Akademakid's Weblog

People Wrote About Me

akademakid — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:44:31 +0000

I think that my feedback from people in our class was thoughtful and interesting. I was looked at in many different ways. I was seen as an information giver twice because I knew a lot about my topic in a group. I was looked at as self oriented because I expressed my displeasure with an upcoming fishbowl. What I get out of these and the rest of the evaluations are that the people who evaluated me were either in my group or sitting around me. It is people who heard me talk, even in side conversations.

I don’t have a problem with what anyone said about me in class. One post does stick out to me that I wish I was able to dispute. Someone said that I was very quiet for a “leader”. Now here is my point. Maybe people think of leaders as vocal. Most leaders probably are. I have a different point of view on things because some of the best leaders that I have ever seen lead by example. Now I am not saying that I want everyone in the class to follow my lead and not be as vocal. Steph would go nuts! But my point is that if everyone tried to imitate the most vocal of leaders in our class, there would be total chaos and nothing would be accomplished.

I explained what my contributions were to the class in my own evaluations but I did not relate them well to the functional roles.

Functional Roles by Functional People in Functional Groups

akademakid — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:30:01 +0000

4. Goal setting is a responsibility that I share. True

I think that I share goal setting with everyone in the group. Some people might have more of a leading role in our group. (Group meaning our class as a whole or one of our groups we have been working in.) But goal setting must be calculated by everyone in a group. “The setting of goals and marshalling of resources to move toward these goals is a group responsibility in which all member of a mature group come variously to share.” (Benne and Sheats article) There are varying degrees of how much a person wants the group to succeed.

5. I have been instrumental in marshalling resources for the group. True

I have done my part in making the group the best it can. I have done lots of work for my sports group, fishbowl evaluations etc. I am not much of a leader by definition of the Benne and Sheats article. It says that leaders much facilitate and develop the methods of how we work. I haven’t done much of that. I have done all my work in timely fashion though.

7. I am using this class to satisfy my individual and group-irrelevant needs. True

I am going to class and making sure to follow what the evaluation group has laid out for grading this class. I have taken some guesses as to how this class will be graded earlier in the semester, (example: attendance) and used that knowledge to be a “good” student. I want to contribute to the group as much as I can. I want to help make this class successful. But the group-irrelevant grade is equally important to me. I need at least a “C” in this class in order to fill my last Communication requirement and graduate in a few weeks.

10. Our class/group has all the roles necessary to achieve optimum group growth and productivity. True

Our group is a good mix of leaders and followers who work well on their own work. The focus on work and not grading has helped a little in limiting the group-irrelevant needs. If we knew what we where being graded on, the material that is not graded as much would have been bypassed or taken lightly. The class is about as diverse as a college class at UMass would get. I think that all of the factors lead into a productive group on the rise.

11. Our class/group has not yet generated effective work on the problem of role-requiredness. False

I think that the self evaluations have served resulted in a role for everyone as an evaluator. That is a big role in any group, who gets to evaluate individuals as well as the group as a whole. We are required to watch out for who is working hard and who is not doing as much. We are also using our relationships with classmates to see who has different skills in different areas. For instance: my wiki group, one person is a great writer, knows more about computers and technology, and I contribute with the most subject material. We all know this about each person and use our strengths to our advantage.

15. I have role flexibility. True

a. I was a working follower of one of the groups this semester. I never said much about how things should go. I kept to myself and did what was expected of me. I saw my opportunity to help our group out be more efficient with evaluating the fishbowls in class. I voiced my opinion and it worked. This would be a “follower role” and a “leader role”.

b. When in the fishbowls I am often seen as a “harmonizer” (brought to my attention by people sitting around me). I took strong points of each persons’ argument and combined them into proposed solutions. I combine this with being a “standard setter” while talking to people around me about what this class or group should be doing. Not to be retracing our steps as much as we used to do.

c. I am a “recorder” sometimes when I have an idea about what the group should do, I write it down. I use this idea when appropriate. I have done this on a few occasions. I have also been an elaborator, especially in small groups such as our wiki group. I have given suggestions on what should happen.

16. Developing role flexibility is an important objective of group member training. True

The three roles that I flex most with are harmonizer, standard setter and recorder/elaborator. Two factors of me changing are definitely the size of the group I am communicating in and the material that I am talking about. I offer more input and suggestions when I am in a smaller group and when I have a good grasp of what I am talking about. I don’t like to talk to big groups and I don’t talk much about things I don’t know.

18. I never find myself resisting the retraining required to be a functional group member. False

I resist retraining to be a group member when I am not interested in the topic. I have to want to be engaged in the topic at hand to be a better group member. I will go through with things that need to be done and is necessary. I won’t try to hurt the group in any way. I just find myself being willing to be retrained when the material is more interesting to me personally.

Look me in the eye

akademakid — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:09:20 +0000

“I thought I was being told to look the author in the eye…”This person has taken this title pretty strait forward. There is a connection when you look into someone’s eyes for one reason or another. This person has simply implemented a reaction to be closer to the author and look them in the eye. To make a connection to the author.

“The image I had was a book about truth and integrity, with looking someone in the eye traditionally being a visual clue of honesty.”I think this is an interesting thought by this person. Using the ‘coming clean’ or ‘telling the truth’ connotation with looking someone in the eye. I have heard that subconsciously people do not look people in the eye when they are lying. The only thing that I can think of is what if this person is a good liar? What if they are lying so much that they are able to look you right in the eye and not tell the truth? But I do see this as a possibility for what this book is trying to tell us.

“I read wikipedia…I figured it was someone telling the author to look them in the eye.”This quote is just like my first quote in this blog. It is a person looking strait forward on the title. Now I think these two people will be thrown for a big loop when they see the cover of the book has a picture of closed eyes. This can signify something to the second quote that the truth won’t be told. Or just that there is no connection made with the author and anyone else.

Reality of Shame

akademakid — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:37:17 +0000

Shame is a word that indicates a negative meaning associated with dishonor or disgrace. To have shame one has to be able to look into the past and realize that words/actions they regret or are disgraced with. Shame is often considered to be a terrible thing because of how it portrays someone in a society. I know one of the worst things someone (in my mind parent or guardian) can say is “I am ashamed of you”. This indicates that not only did you go and shame yourself; it is that someone close to you or who protects you feels disgrace on the account of yourself.

Looking deeper into the social context of the word shame, the word signifies something that you did wrong or against morals. Shame also indicates that you have been caught be someone, a group of people, or your own conscience. A common metaphor for shame is “not being able to live with yourself” relates very closely with the feeling of having shame. There is a very close relation to shame and social values. The shame that is a violation of internal values is often called guilt. The two words (shame and guilt) are deciphered from each other by pretty much that basis alone.

Definitions:

the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another: She was overcome with shame.
susceptibility to this feeling: to be without shame.
disgrace; ignominy: His actions brought shame upon his parents.
a fact or circumstance bringing disgrace or regret: The bankruptcy of the business was a shame. It was a shame you couldn’t come with us

The only definition that does not make sense to me is the second one in the list. I can’t recognize how susceptibility to shame makes a person have shame. Maybe someone can be ashamed about having shame? I have no clue. It is interesting though, to point out the difference between guilt and shame (mentioned up above). And to look at what is worse, having shame (breaking social values) or having guilt (breaking internal values)?

No “No Mas Farc”

akademakid — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 23:02:24 +0000

I actually researched the purpose to the No Mas Farc thing going on in Boston on Monday. It looks like something I would be more comfortable going to with some people I know and am friends with. I would have to know the people in the car I was with a little better then one class period. I can’t really have this decision for myself because I have baseball workouts I have to be doing on Monday. I just came at it with the perspective as if I had the option to go or not.