Thanksgiving Week 2012

Week in Review: A Reflection of November 19 – 25

A turkey made from candy pieces

I was thankful to have most of the week of Thanksgiving off. I allowed myself to stop thinking about schoolwork for a few days so I could do some art projects for fun.

On Thanksgiving we drove to my uncle and aunt’s new house for lunch. There was turkey, rolls, mash potatoes, squash, fruit, pumpkin pie, and cute little turkeys made of candy pieces. I baked some brownies and peanut butter cookies. I saw my cousin’s baby, whom I haven’t seen since Halloween, and he’s gotten so big!

I did go out shopping on Friday, but I did not get up early to do so; I went in the afternoon. It was still really crowded, and I had to wait in long lines. It was worth it, though, because I got some good deals.

I went back to working on homework on Sunday, and I was able to get everything done I needed to get done. There’s only a few weeks of classes left of the fall semester so we’re at the point in my classes where we’re showcasing everything we’ve learned throughout the past few months. We’ve got a lot to work to do for our final group project in my Customer Service Essentials class. I’ll be focusing on that this week.

What are you thankful for this year?

How Technology is Changing Online Classes

Technology has provided us with some truly remarkable tools for education. It’s amazing how much can be accomplished through computers. Programs allow us not only to connect with others, but also really interact and even collaborate with one another.

Last week one of my instructors decided we were going to have class online using the Live tool in eCollege, our online portal for classes. Even though I am very familiar with eCollege, I had never used this feature before. I thought that it was just for chat. While it does have a section for chat, it also has a ClassLive tool.

When it came time for class, our instructor opened a session. I just needed to make sure I had the latest version of Java, and I was able to participate from my home computer. When we all leave the session, it is archived so students that missed class can still view the session in its entirety later. It’s also good for the students who need to look back at something that was discussed during class.

The program has a “whiteboard” where the instructor can pull up PowerPoint presentations, websites, documents, or anything else that can be displayed on the computer screen. The instructor has the option of letting the students post things on the whiteboard. We were able to write on it with the pen tool and highlight tool. In our session we proofread a document and highlighted areas that were incorrect.

What is the A.R.T.S. Club at MPTC?

My meeting was canceled; so since I was already on campus, I decided to check out this new club. A.R.T.S stands for Adults Returning to School. Along with meeting new people, I also met the Vice President of Student Affairs who stopped by to speak with us.

The club members introduced themselves to me. I heard a little bit about their bake sale fundraiser and their plans to decorate trees on the West Bend campus. They’re trying to come up with a community service project to undertake, hopefully before the end of the semester.

Everybody had the chance to talk about what was going well and what wasn’t going well. It’s good to know that others are having similar difficulties you’re having so you don’t feel alone.

Something great about the club is that you can still be part of it if you aren’t able to come to the meetings. There is an online portal you can have access to if you ask for it. It is the same system we use for our online and blended classes. There is supposed to be lots of resources and a place for online discussion.

The A.R.T.S. club meets approximately every other Wednesday on the West Bend campus in the afternoon. Look for flyers around campus or contact Kathy VanDemark for more information.

Busy Weekdays, Weekends, and Everything in Between

Week in Review: A Reflection of November 5 – 11

MPTC's West Bend Campus

There was plenty going on this past week on the West Bend campus. There was a book sale fundraiser outside the library, a blood drive, and a campus preview day. Along with that, many students, including me, registered online for spring 2013 classes.

A few weeks ago I spoke to my academic advisor. I wanted her to look at my records to make sure I was on track. If I had figured it out correctly, I would be receiving my Office Assistant Technical Diploma in May. She confirmed that if I take these three classes, I would graduate next spring. So, I registered for them and I’m all set!

The week was sure busy and so was the weekend. I went to a wedding of a former co-work on Friday. On Saturday I celebrated a friend’s birthday. We spent the weekend watching the BBC’s Sherlock Holmes series. She also had an awesome Sherlock board game from the ‘70s. You know it’s an older board game when one of the clues mentions USSR.

It looks like another busy week and weekend ahead. We’ll be continuing working on our customer service manual for my Customer Service Essentials Class. I have a Student Senate meeting and a Web Developer Club meeting later in the week. My niece’s first birthday is this weekend, and I will be seeing the last installment of the Twilight series. No midnight showing for us this time I think. It’s way too cold to stand outside.

Halloween Week

Week in Review: A Reflection of October 29 – November 4

 Halloween week we had a hypnotist perform at the West Bend campus. I talked to some students who had seen him at the Fond du Lac campus the previous day and came to see the show again in West Bend. I volunteered to be hypnotized, my first time ever. People asked me what it was like. I say, it was actually pretty relaxing. People I saw in the hall were talking about it to me days afterwards.

I already celebrated Halloween earlier in the month, so besides taking my nephew trick-or-treating, it didn’t really feel like Halloween. It’s a shame it’s so cold already. All the kids had to wear jackets.

On Wednesday we got to play with some older technology used for transcription in one of my classes. They have foot pedals and play cassette tapes. It’s fun to see how things were done in the past. For our assessment, however, we’ll be using more up-to-date techniques for transcription.

I still volunteer at a nonprofit once every other week, so on Friday I was working on a display. I was able to use some advanced features in Microsoft Office programs, and I learned more about the copy machine.  Those things can do so much stuff automatically! A few weeks ago I scanned some pages and it automatically sent the pages wirelessly to a specific folder on the network.

I spent some time this past week choosing classes for the spring 2013 semester. I’ll be registering soon. It looks like I’ll be taking some traditional and online classes and maybe a winterim class. Wow, that registration date sure comes up quickly!

APCA Midwest Conference 2012 – Day 4

Goodbye, awesome view from my hotel room

Because we are Wisconsinites, we had to leave Iowa early Sunday morning so we wouldn’t miss too much of the Packer game in the afternoon. The day was much sunnier than when we arrived, and it was a really nice trip back. There were some pretty cool land formations around the Wisconsin/Iowa boarder.

It was a long but amazing weekend. I would recommend any Student Senate member to attend APCA, and I highly encourage MPTC students to join Student Senate so they can take advantage of opportunities like this.

Over the weekend we saw over 40 acts perform. We got a chance to talk to all the acts in person. They are some really talented, interesting people that love what they do and they really enjoy performing and talking to college students. I enjoyed talking to some awesome students from different states, learning from them, and just getting to know them. I got a lot out of attending the educational sessions. They were very helpful in providing advice and tips, and I plan to discuss what I’ve learned with the rest of Student Senate so we can start implementing ideas and create a better student life for our campus.

Scenery at the Iowa/Wisconsin border

It’s not too late to join student clubs or Student Senate. If you’re not involved already, check them out now or at the beginning of the spring 2013 semester. Our next conference for Student Senate is NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) Northern Plains Regional Conference in the spring.

APCA Midwest Conference 2012 – Day 3

So this is why I couldn't find a place to sit

Saturday was an early day. The educational sessions started at 8 a.m. and we had four of them in a row. The first one I went to was a roundtable discussion about two-year campuses. We discussed what worked well on our campuses, what wasn’t working well, and offered or took suggestions. I’ve got quite a few ideas out of this session that I will be bringing back to Student Senate.

The second educational session I chose to attend was about social media. I learned some things about using Facebook to promote events, encourage student interaction with the college through social media, and learned how to read analytics.

During the third session, we learned the secrets to being happy and making others happy. I think if we could all take the presenter’s advice, we’d all be a lot happier with ourselves and learn to lift others up. It’s so important.

The last session of the morning was another roundtable where we talked about all the different types of social media and how it could be used by colleges. We talked about mass text messaging as well, which some campus have implemented.

Lunch was much like the previous day; we ate and watched all kinds of performers. After lunch we went to another room and listened to some great speakers. I would like a few of them to come to our campus in the future.

It's hard not to be happy in a room full of bubbles

The results from all the competitions were reveled during dinner. Moraine Park Technical College placed third in the pumpkin-carving contest! Danielle from American Pickers made an appearance on stage later. When one of the performers, a mentalist, needed a volunteer, our own Erica from MPTC got to go up on stage.

Erica is on stage!

The last event of the night was a dance party featuring a percussionist. Afterwards some of the musical acts collaborated together and played music in the lobby. So many things happened on Saturday it’s hard to believe we squeezed everything in one day!

MPTC's pumpkin-carving entry