Reflection on our group project...

Group project... the monster I feared most throughout my school experience. As someone who used to be timid and introverted, it was never a good news when the teacher assigned us to divide into groups or work in pairs. Adding also the fact that I thought of myself as a perfectionist, it didn't help knowing that I would have to trust and rely on other people to work on the project and their work wouldn't match my expectations. But this semester, I was proven wrong and have completely changed my mind for good.

The assignment was interesting and challenging enough, to be able to simulate a Teaching English classroom session. What made it even more so, was the fact that we had to work in pairs. I was to work with Alkida, a classmate I didn't know really well. But I was determined to work hard and I would still give my best nonetheless, especially after seeing others' presentations and trying to reflect and learn from my friends.

To be truly honest, I didn't start working on the project right away after the assignment as I was so overwhelmed with other assignments and work, but after seeing a couple of presentations I was insecure that mine wouldn't turn out to be as good. As the date was approaching, we exchanged ideas and made a plan of the general thing, the topic and the outline. Then, we met in person and discussed about what we needed to add and how everything was going to be organised. We picked a topic that we thought would be engaging because we really wanted to make something that everyone would both learn and enjoy. I showed Alkida some of my ideas and she was really understanding and helpful, she came up with different better alternations of those ideas, some exercises and found a beautiful video for us to share and prepared some cool questions. I worked on the presentation and she said she loved how it came out and suggested me how to better organise some ideas. 

Since I really liked how confidently Alkida spoke and her tone of voice, I was afraid I wouldn't match up to her. But during the project I felt confident as well, and I was expressing freely and trying to stay focused even when I faced some minor difficulties, and I think that working with a positive partner like her helped because she had my back and I had hers. Must've been contagious!

I was really content with how the project and the presentation came out, I was glad that I saw so much engagement from the students and I found the feedback really uplifting and helpful for my future works. I was aware of the things that I could have done better and I was glad they were pointed out too, because constructive criticism is the key to improvement and success! 

I will conclude this with expressing my joy for working with a supportive future colleague like Alkida and I am happy that I was proven wrong when I thought that we would do a poor job. Groupwork is tricky, but if you find the right language and all parties are willing to work, we can make some really great things! This assignment has helped me understand that there are people who work as hard as me, I am not perfect and no one is; I can trust them and I can learn many things from them. Oh, and the assignment experience is extremely beneficial to my career as a future teacher! Tiring, but worth it!