Senior Retreat... oh how I wish I was still there...activities

We had a wonderful Senior Retreat and I was really excited about how much we got to know each other on the trip. I still have yet to write my thesis out clearly but I have narrowed it down to two topics: Teamwork is more emphasized in the 21 century than in the past (or) It is more effective to teach a child teamwork at age (a certain age) than any other age because it is the appropriate time in their child development process. I am not sure which one would be better, but I have been leaning toward the first option. Mr. Hines has told me that a lots of sources and information can be found on this topic. I really don't have very much to say this week about senior project except that the retreat was absolutely amazing and I could not have higher praise for good planning and a great location. My Senior class also made a big difference to how wonderful it was. I have been very busy with makeup work for English and Statistics so I have not had very much time to work on the things I need to do for Senior Project. Hopefully I can do a better job of organizing my paper and maybe even start planning exactly how I want my activities built.

ThesisGrade=NotGood

Basically, the thesis that I turned in Monday did not go as planned. I decided to turn in the following thesis:

In sports, proper team function is more important than a few skilled individuals because each part of the team has its role to play, jealously will arise with other team members when the “all-stars” are on the team, and pride hurts a team.

Sources :

Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Lencioni, Patrick. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. 1st ed. California: Jossey-Bass, 2002. 223. Print.

Coach Wooden’s Leadership Game Plan for Success

Wooden, John, and Steve Jamison. Coach Wooden’s Leadership Game Plan for Success. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 0-273. Print.

Go Team!

Blanchard, Ken, Alan Randolph, and Peter Grazier. Go Team!. 1st ed. California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2005. 0-143. Print.

The Wisdom of Teams

Katzenbach, Jon, and Douglas Smith. The Wisdom of Teams. New York: HarperCollins Publisher, 1993. 0-263. Print.

I know this is not the best thesis, and the more that I read it, the more I realize its fallacy. However, if we could change anything by next year it should be this: AP students need just as much help (at least some more) as CP students. We should be told if our topic/thesis is to vague or obvious, because people have been telling their thesis to others and they tell them "that sounds fine" but our grades don't reflect it. I know the comments on this post might say that this strictly complaining but please take it as constructive criticism.

Proposal Completed

I am finished with the proposal. People have been nervous all week about their presentations. I was blessed to be one of the first people to go, and when I finished, I have come to this strange reality. I actually liked presenting the project. I liked the adrenaline rush of having to speak to a group of people and I thought the board members made it very easy and pleasant. They were very encouraging and I was pleased as I walked out from the Senior Commons. I believe that they have either changed the way the asked their questions or last year's seniors took everything too personally :) I now have a better idea of where I want to go with my research paper. I think that my paper will be about whether or not team building exercises and models increase the effectiveness of learning teamwork. I believe that they do increase the effectiveness of learning teamwork, whereas some people think that businesses and camps are wasting their money. What feedback do you all have for this idea. I would appreciate the feedback before Friday if possible because of the deadline for the thesis.

So Busy, But Not Getting Anything Done...

Right now in my Senior Project career I am waiting to get approved. I am still getting plans together for the launch of my project, but it would be unwise to start anything solid at this moment. Some people seem to be really nervous about their presentations, however I do really feel so scared about them. I am a little nervous about it not going smoothly, but for the most part I believe in my project and I feel that I know the material. I am actually really busy with school work a this time, so progress on the planning front is slow. I plan to keep my project open ended to leave room for little creativity. I do hope that the workload dies down a little bit so that I can work on my project appropriately. If it does not then it will be more stressful but I believe that I can get it done. Time management is a big issue for me but I am learning to cope with a larger workload. I am sorry to those readers who have to read this because it is not one of the more exciting blog posts. The research paper theme might change in the near future due the lack of credible resources on the topic. I am currently searching right now and will finalize the topic soon. DISCUS IS BLOCKED AT SCHOOL!!!! Stupid cite blocking! thanks for reading! Bye!

Alright guys... let's figure this out!

I have written up my proposal and and turned it in. I have also practiced my proposal in front of my peers. Now it is time to make sure that I have planned everything correctly. Mrs Zion would like for me to do some activities during the Senior Retreat, but if possible she would like to b doing activities that are fresh and new. Part of the experience of doing these activities is practical problem solving. If I plan these activities for the Senior Retreat, I will be much better prepared for what is to come later in the year. I would really appreciate it if I could get some fresh ideas about activities that use very little equipment and lots of imagination, it would be greatly appreciated. I am getting more comfortable talking about my project to people, but I fear that my proposal will not be very clear in verbal descriptions of certain activities. The "Lava Field" is a very easy concept, but the activity is very difficult to explain. I had an issue with the explanation during my mock-proposal. I would love to show the board members an activity or two, but being teamwork activities, they require many people. The board would probably not appreciate getting sweaty while doing an activity so I need to think about how to present my project cleverly. I believe that a simple project presentation would be very effective but if a clever idea comes to me, I will willingly sacrifice :) Please comment if you would like to help be an influence. Thanks!