Ideas for Improvement

          For this class, I learned about Entrepreneurship. I think it has been very informative so far. I found this class very helpful and I look forward to learning more. During this class we took a couple of personality tests. One of the tests we took was called the Big Five. This one measures your personality over five different areas that spelled out the word ocean. Ocean stood for openness, conscientiousness,  extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. We also took one called 16 personalities. This one was also known as the Myers Briggs. I remember I got "ENTJ" for my results.

            For a service project, we had to choose and analyze an aspect of GCE that could use some improvement. I chose the subject of Field Experiences which are out-of-school opportunities that we take every Wednesday to experience a real life aspect of what we’re learning about in class. I interviewed five people for this. Some were teachers, some were staff and some were fellow students. I questioned them on the safety and security of the field experiences. I also questioned them on their opinions of how well this actually relates back to class. And then finally I asked them what improvements they would make on the field experiences themselves. Overall I think all the responses varied significantly. I chose these particular people to interview because I knew their responses would be very different. I did this so I could get a broad opinion on the subject and it worked out quite well.


            Another thing we learned in class was SWOT. This stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. In identifying those characteristics relating to us, I would first have to say the strength that we have is the level of connectivity shown in our class meetings. I think we can rely on each other a lot. Some weaknesses we have are getting too distracted by things and people around us. I am not singling anyone out obviously! I am just saying that when downtown, it's easy to lose track of where you’re going if distracted. Some opportunities that we can take to our full advantage are the connections with the FE hosts that we already have. Also, Kim mentioned something about a bus and how she’s looking into it. I know price-wise it might not be the most realistic idea, but it's an opportunity to Chicago. And finally threats. I think our biggest threat truly is our budget. I know that doesn't sound great, but I think it’s the most realistic.

          A commons is described as a public space for everyone to use and share. An example of this is the Thomson Center. After some FEs, we would come here to have lunch and just hang out. We went to We Work. This is a cool workspace anyone can come to and have a space to work with colleagues. Also spaces can be rented for private meetings. Another cool space I saw is Be Office Urban Workspaces. It's downtown and it looks as if we can go there. I think this will be good if we use this as a space to work while we wait for the next FE to begin.

          One of the smart goals we have is the realistic aspect of the cost. Again, mostly the problem here is the cost of everything. The school just bought a new building and I am pretty sure that we don't have the budget for a bus or rental service.

          While in class we discussed the five levels of Maslow‘s Hierarchy. I am going to include my own version of Maslow‘s Hierarchy but with the FE information put in.

Rules
          The Rules of the FE’s are already set up and non-negotiable. I think that we should be able to meet the class at the FE sight if we can get there. Sometimes it's just a lot closer to go right from your house to the sight instead of going all the way to school and back out.

Esteem
          Sometimes the school has events were they invite the FE partners. I think that we should get the FE partners to sponsor the school and for a price they can get their business advertised around the new space. This is how that company donated the D- Lab and it was a great idea.

Love & Belonging
          The school has relationships with specific FE places. I would say keep reaching out. It is always good to have a solid place to know you're welcome -- such as the Gene Siskel film Center or the Goodman Theater.

Safety
          We don't have much control here to be honest. It's hard to do manage because it is Chicago and anything can happen. I will talk to Kim to see if there are some sort of security procedures we could practice. Having a guard is too much frankly. I would say just remind people how to act and to avoid any confrontations on the CTA or wherever. The adults provide information and some level of security about what to do if there is an emergency issue.



Physiological
          FEs are pretty accommodating when it comes to eating. If we get back late to school from a morning FE, we don't have enough time to eat. I think a way to improve this is to have a vote among the group as to whether we want to have lunch downtown or go back to GCE. I know for some of Sharron's FEs we have eaten at the Thompson Center. Sometimes last year we would get back late and that would affect our lunch time by taking 20 minutes off of it. This year the school has been much more lenient towards getting back later and giving us time so I think that is a good step in the right direction.


Sources

Interviews

A.C,L, 2020 

C.B, 2020 

D.S ,2020

K.C, 2020 

“Free Personality Test.” 16Personalities, 2011, www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test.

“Listen to Music.” SoundCloud, 2020, soundcloud.com/discover.

Mcleod, Saul. “Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.” Simply Psychology, Simply Psychology, 21 May 2018, www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.