mil palabras ~ one thousand words

Being in a groupwork heavy class you obviously want to always be there and be dependable. The entire main idea of this class was to learn how to get out of your comfort zone and depend on others to help you.

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I actually enjoy working in groups because of how you are able to learn about other people and their work ethic. I am one to be very dependable, but of course things do happen that are unforeseen. I loved the group of girls I sat with for the semester of the class because since we did work together for two projects we were able to be comfortable with each other. We basically decided who the leader of the group was without really speaking of it, she did take charge as being "in charge" of things which was very easy because we never argued or had different opinions of who should be head of things.

We were given many articles to read and many videos to watch throughout class and in the beginning we of course went over how groups work together without us really knowing. It is a thing that happens when you do not realize it. It is like how I spoke about my group for the semester choosing who the leader is without speaking much of it. It simply happens.

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Although I do enjoy working with people in person I do think it might be easier to work with everyone online only because you are for free to work in the comfort of your home rather than setting up a time when everyone can meet. It is definitely easier to set a page up where everyone can post from and add to when they need. 

Since we did have many readings this semester, the one I enjoyed a lot was in the beginning of the semester that was titled, "What is Collaboration Anyway?". I just feel that this short chapter was a nice start in heading into the groupwork that this class was about. 

Collaborating in anything consists of so much dedication and being new to the Information Science and eSociety major was very fun and exciting because of the classes I was taking and how much information I was taking in. It was all so fun, but I did have times where I slipped up with assignments and although it does happen to many students you always wish it wasn't you it was happening to. 

Working in groups is not always fun for everybody and that why it is so important to establish who is doing what work before everything officially takes off. You also cannot be so sensitive when it comes to what you are left to work with because you just need to make the best of it. Many groups fail because they do not make roles, they run before they walk and rush into things and end up with a failing grade. 

I feel that if you are not a sociable person then it helps to watch videos on how to work well with others, or if you want to be a successful leader then watching videos or reading actors would really help anybody in general. 

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Everybody should be informing themselves on many different subjects that they even find boring because they are only adding experience under their sleeves. With having a successful group, you find yourself in different stages within the entire 'Tuckman's 5 Stages' is a great way to learn about what exactly you are going through as a group. His way of describing how working a group goes is very intriguing because before reading this, I just knew that groupwork was groupwork and either we finished it successfully or not. Tuckman goes in and explains the 'Forming' stage which is learning about others and building the co-dependency that every group needs. After explaining a few more, we finally reach the 'Adjourning' stage that is reflecting on how things went.

Tina Fey also spoke about being successful in situations that might make you uncomfortable (groupwork). In shorter terms, you need to simply say "YES"  to any situation. It will only help you grow as a person in the end. You have to keep things flowing constantly when in a group because once things come to a weird stop and you do not have established roles then things get messy. 

Again, reading short essays or excerpts always helps.

Overall, working in groups is probably not everybody's favorite scene but in the end you leave with a new perspective of how groupwork actually is. Maybe you left with an entire different view or you hate it even more. I feel that everyone should always go into it with an open mind. I think that if it weren't for this class then I would be still more of a quiet person. Being in this new major has definitely helped me grow as a person and has helped me become more open. 

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You should always have a plan if worse comes to worse. If your group is not the best then you just need to be honest and lay things out on the table. Maybe switch roles or talk about the subject of the project itself and go another route. I have my own views of groupwork and I'm sure I've either made people's views of groupwork either worse or better. Everyone is different and so is their work ethic. If you put in your 100 then hopefully everything should work out. Even if you need to put in a little extra work and you have no problem doing that then it helps better your group because they are seeing that you are a leader and you are taking initiative of the problem and fixing it. It is better to finish or leave something knowing you did your part in helping the group rather than not doing anything and expecting something so great out of the things you did not do.