Finding Your Flock

I hope you all enjoyed our "Finding your Flock" session last Thursday. If Caitlin or Cierra said anything to you that you found particularly helpful or intriguing, please let them know. I'm so happy that they were willing to come share their stories with you. Our Blog topic this week is going to use "Finding your Flock" as a springboard, and it's going to require some imagination on your part. Let's pretend that it's Fall of 2014 and we decide to ask YOU to come and speak with the class about your experiences during your first two years at Converse. We ask you to talk about some things that surprised you when you arrived, some challenges that you overcame, some things that you've learned (both in and out of the classroom), and some advice you'd like to give the first-year students. What do you imagine you might tell our Student Success Seminar in 2014? Imagine it all, and then post your "speech" to your future Little Sister class in your blog. As an addendum to your blog posting this week, we're going to start having you comment on each other's blogs. You'll need to comment on at least five blogs by your classmates, and yes, you can pick any of the topics that we've covered on the blogs up to this point. Your comments need to be both helpful to and respectful of the bloggers in question. Once you're finished leaving your five comments (to five different people), leave a comment on THIS blog entry letting us know which five folks you left comments for. Also, because it's obviously taking me longer to get things finished while we're in Germany, let's extend your due date. Have all of your work (both blog and comments) posted by Sunday evening at 11:59. And I'll tell you all about the trip when we return. It's been wonderful!

Keeping Time Can Be Tricky...

 Time: it can be a problem. Whether you’re dealing with planning out your year or just keeping a steady beat, time can often be tricky to deal with. Because people have different personalities and come from different cultures, they may view time in different ways. Some of these differences may have to do with your preferred style of learning. For example, if you’re a natural organizer, you probably enter on your calendar all due dates for assignments, exams, and quizzes as soon as you receive each course syllabus, and you may be good at adhering to a strict schedule. On the other hand, if you take a more laid-back approach to life, you may prefer to be more flexible, able to “go with the flow,” rather than follow a daily or weekly schedule. You may be good at dealing with the unexpected, but you may also be a procrastinator.

 One of our big topics over the next few weeks is “Time Management.” We’ll begin tomorrow by talking about setting priorities and figuring out weekly schedules, and then we’ll follow up with some more discussion next week. To get the ball rolling, here is your blog question for the week: Blog about your biggest time management challenge—is it oversleeping, spending too much time on social media such as Facebook, juggling work and family responsibilities, or something else? Then, let us know about a time management tool that does work for you. What sort of advice might you give others?

 Please remember that your Blog postings are due by this Friday, September 14 at 11:00 pm.

 Oh, and I believe I had promised to post the two videos I’d hoped to show in our music history class but, alas, RAN OUT OF TIME. The videos tell you a bit more about string quartets, bassoons, and the good times one can have playing music with your friends. Enjoy!