Week 37: Getting Down to Business to defeat the Puppet

Tuesday: No class-nuclear power plant trip
Thursday: 10 minute class
We had a very short class today because of pictures, but we went over turnitin. This is a site that looks  at how much you  have copied out of other sources. Mr. Fearnehough showed us how it worked and told me that have an acceptable percent of copied words, 19%, because we  should  be using correctly  cited  quotes. He also showed us how we could use the information  better, by mentioning where a quote  comes from to show its validity and quote "simple basic" information to give it authority and credibility.

Friday: This was our only "real" lesson this week and it was a double which was interesting. This lesson was first in the day after quiz night, so we were very hyper and unfocused at the beginning of the lesson, so we did the relaxation exercise, which got us much more focused and ready for the lesson. Then Mr. Fearnehough had us do another exercise looking at our ability to "sense" each other. We paired up and then stood opposite from our partner, then with eyes closed we attempted to walk across the room and place our hands on our partners. This was made especially  difficult because our paths crossed the othe pairs. I found it difficult to hold the "link" with my partner after moving, because I doubted my ability to accurately tell what she  was doing, in other words I didn't trust myself. I was really suprised by the fact that later when I tried it with Axel, we did it perfectly the first time. I had been  trying very hard, but I was easily distracted by the logical  side of my mind and tried to reason out what I should do, but Axel said that he knew when he  got to a certain point that he should stop and wait for me to come. I found myself doubting less and doing what seemed right that time, and it worked. This exercise  showed us how difficult it is to do something with out communication. Then we went outside and played with balloons. This was an exercise that looked at how we view and react to a situation  that has consequences and one that doesn't. We started by playing "Don't touch the Floor" with a normal balloon. Then we progessed to a balloon half-filled with water. We took passing this balloon around much more seriously because there were real, lasting consequences if it burst on someone. When I threw the balloon to Lydia and it burst, most of the class laughed, most likely  because of released nerves, and I just felt terrible for soaking Lydia. This shows how we are more committed to something if it has real, lasting consequences if failed. 

Then we did Lydia's pilates. I found them to be quite difficult because I had hurt my back the night before, but the concentration required to follow the movements, keep my inner core tensed, and control my breathing helped my to ignore it. The pilates poses were very simple, but required a small amount of flexibility and strength that I found difficult a the time, but I thought that is looked very graceful. The  concentration required on by the pilates helps with our Buraku work because it promotes concentration and focus, as well as being uncomfortable to accomplish a task. Then we massaged each other. We did it differently this time, the ensemble paired up, and one person did their partner's back. I found this to be much less awkward than the other way of massage we did before, as only one person  was focusing on me, I was in a standing position, and I was not surrounded by the entire class. Although  the experience was not negative, I didn't find it to be a very relaxing as a massage. The final thing that we did was a make an improved skit in a Bunraku style. This was done with three people with holding the sticks between them and the other person as the "chanter". The chanter made up a story and the three people acted it out as he narrated it. I thought we worked together well. The story that Axel made up had one main character that we all did together. This required good teamwork and seemed to work better because we all had on common goal.