Journal+Prompts

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 * 1) Read “Power”. Recall a specific conflict that you have experienced in this immersive project this semester. Analyze your power in this conflict in R-I-C-E terms. What resource control did you have? What interpersonal linkages were important? What expertise did you have? How does the outcome of the event relate to the power that you had? (COMM 320, COMM 330, COMM 340, COMM 442)
 * 2) Read “Power”. Think of a specific conflict that you have experienced in this immersive project this semester. Did you or the other party(ies) use metacommunication while engaging in the conflict? If so, what role did the metacommunication play in resolving the conflict? If not, how do you think the conflict resolution might have changed if metacommunication was used? Give an example of how metacommunication can help balance power in an interpersonal conflict. (COMM 340, COMM 442, COMM 320)
 * 3) Read “Power”. Reflect on the challenges you had maintaining power in the MOMS, Inc. classroom. In terms of the R-I-C-E acronym, what power currencies did you have in the situation? How were you able to use the forms of power that you held in order to resolve conflicts in the classroom? (COMM 442, COMM 340)
 * 4) Consider the technology used to communicate among the group throughout the semester. What challenges did you experience with these forms of technology? What opportunities were available because of the technology? How did the technology change the way you communicated with other group members? Did it hurt or help the communication? Give examples. What recommendations would you make to a future immersive group about the technologies they should use to communicate? (COMM 340, 330)
 * 5) Now that you have debated in at least one debate tournament, how has your outlook on argumentation changed? Have you changed your argumentation tactics in everyday arguments? Give examples. If not, are you able to notice tactics you’ve seen in debate rounds during everyday interactions? If so, which? (COMM 320, COMM 220)
 * 6) Read "Building Trust". Reflect on your group experiences during this semester. What is the level of trust in the group? Specifically recall behaviors you and/or your group members have used to help develop and maintain trust within the group. Has every group member done enough to reinforce trust among group members? Consider the following: (a) Did everyone always follow through on commitments they make to the group? (b) Has anyone ever broken confidence inside or outside the group? (c) Did anyone ever withhold information from other members? (d) Has anyone ever indicated that they would do one thing for the group and did something else? Identify what you would do and communicate to sustain/enhance trust among group members. What communication skills are most central to sustaining and maintaining trust? (COMM 330, COMM 340)
 * 7) Watch []. Can you think of a time in the past semester when you might have either suppressed your own creativity or the creativity of others? What do you think influenced you to kill that creativity? How can you remove those creativity-killing influences from future group settings? (340, 330, 375)
 * 8) Watch []. Can you think of a time in the past semester when you might have suppressed the creativity of your students? If yes, explain an example and show how creativity was discouraged. What do you attribute as the cause for this suppression of creativity? Can you think of a time this semester when you have nurtured the creativity of your students? If yes, explain an example and show how your activity nurtured creativity. (340, 330, 475)
 * 9) Read "Cohesion". Which factors of cohesion do you think are the most relevant to this immersive group? Provide specific examples. Also, include a few suggestions for how to include other factors to improve cohesion. (COMM 330, 340)
 * 10) Read “An A in Failure”. Can you think of a time when you held back from a conversation or brainstorming session because you were afraid your idea was a failure? Please explain the situation. Looking back, do you think your decision to hold back was the best decision for the group? Explain your position. Several unique ways to deal with failure are noted in the reading (ie: framing rejection letters and hanging them in the guest bathroom). How do you deal with your failures? What advice would you give to future immersive students to encourage them to not be afraid to fail? (340, 330)
 * 11) Read “Rhetoric”. Reflect on a few debates you have had in the past semester. What enthymemes have you (or other debaters) employed in support of a position? (220, 320)
 * 12) Read “Rhetoric”. Aristotle divided ethos into issues of intelligence, character, and goodwill. Which quality is most important to you when you hear a public speech? Which do you believe was the most important when you addressed MOMS, Inc. students? (220)
 * 13) Read "History of Forensics" and "Teaching Debate". Reflect on your experiences teaching debate at MOMS. What is the end result that you want your students to achieve? How will the students achieve your goal? How will this activity benefit the student? How can you facilitate meeting this goal? How do you suspect you'll feel if this goal was not achieved? (475, 220, 479)
 * 14) Read "History", "Teaching" and "Judging". Reflect on your experiences teaching and judging debate. What is the ideal number of students on a debate team if you were the only coach? What relationship does forensic competition have with education, if any? Should the school/community benefit from forensics? If so, how? (475, 220, 479)
 * 15) Read "History", "Teaching", "Judging" and at least 3 different judging philosophies at this Judging Philosophies Wiki. Compare and contrast the philosophies that you chose to read based on the philosophies identified in the assigned chapters. Which educational philosophies do these judging philosophies reflect? Do you disagree with anything in the judging philosophies? If so, what? Why? After you've answered these questions, develop your own judging philosophy that could be (hypothetically) included on the Judging Philosopies Wiki. (220, 475)
 * 16) Read CH. 7 of Understanding Poverty, "Discipline". Reflect on your tutoring experiences at MOMS. Explain a time when you used (or observed someone using) a "parent voice". How did the MOMS student(s) react to this "parent voice"? Provide your insight to the effectiveness of you (or the observed's) attempt at correcting behavior. What could have been done to be more effective? (340, 475, 330)
 * 17) Read CH. 7 of Understanding Poverty, "Discipline". Observe the way the students talk during your next tutoring experience at MOMS. What is the most common voice used among the students (talking to tutors, each other, Drew, parents, etc.)? (Child, Parent, or Adult?) Provide examples. Which voice was used in response? With the background from the reading, provide an explanation for the choices that you observed. (340, 475, 330)
 * 18) Read CH. 9 of Understanding Poverty, "Creating Relationships". Reflect on your tutoring experiences at MOMS. Do you feel you've established any worthwhile relationships with the students? If yes, explain your deposits and withdrawals as explained in Payne's analysis. If no, analyze your interactions and identify the deposits attempted and withdrawals made that might have inhibited the relationship. Speculate how you could become better at developing healthy relationships in the future. (330, 475, 340)
 * 19) Read "Your Creative DNA". You have your choice of completing one of several exercises featured in this text: A) "Your Creative Autobiography" (p. 45 - 46), or B) "You Can Observe a Lot by Watching" (p. 50 - 51), or C) "Pick a New Name" (p. 51 - 53). (375, 330, 370)
 * 20) Read CH. 2 of Understanding Poverty, "The Role of Language and Story". Observe how MOMS students frame their arguments during debates and related activities. Can you spot any examples of the Casual-Register Discourse Pattern? Any examples of Formal-Register Discourse Pattern? Explain the details of these examples. Which discourse pattern is more persuasive? Explain your reasoning for your answer. Think back over your time with the MOMS students. How did you attempt to teach language register? (220, 320)
 * 21) Read CH. 3 of Understanding Poverty, "Hidden Rules Among Classes". Reflect upon your observations at MOMS. How did the students, administrators, teachers and tutors nonverbally communicate the class to which they belonged? Be specific and thorough in your explanation. In addition, how did these people nonverbally indicate their position at MOMS? What assumptions did you make about these different people (intelligence, friendliness) that might have been directly impacted by their nonverbal communication? (370, 340)
 * 22) Read CH. 5 of Understanding Poverty, "Role Models and Emotional Resources". Reflect upon your experiences at MOMS. Which of the 7 ways to "provide emotional resources" did you use? Please use specific examples. Were your attempts effective? Why, why not? (320, 330, 340)
 * 23) Read CH. 8 of Understanding Poverty, "Instruction and Improving Achievement". Reflect upon your experiences and observations at MOMS. Which of the cognitive strategies were missing (or exemplified) by the students? Be specific in your explanation. Which interventions did you, your group members and/or Drew employ to build cognitive strategies? Do you think that these interventions were effective? Why, why not? (330, 320, 340)
 * 24) Read all of Understanding Poverty. Reflect upon your experiences/observations at MOMS. Identify a stance against any one of Payne's. Explain your reservation for her assertion(s) and create an argument against her position. Provide research and other supporting material to build your case. (320, 220)
 * 25) Read Leadership Challenge. Complete the Application 3 (on pg. 98) for yourself and one other team member (you can do this by hand and scan it in or you can create this graphic in word). Relate your explanations to the concepts introduced in the Power reading, and discuss the role of power currencies. (340, 442, 330)
 * 26) Reference your Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) report, specifically the list of rank-ordered practices on page 5. It's commonly known that people learn new information in three ways: 1. trial and error (Learning by Doing), 2. by observation (Learning from Others), and 3. through education (Learning on Your Own). Identify at least 3 practices that you'd like to improve and explain ways to improve. Classify each idea for improvement under one of the three ways for learning. Be specific in identifying ways to improve. (340, 330)
 * 27) Refer to the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership handout. Identify someone who you believe is an effective leader, compare your leadership practices with those of the effective leader you've identified, and compare performance based on the 5 Practices. Identify what you can learn from the leader you identified. (340)
 * 28) Read "Small Groups". Explain the evolution of this group's development through one of the four theories in the reading. After, argue for why the theory you chose is the best to describe group development compared to the others. Be thorough in defending your position. (220, 330, 340)
 * 29) Read "Small Groups". Reflect on the decision making processes of this group. Which decision making technique did the group rely on most? Do you think this technique was the most effective? If so, explain your answer. If not, recommend alternative decision making technique(s) and explain why they might be more effective. Provide examples and employ effective argumentation tactics. (220, 330, 340)
 * 30) Read "Small Groups". Reflect on the roles each person took in the group. Which task, social and individualistic (if any) roles were employed most often? Which role(s) did you take on most commonly? Were you assigned any role(s)? Or did you naturally fulfill any role(s)? Do you effectively enact your role(s)? Please explain your perspective. Specifically reference one or two roles, and explain how you could more effectively enact those roles. (330, 340)
 * 31) Reflect on the lessons you've taught at MOMS. First, be proud of all the hard work you've done this semester and the impact you've had on those students' lives... Ok, now back to work. Identify one lesson that you've facilitated this semester and critique its effectiveness. Highlight the strengths of the initial facilitation, then highlight the downfalls. Explain how you would improve the lesson if you had a second chance to facilitate it, and argue for why you think the new approach would be more effective. Include new handouts, explain new activities, dissect a new schedule, etc. (375, 320, 220)
 * 32) Think back on your experience at the Poverty Simulation. Relate your experience to Ruby Payne's explanation of the resources those in poverty might do without (Chapter 1). Just as Payne paints a few pictures with different scenarios, please recap the background and the current situation (as it unfolded during the simulation), and identify the resources you started with, lost, never had or weren't aware of. How did this sort of activity help you better understand the experiences of those in poverty? Did your experience influence your approach/understanding at MOMS? How and why? (330, 340)
 * 33) Recall the Republican Congressional Debate. Read: 1.http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/debatehistory.html 2.http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/debatehistory2.html. Now that you have an historical background and at least one experience attending a political debate, critique the effectiveness of the debate. Did this debate fulfill its original purpose as a political debate? Are there changes that you would make to the debate format and/or event logistics? Please explain your reasons for the changes, and argue for the improvements your changes would produce. (220, 320)
 * 34) Recall the Republican Congressional Debate. Read: http://www.opendebates.org/documents/REPORT2.pdf. Take a stance against at least 2 of the positions posed in this report. Use your observations from the debate as your primary source for evidence. Please cite any other outside sources that you used to support your position. For this journal entry, sound argumentation is emphasized. (220, 320)
 * 35) Recall your attendance at the World Action Fair. Considering the focus of the event was on poverty on a global scale, please explain how your understanding of the poverty in Muncie is enhanced by your experience. Many of you discussed the inaccurate information being shared at a particular booth, but no one mentioned any desire to stop this person from sharing these bogus stats. Please discuss the ethical implications of knowingly ignoring someone's attempt to spread inaccurate information. Do you think that ignoring this person is the reaction? What harms/benefits could result from this woman's misinformation? None of you admitted to correcting this person, but is there possibly a better solution than correcting her? Please explain your reasoning for your position. (220, 320, 340)