2015 Futures Initiative Mentoring Workshop
Day 1
It was a real privilege to be part of the Futures Initiative Mentoring Workshop the past two days, hosted by the Graduate Center with participants from 8 additional CUNY campuses. As part of the Futures Initiative course offerings, undergraduate mentors from the first FI course (“Mapping the Futures of Higher Education“) will mentor incoming undergraduate students for the 2015-2015 academic year.
These students, hailing from New York City’s five boroughs, proved to be motivated and remarkable. They were led by very capable hands — Hilarie Ashton, Rachel Oppenheimer and Natalie Oshukany (FI Teaching Fellows) — and easily took the lead as well, to build and learn together.
To kick off, Rachel Oppenheimer introduces BINGO, for students to get to know one another.
Undergraduate mentors before talking and learning about each other.
Mentors playing BINGO and learning about their fellow mentors.
Hilarie Ashton working with a mentor and filling out BINGO sheets.
A mentor filling out his BINGO sheet and learning about his talented cohort.
Futures Initiative Director Cathy Davidson welcomes the FI Mentors after the BINGO kick-off.
Mentors respond to the first Think-Pair-Share, thinking about the challenges they face as college students, and what skills they have used to work through their challenges.
Mentors share to discuss their challenges.
Challenges and skills are recorded on our Google Doc and on large posters for the larger group to reflect on.
Mentors reflect on what makes a good mentor, and discuss motivational interviewing.
Jade Davis, Associate Director of Digital Learning Projects at LaGuardia Community College, weighs in on the discussion.
Mentors work on mentoring scenarios in groups to share with everyone.
Joined here by Teaching Fellow Natalie Oshukany, mentors develop their mentoring scenarios to share with the group.
Mentors acting out mentoring scenarios.
Mentors got creative with costumes while acting out mentoring scenarios.
The audience enjoying the mentoring scenarios.
After lunch, mentors talk about transferable skills, led by Emily Seamone from the Graduate Center.
Mentors sort through cards to determine their skill set.
Emily Seamone working with a mentor to determine and record her skills.
Once sorting through their skills, mentors come to look at their skill profiles.
The day continued with mentors being led by Futures Initiative Fellows Alison Guess and Mike Rifino to work on collaborative Résumé Building. Jade Davis, Associate Director of Digital Learning Projects at LaGuardia Community College, discussed public writing with the Futures Initiative Mentors, and Hilarie Ashton led a Guided Writing and Exit Ticket activity.
As was tweeted out from @FuturesED the first day, “Such a difference once people start talking, learning about each other! Palpable difference in energy.”
Have a look at our Flickr album of the Mentoring Workshop to see more photos.
Day 2
Everybody raise your hand! #futuresed pic.twitter.com/yhID1PEemy
— Futures Initiative (@FuturesED) August 19, 2015
The Futures Initiative Mentoring Workshop continued on August 19, 2015 at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Undergraduate students continued to work with graduate students and the FI team to think through mentoring and higher education.
FI Director Cathy Davidson sets the tone for the second workshop day by discussing meta-cognition with the FI Mentors
Mentors move around. Throughout the day they will think about embodiment in the classroom.
Hilarie Ashton leads the Mentors in exploding the text, where each person voices their response to the poem “The Rose That Grew From Concrete”
Mentors respond to the poem first on paper then as part of a live reading, which blew away everyone who was present!
Mentors watch a short excerpt of “The PolyMath,” about Samuel Delany, and discuss the dynamics of the classroom
Following the segment, in which Delany explains that he asks all his students to raise their hands, the Mentors are encouraged to raise their hands, but are a little reluctant at first.
The Mentors raise their hands higher…
…and higher!
Cathy Davidson and Jade Davis contribute to the discussion about classroom dynamics and the significance of every participant having a voice.
Allison Guess leads the Mentors in imagining and drawing a “Mentoring Tool”
Mentors begin to sketch out their prototypes for their mentoring tools.
Mentors share their mentoring tool designs with the rest of the group.
Danica Savonick maps out CUNY resources and guides mentors through a history of student activism in CUNY.
Mentors get into campus-based groups to present what resources they want added to their
individual campuses.
Mentors share their ideas for campus resources.
During lunch, one of the Mentors played the White Stripes’ “We’re Going To Be Friends” on a ukulele.
Mike Rifino leads the group in discussing superpowers and how they can be used in mentoring others.
Following this discussion, the FI Fellows left to allow the Mentors to develop their own strategy for the coming 2015-2016 academic year.
When we returned, the room was buzzing with activity!
The Mentors excitedly shared their goals and strategies with us.
Mentors walked us through the test site that they had developed, to stay connected with each other and with their future mentees.
We are looking forward to a great year working with the Future Initiative Mentors!
See more photos from the two-day Mentoring Workshop here on Flickr!