Missed Class on Thursday

I am the proud owner of my first porciline filling since dentist are apparently no longer supposed to use metal?

*looks in mouth*'

Ah forget it. I just need to take care of the one that was broken....

Now for today's assignment! Group dynamics is the name of the game but with all the examples I have to my disposal, how can I narrow down FIVE interesting things I could find about the concept? Well, after scrapping my tired and mostly insane brain, I was able to come up with five things I managed to pick up;

1. The Bruce Tuckman stages of team development- For one thing, I was surprised that someone would really evaluate how teams form and build around each other this closely. Granted, it is important but then again, I'm not the type of person who could hold my attention span towards something like this (or could I? I always down myself like this...) I like how things always start out in such a mess when a group comes together; its so true in so many cases so it makes a hell of a lot of sense. What kinda gets me is the simple fact of this; I've been focusing most of my brain cells writing a comic/wannabe series based on something like this...and the answers just slapped me in the face. What the hell? I've been worrying for the past year and a half about how to ensure that my characters, as a group, come together in a non-cliched or forced way...and I read this and then a minuet later BAM, it hits me. Gee, now all those 27 intro stories that I wrote can flow a lot better now that I know how to connect them and how to fucking establish a group and their team work together. Why the hell did I not find this sooner? 


2. Group size and diversity DOES matter!- I don't know but this one feels more like an 'I TOLD YOU SO!!' feeling on my part since there are times when yes, I do feel this important. The site that featured the article (http://wilderdom.com/group/GroupSize.html) basically had my thoughts summed up; there is such a thing as too small....but also TOO BIG. One thing that happens when people find themselves CROWED amoungts a group of many is that they get lost and its really easy to do so. This can lead what I called the 'drowning effect'; you feel like you're drowning in a sea of activity and it feels like there is nothing you can do to get help or even have your voice heard. On the opposite end, when a group is too small, depending on the project of course, it hinders the ability for the group to try new things. The best thing about having a group of many is that you often end up with MANY views, views that you can all share. Again, it depends on the activity; small groups do work but it does seem to fit in best when you're handling small task (take the kite activity which could have worked with two or three people which is a small number) but when you're doing things like, say, PLANNING A SUPER BOWL (dohohoho, aren't I clever) you need many in the group....

But you want what's ironic? Those many sometimes get split into SMALLER groups which means that you start off with something LARGE but then break it down into something small to get the job done. So in this case, large works because its then turned into something small but not too small to lack any sort of rotating thought and not too large to allow people to get lost.

Wrap your head around that logic for a moment.

3. Risky business is thwarted by groups?- I never knew that? Hell, when most of us in highschool were put in groups, we DID risky business....maybe the business was just LESS risky compared to what it could have been like if we were on our own? I don't know but perhaps there is more points to this than I am giving credit to, especially if there is a good leader on board.

....Then again.....*thinks back to high school*

Buddy: Shall I do the 'I'm stepping on someone's grave dance?' 8D

Me: *face palm*

And that was a group....but then again....we were at Crown Hill....on an assignment....to learn things I can not remember.

God, my high-school was weird.

4. The group support group (brought to you in part by The Department of Redundancy Department)- Another obvious fact but one that bears repeating; yes, working in groups can help people out socially since it introduces people to others and allows them to work together in order to solve tasks and other problems. It sounds simple enough but I will give you another hint; this doesn't always sit well with others!


HINT HINT ME


I guess for some people, its not the WORK that scares them but the interaction with other people. I basically said my beef with groups in my past entries but I will spare you the entire details and give you this little piece of history that basically sums up why I hate working in groups; past experience was shit. Just shit. Shit kids, shit activity, even now at 25 I'm still bitter and a good time warp would involve me chasing some bad-ass kids around with a phone book. THANKFULLY HOWEVER, working with mature adults has shown me otherwise and I no longer have the same hatred for group work as I did in the past...

Well, SOMETIMES but that is a tale I will not repeat on this site only because....it happened here at the school...but about two years ago thankfully.

5. There are different types of teams?! I NEVER KNEW!- I know this has nothing to do with groups per say but its bears some repeating only because it sounds interesting to say the least. Yes, there are indeed various types of teams...there isn't just one thing called a, ya know, TEAMS. Depending on the situation and the way the members are communicating with each other, a teams can be labeled any sort of way. For instance, we have the formal and informal teams; the teams where you're just thrown together on the fly without any sort of thought going into whether or not you want to claw the eyes out of the person you've been put with. You know! THAT type of team! 8D We also have the problem solving team; this team is put together to figure out complex problems or situations that whatever group/company they are working for is facing. Perhaps this is the one where most of the stress comes from. I mean, its not like an entire company is riding and HOPING for ideas to come from these guys to ensure that nothing negative happens, in particular the falling out of a company and....oh wait.

And those are my five things I've learned about group dynamics, with a bit of team building tossed into the mix for some seasoning. I'm still a little scatter-brained about the first one only because now I'm becoming preoccupied with my sudden discovery about what I want to do for my Capstone...all because I looked at some list about they dynamimcs of groups. Urgh, I