Final Week

     Well, this is it! I have finished my last week. These past 8 weeks have taught me so much. I feel much more confident in myself. Thanks to my class, I have learned many great new strategies that I know will help me in the rest of my classes. It has prepared me to use many new programs that were unfamiliar to me. Because of all the resources that were given to me during this course, I am now more comfortable in using Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. I can't wait to continue my education now. I'm not as nervous, because I know I by applying all that I have learned, I will succeed. So, thanks to my professor, Dr. Nichols, for supplying me with the tools I will need to go through school. I enjoyed reading the articles and have learned numerous things I was unaware of. So now, it's time to begin my next classes. I know I can do it!!

http://flmnetwork.com/tag/rocks/

Week 7 Learning

     This has been a much better week for me. I was able to get an earlier start this week. I had a lot of reading to do, so I wanted to make sure I had enough time for my assignments. This week was all about PowerPoint 2007. When I first read the assignments, I was extremely nervous. Everything was foreign to me. I have never used PowerPoint. I have never went to meetings to see PowerPoint being used (that I know about). But, we were given excellent articles to read. After reading through all of these and watching demos, I felt much better.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/reviews/business-productivity/2006/05/31/inside-powerpoint-2007-beta-2-39272152/

       Some valuable tips that I learned and will use are keeping it simple, don't parrot, use key phrases, and making sure your presentation will run on any computer. We also had to create a electronic portfolio using PowerPoint. I saved this for last because I was so nervous about this assignment. After my grades last week, I really wanted to do good. As I started the portfolio, I realized it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. The directions were very specific and easy to follow. By reading all the articles on PowerPoint, I was much more prepared for this than I expected.
     I have just one more week left for my 2 classes. This will be a short week.  I will have to get on it so I get all my assignments turned in for both classes. I just need to apply all the strategies I learned over this course and I know I will be able to do it.

Week 6 Learning

     This week has once again tested my time management skills. I had to make an overnight trip to Huntsville to pick my boys up from Space Camp. They go once a year for the visually impaired week. I also caught some bug where I was not feeling well for a couple of days. I finished my work but was not happy with my homework grades. I know that if I had planned my week better, I could have turned in better work. Instead, I did procrastinate and now my work reflected that. I plan to do a much better job in week 7.
     I must admit I was clueless on the whole APA Style of writing. I still feel like I need to go back and read more about this. I had to create a reference page using APA format. I also was given a paper that needed revising using APA. These 2 assignments did not turn out well for me. I know I should have given these more time. I am going to have to get better at juggling all of my responsibilities.
     I also learned about using keywords to search. This will be very valuable in researching topics. Keywords will help me narrow down my search to information relevant to what I need. So overall this week, I was disappointed in my work, but did learn lots of new things. I just need to go back and review more to make sure I understand it. I am going to work at my time management skills to ensure that I do better than I did this week.
     Here is my Keywords for Literature Search assignment:
https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=16v8A8-mCa0MRVnhWjdnDPCVGOxEwGXp8I-i_9MAoqjI&hl=en#

Week 5 Learning

     I finished my fifth week of classes and this week has tested me to the limit. I had fallen behind on my schoolwork due to some unforeseen circumstances. We had to make a couple of trips to Atlanta to take my son to the eye doctor (which are always all day trips). He has been having really high eye pressure and causing severe headaches, so we had to get him in to the Dr. quickly. This caused me to not get started til later in the week and both classes had several chapters that had to be read. But I did it. I managed to get all my work done and turned in on time.
     This week we learned about a 5-Day Study Plan. I really like the idea of creating a plan. It breaks down your work into smaller chunks. This way I will be able to retain the information better. It has self-testing built in the plan. This will allow me to test my knowledge on what I am are learning. Here is my assignment on the 5-Day Study Plan: https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=15KX_kjZ4MD8gKPMjebf2BbQmz0A0dKI2n40LVBE5LSA&hl=en#
     I also learned some great ways to prepare for exams. I was given many strategies for the different types of exams I will encounter. Some preparation strategies that I will apply will be taking notes and reciting them using the headings as cues. Another strategy will be to prepare word cards and recite them. Also, I will make self-tests and take these tests. These strategies will definitely help me succeed in taking exams.
     I created an outline of one chapter that I had read. I plan to create outlines to have a study guide for my exams. This will be a valuable tool to use for studying. So overall, this week was hectic and I didn't know if I would be able to achieve my goals for the week, but with determination I finished all my work.