It seems as though I am settling into some sort of schedule. This week has been as hectic as the last few weeks, but a little more routine which helps a lot. I can’t believe we are already entering our fourth week of school. It has went by so fast. I only hope that it continues at this pace so that Christmas break will be here before we know it!! On with the journaling…

I had several aims and objectives going into this past week when it came to this class. For those of you who read my last journal entry, you know this. I aimed to plan more thoroughly and actually set aside certain days to do certain assignments for this class. This helped tremendously. I’ll mention more in the process section of this journal entry. I set out to plan more thoroughly because my usual method of planning and organizing, although very thorough, was just not cutting it. For this class, I needed more because there are so many little assignments that if you’re not careful, they will begin to pile up very quickly. I had to do something and I think I’ve got it figured out (finally!!). Some objective that I’ve set for this coming week (for this class) are: to continue to plan my week out on Sunday evening; plan to do CD 315 assignments day by day (e.g.—do the first three assignments on Monday, next two on Tuesday, etc.); and to begin really solidifying a research topic and begin to form some questions that I would like to answer regarding that topic. Those are just a few, but I’m sure I’ll come up with more as the week goes on.

The content addressed in this class this past week was quite interesting. I especially found the things that we had to read about e-mails very fascinating. I never knew that e-mails could contain so much emotion and could be so laid back. I guess I sort of did (I don’t recall ever sending a formal e-mail), but to actually see an article saying that e-mails weren’t meant to be formal was very interesting. I also never knew how very un-private e-mail can really be. This terrified me! I don’t know if it was such a good idea to read some of those articles or not (you know, what you don’t know won’t hurt you!). It was also interesting to find that subscribing and unsubscribing to e-mails could be done so easily and by just typing in simple commands in an e-mail and sending it to an address. How neat! Also, I found it very enjoyable to answer the prompts in the class discussions this past week (no, really, I did!!). These prompts (Personal Histories, Personal Values, Learning Futures, and Essential Questions) really made me do some deep thinking about who I am as a learner and what kind of learner I want to become. Also, the Essential Questions prompt made me realize that I need to get on the ball with choosing a research topic for this class! Also, I feel that I’ve finally got the hang of this online journal thing (you know, just writing about this class and not griping about all of my other classes).

Overall, I think that the processes that I used in completing my work for this class this week was much more effective than the weeks prior. I planned my week more thoroughly for this class (as I had mentioned above, planning to do certain assignments on certain days) and realizing that some of these assignments can wait( I don’t want to sound like a huge geek here but, when I sit down to do these assignments for this class, I don’t want to stop. I want to do more of them and I tend to neglect my other classes’ assignments that are do like, the very next day!). Now, I just do a few or a couple a day so that my time is well managed and I have an ample amount of time for all of my assignments (both for this class and for my others). I also tried something a bit different that I thought would help me: I printed out all of the things that we were supposed to read and at night while lying in bed, I would read them so I wasn’t straining my eyes trying to read them at the computer and because I have a clearer head and am able to concentrate better at night. Maybe some of you should give it a try (who knows, maybe I can be a little trendsetter like Kelly!). All of these processes helped me tremendously and I now feel a little less stress and a little less overwhelmed. I think I’ll continue with these processes and I’ll update you guys on their effectiveness in my next online journal entries.

As a result of my new found processes and the content that I explored this week in this class, I found that I really do enjoy this class and that I’m not just saying that in order to someday believe it (really, guys!). I found all of the information regarding e-mails to be very interesting and the MOO stuff was neat too. I found that I must be much more open to new ideas and new stuff than I had imagined (because I would usually say that I hate computers and that computers and me aren’t such good friends). I have also found that these new found processes are a life saver!! I would still be trying to do three or four of my assignments right now for this class, but instead I’m finished with all that I need to do right now (it’s that “What comes next?” state of mind that has led me to do this ((thanks Mrs. McComas!!))). Also, due to all of the prompts that we responded to this week on our current discussions page, I kind of got in touch with myself as a student and discovered that I am a true-blue active learner (I kind-of thought that I was, but it took really thinking about it and reflecting upon it and writing about it to make me realize that I really was an active learner!). This really made me proud because this is the kind of learner that I want to be. Responding to the Learning Futures prompt made me realize that ok…I’m not a good test taker. I got an ok score on the ACT. I did okay on the GRE. But these tests say nothing about what kind of student I am or what kind of clinician I will be and the bottom line is…I can APPLY, so therefore, I KNOW!!! Also, I know that it is time that I give my research topic some serious thought. This is something I will do this coming week and hopefully by the next week, I’ll have something solid.

I really cannot bring myself to think of any questions at this time (the time is now 11:56 pm, Saturday night, and it’s been a long day!). However, I do have this one for myself: What is it exactly that I want to know more about? I mean, I have mentioned some topics in the Essential Questions prompt, but what, when it comes right down to it, do I want to know more intimately? What can I put a lot of effort into knowing more about and still enjoy at the same time? Who knows, maybe I’ll have the answers by week’s end. Until next time…

H.P.