This week has definitely tested my attempt to become a more disciplined student. My goal for the week was to, as usual, complete all of the assignments for this week. Unfortunately, I was unable to accomplish this. I honestly believe that had I not started my job this week, I would have completed all of the assignments. I was given 39 hours to work during my first week on the job. Plus, the air conditioner is still not working in our apartment and I find it nearly impossible to concentrate in this heat. I do hope that the quality of my work has not slipped this week. Anyway, enough excuses. It’s time for me to reflect upon the work that I actually did accomplish this week.

I began this week by revising my essential question and foundation questions. I didn’t really alter them that much. I had already revised my essential question last week. As for the foundation questions, I had put a lot of thought into forming them to begin with, so I didn’t have to make many adjustments. I basically put them into a more logical order so that information would better flow. I wanted each foundation question to build on the previous one, eventually leading me to the final foundation question, which will answer my essential question. After accomplishing this task, I read over the articles about developing a search strategy. These articles were actually linked to one of the articles that we read last week. I actually read these articles last week, but decided to read them again this week to refresh my memory. Next, I read several articles concerning evaluation of resources. Before reading these articles, I must admit I trusted a majority of the information that I found on the internet. Unless an article or web site was obviously biased, I felt there was no reason to doubt the information. However, now I understand just how easy it is for anyone to publish information on the internet. I am so glad that I now know how to evaluate my resources. I’ll definitely use this information for every resource that I use from now on. After learning about evaluating resources, I evaluated the article “Sign Language Communication With Elephants.” Had I not known how to evaluate an article, I never would have known that this article came from a biased organization. I probably would have suspected it due to the information that was given (or not given), but I wouldn’t have been able to be for sure. Next, I evaluated an article that I plan to use for my MRP. This article was titled, “Chronic Otitis Media - Speech/Language Disorders Learning Disabilities: Is There A Link?” I probably wouldn’t have even questioned this article at all had I not read the articles concerning evaluation of resources. Since the author was stated as being a doctor, I would have just trusted that he was an expert on the topic. While I did find information confirming that the author is in fact a doctor and an author of various articles concerning child development, I was able to find him to be a reliable source. However, I realize that anyone could publish an article and claim to be a doctor. It’s not hard to type the letters “M.D.” after your name. Because of this, it is important to investigate the authors credentials if there is reason to suspect that they are false. I feel much more comfortable now with using this as a resource for my project.

I had to leave early from the moo this week. I did get to stay long enough for the brainstorming on Matt’s essential question for the MRP. This brainstorming helped me in understanding just what the MRP is all about. While I had read the MRP description a couple of times, I didn’t really understand it until now. I’ve never done a project in which I had to incorporate different “voices.” The only voice that I’ve ever had to express is my own. I feel that this will be an excellent learning experience. Not only are we learning about our topics, we are also learning about it from different perspectives, how it affects different people associated with the topic. I also went back and read the transcript about the poems. This should help a lot because I really didn’t know what you were asking for.

Overall, I feel that I accomplished quite a bit this week, considering I wasn’t home very much. I will definitely concentrate on getting caught up in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully by next Sunday I will be back on schedule. Well, that’s enough from me for one week. I don’t have any question this week. If I think of any I’ll let you know. Have a great week!

By far, this has been the most time-consuming week. As usual, my goal for the week was to complete all of this week’s assignments. This week definitely tested me as to how I am trying to become a more disciplined student, but I am happy to say that I have passed the test with flying colors. I got all of my assignments done! Horray for me! I am very proud of myself. While this was no simple task, the assignments were helpful in preparing for my MRP.

I am definitely happy to have finally chosen a topic for my MRP. My essential question is, “How is normal language development affected by Chronic Otitis Media?” I started off this week by subscribing to a professional mailing list that I could use as a source of information for my MRP. At first, I did not think that this would be a difficult task. However, I had a difficult time finding a list that would be beneficial. I finally found one that would satisfy the purpose. If the list that I chose does not help, I will just search for another one. Next, I learned many different ways for searching the WWW. I was amazed at how much information was available to me that I was unaware of before. I first conducted a search for my name, and then conducted a search for information regarding my MRP topic. After completing this, I developed a prompt from the article about professional development. I decided to focus my prompt on the ways reflection can be used as a tool for developing professionally. I was actually surprised at how many benefits I could come up with for personal reflection. I have also been surprised over the past year of how useful reflection has been to me. It took me a while to appreciate it, but I realize now just how beneficial it really is to learning. I really enjoyed the assignment about learning highlights. I like to recall the events in my past that made a mark and played a part in making me the person that I am today. Also, thinking about what causes grief in learning helps me to focus on what to avoid in order to learn the best. For example, I learned that deadlines cause me grief. However, I have been working towards becoming a more disciplined student and not procrastinating, which has made deadlines less stressful. I also created my own webliography. I must admit, at first, when trying to enter the HTML codes with Frances, I had no idea what I was doing. We thought that we were entering the codes correctly, but the links weren’t coming up. However, Jennifer helped us to realize that we had been doing it correctly the whole time, we just had to post the blog before the links would appear. I guess we just got a little bit ahead of ourselves. In any case, I am so glad that I know how to do this now. I feel like a computer genius (of course this is a huge exaggeration on my part). Lastly, I developed some foundation questions for my essential question. It actually took me a while to develop these questions. I wanted to develop them in a way in which each one would lead me closer to answering my essential question. I feel that I accomplished this.

At the moo this week, we used our group time to work on our essential questions. My group was extremely helpful. They helped me to realize that since language development is my main interest, I should reword my essential question to focus more on language development rather than Chronic Otitis Media. My original question was “How does Chronic Otitis Media affect normal language development?” My revised essential question is “How is normal language development affected by Chronic Otitis Media?” While both of these questions ask essentially the same thing, my revised question puts the focus on language development, which is my main area of concern. I feel much more confident in my essential question now that I have had imput from my peers. I also enjoyed helping them in the process of developing their essential questions. I’m looking forward to reading the results of everyone’s MRPs.

While this week has been time-consuming, it has also been rewarding. I am so glad that we are working on some of the things that are going to be included in our MRPs. This way, we can gradually complete our MRP instead of doing it all at one time. This should help me to control the stress that comes with completing such a project. I’m looking forward to seeing all of my hard work come together. I feel that it will be fulfilling to complete such an elaborate project. As long as I keep on top of things, as I have been doing, everything should come together nicely, and hopefully I’ll even be able to keep my sanity!

Surprisingly, I have no questions at the moment, but don't worry. If I think of any questions, you can be sure that I will ask!

When this class began, I decided that I would strive to complete each week’s assignments in that given week even though we are given two weeks to do so. As I have said before, I am a born procrastinator, but I’m trying to change that. Therefore, my goal for this class, as a whole, is to discipline myself. This week, I set a goal to finish all of the assignments by Thursday evening so that I wouldn’t have to spend time on assignments while visiting my family and friends for the weekend. While I did not completely achieve this goal, I am still proud of myself. I have completed all of the assignments except for one. Failing to accomplish a goal within a certain allotted time frame is not necessarily something to get upset about. I realize that I can’t change over night, but I am taking steps toward my ultimate goal of being the most disciplined student that I can be. I feel that I’ve been quite successful so far. I’ve found that I haven’t stressed over any of the assignments, as I sometimes tend to do. I think that this is because instead of having the added stress of an upcoming deadline, I am free to fully think about the assignments from several angles without the added distraction. I think that this is the reason I have learned so much in the past two weeks.

This week’s assignments focused on learning more about different types of internet services and discovering what types of learners we are. I read several articles about email and surprisingly learned that there was much information to be learned about this topic. I couldn’t believe how much information there was to know about email. This was very informative and helpful. I also enjoyed reading about hoaxes. While I tend to delete this type of email before reading it, this information was beneficial. Other topics that I read about this past week included mailing lists, acronyms, and the World Wide Web. Most of the information about the World Wide Web was new to me. This definitely helped to better understand the way everything works. The visual aids used in some of these articles were very helpful. I attempted to find people using the people search sites, which was somewhat frustrating after failing several times to find my friend. However, it was worth the learning experience. This past week, I also learned how to subscribe and unsubscribe to a mailing list. We met at the Moo on Tuesday for our regular class meeting. We addressed how the media portrays communication disorders and SLPs, and therefore what the general public knows about these topics. The general consensus was that the general public knows very little about communication disorders and the SLP profession, and that there seem to be some misconceptions regarding these areas.

After reading the assigned articles, I attempted to better organize my favorites list. I have always used my favorites list, but I must admit, it wasn’t organized at all. I had things on there that that I haven’t used in months. Now, I have deleted all unneeded information, and have organized everything else into categorical folders. This looks much neater and makes finding everything much quicker and easier. I also answered a few prompts this week. I really enjoyed writing about my personal history. Reflecting upon what it was that made me choose this profession made me realize all of the reasons I know that this is the right profession for me. It’s a great feeling to know that I am doing what I want to do and am going to be happy with my career. Responding to the prompt about personal values took me on a nice trip down memory lane. It makes me smile to sit and think of all of the people in my life that have cared about me and helped me to succeed. Sometimes I forget about who and what experiences got me to where I am today. This prompt helped me to realize how important an education is and how it has played a major role in getting me to this place in my life. Responding to the prompt about learning futures actually took me the longest. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it took me three hours to complete this assignment. Those three hours just flew by! I enjoyed writing about this topic and feel that I actually learned a lot from it. I guess that’s why I lost track of time. Reflecting about the benefits of research and the ways in which I learn led me to understand that it is my responsibility to fulfill my maximum potential.

I have learned a lot about myself this week. I rediscovered the reasons that I want to be an SLP, explored the root of my educational values that got me to this point, and realized the ways in which I best learn. I’ve also learned about the person that I want to become and how to become that person. It seems that learning about myself is somewhat of a prerequisite to learning about how to become an independent thinker (researcher). I must learn what works best for me in terms of what my education needs are and how I can best fulfill those educational needs. I feel that, with each assignment, I am building upon the previous assignment. It’s like I’m taking steps toward an unknown goal. I know that, as far as this class is concerned, I’m taking steps toward the final project, but it seems like so much more than that. I feel as though what I am learning now is going to affect me at many different levels. Not only have I learned what it means to be information literate, I’ve learned how to research, the importance of research, the effects that research has on professional and educational development, the reasoning behind reflection, how reflection aids in the learning process, and the ways my attitudes and understandings have been shaped as a result of all of this. Some of these areas may not have been a specific goal of any one assignment, but the process of completing these assignments directed me toward these realizations.

I only have one question at the moment. Like a few other people, I too have been wondering about the discuss option at the end of each response to the prompts. May we use this option to respond to peer responses, or should we post these comments on the group list?