Evaluation of The Service Team's (The Bizzy Beez) Leader April

Meet April , and no she is not a tiger, but that is her profile picture on our wiki. I decided to use it because I know that she probably would not like either of the two pictures that I had of her, and because this is how she is represented on the wiki.

When it came time for the teams to choose our team leaders, our team all just seemed to stare at each other. Then it seemed like (maybe I was just imagining it I don't know) everyone looked at me. So I made it clear that I did not want to be the leader. I am a good follower, but I am not to the leader point yet. But I was the only one that "said" that their schedule would allow them to attend the leader's meeting. So I said that I would go to that as a substitute for who ever would be the leader. It was then that April said that she would be the leader. And she did a great job! I was very happy to see her take up her leadership in being the main spokesperson for our group presentation, and I can not think of one thing that she did not do well in her position.

Team Evaluation

Overall, I am satisfied with how our group performed. I am especially pleased with how many of our class showed up on work days! We had so many from our class, that there were too many working on our section, and because there was not enough in other "class sections" Michelle, and I went to help section 001 on one of the work days.

As for the question "Did each member perform as you expected?", no some didn't, but others that I did not expect did. Honestly, I think that Vic surprised me the most because of how many trips he took to Robertson County to try and get some erosion blankets that we needed, and he also drove out to see about some rock that was to be lain in the culverts, but the poor guy, all of that driving sure was a couple of good lessons for him because the erosion blankets would not fit in his vehicle.

What's With the Rocks?

So what is with the rocks? Mrs. Pitts has three classes that helped with this project and we placed these rocks here to symbolized the three different classes.

The Bizzy Beez Group Development

I was reading my textbook, like every good student should, and I came across the "Stages of Group Development". I wanted to determine some of the things that contributed to each of these stages in our COM 100 002 Service team (The Bizzy Beez).
The Stages of Group Development are:

• Forming- the initial stage of group development during which people come to feel valued and accepted so that they identify with the group.


• Storming-the stage of group development during which the group clarifies its goals and determines the roles each member will have in the group power structure.


• Norming-the stage of development during which the group solidifies its rules for behavior, especially those that relate to how conflict will be managed.


• Performing-the stage of group development when the skills, knowledge, and abilities of all members are combined to overcome obstacles and meet goals successfully.


• Adjourning- the stage of group development in which members assign meaning to what they have done and determine how to end or maintain interpersonal relations they have developed.

Although the class introductions were technically not a part of the "project", I believe that it was one of the biggest contributions to the forming stage. But, I also believe that when we divided our class into three separate teams (The Service Team, The Support Team, and the Publicity Team) that we were more identified, and we "formed".

I think that for the Bizzy Beez in particular, most of the "storming" we on just prior to our group presentation. This was a presentation to inform the rest of the class about what it was that we would be doing AT THE PARK, how to do it, who was doing what part, and why we were doing it.

Relating to the Norming stage, Bizzy Beez did not write up a list of rules or anything. However, we did name our group leader, April, the "Queen Bee", but that was just for fun. And I believe that we all expected each other to act in a reasonable and considerate fashion.

As far as the Performing stage goes, I think that this is where we are currently. We have already completed some of the small goals in our large task, and we are working on other ones right now. For instance, we have dug the trenches, planted grass seed (even though we need to to it again due to a turkey invasion), and we still need to lay some rock in the ditches.

Adjourning is yet to come, and this has a lot to do with personal student reflections, and THE PARTY (This coming Saturday!)

The Function of Communication in our Service Learning at Bledsoe

There are 5 functions of communication:
1. We communicate to meet our social needs.
2. We communicate to develop and maintain our sense of self.
3. We communicate to develop relationships.
4. We communicate to exchange information.
5. We communicate to influence others.

Our service learning project mostly requires communication for the purpose of exchanging information to complete the task at hand, but keep in mind too that before this project, not many of us students in this class knew each other previously. So, while we are communicating to get this task done, we are socially interacting, adapting our sense of self from the interaction, building friendships, and we are influencing each other even if it is only combining and influencing each others' ideas about the project.

However, we must be careful about this last one because we want to develop our own critical thinking while still collaborating all of our individual thoughts to make SUPER THOUGHTS! Otherwise, we would end up with a bandwagon affect.

Leaving a Good Vivid Impression

When one gives a speech, one wants to leave a vivid impression, or something that the audience remembers a long time after, and if the speech is done in a careful way, then the speaker has the ability to control what their audience remembers by emphasizing certain things. This is also so in our Service Learning project that we are doing out at Bledsoe Creek State Park. Whether we want to or not we are going to leave an impression, but if we do our work carefully and properly, then we will leave a good impression, and others later down the road can say "This is what service learning is all about!".

The New Birth

One day while some of us students were working out at Bledsoe, we had an interesting conversation about how the culvert that we installed was like the birth of a baby (simile)! And as I was standing there, Mrs. Pitts said that it was not the first time it was mentioned. It was very much like we were the ones delivering the baby because it was very labor intensive and it was not a clean job. And not to mention, the pipe got stuck! So, it was not only like we were delivering a baby, but like we were delivering a baby with complications.

What I Enjoyed Least About Our Service Learning Project

The thing that I did not like about doing this Service Learning Project was that it took a lot of extra time to do, and because I do not live close to Gallatin, it was a little bit inconvenient to go all the way to Bledsoe on my some of my Saturdays. Overall though, the thing that I dislike the most is that on my way back from the Leaders Meeting on October 13th, I accidentally ran one of those red lights with a camera in Gallatin. If I learned ANYTHING, it was definitely about red lights in Gallatin! It turned out that I had to pay a $50 fine, and that was probably the most expensive Service Learning that I will ever have to do.

What I Enjoyed Most About Our Service Learning Project

I think what I enjoyed most about doing our service learning at Bledsoe Creek State Park is getting to go to the park itself. I definitely believe that it was one of the best places to have a service learning project. I mean, while you are performing your service and learning through it, you can be outside, see all the deer and their young, get some fresh air, and later on we get to have a party at the park! Plus, I think that I enjoyed it more since I performed all of my service hours before it got cold outside. Honestly it wouldn't have been as pleasant if I was freezing like an Eskimo.