Module 7: A Quiet Place

The most useful thing I learned in Module 7 is the idea of creating the perfect workplace, more specifically a quiet workplace as on slide 7 of Module 7. In order to increase time management and motivation, it helps to have a specific space meant for only working. My workspace is an office in my house, I have a mini fridge with snacks and drinks so I’m not tempted to leave the office. I have speakers in my walls to play quiet music for background noise. I have a large comfy chair to sit in, my desk is equipped with organizers full of sticky notes, different colored pens, and highlighters, a charger for my computer and for my phone, a printer that syncs to my computer for easy printing of articles, and some other tools that may come in handy when studying or learning.

My workspace is a private room that I don’t allow my pets or friends to come in when I’m working. This ensures I don’t get distracted or side tracked. On my wall is a large expo board with a calendar and task lists that I can fill with whatever objectives I may have for that day or week. This helps me keep track of time and how much work I have left to complete, it’s also very satisfying to erase assignments as I get them done.

Module 6: Research and responsibility

The most useful thing I learned in this blog is the concept of source credibility. More specifically source reliability, source quality, and source credibility in slides 14-16 of Module 6 slideshow. Reliability is based on three basic concepts, is the information available for use, are the credentials of the author listed and credible, and is the information peer reviewed. Quality is based on specificity, date published and researched, consistent, well written, free of bias, and whether the information has references to other sources. Utility is based on relatable to the topic, appropriate to audience, and amount of detail in the source.

These topics assist me in deciding which of millions of sources are useful and important to my projects. Such as my plant pathology project on Ergot of Rye, I had to complete a five minute video on the disease ergot-ism of the rye plant with at least 6 academic resources. It’s difficult to tell which resources can be considered academic when looking on the web. There are so many different types of websites, online articles, and blogs to pick from, and you need to ensure you use the correct ones. These guidelines for source credibility really help me identify information for use of my projects and papers without inaccuracy.

Module 5: Notes on Notes

The most useful thing I learned in this module is that note taking has 3 functions, providing a summary of key points, creating a set of retrieval cues or memory cues for information you didn’t record, and its an orienting task(Why Take Notes Video, Module 5 Powerpoint Slide 6) . I always thought of note taking as a means to meet an end, IE a test or exam. I used notes as resources for tests and shallow memory. Now I have a better respect for note taking as I can use them to better my understanding of class materials. I will use these ideas in the future as I will ensure my notes have all important details and have major points highlighted for easier cue forming and studying.

Some advice I would offer to students is to find what note taking strategies work best for them. You don’t have to use just one strategy, you can combine them to create the perfect setup. I suggest using highlighters or different colored ink during lectures to bring better focus to your notes. I also suggest trying out new strategies every once in a while to keep yourself from mindlessly transcribing information in class. I use a mixture of the cornell method, visuals, bulletpoints, and highlighting.

Module 3: Acronyms for the Win

The most useful thing I learned in this module is the SQ3R strategy on slide 5, in the video SQ3R Reading Method. SQ3R stands for Skim, Questions, Read, Recite, and Review. This is a strategy used to understand, assess, and apply topics in class. Skim refers to quickly reading over the information to identify key concepts. Use these key concepts to create questions which you will use to guide your learning. Thoroughly read  the article. Recite important information from the article, and review the information. I prefer to review my information with friends. I find I develop knowledge much better when I am able to teach it to others.

This is a similar strategy to keeping Cornell notes. Cornell notes entail of organized notes with subcategories, a section for questions, the objective, subject of notes, and answers to questions posed before or during reading. I find this organization and application strategy to be the easiest and most long term way to develop understanding of any level of complex subject. Skimming allows you to prepare yourself for what you’ll be diving into so it seems less overwhelming. Questions allow you to guide yourself through the information so you can check your progress. Reading allows you learn the material. Reciting allows you to check your progress and apply what you’ve learned. Reviewing allows you to concrete the knowledge you have, and pinpoint areas you need to go back and review or receive extra help on.

Module 3 One eyed, One-horned, Flying Purple People Pleaser

My favorite piece of advice my dad ever gave me involves a short story. “When you walk through the halls of a small town high school during graduation week, the walls are all lined with big banners that say “You can do it!”, “You’ll achieve so much!”, or similar quotes. But what they don’t tell you is that when you finally achieve those things, you’ll be hated by many jealous and angry people. The same people who cheered you on, will turn around and belittle your success. If you can get past the anger, you’ll have to face exhaustion and decision making. Success comes with prioritizing objectives and deciding what needs to be done, and who needs to be told no. So those banners should have an asterisk on the back that says “but know that someone will dislike you regardless of what you do, so prioritize yourself and your success.” Know when to say no, and don’t be afraid to do something even if someone doesn’t like it. Being a boss is hard and no matter what you do, someone will be upset.”

This story may seem harsh and dim, but it’s helped me serve in many leadership and management positions. Before I really understood this advice, I would burn myself out accepting any activity or request thrown my way. At one point, I was president of two different 4-H clubs, competing in showing steers, rabbits, horses, goats, chickens, turkeys, and hogs, vice president of an FFA chapter, head of a steer committee, head of the community service board, volunteering at the humane society, AI’ing local farmers cows, running my farm, running my dads deer farm, and working at a vet clinic. I had zero down time, I was stressed and tired. All because I was afraid to say no to people. I didn’t want other people to dislike me because I couldn’t fulfill their wants and needs to overacheiver levels. But now I understand prioritizing tasks and saying no when needed (Slide 16 Module 3, Tips for time management video). My calendars always include levels of priority for each task. I also include when I’d like to do them, hard deadlines, and subtasks.

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Hello 1159!

Hello! My name is Emily Barkheimer, I am also a student in ESEPSY1159. I am a commuter, I operate my own farm with exotic animals, longhorns, horses, and Nigerian Dwarf goats. I work as a live flock health intern at Case Farms Chicken. My hobbies include competitively riding horses and showing cattle, fishing, archery, and guiding hunts on my families White tail deer preserve, Dominant Buck Outfitters. Some exotic animals we have are alpacas, miniature donkeys, miniature cows, miniature horses, a zebra, a camel, two lemurs, some silver foxes, pheasants, quail(which we use for training our trial competition English Setters), wallabys (tiny kangaroos), porcupines, tortoises, potbelly pigs, miniature deer, white tail deer, and a macaw. I love making new friends, and always welcome anyone to leave a little info about themselves below in the comments, or if you need any advice, I’d be happy to help!

Module 2 Reflection The Sheep Scandal

In my opinion, the most important aspect of this module is the idea of collaboration in group projects. During a ruminant feeds and feeding class we were assigned a HUGE project at the beginning of the semester. We were given a random animal, and we had all semester to design a profitable operation involving the meat of the animal. Our projects had to be well researched including complete feeding programs, crop plans, expense reports for everything, housing, property taxes and location, supplement programs, breeding and health programs, marketing strategies, and about twenty more points of interest.

I was placed into a group with three people, my best friend, a lazy member, and an easily frazzled member. Well of course, the lazy one was assigned as our team leader, and we got the hardest animal from the list, market sheep. When’s the last time you went to the grocery store and was like “man I’d kill for some mutton right now”? Exactly. A hard topic, and an even rougher group of researchers led to a late start and a bumpy journey. The team leader never contacted any of us, about three weeks into the semester I decided to take matters into my own hands and I created a group chat(Dealing with group members, tip 1) . Shortly after everyone picked their tasks, Hayley (my friend) and I quickly realized the other members were never planning to do their parts. Every time we attempted to schedule meet ups, the other two were always busy, anytime Hayley and I went to tour a market sheep facility, the boys never had any questions or topics they wanted us to gather info on. Long story short, after bugging the boys for 8 weeks, we started doing their parts. This “sucking it up and completing their parts” (Dealing with group members video, Tip 5) idea was obviously our best option because even after planning to finish our project two weeks early, the boys either never turned anything in, or turned it in at midnight when we planned to record the presentation the next morning.

The project taught us that in order to get such a big task achieved, we’d have to separate it into smaller parts, assign periodic deadlines(Dealing with group members, tip 3), and plan to get done early in case of emergencies. We learned the importance of communicating with industry professionals to gather information, and plenty of patience for people with less motivation than yourself.

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