What was your favorite activity from class on Thursday? Why was this meaningful? What did you learn about your group members? Feel free to share any other relevant reflections.
Blog posts must be 200-400 words, proofread, and void of common grammatical errors.
Your blog posts are due before the start of class next week.
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My favorite activity from last Thursday's class was the activity where we closed our eyes and followed instructions on how to draw on, fold, and rip a piece of paper. The instructions were just ambiguous enough that everyone in my group ended up with very different outcomes. I really liked this activity because it demonstrated three main things; the preferred method of instructions for each person, the different thought processes of each person in the group, and more abstractly, how each of us is different and brings something different to the group.
ReplyDeleteOn the surface, it was easy to see how this activity demonstrated how each person's work method affects them. Some people in the group asked for more explicit directions, like Chance, and some people went with the flow and didn't question it any further, like Leah. This gives us a good opportunity to learn how each person in our group works, which will be useful for our volunteer work on the break. People who are easily frustrated with ambiguous directions will need more specifics.
Secondly, it was interesting to see the different ways each person's piece of paper turned out. No two people had the same outcome which shows that we all have a lot of different ideas to bring to the table and to offer. Some people tore their paper in opposite corners, but were perfectly within the guidelines. This activity showed that during our break, it will be important to work together and to voice our ideas, because with six people, there will be ideas that I have not thought of that could be more effective for the objective. With six people, there are six objectives to consider.
Finally, and most abstractly, I think it just showed that we are six individauls. None of us are the same. We have different thoughts, we do things in ways that maybe another person in the group hasn't thought of before. We are each unique and have so much to offer to one another.
I am so looking forward to working with and learning from my group members on my break, especially after this activity!
I personally enjoyed all activities during last week's class for the fact that at the end of each activity we discussed a significant purpose to each one. My favorite activity was the debate of different topics. My group, the Ark Crisis Center, paired up with another group, and I enjoyed how we not only got to debate with our group members, but also debate with others outside of our group. At the end of this exercise, the group leader talked about the point of the activity which was to remind us that we are not all going to have the same views about specific situations, and that we may have very strong and even clashing opinions about certain topics. He also stressed the importance of being able to agree to disagree. I believe that no matter what view an individual may stand for that it is very important to respect other people's points of view. If there comes a time during our trip where there is a disagreement than the most important thing I have learned from this activity is to not attack one's views, rather listen to what they have to say even though you may not agree, and most importantly respect their opposing views. Just because you believe something that someone else disagrees with does not mean that your view is the only correct perspective. Growing up I was always told to think about "if you were in their shoes." This statement is most important when collaborating on a weeklong trip with by 6 other students. To sum things up, I have been reminded of a few important concepts: do not be quick to judge others opinions even if they do not match your own, always respect other individuals' perspective’s, and even attempt to put yourself in the spot of an contrasting view. Lastly, all groups must be conscious that not everyone will agree one hundred percent of the time so it is best to have every single opinion out in the open, and meet somewhere in between.
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