Typed Weekly Reflections

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Week 1 Reflection
Q: What are your expectations of yourself as a mentor at this early stage?
In the beginning of this course, I fully expect there to be a learning curve when executing my
break-out sessions. I’m both excited and nervous to meet my mentees, and I’m anticipating that there will
be some awkward tension in the first couple sessions. Thinking back to my first class, I imagine that most
students will remain relatively quiet at first.
Regardless, I am very excited to start the break-out sessions and plan in BOPPPS. I know that I will
be organized and prepared, but also need to adapt. I believe that this course will be personally challenging
and rewarding, but I’m looking forward to breaking out of my comfort zone. Most of my mentoring
experience has been with international students and English as a Second Language.

Week 2 Reflection
Q: How is the BOPPPS template helping you to and/or is challenging you to deliver your breakouts?
For me, I think the most helpful parts of teh BOPPPs template are the Learning Objective and Post
Assessments sections. Learning about how to create a measurable objective (by including a condition,
criteria, and performance) has been really helpful when it comes to planning an activity. Without it, I don’t
think my breakout sessions would be as useful for the students.
My practicum course only allows me to meet with students once weekly, and only for 15 minutes.
Because of this, I think it will be difficult to complete the past assessment and summary parts of the
template.

Week 3 Reflection
Q: 1. What encouraged me this week?
2. How did my breakout incorporate parts of the curriculum?
On Wednesday, my job was to teach a mini-lesson about academic reading to my students. I went in fairly
confident because I feel very comfortable in these fields. After giving the lesson, I gave my students a
handout that I had made, which was meant to act as an introduction handbook to academic reading. One
of my students look it over and said something along the lines of “wow this look like it will be really helpful.
Thanks.” that comment made me feel like I had something to offer the students as a mentor.
This week, Dr. Richez wanted the mentors to teach the students how to do academic reading, and
discuss the text for that week’s class. For my activity, I had students practice academic reading with our
weekly article. We went through some academic reading tips as a group, then talked about how they
could be applied to the reading and to their research debate projects.

Week 4 Reflection
Q: What specific areas of mentorship and/or breakouts can you improve on?
I would like to improve on making my breakouts more reciprocal in terms of both conversation
and interaction. Most of my students are more on the quiet side, so I want to encourage them to be more
willing to speak in the group. I want to talk with them, not at them. I would also like to make my activities
more interactive and less lecture-style. Next week, I’ll be trying a tactile activity and a writing activity.

Week 5 Reflection
Q: As an observer, participant, and presenter, what did you learn from you fellow mentors during the
mock break-outs?
I found the mock break-outs useful for a couple reasons. First, it was really helpful to see what
other mentors were planning for their classes. Specifically, it gave me some ideas for what kind of activities
(ice breaker or content) could work for my own breakouts. I think that I struggle with thinking up game-
based activities, so this gave me some ideas. It was also nice to get some practice working in small groups,
whether I was presenting or participating. Regardless of the course that the breakout was planned for. I
felt that I could really take something away from it. Especially because the mock breakouts were in groups
of 4-5, it gave me some practice for my breakouts, which are also very small in size.
Presenting a breakout in front of a supportive group was really helpful, it gave me some more
confidence in running my real breakout. The feedback sheets were also useful, especially the specific
breakdown of BOPPPS.

Week 6 Reflection
Q: Describe an academic situations where you received valuable feedback. How was it valuable? Describe
an academic situation where you received feedback of little value. Why was it not valuable?
One of the pieces of feedback (or rather a species of feedback) that I have received has been on
my academic writing by one of my professors. When submitting written assignments for this profession,
they provide both positive feedback and constructive criticism on my work. For example, they explain
which parts of my writing are weaker and why, as well as which parts of my writing are stronger and why.
Focusing on both good and bad feedback, as well as explaining the feedback, made it valuable to me.
I can’t think of a specific time that I received feedback that was not valuable. However, I think that
feedback without explanation (something like just “yes” or “no”) would not be very valuable. Valuable
feedback needs a way to improvement, not just marking.

Week 7 Reflection
Q: Current experiences as a student (time management, stress, etc.) and how they can be used as a
mentor.
My experiences as a student, specifically in terms of finding ways to deal with stress and time
management, could be very useful to pass on to my mentees. If my students were struggling in these
areas, I believe that I could use my own experiences to help them. In terms of dealing with stress, I could
point them to resources I’ve used on campus before, and share what I do personally (meditations, regular
breaks, going on walks). I am still personally working to improve my own time management, so I could
pass on the practices that I find most useful, like scheduling a Writing Support appointment so that you
have an earlier “deadline”, keeping a detailed calendar, and making study plans. I can try to encourage
my mentee to develop their own practices, while also showing them my experience and practices.

Week 8 Reflection
Q: What have your breakouts, lesson-planning, and the mentorship and learning curriculum taught you
about academic collaboration and group work?
Through this course, I have learned that academic collaboration works best when you can meet
face-to-face, rather than working online. As I have practiced in this class, and with my mentees, activities
and open discussion allows for more efficient group work than working through a group chat. My
breakouts have also taught me about uneven group work and having to overcome challenges in group
projects.

Week 9 Reflection
Q: Describe a high and low from this semester. What are the benefits of reflection on highs and lows as a
mentorship students.
Some of the high points for me this semester have been moments when my mentees express
gratitude for our breakouts, or express that one of my breakouts was helpful to them. The highest point
so far this semester was this past week, when I created a reading activity I was very confident in. A low
for me has been feeling discouraged that the students have not used my activities and learning objectives
for their own work, or haven’t listened to me. For example, a couple weeks ago, one of my mentees asked
me how to search for articles, which I had shown them at the beginning of the semester.

Week 10 Reflection
Q: How did the topics/themes from the community leadership panel personally resonate with you?
I really enjoyed seeing the panel last week; it was especially impactful to see women with political
science degrees and what they use them for. Personally, it really stuck with me that Windsor is a small
enough place to enact real change. In terms of mentorship, the discussion on network building and
opportunity sharing really resonated with me. It made me consider who has been an informal mentor in
my life, and what opportunities I have gained because of that relationship. It also made me think about
how I can use my position to pass on opportunities to my mentees, if given the change. Overall, I
thoroughly enjoyed the leadership panel.