Sunday, December 14, 2008

SCHOOL RELATED POST #9 - Poetry Slamtacular

On day one of this night class,
the professor drove up many a hope.
He promised to enlighten us with management;
Did he think he was the pope?



He also promised an unforgettable semester.
He did this after saying his hello.
I must admit I'll never forget
making a mess playing with jell-o.

We came up with new wacky jell-o ideas.
All this was under the guise of brainstorming.
Someone thought of a jell-o after-school program.
I could already feel the management cells forming.



Through a curve, drop, and extra credit,
as well as decision making that was unanimous and firm,
Many students managed their time by not studying
for that multiple matching second midterm.



I learned about organizational structure.
This knowledge I applied to work.
I told my boss our structure was functional.
But he didn't care, as he's kind of a jerk.



Through teamwork we got through those class activities.
Dominant, influential, conscientious, stable.
Though we all had varying personalities,
We each brought something different to the table.



So what is this science we call management?
Motivation? Innovation? Something from this list?
Power? Planning? Leading? Controlling?
Trying to define it is getting me pissed.



The truth is that management is just too broad.
For one semester it's a lot to learn.
This subject really does interest me,
but I can't guarantee that textbook won't burn.



I think I got an A on this blog assignment.
That plan went off without a hitch.
Still, writing so much is hard.
This blog assignment's been a real bitch.




Thank you.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

SCHOOL RELATED POST #8 - Holding Up A Mirror To My Blog (Reflection (Hilarious))

Aside from those fun class activities where we actually employ management techniques (often without knowing it), I feel that the blog has been one of the best parts of this course. It has given me a chance to learn about myself and apply the technicalities of management into different parts of my life. This assignment has given me an outlet for the words that build up inside me. I am glad that I took a class that mandated the creation of a blog, because I love to write about my experiences and creating a blog and writing in it is one way to share my boring adventures.



Making it a requirement to comment on the blogs of our colleagues has vastly enriched this online experience. If it was just optional, I feel laziness would have taken over and I would have just written my blog and not given a rat's ass about anybody else. By making it mandatory, I had to overcome my laziness and in the process, I learned so much about my classmates, when I would not have otherwise. I got insight into the problems and experiences that my fellow students go through. Having every student in the class write a blog allowed all of us an opportunity to take a look inside each other's minds and see how the different personalities in the class felt about various topics relating to management.

The blog was a great communication tool, because as you said, it allowed for students to communicate with each other. Without the blog, I would never have talked to some of the various characters in the class, and they would not have talked to me. I definitely benefited from being able to comment on blogs of "strangers" and have these very same "strangers" comment back on mine, as I gave my honest opinion and insight, and hopefully got the same in return.

Most of the blog assignments involved us reflecting back on the activities we did in class. I feel this was very helpful in getting us to really think about what we did and why we did it. One way in which this was accomplished is that we were given plenty of time to think about our activity, whatever it may have been. We also wrote our blog assignments from the comfort of our own homes. Psychologically, this meant that there was a lot less pressure on us than if we had done it in class. I feel this allows the blog writers to be more truthful and honest in writing the blog, as it feels more like a leisurely exercise you are doing for yourself, and not a boring school assignment that you want to get over with as soon as possible. By making us share our perspectives in a "fun" non-school related medium like a blog, I feel that this is as honest and straightforward as it is going to get for a school assignment.






The professor's blog was definitely one of the better parts of this blog assignment. There were always interesting posts filled with fitting pictures that really got the reader thinking. I remember the post about the bear that was in quite a pickle, and just decided to sleep. I felt that really applied to life, as sometimes you just have to take a nap, or just be cool, calm, and collected. The professor's blog was a great supplement to the topics learned in class, and I feel it really enhanced this management class experience.











I always write relatively long and meaningful blog posts, so I felt that the blog assignment's twenty percent stake in the grade was basically a gimme. I understood that this was a very easy part of my grade to get an A in and definitely felt comforted knowing that this was one area where I could not mess up in (at least not too badly). I hope everyone so far has enjoyed reading my blog as much as I enjoyed writing it. It is giving me a hard time trying to think of ways to improve this blog assignment, so just keep it the way it is.

To be quite honest, it is hard to see myself continuing to post regularly after this assignment has ended. Though this has been a great experience, it is hard to make time to write a meaningful blog entry. However, I feel that one of the reasons I never wrote a blog before was because I was just too damn lazy to set one up. Now that it is already set up, I feel that once in a while, when I have something on my mind that I really want to put on the internet for the whole world to see, I will definitely make the time to write up a blog post.



Until a probable next time,

Kwok