1. Before attempting this activity, I though the most difficult part to accomplish would be to come up with an idea good enough to beat everyone else, and to use all of the required materials at one time! And some of the materials, such as the toilet paper, were very delicate, so you had to be careful not to put them by the wire hangers, unless you wanted them somehow to poke through. And how to use the tape without it showing too much. COMPLICATED! And from all the chatter I was hearing, everyone had brilliant ideas brewing.
2. After completing it, I now think the most difficult part to accomplish was making our idea a reality. First off, the design was a little complicated, so to figure out how to take it from the paper to reality I though would prove to be difficult. There was layering of different sized blown balloons, and wire hanger shoulders to somehow make comfortable on a person. And the shape of the person played a little bit of a part of that; the way you imagined the trash bag to look may not have been how it actually turned out. So there were little adjustments to be made last minute, but it turned out really cool.
3. The most important thing I learned from this activity was to be patient while you're working in a group with a time limit. There were so many things to be done, and everyone was rushing to get it done, but then there's only so much space you can work in and I had to learn how to cooperate with some of the people in my group. We were all watching the minutes tick by, and hurrying to tape the last toilet paper on, or re-adjust the wire hanger shoulders, or to fix the trash bag which was slipping on one shoulder.
4. The most important surprising or interesting thing I learned from this activity is that everyone is really creative, you just have to maybe give them a little push, or incentive, to do so. One young lady in my group who was always very quite, volunteered a wonderful drawing, and to be honest, I didn't think she had this kind of talent in her. But she surprised me, and I saw that I didn't give her enough credit to begin with. So I got to learn a little bit more about the people in my class, as well as see some really awesome ideas.
5. The aspect of my work on this activity that I am most satisfied with is the end product. The design ended up coming out quite nicely, and close to the original and knowing the work it took to get there makes it all the better. My group got 3rd place in the class, and I liked the chance to get a little closer with some classmates as well as create a spectacular costume out of just garbage bags, toilet paper, and balloons.
6. The aspect of my work on this activity that I am least satisfied with is that I think, even with the time constraints, I could have been a little less bossy to get things done. Not everyone was working at the same time and there was a lot to be done, but everyone was contributing, and I thought I could have been a lot more lenient on everyone.
Stephanie Rodgers, Period 7
