Reflection on Childrens Play and Game Board.

It never cease to amaze me how imagination and creativity can take you a long way. Along the period of my journey to finish the Learning and The Learners coursework on Childrens Play, I have seen examples of creativities and innovations that just blew my mind away. I am that kind of person who likes to compare what I have with another person. It is just in the nature of human being to be competitive, and I am a human being. Thus, the little competition that Miss Goh Wah Im had set to the students of 2PISMP TESL 4 sparked the tiny kid in me who wished to be the winner. Is it childish? According to Andrew Meyers, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Memphis, competition isnt inherently good or bad, but it can have positive and negative consequences (Levine, 2012). Thus, I realize that this personal competition with my peers have allowed me to explore this situation and apply it to the board game. In a sense, the competitive spirit is what my group apply in the design and application of our board game, EPICO WORLD. However, a guide must be given to the children so that the game play is conducted harmoniously and peacefully. Like the words of David Anderegg, Ph.D., a child psychologist in Lenox, Massachusetts, the parent is asked to help their kids compete in a healthy way (Levine, 2012). Parent is a childrens guidance at home and teachers are childrens guidance at school. As a teacher, I realise that it is important to inculcate good behaviour and positive response to the children even while playing. I guess I was sharing my thoughts in a non-chronological order. Firstly, during the beginning of the process of receiving and dividing the work, my teammates and I have the problem to clearly see the objectives of this coursework. We tend to focus too much on the theme of the board game that we lost our sight to the bigger picture that is in front of us. We tend to digress too much with ideas and opinions that we took more time saying it than doing it. There is a saying that says action speaks louder than words, and I have to agree with this idiom for once. I realized that at the beginning of this coursework, my teammates and I have the problem to get the right tempo to work together. Each of us has different resonance that hindered us to accomplish the same decision in everything. The problem lies with the inability to negotiate and look through ones dissimilarity. However, this is only a rough patch for us. The key to solving problems is patience. The organization of the work is smother when one is in a calm state of mind. Referring to Mike Brown patience allows you time for strategic thinking and completely evaluating a situation (Brown, 2010) and I agree with Brown statement. In a time of hectic and trouble, you should combat it with patience. I was able to

calculate and organised the division of works better and faster. The calm state of mind and emotion does help me to overcome the trouble easily I have been through many group works before but recently, this work was by far the hardest to finish. Maybe the problems came from me, who took this work for granted at the beginning of the semester. I was too preoccupied with other assignments that I did not take the time to gather my teammates to discuss more about our board game and report. Thus, we found a bit of a rush hour near the end of our submission date and have to make the little time to sort out the work together. People know how to describe the benefit of teamwork. I do too. But to experience the true meaning of working together is seldom discussed. Negotiation, understanding one another and collaborating is among the traits needed in a functional teamwork. I can see that the chemistry I have with my team members are little during the beginning of the work however the bond strengthens throughout the process of finishing this assignment. Time and patience prevail us from failing. Though we may not have the same opinion, but we try to find a solution to some of the things that we disagree. In the end, we succeed to create a good and neat product for our assignment. Lastly, I realize that time management is very important. The mistake that I made and letting the time pass by till the eleventh hour clearly took a toll on my daily routines. Though I was patient but I had to sacrifice my sleep and meals to put the time for the work thus it take a toll on my health and productivity in my work. Time is gold, at least that is what some people say to me, but in my opinion, think time is everything. It took the course of life from the beginning till death. To waste time is actually wasting your life. Now I realize that it is not smart to just use time without any planning and it is never good to procrastinate. The decision I made brought a negative result on me. I hope that after this assignment, I can change myself to be more productive and organised. The problems I face today is a big lesson for tomorrow. The success in finishing the work is a miracle, in my opinion. The process of learning is available to learn. I only need a positive outlook on a harsh situation and be patient to overcome the problems.

Reference:

Brown, M. (2010). Patience Strategic Advantage or Disadvantage? Retrieved September 1, 2012, from www.braizooming.com: http://brainzooming.com/is-patience-a-strategicadvantage-or-disadvantage-tie-breaker-tuesday/4062/ Levine, K. (2012). Why Kids are Competitive. Retrieved September 1, 2012, from www.parents.com: http://www.parents.com/kids/development/behavioral/why-kids-arecompetitive/