Week Four Online Journal

This week was interesting because it was the birthplace of our class’ first online meeting. I went to the library early and found a nice, quiet corner spot on the second floor to work. I looked over my command papers and logged on early just to make sure I could do everything correctly. Once everyone logged on, I was surprised at how easily the conversation flowed. It really wasn’t awkward at all to converse online as a class. I have been using AOL instant messenger for numerous years now, so I’m familiar with this form of conversation one on one, but I’ve never really experienced communicating online as part of a group. I’m glad that the class meeting was emailed to the class because it really is difficult to catch every statement that appears on the screen. Overall, I felt that this first meeting was very productive. I liked the type of interaction and the exchange of ideas that went on. I enjoyed talking with others about their topics and receiving feedback about my topic and essential question, as well. One downfall, however, was that two members of my group were missing, so that left only Heather and I to converse. I think we both offered each other some helpful ideas, but it would have been better with more ideas and feedback from the other group members. The more the merrier, eh?
As far as completing the assignments go, all I can say is…that catch up week can’t come soon enough for me! It’s not that the assignments are hard, it’s just that they are time-consuming and require a little bit of thinking (generally, what takes a little thinking for most, requires a lot for me, as I tend to over-analyze and over-think issues). I have been trying to space out the assignments, but it’s been hard for me this week for some reason. I always get the assignments completed on time, but I wish I could get them done sooner. One thing I’ve learned about myself is that if there is a writing prompt that I really must think about to answer well, it takes me a while to complete this process. So, I figured it would be a good idea to type out and save all of my writing prompts and other response questions in Microsoft Word first, and then transfer them to their appropriate locations after I’ve finished. This method really suites me because I am constantly thinking of other things to add and ways to change what I’ve already written. Instead of immediately posting my responses to the blogs, this way I can write some now, some later, or do it all now and come back later to revise it. Let’s see…what else? I really enjoyed the smaller assignments this week like the web searches and the VARK inventory. I think it was wise to have us search three engines because I know that I usually tend to stick with my favorite engine instead of exploring other more unfamiliar ones. I also learned how to more effectively use the advanced searches on these search engines just by playing around with them a little . Previously, I hadn’t had much luck when I did an advanced search, but I think that was because I didn’t know the correct way to refine the search or rephrase my topic. I’m really still not sure if I know the correct way to do it. However, I think that our day at the computer lab definitely helped me to better understand how to do this. One thing I had great difficulty with this week was the webliography. I think this is just one of those things where I will need to take more time trying out different options and then figuring out what works best for me. I know that this is an assignment I should have done much sooner in the week. Thankfully, this is just an extremely rough draft because I know that if I have enough time to work on it, mine will be very good. I am wondering now whether or not there is some sort of book that I can look at to get more options for backgrounds, colors, and the like? If so, I need to look at it.

When reflecting back upon this week, I begin to wonder where the tiny beginnings of my project will lead me to at the end of the semester. I also wonder what my webliography and my blog will look like after all work for this class has been completed. It seems so far away, but it is exciting to think that the little projects we're doing now will build upon each other and possibly lead to changes in my thinking. It's very exciting to me...and I'm sure will make doing all this work very worthwhile. Here's the quote I found while thinking about beginnings, processes, and projects this week.

"No matter what happens, keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again, and you will grow stronger until you find that you have accomplished a purpose--not the one you began with perhaps, but one you will be glad to remember."
---Anne Sullivan