1. I held individual conferences with my research writing students and they were a joy to work with as they tackle subjects ranging from generational poverty to the tolerance of injustice in the workplace in the USA.
2. The laughter and good cheer as my Lit of Comedy students worked on pictorial representations of odes by Pablo Neruda.
3. I had a wonderful talk after class with Mindy as she worked out her complicated feelings about her admiration of self-reliance and her deep feelings of commitment to the necessity of collective action.
2 comments:
Just to clarify - was Mindy struggling with working in groups as opposed to working alone? We grew up at a time when self-reliance and individual production was the goal.
I really struggled with group work in college at the turn of the century, because I didn't trust anyone to do the work as well as I believed I could.
I even got "burned" in one group, who basically ignored my input. (It was a business class, and I was a communication major.) The class was required for my degree, but because I wasn't "one of them" they ousted me and my research, which contradicted one of their main premises. We had to evaluate our groups, and I told the truth about their behavior. They all got "A"s and I got a "B" - because the Prof liked the paper (96 -grade), but didn't like what I had to say about the ones who wrote it.
I took a class on "Group Communication" later as part of my major. It was excellent. My Prof. pointed out that groups are supposed to consist of persons with different qualities, so that the sum of the members create a balanced group. So often in business (and education) these qualities are not taken into consideration, and the group can become "unbalanced" or certain members can be squeezed out because the things they bring to the table aren't recongnized as being necessary.
I am an information gatherer and a cheerleader. I love the research, and I like everyone to feel a part and to participate. When we worked in groups in the comm class, the results were amazing, because we knew what each person had to offer, and allowed them to offer what they could. I did all the research, someone organized the material, someone else did the graphics, another person made sure each person was doing their jobs. It was cool. (And I hope I haven't put you to sleep.)
P in my Dreams: Mindy's working out questions in her life away from school and they are relative to the work she's doing about class consciousness and the American Dream. She's a brilliant woman and fascinating to listen to as she works out these different ways she sees her life and wants to live.
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