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.

The joys of group work

I am taking a leadership and ethics class this semester and we also began a group project this week. Our teacher gave us a little introduction to the process that groups progress through as they work together. I really liked it and so I thought I would share it on my blog. I do not have a reference for these ideas but they are not my own. The first phase that groups go through is the forming stage. This is kind of like the honey moon phase where everyone if trying to make a good impression and everything is hunky-dory. Another phase that groups go through is the norming stage. This is where they establish rules and expectations to maintain unity among team members. The next stage is called storming. This stage is characterized by stress and conflict often because rules are not upheld by all members. The next step in the process is the performing stage. This is when the group comes together to present their work. At this point the conflicts during storming have been resolved. The final part of the process is morning. The group work is finally done and the members of the group must go their separate ways. Good luck to all on their group journey.
Note: I wrote this blog Friday morning (2/26). However, I ended up spending the night in the hospital with my 18 month old son, and forgot to post it.

Perfect Timing

The assignment to write a resume came at just the right time. At the beginning of this semester I received some bad news about my post graduation plans. Since that time I have been trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. After much deliberation and research I have decided to apply to graduate school. This past week I have been looking over the application process and one of the requirements is a resume and cover letter. I have always been a little unsure about resume writing until these past few weeks. I now feel confident that I can compose a professional resume. On the other hand cover letter is still a little foreign to me. I think the last time I had write a cover letter was about four years ago. Needless to say I am a little out of practice. However, I have some great resources available to help in this process. Thankfully there is a short outline of what should be included in my resume and cover letter given in the application instructions.

"Knowledge is Power"

I feel more empowered as a job seeker now that I know how to read job listings. It has never occurred to me before that I could use a company job description to tailor my resume. In the future as I search for a job I will take the time to carefully read job descriptions looking for skills, characteristics, and traits that I can highlight in my resume. Additionally I would also look into other aspect of the company that I am interested in. Traditionally I find it difficult to know what to include in my objective. However, I have found that a company mission statement can help to make your statement more focused and direct.
My greatest struggle in writing a resume is deciding what to include. I now know to look for skills, characteristic, and trait that I posses. My worry than becomes that I do not have enough experience to interest the employer. This is a difficult situation trying to land that first job. As we saw this week in class, maintaining integrity is very important. Falling into a non-ethical trap will come back to haunt you. It is my hope that my future employer will accept honesty and a hard work ethic over a lack of experience in the field.

I am late again!

This blog has been placed at the bottom of my “to do” list. I think I have only made one of the deadlines. However, I just came to the realization that it needs to move up on the list. I thought it was more of a reflective laid back assignment and I somehow missed the part about the evaluations. Just as an aside is anyone else having any trouble with interpreting any of the assignments of this class? I hope I am not too late to salvage this module of the class. I am leaning great deal about formal writing that I have been hesitant to approach in the past. The Business Writer’s Handbook is very explicit and helpful in answering questions that I have. I will definitely keep a copy of it by my desk when I enter the work field. I will also be using it the remainder of my time in formal education.

What will make you shine!

I really enjoyed writing my personal narrative. It was very helpful assignment before having to write a memorandum. The main difference between the two assignments for me was the audiance. In a business setting time is important and so the information needed to be spcific. my goal was to create a clear picture of myself with words. Some times it can be hard to write about yourself without going into to much detail. We saw a great example of that earlier in the semester with Dan's letter. I found the assignment of writing a memo a process that required a lot of reflexion and review. The most helpful thing to me was the peer feed back that I recieved. It really helped me rethink some of the language I use and other things that I might want to include.

It has been a while.

So i had a little trouble getting back into my blog this past week. I think that it is because I have another "gmail" account but, I think I got it all figured out now. Anyways I decided to write about the fact that it has been at least two years since I have taken a formal witting course. I must admit that I was a little nervous at the beginning of the semester. However, after getting into to the class a little I think I will do just fine. I really like the nontraditional way that this class is presented and the opportunity to use new technologies. I am also very greatful for how helpful and patcient Becca has been. I have already learned a great deal about formal eritting and I am looking forward to the rest of the semester.

Business Writing

Business writing is a way of writting that is appropriate in a professional setting. It is short and direct communicating the main points. I am here because I interact with people on a daily basis and in many different setting. In order to be successful in communicating it is important to know what in appropriate and what is not.