5th session- Debate about Pizzeria

Our teacher started today's lesson by giving us an article about Pizzeria. Our task would be getting as much information as we can about Pizzeria to support what we are proposing for the debate.

The article given to us was about the pizzeria's policy towards the customers orders. The policy is each of the customer will have to have pizza otherwise do not even bother coming and if there are 4 people in a group there is a minimum of 3 people who have to order pizza. There were 4 people in a group and 2 people ordered pizza and the rest want to have some salad; therefore, the manager came and asked them to leave. The boss of the Pizzeria said that it is not about the money that's why they have that policy, it's just about the passion about pizza and they want to have people to come dine in their restaurant who have the same passion as they have.

I was in the proposing group which says that Pizzeria has the right to choose their customers as it is their policy. The law support this as all of the business have the rights to do the same way too (based on reliable source). We were given 10 minutes to make a research and gather as much information as we can to support our beliefs. Therefore we all set certain tasks to each of the member of the group for example Trisha's doing the research about pizzeria's background/culture/beliefs, Suna's researching about the ingredients and Patsy Jane and I will be researching about people's view. After gathering information, we then moved on to conclusion and sharing ideas on what we are going to say when we stand and talk. Each of us in the team had a chance to talk and say what our beliefs. To be able to make our audience (our tutor) believe that we are the one who is on the right side of the debate we have gathered information in reliable sources. We produced a copy of a source we looked through to give evidence/ back up towards our conclusion. As we thought that what we are going to say will remain an opinion if we will not conclude evidence.

This video shows that to be part of a debate; you should be prepared; being prepared helps you to increase confidence as well. It is necessary to take note of what you will be saying as you will lose point as well if you just keep on looking at your notes and literally just reading it. You will have to put an eye contact to your opponent in a debate as well as appropriate body gesture is important having this both will make you look professional and confident. Lastly, you should speak clearly to avoid interruption and time consuming in explaining and going through things that you just have said.

I have learned that in order to have strong arguments, we have to search for reliable sources and/ or evidence to support our statement. Both group were great, but we stood out as we have shown evidence of our statement regarding 'every business have the rights to choose their customers and make their own policy.

I have work well in a team as I've contributed and fulfilled everything I was asked to do by my team members.However, I felt that I need to practice to talk more on the debate and gain self-esteem.

4th session- Methods of communication

For today's session our tutor prepared a power-point presentation and discuss to us about different kinds of methods in communicating to people.There's verbal communication which is face-to-face and written which includes notice boards, news papers, e-mail, telegraph and so on...

In business industry it is essential that all of the employees know how to communicate effectively in any other way. For example: a client made a phone call to the boss of the company regarding a particular product; as a secretary it is her job to make it clear and confirm a certain information to the client about what he/she wants. The company will lose a lot of money if one person in the sector will not be clear towards the information that he/she is saying and make decisions regardless of they have wrong information.

This video tells us tips on how to communicate effectively to each and one another either inside or outside workplace. It is our daily basis to communicate to each other; friends, families, strangers (people you just me or do not know), colleagues and classmates/ schoolmates. Therefore, it is crucial to practice our communication skills in any aspects of your daily life because it is a big help in your future.

 

This video tells us tips on how to communicate effectively to each and one another either inside or outside workplace. It is our daily basis to communicate to each other; friends, families, strangers (people you just me or do not know), colleagues and classmates/ schoolmates. Therefore, it is crucial to practice our communication skills in any aspects of your daily life because it is a big help in your future.

Moving forward, we have done an exercise towards our communications skills; our tutor asked us to sit in pairs, opposite each other. It was a really fun and exciting task to do; the game will have a listener and communicator. The communicator is the one able to look at the paper and say what on it to the listener. Whilst, the listener will draw what ever he/she understands on what the communicator was saying. This practices our speaking and listening as well as teamwork skills. It enables all of us to see what are the advantages and disadvantages of communicating without eye contact. It is very important to use an eye contact if a person was to use a verbal or face to face communication as it shows whether he/she is sincere of not.

I have learned that in order to have  a good communicating skills you will need not just good in talking but also good in listening. It is beneficial if you are a good communicator and it will be more beneficial if you are also a good listener.



I enjoyed this task a lot as we have won the prize which was SMARTIES! my partner; Dorina and I managed to communicate effectively which results a nearly identical drawing of what she have and what I drew through what she has told me to.

Also, I believe that anyone could be a good communicator if they want to be, we have a choice whether to be a good or bad communicator. I am a good communicator in a way that I ask questions if I don't know the meaning of a certain thing or did not understand what a person is saying. I may sometimes be a bad communicator to the fact I don't deliver the message to the person/people very well and they misinterpret what I was saying, the main barrier for this is the language. I am a good listener in a way that I listen very carefully before having conclusion or objecting a particular issue. It is an advantage having this skill because not a lot of people are able to listen and communicate.

These skills are beneficial for my personal life because we cannot prevent using it as communicating to people is our day-to-day basis. It is efficient using my communication skills effectively in my daily life as I have responsibilities at home and is useful in meeting up friends.

Also in academic, It is crucial and required to have these skills to be able to pass your course; having a bad communication skills may lead you to misinterpretation regarding on e.g. assignments due date . An example to this  is I thought the date of our debate in Professional competencies was on the 29th of January 2012, but it was actually on the 13th. I needed to do and ask for a confirmation from my tutor and she told me that it's on the 13th of January 2011. This shows that having a bad communication skills may lead you into serious trouble, as I can be not prepared when our debate day comes and fail the module.

Lastly,it is an advantage being able to communicate and listen at the same time at work to be able to handle problems easily, for example: a customer is looking for a particular item and she wants you to do a product search, whether you have it in the store. I always encounter this kind of situation at work especially when customer is talking through phone, you have to be patient and focus onto what he/she is saying as people have different accents that you may not understand. I have focused, listen and understand  every word she was saying and communicate effectively to her e.g. asked her to describe the product so that it will be easier for me to find it. As a result to this, I have found the product and and made the customer happy and satisfied.

3rd session on the 14 of October 2011

This is the task we need to do and discuss to be able to complete the Professional Practice module. As you can see our tutor have set a date onto when we are having our formal debates. We have been grouped into 4 teams and given us our topic and whether we are against or for. Knowing these information enables us to prepare for the day and have a better knowledge of the topic given.

 
Also, we have made a Google site and created folders in it for our portfolio. We were asked to do this to be able to organize out portfolio for this subject very well. Google site is available for my tutor and I to look through my tasks results or how much I have done for my portfolio.

Moving forward,  we started to have a discussion about debate as an introduction to assignment 1. We talked about why having debate's important ( slide show in scheme of work). In my own point of view, in any aspects of industry having a negotiation or debate is necessary if conflicts occurs. This is because of the reasons below:

• It helps two teams (proposing and opposing team) to be more creative that enables them to make a better decision. The reason I have said that they become more creative is because they listen to each others' opinion towards certain things  which allows to expand their understanding on the problem.
• They become more pro-active, as they would not let a certain problem be just a problem; they will find a way and put a lot of effort to solve it
• Learn on each other: During or after the debate people in both teams will gain knowledge as they were giving each other ideas and researched facts about the certain topic for the debate.

This video shows us how to do a debate, What are the positions of each person in the debate. It explains us that each person in the team will have a turn to speak and when all of the people in the both teams have finished talking, the audience will make a final decision who they think are more persuasive. This  video also tells us that you do not need to be right in the debate; all you need to do is to persuade the audience and make look as if your right even if you're not; this is the way you win a debate.

We had a debate about the usage of phone at work for personal use and there was two teams; proposing and opposing .I was in the against team, each one of us in the team had a chance to talk our own perception in using the company's phone at work for personal reason.Trisha and I did the main argument and I have given my beliefs and point of views to them as clearly as possible. There was a time that I pause, therefore Tricia backed me up in talking for our main argument to remain strong. This is a very good exercise for me to practice my argument skills and prepare me for the real one in January. It was enjoyable and a very good topic to talk about, as both teams had good ideas on to which they have to say something against our beliefs.

I have learned that you have to work hard and put a lot of time and effort as well as passion onto what you are doing in order to achieve a good result. I've been participating in giving ideas on our arguments, but I still believe that I need to improve my vocabulary and confidence to be able to have a strong and sincere arguments. I felt that even though I have participated in contributing opinions and related facts towards the debate discussion of our group, I still need to look more sincere, convincing and be confident onto what I am saying during the debate. I believe that reading will help me improve my vocabulary and give me confidence in my next debate. In general, it was a great experience having this debate in class as it was very interesting and all of the people was participating and had their chance to talk.

Session 2 on the 7th of October 2011

 This shows the tasks that needs to be done in this lesson. Our tutor put that tasks that we are doing in Scheme of work; this gives us an opportunity to revise them before lessons. This may allow us to participate very well and be more creative in the lesson as we have time to think about the activities we are about to do in the lesson.

Firstly, made sure that each and one of us has a Blog for her subject; Professional Practice. Those people who do not know how to do a separated blog for Rita and Jay's subject was helped by the people who have done it. By this, we have shown that we have a good communication and team working skills; as we work together to be able to finish all of the tasks we have to do in this lesson.

After knowing that all of the people in class have done their Blog accounts, we have asked to get a partner and do an eye to eye contact for 60 seconds with them. This  activity shows and tells us that in order to deliver a good communication skills; you need to look at them deliberately (your audience).

Flavia and I were grouped in this exercise. I have known that in looking at the eyes of a person you are able to see what they feel, or you may able to feel what they think. A good example is a business graduate doing her presentation in front of the possible employer; shaking, fidgeting and pausing may show that he/she is not prepared for the presentation and may be lacking of self-confidence. When I did this exercise with Flavia, I have noticed that it is difficult to look at a person' eyes for 60 seconds, therefore, in order to convince and persuade a person onto what you are saying you must be focused and show him/her that you are sincere and know what you are talking about by looking at his/her eyes.

We also looked at the slide show presentation made by our tutor in the scheme of work

                                                              The core competencies

The core competencies helps us to expand our knowledge and understanding in Business industry. This video shows us that in order to be successful we need to be focus and passionate in what we are doing. For example the course you are doing; you have to do a certain course because you want to, because your passionate about it not just because you need or you have to. Revising the 10 core competencies is very helpful in the Business industry as it explains people how to manage their skills, knowledge and abilities very well:

• Personal Management
• Communication
• Managing information
• Research and Analysis
• Project, Task and Organisational skills
• Team work
• Commitment to quality
• Professional behaviour
• Social responsibility
• Continuous learning

I believe that we need to learn new things as long as we live. Continuous learning is one of the main area that I need to improve. As I am studying Business studies, I have to read a lot for example; newspaper and books or even articles to expand my knowledge for the course. Reading may improve my research and analysis too; I can use books, articles and newspaper to give reliable sources for my works. Managing my time properly on academic and personal would be necessary for my course, it is recommended to finish our assignments early to be able to get feedback and improve it before the due date.

I am fond in working in a team and consider it as one of my strengths. Working in a team motivates me in finishing the tasks given, especially if I am in a group of people who pursue and gives a lot of effort in finishing the work as quick as possible.

Professional Practice on the 30th of September session

On the 30th of September was our first session with Rita. Obviously, It was a first session therefore we did not start the assignments yet. I had fun as she grouped us into three and we had to introduce each person in our group to the class.

I really am overwhelmed in the class, everybody likes and help each other. This is a good start for me and gives me a positive thought in the future. Also, having a good environment at College gives me inspiration and motivation in finishing my course-works; especially having a very pro-active classmates that finishes their works on time influences me and keeps me on track.

Additionally having a very supportive and caring teachers and Tutor like Rita; I can never ask for more as I can see already that they are always there whenever we needed help (This was proven during the Apprentice weeks). They have given us two weeks to complete the Apprentice task (we have to come up with a very unique product that will get community's attention). 'Damir' Which was our mentor was always there whenever we needed him even though he's having he's break he still find a way to give us time and support. Rita and Jay check on us as well; ask us whether we need help on anything. Having a very supportive people in this course motivates me to finish all the task given on time or advanced as they give so much effort in ensuring that we are all on track, why should I not?

These people (my classmates and teachers) made me realize that time is so precious to waste. 'Do what ever you can today or regret it later' this keeps me motivated.