This week was really nice to have a little bit of a “breather.” I know this week’s content was to get us ready to really dig in and make some headway with our projects. I meant to be really productive and get ahead of myself, reading up on Powerpoint stuff and being really prepared for class. However, as my time is so limited, I didn’t have a chance to read through all of the PowerPoint articles. I also went out of town this weekend and had to get as ahead as I could so that when I returned today, I wouldn’t be so busy. Sunday nights are usually busy times for me. So I had planned to get caught up and finish my week 5 assignments and wanted to get week 6 assignments done in only one week. Definitely didn’t happen. I did gain some ground in the research department, though.

This week, I got to use some really cool things.....I guess you could call them “processes.” The week’s meeting that introduced us to Power Point was definitely fun. I got to find out how to put together a really professional presentation and how to use the a computer and the internet to create an impressive package of information. I also took some new steps and posted to mailing lists, as mine were not very high-volume. It was pretty weird to know that anyone in the world could read that. I guess I should remember that anyone can read this, too! Since this week was pretty low on the homework end, those are all of the processes I can think of right now.

Well, when all is said and done, I can see how I’m coming out of this little box of computer illiteracy that I’ve lived in for a while. I think seeing how easy it is to do Power Point really gave me a boost of confidence in the technical department. I always had been intimidated and very sure that I could never pull off something so professional. But just playing around with it was not only fun; it was pretty enlightening. Also, I think that I’m also beginning to see that I don’t need to be so overwhelmed with the projects for 426 and this class because week by week, I’ll be completing them already. The hardest part is just finding information, which is what I had to do this week. After all of the digging is out of the way, we then get to “try it on for size” and see how it fits into our projects. Fun.

Wow…..I think this week went by really quickly, too. I know I start every week with something to that effect (or affect ? :), but it’s the way I feel whenever I sit down at the end of the week and think about the past 5 or 7 days. I feel relieved, but exhausted! Anyway….This week, I set out to get really ahead in my other classes (and just caught up in this one!) because I had planned on going to Knoxville this weekend. As luck would have, the weather was really bad and I was randomly selected to do my diagnostic thing on Tuesday. So I decided that this weekend wouldn’t be the best one to spend traveling. I did set out, however, to make some serious gains in the research department of all of these projects I’ve got flying all around me. My problem seems to be that two of them are closely related—maybe too closely related—and I can’t seem to keep the websites and emails separated in my head. Sigh. The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry….

For this week’s assignments (again, writing about last week’s assignments, as I usually do them on the second week of their completion span), I had to really think “inside the box” about a couple of them. Like the ones about evaluating resources, I really didn’t want to admit that one of my sources probably wasn’t credible. I thought that if I did say that, it meant I couldn’t use it in my project (even though Mrs. McComas told us we still could). In that situation, I had to think only about the criteria it didn’t meet and state that, instead of trying to justify its lack of proof for its credibility. Some of the other ones were neat, though. I liked doing the Webliography and even found a discussion board to join instead of a mailing list for my topic. I’ve posted a message and have gotten several responses, so that was really cool. First time doing that, too.

As I said earlier, I did have to do some thinking inside the box, or at least with firmer guidelines. A big part of me wanted to just chuck the facts that were listed on the criteria sheet for the assignment that ranked the website according to the information it gave about its credentials, etc. I had to suck, it up and realize that I can’t always just throw some quotes from a random website that doesn’t identify itself or why the person posting the information should be trusted with its validity anymore than Joe Blow walking down the street. Also, I was really proud of myself getting my webliography up and going a little better than I had planned. It’s almost addictive when you get the hang of it. I just wish I had more time to work on it. It looks like this weekend, since I’m going to in fact be in town, I will have more time to do that. Or at least get started on this week’s assignments. ;) But believe me….I’m no slacker!

I can’t believe this week is OVER! It definitely flew by. I don’t know why some weeks drag on forever and ever, and others just seem to pass in a day. Anyway…So this week I decided that I would plan to just get caught up from week 3. I am glad to say that today, I finally finished my last assignment for last week. Now I just need to get going on this week’s assignments. I also had planned on doing a little more research than I did last week, but that requires going to the library to do research and I thought that if I had to spend another hour on campus this week, I would probably be sick. Needless to say, my research time was limited to that between classes this week.

I didn’t really write about the content of last weeks’ assignments, and since I have just finished them and haven’t started this week’s, I’ll start there. I did the easiest, shortest ones first and put off the “thinking” and hard work ones until today. Actually, though, I liked them the best. The foundation questions assignment was good because I feel like I finally have a definite direction to go in. Also, I feel like there is some structure to my project. I also like the webliography assignment because, although it was a little time consuming, it was fun. I am definitely not finished with it, but I think it will be a little highlight for me.

Processes……well, I am familiar with search engines and use them a lot, so I don’t think I really had to use lot of new processes to complete some of the assignments. However, I did learn about some new tools and got to see what happens when you use a search engine other than Google (I’m so jaded. J). On the learning highlights assignment, I think it was definitely fun to stir up some old memories about high school and was really interesting to see what first came to mind when I thought about learning. It’s odd, to think now, that the first thing that comes to mind is the hardest class(es) I had while at HHS.

I thought it was so neat to get to see what everyone else learned while they were in high school (or earlier), and just shed a little light on what everyone else was up to while I was sitting through World History. Personally, I know that I get a little bit egocentric (unconsciously), and forget that there are other methods of learning and other ways high schools were run and that not everyone had the same experiences I did in high school. It’s really good not only to hear about where everyone else has “been” on their learning paths, but also where they’re “going” with their research topics. I never would have thought about some of their ideas on my own.

My apologies go out to week 4 assignments, which, up until today have been grossly neglected. I will say, though, that the MOO meeting was interesting. It made me a little nervous and it was a little weird, but I think that’s how new things are supposed to be. Maybe next week I’ll be all caught up and can reflect on both. Have a fabulous weekend…..I’ll be here….on my computer……wading through these assignment