Constructive Criticism for Me

This past week we were put into new groups to solve a crisis. While working in this group a third party observed our interactions in the new group.

According to the person that evaluated me, I did a good job of keeping my group on topic. I was able to contribute and voice my opinion politely. In doing so, my group listened to me and took into consideration what I had to say.

There are several things I do need to work on though. I need to speak up more, be louder. Sitting up is very important and I need to work on doing so. This will allow my opinion to be more respected. A very big mistake I made was voicing that I did not want to be there. Hopefully with this criticism I will become a better group member.

By: Ben Schnepp

Creative Thinking

Ive been doing some research on creative thinking ideas for our group presentation. I found that one man, named Edward de Bono, is very famous for his work in creative thinking. He is said to be the worlds most famous creative thinking consultant. He has written over 62 books and has worked with governments and major organizations worldwide as a creativity teacher.
He is most famous for his idea of Lateral Thinking. He developed this idea in 1967 to describe the process of breaking out of the habitual patterns of linear thought. It encourages people to change their direction of thinking and to look at things in a totally new way. It also encourages people to reinterpret what you are looking at in fresh, original or humorous ways.
He is also known for his idea of the "Six Thinking Hats. designed as a practical user-friendly way of thinking creatively and effectively. This is a results-orientated method is in use in businesses and schools around the world. It is constantly being taught to people and organizations eager to make the most of their creative potential.
There is a lot more I could write about Edward de Bono, and there are many web pages and youtube videos about him. I would encourage everyone to look to some of his work for ideas on what could be used for a creativity seminary.

By George Vauter

Creative Time of Yer

Today is October 30, the eve of Halloween and creative minds are working overtime. Above are a few examples of what thinking outside the box means. For some it is nearly impossible to come up with a custom that has that much character but for others it just seems to flow. I tend to find myself on the more creative side and have found it to serve me well. While at times it takes me longer to get things accomplished because I want them to be done well and creatively the end results are great.

If you are among those "creatively challenged" our textbook offers a few suggestions to enhance creativity:

-Write the specific problem down (ex. what to be for Halloween)

-Acquire a "try anthing attitude"

-The wilder the ideas, the better

-Approach each idea positively and give it a fair trial

-Try to make your ideas workable

So if you are still having trouble coming up with a creative custom don't be afraid to just let your imagination run wild. Have an open mind and you may be surprised what you come up with.

Christy

Service Project

On Friday afternoon our group went to the Boys and Girls Club to do our project. It ended up going very well. We all had fun playing with the kids, and I think all the kids had fun too. No major problems came up, but it wasn't the best weather outside, so we played inside. It was a good thing we had taken the time to plan out what to do if we couldn't be outside. Playing dodgeball, basketball, and throwing a football around with the kids was a blast. It was great to see them all having fun being active.

-David Hoff

Pictures from Our Game Day

Sadly George was the first one out on this round of Simon Says.

Who needs Payton Manning when you have a quarterback like Zach and Ben covering as a center!

Touch your toes! Ben may just be doing some light stretching but Christy was ready to win this round of Simon Says.

We were able to buy the kids a new air hockey table.

Poster boys for the United Way!

What We've Been Waitng For

Friday, October 23 the day when we would see all our hard work pay off as we got to interact with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club. We all went in with our plan and what we expected to happen. Everyone knows we are the sports group who decided to share that passion with the children of Lafayette. However, on the blog today I'm going to share about what I hadn't expected that really made the afternoon great.

When we arrived we went to the gym to start setting up our first game and I volunteered to play a game with the kids that didn't want to play in the gym. Little did I know what I would be getting myself into. These kids were running around like crazy, talking over each other, and not being very agreeable. I got the kids together and really pumped up the idea of hide and seek. We played for a while and the kids still weren't real sure this was a cool enough game. So we switched to hiding a ping pong ball and playing the "hot and cold" game. The longer we played the more I realized it wasn't the game that mattered it was the fact that someone was showing an interest in them. We played "Simon Says" and "Red Light, Green Light" and the kids seemed to change right before my eyes. These crazy children were only acting that way because they wanted attention and to know someone cared about them

There are many examples I could share that assure me we accomplished our group mission of helping those in our community. One example is a little boy named Rylan. He was a first grader that thought he was a fifth grade champ. Rylan joined my group that was not playing games in the gym. I hadn't really noticed Rylan until all of a sudden he was standing in front of me on a couch and launched himself into my arms. I hugged him until it was time to go find the hidden ping-pong ball and from then on he was the sweetest little boy. He minded what I said and played every game with us. The second example child was a very shy little boy who joined my group later in the day. He never said much but his face would light up when we included him. Finally, as we were leaving to go home he tapped my arm and told me him got 3 A's and 2 B's on his report card. I was so proud of him even though I had only known him for an hour or two, but what a special little boy who just wanted someone to share his good news with.

Our group wondered why we didn't just collect cans or pick up garbage and I believe we now know why. I feel we did make a difference and I would love to go back and play with the kids again. It was only a few hours but I feel we did make an impact in the lives of lots of children.

Christy

Successful Day

Friday was our group's field day at the boys and girls club. It was very successful. The event was moved indoors because of the cold, wet weather.

First the kids wanted to play dodge ball, so we split them into two groups. There were a few who did not want to play, so we took them into the game room where they played games such as air hockey and ping pong. After awhile, we split the kids up to play knock out in the gym. This was a good change of pace for them.

Next, we set up a game of basketball. The kids loved this, and George did to. Once the basketball game was done, some of the kids started to go home, so we just let them have a free for all and play several games. Some of the kids played in the game room, and some played catch with a football. Christy got a hand full together and played Simon Says.

The Boys and Girls Club was very happy with the results and glad to get an air hockey table too.
By:Ben Schnepp

Conflict Resolution....and Our Groups Success

GOMO - Get Over It and Move On

http://www.execstrategies.com/Facilitator/ConflictResolutionStrategies.htm

I found this to be a really interesting conflict resolution strategy. It is one I like to use a lot. The first thing I always ask myself during a conflict is "Is this really worth arguing over." Often times I realize that it is really not worth it and its best for me to just accept it and move on. This is a great way to prevent a small little argument from turning into a big fight. The website calls it "It’s a powerful secret that needs telling for resolving daily conflicts." I think this is very true and a great way to make your day less stressful.

I also wanted to say that I thing our Field Day was a success....
I think that our Service Learning project went great. Everyone did an awesome job of playing with the kids and keeping them entertained. We definitely had a lot of obstacles throughout our project and many things changed by the club but I think everything turned out really well. Even though the weather didn't allow us to have the field day outside we were still able to carry out all our activities. I think we did a great job of allowing the kids to pick the activities they wanted to do play and really making the field day all about them having fun. It seemed like the kids really like having us there and the adults really appreciated having adults to interact with the kids. Overall I think that we worked great as a group and made it through all the conflicts that arose with no problem. Great job everyone.

By George Vauter

Almost Game Time

As the day of our project gets closer, I'm feeling good about the group. I think we are prepared to put on a great event for the kids at the boys and girls club. The plan is pretty much ready to go, and I think our group will handle any more challenges we find in stride. I'm excited for the actual event day to come so we can put the plan to the test. On tuesday we are going to visit the club and let the kids know what will be happening on event day. It feels like our work is about to pay off.

-David Hoff

How Does Starting 5 Solve Problems

The Starting 5 has had to make several decisions for the COM 320 class. Because the group is fairly small, we have been able to take a group consensus in our decision making. The problem is presented to the group and each person argues their opinion until the group decides what to do. The problem with this method, is many times it takes longer to make a decision. However, we choose to use this method because we feel it gets the best results.

There are times when one person's experiences or knowledge makes their opinion more influential to the group decision. It is not that person makes the decision, but that the group takes more consideration in the expert's argument. Up to this point in time, this method has worked to solve the group's problems. While this method may not work for all groups, it works for ours.
-By: Ben Schnepp

Survival of the Fittest....I lose

Moon walking, moon pies and moonshine, but surviving on the moon, I don't know about that. Our activity in class required us to rank items we needed to survive a crash on the moon. This activity showed just how important group work is for the Starting 5, especially the female member (me.) The scores we found are evidence that our group is stronger together than apart.

Scores:My Score- 60
Group Score- 15
Best individual score on our team- 28

As you can see if this game was survival of the fittest I'm not sure I would make it out alive. However, what is important is that when the five of us worked together our group succeeded. Even the strongest member of our team in this exercise was better off with the team score.

Our group worked together to create the list of supplies through a majority vote. At times we disagreed but we were good at discussing the pros and cons of each decision until we all came to an agreement. This is different than group think because it is not one person making decisions that everyone agrees with; it is our group deciding what is right and putting the good of the group ahead of what we think individually. Our process in problem solving involved us starting with an idea, discussing the issue, and finalizing our decision after everyone was heard to achieve our goal.

Needless to say I am grateful that my group taught me a bit about surviving a crash on the moon. Next time I fly through space though I will be sure to invite my team members!

Christy Penner

History on Fallacies

I like to think that I am a logicial thinker. Being in a very technical major I have to use logical thinking a lot. It is important that I am able to identify flaws in logic which is why I find fallicies so interesting. This week's post looks at some history of fallacies.

"Argumentum ad Hominem is a fallacy."

A "fallacy" is a mistake, and a "logical" fallacy is a mistake in reasoning. It is a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning in argumentation. By accident or design, fallacies may exploit emotional triggers in the listener, or take advantage of social relationships between people. Fallacious arguments are often structured using rhetorical patterns that obscure the logical argument, making fallacies more difficult to diagnose. Also, the components of the fallacy may be spread out over separate arguments.

Aristotle was the first formal logician. He was known for codifying the rules of correct reasoning and cataloging types of incorrect reasoning, namely, fallacies. He was both the first to name types of logical error, and the first to group them into categories.

However, Aristotle's teacher, Plato, deserves credit for being the first philosopher to collect examples of bad reasoning. Plato is known to have conduct important preliminary field work before naming and cataloging.

Fallacious arguments are sometimes called "sophisms" and bad reasoning "sophistry". Aristotle refers to a few of these examples as instances of his named fallacies.

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/

By George Vauter

Communication Within a Team

I just got home from a paintball tournament, and found it to be a good example of the importance of communication within a team. Through the first half of the tournament, our team was doing very well. We were playing against teams that weren't really much of a challenge, so we could just rely on individual ability to win. The second half of the tournament however, we were transferred to another division with better players. After a few games in the new division, it became clear that our team was missing something important. We weren't communicating very well. As a result, our actions were not well coordinated, and we performed poorly. The other teams all had predetermined ways of telling the other teams position to each other. This gave them much better awareness of what was going on all over the field and allowed them to coordinate plays. In the end we placed 5th, but I believe we could have done much better if we had used better communication. Hopefully this lesson will help us to play more like a real team next time.

David Hoff

Why our Group Made Rules

When our teacher explained to us that we had to make rules to govern our group I, like many other people questioned why. Now that I am at home for fall break I have witnessed first hand how hard communicating can be without rules. I am making plans to hang out with several of my friends, and without rules like checking emails and responding in a timely manor it has become more difficult to make plans. This has shown me the importance of doing those things when working in a group. In a group, good, timely communication is important to getting the work done and on time.

By: Ben Schnepp

Momma Said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZpDnXYIFjo

Maybe Momma should have said "watch your temper Bobby!" In this clip from the Waterboy starring Adam Sandler we see how a difference of opinion can lead to a bad situation. The professor continues to tell Bobby that he and his momma are wrong which heats Bobby up to his boiling point. Unfortunately, Bobby works out his frustrations in a very poor manner.

Had Bobby or the Professor taken COM320 instead of the animal class with a great view they would have learned about managing their emotions. There are five steps outlined in our book to help everyone learn to control their emotions:
1. Be aware of your anger level
2. Breathe
3. Use self-talk
4. Monitor your nonverbal messages
5. Avoid personal attacks

Both parties are guilty of not following these rules. The Professor was really using personal attacks and Bobby was clearly not aware of his anger level. The rest of these steps in managing your emotions were also thrown out the window. Thankfully we are all in COM320 and hopefully no one will be tackling our teacher!

Christy Penner

3rd Posting - Conflict Resolution

Mediation Vs. Arbitration?

http://library.findlaw.com/1999/Jun/1/129206.html

I thought I would post about conflict resolution since that is our new topic in class. I have learned about conlfict resolution in another class I took and can remember taking about mediating a conflict versus being an arbitrator.

How are they the same?
Both mediation and arbitration use a third party to help solve a conflict. They are used to help facilitate the resolution process and avoid continuing conflict.

Whats the difference?
A mediator is a neutral third party that does not judge the situation or have a say in the outcome. The mediator is a facilitator, not a decision maker. They are simply there to help facilitate a discussion and eventual resolution of the dispute. Both parties in the conflict can speak freely to the mediator who will limit the issues and put them in perspective. A mediator can act as a way for people to get things off their chest and also benefit from hearing the other side of the arguement.

An arbitrator is more like a judge. They can make decisions about the arguments made by each party and decide who they feel is correct. Arbitration is more commonly used when the parties have no likelihood of being able to come to an agreement. If there is a need to come to a conclusion such as in a businees or legal scenario, an arbitrator is a good alternative to a judge. It often wise to have more than one arbitrator in a conflict.

- George Vauter

Just a thought...

Hopefully I won't step on any toes with this post, but I am going to point out a potential hazard I have noticed in our group. Groupthink is what I'm referring to. I have noticed in several of our meetings, that everybody seems to go along with the same ideas without much thought. It could be that we all just agree about a lot of things. More likely, I think, is the idea that people are just going with the idea they think the group likes because it is easier than challenging it. While this does wonders to speed up a meeting, it also causes us to miss opportunities to do something better. I think we should be giving our best effort in order to have a better outcome from our project, both for the Boys and Girls Club, and our grades. If we all, including myself, are willing to speak up when we think there is a better option, the potential improvements that can result outweigh a few extra minutes of discussion.

-David Hoff

Progress in our Project

The project is looking great. As of right now, we have permission from the Boys and Girls Club to have a field day, just needing to decide on an exact day. We have received our grant aid to pay for the project. Since the Boys and Girls Club have already had a field day, they will be able to help us with advice on what works and does not work. The Starting 5 is in a very good position and now we just need to finalize our plans and implement them on our field day.

-By Ben Schnepp