In retrospect on image and life: the roller coaster project

Considering my previous parable post on image and a Facebook post from a page I follow, I am reminded of an event that happened to me in my final year of high school (grade 12 for me). In physics class there was this group project in which we had to build a marble track roller coaster. The maximum group size was 4 and the person I wanted to work with was already in a group. Groups were pick your own people and were based on people who are friends and people who were the strongest in the class. I wasn't particularly strong and I wanted to be with someone who was smart enough to get my grades up. Luckily there was one person in the group who fit, but just because the person really smart doesn't mean they're, well, smart. (Fun fact, in the end one of the groups kicked out a member because they didn't contribute at all to the group :p)

So I'm in the group that had 3 who were good friends. All were doing better than me in the class so I had high hopes that my mark for the class (not counting the individual marks from the written portion) with help from the project would go up a bit (because averages. Getting 80% on something while you're hanging around the 60% area would make that go up a tiny bit). Main meeting place was at high average group member's house. I should note that said member got a school week-long suspension for something. During the course of the group project we only met twice: First time was to plan and discuss, second was to assemble the roller coaster almost the night before it was due. In my mind I was thinking said member had the most time to work on the project since they were at home all day/not in school.
         Ideally the way to do some project is to build the thing early on so if something goes wrong then there's plenty of time to fix it. Most of us had after school activities such as martial arts, soccer, dance, and music lessons so of course that cuts into available time. When it came to the second time we met there was a frame for the track of the roller coaster and a large blown-up photo for the background. Part of the track was built but there was a problem with the material for the track as it was plastic tubing that liked to coil back up. In the end what was build was something that looked similar to a picture found on the internet (where the idea for the roller coaster came from) and it was decorated well enough in hopes that those marks will suffice.

The day came for evaluation and it ended up that the roller coaster my group made, well, sucked except for how it looked. I'd say about a large portion of the marks were for applying physics concepts learned in class and for the roller coaster to actually work. The ones from the other groups worked (and looked good too). While the smart person in terms of high marks brushed off the mark as nothing I apparently suffered because, as I've mentioned before, my marks were bad and this greatly upset me at the time. My way of getting back at the person? I refused to pay my share for the materials.

So what lessons are to be learned about this? Just because something looks good doesn't mean that it will work. If you put time and effort into something you'll have something good. If you work as a team you can pull both something flashy and something that works off (and by as a team I mean every single member of your team).
            Then there's also just because the person knows their shit (the theory and stuff) doesn't mean they're a person who enjoys doing work or committed to projects. Well, maybe they are but there could be things that are going on in their life that can hinder their willingness to work on something (maybe things like anxiety and depression, being pissed off,  I have no idea). Go ahead and express your frustration that said group member brought everyone down but not to the point where you hold a grudge against the person or harm them further. If you're still alive, have a job that's earning you money, something like this shouldn't bother you too much. That grade in high school is no longer important.

While I personally haven't always been the best person at group projects (and I have one story in particular for that but not really keen on telling) I just felt this fits in with the whole focusing on how things appear to people vs. what people actually need. Ah well.

No two universities are alike/my experiences so far

So I'm almost done my fall semester at Carleton doing their CTESL (Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language) program. Not sure what that is? I refer to you one of my earlier posts.

One thing I noticed with Carleton is some of their courses are full semester courses. That is the course you sign up for in the fall will be in that very same time slot in the winter. With that I have to suffer with doing an assignment over the break whereas if I was still going to MUN I would be lying on the couch all day watching movies or maybe trying to get through 1 season of a TV show.

Second thing is the way the schedule operates. I'm sure Carleton has those 3x a week for 1 hour courses but I haven't encountered them in my program so I am uncertain what courses they are (most of my courses at MUN were like that). My schedule at Carleton is filled with mostly two 1.5 to 2 hours courses (meets every Tues. and Thurs for example) with some once a week 2-3 hour courses (meets every Mon. evening). Maybe this is their preferred way of scheduling?

Anyway . . . one of the courses I have to take is a practicum which is basically learn and experience what goes on in a classroom. If you remember in elementary school (maybe some of you in secondary school as well) you may have encountered the student teacher who maybe helps you with your schoolwork or on occasion teaches a lesson. Apparently that is what I have become except my setting was in an ESL classroom.

Now I have two practicum placements for the whole year. I have already completed my first placement and can't wait for the day I get to "choose" (it's first to raise their hand that gets the location) my next one (maybe because I'll hope to encounter a Russian, Croatian, or maybe someone from Turkey). For my first placement I chose a literacy classroom. What is it exactly? Teaching how to read and write. The class I was in was for those who are 1) literate in their first language but the "alphabet" in their first language does not use the Roman alphabet, 2) are illiterate in their first language, or 3) come from an oral culture where there is no written form or a written form is not really used (kinda like situation 2). Who I encountered in my class (including the ones who got promoted to the level 1 ESL classes along the way) came from the following countries: Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Macedonia, Nepal, Bhutan (Nepali speaking person), Laos, and Burma/Myanmar (Karen people). From this bunch I think I may have an idea who I might expect to see in my next placement.

With the class I did my practicum in there was a routine: The students would write something dictated to them on the board then everyone would copy that into their journals/notebooks. Then the teacher would write something on the board, for example "Did you have a good weekend?" if it was a on a Monday and on another board write "Today there ____ ____ teachers and _____ students" to get them to practice their numbers. Usually the days I'm there the teacher would say something like after copying the first board raise your hand to let <insert my name here here> know you're ready but no one does that, they usually do so once they copied down everything. Not sure why they don't do it, maybe it's because they're more comfortable with the teacher or if they're thinking "I should copy down everything first" or "I need to copy everything". 90% of the time I would be thinking it rude to ask them "May I listen to you read what you have so far". Lesson learned there: assert yourself.

After the journals they would be doing some activity, whether it's a "fill in the missing letters" dictation or a worksheet. Sometime they would be learning something new whether it's through a 10 line story with related activities or a story from a handout. There were activities that would teach them certain concepts like "please speak slowly/louder", "please can you say that again?" I led a couple of activities as well and comparing the two I did I found it difficult to create one of my own versus organizing one that's already made. Also with leading activities it is to be expected that not everyone will be looking at you whether it's out of boredom or maybe they're still struggling with the first thing I said.

So that's what went down in my practicum placement. Someone else doing the same as me would have either a similar experience or something different. Anyway that's enough from me.