Service Learning Project

This week we have been putting together our proposal for the service learning project.  We are going to be doing our project at the Cary Home.  The Cary Home helps young children stay out of trouble by providing a good environment that they might otherwise not have.  Most of the kids there are ages twelve to eighteen.  That is a fairly wide range of ages, so we are going to mainly be playing different sports with them.  We thought about doing crafts and other activities, but we figured they were too old for that, and would not be interested.  I think this is going to be really good for them and for us.  They will get a chance to go out and play sports and have a fun time.  We on the other hand get to see these kids and learn from them.  It will be and eye opening experience for me I believe.  I will get to see how some of these underprivileged children are, and will notice how good I really had it growing up.  Besides that aspect of the trip, it will be fun for me to play with these kids because I love sports.  I hope that they enjoy different sports too, otherwise they might not have the good time we are hoping to achieve.  I think that this is going to be an awesome day, and I cannot wait for us to go. 

- Andrew De Jong

Small group culture reflection

As I reflect on this week of Com 320, my thoughts are wondering to our group composition.  Like some of the other groups in the class our group that was set about 4 weeks ago is the same as the first presentation.  If I remember correctly those groups were formed when we played a game trying to find people with like favorite things.  At the end of the game we had to find five people that had something in common with us.  I forget what all of us five had in common but we made a great group.   It was very weird in class Wednesday having to label our group members.  When we do activities in our group for class all five of us hold different roles without even splitting up these roles intentionally.  Something is just unsettling about trying to identify these roles on paper and having others look at the answers you gave.  Even if the information is true and you know your role in the group, something in the back of your mind feels like your taking advantage of the group somehow by performing this particular role, even if you are doing your fair share of the work. 

On Friday we talked about culture in groups and around the world.  I had a very interesting time experiencing different cultures in El Salvador.  Business is much more laid back than what we are used to in America.  This resembles the culture of our group I feel.  We are all a group of people that likes to get things done, but at times we also like to have fun while doing things.

-Jarrett

Chapter 4: Relating to Others in Groups and Teams

   In class this week we covered chapter 4 in the book about relating to others in groups and teams.

  One class day focused on the different roles a person plays in a group and the types of communication they display. The activity was to assign characteristics/group roles to ourselves and to the members of your group.  I liked the idea of the activity of seeing how our perceptions of ourselves were stacked up against how others perceived us.  I didn't like having to categorize my other group members into characteristics that were the extremes.  I think that was hard to do and, most likely, not very accurate since most of us met only a few weeks ago.

   Another class day we talked about how culture affects communication. I think it was very interesting to watch the videos on communicating with Japanese and Chinese people in the business setting. 

Communication rules are something I really wouldn't have thought about prior to meeting with someone from another country, but they are very important.  I looked for other videos on gestures in communication for other languages and I found this one for Russian.  I thought it was really interesting especially about the ear pulling on a person's birthday.

   I like reading comics so I thought I would leave you with a comic about customer service that I think applies to communication. 

-Rachel Page

Week Two

The past week in COM 320 was busy! This class has kept me incredibly busy! I’m learning a lot as we go, but trying to stay on top of things. We were directed to start preparing for our service learning project which is a big deal. There are a lot of things to consider, plan, and execute. Earlier in the week, our group brainstormed potential places to create an event at. We thought of working at the Salvation Army, working for Meals on Wheels, and creating an event for the kids at the Cary Home in Lafayette. We all decided that we would create an event for the kids. When it warms up (if it warms up) we want to do some outdoor activities and crafts with the kids either at the Cary Home or at Cary Quad. After that, we plan to take them to Ford Dining Court for some food and then get them back home for the evening.

            On another note from this past week, the class activity we did on Wednesday was kind of depressing. It was terrible having to pick two things that our group members exhibited in group meetings. The first two classes of attributes were easy to do, but the last class of attributes was not very positive. I know we all exhibit not very positive behaviors sometimes, but I like to try and look at the positives so I don’t create a negative image that could affect my actions towards my group members.

-Mark 

Second Thoughts

Since we talked about power in class today, I will share this. This poster most accurately describes coercive power, which is the perception that someone can punish you for acting or not acting in a certain way. To me, coercive power seems to be an end result. What may have began as legitimate, referent, expert, or reward power oftentimes ends in coercive power. This is most apparent in authoritarian governments where the dictator was once a freedom fighter or supporter of the common man. The picture caption explains why coercive power exists.

In addition to power, we also discussed culture. Culture can be beneficial and detrimental to small group function. Depending on the audience, having members representing different cultures allows for maximum consideration amongst group members. Culture can negatively affect a group when its members' cultures clash with each other. This kind of internal conflict will destroy a small group, rendering it ineffective. The best way to avoid culture conflicts is for people to spend time as a temporary member of another culture. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. In addition to traveling to China, through my Chinese girlfriend I am involved with a small portion of the Chinese community here at Purdue. I now have a better understanding of Chinese culture and the challenges faced by international students on campus.

-Steven Gitter

COM 320 and Me

       I have to say, I wasn't real excited about signing up for COM 320.  I am required to take two professional-speaking courses for my Computer Information Technology major on top of COM 114.  I'm not the type of person who likes speaking in front of people so I do not consider COM classes something I would enjoy.  I would much rather be sitting behind a computer, preferably with multiple monitors. 

       Despite all of my preconceptions, my experience of COM 320 so far has been great.  I am on a team of people with different experiences and personalities who work well together to complete the course assignments.  Our team name, Sticky Thinking, came from our experience using the Affinity Technique in a class activity at the beginning of the semester.  The picture below shows how the Affinity Technique is used.  I like our team name because to me it means we want to create a presentation that “sticks” in the audience’s mind.  It also represents our group contract rules in that we hope to consider each group member’s opinions, ideas and thoughts.

     Another thing that surprised me about COM 320, besides liking it, is the number of presentations given.  I did not expect to have completed several presentations by this time in the semester.  

       Even though speaking in front of others still is not something I look forward to, I can definitely tell that this class has influenced me already.  I think that by the end of this course I will be able to speak better and more confidently because of the experience I have learned in this class.

-Rachel Page

First Thoughts

Going into this class, I had heard a range of comments from it is super easy to it takes a lot of time. Based on conversations with friends in different sections of COM 320, I can say that neither statement reflects this class (and that's a good thing). I am grateful that I am a part of a great group, which is the essence of small group communication anyway. All of us [Sticky Thinking] are from the College of Technology and in the past some of us have even been in classes together. We are all dedicated students and get along well with each other; that alone will make this class enjoyable.

Another reason this class will be enjoyable is our teacher Jasmine. From what I hear about other sections and their instructors, ours is more demanding but more fun.

Not surprisingly, public speaking is not something that I enjoy nor comes naturally for me. What I have found is that I am able to build my confidence in public speaking through the small group format. I think that knowing I have the support of my group members is what makes this possible. Most of the time it is easier to accomplish something as a team rather than as an individual.

I will surely be able to use experiences from this class in upcoming interviews, as graduation grows near.

- Steven Gitter

First Class Reflection

          The previous week was dedicated to practicing and presenting our workshop. Our goal was to take information from chapter 12 in the COM book, which was about leadership, and create an informational presentation about it. I was very happy with the overall end result. I feel that our group really broke through some barriers. I never felt that there were any big hurdles to overcome, or that we were all unable to overcome the awkward first impressions and getting to know one another. I feel that we all really started to mesh together as a group. Everyone participated actively and communicated really well throughout the entire process. This is perhaps one of, if not the best group I have ever been a part of. I guess now that I’m done buttering everyone up, I’ll talk a little about the presentation itself.

            We came up with our tentative class outline. The whole class was to start out doing an activity where we posted up various quotes and everyone would select one that best fit them and then explain why. Then we talked about process and task leadership and explained their respective differences. Then move onto the three different types of leadership styles and explain them. To further develop the class’ understanding, we had them participate in another activity where they were forced to use a specified leadership style and they had to come to a decision involving a difficult situation and share their decision and thoughts about the certain style. I then gave some statistics taken about the various styles. We then had the class take a survey to figure out what type of leader they are.

            I felt that we had a successful workshop that was informative and stimulating. It also helped our group come more together and work efficiently. I really look forward to participating in other group presentations and seeing how we progress even further through the rest of the semester!

-Mark Saull

Class Thus Far

                This class has been a lot different than what I had expected after the first six weeks of class.  The major thing has been the amount of classes Jasmine has missed.  I have never had a professor miss more than one or two classes throughout the semester.  This is a nice change of pace however.  Of course I like that sometimes class is canceled, but I also like that even though she isn’t always here, she still has us go on with class as though she is sitting in the back.  It makes me feel like she is forcing us to become more independent, and making us learn things on our own.  It makes things more fun this way, rather than sitting in class every day listening to the same person lecture over and over again.  We get to have Jasmine teach us some days, and then the class takes turns teaching each other for the next week.  Because of us teaching the rest of the class so often, we have already had quite a few presentations to do.

                This brings me to another reason this class has been different than what I expected.  I have never had a class where I have had to do so many presentations before.  I knew I would have to be doing them, but I figured I would have a presentation once every three to four weeks.  So far through six weeks of class our group has had our theory presentation, leadership presentation, and our blog presentation.  When I took COM 114, I only had four presentations all year.  I figured this class was going to be along those lines.  Either way, I could use the practice with public speaking since I don’t have to do it very often in my other classes. 

                Overall, this class has been fun this first part of the year.  Class is never boring, and after looking at the syllabus for the upcoming weeks, it looks like it will continue to be exciting.  

-Andrew De Jong

Class reflection leadership pesentation

Last week our group did a presentation on leadership.  In this speech we explained a little about what leadership is and the different styles of leadership.  I talked about task leadership and how every member of a group can perform the role of the leader.  This got me thinking on how I can be a better leader inside and outside of the classroom.  If you think about it, small groups are everywhere.  Even myself and my roommates could be considered a group.  Using task leadership I can help make my living environment a better place for all who reside in it.  What is really cool about task leadership is that everyone can fill in the spot as leader for a given time frame.  If I usually initiate the process of washing the dishes and I am not there, someone else can assume the role as leader and still get housework done.

                As part of our activities for the presentation we asked the class to pick quotes from off the walls and to explain how they connected to them.  This got me thinking about famous leaders in history and how they affected my life.  Leadership is a very important subject to everyone because it plays a direct role in everyone’s lives.  The role of leader in a family is a very easy example of this.  In my family, my father was the leader of the household.  In some situations the mother is the leader of a family.  These leaders in families have a direct effect on how the family is structured and how their children behave.

Posted by Jarrett Hullinger

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