https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto Made with excitement en-us 2018-01-24 22:56:11 UTC 2018-04-12 23:16:09 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Alarmclock.png diedrian_smith https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/224471419 the next 13 weeks are crucial to obtaining the A grade i need for this course.

E-tutor and CC seem very excited and ready to get the ball rolling. This is very promising]]> 2018-01-24 23:00:14 UTC https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/224471419 diedrian_smith https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/224472660 I've never used this before will definitely be using outside of school. 
Its a fun and easy tool for organization.....
I have cupcakes in my wallpaper because i really love food.]]> 2018-01-24 23:09:13 UTC https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/224472660 diedrian_smith https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/229887940 This week was a bit difficult.
the assignments are very straight forward and tire directly to the course which will come in handy for exams.
I'm a person that likes hands on, i feel i learn better that way.
I have been fighting a horrible flu (aches and pains).
Forcing myself to wake up and login today i read about the TMA , did a tiny bit of research to ascertain if which topic i'm more passionate about and viola! i'm kind of excited. Maybe its my cold medicine.
Ha ha ha
I'm looking forward to starting this one There are so many persons i know that will be such treasure troves on insight.
Here is to WEEK 2 and getting rid of this bother some flu.]]> 2018-02-09 03:08:39 UTC https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/229887940 diedrian_smith https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/230414733 Something i found out.
We were encouraged to post all our questions to the forum. At first i thought " every student will see my stupid thoughts"  but it helped,really helped.
By reading the previous posts and reading the guidelines given by the e-tutor i was able to chose a topic for my TMA without much hassle.
Last week and the week before i felt lost, logging a few times a week the sheer volume of information to go through in the forums was astounding. So i subscribed to all forums and forwarded all emails to my personal email which would be accessible from my cellphone and this was so much better.
I got all information in "real time" as it were and i was able to keep on track with new developments and posts at a glance.
TMA Literature review underway. Yay me... back on track i'm off flu medication now so i'm for the most part functional.


]]> 2018-02-11 21:13:16 UTC https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/230414733 diedrian_smith https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/233547841 Tuesday- Feb.20
This week we have the 1st draft of the research project due.  
Wow the time is going by so fast.
Sending my emails to my cell is working really nicely.
Saturday- Feb24
TMA was submitted this week.
the discussions were centered around collecting data. This was helpful as i was able to use a part of the questionnaire i had formulated for use on my research project. 
Its becoming more difficult to keep all the forums straight having forwarded email notifications on them to my cell phone.
The E-tutor and CC are very involved however and they seem to be very attuned to most students.
I'm hanging in there. counting down week by week and ensuring i make my postings and do discussions.
We have a debate coming up that im not so sure about, but hey im in month 2 of a 4 month course...halfway there.  So its time to buckle down and get things done. I refuse to fail so i have to put the work in.
I think i need to start exercising, i found that in the past it helped me to focus more and i didn't feel as stressed as i had an outlet. 
My regime starts monday. Its important to get some alone time even just 30 mins each day just to center and focus.  
Prepping for week 6]]> 2018-02-20 22:54:44 UTC https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/233547841 diedrian_smith https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/240510800 The past few weeks were very hectic. 
I did find a way to use something i learned in this course in "real life".
I was enrolled in a curriculum development course at my job, the final of which we had to do a presentation on the curriculum we had developed.
At the end of the presentation the instructor asked why we chose this particular topic, This is where the research i had done for TMA came in handy, one of the surveys i found had snippets of responses from Hotel Managers in my area, this had alluded to issues that their staff may face that tied in with my Training course so i gave her (instructor) this background.She expressed surprise because this is a completely unexplored area for training and indicated that she would be open to exploring the topic.
I missed all of last week, but i will catch up.
This course although having a heavy workload will only benefit me during exams, I learn by doing (something i learned in my curriculum course.) ]]> 2018-03-11 01:28:47 UTC https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/240510800 diedrian_smith https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/243792343 AKA Debate week
debate week was good break from the weekly discussion postings.
Good from the view that i had to learn not just one thing but two. In doing our postings ( agreeing) we had to properly research both topics to sort of pre-empt the other team. In anticipating their responses we could steer the narrative in the direction we wanted to go.
I also believe this will be a big help for exams because the critical thinking involved in the organization and research of both sides of this debate will stick with me for quite some time. Questions such as how will they respond to this point? what possible rebuttals will there be? how to we take the sting out of this particular statement?
At one point with all the reading done on the opposing teams' topic i started shooting down all our own ideas with potential responses from the other team. It was a good exercise.
It was also fun to "argue" without actually "arguing".
Working with a team member also helped to display a broader view than just my own and also a different perspective.

An interesting week to say the least.]]> 2018-03-19 23:14:55 UTC https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/243792343 diedrian_smith https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/245786412 its boiling down to that time of the semester. All weak areas must be shored up in anticipation of the final few weeks of teaching followed by final exams.
this week's activity was welcomed.
Particularly relating the the questionnaire. Some questions don't occur to you until its actually pointed out; or in my case you read about it while reviewing a classmates' submission.
Seeing the pointers i was given in action clarified some grey areas for me. My issue was that i failed to include the simplest of questions such as "what gender are you?" 
One limitation of this research paper that occurred to me is that being the enumerator, collator, analyser, etc of every single piece of data made me biased...i was more receptive to a particular point of view based on my initial hypothesis when determining the research question. This is something i will have to work at keeping in neutral so as not to bias my findings and interpretations.



]]> 2018-03-25 03:33:30 UTC https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/245786412 diedrian_smith https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/251382290 Almost at the finish line.
The balancing act of the fast few months has come to a crashing halt. Balancing school and work and all its accompaniments has become increasingly difficult.
I completed the research paper and submitted its late but i will get some marks.
That paper made me question some initial views i had on crime and how it affects persons on a whole even though my research question was geared at businesses. It helps to form the linkages between even the most seemingly unrelated topics and problems. Makes me think about school and wonder if my slacking off was really about work or just my brain "giving me a break" according to one craft trader i interviewed who stated that his spending habits change depending on how many cruise ships arrived in a week; he says he just automatically drives to a particular supermarket without though based on this. He said his brain didn't want to embarrass him so it "gave him a break".

]]> 2018-04-12 23:08:52 UTC https://padlet.com/diedrian_smith/ay49pw5s5kto/wish/251382290