Ok, last week, I said that things were very calm and very “low stress”. I also mentioned how that was probably the calm before the storm. Well you know what? I was right!! This week was particularly eventful (a nice way of putting it!) and a little on the “high stress” side (to be understating just a bit). So, I guess that’s midterm and I guess that is how it has always been since I’ve been in school. Funny…you would think that I would be used to it by now! Here’s what happened this week in terms of 315:

I think it was last week when I started getting most of my wok complete before the weekend (which worked out pretty well). Well, this week, I set out to do the same thing. However, I wasn’t as successful as I was last week. I had a lot of things to do this week (outside of this class) and because of that, I put off some of this work until later. I did do the peer reviews on Monday and began planning to draft my 5th genre on Tuesday. I started piecing things together so that I could be ready to draft by the weekend (yes, I’m going to have homework this weekend…again!). This week, I also set out to begin planning for my Powerpoint presentation. I did this because I want it to be something that is thought out and thorough, so I am beginning to think more extensively about it. This is something that I plan to draft for next week and so one of next week’s objectives may be to gather all that I need to compose a Powerpoint presentation. Perhaps the most important aim that I had this week was to just keep my head above the water and try not to worry myself sick about all of the work that I have had to do. Still, what Mrs. McComas told me earlier in the semester has helped me to remain calm. She told me to think of things as if I were asking myself “What comes next? What is the next thing that someone is going to ask me about?” This has ever since worked and has been an ongoing objective of mine throughout the entire semester for this class (and for life in general!).

The content of this week was on the low side, but I’m so glad that it was. Having only a few things to do for this class has really helped me to complete my work in 315 to the best of my ability and it has given me a chance to be thorough and insightful. I started out this week by completing the peer reviews for my group’s 4th genre. I was so impressed with everyone’s work and it was really neat to see how everyone’s projects are beginning to come together. I also began drafting my 5th genre. This has taken a little time. I have been trying to piece together enough information on different behavioral management techniques that are used on children with autism by SLP’s. I thought of creating a newsletter with this information (a newsletter for SLP’s who work with autistic individuals). I also began visualizing how I may want my Powerpoint presentation to look and what I may want to present as information. This will be done as part of next week’s content. Finally, I have continued to research (because it is something that has to go on!) and journaling (which is my favorite part—it comes naturally). We also met on the MOO this week, which was nice because I got to talk with my group about how we are coming along in terms of our projects. I presented them with the idea of my unifying genre, and they seemed to think it was a nice idea. I also helped them to develop (or begin to develop) and idea for their unifying genres as well.

Most of the processes that I used in completing my work this week were in finding information and decision making. I began thinking critically about the information that I have already found and I really fumbled through all of the things that I have found (you should see the piles of stuff on my desk!!). I did this so I could pick out all of the really relevant things and all of the things that I thought would be key in creating my genres. This, much to my surprise, was quite easy. I suppose it was easy because I already had an idea of what kind of info. I wanted to use and what would be most helpful to my MRP. In terms of decision making, I made the decision to do a newsletter of some sort, although this may change by tomorrow! The processes that I used during the MOO this week were perhaps the most interesting. I shared with my group my ideas on my unifying genre. They seemed to like it. I began to help my group develop their unifying genres. It was like a rush of ideas began flooding my head and I felt so helpful. It was great to be able to help the members of my group like that. It seemed so easy though. I guess that was because everyone’s projects are very interesting and because they are so different, it was rather easy to imagine a unifying genre for each project.

I have arrived at a new place in my thinking this week. I have never really thought of it before, but I can honestly see why collaboration and group input are vital to developing a nice piece of work. I like it because it seems as though everyone has a small part of the whole in my project and I in their’s as well. I have also found it interesting to see how other people interpret information and how that information and knowledge comes out in their work. I think on some level, it begins to say something about that person (whoever is doing the work) and it reflects upon them as a student. Also this week, I sort of began to see the end of this little journey that we are on. Perhaps after I decided on my unifying genre, the end became more evident. I can now see how all of this is coming together and how my work may look when it’s all said and done. I have to admit, I like what I am imagining and I only hope that I can pull it off.

I do have a question at this point in time. I’m contemplating doing another genre, actually another e-mail from the clinician to the client’s mother that will lead up to my Powerpoint presentation. I guess my question is this: will I be able to do this? Also and more importantly, will I have time to do this? I suppose that I will have an answer to these questions soon so until next time…

Heather P.