Team Building

Team building is a very important part of group dynamics. It brings a group together, and establishes trust between its members.

Although teams are not always best applied, when they are used in the correct manner, they can be very productive.

I am a big fan of teams, as I enjoy the camaraderie of working together. That's probably because I have a lot of leadership qualities, and I enjoy group dynamics. However, it must be said that without an effective leader, a groups efforts are not likely to be fruitful.

Some thing very important to remember about groups:

                              

I have experienced many examples of various team building exercises. Team skis is always a good one. It requires all the members to work together or everyone will fall and be embarrassed!

I participated in an exercise in which each person was to play the part of someone who was either blind, deaf, mute, was missing an arm or leg etc. So in my case, we had to out up a tent. It was difficult at the start, as i was the blind one, but with the help of my other team mates, we managed to complete the task.

I find that just spending some quality time with your colleuges outside of a work setting can be beneficial for the group bonding.

I think teams are a great way to complete tasks, when they have a good leader and willing members.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else's idea and representing them as your own. In college, it is drilled into you in all your classes not to plagiarise your work. i found this quite scary, but soon realised that its not that difficult.

A lot of people fret about plagiarizing in their assignments. As long as you correctly reference all of your researched material.

I found referencing quite difficult but as long as you check before you reference, you should have no problem!

You can find help with references on a very useful web site called citethisforme.com which you can find by following this link.

There are a few examples of when referencing should be used:

1. When quoting directly from someone else's work.

2. When you have gotten the idea based on someone else's work. If you have read it as research for your work, then these sources should go in a bibliography.

3. Referencing should also be used when paraphrasing. If you read a piece and write that information in you own words, it still has to be referenced.

Referencing does not have to be used if the topic you are writing on is considered common knowledge. Information is considered common knowledge if it can be found in numerous places or is known by many people.

Effective Note Taking

I find that taking notes effectively is a difficult, yet valuable skill. if you are a read/write learner like me, then you will agree.

It can be very difficult to keep up with the lecturer who is teaching when you are writing. So, here are some tips that I use while taking notes.

1. Trying to write word for word is pointless! You will run out of steam or lose interest in taking notes

2. Keep all your written notes along side a set of printed lecture note. This way you can  add to your own notes while studying after, thus, enhancing your learning.

3. Keep all notes in a neat, organised way. i use a ring binder folder which comes in handy

4. I find using different color pens helps break up your notes, and stops them looking like a huge wall text when you try to study!

5. Bullet points! A God send when it comes to note taking! I think they are used to best effect if you make a point and leave space to fill in extra notes during your study.

If you lose motivation while taking notes and take the "It's on Moodle anyway" approach, you will find it difficult to study using lecture notes only. A set of notes in your own hand will help you remember things that were in the lecture when you study later.

I hope you have found this helpful an come level or other, and happy note taking!

Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication is very prominent in all our lives. We may not realise it, but  non-verbal communication is where we get most of our social ques.

For example, If you meet your friend, you can instantly tell how they are felling, simply by the look on their face, before they say anything. While this can be helpful in most social situations, I find it can sometimes confuse people.

A common example of  non-verbal communication that is based on tone of voice. Through sarcasm, people convey that they mean the opposite of the words they say.

People use non-verbal communication to emphasise their point. If someone slows down their speech and hits one hand off the other, that usually means the point they are making is quite important.

Here are some examples of the simple things that would not be noticed by most people. A simple shrug of the shoulders says "I do not know the answer to the question you just asked". I think that is allot for one movement!

I feel, in writing it is hard to tell how someone is feeling around the words they say. It is much easier in conversation, as you can tell by someones stance, facial expressions and tones of voice, the true meaning of their words.

Effective Presentations

What are effective presentations?

Well, that is a personal opinion. In my mind, an effective presentation is one where my audience walk away feeling they have understod the message I was trying to convey.

In college this year, one of our assignments was to prepare and give a presentation. We where allowed to choose a topic of our choice, so I chose pioneering.

This is a topic I know inside out, so that was nothing to worry about. It was the preparing and presenting of my own work that concerned me most. I set to work, putting together slides and gathering pictures, and my slide show came together nicely.

I practiced a lot, and once  I was confident with the material, I timed it. All presentations had to be five minutes long, so I had to make some adjustments to make a a little longer.

I knew that my audience was my peers, so kept the language simple and made it as interesting and entertaining as I could.

On the day, I was a bit nervous, but i knew I had practiced and practiced, so i was confident in my material. The presentation went without difficulty and a had a good time doing it!

When we got our grades from the assignments, I got full marks! I guess this proves that preparation is key!

I hope this has been some level of help!