Saturday, March 2nd, 2013

Week 4 of GO-GIRL

Saturday, March 2nd, 2013


This week, the girls went to the WSU Undergraduate Library (UGL) and went to 3 different presentations put on by our wonderful WSU Library Scientists! One presentation taught the girls how to decide if a website can be considered a good source to use in their research and writing. They also learned what to look for in a website, especially before entering personal information on the internet. The girls learned to look for "https:" before the web address. Another presentation taught the girls how to use the Michigan Electronic Library (MeL) system (accessible anytime and anywhere on the web at www.mel.org), and search for books and sources. The girls also learned about how to cite sources for papers in APA and MLA formats, and the presenters stressed that this would be useful information later on in the girls' educational careers. The final presentation was about creating a good Power Point presentation that would teach people effectively (i.e. by properly using backgrounds, different fonts, text color, photos, how much should be on a good slide, etc.). The girls got a chance to fix up a very poor-looking presentation and they made some well-needed adjustments by changing text color and placement, and making uniform backgrounds for the slides.




After lunch in the Towers dorms cafeteria, the girls learned about biases, and how to avoid using them in questions while creating a survey. They learned about how some participants will adjust their answers to be socially acceptable, and how some questions are inappropriate. They also learned about the bias that a survey taker could have, and how to avoid that for when they create their own surveys.





















We're going to be going to the WSU Mort Harris Rec Center in the afternoon next Saturday, March 9th. See you then! :)

Saturday, February 16th

Saturday, February 16th, 2013 - Day 3 of GO-GIRL Winter Semester 2013 :)

























Today was Day 3 in the classroom and our first of three Parent Cafés for the semester! The Parent Cafés inform parents about what their daughters are doing in GO-GIRL. Plus, it gives parents the opportunity to network with each other.




Today, the GO-GIRLs took a look at ethics in relation to research. After a short presentation by their mentors, the girls had to fill out a worksheet about ethical dilemmas and point out what might be wrong. They learned that in order to have a good survey, you need to be considerate of your participants and be honest. In small groups, the students discussed why they believed each dilemma from the worksheet was or was not ethical. The goal for this activity was to show the students why others take surveys and to learn how to make a good survey. This is very important because each group will be conducting their own research throughout the semester.




Later, the GO-GIRLs grabbed laptops to work with the software, Inspire Data. They used Inspire Data to practice making their own surveys. For lunch, the GO-GIRLs and mentors enjoyed a variety of options at the WSU Towers Dorm dining hall. After lunch, the girls did an icebreaker and explored different characteristics about themselves.




We have Saturday, February 23rd off for a break, but we look forward to seeing everyone bright-eyed and bushy-tailed back for another day of GO-GIRL this Saturday, March 2nd!




We will be meeting at the College of Education for our regularly planned GO-GIRL hours of 9:30 am to 2:30 pm. The girls will then be walking over to our WSU Undergraduate Library where our wonderful Library Science staff will be talking to the girls about best practice researching, conducting responsible internet research, and so much more! They will show the girls some valuable sites to do research on the web and discuss some of the do's and don't's to contemporary internet research. The Library Science staff is excellent and this is sure to be a fun and knowledgeable morning for the girls! :)

A Stellar 1st day of GO-GIRL!

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013

Well, we are off and running! Just looking at the girls in their groups by the end of the day today, you would never know that they were perfect strangers this morning.

The day was spent getting to know one another and the mentors.  What better way to do get to know one another than to play icebreakers!

One of the icebreakers was called, "Honey if you love me, will you please smile for me?" In this exercise, all of the students stood in a circle while one student went to someone she hoped she could make smile (the point of the game being not to smile, but that was near impossible for everyone-the giggles were contagious!). If the participant smiled, the smiler (then "it") would continue to ask someone else this question and hope that the next person would smile. This activity broke the ice between girls who were not to familiar with each other and were out of their comfort zone. It was a very easy-going first day that helped the girls get comfortable with everyone and their new environment. By the end of the day, the girls went from being strangers to forming long-term friendships! The laughing and giggling was heard from every classroom throughout the day as more games and icebreakers ensued.

Also, the girls learned about graphs and how to analyze and interpret them, which will come in handy later in the semester as the girls will be researching a topic, administering surveys, and analyzing data. At noon, the girls enjoyed a buffet-style lunch in the Towers dorm dining hall. After lunch, the girls went back to their classrooms, paired up with a partner and were given a Macbook. They used the computers to take an online survey regarding futures careers and other interesting topics.

Finally, the girls came up with team names for their groups. We're proud to present our GO-GIRL groups for the Winter 2013 semester:

Group 1 (Mentors Becky & Taylor): Queen Bee Yellow Jackets
Group 2 (Mentors Macy & Radha): Invincible Investigators
Group 3 (Mentors Jodi & Mary): TTYL (Talented Team of Young Ladies)
Group 4 (Mentors Fayzha & La'Shana): FBI Girls (Fabulous, Beautiful, Intelligent)
Group 5 (Mentors Nina & Sarah): SM&ART (Science, Math, and Art)
Group 6 (Mentors Melissa & Terrel): H4 (High Heels High Hopes)

Looking forward to our 2nd day! :)

Go-GIRL 2011 Day 7

Saturday, March 26th, 2011

Today was our long awaited trip to the WSU College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Each group of GGs had a pharmacy student lead them around the building. Each 5 sessions that the GGs attended exposed the girls to different fields in the health sciences.

In the Occupational Therapy (OT) session the girls made a bracelet or key-chain and tested how strong their fingers and hands are by squeezing a mechanism as hard as they could. Then they learned the average strength of girls their age. They learned why OT is important and why people do it.

In the Physical Therapy (PT) session, they learned about different exercises that they could do to work different parts of the body to improve their strength. They also watched a video about the different places that they could practice PT such as at schools with veterans.

In the Pharmacy the GGs learned what pharmacists do and they toured the CVS laboratory. They saw how drugs are prescribed and approximately how many different types of drugs there are currently on the market.

In the Analyzing session they practiced testing urine (actually Mountain Dew in this case), and they learned how to use test strips that test for diabetes. Here they got a chance to wear lab coats and lab goggles and learn about lab safety procedures.

Lastly, in the Physician Assistant (PA) session, the GGs learned what PAs do and they practiced their knowledge on a sample case about a man who didn't know what was causing him to have certain symptoms. After learning the symptoms of a stroke, the GGs were able to diagnose this man. They also heard a real heartbeat in order to monitor heart rate and use a stethoscope.

In each workshop there was a real doctor and WSU students studying those respected professions to assist the GGs in their learning.

Just a reminder: GO-GIRL will be meeting at its usual time on Saturday, April 2nd: 9:30am-3:00pm in the College of Education.

Please note that the street/metered parking on WSU's campus is free on the weekends.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone again this weekend! :)

Pharmacy this week!

GO-GIRLs and Parents,

* REMINDER *

This Saturday, March 26th, GO-GIRL will meet at the Wayne State University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Please drop off your daughter at the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences between 9:00-9:20 am. Pick-up will be in front of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at 3:00 pm.
The field trip is always a highlight of the GO-GIRL session. To find out more about the College visit their website at: http://cphs.wayne.edu/

Directions:
Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is located at 259 Mack Avenue, Detroit, the southwest corner of the Detroit Medical Center Campus.
The College is on the corner of Mack Avenue and John R St.

From I-75 North
Exit at Mack Avenue and take right on Mack Avenue.
Turn at the third traffic light (John R. Street).

From I-75 South
Exit at Mack Avenue and take left on Mack Avenue.
Turn at the third traffic light (John R. Street)

From I-94
Exit at 75 South (towards Toledo, OH).
Exit at Mack Avenue and take right on Mack Avenue.
Turn at the third traffic light (John R. Street).

From Main Campus
Go South on Anthony Wayne Drive, Cass Avenue, or Woodward and turn left on to Warren Avenue
Turn right on to John R. Street.

GO-GIRL will resume as normal at the College of Education on April 2.

Please email us at gogirl@wayne.edu or call us at (313)577-0917 or (313)530-3308 (the Saturday GO-GIRL Hotline) with any questions and/or concerns!

Go-GIRL 2011 Day 6

Saturday, March 12th, 2011

A super busy day as we all scrambled to wrap up our GO-GIRL surveys! We all contributed to writing the survey questions and typing them into the InspireData program, the program we're using to publish the surveys to the web! It was stressful trying to get them all in before lunch but we all managed to have them complete by the end of the day, phew! The information for taking the surveys is below:

GO-GIRL Surveys

Instructions:
Go to http://esurvey.inspiredata.com
Enter the Survey ID # and take the survey!

Teams:

C.R.A.Z.Y. (Creative, Real, Active, Zany, Young) Awesome Ladies
ID# 993022
Pretty Girl Swag
ID# 951360
BCM (Beautiful Classy Misses)
ID# 477419
P3 (Pretty, Powerful, Pre-Teens)
ID# 610413
DGAO (Diverse Girls As One)
ID# 583556
Scientists With Style
ID# 336141
Pink Saturdays
ID# 960985

After we wrapped up our surveys and worked on our team posters and cheers, we headed over to the WSU Mort Harris Fitness and Recreation Center which is right nearby the College of Education on the WSU campus. There we had Little Caesar's pizza, salad, cookies, and pop. Then we were able to run around and play! Some of us played basketball, there was also a volleyball game, we could walk on the track, hula hoop, or play any number of other activities and games. Mostly we would run around and play until we were hungry or tired and then we'd chat before running around and playing some more, it was so fun!

GO-GIRL 2011 Day 4

Saturday, February 19, 2011

This was a great day for learning about research! Our GO-GIRLs had an action-packed morning spent in our Wayne State University Undergraduate Library (commonly known around these parts as the UGL). Here, our amazing librarian friends used their computer labs and extensive knowledge to show us some great ways to research online. We now know what can be considered good vs. bad research. We got a great introduction to MeL, the Michigan eLibrary website that has boundless information of all sorts and is open to all of us as residents! By just visiting mel.org, we have an entire world of databases and online resources available to us-this is a great place to visit for our school projects! Even parents will find it easy to use ;) Then we stopped by the Towers Dormitory for a true college-style buffet lunch. We could have anything from veggie pizza, to chicken strips & french fries, the salad bar and soft serve ice cream...it was awesome! Then our afternoon was spent in our teams back in the College of Ed. working on our research project surveys. We're gradually working on refining our topics and questions, we can't wait to share our surveys with all of our family and friends so keep an eye out for them soon!

We'll miss our week off of GO-GIRL as we take a break next weekend, February 26th, but we'll look forward to picking up where we left off the following Saturday, March 5th. There's a Parent Cafe on March 5th as well so we hope that all our parents can join us as well :)

GO-GIRL 2011 Day 3

Saturday, February 12, 2011

We are well on our way to learning about research. One of today's activities consisted of talking about the notion of bias. We discussed what it means to be biased and we came up with some definitions. We discovered it is basically another way to say "unfair." We talked in our teams about whether or not we have ever experiences bias in any way. We also took part in a physical activity where we moved around the room and sorted ourselves according to categories. Our mentors asked us a series of questions and we sorted ourselves in response. This helped us understand creating good category systems for our survey question answer choices. We also discussed hypotheses and predictions. Lunch was provided care of McDonalds in the WSU Student Center. A fulfilling and educational day for all! :)

GO-GIRL 2011 Day 2

Saturday, February 5, 2011

We are really getting on a roll now! Day 2 was a wonderfully tiring first day! The GGs built a chain of their strengths, an activity led by a few of our fabulous mentors. This chain represents all of the awesome qualities and talents our GO-GIRLs possess, which are endless! Then in groups of teams, the GGs and their mentors discussed surveys and some issues that come up when creating or conducting a survey, this is all in preparation of the surveys the teams will be creating, compiling data from, and assessing the data. This in mind, they also had an opportunity to maneuver the software they'll use to do all of this- InspireData. Lunch was busy and the food from McDonalds was running late but thankfully everyone was patient and eventually everyone satisfied their hunger that had been building all morning! In addition to all of the other activities today, the GO-GIRLs and their teams have created their team names and the themes of their surveys, which are as follows:

Team 1 with Mentors Alisha & Lanae: C.R.A.Z.Y. (Creative, Real, Active, Zany, Young) Awesome Ladies. They will explore body image!

Team 2 with Mentors Deloris & Elizabeth: Pretty Girl Swag. Their theme is body image!

Team 3 with Mentors Brenda & Jared: BCM- Beautiful Classy Misses. These GGs will cover technology!

Team 4 with Mentors Lisa & Lisa: P3 (Pretty Powerful, Pre-Teens). Team 4 went with Fashion!

Team 5 with Mentors Alison & Desiree: DGAO (Diverse Girls as One). Body image and fashion will be complete Team 5's research!

Team 6 with Mentors Carolyn & Sarah: Scientists with Style. These GGs will explore peer pressure!

Team 7 with Mentors Tamara & Winnie: Pink Saturdays. This groups of gals wish to learn about music and how it affects mood and behavior!

We are well on our way into this semester of GO-GIRL and we are so pleased for all who could join us! Please keep checking back for weekly updates and more as we continue on with our projects and learning! And always feel free to email us at gogirl@wayne.edu to let us know what you'd like to see on the blog! :)

Parent Cafes-Starting next Saturday!

Three Parent Cafés will be offered during the Winter 2011 session. Parent Cafés will provide opportunities for parents to network, share information and resources, and ask questions about how they can support their daughters. GO-GIRL staff members, university experts, and community resource persons will join the informal discussions during the Cafés.

Parent Cafés are scheduled from 9:30-11:00 in the College of Education

February 12
The GO-GIRL Experience
This meeting will provide a hands-on GO-GIRL experience for parents so they will have a better understanding of the program goals and activities.

February 12
Friends of GO-GIRL Planning meeting
Our first friends of GO-GIRL Meeting will follow the Parent Café beginning at 12:00. We hope you will join us for a light lunch and conversation about how we can keep GO-GIRL Going and Growing.

March 5
Programs and Resources
How can your daughter (and you) more effectively use library resources at home or online? Looking for summer programs or other opportunities for your daughter? Don’t miss this café.

April 16
Supporting Your Daughter Now and in the Future
Don’t wait. What can you do to start preparing your daughter for college NOW? A college admissions counselor will join us and share important information and practical suggestions.

GO-GIRL Winter 2011 Kick-Off!!!

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Today was our annual GO-GIRL Orientation and Opening Ceremony, held from 1-3 pm in the College of Education. Off to a great start! Our 2011 GO-GIRLs and parents had a chance to meet the other GO-GIRLs and their families, as well as the program staff and mentors. They also had the opportunity to tour the GO-GIRL classrooms in the College of Education, and learn more about the program. It was such a pleasure to see so many bright and eager faces and we are very much looking forward to a wonderfully successful semester!

The dates for the Winter 2011 program are:
January 22 (Orientation), 29
February 5, 12
March 5, 12, 26
April 2, 9, 16 (Graduation)
A full calendar for the semester can also be found at:
http://www.gogirls.wayne.edu/apply.php

GG Day 2

Saturday, February 13, 2010

What a fun-filled day at GO-GIRL! Today the girls and their teams discussed surveys and the who, what, why, where and how of them. Each team brainstormed a topic of interest for them. Although each team's survey and topic is in different stages of development, what they have come up with this week will get them thinking and going on further creating a topic for their eventual survey.

Because of all of the teamwork and brainstorming, today the girls seemed to come together and they got to know one another a little better. Each team began to create a team poster highlighting themselves with their team name, the team members, and adjectives to describe themselves. Wait until you see how creative they are! The sense of community is strong and always growing!

With this weekend off due to the school breaks, we hope everyone is resting well and preparing for a BUSY week next week. We're going to the Undergraduate Library (UGL) on Wayne State's campus and it is going to be so exciting to learn more about research from our favorite librarians! Hopefully everyone remembers to wear their GO-GIRL t-shirt so we can stick together and show our pride!

And, parents, don't forget about the GG Parent Cafe being held for you from 9:30-11:00am in Room 10 of the College of Education building. Our staff, university experts, and community resources persons will join us to provide opportunities for networking, share information and resources, and help you help your daughters.

We'll look forward to seeing everyone next Saturday, February 27th!

GG Day 1

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Today was Day 1 of GG 2010! First, the GGs paired up to get to know each other and work on Personality BINGO and "All About Us" venn diagrams. These activities allowed the GGs to explore some similarities and differences among themselves.

Once everyone was well-acquainted with one another, the GGs and their teams chose their team names, which are as follows:

Team 1 - Mentors: Michael & Nicole

S.W.A.G.G. (Super, Working, Awesome, GO-GIRLs)

Team 2 - Mentors: Tracey & Laura

B.O.U.N.C.E. (Beautiful, Outgoing, Unique, Nice, Cute, Educated)

Team 3 - Mentors: Kelli & Jennifer Lee

The Stinging Roses

Team 4 - Mentors: Stephanie & Michele

Blazin' Babes!

Team 5 - Mentors: Colleen & Sabine

G.I.A. (Girls In Action)

Team 6 - Mentors: Jen Lenk & Angela

The Shining Stars

After creating their wonderfully individual team names, the GGs and their teams created and completed a survey. Some of the themes of these surveys included after-school snacks and stores for shopping. This is only a taste of the kind of social research the GGs will conduct over the next 9 weeks.

The GGs also learned more about GO-GIRL by playing GG Jeopardy and watching a video montage of photos from last year's GG 2009 semester.

We're looking forward to a great second week! :)

Kicking off GO-GIRL 2010!

GG Orientation, Saturday, January 30, 2010

GO-GIRL got off to a great start last Saturday as the new batch of 57 GO-GIRLs and their parents, friends, and relatives met their new GO-GIRL mentors and team members. This semester's 57 GO-GIRLS proudly represent 16 different communities and attend 38 different middle schools.

Held in the cafe of the WSU Towers Residence Hall, the orientation included a meet & greet among GO-GIRLs and their new team members and mentors. Dr. Sally Roberts gave an uplifting opening speech during which parents and GGs snacked on cookies and sodas.

Whitney, a former GO-GIRL participant from the Class of 2003, has returned to support the new class of GO-GIRLs. She is now a sophomore at Wayne State University and is majoring in languages including Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese. We are so excited that she will join us this semester and know that she will be a source of inspiration to new GO-GIRLs.

GO-GIRL seems to have recurring faces, like Whitney, and sisters of former GO-GIRLs. This semester there are at least 3 girls whose older sisters have graduated from GG in the past. Our family of GO-GIRLs continues to grow!