetting about titles and start being concerned with how many lollipop moments we incite. Amazing. Just amazing. I’ve been disappointed at times in the beginning stages of my career in higher education as I’ve found myself in positions surrounded by those who cared more about such an insignificant title and less about actually positively impacting a student’s life.
ReplyDeleteI’ve luckily had many lollipop moments, moments in which sometimes simply being courteous to someone changes their day in a positive manner. Moments where going out of your way to aid someone else demonstrates to that other person that there truly are “good people” in the world today. Many of my recent lollipop moments occur at the University Writing Center (WC) and Career Services Center where I interact with many students daily.
In both areas I work with students in developing a particular skill. At Career Services this skill may lead the student to feeling more prepared for an interview whereas in the Writing Center I may help students both young and old realize their own potential as a writer. I told a version of this story in my post to Brandon’s blog earlier today.
Recently I met with a student who received a poor grade on her paper and was instructed to visit the WC. She was very similar to many students I have met with thus far this semester that have little confidence in their writing due to poor writing development by teachers earlier in their educational careers. But by addressing her concerns and demonstrating that there’s no such thing as a “perfect writer”, we began to establish a rapport. I explained to her that there’s no shame in trying to develop one’s writing and that in fact, it’s more impressive to see someone pinpoint an area of weakness that they’d like to address than more simply letting oneself never realize their writing potential instead. She had a couple “Aha!” moments in our session and when she left I was genuinely pleased with myself. We did more that establish a great rapport as student and tutor but we also worked together in ways that demonstrated to her that she had what it took to write at the college level, however no one ever showed her how to.
It was definitely a lollipop moment for me and if she never credits me with anything I’ll be perfectly okay with that. I’m not looking for credit, rather I’m hoping to change students’ lives through developing their writing skills. I think all we need to do in order to turn simple moments into lollipop moments is demonstrate our genuine care for the students. Those that will make it in this profession are the ones that truly care for the students above all else. It’s easy to spot those that do from those that don’t, trust me. But I think if we show students that we are really invested in their success than we have turned a simple moment into a lollipop moment. Sometimes all a student-at-odds, or a troubled student needs is the thought that someone cares about them that may not know them personally at all. As educators all we can do is keep on caring.
Working within higher education, Housing and Residence Life specifically, there are many "Lollipop Moments" in which arise every other day, if not daily. Just last week, I had a student in my office who bad a bad decision with the wrong crowd - a freshmen - off campus. This student was nervous to meet with me in regards to his Community Standard violation, but I immediately broke the barrier and simply asked, "How are you feeling today?" This one question not only broke his nervousness, but also allowed for him to be comfortable in my office. Before you knew it, we were talking about his first year experience so far here at South and how he was loving the University.
ReplyDeleteAfter speaking about his violation, I began to make him see the bigger picture of college life. While he was freshman, I told him that he must think now about his future because people are steady watching and listening to him. After our conversation, he has visited my office for advice in regards to classes and how to approach situations.
Seeing the "Lollipop Moment" take place before me made me see that small, every day conversation can truly make an impact on someone's life. We must be intentional in our speaking and doing. As future professionals within this field, you are right Alexandra, "we are in the business of people." It is tough some days, but because we love it, it is just like another day in the park.
Brandon,
DeleteI completely agree, I can not even count how many of these conversations that I have had to have with people in my office. I want people to understand that my role is not to assign a sanction and threaten people. My role is to be here, and help people- I want to see my residents succeed...and when they realize that, I know that I picked the right job.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say I have had some lollipop moments with some students. I hate the thought that I forget about the moments. Sometimes when the students come back to me and ask if I remember them, I never want to say no that I do not, but sometimes I cant remember what I did for them. I feel that if I say 'yes' I would hurt their feelings and would not make them feel like that moment mattered to me. One day in the office, I had the Dean of Nursing, Dr. Davis, ask me to come to her office so I did. I was freaking out thinking, "I wonder what this is about." She ended up telling me that during the orientation I attended to help Pre-Nursing students register, I made a large impact on a student who ended up being a child of one of our Deans in another department. I thought to myself, "I wonder who student that was out of the 50 we saw that day." I loved the thought that I really made an impression on that student, where they remembered my name and ended up telling their parent about it and wanted to give me credit for my successful job with advising their child. I would have to say that is one of my proudest lollipop moments.
That is so wonderful! The little things that you can do, make such a different to others. More often that not it is something that you forget about, but it can change someone else day.
DeleteMy career in higher education hasn't really started yet, but I love this concept of lollipop moments and redefining leadership. I have sometimes always found myself in leadership roles in clubs that I join or teams that I am on, but haven't always considered myself a leader. One lollipop moment that a former coach of mine had for me was my junior year of high school. I was playing travel volleyball and trying to decided if I wanted to continue my career after high school. I never thought that I was a good enough player to play in college so I really wasn't working on being recruited. However, during warm ups at one of our tournaments, I don't remember how it came up or why but my coach simply told me that I was good enough to play in college. And it changed everything. Just that simple encouragement motivated me to at least try. I am where I am today because of his kind words. I hope that I can be that encouragement to my students one day.
ReplyDelete