"We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." Epicetetus quote
Thursday, October 29, 2009
BOOO BOOOOOOOO!!! HALLOWEEN PRESENTATION
(WK7)
Here is a link to our introduction video about the origins of Halloween by Timothy Dickinson.
I found last class to be fun. I actually had fun for once with a presentation. YES! Of course I was nervous but I began to relax after our presentation started. My group and I did something very daring and different from the regular weekly power points. Our topic was on informative speech with Halloween as an example of the technique. My teammates were so calm and there I was slowly freaking out as people started to walk in for class. We were there at 1:20 pm preparing and doing any last minute changes we had to make for the presentation. We wanted everyone to have fun (knowing that we were not getting graded) we decided to include activities and other things we probably wouldn’t do on a graded assignment. Our ideas and speeches should have been pushed further with more information and content to support our individual topics. As everyone knows, our presentation was WAY TOO SHORT. It was about 32 minutes long when it was supposed to be 75 at most. THIS WAS A BIG PROBLEM. Eric made a good point about how bad we would look to a company if we ended earlier then we said and so on.
Our speeches should have been more elaborate but at least I had fun presenting for the first time ever. Our Halloween concept was solid but as everyone said, our games and facts needed more explanation. And even though we had everyone read off the vocabulary list for the jeopardy game, it could have been connected more. Our intention for the games was to get peoples attention and engage them through activities and participation-which we did but we lacked connecting the entire thing to the presentation and ideas. We thought the activities would take longer then they did, so the presentation went even faster then originally planned. It was difficult to find a balance between the facts and Halloween because all of our examples were so focused on Halloween concepts.
The simple fact that we were not graded on this, led us to making such a drastic change in this assignment. If we were graded, I don’t know if we would have taken the same approach. However, with al the preparation and ideas behind the presentation It’s weird to actually not receive a grade even though it was a nice break and helped me relax a little. Overall, I had a great time with our presentation and got really good feedback that I will carry on with me when presenting again. (426)
I tried to post a video and I can't :( I will try again.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The good old days...With MR. LEE
(WK6)
After reading “Understanding Human Communication" I couldn’t help but pay attention to the section of "Gender and Language.” After last class when we discussed teachers and how they acted on the first day, I couldn’t help but write something about it. Back in High School, I had a teacher my freshman year that was very intimidating. Being a freshman in HS alone was scary enough. Specially, coming from a private school almost all my life to a public HS.
People hated when Mr. LEE, my English teacher, would walk in a room. Normally dressed in a suit and tie everyday he had a vicious and intimidating look on his face all the time. MR.LEE would walk the halls yelling at the “skippers” to go to class. He really wanted to see who could handle him and his attitude. Those who could would make it to college and have successful careers. And that was what he wanted for all of us, even though we didn’t care at the time. For the first three weeks of school he failed us in every assignment we did. I WAS FREAKED OUT. It was all about directions and process for him and every teacher was different. He was one of few in our school that scared students. He rarely opened up to people even until my senior year when I asked him to write a recommendation for me. Though a great man, the way he acted in class was normally how he acted in general and it gave me a reason to believe that he was like everyone else. Trying to give us a taste of reality in the real world and how people acted, rather then immature “hard ass’s” that people thought they were in HS and disrespecting teachers and starting fights and so on.
I personally really respected him as a teacher and knew how dedicated he was. He was actually my favorite teacher and I don’t know why. He didn’t care how many people hated him; it never changed his ways of teaching and his habits in classrooms. He was very strict, but I saw right through it simply because English was his passion and if I showed interest and dedication he would respect me equally as I did him. Because of him, I had more of an appreciation for literature and group activities through his assignments. I learned from my mistakes through failing and succeeding in his classes. I liked that he was hard on us because it pushed me. I took him every year after that. As all people say it either works or doesn’t work. In this case, I enjoyed his classes and intimidations because it helped me get over my fears on opening up and asking questions as well as general conversations with adults and teachers. (470)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
"Orbiting the Giant Hairball" A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie
(WK5)
Orbiting the Giant Hairball is a great read so far. It is easy to read, fun and refreshing. It is written in a spontaneous, stream of consciousness style with child-like drawings and pictures throughout the book, even hand written in places. It really engages the readers by having visuals to look at. Gordon defines “hairball” as the companies that are created through endless rules, policies, procedures, management layers and practices. Each “rule” is like a little hair that gets connected or knotted to the other hairs, and the result is a giant hairball. I can definitely relate to this simply because we all get wrapped up in following the rules and therefore it limits out creativity and little freedoms. But I want to talk about the book itself and all the process behind it. It is not your typical traditional style of business books or material in it.
I love books like this simply because Gordon went back in with his hands to edit his material. It’s collaged with different fonts (large and small) that are handwritten, stamped and typed out. As a Graphic Design major I see both good and bad layouts with this book. Knowing my major is geared toward simplicity and clean layouts, I love texture and patterns. Which a lot of my fellow peers do not relate to. I am intrigued that Gordon was able to pull it off and still have it be an overall interesting read in both visuals and content. At first glance the pages seem cluttered and overwhelming but Gordon’s experience and ideas are definitely obvious with his placement of everything and how it flows. All of his lines, marks, designs, type etc is intentional and he thought about all before hand. For example on page 75, the WHUP! WHUP! Etc is so simple but so effective by the type sizes and type face as well as the simple gestured qualities and movements he added behind it. What I like most is that whether a child, teen or adult the visual elements can relate to everyone and make it fun. This book is so inspiring and has actually helped me with outside ideas to do for fun. It comes from the position of a true artist, Gordon himself, who was very creative and also inspired by everything he saw. Almost all his work in this book I can see in posters, magazines, and other art related assignments. It is directed for people like us “artists” and is very lose and inspiring. (374)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Silence
(WK4)
The last class was interesting. I liked how we discussed the power of silence and how people react to different situations. Most people like having a friend to talk to rather than being alone. Some people are afraid of being alone and cannot tolerate silence so they need someone to comfort them. I find that people say they are "bored" and they constantly run around doing things in a frenzy to keep the silence away. I believe if you love and understand yourself it is okay to be alone and allow silence and space in your life. As weird as it sounds, people don't appreciate being bored. We get all wrapped up in always having to be with someone or always running around from place to place when we can be by ourselves and appreciate it. We all deserve a break from our hectic lives sometimes. I choose to be alone at times and have gone to the movies or the beach by myself. I come back happy. People don’t understand how I can be alone and be happy.
My zodiac sign tells me I love people. Yes I am a people person; always wanting to make sure everyone is happy and comfortable. Yet I enjoy my space and alone time too. I have also wanted to try what Eric did with his friends -- sitting back with friends in silence for an hour and then talking about it. A lot of people just react to the awkward silence and almost immediately start talking or acknowledge the awkwardness of the situation. I have yet to accomplish this goal simply because every time I try and be quiet, everyone thinks I am mad and they worry. This also applies to me when it comes to homework. I have my days where I like to get out of my room and do work and with a small crowd of people and other days where I do work alone. I get my work done so much faster with less distractions and conversations with friends. Of course everyone cares about pleasing people and being able to be around when everyone else is but I prefer working alone. Silence is a very powerful thing, sometimes stronger than words. I have very few friends that can understand that talking is not always necessary to make a point or conversation. I can sit with my best friend for hours and not feel pressured to talk none stop because we are so comfortable with each other. On the other hand, if people are shy and do not know each other very well it can make things awkward and then people don’t know how to handle the awkward situation. (450)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
is face to face communication the same...
(WK3)
I couldn't think of something to write about for today relating to class. So I decided to browse for a blog on Google and try and relate it to class.
Here is the blog:
Communicating with People You Haven’t Met
By Pearl • August 12, 2007
I found Pearl's response to communication very interesting. Though there was one point in the blog I didn't really agree with. She says, "I believe its all about communication. Communication is at the heart of building relationships and I believe blogging, as a means electronic communication, should be no different than face-to-face conversations. With every sentence we write, we are building a quiet relationship with our readers. So it is of utmost importance that each and every post is written with the purpose of engaging our readers."
It is easier to talk to someone face to face, with co-workers, friends, family, and even the person you meet at the library. However I do not agree with her comment, “blogging is no different than face to face interactions".
It is so much easier to have a conversation online or on Facebook without knowing who the people are verse face-to-face conversations. I say this because I experience this on an almost daily basis with people. It is so easy to pretend you are someone you aren’t because people do not know the difference if they have never met you. Of course everyone wants to be friendly and polite when on Facebook but in person it can sometimes be different. I love to meet new people and get to know them.
It is easy to write down your thoughts in a blog or online, but would people be that interested and do the same in person to someone they just met? I think not. I think these are both very different concepts and most people don't feel the same in those situations. I have heard from friends that every time they talk to someone online it's not the same vibe or energy they get in person. I think most people prefer face-to-face communication. I know I do. (349)
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