Chapter 11

I like the top ten job skills. 1. Teamwork 2. Problem Solving 3. Interpersonal Skills 4. Oral Communication 5. Listening 6. Creative thinking 7. Leadership 8. Writing 9. Computation 10. Reading. There is a disconnect between group work in the classroom and teamwork on the job I believe. It was my experience working in telecommunications that individuals on a team each did their own work--with consultation for advice as needed. Responsibility for your part of the job was yours alone. Teams do meet to coordinate tasks, but the actual work is done on an individual basis. My husband, an engineer who works as a plant manager, has had the same experience: Group work in a school setting does not mimic actual work done as a team on a job. I would like to figure out how to better organize group work in the classroom. I never liked it, my husband never liked it, none of my 4 children liked it, and no one I have ever spoken with has liked it. (I'd love to hear from someone who did enjoy group work in school--and please tell me how it was organized!) I would like to get to the bottom of this, because much of the education theory promotes group work. I am not giving up on it, I just want to make it work better than it did for me...and if we are doing it because 'teamwork' is an important job skill, we need to set it up more as it would be in a job setting.
There! Got that out of my system! A little off topic, but it will be worthwhile if I get some feedback.
This class is a little too good to be believable, and I hope they do have a little content included in between all these ambitious projects. I like the practice writing business letters and also the interdisciplinary ideas. Overall this is a worthwhile book with lots of good ideas.