Saturday, December 4, 2010

Thank god that's done....

I made it through my paper writing last night.
I hope that never happens again.  In hind site, I should've worked on pieces here and there throughout the week, but I can't really see where that would've happened.  I haven't had leisurely days at the lab when I might sit down for longer than an hour, and it usually takes 45 min of procrastination to pass before I can hanker down.

Today I'm off to the lab to finish up some stuff....and then start work on another class project.  I have to make a presentation on Thursday, and I am NOT the queen of powerpoint slides.  In fact, I really HATE powerpoint slides.

I think it all started when I took organic chemistry.  I adore my first organic chemistry teacher.  She was fun and taught a great lab.  I think that was probably my favorite lab, despite the 8-10 page write-ups we had to turn in weekly.  But....my one hang up was that she used powerpoint slides to teach organic chem I.  It just doesn't translate.  You can't look at pictures and learn it...(at least I can't).  I need to write it.  Drawing the structures ties in the hand - mind connection for me.  There's a term for it, but I can't remember it right now, and it's driving me crazy. ETA: my friend reminded me that it's kinesthetic learning!

Anyway, my point is that I learn by hand writing things out.  I used to have 2-3 copies of every lecture notebook.  One was in class, and the other 1-2 were my re-copying them in the library like a monk.  I'm sure some people think that's tedious, but I nailed every essay exam I had in my microbiology courses.

So, back to the organic chem.  When I took organic chem II, I had a different instructor.  This guy was awesome.  He had been teaching that class for so long, that he leisurely drew out all the structures while chattering away, and his pace was never hurried.  Despite furiously scribbling down the structures I wasn't as familiar with, this felt like one of the most relaxing classes I took - evar.  The same thing was applicable to my first physics course, and calculus II.  When things are written out, the learning becomes soooo much easier.  Even today I write down notes in classes where the information is provided in powerpoint/pdf format.  Of course, I'm hoping I don't have too many more classes....but I digress.

And I just realized this was one huge digression on why I hate powerpoint slides.  Right.  Off to work now.

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