This week has flew by. It only seems like 12 hours ago I was sitting at home doing about what I am now, only in the comfort of my own home and not at work! Yes, I am at work typing my journal because we are short staffed this week and they needed someone to cover shifts. Thats what I like about this job, the flexibility! I had 3 goals this week. One was to keep myself busy and get up early each day. Accomplished. Second was to do this weeks assignments. Almost there. Finally was to play golf before I work today. Didnt get there!

This weeks assignments have really motivated me to take a deeper look at my genres in hopes of refining them and evetually tying them together. However, I think after reading through them, that the same unifying theme is found in each genre. The assignment on the mailing lists this week was my hardest because of the situation on my mailing list. I joined a healthcare reform list in hopes of finding a lead on my topic. However, what I found were two men who took different stands on the same topic and decided to use the mailing list to express their differences. Therefore, I had to sort of express my differences with the mailing list in the assignment this week. You would think that a mailing list as easy to find that deals with national healthcare reform would be beneficial in a research project such as this one, but it wasn't.

I found myself in a state of panic earlier today with the final genre I am working on. Since I am pulling an all weekend shift, I have to do my work when I can. Well I found out today that in order to post my brochure genre to the internet I have to print it off, take it to the library, scan it into a pdf file, save it adn then post it. Well Sunday is the only day I can do it and I am just hoping that the scanning center is open tomorrow.

I am beginning to feel proud of all the work we have accomplished this summer. Its almost like you look at all this stuff online and you're like "did I do all of this?" Where did all the time go? Well we are probably looking at about 90% of our time here. Thats what makes this class worthwhile to me. You put the time in and it pays off. Some classes you cannot say that about.

There are two pieces of my project that I like the most. My powerpoint presentation and my acrostic poem. Probably if I had to pick, I couldnt because I like both of them equally. I have a hard time with letters and such, but something that challenges my creativity is what I seem to do the best with.

If you look at the title of this weeks journal, you might think that I have accomplished some great feat. Well I have. I was quite scared about completing these genres. In fact terrified. I have never done a project of this style or magnitude. Yet, now they have came, I saw and I feel I have conquered, in some weird, academic way!

Well, I guess this is all for now. Ill see you all next week either here or on the MOO!

Well this has been a pretty good week. At first, I didn’t like the idea of a one week assignment due date, but now I realize that the assignments have us think more deeply about our topics, but also keeps us on our toes and busy. So, I guess it’s alright. HAHA. I set out this week to do homework and work. I did both and am quit proud of myself. However, my job is causing me to learn how to be a mediator and a crisis prevention communicator…which is really racking my brain. I found out that our company is expanding and I am included in those expansion plans!! Also, I finished my ministries web page. Its address is www.backtothecrossministries.org. Feel free to look around and email me about it. Its still under construction, so don’t expect much. We have experienced such great funding and support that we are like a small business and I am the general manager..AHHHH!!! Too much responsibility. HAHAA. What can I say, I love every minute of it.

As far as assignments go, I have really started to look at others work and I am seeing that everyone is really putting forth their best effort in completing this NEW type of project for this class. One problem I am having is finding resources. I don’t know if it is my way of looking for them or it is just my topic in general. I am leaning toward the latter, because most gov’t officials don’t want you to find out the dirty grit that they are doing with our money and thus depriving tax paying citizen’s quality healthcare. Ok…enough of that.

I enjoyed doing the peer reviews this week. It gave me a chance to review my groups work and where they are heading with their topics. It also gave me some ideas to consider when brushing up on my MRP. I see a trend in the poems, mostly found poems. I completed an Acrostic poem, I hope that is alright. I just thought it was more…ME! Hehe I am keeping tabs on my mailing list this week and seeing that mostly these 2 guys are arguing about the price of malpractice insurance in Kentucky, which also seems to be a nationwide issue as well.

One problem I had this week was with the reading of the Literacy and Inquiry article. I don’t know if it was just me or the way it was written. At any rate, I had a difficult time discerning what the bond was that tied the whole article together. So, I hope my writing prompt was inclusive of some idea that was presented in the article. However, after reading my prompt, I realized how far I have come in my literacy and research abilities since high school. It’s like night and day. It sort of makes me feel good to know that I can now incorporate the 3 r’s in my research and know that I am making sense! Those abilities should be mandatory for all graduating seniors. Not only would it help them refine their learning skills but also give them a jumpstart on the demands of college, especially Mrs. McComas’ class Hehe.

Finally, I think I see where my MRP is heading and what my topic is finally shaping up to be. I have found that healthcare funding in general is the national problem, not with just one branch of healthcare. I have to say that this class has really opened my eyes to the reality of what we do as professionals and how attached to ideas we can become that it eats at us from the inside and there seems to be nothing that we can do about it.

After having the liberty to do assignments over a two week period and then the change in pace to just a one week completion time, I have become more aware of my time and how to best use it. Yet, what can I say. Its week 5, and we are on the backside of the CD 315 mountain. Soon we will look back on this class and all of its wonderful learning experiences it has provided and realize that this was one of the quickest summers I have ever spent.

I enjoyed the class meeting this week. It was good to see all of the faces behind the MOO conversations again, as well as our MOO master, Mrs. McComas. I feel that coming f2f gives everyone that extra bounce in their step to complete the rest of the course assignments. Lets face it, this is a new way to take a class that I had never experienced. A lot of quirks to work out in my lifestyle to adhere to its time maintenance requirments.

Overall, this week I have learned a lot about my MRP and where it is heading. I have revised my Essential Question several times and have now focused in on one key area, federal funding opportunities. While completing this weeks assignment for genres, I really found my inner voice and care for this topic. I just set down at my computer and started typing my letter to the editor in a clients voice that was unable to recieve speech therapy for financial and insurance billing reasons. I realized that I have a true opinion for these people who do not recieve quality healthcare.

Also, the assignment for internalizing web evaluations really brought forth some ideas that I had never considered before about web sites and their credibility. I found that appearance as well as information must work hand in hand in order to create a website that is efficient and effective.

This week has really been a topic consideration week for me. I had to decide if my topic was pertinent and wonder if I could get enough resources to support my ideas. Well, I guess I have dove into the waters of advocacy and am still afloat. Until next week.......