Writing Assignment 14: Final Reflection

In the State of the World project we practiced three leadership skills; thinking critically, calibrating productively, and managing projects effectively. Each of these skills played an important role in the project. In the below text I will reflect on each skill in the order that they are listed above.
Thinking Critically:
Thinking critically was an important skill throughout the project, however the area where we used it the most was the research paper. Our job was to collect as much information about our topic, from at least three different sources, and use our “critical thinking skills” to proud out the information that we thought was important. While gathering our information we had to think critical about what information we should write down on note cards. Also we had to think critical about how to take down the information in our own words to avoid plagiarizing other peoples work. For me the process of writing a research paper, note cards, outline, rough draft, and finally turning in a polished final draft, was a learning process, which improved my “critical thinking” skills.
Also I feel that the research paper taught me how to move beyond summarizing someone else’s work and move into interpreting it, and forming my own conclusions. Also I learned how to create a thesis statement that captures my view of whether or not imperialism and industrialization helped or damaged my social class.
After learning about how the industrial revolution shaped our country and hearing and seeing other groups present their countries I now believe that the industrial revolution was a tearing apart of societies. For example in China the foreigners over powered the Qing dynasty and forced them to sign treaties which allowed them to trade opium to the Chinese people and create a country of tens of millions of drug addicts and ruin thousands of people’s lives in the process. Although the industrial revolution may have improved the lives of some, it destroyed or damaged the lives of millions of people across the globe, and climaxed in a world war.
Collaborating Productively:
In this project I was both a leader and a follower. I take this projects very seriously and therefor was always trying to keep my group on track. I also understood that I could not do everything and sometimes it was better to let someone else do the work. This was sometimes difficult for me because I always wanted to contribute. One example of this is John is very good at using computers and making movies in Final Cut Pro and Keynote presentations. I wanted to help on the both of these however in the end I let John do both of them because his skills in these program were slightly better than mine, and also I could learn for future projects by watching.
In this project my strategy for collaborating productively was to contribute as much to the group as I could and if someone was better at a skill then I was to let them do that while I found something else to work on. For example I let John do most of the computer aspects of the project and focused my energy on the individual assignments and creating our political art piece. My only regret is that I wanting to learn how to use Final Cut Pro to create a Ken’s Burn style documentary. Since John did the documentary I was unable to learn this technic. Although I don’t think that this is a major problem because I think I can probably learn how to do this on my own.
I thought that I worked pretty well with my group. I only thing I can say that I struggled with while working we my group was wanting to contribute more and not feeling like I could. Although our final presentation turned out to be pretty good and I feel that I contributed enough to the group.
Managing Project Effectively:
Managing projects effectively has been one of the MSAT leadership skills that I am best at. This is partly due to the fact that I like to meet the benchmarks on time because I don’t like playing catch-up. I feel that I have manage my time effectively across the boards on this project. I turned in my profile map, our group’s political art piece, and my research paper in on time. Right now the only thing I am really worried about is my research paper. I have turned in a copy to Mr. Kennedy and have not yet gotten a mark up version back. I guess this is my major set back that I am facing and I am dealing with it by continuing to revise my paper based on the oral feedback that Mr. Kennedy gave me.
I have always been good at managing projects effectively and this project hasn’t changed. My strategy for making sure our group is on schedule is by keeping on track of which up-coming benchmarks are due and communicating this information to the rest of my group. Also if for some reason our group begins to loose track of time I try to remind them that it is important not to fall back of the schedule. Another strategy I have used is when I see myself slacking off I try to think what could I be doing instead that would contribute to the group. In the future when working on a project of this magnitude I will continue to motivate my group and always try to find ways that I can help my group finish the project on time with a high level of quality.

Week 11

Our group is doing pretty goood on our scripts. I know that everyone in our group has finished their individual scripts and Jonh said that he was going to work on our documentary script and movie or film over the weekend. I have finished writting my research paper. All I have to do before I can turn it in is finish up the bibliography and print out three copies of my paper and have two people read it. Also I have to update my outline to match my paper. Our group still needs to finish our storyboard for our keynote, and our movie.

Week 10

Our group has finished guiding questions, one of our story board is done, however I am not sure which one, and we are working on whichever one we haven't finished. Our group has finished the video script, and everyone has finished thier personal script for the powerpoint or keynote. The members of my group are progressing on their research papers and hopefuly will have them done by Friday.

Week 9

I am almost finished with my rough draft of my research paper. I have finished all of the writting. Now what is left is to finish proof reading my rough draft. Also I need to add my sources to my paper. I finish to work on this paper after school between when I get out and when I go to track practice. I also plan to work on the paper at home and on the weekend. I want to finish the rough draft at the latest by Saturday because after that I will be gone building houses in Mexico for a week. I am not sure how long it will take me to finish, however I think that I am pretty close. If I put in a few more hours I think that I can definately finish. Maybe less.

Week 8

I am doing pretty good on the project. I have completed my outline and I am now proofing reading my rough draft of my research paper. I am pretty confident about my research paper and I think that it shouldn't be that hard to turn it into a final draft. I am going to try to get completly caught up on the project on Saturday because our whole group is going to Mexico to build houses over spring break. Therefor we won't have any time to work on the project. As of now only John, Tyler, and I will be pressenting because Erik and Lawrence are far behind. Also everyone in our group has been signed off on their rough draft political posters so now we can begining thinking about how are final poster will look like. Another this is that we did a debate in history about the Industrial Revolution. Basically there have been good things and bad things that has been a result of the Industrial Revolution. For example the Industrial Revolution allowed products to be manifactured for less, and more effeciently. However the machines also caused a lot of polution, and the cities were overcrowded and people got sick from all the suit in the air.

Week 7

Most of our group is caught up. I think that Eric and Lawrence still need to finish theirt outlines. I think that Lawrence needs to finish steps 5 and 8 and I am not sure about Erik. I know that John Tyler and I are all finished with our outlines now and can begin writing our paper. Also we have got our guiding questions signed off so we can start working on writting the answers. We can also start working on our rough draft posters for the art componet of the project. Also our group needs to start thinking about and planning out our storyboard for our documentary film.

Week 6

Our group is doing good on the Project. I am caught up on all of the steps, and I am going to try to finish my rough draft outline. I have begun my outline and still have a lot to do, so I am going to have to do a lot of work tonight. In the last week I have learned how to stay on track. I have learned how to motivate my team-mates to help them move foward on the project. The hardest thing for me in the project is finding time to do all of my homework because I am taking electives and have track practice after school Monday thru Thursday.

Week 5

We are still plugging away at the project. I am doing pretty well. I have completed my map and map reflection, both step 5 and 8, and I am on track to complete the 125 notecards by Thursday. I know that John and Tyler are both caught up on the project and Lawerence is getting there. I haven't seen Erik within the last week so I don't know where he stands however he was behind the last time I talked to him.

Week 4

Our group is surviving the project. Some members of our group still need to catch up. For example several members are not caught up on maps and notecards. The good news is that everyone in our group has started both the note card research and the maps and some members have finished. For our group to be succesfull on the project we will need to continue to work hard and complete the benchmarks.