In regards to what I’ve learned about myself as a group member… I’ve received the credit that I probably wouldn’t have given myself. I mean I did a lot of work and feel like I did almost everything I could to contribute and be a team member. I guess my thought  that I was a leader on that very first day has just been validated. Especially since numerous people stated that I was an initiator contributor. I’ve learned that if I take on a specific role, especially one that is leadership, I can get a lot accomplished.

4.Goal-setting is a responsibility that I share. If true, explain how.

In order to have a successful product, the group as a while needs to agree on a goal, in order to achieve that goal. If everyone decides to focus on his or her own personal goal then there would be chaos. So I find myself needing to be a member of the group and share the responsibility of compromising in order to gain a overall product of achievement.

5.I have been instrumental in marshalling resources for the group. If true, explain how.

I feel that I have been instrumental in the way that I bring a rationale sense to the group. I think one of the greatest attributes a person can have is the ability is to step back and evaluate the situation, or possibly look at it from another standpoint. For example: bringing up the idea that we should maybe shy away from the term Survival Guide to UMass, because the title was catching point. Also, I have researched as well as played with different things in the wiki. I started the wiki page for one of my groups, without having any sort of knowledge on how to work it. I try to use what I have and bring something to the table.

7.I am using this class to satisfy my individual and group-irrelevant needs. If true, on what basis can you earn a passing grade?

I signed up for this class for the mere fact that I needed another communication class in order to graduate on time. For that simple fact, I think in order to earn a passing grade, one must do the work that is presented to them. Blogposts, reading of the books, and being a contributing member of the group in regards to building the wiki.

10.Our class/group has all the roles necessary to achieve optimum group growth and productivity. If true, explain. If false, which role(s) are we missing?

I had originally answered False to this question, but after thinking about it now and all of the different roles… I do think we could reach optimum growth.

11.Our class/group has not yet generated effective work on the problem of role-requiredness. If true, what role have you been playing? If false, what evidence – on the group level – supports your claim?

   I think the evidence as provided in the Online Portion A. We have members of the group who really help keep the group going.  Have the roles that keep us on track in order to produce the wiki. One evidential piece would be how well the groups have been working over the past few weeks, and how close we have all become.  Many of us have become friends, because we trust one another, mostly because of the work that we have been able to produce. We are truly in the ”Adulthood” stage according to Weber. Almost everything in that portion we have. We are no longer fighting like little children. We are working in a productive way for a common end goal.

15.I have role flexibility. If true, explain with three or more specific examples from class. If false, what are the adverse consequences to your teams and the class/group-as-a-whole?

I would like to think that I have role flexibility, but it is difficult to pin point times in which I’ve switched, I’m usually not thinking “hey, I just switched roleas.” But I can think of a time that I started to not feel well in class. I went from initiator contributor to follower, just going with the flow. I know that I’ve gone from an information seeker to elaborator or opinion seeker. After I’ve received the information, I tend to put my own elaboration or opinion on the subject.

16.Developing role flexibility is an important objective of group member training. The three roles I flex among the most are: a)_____Initiator – contributor___, b)__opinion seeker______, and c)____evaluator critic_____. My decision to flex is based upon: Confusion. I was hesitant to contribute considering I didn’t know what how to work the wiki. But I took the initiative and attempted to create the first wiki for the evaluation group. After playing with it for a bit, forcing me to gain some knowledge and no longer be confused, it was much easier for me to take the initiative when it came to the wiki. (name at least two factors and give an actual example). Confidence like I stated above, with the rise of my confidence, so was the rise of my involvement, forcing me to have more of an opinion in regards to what we are in doing when talking about the wiki.

18.I never find myself resisting the retraining required to be a functional group member. If true, are you saying you never experience tension or anxiety in the class/group? Explain. If false, how does your resistance tend to show itself in role behavior?

- It is difficult to play the same role all the time. Sometimes your mood and feelings affect your role for the day, and to me that is totally normal. I know that on days where I am extremely tired or not feeling well, I become a follower. I tend to “go with the movement of the group, more or less passively accepting the  ideas of others, serving as an audience in group discussions and decisions.

Each of the members who went to the brewery will write a blog about their experiences. And the members who didn’t go will write about what it was like not to be able to go.

We will be expanding on some of the things we wrote, for everything that we mentioned that has a website ex: ABC will be linked to their website.

We plan on analyzing our group’s functions according to Shein and also our group roles.

We then got together out of class and compiled the wiki.

http://www.umasswiki.com/wiki/Papercity_Brewery_Volunteering

“I imagined someone telling an autistic person to look them in the eye…I was already aware that its difficult.-       Eye contact is extremely important in everyday life, it gives a sense of credibility, if someone doesn’t look you in the eye, you usually automatically assume that they are lying to you. This is not the case in this story, John Elder physically/ mentally was unable to look people in the eye. But once you realize he has autism it begins to make sense. Once you learn someone elses story, you tend to develop compassion or sympathy for that person. If you know that a person has autism your expectations of them are different then of someone who doesn’t have that disease. You realize that you may have to approach talking to them in a different way or frame, and should expect their responses to be different. 

“…unable to look others in the eye. He cannot connect with people the same way I can when I look someone in the eyes.”-       Looking people in the eye is a way to connect with them in commuication. It is a way to know that both parties are engaged in the conversation and that it is not one sided. As stated before, if you know someone has autism, you need to realize that their interpretation of conversation and  words is going to be extremely different than yours. But this isn’t just true with autism, this is honestly true of everyone. Everyone has different experiences, and therefore their outlook and way that they interpret things are going to be different than yours and many others. 

“I read wikipedia…I figured it was someone telling the author to look them in the eye.”

-       In regards to group communication, even though people interpret things differently, one can usually understand the “gist” of where they are getting at. This is even easier when you know a  person and know some background on them. This makes it so you can better understand their experiences, and then can understand where they are coming from, and what they are trying to get at.

 However, I am choosing not to attend the protest for multiple reasons. The first being that I have the obligation of working that day, and amongst that, can’t really afford the time and effort it would take to drive to Boston for a rally that is only a hour long. Granted it is for a good cause, and I fully appreciate those who attends efforts, but for me it would not be worth it.  If I was to live closer to Boston I may have decided to attend the protest, but for me personally it is hard to validate such a movement without having a real backing and insight on the problem at hand. I am not going to put the burden on someone else to cover my shift so I can go and protest something that I virtually know nothing about. Do I think that the information that I have read on the subject is shocking and high unnecessary? Yes. But my general  indifference in my opinion would not be helpful to their cause. So I’m choosing not to go.

This can relate to group dynamics in few ways. It can be seen that because I’m choosing not to attend, I can be seen as someone who sympathizes with the FARC happenings. By choosing not to be a part of one group, I am automatically put in the opposite, whether it is the case or not. Also, by choosing to stay and go to work even though I sympathize with the cause, it can put me in the category of someone who needs to put their own issues at the forefront before the fight the cause of someone else. Sometimes you just need to deal with your own issues first. No matter what the decision you make, it places you in a category. Choosing to do something puts you in a category. But so does not choosing to do something. No matter what we do, we are forced to reap the consequences of our actions, and to know that our decision making skills are something that are very powerful.