Masele_Niko WLE Blog

Blog #1 : My Workplace
    My workplace is Baywood Court Retirement Home in Castro Valley. It is a big facility, and it looks like apartment homes. The building is really nice and it has a garden, pool, and a barbecue place for the senior citizens to relax at. I'm not really sure how many people work here, but there are alot of workers that help out all over the building. There are also alot of volunteers from Bishop O'Dowd and Castro Valley High School. I think the types of people that employ here are really nice and they like to help and work with others. I'm guessing the majority of the employees have a 4-year degree in college because there are alot of nurses and doctors. My workplace is for retired senior citizens. The strengths of my workplace are that everyone is really nice, it is set up to be a mini city, and everyone feels welcome when they are here. A weakness of my workplace is that it is expensive to live here.
    Blog #2 : My Mentor
    One of my mentor's name is Marion Jeffers, she is the Program Services Manager. Marion's typical day is organizing volunteers, helping out residents, and taking care of business. My other mentor's name is Frances Johnson, she is the Health Center Activity Director. Frances' typical day is organizing activities, taking residents to any activties, and getting ready for any upcoming holidays or events.

    Blog #3 : My Role
    My main role is to help out in the Health Center. The Health Center is a place for people who need assisted living. They are usually in wheelchairs and they cannot really get around by themselves. I help residents get to and from the activities that we are doing. If I am not doing that, I am probably doing arts and crafts. I would be decorating scrapbooks, cutting out images, or getting things ready for the next holiday. When I am not in the Health Center, I am usually in the office doing work for school. I would work on my blogs or any other school work I have with me. A regular day at Baywood Court just first coming in and calling my mentor. After, I go to the Health Center and do anything Frances wants me to do. When I go there, I would start out by doing arts and crafts. Last week, I was scrap booking. I was decorating pages in the scrapbook, and putting pictures from New Years in them. After the scrapbook, I went and blew up balloons so we can have balloon toss. Balloon toss is when you pass balloons back and forth to the residents so they can relax and calm down. Then, I brought some residents to the drum circle. The drum circle is when someone comes in, sings, plays the drum, and passes out instruments for the residents to join in. Lastly, I got drinks for some of the residents and helped them out of the room.

    Blog #4 : Project Proposal
    What I plan to do for my WLE project is have a class on my culture. I want to show the residents something different. I want to show them how my culture is different from the American culture. I was thinking of a different project to do like show what art projects I have been doing the whole time I've been there.
    Blog #5 : Progress
   Today I ... My mentor and I discussed my project and she said that it would be a good idea to have the class about my culture. She also said it was a good idea that I share what art projects I've been doing while I've been there so it doesn't go to waste. She said she wanted me to share what I've been doing, but I really want to have a class on my culture to show the difference between the American and Samoan culture. I'm torn between which project idea I want to do. I haven't did my project yet, but I planned out how it is going to be.
    Blog #6 :
    The leadership skills I'm using during this project is Communicating Powerfully and Collaborate Productively. I am Communicating Powerfully at my job by reaching out to my mentors and talking to them about my project. I ask them questions if I do not understand what they want me to do.