November Monthly Summary

November Summary


Sean commented on Group 2 and Group 4's November Summaries

Joseph Haynes' November Summary

November was a trying month. Trying to get everything done for the end of the semester in my classes has been difficult. Again, the inability to get together early for our latest paper made things tough, but it is the nature of the business with group projects. I have grown to be a little more tolerable of it but it is still not easy. It’s kind of funny, with each new assignment my group does I think we keep doing better and I’m having a better understanding of Adult Education. The only problem is as we get graded for each paper the grades keep going down. I understand we are all very busy and maybe it is because we don’t spend the time on each assignments that we should but it is a bit confusing that we keep getting worse. But I have faith in our group, what one person lacks the others pick up, so I am thankful for my teammates.

The homework this month has been very enlightening. Everything has seemed to be able to lend itself to the E-Archive project and even though it was tough this month everything worked out well for the project and I believe we were able to provide a top notched website (Sean did wonders on the website). Overall, with the difficulties we have had getting together, I think we all have done a very good job on the group projects.

I understand things will become very busy finishing up the final project. But I think all will come together when our group gets together for the final times.

Joe Haynes commented on group 3 and 4 (E-Archive)

Troy’s November Summary EDAC 631

Perseverance is the overall one word description for November for me as well. Whether it was technology issues, conflicts in schedules, starting a new contract for work, or personal barriers, I had to overcome and persevere. This perseverance builds character and allows us to grow as both adults and students.

The adult educator program review and the e-archive was a great “check in learning” and opened my eyes to where and how I’ve developed since August. I have grown as a future adult educator and the assignments for November reflect. The design of the class was set up this way and it works for us to have this self-reflection about ourselves and students and future adult educators.

To summarize, “don’t quit” was put in my mind when I was young and it has carried me through many challenges in my professional life. This same mind frame continues as a graduate student. On the personal level, I quit smoking after 27 years and on a professional level, I didn’t quit or give up on my studies.

Sean Rodgers November Summary

November was another challenging month, but also a month of learning. The projects were challenging and illuminating. We started the month with a Community Organizations project. I thought we have started working better as a team, and I thought the project turned out well. This wasn't really reflected in the end result though. Silly little mistakes and omissions can prove to be somewhat costly. I think the E-archive turned out really well also. I haven't ever put together an actual website, so I saw this as a challenge to myself. I thought it turned out pretty decent, although I make changes to it each time I visit. I can see how website maintenance can be so time consuming.

On the home front, the challenge was the flu. During mid-November it hit both the boys, and me. The irony is that we had scheduled the boys for flu shots, but had to change it because of such a busy schedule. We all should take time to slow down life on occasion, eventually some occurrence will slow life down for you. During mid-November I was laid up for two days recovering.

There was actually an additional challenge in just writing this short monthly summary. My wife's Apple iMac stopped working Thanksgiving week. You know its bad when the people at Apple Care state that they have never heard of a problem like the one we had, and they couldn't find a solution for the problem in their database. Turned out to be a faulty hardware issue, and we will be getting a replacement. But I had to turn my computer over to here in the meantime, as she has much more schoolwork going on then I do. Next week she has five finals, and it made me glad I was in graduate school. I am still busy, but really no comparison to her workload. So, I had to sacrifice my online access to help her, but it reminded me of the modified Marine Corps motto to;d to me when I was stationed in Saudi Arabia. Instead of Semper Fi (or Fidelis) meaning always faithful, Marines would say Semper Gumby, meaning always flexible. In other words, work through and manage what ever happens. I think this is the best advice in surviving school and, in many ways, getting through the daily challenges of life. Always be flexible. Although, I must admit looking forward to the end of this term.