Tuesday, April 5, 2011
nso takes a tour
1. What is the best tour you have ever been on? What was the worst?
2. What are you most excited about giving tours to students this summer? What are you most anxious? (try staying away from “too hot” and “being tired”, dig deeper:) )
3. Why would we even do a training that focused on how to give a good tour?
4. If you had to give a tour tomorrow what challenges would you have in terms of skills needed?
5. If we wanted to “grade” you as a tour guide this summer, what skills/characteristics do you think we would be grading you on? What would the author of this presentation want us to grade you on?
please provide one response, include a question for others in your response, and respond to someone's question
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If I had to give a tour tomorrow, I think I would have to work on two things. The art of walking backwards while talking and not looking like a klutz, and I would probably want to know the best way to present info in a tour so that it all kind of connects.
ReplyDeleteMy question: Has anyone gone on the Rutgers Historical Walking tour? Is it good?
I am most excited to show upcoming students around and watch them get excited about where they will be living, taking classes, eating, etc. But I am most anxious about them being unenthusiastic, and thus having me talking to myself awkwardly for the duration of the tour. I have never been on the Historical Walking Tour, but I can imagine it's a good one.
ReplyDeleteSo my question: What do think is more important: filling a tour with tons of facts and tips, having most of the tour be a Q&A, neither, or both?
NSO would do a training that is based on learning how to give a good tour because a major component of Summer Orientation is the campus hunt. This portion of Orientation introduces the incoming students to a different campus and allows them to learn more about the locations of buildings and the history behind Rutgers. Our in-service will allow us to learn more about the necessary components of a tour and prepare us for the summer! :)
ReplyDeleteMy Question: What do you think will be the biggest challenge in giving tours this summer?
Training to be a tour guide is really important in order for the first-years to learn essential information and raise excitement for their first semester here. If you don't keep it interesting, they will tune you out. I think one of the biggest challenges will be to try and present the information in a fun non-repetitive way.
ReplyDelete?: Who's excited for this summer? I know I am :)
When I came to orientation it was such an eye opening experience it was in that moment were I was like wow this is real I am actually going to college. I think thats what I am most excited about seeing that realization in the first years eyes. That moment when you realize you made it through SATs, you got through your senioritis, you got your APS out on time and your actually here in the moment. I most anxious about not seeing that moment. I over heard kids on the bus today complaining about orientation and how that was the last time they were on livingston and they felt orientation was just another step they had to take to to please there parents. I am anxious to get to that moment and make sure no one feels that way.
ReplyDeleteMy question is: how do you find that perfect balance of everything while giving a tour?[I also think this is the biggest challenge Cortney]
This summer I am most excited about giving tours to students because it is probably the first time they will see the campus in a more relaxed setting, and without mom and dad. I am most anxious about being prepared with really being familiar with the building names and history behind each campus because I am still learning myself.
ReplyDeleteColleen: I think that having a tour that is filled with facts but also leaves room for a question/answer and discussion is probably the best way to go. The people who are attending the tour will feel like you are providing them with good information but also giving them a chance to make it personal with their own questions but I think too much Q&A could overpower the tour.
My Question: What are some ways to keep the first years on their toes during the hot summer days?
The aspect of tour-giving that I am most excited about is interacting with future first-years and enabling them to make conscious decisions based on the information I give them. On the other hand, I am most anxious about being able to provide quality answers when future first-years ask "negative" questions — regarding the hearsay from friends who attended Rutgers, etc. The biggest challenge in giving tours for this summer in particular is gaining enough information about the various project going on around campus (ie. new residence hall on Busch, the Gateway Project on College Avenue, etc.)
ReplyDeleteMy Question: What have you learned most from your interactions with fellow Orientation Leaders?
The best tour I have ever been on was the Boston Duck Tour, I went with my mom and I had the chance to drive the bus/boat thing while the guy gave the tour! I thought it was really cool they gave someone on the tour a chance to be a part of it. The worst tour I had ever been on was at Ramapo College when i was looking at schools, the tour group was too big so I got stuck in the back and could not hear a word the guide was saying.
ReplyDeleteMy question: What is a way we could involve the first years in the tour?
After going through the orientation process last year, I know the places where its easy to get caught up and "boring". The importance of going over how to give a tour is major since we have to do it with every group. Because this is a time that you get to connect and truly teach your students where things are on campus it is important for us to be good at it. If I needed to give a tour I would work on incorporating my own stories into my tour, instead of just shouting out facts. Skills and characteristics that are important to giving a tour is to keep the students engaged and to make yourself look silly in order for them to let their guards down and enjoy what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: What is a good way to keep the students engaged and focused on the things we are going over on the tour?
Steph O. I like what you said about stories. That was the whole reason I posted the slideshow because I really liked how the slideshow was all about incorporating stories. I am hoping we see a lot of how to do this on Sunday at our in-service.
ReplyDeleteIn parts:
ReplyDelete~ 2. What are you most excited about giving tours to students this summer? What are you most anxious about?
I'm most excited about meeting everyone this summer. I currently give tours to prospective students from high schools and my favorite part of each tour is the one-on-one conversations I get to have to get to know where the student is from, what s/he is excited about, and what s/he is afraid of. I'm anxious however about the amount we'll all be together. I'm not sure if I'm set to entertain a group of technically-strangers for two days without getting off topic. I'm also worried about group conflicts—not between myself and a student, but between students. I don't know how confident I'd be when it came to splitting them up.
~ My question to the group is: How do you ensure you're not too informal with your groups as well as not too official or pretentious-seeming. What's your happy medium of approachable but still holding authority?
~ Tyler (whichever Tyler this is), I knew I wanted to do Orientation when I was AT Orientation this past summer. I had Alisa and I learned a lot from her about having people get involved, dedicating time to and promoting questions, and different ways to help time go by (icebreakers, games, etc). I hope to pick up more skills from the rest of you.
Why would we even do a training that focused on how to give a good tour?
ReplyDeleteHaving a training that's focused on giving a good tour is important because the tour we give this summer is the first experience most of the first years have with the campus, and how we present it to them is going to have a large effect on how they perceive Rutgers. A good tour will leave them with a good feeling, while a bad tour will leave them bored and unexcited.
To answer Jhon's question:
My question to the group is: How do you ensure you're not too informal with your groups as well as not too official or pretentious-seeming. What's your happy medium of approachable but still holding authority?
I think I'll talk to my group and let them see the me beneath the OL exterior, but I won't broach certain subjects. Keeping boundaries like that will sort of naturally create a mix of informal and official.
My question to everyone else is this:
This slideshow had good points, but some of them weren't really meant for us (such as 'your tour is outdated'), so what are some things you feel a good tour should have?
We have to be trained for giving good tours because they are the cornerstone of orientation. By giving tours to the first years, we're giving them their first real feel for the campus and introducing them to the environment that they'll be surrounded by for the next four years. It's important that we get them excited to come to Rutgers and to instill the same sense of pride that we all have in our school into the first years. Without training, we would all be inconsistent, as the slideshow said, and we would not be able to present Rutgers in the best possible light!
ReplyDeleteMy question is: In the case of unexpected weather conditions (ex: extreme heat, thunderstorms, snow..) how would we have to adapt our tours and how would that affect a first year's orientation experience?
In response to Beata's question, I think that a good tour should be informal but educational! That balance is essential because first-years will be a lot more receptive to information if we present it in an informal way rather than us just spitting out facts at them. If we can get them excited for the school year, they'll come in to Rutgers with a great attitude in the Fall!
John P:
ReplyDeleteI think if we were to receive a grade for giving tours to students at orientation this summer, we would be graded on our ability to be entertaining, exciting, and educational (like the slide show suggests). I think it'll be really difficult at first, because it's not a skill that we all work on day-to-day (unless you're Scarlet Ambassador or something) but ultimately a great skill to develop! I'm excited to not be boring and make somebody's experience memorable through my stories, intelligence, dedication, and awesomeness.
To answer a question previously posted: I think a great way to keep students engaged and focused is to lead by example and be really engaged and focused, yourself. I mean, we're not good, they won't be!
My question: Can we go down in history as being the best, ever? Obviously, we'll need to do something incredible like make up a new Rutgers chant or handshake or something, but that'll come in time. Thoughts?
Attending orientation made me even more excited to be attending Rutgers. I'm most excited about sharing my passion for the university and passing along the same excitement I felt towards attending Rutgers. I'm most anxious about keeping them entertained and not bored.
ReplyDeleteTo answer one of the previously asked questions I think the biggest obstacle is giving a tour that is both educational and engaging. We have to find a way to get the important information across but also ensure that the first years are enjoying orientation.
My question is what are ways that we can make the tours engaging and fun but also informative?
1. What is the best tour you have ever been on? What was the worst?
ReplyDeleteThe best tour I've ever been on was an 8-mile bike tour in Chicago. At first I thought it would be way too long, but our tour guide was extremely engaging and was able to keep us busy when one pair of people fell far behind. He even let us take an extended break to explore one of the areas we visited. The worst tour I've ever been on was and engineering tour at the University of Penn. The tour guide never looked at us and just pointed to buildings and shouted out facts she got from the blackberry she was staring at the whole time.
Answer to Jessica--
I think the best way to make tours fun is to really bring our personal stories and anecdotes (like StephO said) to make your group feel closer to you and help them remember what you are saying. We've got to make sure we can tell a story thats funny or engaging but also has a point at the end so we aren't spending too much time just chatting and avoiding giving actual information.
My question: What do you do when your group is really down and not digging your tour? How can you change it up to engage them while still adhering to the schedule?
Hellurrr,
ReplyDeleteI am most excited about getting student excited about Rutgers!! I was soo nervous at orientation and Mark was great at making all of us feel comfortable! I also met Johanna there and that fostered such a great friendship that I would LOVE to do for another student. I am most anxious about students who are openly apathetic towards orientation. I have worked with students who are pretty ambivalent towards things and usually when you find what interests them about the topic, they lighten up. However, there is some anxiety there. :)
Answer to Tyler's question:
Depending on what we were doing I would try to change the direction or the method we are using. I would try to play a game as we walked, or teach them something about RU that they don't know like the chant. I'd also ask them about themselves. Generally, when someone asks me about me I am more comfortable talking. Also, it might show students that they have something in common.
OH and John! A song perhaps? or like a GIANT WAVE! :)
My Question:
What makes a good tour? What makes it successful? and What are the components that we should all use when giving tours?
Information about how to give a good tour is important because the tour includes some of the most basic information that incoming students need to know. We need to make sure they get that information about how to get around and where vital buildings/services are located. We also need to make sure they stay engaged because when they're not engaged, they are much more likely to not pay attention or forget.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Tyler __: Something that I've learned from fellow staff members is that you have to play to your own strengths and energy. Other staff members are great and they do wonderful things, but you have to know and play off your own strengths and your style of energy to excel.
My question: A bunch of us (and the slideshow) have talked about making sure to tell personal stories. What would you say characterizes a good story in the context of a tour?
I am most excited about meeting all of the new students coming to Rutgers!! I can't wait to see all of the new backgrounds that everyone comes from. I know I made a lot of new friends through summer orientation and I'm hoping I will this summer as well. I am most anxious about handling those students that are here every year who just don't care for what is going on. They are not exerting themselves and I don't want there to be any "awkward" moments within the group.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to Tyler P.'s question:
I think a good tour consists of enthusiasm, optimism, creativity, cooperation, and connection. If a tour guide shows enthusiasm and optimism, the people following will feel that same energy. Also, if a tour guide is creative with how they want to go about giving the tour, people will be more engaged. Cooperation and connection are very important as well because the tour guide needs to connect with others and both need to cooperate with each other to have a positive experience. I feel that over the summer we should all put our happy smiles on, be exciting, engaging, and serious when we have to be, and fun while still being factual during the tours.
My Question:
If a student does not cooperate, how do you get him or her to do so?
Prompt: 1. What is the best tour you have ever been on? What was the worst?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: I've sat through 2 of my fellow Scarlet Ambassador Ajay's Rutgers bus tours and each time I was FLOORED. He keeps a great pace, is clearly knowledgeable and every story he tells is engaging, enlightening, and encouraging. As SA's we have scripts that have built in jokes, they're really corny if they're not said right they flop, but Ajay added his own personality to them and had everyone laughing. After each tour we evaluate the surveys, and to my surprise not everyone was amazed by Ajay's performance, people actually gave him 3 out of 5's. I learned from this that you cannot please everyone. Even though Ajay's humor and energy is pretty universal, there are people out there that are just having an off day. But I think ultimately the most important thing is to own your style and don't shy away from adding your own personality to the tour because that's what makes it so genuine.
My question: I think following a script with built-in jokes is actually really effective, but it doesn't sound appealing at first. What do you think is better, winging it everytime or following a script?
My answer to Steph K's question: I think what characterizes a good story is when it hits the three E's. But I think the three E's should be adjusted to be entertaining, educational, and encouraging. It's so important to deliver information in a engaging way but it's even more important to leave the touree wanting to come to Rutgers in some way.
GO PURPLE THUNDER!!!! :3
We would do a training focused on how to give a good tour because that is a part of being in NSO. Since we are responsible for giving a smooth transition and initiation to the first-years who come to orientation we must keep them engaged. Giving a good tour is essential to helping explain Rutgers to the new students. The days are going to be long and hot and if we don't keep them engaged, excited, and explain Rutgers in an understanble way we would have failed our job.
ReplyDeleteAnswering Steph K: I feel like a good story is humorous, while informtive, is relatable to all of those listening, and is to the point (no digressing).
My question is: What do you want to incorporate from your Orientation that helped you, that you feel will also help the first-years?
I’m excited about giving tours to the first-year students over the summer because seeing the Rutgers campus will provide them with a greater understanding of collegiate life. I never visited Rutgers until I decided to attend, so the tour at my NSO was my first opportunity to really see the campus. I’m anxious about giving tours because I rarely leave College Ave and I’m not well versed in the geography of the other campuses. I don’t want to appear unsure while navigating the other campuses with first-year students because I want them to feel comfortable navigating Rutgers themselves.
ReplyDeleteMy Question: How do you deal with students who complain that they are touring a campus that was not their first choice or a campus they expect to spend little time on?
Colleen’s question: I think it is important to incorporate Q&A into the tour so students feel engaged and involved. Students will seem much more disinterested if they feel they are attending a lecture rather than touring their college campus.
I'm excited about being the first impression on an incoming first year student here at RU. I want new students to know why Rutgers is the best college choice for them and why I love it here so much. Giving tours of the campuses will really give students an opportunity to interact with me, as well as peers, to learn more about the place they are going to spend the next 4,5,6... years. The only thing I am anxious about is the possibility that I won't be as influential on incoming first years as I want to be. I want the experience to be as fun for them as it is for me. If they don't learn more about Rutgers after the tour/Orientation, then I haven't done my job to its full potential.
ReplyDeleteAnswering Jenna's Question: Telling first years that they will most likely have a class, sporting event, social gathering for a club, etc. on every campus will make them consider learning about the campus in which they are touring. If you engage each student and tell them why the information will be beneficial specifically for them, then they will most likely pay attention and not complain.
My Question: What is the best way to engage and incorporate every student in your group throughout tours and Orientation?
The best tour that I have ever been on was the tour around Kenai Fjords in Alaska! We were on a speedboat and saw whales! The reason the tour was so informative and fun was because the tour guide made sure that he talked to literally every single person on the boat and answered whatever questions they had in general. He really personalized the tour for all of us.
ReplyDeleteI want to be able to do the same thing for my kids during the summer. Making sure that each one is involved and learning in their own way is important to me.
My question is- How do we make sure that the shyer kids don't feel isolated? Even if we provide one-on-one time with everyone, it can't be like that all the time.
2. What are you most excited about giving tours to students this summer? What are you most anxious? (try staying away from “too hot” and “being tired”, dig deeper:) )
ReplyDeleteI am actually most worried about stuttering my words where my group either stares at me like i am stupid or laughs at me. That is my worst fear of being a tour guy is being laughed at. I am excited though to make an impact on the students. My goal for all my groups are to make a special impact on each and every individual student to the point where they remember me when they are seniors at Rutgers. I also want to be able to remember all of them because if I run into them on campus and address them by either name or as my NSO first year student, I think that would make he or she realize that they were THAT important to me where I even remembered their names. (Although I have a very bad memory so that may not be possible but I can try my best!) I also hope that at the end of each session the students give me positive feedback out of their own will on my tours or interactions with them because then I know they enjoyed their orientation and that is exactly what I want.
My question: What exactly do you suggest is the best way to tell students to stop talking if they are interrupting your tour (although like the slide show said "if people are talking, THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED") Haha, but it is bound to happen either way!
Answer to Tyler D- Hey Tyler! For me, I think what I would do is try my best to make what ever we are doing a 'competition' with the other orientation groups. It seems that many people are competitive and some people would do what ever it takes to 'win' (haha). Of course though, this depends on what we are doing if we can make the situation a competitive one or not!
I most excited to show the first years the more personal sides of campus (dining halls, residence halls, gyms, etc) because Rutgers is my home. I have already heard comments from potential incoming students about the immensity that is Rutgers. I think it's a common fear. However, I love Rutgers and I think one of the greatest things we, as OLs, can do is show our first years that Rutgers is a home and to get them acquainted with looking at is as such. I am most anxious about the possibility of hecklers or just overall unenthusiastic individuals. I think one bad apple can spoil a time for everyone else and also present the most difficulty for me with keeping the experience pleasant for everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI think the best way to keep shyer kids involved is to present the information in a friendly and personal type of way. One on one time isn't necessary if you present information that way. I think that it is very possibly, although sometimes challenging, to speak to large groups and have every individual feel as if you're directly engaging them. With good public speaking techniques (body language, eye contact, word choice, etc), this is most certainly possible.
My question is: What is the best way to deal with hecklers, or people loudly and distinctly expressing their displeasure, in the most effective way so that the experience for the rest of the group isn't diminshed?
3. Why would we even do a training that focused on how to give a good tour?
ReplyDeleteI think that this type of training is important for the NSO staff. First of all if incoming first-years feel bored and not engaged in the tour, they will be less likely to focus on the information being given. Secondly, if the tour we give leaves a bad impression on the student for whatever reason, it could ruin the rest of the orientation experience for him/her.
My question: What are ways that the tours can be kept consistent? There is so much information about Rutgers to communicate, there is bound to be extra thrown in/left out every time the tour is given.
Answer to Michelle: I would say that using stories or personal experience to communicate information would be a great way to prevent boredom in the first place. Ultimately if the student chooses to ignore the information, it is his/her loss in the end even if you are trying your best. I think we will learn more about techniques to engage our audience in our training, so I wouldn't worry.
What I'm most excited about this summer is to be able to give the first-years a firsthand account from a current student, without their parents around, one-on-one. It might be the first time they actually feel like the information they're getting is personal and genuine. At the same time, that's also what I'm nervous about - saying the right things, being honest and personal but not TOO honest and personal. I'm afraid I won't be able to get them to feel like they really belong here after only two days of orientation.
ReplyDeleteMy question for everyone: the slideshow mentioned that we shouldn't write the tour spiel ourselves and that we should hire pros to write it. Why do you think this is so, and do you think we're capable of writing awesome tour speeches ourselves?
To answer Phylisha: when I was at orientation, it was cool to watch the OLs bantering and joking around among themselves, and arguing over whose group was better. It made them more 'real' to us when we saw them talking to each other - like their niceness wasn't just a facade that they were showing to us; they were genuinely nice to each other. This summer I hope we can show the same bond to the first-years that come to Orientation :D
5. If we wanted to “grade” you as a tour guide this summer, what
ReplyDeleteskills/characteristics do you think we would be grading you on? What would
the author of this presentation want us to grade you on?
I think we would be graded on energy, excitement,knowledge, passion for
Rutgers, personal stories, etc.
The author of the presentation would want to grade on not being "average,"
give something for people to talk about, personal experiences, etc.
Both grades would be pretty similar because they're looking for relatively
the same things.
If you went to Orientation yourself, what are things you learned and plan to apply to your own tour? And what are somethings you want to avoid doing..
In response to Jenna, I would say that one of the best ways is to maybe share personal experiences (if RU wasn't your first choice). Showing the person from first hand experience stories might give them hope that coming to Rutgers might be their best decision! Really just promote the school, just don't sugar coat too much.. But be honest.
The best tour I've ever been on was in the Sydney Opera House. The tour guide told stories and kept us entertained with facts that left us in awe. I've been on many bad tours one was a duck tour in san francisco. The driver was insulting people and just kept talking about things that were neither important nor entertaining. I am excited about really giving a tour because I feel like if you give a truly great tour you are going to connect with your students on a greater level. I'm anxious about keeping the students from getting bored because I'm outgoing but not as loud and peppy as some of the other staff. I think that we are doing this training because honestly a great tour is hard to find and if you just wing it today you might do great but tomorrow wont be the same. If i had to give a tour tomorrow i feel like i would lack the structure of a good tour and the entertainment. I think we would be graded on our knowledge, outgoing and entertainment, and structure and consistency.
ReplyDeleteMy question: If you have a set structure is it okay to leave some room for adaptation of your stories and interactions based on your group?
In response to Malvi: For the shyer students they don't always need one on one time sometimes if you just give them the push or opportunity to talk to others it might be all they need. Some people won't start the conversation but if you start it they don't feel so awkward. But you also have to remember every student is different so you just have to see how that student is and don't worry with all the training you'll be able to decide what the student needs. :)
ReplyDeleteI am most excited to meet the incoming students to Rutgers! i got a little taste of it at the open house and it was fun meeting the potential students! I'm most anxious about the beginning of my tour or orientation day. I feel that knowing what to say first is the hardest part.I'm afraid I'll just got blank on what to say. Once you get going it just gets better (hopefully). Like Michelle said I suppose I'm also worried about the possibility that my group could just stare at me like I'm a freak and laugh. I think my strategy will just be to try and laugh at myself with them if that does happen??
ReplyDeleteAnyone have any ideas to get the conversation flowing between you and your group??
If we wanted to “grade” you as a tour guide this summer, what skills/characteristics do you think we would be grading you on? What would the author of this presentation want us to grade you on? I think we would be graded based on how we provide information, how creative we are, how much interest we show in the information, and how personable we are with the audience. I believe that the author of the presentation would grade us based on the same things, but maybe more emphasis on being unique.
ReplyDeleteAnswering Malvi’s Question: How do we make sure that the shyer kids don't feel isolated? We could encourage them to build unity and pride within their own small orientation group and also encourage them to development friendships with each other. During my orientation last summer, people in my group became friends with each other during the first few icebreakers, and my OL didn’t have to try too hard to make everyone feel involved.
My question: How can we keep the audience engaged in the tour while they learn new information and have a good time as well?
4. If you had to give a tour tomorrow what challenges would you have in terms of skills needed?
ReplyDeleteI think the slideshow hit the nail on the head when it comes to problems I know I'm going to face. With so many facts and information that I NEED to convey to students during our tours, there is that fear that I'm just going to be another tour guide saying stuff no one really cares about. Yes, it's important, but is it "fun" information? It probably wouldn't be. But that's where we all come in. Let's make it fun. We need to make it interesting and make the students engaged.
I think a great point Michelle and Jay brought up is the fact that they will be distracted, joking, and will be talking about this and that during the tour. I think a great solution is to be involved as much as possible in their discussion. They're students, we're students, and we can all relate on that and many more things. Plus, it's a way for you to get their attention back on the information they should know. I also loved the emphasis on stories in the slideshow. If you're able to make a fact personal, it starts to become more important to you and to others. Plus, it's a great way to make that fact memorable! "Hey, I remember when my OL said that this is where he asked out his girlfriend!" for example. Lastly, confidence confidence and confidence! If you're not confident about your abilities and the way you present yourself and the information, then the students won't be convinced either. Be comfortable with what you're saying and your personality and public speaking style!
My question: From your own experiences with tours (not leading them but listening and followed), what are some of the biggest DOs and DONTs you've seen?
The best tour I have ever been on was a duck boat tour of Boston. The driver was amazing and knew so much history but was still able to keep things fun and entertaining. The worst tour I was ever on was a tour of Muhlenberg college. The tour was boring and my guide seemed disinterested.
ReplyDeleteTo Erica...I think that having room for a little pazazz is a good thing. I think that every tour guide has something that makes them special and that is okay so long as it doesn't take away from the overall integrity of the tour.
My Question:
What do you think your favorite part of giving tours is going to be?
3. Why would we even do a training that focused on how to give a good tour?
ReplyDeleteI feel that training is necessary for giving good tours especially because none of us in NSO yet are professional tour guides. I believe that we still have to master a lot of the qualities of a tour guide, and through training, we become a step closer towards becoming a better, more intriguing/entertaining tour guide.
To Michelle's question about the best way to get disruptive students from talking if they are interrupting your tour... Well as you said, if they are talking, it's probably because they're not interested! So we need to get those particular students to become more interested in the tour/Rutgers! If we include them in our discussion during the tour by asking them a question that may pertain to them, they will be more likely to focus and be more engaged in what you're saying. That's what we want to do with all of the students on the tour, figure out the group's interest and discuss what appeals to them specifically! =)
My Question: What can we do, when we feel like we have said all that we could about a particular part of the tour, and the group doesn't have questions? What is something interesting that we can bring up to break the silence of a shy group?
1. What is the best tour you have ever been on? What was the worst? The best tour that I've ever been on was one that I took in Baltimore at Camden Yards (the Orioles stadium for any baseball people). It was awesome because they took you on the field and into the club house and I really like baseball. The worst one was a tour I took on my field trip in middle school. It was really boring and the tour guide didn't do a good job of keeping my 15 second attention span.
ReplyDeleteTo John Geremy the biggest don't is don't have your back turned in my opinion. Yes, that's probably difficult at some points but the last thing I want is my tour guide walking with their back turned to me trying to talk and keep my attention. I've had so many tour guides. The biggest do..would probably be to have a energetic tone. If my tour guide isn't excited about what they're showing then why should I be?
My Question is similar to Jay's in how do you deal with people that are intent on disrupting your tour?
If you wanted to grade people on the tours they give, I think the best thing to do is look at the student feedback they offer at the end of the session. Great tours will have feedback that decidedly says so, "good" or "average" tours won't have much commentary at all.
ReplyDeleteMy question for the group is: how would you find ways to keep your students engage on the longer walks in the tour? i.e. the walk from Scott Hall to Alexander
To answer Paula's question, when no one has questions the best thing to do is open up the Q+A with one or two commonly asked questions you get that the students might be afraid to ask. I know a lot of students of mine were afraid to ask about the risks of partying too much, so I'd open up with "a common fear that a lot of students ask about is getting side-tracked by the social life at RU, but there are a lot of academic resources, and just because there are parties and social events doesn't mean you HAVE to go to them." Or something along those lines
4. If I gave a tour tomorrow I would definitely stop myself from just listing places left and right on a bus. I feel like its hard to not tell people what the buildings are but just listing can get boring. I feel like if on a walking tour I would say the building then maybe talk about an interesting story about the building or what it is named for or how you can get to it from each campus...etc. Something important a first year student can use once there here on campus.
ReplyDeleteI guess the best question I have is how would you describe the buildings on a campus besides just listing there names and history which can be boring? How can you spice up a tour of what may look to first years like just a bunch of buildings which they might not care about too much?
To answer Cody's question, I loved when Audrey last year played games with us to make it less boring like the line game. Also, I know I was a very quiet person about asking questions and most of the time i did not have question because I did not know much about anything at Rutgers so the best way to engage the first years from place to place is to answer their questions about school. But also if no one has questions then come up with a question that is frequently asked or a question you had as a freshmen or something you definitely think they should know and answer it for them to start the question and answer process with them. This is like an easy ice breaker to help them start to answer questions to you so that walking from place to place is not boring.
My answer to Ashley's Question: I think that my favorite part about giving tours will be engaging the incoming students in the fun of the tour while it is still full of valuable information and great resources. I think that the learning value that the tours have to offer is awesome but I think that the fun that you can have with the students will be even better, such as playing all of the games that we payed on the bus ride to retreat! :)
ReplyDeleteIn response to John R.'s question: We rank our preference of which campus we want to give a tour of. If you ranked that you would like to give a tour of College Ave, for example, because it is your second year here and you have had classes in a variety of buildings here or met friends living in different dining halls here but you lived on Livingston, this would be interesting to share with your group. The groups want to know more about us as people and students here. If you mention that you got really familiar with the busses when you had a class in Scott Hall your first semester and then you met with people that you could study with in Alexander Library, thats a good way to make students feel comfortable with you as an orientation leader and as a friend, but also mention other aspects of college life that they might have questions about but are afraid to ask. Telling your whole life story to the students might be overwhelming, but putting in little personal anecdotes can help make the tour seem less historical and more personable.
ReplyDeleteI would just like to apologize for the above comment. I guess that I didn't not properly edit it before posting and I do realize that you cannot live in a dining hall.
ReplyDelete1. What is the best tour you have ever been on? What was the worst?
ReplyDeleteThe best tour I've ever been on was actually a bus tour of Rutgers. I think it was a combination of the tour guide's enthusiasm for Rutgers, and my own general excitement about getting a first glance at all the places I would be traversing the upcoming year; our tour guide not only gave us great facts about all the places we passed by, but also injected a lot of her own personal experiences, which gave me ideas about things that I might be interested in doing once I got here. The worst tour was I've been on was a walking tour of another university. Dude was clearly apathetic about his own tour, and you could totally see that it was just a job for him; I'd like to be the opposite of him this summer.
Question: I know that we're supposed to have our tours pretty much planed out, but how do we avoid sounding mechanical while giving them?
To answer Ashley's question, I think that my favorite part about giving tours is going to be the general interaction with the students that you really can't get at any other time. I remember that during my Orientation tour, we were able to ask Tajha questions that we weren't able to when we were focusing on other parts of Orientation, and I think it helped our group to bond a little more.
This is such a rich conversation. I really appreciate your authenticity and effort taht you have put towards this. Please continue to converse. The deadline for team points will be Sunday. I have been reading this regularly, and acknowedged many themes. I will be coding the responses and creating a new post that illustrates the themes that came out for each of the original 5 questions in addition to a general synopsis of the conversation for you all to see. I hope you have enjoyed participating. I would like to this again in the future a few more times. If you have suggestions for future posts like this, please let me know by commenting. Thank you again for participating and continuing the conversation, this is a great prequil to what will come on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteWhy would we even do a training that focused on how to give a good tour?
ReplyDeleteWhy wouldn't we?! By the time people arrive this summer, you guys will know a lot of information, but its no good if everything is jumbled up in your brains. Its important to learn how to talk about things around campus, walk, and listen to your students so you can help them best learn about our campus.
Have any of you ever shown someone (a friend or family member or other) around campus?
to kennys question:
ReplyDeleteYes! I have show my mom, my cousin, and 2 of my best friends. I love showing people the school because I feel like it is nothing like theirs and it's so much cooler! They all go to small upstate (new york) schools so they thought it was really interesting that ours was in a city and was so busy. I walked them around college ave and cook doug and drove through livi and busch to show them the stadium and the RAC. It was fun =)
Can we just sit for a moment and appreciate Tyler Picone's and Monica's usernames? HAHA
ReplyDeleteThe best tour I've ever been on was a tour of New York City, the tour guide was absolutely hilarious and wasn't even the least bit monotoned. He made it really entertaining for all of the people on the tour it's become a lasting memory.
ReplyDeleteAndd yess Tyler Picone and Monica's usernames are hilarious-I totally appreciate them.
Q: How would you deal with students that think they're more knowledgable than you are about Rutgers, and refuse to respect the other students in the orientation group?
(1) The best tour I ever went on was a walking tour through Manila in the Philippines. The tour guide was really funny, and just like the video said, he told a really compelling story that had a point. Just because of the way he told his story about the history of the city, I really identified with all the achievements, failures, and setbacks by the people throughout the history that he spoke about.
ReplyDeleteIf I were dealing with a student who thought he was more knowledgeable than me, I guess there are a couple ways I could go about it. If this person was the type that just needed some attention, I'd probably call him up with me and give him some some things to do (i.e. make him the point person for something, etc.) to keep him more focused on that. If he were being disruptive, I'd definitely pull him aside to talk about expectations for behavior one-on-one. Depends on the person and situation.
Q: What's your one favorite part about giving campus tours?
- What I'm most excited about in giving a tour is being such an awesome source of knowledge and fun facts! I can't wait to see the students' excitement grow as they learn more about their new home away from home =)Also- I can't wait for them to ask questions and me able to answer them as accurately as possible and quench their curiousities. What I'm most anxious about is being corny and tripping over my words out of nervousness. I'm also anxious for the grouchiness that may result from it being too hot, boring, etc and how I will effectively deal with that.
ReplyDelete-Kenny's question. Yes! I have shown my family members and my best friend (who is now an RU student!) around campus. I felt so full of pride and excitement that my "tour" was a bit all over the place. I just couldn't contain myself =) It could've been way more effective.
-My question - Which of the 3 E's (Entertainment, Excitement, Education) will it be most diffcult for YOU to deliver? The easiest?
Why WOULDN'T we do a training that focused on how to give a tour?!! R U kidding? If there's ONE THING these incoming students need to know about Rutgers, it's where to go! Sure resources are important, but if you can't get to the advising office, what good is the appointment!?
ReplyDeleteSure, we can hand out a map, point out buildings, and make them memorize where everything is, but 1) you're going to lose their attention 3 minutes into it, and 2) the students will remember where things are SO much easier if they can look at a building and say, "Hey! That's Hickman Hall! My Orientation Leader tripped and fell on his face right there on his first day of class! That's where I need to go!"
So I ask you, are you going to GET EXCITED with me???
Lets do this.
To answer Casey's question: For me the easiest to deliver would be education. In my time here I've learned many things about Rutgers, and providing useful information for students to take away from a tour is almost instinctual at this point. The most difficult for me would definitely be entertainment. This would depend a great deal on the group, and how they interact both with me and with the other students in the group. On one hand, if the group works well with each other, it would be easy to provide entertainment. However, if not, it is more difficult for the orientation leader to entertain.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just wanted to say that I love Kol's excitement! I totally share his thoughts...this summer is going to be awesome, and we all (with some training and practice) will each be able to give our own unique and vibrant tour of Rutgers.
And finally, a question to add: What would be one thing that you would do as part of your tour that makes it unique? A personal story, fun facts, something else?