To be honest, before we started with the Innovation Academy, I was having second thoughts about what I had to come. “Do I really want this?” I asked myself almost everyday. When school started, I was nervous, but also kind of excited for some reason I didn´t know. But then, something unexpected happened, they introduced iWeek. A project that was based on creating an online newspaper, with mixed cohorts. I was really excited for the project, but as soon as the words “mixed cohorts” entered my mind, I was mortified. How would I, a fresh 10th grader, be working with juniors and seniors? Many worries strained my brain and I started to get really nervous.
After they finished explaining the project, all the different teams went to their assigned rooms. My team, was assigned to go to Mr. Bonnici´s room. As soon as the group started to discuss possible ideas for the newspaper, I realized I was worried for nothing. The older people were encouraging us (10th graders) to participate and give ideas. I was surprised by how fast the group got to know each other and became friends at the moment. We started brainstorming ideas of what we wanted to include in our newspaper in small groups and I was pleased to know that my opinion was actually taken into consideration within the group. Along the week, the group became really close , which helped a lot when it came to communicating and collaborating. We also thought of our group as “the most united and fun” from the other two.
I think that our biggest success as a group was that we understood each other and that every time that someone gave an idea, we took the time to think and analyze, and then decide if it was a good idea after all. I believe, that the main reason we succeeded in this project was because of the trust and unity we had within each other.
Our biggest failure? I would say that it would be lack of organization when communicating. This is because most of the time, people were working on their own stuff and were being oblivious to what the other groups were working on. One example of this was when the presentation crew was doing their job, without knowing that the webpage crew was changing everything. This was a huge problem because the presentation crew needed to start all over again and that took us a lot of time. Furthermore, dividing into groups too early affected us because since we divided into groups without actually knowing the strengths and weaknesses of everyone in the team, some people didn't fit properly on what they were working on and that leaded to not having the best work in all the areas.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed the iWeek. I learned a variety of skills (Keynote skills, presentation skills, and collaboration skills) that will make a huge positive impact in my future at the Innovation Academy. Most importantly, the main aspect I learned was to have confidence in myself. I learned that if I propose myself to do something right, I will accomplish it. And that is one of the best things to know.
After they finished explaining the project, all the different teams went to their assigned rooms. My team, was assigned to go to Mr. Bonnici´s room. As soon as the group started to discuss possible ideas for the newspaper, I realized I was worried for nothing. The older people were encouraging us (10th graders) to participate and give ideas. I was surprised by how fast the group got to know each other and became friends at the moment. We started brainstorming ideas of what we wanted to include in our newspaper in small groups and I was pleased to know that my opinion was actually taken into consideration within the group. Along the week, the group became really close , which helped a lot when it came to communicating and collaborating. We also thought of our group as “the most united and fun” from the other two.
I think that our biggest success as a group was that we understood each other and that every time that someone gave an idea, we took the time to think and analyze, and then decide if it was a good idea after all. I believe, that the main reason we succeeded in this project was because of the trust and unity we had within each other.
Our biggest failure? I would say that it would be lack of organization when communicating. This is because most of the time, people were working on their own stuff and were being oblivious to what the other groups were working on. One example of this was when the presentation crew was doing their job, without knowing that the webpage crew was changing everything. This was a huge problem because the presentation crew needed to start all over again and that took us a lot of time. Furthermore, dividing into groups too early affected us because since we divided into groups without actually knowing the strengths and weaknesses of everyone in the team, some people didn't fit properly on what they were working on and that leaded to not having the best work in all the areas.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed the iWeek. I learned a variety of skills (Keynote skills, presentation skills, and collaboration skills) that will make a huge positive impact in my future at the Innovation Academy. Most importantly, the main aspect I learned was to have confidence in myself. I learned that if I propose myself to do something right, I will accomplish it. And that is one of the best things to know.