Well, here it is, the end of week 11. Last week went by fast and this week even faster. I can’t believe it’s almost over, but then again, I’m glad. Here’s what went on in week #11…

This week I had aimed to pull all of my genres together in my unifying genre because it is part of this week’s assignments. I did what I planned to do, which was do this before the weekend. I aimed to do this because I don’t have Powerpoint on my computer and I didn’t want to be at the library this weekend. I aimed to start gathering all of the resources that I have used so that I may draft my resource list and post it on my blog. I am still in the process of doing this. I also aimed to really make a point with all of my research. I think I did this at the end of my unifying genre. I also wanted to make sure that all of my foundation questions were answered in my genres. I aimed to do this because I think it was required.

The content of this week was (and still is) ample. I’ve been so used to having just a couple of assignments to do per week, and I guess I was expecting the same for this week; however, I had to go back and pull all of my resources together so that I could draft my resource list for the MRP. I’m still doing this and it will be posted on my blog this evening. Another thing was to peer review my group’s 6th genres. This I have yet to do completely, as I have only been able to do one thus far. I suppose the reason I have not done all that I should by now is because I put a lot of time and effort into developing my Powerpoint presentation as my unifying genre. This took me two days (Thurs. and Fri.) to do. I am so glad that it is finished (until I have to go back and revise it!). I think I included (in some way) all of my previous genres and I think I drove my point home. I made the point that perhaps the most effective way to manage the aggressive behaviors of autistic clients is to COMMUNICATE and to REINFORCE them for good behaviors and good efforts in all they do. I will mention how I came to this conclusion in the process portion of this writing. Also this week, we e-mailed Mrs. McComas with two genres that we would like for her to review. I think this was a great idea, as I’m sure I’ll need all the help that I can get with revising mine.

I utilized several processes in completing my work this week. For starters, I wanted to get the 7th genre out of the way, and so I finished it before the weekend. I basically went back and took my interview script (6th genre) and pasted it into a Powerpoint slide show; however, I did have to change a few things and add a few things to the interview for them to make sense. I definitely had to add things when it came to bringing all of my genres together. I added links to my work, mentioned things such as the newsletter and the poem in my interview. I also had to add the point I was trying to make at the end of the interview. I came up with the essential point through mostly my own experiences with my client from Autism Services and a little through my research. In completing the peer reviews, which by the way, aren’t completed yet, I did as I have in the weeks before; I just went to my group members’ pages, located their work, and reviewed them (well, one of them). Also, I’m still trying to bring all of my resources together so that I may draft my resource list. It’s hard to go back and figure out what I used and what I didn’t. I also got a lot of information just from my experiences, so I guess I really didn’t use but a few books and a couple of Internet articles. I put this off because I hate citing things and making resource lists. I don’t like doing this because I don’t like APA. It takes me more time to compile a list of resources and to cite things than to do almost anything else. I know that it’s necessary, but sometimes I wish it were not. I also chose for Mrs. McComas to review my interview script and the newsletter. These were the genres that I was the least confident about and I wanted her opinion on them. That’s why I chose the two that I did.

I can’t really profess that I have come to any new places in my thinking this week. I can honestly say, however, that I am glad it is almost over. After drafting my final genre this week, I breathed a sigh of relief. Now, all we have to do is go back and revise, revise, revise! It shouldn’t be that bad though. I feel pretty confident in my work up to this point. It seems as though the work might be beginning to pick up again. This means that in the next few weeks, I’ll be tying up loose ends and making sure everything is “perfect” (LOL). I’m really looking forward to reading what Mrs. McComas said about my two genres. I know she has posted her review because I see her comment posted on the side of my blog. I guess I need to read it so I’m going to do that now.

I have no questions at this time, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t have any soon. I also didn’t have any from last week to answer this week. So, with that said, I guess I’m going to se what Mrs. McComas had to say about my interview script and my newsletter. More next time…

Heather P.