Storytelling and Identity - Fall 2023

we are made of stories

Month: August 2023 Page 1 of 4

Response to Class Notes – 8/31/23

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On August 31, 2023

In Daily Class Notes, Kaylee

This is a response to the Daily Class Notes of 8/31

I really liked the flow of the conversation we had as a group in class. We went from talking about our past experiences to how we hope our future experiences within the class go. When it came to our past experiences, people made great points about leadership and how someone usually steps up to the plate so to speak.

We then talked about how there are certain leadership qualities that a person or people might have such as:

  • Keeping people on task
  • Being a “grounding” force
  • Listening to ideas
  • Having respectful discussions

Everyone who spoke agreed that working in a group (as long as everyone does their share of the work) is one of the best ways to get things done and to work towards a common goal. Our discussion highlighted how there needs to be an emergent leader for the group to function the best as well. When talking about emergent leaders one of our classmates told a story of when their friend was an emergent leader and was able to plan a trip for them.

Toward the end of the conversation, we talked about grading policies and how different ones work. Most students are used to a more standard grading system, but some interesting ones were brought up and conversations happened around them. One grading system that was mentioned was a contract system. The contract system allowed students to think about their attendance and the effort they wanted to put into a class. If you miss one class and put in a certain level of effort, you can agree to get an A. If you miss many classes and barely put in any effort you can agree to get a D. Basically you decide what your grade is, but you must agree to and meet certain criteria. Another grading system brought up was a more “secret” system. Students don’t know their grades, instead, they just know that they have to be on their best behavior and try their hardest. People agreed that it would be nerve-racking, but that it has the potential to be a good system.

Grades are something that is on everyone’s minds, especially at the University of Richmond. During the discussion today I believe that our class was able to come together once again for a great discussion where many great ideas/stories were shared. We talked about how it’s truly the mastering of skills that are reflected in grades. With this mastery in mind, I believe that this semester is going to be a learning curve for us all, but overall it will be a great learning experience.

prep note 8/31

By

On August 31, 2023

In Chang

My experience of successfully doing something with a group is establishing the BJHSDL (Beijing High School Debate League).

I was the president of debate club in my high school and our club members prepared a lot to participate in NSDA Beijing Regional. In December 2021, NSDA (Nathional Speech& Debate Association) tournaments have been canceled in China due to the sensitive context in their evidence packet. Their efforts were in vain and many club members were discouraged.

I was disappointed and talked about this with other debate club leaders in Beijing. Finally, we decided to held a tournament by ourselves using the NSDA resolution, and the BJHSDL was established. We set schedule and hired judges. The competition went successfully and we attracted more than 100 teams to attend.

08/31/2023 – Class Notes

By

On August 31, 2023

In Angelos, Daily Class Notes

Comments on our personal stories of collaboration with others
-Specialization and responsibility are common themes in stories of collaboration
-Only through work and collaboration of individuals, the final result could be achieved
-The conclusion may be shine however the process of getting there is meaningful as well
-The common element is essential for people to come together
-Challenges may be faced during the process of creation; different backgrounds, perspectives, and interests may crush with each other – > therefore, compromise is key
-The importance of a leader was highlighted throughout the stories
-Emergent can be a key thing when it comes to being a leader

Comments on grading in high school
-Grades can reflect how hard someone has worked, how smart they are, or how much time they have spent
-Different elements or criteria contribute towards the creation of a grade
-Not sharing the grade may incentivize students to care more about the content rather than just numbers
-Education goes beyond just classes, grades, and certifications but developing skills, being exposed to experiences etc. leading to personal growth

group brainstorm boards

Prep Note 8/31

By

On August 31, 2023

In Wesley

Back in 10th grade, I founded the Environmental Protection Organization at my school. To make it run smoothly, I set up different teams for different tasks, and we did pretty well, putting together events and activities for a few weeks.

However, we hit a few bumps in the road. Our efficiency dipped because of the bureaucracy. Realizing that our group wasn’t that big, I decided to switch things up. Instead of splitting everyone into teams, I brought us all together as one big team.

This new approach worked wonders. We could tackle problems together as a united group, and the old issues were a thing of the past. We all worked better as a team and shared the rewards equally. This change made us a lot more effective, and our club ended up becoming one of the top clubs in the school.

Prep Note, 8/31

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On August 31, 2023

In prep note, Will S

When I was younger, I spent my summers at a nature camp, hiking in the woods, playing in streams, and having fun outside. I had a great time, but the point of the camp was to educate, not just entertain, so there were times when my fellow campers and I had some sort of task to accomplish or mission to complete.

One such mission was given to me when I was about ten years old. Some of my friends and I were playing in the woods per usual, when our counselor called us over and told us that he wanted us to make a fire. That usually wouldn’t have been too hard of a task, as we all had been doing similar things at that camp for years. However, the night before, it had rained pretty heavily, so most the sticks we collected were wet.

It took us about twenty minutes, but eventually we found enough material to start the fire. There was some debate about the type of fire structure we should build, but in the end we figured out what would work best with the materials we had and got the fire going.

08/31 Prep Note

By

On August 31, 2023

In Angelos

For those who think that teenagers can not be influential and are not mature enough to give back to the world, I am here to prove them wrong. Me and my friend group have the same interest in TEDx talking and that is how we started our own TEDx Event in high school as seniors. Even just getting the license seemed a struggle but in the end, we were majorly rewarded not only by the result but by the process of creating the TEDx that for us was more than just an event.

Linquata – Prep Note 8/31/23

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On August 31, 2023

In prep note, Will L

Last year, as a senior, in my Native American Spirituality course our teacher organized us into groups and assigned us different indigenous groups to research and present about. My group was able to be successful because we delegated out different areas of research to each person in the group and then swapped to fact check each other before putting it all together into a slideshow and presenting our original area of the project.

Prep Note 8/31

By

On August 31, 2023

In Ana

What comes to mind is the most successful soccer team I was ever a part of. Being from Arkansas, our team was rarely ever able to compete with the high quality teams from Texas and Oklahoma. In fact, many girls left our team to play on a team two hours away with better resources and higher quality coaches.

Eventually, the teams we were on got changed from being split by grade to the year you were born, so we were all mixed with new girls, and we were put with two new coaches from California. They were a married couple, Kris and Bill and, to this day, were the best coaches I have ever had. In the span of two years, we went from barely being able to compete against regional teams to winning a national championship in Colorado, playing teams from California, Florida, Louisiana and New Jersey.

We worked so well together because we had a new coach who actually believed we could improve and be successful. We also trained and practiced harder, and this helped improve the chemistry with our new team over the span of a couple years. I realized that we all worked well together because we were so different, and complimented each other well. Each of us having different attributes to bring to the table. 

Prep Note – 8/31/2023

By

On August 31, 2023

In Mitch, prep note

About two months ago, I flew up to Boston with my mom and dad to be a part of the Berklee College of Music (In Boston, not California) EDM Production summer program. Me and my parents spend a few days hitting tourist spots around the city before they dropped me off at check-in for the actual program.

Fast forward a few days, after I moved into a sketchy off-campus dorm and got the gist of what I was supposed to be doing with my time there, me and all 60-something others in the program were divided into groups of six and given a group mentor responsible for keeping us from burning a studio we’d be working in to the ground. Each group had the same task; collaborate to produce one track to be played at the end of the week. To anyone that doesn’t make music, having six people and more than five days to work with sounds like more than enough to make just one song, right? Try agreeing on what kind of story to collaboratively write in a room with five other people.

Over the course of the next five days, me and the other four group members (one of them stopped showing up after the first two days, we never figured out what happened to them) threw around ideas and blended multiple genres into the same track. The key to collaborative success, in our case and most others, is compromise. Instead of blending all of our individual styles into one continuous piece, we decided to have separate sections in the track for each of our particular strong points and often working off of what another one of us had made; I produced the drums, someone else put down a synth over it, someone else would add another layer, and so on.

The final product was an incoherent chaotic mess with jarring transitions between genres, but it was something we were all proud of. Every group had a similar experience, having several people each different musical backgrounds. It was an incredible experience and I’m glad I got to go and be a part of it.

Prep Note – 8/31/2023

By

On August 31, 2023

In Nick G, prep note

The experience that comes to mind when I think about creating something successful as a group is when my friends and I founded the PopDarts club at my high school. Everyday before our AP Calc began, my friends and I would all play this game called PopDarts. The game is played by placing the orange target dart anywhere in the room, whether it be on the floor, on the whiteboard, on a desk, etc. Along with the orange dart, there are three blue and three purple darts that each player gets and the goal is to shoot your blue or purple dart and land it as close to the orange dart as possible. Whoever lands their dart the closest wins. It was a simple game, but we all loved it and played every single day, without fail. One day we were playing and I suggested we create a PopDarts club. My friends all agreed and we began talking with the administration to help us start our club. Eventually, the club was official and we received some funding to purchase more sets of PopDarts. We all worked together to promote the club, increase the number of members, and organize some small events like tournaments. Now, the club has been passed down to the junior class and it is still up and running.

 

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