User:Funinsun
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[edit] What a Journey
[edit] Who am I
Hey ya'll. I'm Erika and I am currently a graduating senior at UMass Amherst. I must say my past 4 years at UMass have been quite the ride. I've learned so much not only from the classes I have taken, but from the friends I have made, and the relationships I have established. Part of my journey has been Comm 352 which is a class I took this past semester.
[edit] First day jitters
When i first stepped foot in class the first day of the semester, I realized that Comm 352 would be a class unlike any other that I had enrolled in thus far. For one, the description on Spire baffled me a bit, it was all unknown to me, and I was unsure what I was getting myself into. When i sat down in class, other students were not aware of what the class structure was, or what the subject matter would be. When Steph walked in, I still was so confused what this class was about. When we got going, we introduced ourselves, and had to work amongst each other without the help of Steph. We worked as a group to come up with a vast list of groups in which we belonged, or didn't for that matter. When Stpeh came back to the classroom, we had to go around and tell which groups we belonged to. We broke up into groups based on whether we felt we were "leaders" or "followers". All of the class but two students took the role of "leader", which didn't come to much of a surprise to me. The first day opened my eyes to a new style of teaching and learning; we did not receive a syllabus,grading criteria, or anything else "normal" for a first day lecture. Because of this, to be quite honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay in the class. However, I needed the credits, and had to stay in it, which was a bit scary.
[edit] Not easy
I must say, the class as the weeks went by did not become any easier for me. In fact, I felt as though I was becoming more and more confused as the days went by. I never knew what exactly was going on or what we were exactly supposed to be doing. One of the first things that popped into my head, partly because Steph mentioned it, was that this class would force us to work within a group, and that the group would be sectioned off. Every Monday, we would go around the room and say our names, so that we would have to remember them. Usually in classes, I know maybe two people's names, not only by face, but by name so that when working within the group (our class) we could feel more comfortable amongst one another.
[edit] Reservations
At first, I was a bit reserved in speaking aloud in our classroom. This was partly because I was not enjoying the class at first, and I did not really know what was going on still. Then came the Fishbowls. At first I dreaded these. I did not want to go into them because this would force me to say something, and honestly I didn't think I would have anything to offer. Once they started occuring every week, I realized I should probably suck it up and get into a fishbowl. I think this was my opener, and i finally reached a comfortable level with my classmates, and was able to be a vital member to the group. I think in most cases, as I had learned in this class, you have to first be comfortable with speaking, and then the comfort comes. it is not always easy during the first few weeks with a new group. it is like a baby taking their first steps; you are not really sure whether you are going to take flight, or fall. The fishbowls, in my eyes, were a real were a real success in this class. It helped not only me, but I feel the group on the whole got their points across and gave listeners the chance to grasp a connection as well. Along with the fishbowls, we were alos given many articles that would help us learn the basics of group dynamics, and then we could relate them to ourselves, our classmates, and the group as a whole. One of the most important articles was the Schein article, What to Observe in a GroupThis article helped us learn about different roles within groups and how to observe each, including within Communication, Decision Making, Task and maintanance, and Self oriented motives. This made us work amongst our subgroups to look out for these things and discuss them as well.
[edit] Problems solved?
I think that most of my problems that I had with this course are finally well under way. I am comfortable with the work I have done, and I really see how we pulled everything together. Steph and her different ways of teaching only pushed us harder to think on our own and do things we could call our own! As the class progressed I learned more and more about what it was like to be a part of a group such as this. Yes, being in other classes still meant I was in a group, but this was something different. because this was more confusing and more unknown to me, I feel like I learned more in a different style. The weblogs on Wordpress were a function of the class that made us work in a group in a different manner. I learned that even though these were done outside of the classroom, it still meant that we had to work with one another by reading each other's posts and taking them into consideration. Our actual wiki pages, mine and Allie's being Pioneer valley Shopping was my ultimate task. Not only did we have to learn how to use the wiki, which is pretty difficult, but we also had to do some of our own research on a subject in which we are interested in. I think the class as the whole was really successful with this!
[edit] The end of the road
Overall, this class had been such a test for me. While I was tired confused, and had a sever case of senioritis, I knew I had to stick through it because it is not only for myself, but for my group (our class) as well. I learned the true meaning of leader and follower and the in-betweens. I feel as though I also learned the functions of a group, not only through this class but my time here at UMass. It has been such a wonderful trip.
Check out my wordpress weblog!! Erika's COM352 weblog!
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