American/X-ian

The toughest thing about this simulation was the amount of time we were given.


I believed me and my partner were making some headway and then I was stumped. And we agreed he wouldn't talk!


Getting my evaluations back (from observers and X-ian participants) didn't necessarily tell me something I already knew, but the inherent "WHAT AM I MISSING" tapping away at the back of my head was appeased. I guess I am stubborn. One thing I lacked was the ability to change tactics. I was never really aware I had this problem--even though really I think I should re-phrase and say I was never really aware this was a problem. 


Meaning: as simple and as "common sense" as it seems, I never thought about that before. It was staring me right in the face.


I was glad when me and my partner made the discovery that the female was head and that she was educated and we learned about the Garden Festival, but then we hit a wall.


Or I should say, I did.


Overall, this activity (especially with the evaluation afterward) helped me a bit when I had to read to some elementary school children in a largely Latino district of San Jose's school system (recently). Partway through my panic of not succeeding with the children, I took a deep breath and remembered: that if something isn't working, try something else!


This helped me a lot during that interaction.


And I know the only way to succeed with this is to practice, practice, practice!!


And this being one of our last simulations--I really have appreciated these simulations because they have been providing an insight to my character--this (personality/character) is something we won't know about ourselves until we've actually experienced it. Reading and theorizing is nothing compared to actual practice. Because then we realize what we need to work on should the occasion ever arise.