Recently, we have been working on a project about daily life in ancient Egypt. There are a few things I would like to address about how I worked with my group and what helped me with this project.
I don't think in-class activities helped me much during this project, mainly because the things we did were too subtle to notice. I didn't notice much activity going on during the project, other then the project itself. Basically, we just were told to"research ancient Egypt." This is a very broad category if you ask me, so most of my group was pretty much clueless in the beginning of the project. When we finally did do something, my group had a pretty solid script outline, and we were told to go add something we learned to our project. This made the script kind of awkward, and we didn't really ever include it in the final project either. It would have helped if we did some of the extra research before the project, not after.
I would have liked to know more about Egyptian culture before I started this project. I know this seems like a really broad topic, but when we wrote the script, we didn't know if a soldier would really be friends with a scribe, etc. Knowing about how other people treated each other in ancient Egypt would have been nice. This is because we were trying to make our characters seem like real people. Obviously, we missed the mark a bit and our script came out a bit awkward. It probably would have made us more sure of ourselves when we wrote the script if we knew what these people were actually like.
Our group was mostly successful working together. Of course, we had the usual group arguments sometimes about who got what part, etc., but we always ended up resolving them. In a way, working out these arguments made us better able to work together and brought us closer together as a group. We were very good at making sure we were all happy, and able to be a good part of our group.
However, even though we were working well together, doesn't mean that we were all doing the same share of work. I would say RIB and I were doing the most work, but PAC was at least trying. He ended up making a large impact on the final product, though because he designed an awesome poster. RIB did so much work I feel bad for him, but in a way, he put it upon himself. When we do projects together, usually RIB goes home and does almost all the work. Really, he's just resilient and likes to feel like he contributed to the project. At least that's what I think. One of our group members, however, did not put in the necessary contribution. BM. He barely did any of the work and he was playing video games almost the whole time. I am not very happy with him.
If I got a chance to redo the project, I would change a lot of things. Firstly, I would try to make the script less awkward, and more funny. I would try to develop my ideas before scrawling them out in a rush. I wouldn't be afraid to have homework because of this. After all, it's better to have a lot of homework then a bad script. I would also prompt BM to do more work. I would help him work it out with our group and help him understand that we need his help to make our projects even better then they already are.
Honestly, I don't think our project was very successful. I felt like we were always on a time crunch, like there was always more to do, and the work kept adding up. I wonder how the other groups were able to produce such great scripts in a matter of days. Weren't they on a time crunch too? I would definitely like more time to complete projects such as this in the future. I know Ms. Morris was trying to test our limits by having us do projects like this on such short notice, but my limit is way behind the point that we struggled to. I would think about "The Project" even when I wasn't at school, thinking about it while brushing my teeth, lying in bed, and sometimes even playing a video game or watching T.V. My point is that since the time limit was so stressful, my group didn't get as much done. If this had changed, we would have been able to produce a better project.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Group Dynamics
I love to work with friends in groups. I like being able to work with people who know and respect me. When I'm in a group with friends, I am able to share my ideas more because I know that my friends won't make fun of them or put them down. I also think that when working with friends, it is harder to get into arguments and easier to work it out when they disagree. It's not to say there are not any disadvantages to this situation, however. I know that for me, when I'm with friends in a group I'm more laid back about finishing work. For some people, that's not always a good thing. It's too easy to get distracted by friends in a group. For example, one person can be playing a computer game and suddenly (since everyone in the group likes the same game) everyone is absorbed in their friend's new high score. Nobody is working, and therefore, the project is turned in late. I know a lot of teachers are against letting students work with close friends for this very reason, but I think we should get a bit more say in this. Not all friends don't work well together; it's just an assumption. When I am working with my friends, I am able to focus. It's a good situation for me because when I work with people I don't know as well it's harder to settle arguments and respect each other. I'm always glad when teachers give me the option of choosing groups.
I've been in some pretty hard group situations, but by far the hardest one started at the beginning of the year. As I was walking into the room for the first time, I noticed I didn't know anyone there. I sat by myself at a table until two other girls sat down at the same place. However, I knew one of them had an obviously bad reputation as a "mean girl" and I wasn't too happy about having her at our table. To make matters worse, she had been mean to me before...and I didn't want it to happen again. I realized I would have to wait until she actually did something to tell the teacher. But she was being relatively okay...until she started Googling pictures of me and my other group member during work time. My other group member would lean over to look at the pictures and immediately they would start laughing and chatting. It was hard for me to do all the work alone. Plus, I was curious about the pictures too. I tried to make the girls get the message that we should work during work time, but it wasn't working. That's when I told the teacher. After a few times talking to the teacher, she said she understood and soon the class switched seats. I was glad to be out of that group, but now I was faced with the challenge of learning to get along with an all-boys table. However, the boys my teacher put me with turned out to be really nice and (get this) they were nicer than the girls because they respected me. So everything turned out okay. I was at a table with people I could get along with and not with a "mean girl." I continue to grow and learn at that same table, and I actually look forward to that part of the day so I can escape all of the girl drama in the first place.
I've been in some pretty hard group situations, but by far the hardest one started at the beginning of the year. As I was walking into the room for the first time, I noticed I didn't know anyone there. I sat by myself at a table until two other girls sat down at the same place. However, I knew one of them had an obviously bad reputation as a "mean girl" and I wasn't too happy about having her at our table. To make matters worse, she had been mean to me before...and I didn't want it to happen again. I realized I would have to wait until she actually did something to tell the teacher. But she was being relatively okay...until she started Googling pictures of me and my other group member during work time. My other group member would lean over to look at the pictures and immediately they would start laughing and chatting. It was hard for me to do all the work alone. Plus, I was curious about the pictures too. I tried to make the girls get the message that we should work during work time, but it wasn't working. That's when I told the teacher. After a few times talking to the teacher, she said she understood and soon the class switched seats. I was glad to be out of that group, but now I was faced with the challenge of learning to get along with an all-boys table. However, the boys my teacher put me with turned out to be really nice and (get this) they were nicer than the girls because they respected me. So everything turned out okay. I was at a table with people I could get along with and not with a "mean girl." I continue to grow and learn at that same table, and I actually look forward to that part of the day so I can escape all of the girl drama in the first place.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Cream Puff Catastrophe
Solution #1: Just Buy Them
If I were Holling, I would just save up money to buy cream puffs for the class. This, of course, is the most logical way to do it. Although you might have to deal with a few more threats, if I told the class I was saving money for them, the people who really wanted the cream puffs would believe me if I didn't take too long. However, the classmates who were really extreme about it might do something while they were waiting. In a perfect world, Holling would just be able to make the cream puffs appear because that's obviously what the class expects.
Solution #2: Go Tell The School Cook
Another solution to this cream puff problem would be to tell the cafeteria lady who gave Holling to carry the cream puffs in the first place. If I told the cafeteria lady about this dilemma, she might understand and bake the cream puffs, which would not cost anything to you. However, if she didn't, I might get in big trouble with the principal for begging for food and bribing the cook.
Solution #3: Ignore the Threats
Obviously, the class is not actually going to kill you if you don't bring them cream puffs, so why not ignore it? The class would go crazy. They can do things like tell Mrs. Baker you stole something or get you in trouble with the principal. They could make you feel guilty until you finally gave in. My point is, the pressure would build up between you and your classmates until they turn against you like a pack of angry wolves. It would constantly weigh you down.
Solution #1: Just Buy Them
If I were Holling, I would just save up money to buy cream puffs for the class. This, of course, is the most logical way to do it. Although you might have to deal with a few more threats, if I told the class I was saving money for them, the people who really wanted the cream puffs would believe me if I didn't take too long. However, the classmates who were really extreme about it might do something while they were waiting. In a perfect world, Holling would just be able to make the cream puffs appear because that's obviously what the class expects.
Solution #2: Go Tell The School Cook
Another solution to this cream puff problem would be to tell the cafeteria lady who gave Holling to carry the cream puffs in the first place. If I told the cafeteria lady about this dilemma, she might understand and bake the cream puffs, which would not cost anything to you. However, if she didn't, I might get in big trouble with the principal for begging for food and bribing the cook.
Solution #3: Ignore the Threats
Obviously, the class is not actually going to kill you if you don't bring them cream puffs, so why not ignore it? The class would go crazy. They can do things like tell Mrs. Baker you stole something or get you in trouble with the principal. They could make you feel guilty until you finally gave in. My point is, the pressure would build up between you and your classmates until they turn against you like a pack of angry wolves. It would constantly weigh you down.
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