The weekly assignments were not abundant this week, so I focused my attention on working on my MRP. For instance, I accomplished my goal of gathering new sources, completing the new genres (poem and journal entries), spending a little time working with Power Point ideas, and finally, revising my essential/foundation questions and the components of my project prospectus. Here’s more about the processes I used in completing these assignments. First of all, I went to the library this Wednesday (since MOO class was cancelled) to locate more MRP sources. For this second search, I used many keywords that I had not previously thought of using. For example, I now know that my project will focus specifically on adequately assessing ESL client’s needs, therefore, I must provide my readers with a foundation about how a SLP may go about this process. I searched using new keywords like, “ESL clients and needs assessment,” and was given links to information about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the ERG theory, Gardener’s multiple intelligence theory, and personality assessment. Although these sources are not necessarily in the speech-language pathology field, I will still be able to adapt them to fulfill the needs of my MRP. Through this week’s research, I found out that there isn’t a specific format to use when assessing the needs of ESL client’s. The therapist must recognize that each ESL client is unique, therefore, assessment and therapy must be structured accordingly. So, there really is no definite “right” answer to my essential question…it will just be my interpretation of why needs assessment is so crucial in developing a therapy plan.

Next, I worked throughout the week on completing the poem and journal entries. I always save my work on Microsoft Word so that during the week, I can add to and revise it as I feel necessary. Sometimes, I may be happy with my work and post it the day I complete it. Usually, though, I will complete an assignment early on in the week, then not post it until the due date because I may not feel comfortable with its quality until that point. I am very satisfied with how my poem turned out. I put a lot of work into trying to make each line meaningful and not too lengthy. One of my peer reviewers gave me the suggestion that I should try to include what the client’s problem was, so I’m taking that into consideration. I may not include this, but instead, provide a one or two sentence introduction to the poem to provide greater clarification for the reader. One problem I encountered when writing the journal entries was that I found it difficult to put myself in the position of the client and the clinician. I am unfamiliar with either one of these roles and my sources didn’t really address “feelings,” (only facts, opinions, and statements). I will be eager to read my peer reviewers’ responses to these entries, because I really need some suggestions for the areas that need improvement.

While I was at the library on Wednesday, I also focused on the Power Point presentation. I got on the Internet and found some additional backgrounds and clip art to use. I also experimented more with the page layouts and tried to create a mental plan about the different information I wanted to include in this genre. I am now much more comfortable working with the program, but I am still contemplating what information is most significant and should be included in my presentation. Working with Power Point this week made me realize that all of the “frills” associated with the slides (the entertaining transitions, backdrops, etc.) aren’t really what makes a presentation successful in accomplishing its’ purpose…it’s the information on the slides and how well it is put together that counts. Sure the frills are visually appealing, but I plan to focus my attention more on the content of my Power Point and really making that component shine.

Moreover, due to my change in topic, I have had a lot of extra work to complete. Even though the topic shift was minimal, I had to revise components of my project prospectus such as the essential question, foundation questions, tentative point/purpose, and my genre explanations. Actually, I’m still in the process of completing this, but I was able to change a few things this week (the questions and point). I still need to come up with a new genre to replace the existing one, “Lesson Plans,” since my question doesn’t focus on therapy techniques anymore. Any suggestions would be welcomed. I just don’t feel there are many other genre options left that I would be interested in including in this project. Oh well, maybe I will come up with some new ideas next week. One question I have concerning the prospectus is…should I continue to add more resources as I acquire them since the prospectus is kind of a preliminary overview of the project…or is that why we’ve been asked to post our new library resources to our blogs?

In regards to additional questions, I STILL am trying to figure out how to make the font size and color consistent throughout my webliography. When I read the responses from my peer reviewers, they all commented on how half of my webliography is in one font and color and the other half is in another. I KNOW THIS…and, believe me, I’ve been trying hard to get it fixed, but have had no success. When I first noticed it, I posted my question to the class list and no one ever emailed me back. I just can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong even after playing around with many different options. I really need help! It’s not that it’s a huge deal, but it would most definitely make my webliography look neater and help it to flow more consistently. I think that’s all. Here is a quote that is often hard for me to accept when I really mess up on a test or assignment, but when reflecting back on my academic and personal history as a whole, I find it definitely holds true. ~Erin

“We don’t make mistakes. We just have learnings.” – Anne Wilson Schaef

Undoubtedly, this week was not a personal favorite of mine. I aimed to get some good research and genre planning accomplished for my MRP done this week, and, unfortunately, I failed to adequately do so. I did not make good use of my extra time (because I didn’t have ANY) and I became quite upset with myself as a result. I had so many other assignments, papers, and tests in my other classes that I felt completely overwhelmed and my time management skills were not effectively used. This week far surpassed the usual label of “busy,” and assumed the more fitting title of, “chaotic.” Although I did not get a lot accomplished on my MRP research this week, my thinking was altered in a variety of ways.
First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed Wednesday’s class session held in the lab. This was a great opportunity for me to learn more about Power Point presentations. I’ve never had to do a Power Point presentation up to this point, so before reading the how-to information, I had no clue where to even begin. Actually, even after reading the how-to info., I didn’t feel confident with the process. There was an abundance of information provided in the reading and I found it difficult to absorb all of it because I was unfamiliar with the program. I realized becoming familiar with and skilled at creating Power Point presentations is definitely going to be a “doing” process, as opposed to one where reading the “how-to’s” is sufficient. The tips and tricks will be most helpful, but experimenting with the different features and options, is what will really contribute to my understanding. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I understand almost everything better when a hands-on activity is involved. Most people I know seem to share this opinion, but I’m sure there are those people who can overlook the “doing” step in their journey to understanding a new concept or idea. It would be interesting to research how different individuals’ understandings are either hindered, enhanced, or unchanged based upon the inclusion of hands on activities in the learning process. Hmm…I bet there’s already been some research on that. Ok, now let me get back on topic. The in-class discussion about what components/features make up an effective Power Point presentation was interesting. At the end of the discussion, I successfully created a mental definition of a perfect PowerPoint presentation…if one really exists. It would be relative to topic, appealing to the eye, neatly formatted, contain clear, concise sections of pertinent information on each slide, present animation, sound and/or video clips, pictures or clip art in an enhancing (not annoying or excessive) manner, have sources cited appropriately, and contain information with no spelling or grammatical errors. While I have a mental image of what a great Power Point consists of, I know it will be easy to overlook minor details when fiddling around with all of the various features. That’s why I will most likely have another peer take a look at my presentation before submitting the final draft (it’s easier for others to catch little mistakes or give options I may not have previously considered).

My MRP topic shift was another important change made this week . After the one on one meeting on Wednesday, my topic’s focus evolved from how SLP’s can incorporate ESL into therapy sessions, to how understanding the individual needs’ of an ESL client can assist the therapist in developing an effective therapy plan. This shift forced me to re-evaluate my primary purpose, foundation questions, and sources and I am still in the process of acclimating myself to this new approach. When I first thought about this new focus, I thought it would be much more involved and difficult than my previous topic. However, I realized this wasn’t necessarily the case. While I now have a broader essential question and must find more research outside of the communication disorders/speech language-therapy spectrum, I can still use my original idea of the individual case study in my MRP. Finding that out was a definite relief, because although one portion of my MRP was altered, the part where I had used the most creative energy to develop, was able to remain unchanged. Once I push myself to delve into researching my new topic more (in the next few days, hopefully), it will be interesting to see what form this project will take. In the one on one interview, I was told something that shocked me a bit. It was that, upon completion of this research, I may not find a definitive answer. I have thought about that statement each day since Wednesday and my feelings toward it have remained ambivalent. In one way, it’s unsettling because doing research makes me want to find answers. Even if I find many different answers/viewpoints to the same question, it’s still something real that someone has once pondered and researched. But, to find absolutely nothing that supports or refutes my opinion about a specific question would probably leave me frustrated and unsure about what position I would want my thinking and research to assume at that point. On the other hand, not finding an answer would be kind of exciting. Even though it is a small question, it may not have been something that anyone has ever asked publicly before and I could be one of the first to share my beliefs on the subject. Not finding an answer would also allow me to take a more creative approach to the presentation of this project, since there would be no right or wrong way to answer the question. Anyway, I may be jumping the gun here…I surely won’t be able to tell if my question has an answer until I complete a great deal more researching. Therefore, this becomes a definite priority for me this week, and is much more possible since this week will not be as chaotic as the last.
Ok, just a couple little things to discuss before I finish. First of all, I took it upon myself to change the title of my weblog. Kelly brought it to my attention during Wednesday’s class that if someone does a search on almost any major search engine for “Erin Nichols,” my weblog is the first link that pops up in the results. Ugh! For some reason, that kind of made me uneasy. I don’t mind if my classmates or other people who are interested in my academic endeavors for this class read my work, but I don’t want just any average person to be able to read my personal feelings and thoughts. I guess there is not really a way to avoid this completely because if someone wants to access a piece of information on the web, they will find a way to do it. However, by changing my weblog title under the preferences section, my weblog is now not so readily accessible through the various search engines. Also, I just wanted to say thanks to Mrs. McComas for the comment about my journal voice becoming stronger. That is a goal I've been working on and it is gradually becoming easier with time. When I read that comment, I realized that when I think more critically about the weekly assignments and my project, it really does help to make my journals stronger. Yeah! That's all for this week. No questions at the present, but I'm certain some will develop when I attain new information for my new topic. Everyone should consider this as we begin to put our genre drafts together in the upcoming weeks...

"Doing your best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."
--Oprah Winfrey

The past week has left me with several topics worthy of journal discussion. As I completed the assignments in my normal fashion (easy ones first, more involved ones later), my thinking was altered in a few ways. First of all, I realized that even though there are numerous protocols used for website evaluation, this process is still a rather subjective one. For instance, an informational site may fail to meet specific criteria for one evaluation, while surpassing the criteria for another. So, ultimately, the researcher/student must use their personal judgment when making decisions about the overall qualifications/accuracy of a website. Of course, it’s important that the major areas of content appropriateness, author credibility, and currency of the site be carefully considered. Yet, I feel that an informed researcher should, ultimately, decide on his/her own whether or not a site is appropriate to use in researching instead of relying solely upon the criteria created by others (even if these are experts). When I completed the assignment that required me to chose a website and use the Web Page Evaluation Worksheet created by Dr. Nancy Everhart, I carefully examined the website using the given criteria and awarded points accordingly. I didn’t think there was any way that the site I evaluated would not receive an excellent or good rating, but it ended up being rated average. I guess that’s why I brought up my last point. I was really surprised and this caused me to think about the criteria in a little more detail. Here’s an example…in the Experience section of this evaluation, one of the criteria states, “The page’s presentation is eye-catching.” I mean, this is completely subjective because each individual who views the page may possess a different mental definition of what is “eye-catching.” Consequently, the many criteria similar to this one make the evaluation form geared more toward the reader’s personal opinions on subjective matters, rather than on criteria that could be concluded concretely (like if the site has the date of the last revision posted or if the site contains sounds, graphics, videos). While I am certainly not asserting that these evaluation forms aren’t helpful, I simply distrust the exactness of the rating and scoring systems. OK, enough about that…(really, Erin).

This week I was able to truly embark on the research process for my MRP. As a result of this, I’ve become even more excited about my topic. I love it because it deals with language learning (a favorite topic of mine) and also with different E.S.L. therapy options (these will be useful to have as a future clinician). The only downfall is that I am so interested that I become tempted to read through ALL of the information I find about my topic. My attention is then diverted because I start reading these articles while I’m in the processes of working on an assignment. Before I know it, I’ve forgotten about what I’m really suppose to be doing and a lot of time has been lost (I would never say “wasted” because I am learning from reading this information). My new goal is to stay focused when doing assignments that involve researching and maybe start sending the articles I’m tempted to read right then to my email. The project prospectus assignment definitely required the most time and energy because I had to begin figuring out what direction I wanted my research to take. Genre and voice selection was not as difficult for me as was determination of a rationale for these groups. Of course, I am not yet satisfied with my decisions yet, so I’m sure they’ll be ever-changing until I really start to create the genres. I am glad that I put a great deal of thought into this assignment because now, I’ve thought of some really interesting ideas for my project. Even though this prospectus is subject to change, it at least gives me a starting point for where to begin putting together the MRP.

Lastly, I wanted to address something that was brought up during our online discussion on Wednesday. Prior to class, I was nervous about my topic because the research articles I found failed to “directly” address my topic (working on ESL in speech therapy). However, my anxieties were alleviated when I found out that it was not necessary to use research articles that deal directly with the topic as long as I can apply these findings TO my topic. Although it would be easier and more direct to find information directly addressing my topic, using research that may seem slightly unrelated will allow me to answer my essential question in a more creative and thoughtful manner. Of course, I will have to support my conclusions and ideas with legitimate sources, but this way, I won’t have to stress about each source possessing a direct connection to my topic. I think I gained a better understanding of this project’s purpose after I went home and continued to think through what I was told in class that day. It’s funny how a single comment can be stated, meander around in my thoughts a while, and then later contribute to me perceiving something more clearly. I guess that’s all for this week…I’m very excited about having a little breather next week from the multitude of weekly assignments we usually must complete. I definitely need this time to catch myself up and to complete more research. My quote of the week shows the importance of supporting and encouraging the new ideas and questions of others, even if, personally, we may not see or agree with the logic behind them.

“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.”
--Charles Brower