Resident Assistant Resources

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Hey RA’s looking for some quick resident assistant advice? Look no further! One of my resident’s favorite thing is interactive boards. Residents love when they can add and draw on your monthly boards because it makes them feel like they’re apart of a community! As an RA one of the most fulfilling parts of my position is building a community within my residence hall. Making my residents feel like they live in a home, rather than a dorm room.  I noticed an increase in conversations about my board this semester, as I decided to make it one they could all interact with. Notice that my board (recipes from ratatouille) sticks to my overall theme of pixar movies!  

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Let’s talk about rasterbation! 

you read that right, and no it’s not a typo!

Rasterbator.net is one of the most useful tools I’ve used as a resident assistant. It allows you to create images larger then one sheet of paper, which is really useful for duty and monthly boards!

In the above photos you can see I’ve used rasterbator for my iron man, captain America, and Spiderman! 

Here’s a helpful how to for when using rasterbator! 

1. The first tip I have is to make sure you use a large image. If you’re pulling up something off google images you can make sure your image is large through though clicking tools and then customizing the size of your search results! 

2. My second tip is to look at your boards size, before you pick how many pages tall/wide you want your picture to be. Top test it out you can even use a blank sheet of computer paper before printing. 

3. my most important tip when using rasterbator is to make sure you click no effects! if you accidentally leave your picture rasterbated it will look very very blurry! It’s very tempting to think this is because of your picture, but always double check to make sure you’ve clicked no effects before printing.

4. My final tip before using rasterbator is to check the print preview before printing. I know in my school RA’s see print quota as a valuable resource, and sometimes rasterbations leave whole pages blank! So I just print specific pages rather then the whole document to not waste any paper, or print quota. 

I hope this helps any RA’s who are looking to use specific pictures in their duty/montly board. Let me know if you use or plan to use rasterbator.net, and have fun rastorbating!

[raresources-blog]

Let’s talk about theming your section!

I currently work in a suite style hall on my campus, meaning I have four suites in my section which each have about 6-8 residents. One thing that I find works for me is to theme my section for each semester. But what does this mean? 

what is theming your section? 

Simple! Having a theme to your section just means that everything from your door tags, to your boards have one cohesive thread that ties them together. This could be something really specific, like I did with Pixar movies, or something more general, like food. The possibilities are endless when it comes to options! 

Theming causes you to come up with creative ideas, as well. While some might say theming could limit your creativity, placing a restriction on yourself can actually force you to think outside of the box. For example, usually I just create one or two different door tags for all my residence, but my theme allowed me to make every door tag different! 

You can take theming your section one step further too. Including programs themed around your different ideas. This month, for example, I’m doing a Coco themed Halloween program, based around cultural appropriation. 

ok, but why theme your section? 

Theming your section creates a cohesive appearance for your residents! It makes your section look and feel like a community. Not only does it help foster community within your section, it’s also a great conversation starter. I’ve had many of my residents come up to me and comment on my door tags, which are all different but have one theme!

I hope you all have a great time theming your sections! Be sure to let me know if you try theming next semester!

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Welcome!

Hi! Welcome to RA resources, your one stop shop for all things RA. On this blog I’m going to post a bunch of things that could help new and returning RA’s, so follow for some great information!