LIBR 203 assignment

This blog post is part of an assignment for one of my classes--I didn't randomly ponder the skills needed to be a successful online student :)

Having previously taken several online classes, I know that the most important skill needed to be successful online is time management. It it is easy for me to get up and get to class. On campus classes are held at a particular time, so you schedule your other activities around class. With online classes things work a little differently. It is easy to lose track of time, or think that you have more time than you actually do. This is usually when panic sets in.

The best thing you can do to prevent the panic is set up a regular schedule, and pretend that you are going to class on campus. Designate times when you will work on school work so you don't get behind and overwhelmed. I enjoy the freedom of attending class when it is most convenient for me, but it is easy to slip out of 'school mode' and find other things to occupy your time. Make a schedule and stick to it!

One of the most challenging things to do online is to work in a team. Dr. Haycock was spot on when he said that group work is the "bane of every student's existence." And with good reason. I enjoy working in groups, but I have not had great experiences doing so in an academic setting. One of the hardest things is to coordinate when everyone can meet--and people rarely have compatible schedules. It is frustrating because I know that group work can be successful. In the workplace I have been on many teams that have accomplished their goals. One major difference is that most workplace group work is done at work--not outside of designated meeting times. Most school group work is done outside of class time, where everyone has conflicting priorities and schedules. I am currently working on an online group project, and while I have a good team and everyone is participating, we constantly have scheduling issues.

Instead of doing homework...

...I decided to make my bedroom door look like a TARDIS :)

Graduation time!

Vomit

Project Complete!

My sister's dog had jumped on top of my storage cube and ripped the top. It looked like crap. I saved the pages from my Harry Potter hollow book project, so I decided to cover the top of the cube with Harry's adventures. I used a mixture of glue and water to glue the pages to the wood. Then I used watered down paint to give the paper a little color (it looked weird white). I covered it with a few layers of Mod Podge, then sealed it with an acrylic sealer. It looks much better now! My next project will be a set of dog stairs--I won't let them use the new cube to jump on my bed anymore.

These look delicious. I am making her make my birthday cupcakes.

This is awful. But still funny.

Hopefully Walternate will survive this universe longer than Walter did...

Just found in my garage: Star Wars mugs from the original film release!

I stopped at the vista point :)

Meet Walter!

My sisters are so sweet! I came home and found this on my dresser :)

Fresh out of the dryer!

My cough drop has inspirational messages on the wrapper. Weird.

I am torn

Saw these two awesome spiderwebs in front of the house. They are huge and pretty. I don't want to take them down, but we are cleaning up the yard. What should I do?

Really weird hole in bathroom ceiling at a bar

A cleansing Storm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U

I have posted this video before. I needed to post it again in order to cleanse my brain of something I experienced yesterday.

I was volunteering in the office of an elementary school. I overheard two employees talking (I will call them A and B). The conversation went something like this:

A: So glad you could talk to me today. I have that remedy I was telling you about.

B: I look forward to trying it.

A: You should also give it to your kids, it is a juice and has all kinds of good stuff in it that they need. It will heal you. I started using it instead of all the drugs that my doctor was giving me. Drug companies get paid to kill you. They make money when people die. They pay doctors to give us drugs that kill us. This is a natural remedy. It works. I feel much better since I started taking it. The woman who makes it was arrested for selling it, but that is only because it works so well and drug companies don't want us to use it instead of their drugs that kill us. Since she is in jail for selling it you can't get it from her, but I know someone who has some so you can get more from me when you need it.

B: Thank you so much for getting some for me. Drug companies want people to die, they don't care about helping people, they just want money. Doctors just want money too, so they do whatever the drug companies tell them to do. It is wrong that this woman is in jail for trying to help people. She is a hero for trying to show people the truth about what drug companies do. 

It physically pained me to listen to this conversation. I wanted to yell at them, but I thought it might reflect poorly on the teacher I was helping. The woman who makes this is in jail! There is not a secret drug company police force that arrests innocent people that are just providing natural remedies to people. During this conversation I kept hoping that Tim Minchin would show up in a cape and release this poem against the ignorance that I was experiencing. Sadly, that did not happen.

And then there were six...

Yep. That's a frog. In the toilet.

My house is awesome sometimes :)

Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless

Google is awesome!