Not So Lazy Days of Summer
Posted July 25, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
It is currently Week 6 of my online summer class. Now in a usual semester, which is 14 weeks long, we would just be approaching the halfway point. But, as this is a summer class that is only 8 weeks long, I only have 2 weeks remaining, and it is crunch time. We have accomplished a lot in a very short amount of time in this class. I’ve learned so much! However, there is still a lot of work to be done and topics to be covered in the remaining weeks. I have a group project to finish, numerous readings to complete, several assignments and exercises to do, and lots of discussion forums to participate in. One of the key takeaways from this experience is that summer classes require you to be at the very top of your game. As it is the full amount of work for a semester class in half the time, there can be no slacking off whatsoever. You have to manage your time very wisely. Balancing school, work, and your…
Staying Busy and Finding Meaning
Posted July 23, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
I’ve been wracking my brain this week trying to come up with a good metaphor to compare summer online courses with regular semester ones. The one I keep thinking about is running. Let’s say the normal semester course is like running the mile. You know it’s going to be four laps around the track and you know you can’t sprint the entire time and so you pace yourself, trying to keep your speed steady and saving your energy for a little burst at the end. This online summer course is like running 800 meters. You can still try to pace yourself, but there’s not as much distance in this race and so you mostly just run and hope your strength holds out. (I don’t actually have any experience with these kinds of races so I apologize if the metaphor doesn’t fit.) There are just two weeks left in my class and today I went and signed my kids up for summer camp at their adorable little preschool. At the beginning of the summer my husband…
Reading Deprivation
Posted July 13, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
I’m flipping the script in today’s post, meaning I plan to tell you about what I haven’t been reading instead of what I have, or rather, why I am not reading at the moment. I’m participating in an experiment this week called “reading deprivation” as a part of this Artist’s Way book I’m working through. If you think that sounds impossible and a bit insane, then I would have to agree with you. Do you know how difficult it is not to read something, or anything at all on a given day? It takes a real concentrated effort, and maybe a blindfold too. The tool is meant to “monitor the inflow and keep it to a minimum,” according to author Julia Cameron, that way you’re able to tune into your inner voice more clearly and hopefully be rewarded with more outflow. And while it’s true that I’ve seen my writing increase, I’ve also gotten petty and annoyed about the whole idea. What about my work emails? My text messages? Those quotable images that I love…
Summer Has Arrived
Posted July 11, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
Oh my goodness a heatwave has hit Massachusetts! If summer wasn’t here before, it has definitely arrived now. I must admit, I’m not really a fan of excessively hot and humid weather, and I’m glad that it seems to be cooling down just a bit. Because of the heat, I’ve been trying to stay indoors with my beloved air conditioning as much as possible. Between work and my summer class, it really has not been difficult. As I mentioned in my last post, my summer class is online, and we’re fitting 14 weeks’ worth of material into 8 weeks. The class is keeping me very busy between the readings and assignments, but I’m really enjoying learning all the new concepts and interacting with my classmates. We’ve been learning about information organization, metadata, and as of this week, encoding standards. I will admit, learning all the new material in the shortened time frame has been a challenge, but it has been an enjoyable one. One of the best parts about this class is that there…
Bookshops
Posted July 10, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
It is toasty outside guys! I took a rare day off last week to go visit a few bookshops in the Boston area and cool down out of the heat as my apartment does not have air conditioning. Who needs an excuse to visit a bookshop anyway? A quick Google search for used books leads me to Brattle Book Shop in downtown Boston. It is one of America’s largest and oldest bookshops in America! Established in 1825 and in the same family since 1949. I was in for a surprise when I went because I was really looking for newish books that were on sale. I didn’t think I would come across beautiful antique books. I kept thinking, wow, this would be an excellent place for aspiring writers to find a book about an obscure topic who want to research the old fashion way. I have a new interest in human anatomy books, and their section here was small and very old. Rubber bands held the leather covers to the books, the paper was brittle…
Dog Days
Posted July 9, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
Well I was right about my online class – it is all the work of a normal semester class in half the time. We had a research paper due at the end of our second week (last weekend)! That assignment was a bit of a wakeup call for me that 1) I really need to stay on top of the work for this class and 2) I need to prep early for research papers and take better notes. I’ve been on “vacation” still in Virginia this whole time but it hasn’t felt like much of a vacation because every night I’m up doing homework! I don’t mind too much though because I am really enjoying this class. I could have never guessed that records management would be so interesting to me. The discussion forums have been very lively and I do feel highly engaged in the course. Maybe it’s the accelerated schedule that makes it more of an “immersive” experience. Despite the rigor of the class I was still able to drive to go visit…
A Glimpse of Summer
Posted June 28, 2018 by ShanTil Yell
I had almost forgotten about the feeling of that sweet exhale summer break brings until now. I don’t know if what I’m doing 100% qualifies as a “break” since I am working a lot and still managing to keep my schedule quite full, but it is nice to be doing all of those things without having to worry about homework and readings for a few months! In terms of work, I’m still filling in as a senior substitute at the Somerville Public Library. I love it for…well, many reasons. 1) SPL is an awesome place and you should come visit us, okay? Okay. 2) We’ve got three branches, and I’ve been fortunate enough to work in various roles at each of them. Plus, I have amazing co-workers who have been so helpful and supportive. A little circulation here, some reference desk there, and my personal favorite–the children’s room. I got to do an impromptu preschool story time a couple of weeks ago and it was only a little scary, but mostly a lot of fun…
Of Classes and Museum Passes
Posted June 27, 2018 by Sarah Callanan
Oh my gosh the past few weeks have been so busy! My class officially started last week and it’s been a wild ride! It’s been all good so far. There are a lot of opportunities for group discussion in this class (even more than my last class), so I don’t feel like I’m missing the student interaction part of an in-person class at all! Admittedly, it is all behind a screen and in a forum, but still. The summer class is a bit intense though. We’re fitting 14 weeks’ worth of material into an 8-week class, which is a bit daunting. But so far everything has been great, and the material is really interesting! On a more fun-related note, I’ve finally gotten around to doing some more sightseeing! I went into Boston to go to the Museum of Science with my family. When my dad was a child, he had a book with a Van de Graaff generator in it, and he’s wanted to see one in person for a long time, so that’s what…
Our Neighbors at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Posted June 26, 2018 by Ashley Jackson
Hi guys! This week I took the opportunity, as a fairly new resident to the Boston area, to explore our neighbors at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I have heard a lot about this museum and have been itching to get over. First things first, Simmons students get in free! I was prepared to pay the much-discounted student price of $5, but the lovely girl at the desk said no fee with my student ID! I believe this is true for the Museum of Fine Arts which is nearby as well. It’s a gorgeous building and was Gardner’s home as well. She traveled the world looking for fine art, collected it, and brought it back to Boston to display in her house. She picked where each piece went so it is unique in that way and unlike any museum I have been to. Her pieces are amazing. I often found myself wondering how they shipped some of the pieces over to Boston. Now for the juicy part. This museum is home of many works of…
Back in the Saddle!
Posted June 25, 2018 by Megan Ondricek
Hoo-boy it’s been a wild week! Summer has officially started. My online class has officially started. I spent two days at Hershey Park with my family, two nights at a remote cabin getaway with my husband, and have somewhat settled into the new summer routine at my folks’ house in Virginia. Everyone is healthy and things are going really well. My online class is off to a great start with the usual virtual introductions and the first forum discussion. I didn’t realize it before, but this summer class has only seven weeks and each week encompasses two “modules.” So I guess I should expect it to be more intense than a typical semester-long class? This is my second online class and as with the first, it will be a lot of reading and writing. The way I see it, the extra reading makes up for the lack of classroom lecture time and the extra writing fills in for the lack of classroom discussion. There are pros and cons to online courses that I hope I’ll…