Survival… Tuesday Oct 21

You will be working in your blog groups today! (Tuesday)  I will be mostly observing to see if you have understood all the advice about how to work collaboratively and effectively in groups from our discussions of the IDEO Shopping Cart Challenge.

Task 1:  Time to get to know your group a little better and Creating a guide for feedback
               45 minutes

Each person -divide a piece of paper into 3 columns and turn the paper to "landscape" or sideways for this.  Do not put your name on the paper at all.  The headings of the columns will be:  My strengths, My weaknesses, my fears or worries as a writer/blogger/collaborator (team player).  For example - some may not be strong writers but they are good at helping others orally with word choice or problem solving with tech problems.  Some might be very insecure or shy participating in a group setting but more confident with writing - grammar, or extending ideas.

Spend the next 10 minutes individually listing (in point form) everything you can think of that will help your group get to know each other better.  Then cut your 3 columns so that you can separate the lists and place them face down.

As a group, tackle each pile of strengths, weaknesses and fears - try to combine common ones and rephrase so that everyone has a clear idea of the group's skills. Then, think back to "Austin's Butterfly", and the learning outcomes for our blogging and, as a group, create your own guidelines for giving feedback.  This will take some time.  Also - remember your tips from IDEO shopping cart challenge - include input from everyone and create a graphic organizer or other kind of poster for your group reminders (include diagrams and examples where necessary).  You will have 30 minutes for this task - post on the back wall.

Task 2:  Pre-Reading Activity  (20 minutes)

a) Each group will be assigned an animal.  Then you will have to decide -  if stranded on an island in the following scenario, who has the better chance of survival: the person or the animal? Justify your reasoning as thoroughly as possible.

A man or woman has been shipwrecked on a desert island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no other inhabitants and no vegetation.  His or her only companion is the animal you have been assigned, which has also survived the ship wreck.  The only food is a bag of 20 sea biscuits and a keg of water saved from the ship.

Task 3:  The class will be voting on your arguments.

Homework:  Complete your learning log.