Power Point

I found the article from the New York Times very amusing and truthful. I am surprised that there has not been anything mentioned in the academic world regarding the same issue. I have noticed myself falling into the trap of skipping out on class readings because the teacher presents what they want you to know for exams during class lectures. It is interesting that teachers expect you to remember bullet point instead of concepts. I believe that the world of education needs to be careful not to fall into the trap of teaching with bullet points. I do not feel that power point should be band. It just needs to be re-evaluated. I personally like power point but it does get to be a little tedious day after day.

It's coming to an end.

I can't believe it is the end of the semester. This semester has flown by so fast. As I am finishing up my last assignments I can't help but feel relieved each time I complete an assignment. Out of all of them this blog has been my biggest challenge. It may seem silly, beacuse it is not a difficult assignment, I just find that I don't have topics to blog about.

Nailed it!

Today I had a mock interview in my leadership and ethics class. I felt that I was very prepared for the interview. I spent the night before thinking of examples for the questions that would be asked. I wanted to give examples that would show how I perform in a business situation. Tonight I got on to check what the feedback was, and I did very well. I was the panels number one choice to be hired. The panel felt that I presented myself very well and that I was very professional and believeable. The only thing that was an improvement comment was that I had typo on my resume. So overall, I did very well and I am very pleased with myself.

Focus Group

Today I went to the focus group for class. It was interesting to say the least. There was a lot of good feedback given by all the students. It was comforting to hear that the blog has been a struggle for other students as well as myself. In order to improve the course for the future the board was looking for suggestions. In my opinion, the course as a whole needs to be simplified in addition to very explicit expectations. I also believe that the class would work best as a hybrid. "Hybrid" meaning that we would have personal and online meetings. An important part of a business writing course is also understanding the business like environment and knowing how to interact. I believe that some of this is lost in an online setting. Overall, after experiencing this course I feel that I better understand how to use business writing in my upcoming career. I also feel that this was a preview to possible future frustrations in the business world.

Catch up time!

So I need to play the catch up game. To be completely honest I have been really busy take 18 units this semester and my blog has suffered as a result. In an attempt to catch back up I will be posting blogs twice a week for the short while left in the semester. On a happier note, it is wonderful to have the formal proposal assignment completed and turned in. My group had a rough start but I am happy with our finished product. Becca was very helpful and patient in helping us understand the assignment. It is nice to have an understanding professor. Now it is time to move on to bigger and better things also known as deliverables. Because our organization is non-profit we are not doing anything elaborate. However, I think it will still be a challenge to design a document that clearly targets our audience.

Communication

We have a real teacher. Meeting with Becca last week was extremely helpful. I know I was personally have a hard time understanding all the aspects of the formal proposal. One of the main reasons is that there seems to be so many documents describing the same thing. While they were explicit I was not sure which one to work form. One of the topics that came up during my group meeting was some of the difficulties of taking a class online. Becca mentioned that the University was trying to more towards online class in the future. I think that this will be difficult for many students. In another class I have been learning about communication. One of the things that has been repeated several times is that communication is 90% non-verbal. I think online classes create a deficit in communication that can be a challenge for many students. I think it is safe to say that most of us have experienced it in this class.

SPRING BREAK FEVER!!!

I am ready for spring break. I am taking 18 units this semester which has turned out to be quite a bit of work. It has been my observation that teachers seem to really pile on the work just before a break. I have never understood why this occurs because the last thing anyone wants to do is spend their break doing school work. Maybe it is because the teachers really do not get a break? I don’t think people really study over spring break anyways. Being completely honest I have a very hard time studying on the weekends let alone over a vacation. I do not have any big and exciting plans to travel for the break. I plan to relax and spend time with my family. One thing that I am grateful for this semester is that the majority of my classes have chosen to have exams just before the break instead of after. That means that this coming week is going to be exhausting but manageable. That means I don’t have to worry about studying as much. Good luck next week to those of you who have multiple exams and enjoy your break.