September 2018 Archives
Posted September 28, 2018
I was quite at a loss over what I should write for this week’s blog post, so I decided to write about something that seems to be emerging as a common thread throughout my classes and even my personal life this semester and that is… critical thinking. Bear with me. I realize that the notion of “critical thinking” ought to be familiar to anyone who’s been through any kind of formal education. I’ve literally spent years of my life looking at syllabi and assignments with “critical thinking” written all over them. Probably every teacher I’ve ever had has said something about critical thinking at some point, but I honestly don’t know if any of them ever sat me down and told me exactly what it was, or how I was supposed to “think critically.” As if it was something that I was expected to just pick up as a result of participating in class and doing assignments. (Apologies to any of my former teachers who are reading this thinking, “I definitely told her what critical…
Posted September 26, 2018
The third week of my fall class (LIS 488: Technology for Information Professionals) just started, and things are going much better than I thought they would. I’ve mentioned several times before how nervous I was for this class because of how technology focused it is, but things have been going really well so far. I’ve really stepped up my time management skills and have devoted at least two hours a night to working on the material for this class, whether it be the readings, lectures, note-taking, labs, or other assignments. A part of the reason why I’ve been doing this is because I learned from the accelerated nature of the class I took this summer, and because of my overall apprehensiveness regarding the material for the class. Due to the way I’ve been managing my time for this class I’ve been finishing my weekly labs well in advance of the due date. However, this week we’re starting HTML, so I’m a bit nervous, but I’m hoping that I’ll continue to surprise myself with my technology…
Posted September 20, 2018
I’m delighted to report that my new system for homework worked incredibly well last week. I methodically chugged through all my readings, got started on some future assignments, took notes on everything I read, and tracked how much time I spent on what. It was so efficient that I had everything finished by Thursday! Want to know my grand totals for the week? (Of course you do.) I spent 17 hours and 45 minutes total, of which I spent 11 hours reading (and note-taking), 4.75 hours on assignments, and 2 hours on review. I know this is incredibly nerdy, but I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know how much time I actually spend on homework, and how close it is to the 20-hour/week ballpark (10 hours per week, per class). Also, I thought it might be helpful for any of you out there still considering library school to get a realistic idea of the time commitment. My archival access & use class is down to only five people, but so far that hasn’t hindered discussion. I find…
Posted September 19, 2018
My fall class (LIS 488: Technology for Information Professionals) started last week. As I’ve mentioned before, while this is an online class, it’s a bit of a new adventure for me because there are a few “live sessions” incorporated in to the schedule. These live sessions aren’t in-person, they are GoToMeeting sessions where everyone is online at the same time and we can see and hear the professor. Our first day of class had one of these live sessions and it was very exciting! I’ve done videoconferencing for work and for group projects via Skype and Google Hangouts, but I’ve never done it for class before. I did have some technical difficulties connecting to the meeting, but once I got them ironed out, I really enjoyed the component of the live session. We had a segment where we were able to introduce ourselves and we could see and hear everyone, which is an element that I’ve missed from in-person classes. While I really love interacting with my classmates on the discussion forums, the live session…
Posted September 13, 2018
My penultimate semester at Simmons has begun and the summer is officially over. I’m at this stage of my school journey in which things are beginning to feel very repetitive. Here I am: getting up before 6 am every Saturday, driving the same route to South Hadley, Mass., stopping at the same places for gas and a bite to eat, walking the same paths to familiar classrooms, seeing the same faces, eating the same lunches at the SlIS West office…. This is not to say that there’s nothing unique about this semester, just that it’s begun to feel very routine. In many ways, though, this semester is unprecedented. For the first time, both of my kids will be at school for some portion of the day, giving me chunks of dedicated homework time in the mornings. The kids’ school schedules force all of us to be up and at ’em fairly early so there will be more discipline and more routine. And I’m starting this semester with more planning, motivation, determination, and better personal organization…
Posted September 12, 2018
Fall has arrived! Well, technically fall doesn’t start until September 22, but it certainly feels like fall. The weather is getting slightly colder, the leaves are beginning to change, and the fall semester has just begun (my class literally just started last night). I must say, I really enjoy how classes do not start until September here. Even the elementary, middle, and high schools in Massachusetts didn’t start until last week (at least that’s when they started in my area). My entire life, school has always started in early-to-mid August, no matter what state I have lived in. I’m really enjoying waiting until fall to go back to school. As the seasons have started to change, I have been trying to partake in some fun fall activities. Last weekend, I went to the Autumn Arts and Crafts Festival at the Historic Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA. It was a great outdoor craft fair with a ton of vendors and exhibits, and I bought some fabulous items! There seems to be a lot of festivals in…
