Day 1: Getting the News!
I have to say as I read the information about the new adventure I am apprehensive. As I read through the directions, my mind moves to the turtle quilt project and the frustration I felt during that time. My thoughts immediately go to, great here we go again. A project with little success for me. The reason for this is simply based on past experience. Experience one: The one area of problem solving I have always struggled with is the "what comes next in the sequence" activities. Experience two: The turtle adventure with the quilt building. There was success with the adventure but it took many hours of frustration. In fact, I can honestly say that it will be a day or two before I look at this program.
Day 2: Starting the Adventure.
I finally let go of my fear and apprehension and loaded the file for the next adventure. I have printed the directions so I have them for reference. The one thing I have come to realize is that my cadre mates have my back and if I get lost or stuck they will be there to help me. So, I began the program. It took me about 45 minutes of playing with the program to figure out what I was to do. It really helped having the directions next to me. Before I began I read the postings of others to see what they had learned and where they were headed. I began plugging in numbers and watched the machine work. I didn't get much out of the session as I wasn't sure what I was looking for.
Day 3: Small Breakthrough!
This evening I spent more time with the program and had a small breakthrough. I found that if you take a number and multiply it by 2, then the generation of the multiplied number is one more than the original number. I also turned it around and said if you divide the number by 2 then the generation of the half number is one less than the original number. However, this part is untrue because some of the numbers when divided by 2 does not produce a positive whole number, they produce a decimal. One of my cadre mates pointed the error out to me and other cadre mates pointed out that the first part remained true. Therefore I modified my hypothesis by dropping the division idea. I felt pretty good at having found this very small pattern.
Day 4: Back to the Beginning!
Okay today started the second part of the adventure with the overnight generator and the graphing. I can say that for this particular part of the adventure, I am lost and stumped. I don't see what we are supposed to do. I was reading the posts of others and have no clue what they are speaking of. I am not sure what the graph is supposed to represent. I can run the machine but have no idea what I am supposed to do with the data. the data for the runs I have done make no sense to me. One of my cadre mates has created new code and maybe tomorrow I will try his code to see what the difference is between what he did and what the 3N program does. I am 100% unclear as to what the purpose of this part of the adventure is. I have posted my findings for my cadre mates hoping that one of them can tell me the significance of the numbers and the relating generations of numbering. I will work on this more tomorrow to see if there is more clarity. Maybe the fogginess is the exhaustion I feel after a long week at work! :) Tomorrow is a new day and we will see what it brings on this adventure.
The Last Days:
Okay I have spent the last couple of hours trying to figure out what I was trying to prove/disprove or notice as far as patterns go with no luck. I have no deeper understanding of this program than I did when I started. I can say with sincere honesty that I went from apprehension at the beginning of the adventure to elation to intrigue to confusion by the end of the adventure. The apprehension was relieved by taking a deep breath and diving into the program with the directions right next to me. The elation was due to the success I achieved when finding a pattern using the basic part of the program. The intrigue came with adding the overnight and graphing tool. I spent hours running different numbers through the program and then sitting down to see what patterns I could see. I really wanted to find a profound pattern to share with my cadre mates and instructor. The confusion came when I began to read what others were doing. Their terminology was above my thought level and the graphs didn't look like mine. Even though I was confused, I continued to work with the program trying to figure out what I was doing and looking for or at. By the end, I had no better knowledge of what I was doing then when I started as far as the program went. However, I did learn a lot about myself and working together with my cadre mates. So here is what I learned:
1. I have a tendency to panic first and then settle down to work.
2. My apprehension of patterns stems from educational experiences of the past and I have to overcome them.
3. I like it when I am successful and can contribute to the team effort. On the other side, I don't like it when I feel that I am out of the loop and not a contributing member to the process. This leads to feelings of failure and withdrawal from the process and group.
4. The ability to post my feelings and questions for my cadre mates to read was a wonderful benefit. It allowed for the understanding that all of us were in different places. I was able to voice my concerns and find that I was not alone in the apprehension or confusion. This allowed me to continue working on the project despite the feelings of failure. It was also nice to see the help offered by my cadre mates. We were able to discuss the program and what we were learning. We were able to build off each other and grow through the adventure together.
Overall, this adventure was compelling and intriguing. Even though I don't feel that I mastered the program or the point it was trying to make, I did learn from it. I learned about myself and the process I undergo when learning!!
