So, I got some bad news yesterday. The MSIPM "Students" page will not feature a link to my blog. :( I wish I could make an angrier emoticon, but I cannot remember any off of the top of my head. Feel free to reply to this post with the angriest emote you know.
At any rate, one of my initial reasons for undertaking this side project, that is my blog, was to help in advertising myself for practicum/internship positions. I had figured that companies that decided to dedicate a position to our program may look through each students bio. They would see mine and say to themselves "Wow, that is different!". Then they would click the link and be like, "OMG, my life has just changed for the better!!!". But alas, I will have to resort to letting potential employers know during my interview or including on my resume.
There is, however, a silver lining that I have realized. I now no longer need to worry about any issues that I may encounter when being critical in this blog, as it is not in anyway affiliated with KSU. This is a good thing, especially because I am beginning to get very frustrated with a professor of mine...
Friday, September 17, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Pocrastination?
My girlfriend is working on her undergrad for education. She wants to teach. More specifically, she wants to teach history or science to middle-schoolers (subject subject to change). She was telling me about an article that she had read about learning habits, which I have beside me and will read in a few. Additionally, she mentioned that her teacher had asked the class about procrastination. Who was guilty of it and who was not. It turns out that studies have shown that procrastinators have a tendency towards perfection. They say that you put things off because you do not have the addequate time to get them done correctly in one sitting. Pretty neat, but that is not why I chose to write on the matter.
What has happened to me and the good old days of being a procrastinator? I used to view myself as the few, the proud, the procrastinator. I would claim that my best work came when I was stressed out and under sever time constraints. The validity of this is highly debatable and is probably false if put under a microscope. In fact, I had the troubling woe that I would go full-tilt in this program for about two weeks, but inevitably go back to my old ways. But I have not, can not, and will not. Nowadays, I never have to ask myself, "what in the world is my classmate talking about." I have already read it too! Wait a minute, am I turning into an adult here...
On a more serious note, I try not to let myself be proud of improvements that I have made too often However, this is a great sign. This realization may actually confirm that this is my true passion. Of course there are times when I go, "ugh, 15 minutes is over. I had better pick the book back up." I do pick the text up, and to me there is not another option. I love having minor epiphanies. Well, at least positive ones.
What has happened to me and the good old days of being a procrastinator? I used to view myself as the few, the proud, the procrastinator. I would claim that my best work came when I was stressed out and under sever time constraints. The validity of this is highly debatable and is probably false if put under a microscope. In fact, I had the troubling woe that I would go full-tilt in this program for about two weeks, but inevitably go back to my old ways. But I have not, can not, and will not. Nowadays, I never have to ask myself, "what in the world is my classmate talking about." I have already read it too! Wait a minute, am I turning into an adult here...
On a more serious note, I try not to let myself be proud of improvements that I have made too often However, this is a great sign. This realization may actually confirm that this is my true passion. Of course there are times when I go, "ugh, 15 minutes is over. I had better pick the book back up." I do pick the text up, and to me there is not another option. I love having minor epiphanies. Well, at least positive ones.
Week 4
This week I got to meet face-to-face with one of my teachers, Dr. Hallward. The purpose of the meeting was to dicuss leading the class in discussion during week 5. I am leading the material with David, one of the people in my program whom made a strong impression on me during orientation. I enjoyed most getting to chat with Dr. H about her background and her application of her studies. I also learned that she did a bit of field work leading up to earning her doctorate. One of her experiences was as an assistant with the United Nations. I cannot wait until I can say that I have had similar involvements. David had formulaeted a question already about the "ground zero mosque". For the purposes of the meeting, I was more concerned about the big picture, as in how to lead my cohorts through critical analasis of their interpretation of the material. By the way, I am leading discussion over Human Needs Theory and voilence: cultural, direct, and structural.
One anxiety that I am feeling at the moment is a bit of mixed feedback that I received in one of my courses. On my first attempt at an exercise I was told to provide more reflection. I responded in kind. Next attempt I was told to provide more direct reference to the material. Okay, I need to find a better middle point. Then, I am told that I need to provide more reflection. Back to square one? I don't exactly think so. I am here to master material. So, I better get to doing it. I can feel my technical writing style come back slowly from college 1.0 and reflecting on subject matter feels very positive for retention. My grades haven't been bad in any sense, they just need to get better. I am off to sharpen my sword.
Outside of this, I am plugging away at my courses, consuming information. And I am still enjoying it. I believe that I have found a good pace that gets the assignments turned in, builds knowledge, and keeps me from suffering burn out.
I have established two goals for Week 5:
1) Try to arrange a face-to-face with my other two professors
2) Master my discussion lead material to effectively guide my classmates through the excercise.
And with that, my friends, this blog is up to date! The idea came late (second day of orientation) so I have had to find time to get current. It has been well worth the time spent because I feel that this e-journal is a great release of stress that might help out a person or two.
One anxiety that I am feeling at the moment is a bit of mixed feedback that I received in one of my courses. On my first attempt at an exercise I was told to provide more reflection. I responded in kind. Next attempt I was told to provide more direct reference to the material. Okay, I need to find a better middle point. Then, I am told that I need to provide more reflection. Back to square one? I don't exactly think so. I am here to master material. So, I better get to doing it. I can feel my technical writing style come back slowly from college 1.0 and reflecting on subject matter feels very positive for retention. My grades haven't been bad in any sense, they just need to get better. I am off to sharpen my sword.
Outside of this, I am plugging away at my courses, consuming information. And I am still enjoying it. I believe that I have found a good pace that gets the assignments turned in, builds knowledge, and keeps me from suffering burn out.
I have established two goals for Week 5:
1) Try to arrange a face-to-face with my other two professors
2) Master my discussion lead material to effectively guide my classmates through the excercise.
And with that, my friends, this blog is up to date! The idea came late (second day of orientation) so I have had to find time to get current. It has been well worth the time spent because I feel that this e-journal is a great release of stress that might help out a person or two.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Week 3
I got it. I did only week 3 reading, during week, 3 all week! Week, week, week. But seriously, my concerns about playing catch up are over, (fingers crossed). Now I have a medium-huge reading load as opposed to just a huge one. The thing about it is, this is what I want to learn, my readings are not a pain in any sense. Looking back at week 3, I was bathed in relief, I was getting accustomed, I was back in school.
I did experience a bit of a blindside this week. Dr. A gave us a deadline for our first reflection paper. The premise of this work was to tie together our "Essentials In Comparative Politics" book. You heard me right, I already finished a TEXT BOOK. Not a comic, nor dime novel, but a text book. My biggest difficulty on this assignment was not going well over the approximate 5 page length. I looked at the balance of freedom and equality through governments, while considering how modernization has effected the two liberties. I cannot wait to get my feedback returned on this. I enjoy what I have been able to glean from the comparison analysis style. From here we will be doing case studies (more like individual country studies) over 13 differing states. Should be neat.
Now, I am feeling a little bit of difficulty getting feedback and/or receiving consistent feedback. I try to envision the professors side of the computer screen for these classes. So many discussion posts to read, not glaze over, but read for content and style. The same goes for the reflections that we have been doing as well as responding to current affairs. I do get that they have a lot going on. Yet, I will remain praying to the dry erase board gods for more feedback in the days to come. I can refine my technique readily, if need be. Professors, does need be?
I did experience a bit of a blindside this week. Dr. A gave us a deadline for our first reflection paper. The premise of this work was to tie together our "Essentials In Comparative Politics" book. You heard me right, I already finished a TEXT BOOK. Not a comic, nor dime novel, but a text book. My biggest difficulty on this assignment was not going well over the approximate 5 page length. I looked at the balance of freedom and equality through governments, while considering how modernization has effected the two liberties. I cannot wait to get my feedback returned on this. I enjoy what I have been able to glean from the comparison analysis style. From here we will be doing case studies (more like individual country studies) over 13 differing states. Should be neat.
Now, I am feeling a little bit of difficulty getting feedback and/or receiving consistent feedback. I try to envision the professors side of the computer screen for these classes. So many discussion posts to read, not glaze over, but read for content and style. The same goes for the reflections that we have been doing as well as responding to current affairs. I do get that they have a lot going on. Yet, I will remain praying to the dry erase board gods for more feedback in the days to come. I can refine my technique readily, if need be. Professors, does need be?
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Week 2
My second week of the program was comprised of a charge to get on pace. As mentioned before, the late nature of my orientation left me with 2 weeks worth of reading, discussion, and reflection to be done in just over a week. All I could do was put my nose down. And looking back on it, the 400+ pages of text book/journal reading was both enjoyable and the least stressful of my scholarly activities for the week. What I found my self struggling with more was the "basic week" for each class. I must have looked at each of my syllabuses 10 times that week. Here is the basic weeks breakdown by class, but keep in mind that there are other responsibilities to be peppered in there such as tests, papers, projects, and debates:
Governance requires an average of three weekly readings, one from text book and the rest from journal articles (largely found in a "reader textbook"). Additionally, a power-point is provided to reiterate key concepts and to make notes with. It helps me retain information so much to write things down, even if I feel I wield a good grasp of the concept. Finally, a response to a discussion question is due each Sunday by midnight. Dr. Collins has been very mindful of our "crunch" and has provided a tad bit of wiggle room here.
Comparative Politics is about 4 chapters of text book a week (100-120 pages, YIKES!) A discussion question response is due on Fridays by midnight. Additionally, we will be submitting reflection papers after each text we kill that is roughly 5 pages in lenght.
Conflict Management's schedule is a bit of a dumpy road. Reading of several journal entries, both from text books and electronic sources are required (about 4 articles). A reflection article that is roughly 700 words long must be submitted by Tuesday at noon. Furthermore, a discussion post in response to student leaders (two per week) is required by Wednesdays at noon. Lastly, a second reply to the discussion forum (but a bit more light than the first) is due by Friday at noon (this due date was modified by Dr. Hallward, originally it was Thursday at noon). Fortunately, our top ten reflection and response scores are counted, out of 14. I used one of my "freebie" weeks for the discussion in week two to help in catching my pace. (Future me does not suggest you use the spare 4 entries as "freebies", cause the writing style required for this class is a bit difficult to master). I am having a tough time, conceptually, understanding why we have a noon deadline, considering that a healthy majority of my cohorts work full time jobs. Oh well, I will manage.
My efforts were so genuine that this week flew by. I digested a ton of information and I am envisioning that I will truly master this content by the time I finish these courses. I wonder if that is why they call it a Masters degree?
On a separate note, I visited this very interesting micro-finance website that was suggested during our orientation. It is Kiva.org. Basically, you use small amounts of money (like $25 -50) to invest in upstart businesses in South Economy regions. You, as well as others who select business X to fund provide a loan to local entrepreneurs. Over time, your loan is paid back to your account (hopefully!) It seems like a great way to promote growth in poorer areas of the world. I intend to send some of my money around this planet of mine as soon as I get some spare cash (Which is hard for me to come by. Maybe I should be on Kiva?).
Week 2 down, 14 to go, this semester...
Governance requires an average of three weekly readings, one from text book and the rest from journal articles (largely found in a "reader textbook"). Additionally, a power-point is provided to reiterate key concepts and to make notes with. It helps me retain information so much to write things down, even if I feel I wield a good grasp of the concept. Finally, a response to a discussion question is due each Sunday by midnight. Dr. Collins has been very mindful of our "crunch" and has provided a tad bit of wiggle room here.
Comparative Politics is about 4 chapters of text book a week (100-120 pages, YIKES!) A discussion question response is due on Fridays by midnight. Additionally, we will be submitting reflection papers after each text we kill that is roughly 5 pages in lenght.
Conflict Management's schedule is a bit of a dumpy road. Reading of several journal entries, both from text books and electronic sources are required (about 4 articles). A reflection article that is roughly 700 words long must be submitted by Tuesday at noon. Furthermore, a discussion post in response to student leaders (two per week) is required by Wednesdays at noon. Lastly, a second reply to the discussion forum (but a bit more light than the first) is due by Friday at noon (this due date was modified by Dr. Hallward, originally it was Thursday at noon). Fortunately, our top ten reflection and response scores are counted, out of 14. I used one of my "freebie" weeks for the discussion in week two to help in catching my pace. (Future me does not suggest you use the spare 4 entries as "freebies", cause the writing style required for this class is a bit difficult to master). I am having a tough time, conceptually, understanding why we have a noon deadline, considering that a healthy majority of my cohorts work full time jobs. Oh well, I will manage.
My efforts were so genuine that this week flew by. I digested a ton of information and I am envisioning that I will truly master this content by the time I finish these courses. I wonder if that is why they call it a Masters degree?
On a separate note, I visited this very interesting micro-finance website that was suggested during our orientation. It is Kiva.org. Basically, you use small amounts of money (like $25 -50) to invest in upstart businesses in South Economy regions. You, as well as others who select business X to fund provide a loan to local entrepreneurs. Over time, your loan is paid back to your account (hopefully!) It seems like a great way to promote growth in poorer areas of the world. I intend to send some of my money around this planet of mine as soon as I get some spare cash (Which is hard for me to come by. Maybe I should be on Kiva?).
Week 2 down, 14 to go, this semester...
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Week 1
Now, I am writing this at the end of week three. So, I plan on being pretty brief to get current. Part of this excercise for me is capturing my current feelings on things, and doing so three weeks past is not an effective way to do this. At least I don't need that much time to reflect.
My orientation was pleasant. There were a few people that I met who were instant "hook ups" to reach out to and share ideas with at the beginning of the program. However, there were 25 people, about 20 people too many for me to really get to get a feel for. Now I am curious, how long will it take for me to get a feel for someone's pesonality, political views, interests, etc. with primarily only electronic communication. And I do mean it when I describe my feeling as curious, I look forward to seeing how it plays out.
My professors seem responsive and aware of the fact that this is a new endeavor. I will wait a bit longer for some grading feedback to comment on their personalities ;) I kid.
This semmester I have the following courses:
World Politics & Governance with Dr. Collins
Comparative Politics with Dr. Akinyemi (Dr. A)
Conflict Resolution/Management with Dr. Hallward (or Maia)
I believe the titles of the courses here are adequate descriptors for the time being and each subjects content will come with time/more entries.
I remember feeling like I was behind during orientation as our week technically began on a Sunday and we had due dates as early as Friday. Oh yeah, we met for the first time on Thursday! I had actually logged on to web-CT a few days prior. As I have expressed last post, I was frickin' chomping at the bit to get started. I got a few small things settled and took the plunge with some reading.Yet I still felt the first and second week were going to be a game of catch up. Wow, I sure was hoping at that time that I would be able to catch up. The reading load seemed MONSTROUS to someone who had been out of academia for 3 years. Fortunately for me (you know misery loves company) more of half of my colleagues were a few steps behind me. I would say that most had not signed in to web-CT yet.
My overall feeling was that I was trying to orchestrate concepts with due dates and create loose class schedules in my mind. I constantly felt as if puzzle pieces were floating above my mind's eye. It was up to me to get them together within the week. Looking back, I reached all of my goals for that week and felt that I was on pace in my game of catch up. One down, 15 to go!
My orientation was pleasant. There were a few people that I met who were instant "hook ups" to reach out to and share ideas with at the beginning of the program. However, there were 25 people, about 20 people too many for me to really get to get a feel for. Now I am curious, how long will it take for me to get a feel for someone's pesonality, political views, interests, etc. with primarily only electronic communication. And I do mean it when I describe my feeling as curious, I look forward to seeing how it plays out.
My professors seem responsive and aware of the fact that this is a new endeavor. I will wait a bit longer for some grading feedback to comment on their personalities ;) I kid.
This semmester I have the following courses:
World Politics & Governance with Dr. Collins
Comparative Politics with Dr. Akinyemi (Dr. A)
Conflict Resolution/Management with Dr. Hallward (or Maia)
I believe the titles of the courses here are adequate descriptors for the time being and each subjects content will come with time/more entries.
I remember feeling like I was behind during orientation as our week technically began on a Sunday and we had due dates as early as Friday. Oh yeah, we met for the first time on Thursday! I had actually logged on to web-CT a few days prior. As I have expressed last post, I was frickin' chomping at the bit to get started. I got a few small things settled and took the plunge with some reading.Yet I still felt the first and second week were going to be a game of catch up. Wow, I sure was hoping at that time that I would be able to catch up. The reading load seemed MONSTROUS to someone who had been out of academia for 3 years. Fortunately for me (you know misery loves company) more of half of my colleagues were a few steps behind me. I would say that most had not signed in to web-CT yet.
My overall feeling was that I was trying to orchestrate concepts with due dates and create loose class schedules in my mind. I constantly felt as if puzzle pieces were floating above my mind's eye. It was up to me to get them together within the week. Looking back, I reached all of my goals for that week and felt that I was on pace in my game of catch up. One down, 15 to go!
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