Graduate Assistant Retreat #2

Learning Domains: Education & Personal and Professional Developmnt

Description: In my graduate assistantship in Student Life and Leadership, one of the returning graduate assistants and I developed several sessions for the second GA retreat. This was an excellent opportunity for me to share my experience with new graduate assistants in Student Life and Leadership (SLL) and Diversity Initiatives and Resource Centers (DIRC). My involvement consisted of preparing an icebreaker, lunch discussion questions, a core advising presentation, and facilitation of a discussion with professional staff members.

Term: Summer 2018

Learning Outcomes:

1. SWiBAT demonstrate appropriate preparation and planning for the retreat through elements such as visual aids, discussion questions, and interactive activities.

2. SWiBAT co-facilitate the retreat and identify ways to improve their facilitation skills for future workshops.

Assessment Rubric: Please click image to view PDF.

Reflection

I would rate myself as competent for SLO #1 because I was able to successfully plan for this workshop ahead of time with my co-facilitator. We worked on our sections individually and met together to get feedback and reconnect with a seasoned student affairs professional for guidance. I was able to create a variety of icebreakers and activities so that the other graduate assistants would have a mix of small and large group activities as well as time for individual reflection. I also incorporated an auditory icebreaker, once I realized that the GAs had been sitting for a while. It was important for me to break up the time and engage the GAs in an activity that would help them refocus prior to lunch. I helped anticipate potential questions by brainstorming with my co-facilitator beforehand, advice that we wish we knew last year. This was helpful, so that I was not blindsided during the discussion and we could rely on each other. Similarly, I consulted with previous textbooks and incorporated aspects of Kolb’s Learning Cycle. Having the general framework in mind assisted with structuring the PowerPoint. For example, I recommended to my co-facilitator that we begin by giving an overview of the presentation followed by questions that connected to advising theory. By having a case study (concrete experience) and learning about formal theory (abstract conceptualization), students were able to apply their informal theory to their experience followed by learning about challenge and support.

Although I had some aspects of competent for SLO #2, overall I would rate myself as basic. I was able to successfully co-facilitated this retreat and overall our facilitation was balanced. Although I spent more time on the icebreaker, my co-facilitator shared more of her experiences during the advising section since she has had more direct experience advising student leaders. It was exciting that I was able to take advantage of a “moment” during the debrief our speed dating icebreakers. When I asked what the GAs had learned from this experience, one of the students shared how he and his partner were relatively comfortable with the silence when they did not have a response right away. Because silence is a huge part of the work that we do with students, I asked how this would relate to working with students and opened the floor for other GAs to contribute. This relates to +1 ing and how the icebreaker started off surface level by asking about favorite hobbies and songs, it transitioned into discussing someone who has inspired them/influenced their journey which was deeper as the students became comfortable with themselves. My co-facilitator and I were able to provide the graduate assistants with relevant resources after the presentation.

Several ways that I could have improved my facilitation include sharing more of my personal experience with the topic; however, I believe this comes with experience of working more with students. Also, I did my best to integrate content from what the GAs had said, but I could not always remember everything. Perhaps if there was a white board available, we could have written down their responses or typed them onto the PowerPoint. This could have better helped me connect their informal theory to specific formal theories such as validation, marginality and mattering, person centered and solution focused helping as well as challenge and support.

Evidence

Here is a PDF of the advising PowerPoint.

Reference

Harper, R., Wilson, N. L., & Associates. (2010). More than listening: A casebook for using counseling skills in student affairs work. Washington, DC : NASPA.

McLeod, S. A. (2017). Kolb - learning styles. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html