Although all of these activities are, on the surface, very small things, they each reveal deeper personality traits within all of us and are a decent reflection of our characteristics. The first one, concentric circles, was a very obvious but effective tool to get to know each other and ourselves better. This is because it forces us to reveal facts about ourselves that we may not have liked to share or may not have told others without prompting. Doing so not only lets others know you better, but also gives you an opportunity to reflect upon your own experiences.
The second exercise, paper folding, was interesting in the way that it showed how different people interpret the same instructions. Although it may not be a direct representation of an individual's characteristics, it was still a way to reveal differences between members of a group. After the activity, almost everyone's paper turned out differently, which tells us that every person may perceive something differently when given the same instructions, ESPECIALLY when they lack perspective or confirmation from people around them.
The final exercise, the human know, was meant to build teamwork and give people the opportunity to "lead" in a circumstance that might benefit from a leader. However, after completing the activity, I was surprised to find that no one in my group really took true leadership; rather, each person simply gave input that would be helpful to the group as a whole, and therefore each person contributed equally. Surprisingly, we found that this method was very effective, and we managed to complete the activity in a short amount of time using this method.
Great reflection Daniel! I liked how you gave a brief overview of each of the warm-up activities that we did in the first week. I like how you described, and showed a good understanding of the purpose of the activity. However, I'm afraid I don't know quite how you felt about the activities. What did you get out of the activities? What were some things you learned about yourself or the other classmates? Was there anything you liked / disliked in particular? What's your overall opinion?
ReplyDeleteI am glad you picked up on this Brianna. Daniel and I have spoken about this but hearing from another student is great as it means that it is not only the teacher saying it seems a bit incomplete.
DeleteReflections are really twofold most of the time: involving what people learn as well as individual connections to the learning (feelings, agreeing, disagreeing, frustrations,...) This latter part is difficult for some people, and yet it is also sometimes where the learning "sticks" because of the emotional ties to the learning. Author and poet, Maya Angelou, said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” The same is true for learning and growth - we remember teachers, classes, lessons,... where our emotions connect in some way. That doesn't make it any easier for people to be vulnerable and share them. Hopefully, before we finish the semester, we will all feel comfortable sharing some of the feelings that accompany our thoughts.