Last week and over the past weekend, I did most of my Week 2 assignments because I knew that this week would be really really busy. So, this week I set out to finish my Week 2 assignments and do any of the Week 3 assignments I didn’t have time for earlier. I set out to read what I was told to read and do what I was told to do because it is due at certain time, for a grade (I know how you feel about learning and grades, but at this point, that is the honest truth!).
I thought the MOO thing was pretty neat, and getting to see how it works last week was pretty neat. The article on The WWW was really interesting, because, when you think about it, what is the internet, anyway? It got me thinking about it more, and what we are actually doing when we are surfing the net or looking for legitimate information. The email discussion groups will be very helpful, I think…..if mine works! I thought it was helpful, too, do know how to unsubscribe from a mailing list. With the personal histories and values, I really had to think again about what made me want to be an SLP. It was fun to look back and think about it, and made me excited again for what will come soon! The Essential Question thing kinda stemmed from that, I think, so having the two next to each other helped me.
Processes used this week included just finding the time, energy and discipline to sit down and read all of this stuff hour after hour. I also had to categorize it and organize it into my mind, as to what will help me when and I tried to find ways to memorize the information presented to us. We are kinda overwhelmed by all of the information presented at the library and then everything from this past week. I’m just trying to get it organized up in my head.
I definitely learned new stuff about the internet, as described in assignments 1.2.2 and 1.2.3, and I definitely think it was good to get an “objective” type of view of my own decisions and my own interests. As I said earlier, sometimes I forget why I’m doing what I’m doing, and so to have an assignment like the Personal Values one was great. And to read everyone elses’ ideas was really cool, too. It is just neat to see how we all are passionate about something, but all of the “somethings” are different. I also liked reading others’ responses to the Essential Questions assignment for the same reason. There are some things I have just never thought of before, and my interest was sparked as I read some of them. I hope they find the answers, too!

I have written about this a couple of times now, and have posted it in my journal. My fascination is with people who have hearing impairments, especially children. I have always been interested in deafness and people who sign, and as I wrote earlier, that was one of the reasons I decided to stick with SLP. I remember asking the question in 325, how children who are born deaf eventually learn language and learn to write and spell. No one knew much about that, or at least had no definitive answer for me. For two years now, that question has escaped me and I still think about it.
How can deaf children learn to spell when they’ve never heard words before? How can they “sound it out” when they have no sounds? At the same time I think about these questions, I develop a deep appreciation and respect for their teachers, who probably spend countless hours and much patience, teaching these children how to communicate most effectively in a world that transmits most information verbally; not with sign.
So I guess my essential question would be, “How do you teach a child who has never heard before how to spell, read, and write?”

When I first read this prompt, I was like, “I have no idea!” But when I thought about it a little more, I realized that the answer wasn’t too hard to see. I thought about WVSHA had seminars that counted for CEUs and then thought about how many things come in the mail every day for seminars that my dad can attend to do the same things. I know that, as an SLP, one of the things that I am bound by in the Code of Ethics is to continue my professional development throughout my career. Because of that, I will be required to gain CEUs. But more than that, I hope and think that I will strive to know more about why I am do what I do, and how to make that work easier or more effective.

As far as meeting my own learning needs, I would say that I have all of the available resources I could ever need right at the touch of my fingertips. Beyond that, I could subscribe to periodical journals and read about new ways of seeing and doing things. Also, attending conferences or just watching other people do therapy would be interesting. A lot of learning happens when you are just a watcher and don’t have to think about doing each procedure correctly. So, watching and listening to others in my field will undoubtedly be a way for me to meet my learning needs and incorporate learning into the professional setting.