Blog Post #1

My name is Patricia Hampton and I currently live in West Mobile, Alabama. I have lived several places over seas to include Frankfurt, Erlangen and Stuttgart Germany. While in Germany, I was employed with the Department of Defense as an Elementary teacher on the ERLANGEN Base Installation. I taught first and second grade classes as well as first and second grade combination classes. My husband and I are family oriented and now suffer from the empty nest syndrome. We have two sons and no grandchildren at this point. We anxiously await their arrival someday but only when they are ready. I attended college long ago and received a Bachelor of Science degree from a "Historically Black University".

I taught elementary school for sixteen years and eventually felt "teacher burnout". I left the teaching field for the corporate world where I found myself... still in the education profession. This time it was training adults. Little did I know that one day, I would want to return to the world of the "little people" as I have found myself at this point in my life. Teaching is a profession and the skills to do so are a part of me. I know this now. I love the gratification I feel when I can see a young child apply a skill that I have taught him or her. Children are always anxious to please. I am interested in cooking, baking, arts and crafts, gardening (not very good at it), and traveling. My favorite ways to relax are to read, watch television shows such as NCIS,LAW and ORDER, POLITICAL ANIMALS, COVERT AFFAIRS, and BURN NOTICE. I also enjoy CNN, FACE the NATION, and POLITICS NATION. I am a flexible , responsible team player with great interpersonal skills. I have been known to try out new cookie recipes on my team members. I look forward to working with the members of the EDM 310 class.

Randy Pausch on Time Management
Time is our number one asset. There lots of time wasters in our daily routines of life. Time wasters can be eliminated if you know where they are located. They are strategically placed in everything we do. In Randy Pausch's exercise on how to calculate the hours per day or week I allow for sleeping, grooming,eating, commuting,and running errands, the time I wasted was clearly shown.Planning, prioritizing and identifying my goals are clearly important when managing my time. I agree with Randy Pausch's idea of keeping a journal to monitor where and how I use my time. It organizes my tasks for the day and allows me to make changes when needed and see the how the changes will effect the remainder of my day.

Randy was a mentor and friend to Dr. Gabriel Robins of Virginia University. He archived all of Randy's lectures and video's for viewing online. Randy Pausch also wrote a book called The "Last Lecture", published in 2008.  Randy Pausch died in 2008 of cancer.

Penn State Time Management
The Time Management Semester Calendar tool is most useful to me. There are many great ideas and activities to help you manage your time. The best one for anyone reading the article is going to depend on the person doing the reading. I am a visual learner and it helps me to see my daily activities and events as is displayed in a Semester Calendar. It is much easier to set aside time to study and complete schoolwork when I can see my entire day or week.