Team 2 Blog

This week in 134 we delivered our pitches for our semester project. It went very well we received a ton of helpful feedback about our three activities we decided to pitch. After considering all of the options we decided to go with the Ice Skating activity. This will give us a ton of media to work with and allow us to explore a lot of different techniques on how to use media.

We however do need to create a schedule so we can remain on task and know what we need to do every week in order to stay on task so we can get the best coverage possible. As a team we will have to sit down and create this schedule in order to get the best media possible. The biggest obstacle that we will run into is allowing time for us to go Ice Skating. We are all college students and we all have lives outside of school, so that could become an obstacle but I think we would be able to work out all the kinks once we sit down and get to work on the schedule. Over the next two weeks we will get to work not only on the schedule but on the project itself.

Ranya Aribi

This week, we had our project pitches. We decided to make a slideshow, and we chose and pitched three projects. The three projects were, learning to ice skate, setting up a pop up shop, and creating a podcast. For each project, we talked about how we would do it, the type of content we would have, and what we would use to execute it.

The pitch went well for the most part, and we got good feedback and opinions. In the end, after some feedback and talking, we decided on the ice skating project. We figured it would have the best opportunity for good content, while being fun at the same time. None of us are good at ice skating, so the process of learning will be very exciting.

For this project, I think one of the only and biggest challenges we will encounter is finding time that works for all of us to go ice skating. Also, we still have not discussed when and how often we want to go. This ties into the topic of scheduling. We still need to sit with each other and create a schedule that we can all stick to and make sure we commit to going the amount of times we agree on.

A schedule is so important for bigger group projects like this, because they are not the type where they can be thrown together last minute, they require actual time commitment and effort.

Katie Squier

As I reflect on what makes a great team I have to think through some times I have been a part of teams that were not so great. A successful team communicates well. They let each other know when they are struggling so that perhaps a teammate can help them through what they are working on. A great teams trusts each other. They don’t need to stress about whether or not their other group members will complete their assigned task. An unsuccessful team doesn’t communicate and has a hard time trusting each other.

This week we worked on solidifying our favorite three topics to present to the group. Some problems that we encountered was thinking g of an idea that was unique that would also provide great visual aspects for the final project. We decided that maybe learning a language together wouldn’t quite be great for this project, though it would be something new. I think we did a great job working and talking together to find some ideas that we all liked. I would not have done anything differently this week. I am excited to present this week and make a decision for the project that we will complete this semester!

Ranya Aribi

For a team to be successful, everyone needs to be part of it. I believe the only way to effectively be successful is if everyone puts in equal amount of effort and works really hard to ensure they bring to the team what it needs. I also think communication is one of the most important factors of a successful team as well.

Some characteristics of a good team can come down to the way they act. Kindness and understanding are so important, and are needed, but so is the ability to help someone out, and let them know when they’re falling off track. A lot of people take criticism as a negative thing, when it is just for the good of the team.

A team not working together successful can have a lot of reasons. It is very important to get along with the people you work with, and when emotions and negative feels get involved, it is easy to not be successful in a team. Also, when a team member does not carry their weight, it puts everyone else in the team in a bad situation, holding them back.

For this week, my team got more familiar with each other and the ideas that we wanted to think of. We also decided on our team contract, and that was finalized and turned in by me. There was not many challenges to this week, we all effectively communicated, and listened and had really good ideas to share.

To make my team successful this semester I believe that I need to make sure that I am completing my work, but also making sure that everyone else is pulling their weight. After a few meeting with our group I do not see this being a problem which is awesome to see. I think a successful team hold the qualities of being hardworking, transparent with one another, optimistic, and ultimately able to have fun with whatever is asked. I think that looking at things in that manner will always make whatever is asked more not only more enjoyable, but also it will produce better work from each member.

I feel as if we have gotten off to a pretty good start so far with our project. In class on Tuesday we had a very productive brainstorming session and we were able to build off of what we had initially. We had a mixture of ideas that had potential to be a goofy and fun experience, depending how we execute our plans, and some that were a little more serious but very interesting.

Some of my favorite ideas that we all discussed were: Ice Skating, learning a new language, creating a brand, going to an escape room, and even creating a podcast. All of these present different challenges, but at the same time I think they all would be fun. As long as we all work as a group, and are each 100% in they all would work perfectly for what we are trying to accomplish.

Preparing for next week’s class, we plan on creating our powerpoint for our pitches and we have all agreed on our contract. I am excited to listen to other peoples feedback on our ideas and to ultimately as a group decide which one we would prefer to choose. Once this is done we will all fully be able to sink into to our project and I am really looking forward to that.

To make my team successful this semester I need to stay on task and make sure to hold my team members accountable in order for us to be successful. If we want to be successful we all need to communicate and not be afraid to receive criticism from fellow team members if it will improve our project at the end of this semester. If our team doesn’t work together successfully then we need to figure out what we are doing wrong. A majority of it could be some bad communication and not giving constructive criticism that will help our team in the end. 

This week was a pretty easy week as far as contributions. We continued coming up with different ideas that we can turn into a project at the end of the semester. There were a lot of good ideas that were brought to the table such as Ice Skating, learning a Language, or possibly even going into an Escape Room.  Once class was over, another idea that was brought to the table was a podcast which could be hard considering all the topics that would need to be brought to the table plus all the editing and finding time to get into an audio booth in Anderson Hall. But I feel like we got a good start on the project. 

Group work can always be a little difficult especially if we know nothing about each other before being assigned. I feel many groups or teams that are successful have a very similar skeleton that holds them together and helps keep everyone focused as well as accountable.

The number one thing when it comes to working with others I think has to be communication. This helps prevent everyone from becoming confused on who is doing what, but also it creates a more enjoyable dynamic among the group. If everyone feels more comfortable and free to express their ideas, then the creativity will be higher along with productivity. Another quality would be that everyone needs to be flexible. We need to be able to adjust to whatever assignment is given to us. If you don’t know how to necessarily do the thing you’re being asked to do, treat it as learning experience to better yourself too.

The two skills I mentioned are some that I always try to incorporate myself when I am placed into a group. I will listen to all ideas, and be willing to whatever the group needs from me to make sure everything is done as smooth as possible and on time.

Sometimes people are so set on what they are doing in the group that they don’t help the other members which could lead to things falling behind. Another trait that can ruin things for a group is if one person tried to boss everyone around and tears apart ideas instead of constructively critiquing them. This weeks class was another productive one as our group was able to get some great ideas out there for the project, so I don’t think anyone will be like that. We are very close to narrowing our list to the final three to present for next week.

This was the first week my team met up to establish what it is we are going to be working on for the final project due over finals week. As the ideas started to get tossed around we all came into an agreement that we should do something that will be hands on, so it’ll be a lot easier for us to create a story behind all of it. Ideas such as rock climbing, baking a cake, bowling, and ice skating were all ideas that were put on the table. We also began to establish our team contract that will be the backbone to how we will get through this whole semester as a team to reach our overall goal. However, for this particular week my role in this group is particularly easy as we are going to prepare for our pitches due in a couple weeks. We are all going to brainstorm about 10 ideas and when we meet next Tuesday we will have a good idea as too what we want to create this semester long project over.  I feel like our group is going to be very easy and fun to work with and I am excited to see how this semester is going to go. 

By: Dylan Hebior

On Tuesday my group and I were able to meet for the first time. We were all able to introduce ourselves and talk to each other for a bit. After a few minutes we were all given further information about what were all expected to complete for this project, which led to the brainstorming.

After meeting four individuals that I have never met before, I knew that finding something we would all be interested in or enjoy would not be the easiest task in the world. Despite this, we were all able to all chime in and think up a few potential ideas, for example: Ice Skating, rock climbing, bowling, and learning how to bake a cake. With this list, I felt that it was a great foundation to continue to build off of.

After the brainstorming we all agreed that other than the four solid ideas we all thought up together, we would each bring in an additional five ideas of our own to class on Tuesday. This also ties into our contract. In class we decided on which format that would best suit our needs and talked about how we will be able to complete it by next Friday.

Overall, I am a lot more excited for this project than I expected. I think that the group I was placed into is filled with motivated, diligent people. I believe that we are off to a great start, and will continue to build off the momentum we gained following our first meeting.

This week in class I finally got to meet the group that I would be working with for this semester. I was assigned my teammates based off of a survey we all took before class started to see what type of leadership traits we possessed, as well as, our strengths and weaknesses. Just from the first day getting to know each other, everyone seems very cool and easy to work with. It should be a fun time producing this project.

We spent most of the time that was given to us talking about what we would potentially like to make the focal point of this assignment. This was actually the hardest part I thought just because there are so many types of activities or topics that we could choose! Some of the ones that garnered the most interest with our group involved learning a new skill such as ice skating, baking/cooking, rock climbing and bowling. We all agreed to bring at least three more ideas for the next time we met in class. I am excited to see what else my classmates thought of.

Another piece of our project we were in the process of making was a team contract. This should help make sure that everyone is doing what they’re supposed, when they’re supposed to. With this project consuming most of the semester we definitely do not want to get too far behind, so we don’t have to rush anything. I have a feeling each one of us doing or part won’t be an issue though. There isn’t one particular piece to our puzzle that I wouldn’t mind doing. I enjoy taking photos and making audio. If I had my preference I would choose one of those two fields.