gLeek aLert

So, as it happens, last night I was catching up on Glee and something came up that screamed, "Blog about this topic!!!"  This leads me here...

The episode was fantastic, (music included below if you're up for some great tunes), with Gwyneth Paltrow as the substitute.  Now, I remember as a high school student, if we had a sub we wanted to give him/her a hard time.  I don't even know how subs adapt to that lifestyle, but good for them.  Of course, there were the subs you liked, and the subs who you didn't like; the subs who were fun, and the ones who made you do work.  But this really has nothing to do with my point...

The part of the episode that caught my attention was when Holly Holiday (Paltrow) was talking about how things have changed.  She asked the real teacher, Mr. Scheuster, what he did when his students did something he liked.  He said that he praised them in class.  Holiday said something like, "That's great.  I tweet about them and for those 30 seconds when they first see that, they feel like they're something special, which is all they want."

Now, I know we're talking about high school students, but really, what is a freshman student but a high school student plus 4 months?  This idea and concept isn't completely new to me.  I mean, I'm friends on Facebook with several students with whom I work and friends with even more of my supervisors, faculty members and professors.  I like it when I post a status and one of my superiors 'likes' it or even comments on it, especially when it comes to getting their specific assignment done.  I love it even more when my superiors just post random things on my wall, almost as a friend.  I imagine, if they had Twitter, I would appreciate the same responses.

With all this said, is our world changing and are we ready as the future and current educators?  First, is it appropriate for us, as grad students, to be friends with our superiors?  Do they know too much about us?  Do we know too much about them?  And what about the students we advise?  I work for the Center for Health and Wellness Promotion and I advise a group of students who are supposed to be healthy and make smart decisions.  So, what if I go out for a drink (or 2 or 3) with some friends and post about it on one of my social media outlets?  Am I not leading by example?  What if my direct supervisor sees it?  Do I want my professors knowing that I went for a drink instead of working on their paper, (and what happens when they receive it?  Will they judge how well it's done based on the fact that I spent a night or two avoiding it and they know it?  Would they look at it differently if they thought I spent 5 nights on it versus 3?)?

On the opposite hand, how do we stay connected to the students and our superiors if we don't have social media? I chat with my students on Facebook.  It allows me time to check in with them, especially when they can't stop in the office all the time.  I can also tell how they're doing by their statuses.  I've built up what I consider a more personal relationship with some of my professors and supervisors through Facebook connections and I enjoy knowing that they're human, too.  I can see their struggles just as much as they can see mine and I can provide words of support or humor if I want.  Personally, it doesn't make their influence on my life less of an impact, but more, and I hope that my peers feel the same way.  Twitter allows me to keep in touch with some of the other GAs.  Again, where do I draw the line?  I post some personal things on there and my intention isn't to make them think less of me, but it might do that.
So...will we, as educators, one day need to create personal and professional profiles, (some people might have those already.)?  We already create lists and divide friends, family and students up so they can only see what we want them to see, (personally, why have them on there at all if they can 'see' you?).  Will it become (or has it already) part of the documents that we sign when hired that we can't 'friend' students and colleagues on these social medias?  I suppose only time will tell, but it is clear that things are changing and we have to be careful how we use the things that connect us to each other so as to not blurry those boundaries that make us the educators.

Take a break from your busy day and watch these, then smile!! They're so fantastic.


Here are the two cool performances from the most recent Glee, and one from the week before that stole my heart:

This could be me...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
David Sedaris
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Sometimes, I feel like the days get a little too long and there's nothing there to brighten them up.  That's why I read David Sedaris' books.  It's real life with a funny twist.  Well, not my real life, but his real life and situations that most people go through at some point.  And what's life if you can't laugh at a situation or two from time to time?  Boring, that's what life is without laughter.
My secret ambition, behind wanting to work in student affairs, is to write a New York Times Best Seller.  I think it's possible if I could just dedicated more than 40 minutes a week to it.  But, of course, life gets in the way and those things that are funny and would make a great story are actually my life and they're not funny because I'm going through it moment by moment, which is why I read David Sedaris' memoirs, essays and whatever else he throws my way.  He sees situations the way I hope to see them: humorous.  You know, the idea that life won't end due to this one tiny complication and one day we will all look back at this and laugh?  Yeah, I dream of that outlook for some things.  I could live that glamorous author lifestyle, if only I could think of something to write about.  And if only I could find time to write it.  But, alas, something always comes up.
So, since I can't manage to sit down and write for more than 40 minutes a week (every other week), cheers to David Sedaris for making a living out it and making me laugh at the same time.    We could all use a pick-me-up from time to time!

To Author One's Life

I had the pleasure of attending Marcia Baxter Magolda's presentation on Thursday morning.  She really seems to know what she's talking about when it comes to student development and how it relates to student affairs and our journey as higher education professionals.
I know I won't do her justice as I attempt to put the pieces together, so I do apologize for that.  I found it interesting, and true, that what we expect from students is generally over their heads.  It seems as though we're asking them to process information at a level to which they have yet to develop.  This means to me that in classes we're asking students to think at an internal level when we have yet to teach them how to function (and break out of) within the system we create in higher education.  In other words, we've structured this faulty system in which students are required to function in order to get good grades, we don't ever once challenge their concepts of this system, but then we expect deep, meaningful work and thought processes from students.  Why should they do that for us if all they need to do is XYZ to obtain an A in class?  Crazy, right?
I find this applies to office in which I work.  Students, for the most part, come into the Center for Health and Wellness Promotion because the system tells them they have to.  Whether they're at high risk for alcohol and drug use, or just caught at a dorm party, there are certain steps they have to take in order to get back in good standings with USD.  So, in they come (those caught at a party), they sit through a class, and generally that's it.  But then we feel like we're not reaching the majority of students and, of course we're not!!  They just want to work the system!  They're not going to get an epiphany sitting in the required alcohol class!!  They're not there yet developmentally because we, as higher education professionals, have not provided them with learning partnership that will get them there.
So, I look back on my days as an undergrad and think, what opportunities were provided to me that enabled me to leave one stage of development and enter another (along Marcia's stages)?  Or, have I ever really left a stage?  I know that I still sometimes look at a class and wonder, "What do I have to do obtain an A?"  Reverting back to that thinking is easy, especially since I've been out of school for three years.  My undergrad professors never pushed me to the point of letting go of the system, but, as an English major, I found myself pushing the envelope intentionally in classes just because technically, if you have evidence to back it up, you can't be wrong.  So, if I have left that stage and moved to the intermediate stage at some point, what did that look like?  Ah yes, the part where nothing mattered because facts are manipulated and life is all up in the air.  I experienced this towards the end of my undergraduate career.  Not only were my thoughts lost, so were my actions.  I was...like a balloon floating towards the clouds.  If the wind blew me one way, that's the way I'd go.  I did manage to finish school with strong grades, but internally I was a disaster.  I showed this by gaining weight and doing things uncharacteristic of what I now consider to be myself.
I still feel like I'm in a struggle with the end of the intermediate stage and the advanced stage.  The advanced stage is all internal.  It's about creating one's own mind, thoughts and feelings regardless of the outside world and its' influences.  It's also about accepting other's opinions even if you disagree, but still keeping them in your life.  I feel that some of that I've dealt with better than others.  I'm not much for my internal, mushy mess, which is evident in the way I address my feelings.  I find myself explaining situations in which I'm hurt, sad, angry, happy, etc, but never going into what about those situation makes me feel a certain way.  It's a way for me to avoid how I really feel.  I'm working on finding those feelings and addressing them in LEAD 550.  I am pretty good at noticing others, but I fail to place myself within the emotional mix.  It's not something I'm completely comfortable with and is, perhaps, an adaptive challenge I've spent a decent time avoiding.
With all this said, I look at the few students who I advise and try to place them somewhere in the mix of the student development continuum.  They are certainly in a variety of places in their lives personally, which creates an interesting developmental pattern.  I hope to continue to learn about how I can help and influence them in the right ways to get them to become aware of who they and aid them towards finding their internal voice, or as Marcia calls it, authoring their own life, (and, who knows, maybe I'll be able to find mine, too!).