Blogging Around: Chelsea and

In Chelsea's post where she connects collaboration on the volleyball court to collaboration in a classroom, she talks about how there needs to be leaders and followers and how there needs to be a trust factor between all of the collaborators.

I found this very interesting how you tied sports to academics. Soccer season ended about a month ago and I could connect a lot of what you said to my team. I noticed how 90% of the time it wasn't the best team the triumphed but the team that could utilize the strengths and weaknesses of each individual player to reach a common goal. The leaders, whether they were given the title of captain or not, were the players who could unite the team and allow members to use their strengths.
I certainly agree with you on the importance of collaboration in school, but I feel that collaboration does not occur as often as it appears. I remember in junior high how there were, unfortunately, the people that no one wanted in their group. And often, those people would be excluded from the group because people thought that they had nothing to contribute. But, if you took enough time to figure out what that person was good at, then the project could be completed using everyone's strengths. This returns to your idea of balance, and how it is the leader's job to identify the strengths of each individual and the followers job to use their strengths, and when both of those roles are filled, then the goal can be reached in the most efficient manner.

My second comment is on Fatima's iMedia post where she asserts that the female image of Disney characters teaches young girls that they should be really thin and seductive and young boys that they can only like the 'hot' girls.

Fatima I respect your opinion, but I just don't agree with you. I grew up on these videos, and I watched them for pure enjoyment. I didn't once think, "I can only like girls who's stomach is narrower than her hips." I find Disney's depiction on their female characters absurd and ridiculous like you do, and they probably have that depiction of them because of society's pressure, but I don't think that a young child is going to interpret that message from these movies. Maybe I have this view because I am a boy, but I remember having a discussion similar to this last year in English class and many people agreed with me, including girls.