Thursday, October 21, 2010
Decisions,Decisions,Decisions!
When the class got together to come up with an alternative solutions to boost up our first exam grades, there was immediate responses once the floor was ours. As the compromise was coming into play, i quickly played the role of avoidance. I felt like there was too many people in the class to even have my voice heard and i was too afraid to take the reigns. Although in smaller group situations i usually tend to have more to say. I figured that a lot of people would come up with ideas that i would agree with anyway. I was also afraid to say something that no one would agree with and be shut down or rejected by all of my classmates. While i was in the corner avoiding the chaos, i noticed that there were a few people who decided to get the whole classrooms decisions organized taking the collaborating and compromise roles. For example, 2 individuals went up to the front of the classroom using the compromise role in order to be the mediator for all of the students. They wrote all of the options on the board and narrowed it down after we all voted. There were several individuals who took the collaborating role and helped come up with a number of solutions for everyone to choose so that we all could be accomadated. I think that i could have taken on the collaborating role in order to help the class come up with more solutions to the decision. The other role which i think is crucial in this process is the compromise role. WIth those two roles in use, the best possible solution will result because you will hear everyone's thoughts and ideas but also mediate in order to come up with something that can accomadate everyone and also avoid conflict issues.
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I just wanted to say how awesome it is that our titles are pretty much exactly the same, lol, but going ahead and reading your entry, it's clear that we're on the same page in terms of what went on that day in class. I, too, took on the avoidance role because I wasn't quite sure where to start or where to contribute because there was just so much going on, with everybody having an idea that just happened to be let loose at once. I also eventually figured that I'd be content with all of the ideas presented so i just kept quiet for a while there until it was just too frustrating to stay quiet but just as frustrating to try and speak up so it was a lose-lose situation. Abe and Julian really did save the day and I felt, as well, that their ability to compromise set everything into perspective and helped us get through the mayhem and conflicting ideas.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of other members of the class also decided to avoid the discussion as it was quite difficult to be heard or to hear what others had to say. Overall a very chaotic environment. There was a lot of discussion within small groups and this probably made people retreat from the conversation even more. Overall we were able to come to a pretty good decision although it was frustrating at times.
ReplyDeleteI also took the role of avoidance because I knew that there were many who didnt do so well on the exam and therefore a decision was going to be made. Even though there was a lot of chaos and it got fustrating at times at least we did end up getting our extra credit at the end.
ReplyDeleteEven I took the role of avoidance..I wasn't really happy to see my result and knew that there were a lot more people who were not satisfied with their grade. Eventually, I was really happy with the final decision that the whole class came up with. Now that we know the format of the next exam, I will try to use some of the management skills that we learnt in class to study. Hence, I am going to plan, manage my time and study hard for the up coming test.
ReplyDeleteI think alot of people in the class felt the same way you did. In general i'm a really shy person but I threw some ideas out there and I was happy with the end result. Maybe if we would have worked in smaller groups everyones voices would have been heard.
ReplyDeletehah i don't blame you for taking the avoidance role, i consider myself the accommodator so i wasn't far off from you. I thought the same, that people would come up with ideas i would agree with anyway. so there was no point in me trying to scream and get my opinion heard when it was already the general consensus anyway.
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