The Art of Teamwork

While writing this blog for my MLIS social networking class I have managed to catch up on several blogs I’ve been meaning to read, organize my bookshelf and drink 3 cups of tea. I have identified the main issue I will have with online learning, and it is procrastination. I am organized, comfortable with technology and love a challenge, but I do have a tendency to post pone starting my work.

However, over the past three weeks I’ve come up with a strategy to help me stay on top of my work. I plan out on my giant paper calendar when I’m going to work on each of my assignments, and when I’m going to do readings and watch lectures. Each morning the first thing I do when I sit down at my computer is open D2L, and then I have to do one thing that’s school related. Once I get started, I’m good to go. So I’ve tried to give myself the tools I need to start right away.

I did a lot of teamwork as a part of my undergraduate degree, and after watching the lecture by Dr. Haycock, I realized that my groups would have really benefitted from some tips on working well as a team. I really liked Dr. Haycock’s suggestion to set up guidelines and establish the group’s expectations when you being to work together, rather than after you have a problem.

After watching Enid Irwin’s presentation, I really appreciated the importance of trust and good communication. I feel fortunate that I communicate well online, and I’m very familiar with many different types of online collaborative tools. I feel very well prepared to be a good group member, and fulfill my responsibilities to my group.

Since the MLIS program is completely online, I’m actually really looking forward to doing some group projects. In the completely online environment, it’s easy to feel isolated from your classmates. There’s no 3 hour block of time every week where we all gather in the same room. I think that the group work will be a great way to get to know my classmates, and make some friends in the program. 

Top Ten Cold & Snowy Winter Books…

I’m not sure where you live, but where I live it’s -19 outside and -30 with the windchill. Winter is cold, and my favourite thing to do on a cold day is curl up with a great book and a cup of tea. I could pick a book full of sunshine and beaches to warm up with, but I usually like to double down with a cold and snowy book. There’s something about reading about cold weather that you’re not enduring that warms you right up.

So without further ado, here is my top ten list:

10. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis. Can four plucky British children defeat the White Witch and end a winter that never ends?

9. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. What if you turned into a wolf in the winter?

8. The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. We’re off to the South Pole with this book. Cherry-Garrard was the only surviving member of Robert Scott’s doomed voyage to the South Pole.

7. East by, Edith Pattou. A lovely retelling of the myth ‘East of the Sun and West of the Moon’ set in the North.

6. The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. All of the Little House on the Prairie books have amazing winter scenes, but The Long Winter is full of blizzards and a heroic sleigh ride by Almanzo.

5. Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakaur. The disturbing story of an expedition to the top of Mount Everest that went horribly wrong.

4. The Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman. Follow Lyra as she journeys into the North to rescue stolen children with the help of an Iron Bear.

3. The Terror, by Dan Simmons. Based on the true events of Sir John Franklin’s search for the Northwest Passage, this is a chilling fictionalized tale of their harrowing two year battle to escape the Arctic Circle.

2. Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk by Jennifer Niven. More horror and terror as Jennifer Niven tells the store of another ill fated arctic expedition.

1. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. Be chilled by the horrors created by Dr. Frankenstein, and then feel extra frozen as the action moves into the Arctic.

After making this list I am genuinely grateful to be warm and safe in my house and quite certain that I will never want to go on my own exploratory arctic voyage.