Hello, and welcome back to my blog! This week's topic: analyzing group work. Let's begin!

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So week 4's big group assignment was Best Finds, an assignment in which we had to work in groups to create a presentation that demonstrated our understanding of the readings by presenting 2 outside sources that connected to the main ideas of the texts read in class thus far. The issue our group focused on was particularly related to immigration. More specifically, we focused on the practice of "othering" (or labeling" and the separation of immigrant families due to forced deportation. To elaborate on these topics, we integrated a CNN interview with Trump that emphasized his rhetoric and portrayal of illegal immigrants-- and thus, his purposeful labeling of them as criminals, rapists, and murderers-- and a political cartoon that highlighted the impact of America's deportation policies-- that is, that such policies forcefully remove immigrants who have positively impacted their families and communities-- into a 5-slide Google presentation. With Trump's interview, we related his rhetoric to that of an oppressor's, as outlined by Freire's "banking concept of education," for he deposits his own narrative of reality to his supporters, one in which illegal immigrants are simply criminals. With the political cartoon, we related the message of the image to that of Barbaro's podcast "Carlos's Secret," for the idea of separation of families in the image paralleled Carlos's forced deportation, an incident that created a void in his community. Overall, our Google Slide presentation consisted on 5 slides: the first was the title page, introducing our project and focuses; the second was an introduction and contextualization to our first source, CNN's interview with Trump; the third was a slide on the main points of the interview and its connections to Freire's "banking concept;" the fourth was an intro and contextualization of our second source, the political cartoon; and finally, our last slide illustrated the main ideas of the cartoon and connected these ideas to those in "Carlos's Secret."

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During the course of this project, I was reflectively thinking about the type of member I was portraying myself to be to the group and the type of member I wanted myself to be. I realized that I was the main facilitator of communication for the group, for I sought out a means of communication such that we could keep each other up-to-date on the project and was the main person using the group chat that was created. Realizing that I was the main person talking in the group chat slightly bothered me for a few moments, for after hours of no reply, I felt like I was being ignored, and this led me to think that I was possibly doing something wrong that caused the other members to want to ignore me. I thought that perhaps I was being too "pushy" or authoritative, that maybe my group members were not responding because they did not like the way in which I was working with them. But upon thinking this, I also thought about the ways in which I actively tried to not portray myself as too authoritative or "pushy:" if I contributed an idea, I always asked afterwards if they thought it was okay or if they had any constructive criticism, or if I edited something on our project, I would inform the group, letting them know that I had changed something and, if they did not agree with what I changed, to please inform me so I could change it back to its original state. Reflecting on my actions allowed me to negate the former thoughts, for in the moments that I believed I was being too "bossy," I recalled the precautions I took to try and portray myself otherwise. This is what I believe I did best as as a group member--that is, facilitate constructive communication. However, even though I had moments where I asked for their opinions on my actions or thoughts, a part of me feels that I should have explicitly asked for their thoughts about myself as a member, that I should have simply asked in the chat "am I taking too much control?" By not doing this, I believe I did the least in trying to constructively build on the teamwork, on enhancing our group chemistry.

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In asking for their honest opinions about my actions and ideas, I tried to demonstrate trust and openness towards them and their ideas. Like previously mentioned, I would make sure that I ask for their opinions (e.g. by asking "I think this....but what do you guys think?") after contributing an idea as a way to prevent myself from dominating the group, for the last thing I wanted was for anyone to feel like I was making all the decisions or taking too much control. I honestly appreciated their inputs and ideas, so I wanted to ensure that they felt heard, too. Whenever we had a chance to share ideas with each other, I would try to give my honest opinions to effectively contribute to the group conversation, and I felt like the other group members also did the same because there was a mutual understanding that being honest (e.g. saying "I don't think this works; what if we tried this instead?") would allow us to focus on presenting our strongest material and ideas. Upon sharing ideas, I think that the others did appear to understand what I was contributing to our conversations, for they agreed with some (like adding a clip of Trump's interview to our presentation) and kindly rejected others (like possible theme colors that were tested while creating the Google Slides). If anything was unclear, we would ask each other for explanations of what was trying to be said; this way, we worked together to ensure there was no confusion or uncertainty. When others spoke, I tried my best to give them my utmost attention, focusing on the main points they were trying to get across and the ideas they wanted to contribute or test out. Sometimes, however, I did realize that my mind would wonder when someone was speaking because I was focused on the work, but in these moments, I would catch myself and reel my attention back to them. If I did not catch a certain aspect of what they said, I would ask for them to repeat their thought or provide more explanation; this way, I could fully acknowledge their ideas and contributions. But I do realize, though, that to become a better listener, I must actively try to prevent myself from having wondering thoughts while others speak. On a related note, listening to my peers' presentations really opened my eyes to the varying perspectives and outlooks on this group project. For instance, some groups were very creative and used songs as their sources, connecting the ideas of the lyrics to our readings in class, and this made me realize that I myself could strive to be more creative in future assignments to make such connections as they did.

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Reflecting on my performance in the presentation, I believe I can improve my communication skills by practicing in front of a few friends next time, instead of practicing in front of a mirror by myself, to try and get used to talking in front of a live audience. By doing this, I would shake off the nerves I have for public speaking more effectively and learn to efficiently present my thoughts to a crowd. Regarding future group assignments, to make my level of contribution more appropriate, I realize that I must effectively communicate with my team and explicitly ask them for their thoughts on my actions (e.g "am I being too controlling?"). If they do believe that I am dominating the group, I know I must take a step back, reevaluate my actions, and compromise with my team. At times, I know I may not realize the true impact of my actions, particularly regarding group work; thus, I truly value the importance in asking other members about their opinions, and I appreciate any constructive criticism they may have. If they think I am doing too much or too little, I value their input, and I hope that they would be honest in telling me their opinion. However, I can only improve if they choose to voice their thoughts about me; therefore, there is a dependency on both sides when it comes to improving group chemistry.

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To end this blog entry, I would like to leave off on yet another positive note: below, I attached Professor Delany-Ullman's comment on our presentation, where she notes some highlights of our work!

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Until next time, 

Joanne

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