rewrite and polish this essay

If you could start the semester and volunteer project (planning and activity) over again, what would you do differently and why? 

· Ill try to make more group activities other than the assigned project. Because according to the textbook, it seems fairly clear that people who are interested in the same activities tend to form groups. people may be attracted to the activity- ties of a group in a more general sense. Some may join groups simply because they enjoy going to regular meetings and joining in group discussions, regardless of the group’s specific aims or goals. The structure and human contact provided by groups are potentially rewarding in and of themselves.

Our group lacks of communication and interaction, even though everyone can finish their assigned task, but still many questions showed up b/c of this lack of group activities.

· The next thing I will do differently is to develop a plan for gathering information and analyzing issues. According to our textbook, Developing a step-by-step plan that involves all group members will help your group work effectively and create a realistic timetable for accomplishing its goal. I cant agree more with it, because our group did not develop any plans, we pretty much just go step by step, which caused us more time to discussing which activity we are going to participate, which date are more preferred, who is responsible for which part of paper work.

What would you keep the same and why? 

· Before we formed our group, I told them that I wanted to join a group that not only doing the activity for this class, but also make some contributions to the community, and the rest of our group members agreed, then we became one group. I will keep this the same way if I can start the semester all over again. Because I really agree with the book that Group and team goals are identifiable future achievements that transcend the group members’ individual goals. Because that our group has a same goal, we were able to cohesive together for the activity, we went to the activity 5am at first day of the fall break, and all of my group members were excited and on time, helpful.

· I will still want to be the leader of my group. Two of my group members are freshman, and another is sophomore year, I am the only senior year student in my group, I believed that I organized well for our group activities and when the day of our activity, I gathered them at one location and drive them to the Tempe Town Lake. After our chapter 7 lecture, I improved my listening skills. For instance, I didn’t hear their option while the first time we choose the activity, because I think that the date of Library Cleaning fits our schedule the best, and one of our group member thinks that we should make the activity date earlier that we can have enough time for the group paper. After I changed my listening styles, I started to listen to my group members ideas and discuss with them, give them feedback and ask opinions from them.

What is the most important lesson you learned this semester and why was it important?

· The most important lesson I learned this semester is the importance of listening. I used to think as long as I can finish the task, It will be unnecessary to ask opinions from others, and as long as I pretend I listened, it will be enough for me to build a good relationship with others and working effectively. After the Chapter 7 lecture, I understood that the good listening skills are an important component of being an effective group member or leader, and those skills can be improved with practice, it is an active process through which people select, attend, understand, and remember. Effectively listening is not only about hearing the information, but also actively select and attend to the information I received. As a leader of group, I should absorb other teammates opinions and provide feedback for them.