Listening+to+Others+with+Understanding+and+Empathy

Listening to Others with Understanding and Empathy
//Sometimes we ridicule or put down the ideas of others in a group situation. Interrupting when someone is talking shows a lack of respect for that person's idea. Devote your mental energy to another and invest in your partner's idea.//

The rusting iron project I mentioned in my first section, Questioning and Posing Problems, had to start from somewhere - brainstorming. We as a group were thinking of ideas of what to do for our video project, and at first we were a bit lost, so we started tossing around ideas. Chemistry experiments were hard to think up of, and the only idea I had was something involving sodium, since I was standing next to the periodic table of elements poster on the wall.

Then, we came up with the idea of diet coke and mentos causing a chemical reaction. I at first thought the idea was a bit foolish - apart from just being fun, there wasn't a lot we could scientifically measure or a hypothesis that we could create with it. So I was skeptical at first, and didnt really believe the idea was too great. But since I didn't have anything better, I reluctantly joined the conversation with the sodas.

However, my teammates already realized that the just using coke and mentos wasn't very plausible as a project, so they were discussing whether or not to use different sodas and try. I thought this line of thinking wasn't really getting us anywhere, but then Isabelle remembered the idea that coke could clean rust due to its acidity, and that we could replicate trials with different sodas.


 * The idea surprised me, because it was such a good one, and I realized I should have listened and joined in with the discussion and contribute.** I realized that since I didn't have any ideas of my own, I shouldn't be doubting other people's ideas and instead be helping with formulating their ideas and work together to make it better. After that experience, I made sure to listen more fully as we went over the details of the rust cleaning soda project, and tried to listen to other ideas as well as come up with my own ideas at the same time.