CATA 421 -- Senior Colloquium

Dr. Lee McGaan  

  Office:  WH 308  (ph. 457-2155);  email:  lee@monm.edu
  Home:  418 North Sunny Lane (ph. 734-5431)

Fall 2008 Office Hours:  MWF: 9-10am & 11am-1pm; TTh: 10:30am-noon; & by apt.  |       copyright (c) by Lee McGaan, 2008
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Sophomore Mentoring Groups

 

Sophomore Mentoring Assignment
last updated 10/8/2008

The mentoring assignment for Senior Colloquium asks you to make use of your experience as a CATA Major by guiding and advising students following in your footsteps.  The assignment has two parts, each of which involves advising and sharing your experiences with the major and with the CATA Professional digital portfolio, first with the Juniors in CATA 321 - Junior Colloquium, and later with Sophomore CATA Majors.  This is Part II

 

Part II - Sophomore Mentoring

  1. Much like the Junior Mentoring Experience, Seniors in groups, will meet with CATA sophomore majors in small groups on Mentoring Day, Wednesday, October 22 in Wallace Hall (rooms to be assigned) at 2pm. 

  2. There are two general goals for this mentoring experience.  The first is to help the Sophomores understand the electronic portfolio requirement for the major and recognize what sorts of materials they should save (electronically, if possible) in order to place in their portfolios next year.  The second is to help the Sophomores plan in order to get the most out of their CATA major.  Perhaps you can share some "Here's-what-I wish-I'd-done" and "Here's-what-I'm-glad-I-did" stories with them.

  3. Prior to the session on Mentoring Day, you and your teammates should touch base and again plan an agenda detailing

    1. what knowledge, experience, tips, etc. you want to share with your assigned Juniors

    2. what questions you want to ask them or encourage them to ask you.

    3. what materials you may wish to show them.

    4. In planning your agenda and in having the discussion consider the items listed below.  Save a copy of the agenda as you will need to include it in your "Mentoring Report" to me.

  4. Remember, the most important part of mentoring is being sure you are meeting the needs of your "Mentees."  Be aware, they won't know what to ask so basing your agenda on "Well, what do you want to know?" is likely to be a poor strategy.

  5. You may want to be sure they understand what an artifact is and what kinds of course-related and non-course-related materials can serve as artifacts.

  6. Perhaps you and your teammates may want to brainstorm ideas on the theme, "As a sophomore I wish I had known . . ."

  7. You could also talk about Internships (or independent studies), what you did and wish you had done differently in getting the internship and getting the most out of it.

  8. Think about the kinds of skills you now recognize as important ones for CATA majors in the post-graduate world.  Tell sophomores about that.

  9. Chat about courses you think were especially useful (or could have been useful if approached differently) or courses you wish you had taken but didn't. Include both CATA and non-CATA courses that might support long-term goals.

  10. After your mentoring meeting, submit answers to the three questions your Senior Colloquium "Sophomore Mentoring Report" to Professor McGaan by email on or before Friday, Oct. 31.  (link to report form)