The Dissertation House

Helping to move you from ABD to PhD!


If you joined us last summer, and you are still not finished with your dissertation, you can join us again. This page is dedicated to all of you who will be spending the summer working on your dissertation.  Here in Maryland, we are gearing up for the Summer 2011 Dissertation House.  You don’t have to wait until the summer officially begins.  Start posting your goals for the summer here.  Are you working on your comprehensive exams? Don’t work alone, join us.  This is a collaborative effort. Set some intermediate deadlines.  How many questions do you have to answer? How many days to you have until you have to submit the exam? Pretend that each question has a deadline to it.

Do you want to complete your proposal?  How many interviews can you transcribe in one summer? How about completing that methods, results, discussion chapter, or literature review? Pick one.  At the end of the summer, what will you have accomplished on your dissertation?  Join us.

918 responses to “Summer 2011 Challenge”

  1. The Dissertation House’s Summer Online Challenge has been posted! | The Dissertation House Avatar
    The Dissertation House’s Summer Online Challenge has been posted! | The Dissertation House

    […] to content HomeAboutAlumniApplyArticlesBlog – Online ChallengeSummer 2010 ChallengeSummer 2011 ChallengeWinter 2011 ChallengeCoaching and MentoringDr. Wendy Y. CarterDr. […]

    Reply
  2. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    Goal for Summer:
    Chapters 2 & 3
    Plan:
    8-3 daily reading/writing
    Weekly Writing Goals: 10 pages

    Reply
    1. renettatull Avatar
      renettatull

      Welcome Jeff! You posted on May 25 … it’s now June 11. What have you done so far? Have you written 20 pages yet? What is your topic? Are chapters 2 and 3 based on a lit review and methods? Tell us more; it will help us to guide you.

      Best,
      Dr. Tull

      Reply
      1. Jeff Avatar
        Jeff

        Dr. Tull:
        I have written 15 pages and am behind my schedule. I am finishing my first term summer classes that I am teaching this week. My topic is Student Characteristics factors related to student satisfaction with online course. Chapter 2 – Lit Review and Chapter 3 Methods. My Chair is retiring at the end of the summer and to meet this challenge, I have planned to have the prospectus written by end of summer. Any and all advice welcomed.

        Jeff

        Reply
        1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
          Renetta Garrison Tull

          Dear Jeff,

          It’s always hard to teach while writing … I’m sure that you put a lot of time and effort into your lectures, homework, office hours, etc. I always recommend something that a senior graduate student taught me while I was working on my doctorate … have separate days, some for teaching and some for research. This advice was a life-saver and I regularly share it with others. I’m making the assumption that you’re not teaching everyday. Consider making the days that you teach your “teaching days” and put as many teaching-related tasks into those days as possible so that you can free up other days for writing. In addition, if you can, consider requesting Tuesday/Thursday classes. This way you can have teach, correct papers, have office hours, etc. on Tuesdays and Thursday only. Let Wednesday be the spillover day, but use no more than 1/2 of a day for teaching tasks. Make sure that 1/2 of the day is spent writing the dissertation, planning what you’re going to write, meeting with your advisor, or reading. Use Friday THROUGH Monday for working on the dissertation (with some time for essential weekend activities.) Even on your “teaching days”, do at least one thing related to the dissertation. You can spare 15 minutes each day for this.

          Is your Chair going to continue to be the lead for your committee during retirement or will you have a new advisor? Plan to solidify as many logistics as possible on this front by the end of July.

          I hope this helps.

          Best,
          Renetta Tull

          Reply
  3. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Moving Moving Moving!

    Every-time we move to a new blog site I feel bittersweet. Ah! Packing up all my dissertation finishing thoughts and moving them over here. Welcoming summer with open arms!

    Thanks for the push Dr. Tull. My nephew is going to the 9th grade or 8th grade, I think. I was trying to get him into the NSBE SEEK Camp which actually runs for 3 weeks but they have currently only opened the registration for the elementary school camp and not the middle school camp yet. I will look into the other option that you sent me. I talked with my advisor again yesterday about my summer goals and DH was included for UMCP.

    I finally got my grades and I passed all my classes for Spring 2011 and that officially ENDS my course work! Woo Hoo!

    So I applied for my Master’s degree but I will not get it until the Fall because I don’t register in the summer. The plan is Master’s in the Fall 2011 and PhD by Spring 2011. My sights are set high!! Since I had insomnia I am still at home, but when I get back to the office I will report on my summer goals. My advisor and I broke them down by month. Lots and Lots of reading. 🙂

    Goooooooooooo Jeff and Welome!

    We are unofficially ‘TEAMGETITDONE’ 🙂

    Happy Wednesday!:) AND Happy and Productive Summer! 🙂

    Nikki

    PS: Farewell Oprah show at 4pm today. This will be a historic day. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Oh yeah, let’s go TEAMGETITDONE!

      Hi Jeff and Dawn, good wishes for your goals this summer. You can do it, we can help! 🙂 Well, Dr. Tull and Dr. Carter especially can. And we’ll be each other’s sounding board.

      Nikki, YAY for no more coursework! I hope you get some good sleep soon, too.

      Ok, let’s get it!

      Alexis

      Reply
  4. Dawn Sherman Avatar
    Dawn Sherman

    Count me in!

    I would like to finish my proposal by August 15th. I am taking one class during the first summer session but it will definitely help me move my proposal along.

    Good luck to everyone hoping to meet their PhD (or Masters thesis) goals!

    – Dawn

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Dawn I hoped you will be joining us in the Dissertation House; the application is due June 10, 2011. See home page for information about the application process.

      Reply
      1. Dawn Sherman Avatar
        Dawn Sherman

        Unfotunately, I cannot attend DH this summer (I have full-time work and family commitments). But I do hope to stay in touch with the online group to keep me focused!

        – Dawn

        Reply
        1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
          Renetta Garrison Tull

          Hi Dawn, We’ll look for you online!

          Best,
          Dr. Tull

          Reply
  5. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Ha! I guess I should wake up and read the instructions before posting.. 😉

    Here is my post from the announcement page:

    Hi DHouse!

    I’m on a bus to Hilton Head, SC and Savannah, GA to attend the 25th annual Gullah festival! I decided that in between naps (my friends call me Car Syndrome bc I fall asleep as soon as we start going), I will read stats and work on some chapter revisions.

    If i can finish an article or two and start addressing some of these critiques from my committee between the going down and coming back, I’ll feel really good! And like Dr. Tull said, if I make steady progress, I’ll be in good shape for CP Dissertation House. Oops, better submit that application or I might miss out…

    I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday weekend!

    Alexis

    Reply

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      LOL, You are so silly! Have fun at the festival! Come back and teach me som Gullah!

      Reply
  6. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!

    I had a book on my desk to take home and read this weekend, but it’s missing???? I think it might be in my advisors office, when I find it I will be leaving to go ye home!

    Nikki

    Reply
  7. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    DH Application DONE! 🙂

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Good for you Nikki

      Looking forward to seeing you in the DH! What is your current status? Proposal done? are you currently writing the dissertation?

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Hey Dr. Carter,

        Yes proposal is done and accepted! 🙂 I am currently making changes to the proposal so that it becomes a draft for the dissertation and also working on other things my advisor has me doing.

        Can’t wait for DH to get more and more done!

        Nikki

        Reply
  8. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday,

    Today I am going to the library to:
    1. Start reading a book
    2. Read a paper my advisor gave me

    #Teamgetitdone

    Nikki

    Reply
  9. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Dear Teamgetitdone,

    How do unna do? Sooo the work didn’t all get done in the lowcountry. Still the same agenda of reading another stats section and completing another set of revisions with a new county application to add to that, which I received word of just before my trip. New week, new wisdom. Climb that mountain!

    Alexis (aka Lil Miss Sunburned)

    Reply
  10. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday!

    Hey Gullah Gal! I know your lowcountry tan is cute. I read that 1 paper yesterday which lead me to find 4 more papers that I am going to attempt to read today. Reading all day is hard. I get these little headache’s if I stare at the papers too long and I can’t read on the computer because I like to write and makes notes and highlight and stuff.

    #Teamgetitdone (We need some shirts and buttons- support our cause)

    Nikki

    Reply
  11. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Hey Teamgetitdone (shirts and buttons, absolutely, but no headaches – boo),

    Nikki, the tan/burn is atrocious! And itchy. But I’ll push on through, and so will you, Superwoman, my inspiration for reading multiple articles in a single bound ..er.. day!

    I stayed after work today and submitted another research application and (drum roll) my DHouse application! So now I have to go home and pack for hotel stay 2 of 3 for the Lilly DC teaching conference and try to do some more reading before I fall out.

    Yay, home! Bye, y’all!

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Good for you Alexis

      How is the survey coming…have you gotten any participants? Update me.

      Dr. Carter

      Reply
  12. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday,

    I have 3 days to get alot of work done and I am starting today with cramps… 😦
    Just got to the office and I feel exhausted like I been here all day. 😦

    So, I am going to take my book and my papers to the Grad student lounge upstairs where they have a couch and read until my eyes pop out. Then after lunch I will work on document editing.

    I have a plan!

    #TeamGetItDone

    Nikki

    Reply
  13. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Nikki

    Good for you for having a plan!!! I like seeing a woman with a plan; work that plan. I am here in NY at Stony Brook University at the Center for Communicating Science. Today is Day 3 but it seems as if we have been here longer. It’s 6:43 am and you all know how much of a morning person I am not.

    I like TeamGetItDone! Go Team. See you in July.

    Reply
  14. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Rewards Time!! At DH last Summer Dr. Tull and Dr. Carter told us to set a goal and reward for when we achieve that goal. Initially I said when I pass my proposal I was going to buy a purse that I actually saw someone at DH with. **reality** That purse was probably 2 months paycheck so I decided that I was going to buy myself a Kindle when I passed the proposal. So in January I printed out a picture of the Kindle and a case that I liked and I taped it to the door of my closet and I looked at it everyday of the semester and knew as soon as I proposed I would get it. So finally I went to Target and got it yesterday!!! I was so excited. I had to order my case online so I probably won’t get that until next week. I would have gotten it sooner but I needed to work it out so that I didn’t pay for it at all, so I was waiting to get my stipend and it came through last Friday. So now I have to figure out what I am going to get myself when I defend my dissertation and I am sure there will be a few smaller goals that I achieve in the middle and maybe get some more rewards. Rewards are FUN! And better when there free. 🙂

    Yesterday I read 2 articles and summarized them. I also edited my *new journal* paper and decided what further changes I need to make. The paper that my advisor and I got rejected for our main conference this summer we have decided to re-vamp and submit to our main journal instead. We were going to meet today but she was having car trouble so we are going to meet tomorrow. So today I will read 2 more papers and summarize them and I will also read some of this book I have on my desk that I need to review and decide if it is relevant for my dissertation.

    If feels weird calling it my dissertation and not my proposal anymore but hey I think I can get used to that. 🙂

    Dissertation Reward…I gotta dream big! 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Hello Nikki
      Congratulations on following through with the reward for your accomplishment. You can save the next big reward for your defense but you might also consider mini rewards when you complete each chapter as well.

      Dr. Carter

      Reply
  15. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Hi TEAMGETITDONE! (I like how my autocorrect on my phone fills in this word before it’s even half typed now – I have our blog saved on my homescreen like an app)

    Dr. Carter, I’m getting ready to go back to Harford county in a week or so to get what will be the biggest chunk of my data. So far word of mouth has yielded only a few surveys, so I’ll keep pushing.

    Nikki, you always give me lots of ideas. I haven’t done the “visual carrotstick” in a while – hmm, what can I post up on my wall to motivate me besides this picture of the grad regalia with my head on top? 🙂 I have a meeting with my advisor next week, so I want something to use as a reward after that, bc I have a lot to do.

    In prep for the meeting, I want to have my first round of revisions done for my first few chapters of the dissertation (Nikki, you’re right, I even changed how I saved the document from “proposal” to “dissertation”!). I also want to be done with these stats articles and have done at least one tutorial. So, little bits of each every day and I’ll reassess over the weekend after I get back from this Preparing Future Faculty seminar.

    Ok GO!!

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Alexis, I remember you had a set number of surveys you wanted to get done. Count them down i.e. 1 down only 299 more to go. To meet with your advisor you should look at the small number of surveys that you did get back to see if those teachers are actually answering the survey in a way that makes sense. Are there any changes that you might have to make to the instrument before you roll it out to the larger audience? Are you finished with the FAQs, did you run those by your advisor as well? Have you thought about why your response rate is so low? Are there any reminders that are not working? Do you need to have incentives for teachers to fill out the survey? This should be a learning process as well.

      Have a good conference.

      Dr. Carter

      Reply
  16. renettatull Avatar
    renettatull

    I love the #TeamGetItDone Attitude! What a great mantra for summer! Nikki and Alexis, thank you for continuing to post regularly. Jeff and Dawn, welcome! We’ll see if others from the Winter Challenge join us here for the Summer version. We’ll have plenty of new people for the in-person Summer Dissertation Houses that are coming up at UMB in June, at UMBC after July 4, and at UMCP later in July. Good luck to everyone … summertime can be like “hyperspace” for writing and “getting it done!”

    Reply
  17. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello All

    We’re getting ready for the summer Dissertation Houses at Maryland!!!! I love meeting new students and can appreciate those of you who still need a helping hand. We are here for you and look forward to your pending participation and graduation as well. Last year we had 14 DH alumni who graduated in 20111. Who will be next? Can you see yourself in the cap and gown? Even if you cannot join us in person, join us online. We look forward to hearing from you.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      I’m next!

      Reply
  18. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday!

    Today I was going to meet with my advisor but she did not come in so I am rewarding myself with Chick-fil-a for lunch. LOL. 🙂 I am going to work on the journal paper and try to stay focused while I am doing it. It is very challenging to write about a small part of your dissertation work without giving all the details and explinations that you may feel are needed. I am going to meet with my advisor tomorrow and talk about how much information to include and what to throw out. Today I am putting everything in there that I think I want and we’ll see how this paper shapes up by the end of the week. My advisor wants to send it in by Friday.

    The comment box has changed, I like it. 🙂

    We ARE #Teamgetitdone! (bum ba dum dum dum)

    Nikki

    Reply
  19. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Teamgetitdone

    Dr. Tull and I are finally back on campus today. We have both been away at our respective conferences. The campus is quiet and provides an opportunity for concentration and productivity.

    So team, What’s on tap for today? In other words, what will you accomplish today? It’s June 14, 2011. Will you be finished by June 14, 2012? Today is a day not to be wasted. What can you get done on your dissertation today. What 15 minute item do you have on your list that can be crossed off by the end of the day? No excuses.

    Tick tock, tick tock,….
    Dr. Carter

    Reply
  20. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    June 14, 2011

    Today I will work on my paper for my meeting with my advisor. I kind of feel like it’s not my dissertation work, but I guess it is. We are still talking in our meetings about what we can do to make the dissertation or the next paper better and it’s all the same research. That’s what I am doing today. I also hope to read 1 chapter in my book “Online and On Paper” because I have 4 books to read this summer and I am still on number 1.

    Here I Go.

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Nikki

      Glad to see you checked in. You have 4 books to read but the reality is that at this stage you should not be reading it cover to cover like a novel. You should be a professional skimmer by now. You should know what you need to look for and move on. Use your research question to know what to look for in the text. Hang in there.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Thanks Dr. Carter.

        I got the paper edited and I had a fight with Minitab that I won after 2 hours. So I didn’t get to the book but I am happy with the progress that I made today.

        I live to fight another day.

        Nikki

        Reply
  21. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Wednesday,

    I am struggling. But I am still here. I am distracted. I will keep trying.

    Nikki

    Reply
  22. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday,

    Today I am pressing forward with the paper. I am have a meeting with an undergraduate researcher to help her set some goals for her program this summer. I will meet with my advisor when she gets in, probably after lunch. This morning I have some reading (scanning) to do and also a few more edits to the paper before lunch.

    Amen!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Pressing toward the mark! You can do it!

      -RGT

      Reply
  23. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Dear Teamgetitdone,

    Today I followed up with a couple of contacts from the Howard PFF group, one of whom mentioned that she knows some high school teachers. I also sent off some survey invitations to teachers who have submitted consent forms. I am preparing for meetings with teachers at three or four schools next week, and the principals sent out the consent form in advance so that teachers can be all set by the time they talk to me. Some of them just went ahead and completed the survey, so now I am up to over 40 surveys done! So that’s the good news.

    I still have to finish preparing my stats – Dr. Carter, a professional skimmer I am NOT. However, I will stay strong and force through the information, and finish my edits for chapters 1-3 that should have been done last year. Dr. Tull, I am also next to finish. I can see me in that regalia.

    I am protecting my time better this week, still aiming for a 5am wake-up time because that way I can focus on my dissertation first thing, every day, no matter what else is on the calendar to interrupt me later. Which means a 9pm bed-time. My wake-up accountability partner hasn’t been responding to my texts consistently :), so I’m thinking I need another person who is dedicated to working on their dissertation to keep me in check for early rising. But regardless, this will be my routine for the next year. I don’t just want to finish, I want to upgrade my status with my advisor, finish a publication that we started years ago, and present and publish my dissertation work so I’ll be more competitive on the market. Oh, and get a job. My goals for 2011-2012.

    Go TEAMGETITDONE!

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Eyes on the prize Alexis! Eyes on the prize! You will upgrade your “status” with your advisor by working consistently and meeting agreed upon milestones. You’re doing that … just keep it up. Set a time for getting up and stick to it daily, even on weekends. One “trick” that works is that you get up at the same time every day and do “something” … work out, read a passage, answer an email, (blog!), THEN … if it’s a Saturday, you can go back to bed … after you’ve done something. This is part of training your body to get up at the same time daily. You may find that you’re quite productive. I recommend being realistic. Don’t set a goal for 5AM if you know that you’re going to be dead tired. Try something like 6:47 with no more than one 10 minute snooze. Plan to submit at least one blog post by 7:45 daily. Maybe that can help!

      Best,
      Dr. Tull

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y Williams

        Hi Dr. Tull!

        Thanks! This is actually what I’m doing, training my body to wake up and be ready to work at the same time every day. And 5am isn’t too bad (I can’t believe I’m typing this) – really I do see progress every day. And I want to keep first things first, so it’s gotta be a dissertation task that I start with after getting myself dressed and ready for the day. Well, FIRST it’s a prayer to get me to show up for the dissertation like I show up for work, no morning insomnia with a flood of thoughts piling on before I even get out of bed (that’s why I would go back to sleep). I know to be patient with myself in the process of building this habit, but I also finally understand how urgent this process has to be.

        Today I started the day similarly to others, preparing to send out survey links to teachers who signed up for my study in the past 24 hours. But then my internet wasn’t working despite my connection signal being perfectly fine. After an hour of automated prompts and waiting on hold to the same looped smooth jazz song, and a few call-backs from Lance at Verizon whose computer started freaking out when he tried to connect with me, I found out that there was a service outage in my area. I came to campus and found the internet to be working fine, but then SurveyMonkey was freaking out, too. Finally, though, I was able to get all my new emails sent. I read some more stats stuff and received a dissertation from my labmate who just Ph.inished our program. And here I am.

        I’m going to go to the gym and then home to keep working on stats. And tomorrow I’ll be up at 5am (with one potential snooze). 🙂

        Reply
  24. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    My internet is back up! Spent some time contacting some more folks for my study this morning, including a new county. Right now I have about 100 invites out for people who have already submitted consent forms, and it looks like about half have already completed the survey. I expect that I’ll get maybe a few more next week, but I think I need at least 200 for my stats to run.

    The weird thing about working every day is that I don’t realize that it’s not a work day for everyone. Is it bad to send professional emails on weekends?

    The saga continues.

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Hi Alexis,

      I’m glad that things are working well today! Sending Saturday emails to close colleagues, your advisor, or professor can be ok. But I since you are dealing with schools, you may consider early Monday morning emails that will show up in their inboxes between 7:30 and 9:00 AM. You can write them now, and then put them into your draft box so that you can hit the “send” button on Monday morning. Some people check their emails on the weekend, but they don’t necessarily want to “see’ anything that they have to do. Sometimes there is a tendency to read it, but ignore the requested task because it’s Saturday or Sunday and they’re away from their desks, or just looking at email on the fly in the car.

      Congratulations on being up EARLY on a Saturday morning and getting right to it! #TeamGetItDone is on the move!!

      Reply
  25. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday!!

    Yay Alexis for getting up early on Saturday!!!! I wish I would have seen the post before I would have gotten up with you. #TeamGetItDone is the real deal!!!

    Today was my 1 day of the month to serve as docent at the museum so I have had a loooong day. I didn’t get to my office until 3pm and I am still here. I pushed through (with a headache that is) and made more edits to the journal paper. I am going to meet with my advisor tomorrow and talk about the progress. Friday I located some docuemnts for us to review on the internet so we will probably talk about them as well.

    I am going on vacation next week so I am really pressing to not play any games and get my work done this week. I need to have a guilt free vacay!! 🙂

    I can be your part time accountability partner. At least on Tuesdays because I go to church for 630 am so I’m something like awake at a decent hour. Feel free to text me when you wake up in the morning sunshine!! I want to do some yoga in the am since I’ve been sore all weekend. (From running all the stairs at Cole Field House on Thursday I haven’t been able to walk right since, it was a good sweaty workout but I wasn’t ready…lol)

    I agree with Dr. Tull I like 6:30 or 6:47 am, it just sounds better but it does mean a consistent bed time. I strive for 11pm that garuntees I am in bed by 12 maybe not sleep but I’m there. No work allowed in bed on the bible and the kindle to wind me down.

    Today was good except the poor planning of my mode of transportation. I took the metro and now it’s late so I need a plan. I’ll work it out, I always do.

    Happy Dissertation Writing

    We are #TeamGetItDone

    Keep Going!

    Nikki

    Reply
  26. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    TEAMGETITDONE!

    Speaking of the bed, I’m on mine right now. 🙂 Nikki, you definitely wouldn’t have wanted a wake up text today bc I was up at 4am for my visit to schools to collect teacher data. I got to visit four schools and the teachers and principals were awesome. Let’s talk more about wake up times, though.

    Dr. Tull, thank you for you good ideas about contacting folks I don’t know well – I know I don’t want to see work emails on a Saturday or Sunday! And Dr. Carter, the FAQs list was perfect for answering teachers’ questions up front. I have been incorporating it into the info I send out to counties/ principals/ etc.

    Tomorrow I’m sending some follow-up notes to the schools and maybe working on stats before my assistantship, then I’m going to see Sade and John Legend. 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Going to bed so I can SHOW UP for my dissertation bright and early. Get ‘er done. 🙂

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      Follow-up emails were done early. At work now!

      Reply
  27. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

    Oh Sade, I love her. I hope you have a great time or did have a great time if it was last night. Today is EQUATIONS DAY!!! This week I have been trying to create and explain some equations in my dissertation that has my head spinning. I am going to just jump right in and hope that I had some kind of revelation last night that will help me get through today.

    #TeamGetItDone

    Nikki

    Reply
  28. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    TeamGetItDone!

    Sade was indescribably amazing. I was dead tired today but I got up at 5 and went through the motions of productivity until I fell asleep at my desk this afternoon. I will sleep well tonight and get up early tomorrow for a good productive Friday. Nikki, good luck with the equations!

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Well, well Ms. Alexis … Sade (and John Legend too?) That’s three extra days in the DH for you! I’m kidding of course. I’m glad that you had a good time, and as we all know, the DH is not a jail, it’s a great place to be productive. Good for you for getting up early anyway! I hope that you had a good Friday. And Nikki, congrats on your talk today!

      Reply
  29. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Hi TEAMGETITDONE!

    Ha! Don’t worry, Dr. Tull. After my struggles with waking up last week and yesterday, I am learning how important it is to get to bed on time. So while Sade was worth the sleep deprivation, I definitely couldn’t maintain that kind of sleep schedule long-term. I got some good positive reinforcement and perspective for completing this work yesterday. So now, head down, back on the grind.

    Today I got up and didn’t hit snooze. I actually made it through some stats reading, took some notes, and emailed an assistant superintendent before 7am! I’ll go help with a grad panel this morning and then I’ll work some more on my stats and chapter revisions. Then I’ll go to the gym.

    I hope everyone has a great day. 🙂 The light is green, yet again!

    Alexis

    Reply
  30. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    TEAMGETITDONE!

    The book “How to Write a Lot” by Paul J. Silvia is changing my life. It’s reinforcing all the things I’ve been trying to do and showing me better ways to do them. I’ve heard it mentioned before but then someone else told me directly to go get it. It fits in my purse and is actually fun and inspiring to read, besides the fact that, did I mention?, it’s changing my life.

    Today I was able to look over my committee’s list of changes that need to be made to my dissertation chapters, number the items in terms of difficulty, and create a more detailed list of specifics that can be checked off. I’ll use that list to make my daily to do’s.

    Now time to get ready for work.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Oooh…I need that book.

      Reply
  31. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Hello again, TEAMGETITDONE,
    How are you? I’m feeling pretty good. I am building the habit of getting up and working, and the book I mentioned is helping with that goal (Silvia’s “How to Write a Lot”). First the commitment has to be there, and then the positive habits can build on that. As the author says repeatedly, the only way to write a lot is to build it into your routine – every. single. day. Probably the hardest thing for me has been saying no. I have to say no to something at least once a day, sometimes several times a day. I guess mostly I’m thinking about things that others invite me to, but I also have to say no to myself! 🙂 The commitment and urgency come in more than ever now, because I am budging less and less on things that I didn’t already have in my plans.

    This morning I glanced over one of my colleagues’ dissertation and actually started writing up my data collection process for the dissertation document. I also looked again at my committee members’ comments, so maybe the next step is to make a hierarchy or order for addressing each part. When I get done with my assistantship, I will attend a going-away gathering in my department and then either keep working on the writing or read more stats. Then I will go to football practice for my workout.

    Have a great day and get ‘er done!!
    Alexis

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Okay, so I can say no pretty well now. Kinda just rolls off the tougue, but then I “make” up other stuff to do. I might try the plan out your entire day method-breaks, lunch, workouts, e-mail. I don’t know, we’ll see what happens.

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y. Williams

        That’s a great idea to “re-try.” And definitely get that book! You can be part of my “agraphia group”…

        Reply
  32. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Happy Friday!

    Ugh, it might be hard to stay awake today. I spent my pre-assistantship time reading stats, brushing up on my factor analysis background since it has been several years since I actually took the class. I need to go pull out my notes from the course. Made a note of that in my to-do list.

    I’m going to get ready for (paid) work now. It will be a long day and I want to get back in bed, but I’ve done a dissertation task already so I feel good! I’ll try to get to the gym after work and maybe get to see a friend who has been out of town before she leaves again…

    Green light! Go!

    Alexis

    Reply
  33. Dr. Carter Avatar
    Dr. Carter

    Hello Everyone

    Tick tock, tick tock,….it’s 2 days until Dissertation House at UMBC! I am looking forward to meeting new students and looking forward to hearing from others online as well. Is this you last summer working on your dissertation or it is your first? For some it will be both, for others it might be their 3rd or 4th. Either way you have to make a decision about how you will spend your time and how productive you will be. June is over and July is here. You can’t look back and wished that you had worked harder; you have an opportunity to start again everyday. Is today your day? What will you accomplish on your dissertation today. Today I will send out 2 emails and write an revise an introduction to a paper that I am trying to write. I wish I could say I will write the methods section and create a figure but that would be a bonus. I am setting realistic goals and so should you.
    Get ready, Tuesday will be here before you know it.

    Reply
  34. Susan Mitchell Avatar
    Susan Mitchell

    I’m back! In a little bit of a rut — my data source may not come through! Everything was “all go” two weeks ago, but … So, I’ll be crying on Dr. Carter’s shoulder today. But I have plenty of writing to do while I wait to hear something from the organization. Have a good, productive day!

    — Susan

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Hi Susan,
      Your situation sounds all too familiar! It reminds me of the time that I needed to get unpublished data from TI and some algorithms from Motorola. I’m sure that you’re developing a back-up plan! Talk with your colleagues in corporate soon to discuss some alternate scenarios.

      Reply
    2. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Susan

      I say keep working and don’t panic until it’s time to panic. It’s not that time yet.

      Reply
  35. Patti Ordonez Avatar
    Patti Ordonez

    Today, I am working on Chapter 2. I want to read two articles to help me create the outline for Chapter 2.

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Patti

      I believe that reading is not enough. Always write a summary for every journal article you read. Find the research question, the methodology, the results along with the future recommendations in the article. Looking for the common things in each article helps you to have a basis of comparison.

      Reply
  36. ASB Avatar
    ASB

    Hello! For the week, I will be working on writing my proposal outline, summarizing questions and proposal methods, reading 4 journal articles and summarizing them. For today, I will start outlining my proposal.

    Reply
  37. Jordan Hadfield Avatar
    Jordan Hadfield

    I’m starting my first day with The Dissertation House at UMBC on the 3rd floor of The Commons. I’m excited to get going and get writing.

    My goals for the week are:
    -Rework the Statement & Methodology
    -Create Table of Contents
    -Read Mentor comments on the latest draft
    -Identify 10 individuals for each city I am case studying (40 total)
    -Create a realistic timeline for completion of proposal and dissertation
    – Identify and print 20 articles relating to topic, organized in binder
    -Write 2 paragraph snapshots of each case study city (4 cities, 8 paragraphs total)
    -Create list of 10 strengths and weaknesses of vacant residential housing policy in the USA

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Welcome to the DH. I generally recommend that student writing the proposal work on their Statement of the Problem. This one page summary provides the foundation of the proposal and the literature review.

      Reply
  38. Patrick Doyle Avatar
    Patrick Doyle

    Well, I am here again…

    I am dragging this morning for various reasons. So while it may take more effort than usual to accomplish my tasks, I will do my best to make a dent in the ‘to-do’ list I just wrote out with the dissertation house group.

    Wish me luck.

    ~Patrick

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Hello Patrick

      I am glad that you dragged yourself in here this morning. I hope everyone takes note that you don’t have to feel like working on your dissertation to actually work on your dissertation. I always say stop waiting for the stars to align in order to work on your dissertation. Dance even if you don’t hear the music. Good for you.

      Reply
  39. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    So I have started the DH at UMBC. After talking about the road to my candidacy exam and what I want to get done this week, I feel overwhelmed.

    I’m ready to get started on expected outcome section.

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Hello Jodian

      Welcome to the DH, in the morning, I am looking forward to reviewing the rationale for your 3 stated aims.

      Reply
  40. Margaret Grow Avatar
    Margaret Grow

    Good morning, bloggers!

    I’m currently in the Dissertation House on the first day with Dr. Wendy Carter and Dr. Renetta Tull. I’m very excited to be here and get some writing DONE! Today, my goal is to look up and read, at minimum, 3 papers for my BG and Introduction. From there, I should have enough to hit those sections and start writing! See you on the flip side!

    -Margaret

    Reply
  41. Amy Pucino Avatar
    Amy Pucino

    Hi there– I’m here for my first day of Dissertation House working on two theoretical questions related to refugee education. For this week, I plan to build two outlines as well as get through several important reports on refugees. It’s certainly nice to have others working on like writing projects.

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Hello Amy

      Welcome to the DH. Peer pressure and accountability can be a real motivator!

      Reply
  42. Alimatou Avatar
    Alimatou

    Hello!
    This is Alimatou. I am attending the 2011 summer dissertation house at UMBC.
    My goals for this week are 1) to update my proposed research questions and objectives, 2) update my litterature review, 3) start the dissertation writing and 4) write results section of the monocacy watershed model test case.
    Today I am identifying recent (2011) papers on ParFlow. I will read two of them and write summaries of the papers.

    Alimatou

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Hello Alimatou

      Welcome to the DH. Good for you for setting some measurable goals.

      Reply
  43. Patrick Doyle Avatar
    Patrick Doyle

    End of Day 1! I completed one of my proposed ‘to-dos’ and started another. I completed the writing and formatting of my entire outline and table of contents and I started to fix the tense of my dissertation. Tomorrow I am going to hit the ground running by continuing to work on fixing the language usage in my dissertation.

    Reply
  44. Margaret Grow Avatar
    Margaret Grow

    PHEW well that was a productive day! Intro = DONE (well, the very rough draft is done…) and the papers I intended to read = DONE!! After speaking with Dr. Carter, I will change course just a little from my weekly goals and instead of working on the background, I will work on the Research Design and Methods for at least 2 hours tomorrow, writing down what I know and without references, just to get something down in that area. Depending upon how well that goes, I will either work on the background like I had intended to before during the afternoon or continue to work on the Research Design and Methods section. See you tomorrow!

    -Margaret

    Reply
  45. Susan Mitchell Avatar
    Susan Mitchell

    I made really good progress on integrating the description of my pilot study into the Methodology section. I need to print a copy tonight so that I can go over it again from top to bottom because I know that there are a few things left to do. So, tomorrow I think that I’ll have the draft of this section fully in place. I’ll then begin adding the information on the KFF role that needs to be explained.

    Looks like my data source is coming through! Dr. Carter told me to have faith! I’ll still be on a tight schedule, but it’s better than no schedule! See you guys tomorrow.

    — Susan

    Reply
  46. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hello Summer Dissertation House! Welcome to the blog and good luck this week. PUSH! I will post some goals in the morning. This day after the holiday has been spent trying to remember where I left before the holiday. Cleaning my desk now and making a todo list before I leave for in the morning. No excuses.

    We are #TEAMGETITDONE!!

    Nikki

    Reply
  47. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello everyone

    Before you take a break from you dissertation you should take 5-10 minutes to note where you have left off and what you will work on next. This will help you to begin again without wasting time trying familiarize yourself with your work again.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Hi Dr. Carter,

      I remember this advice from last DH and I can say it helps me many many days.

      Nikki

      Reply
  48. Patti Ordonez Avatar
    Patti Ordonez

    I plan on finishing my reading and writing the outline for chapter 2 this morning. This afternoon I aim to write a few pages of chapter 2.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Go Patti!

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y. Williams

        Hi Patti!

        Reply
  49. Margaret Grow Avatar
    Margaret Grow

    Good morning, all!

    It’s an early morning, and I’m hurting just a little bit.. I think the 3 hour time change from PST to EST is catching up with me finally. I’m still going to crank out some of the RD&M section today and I’m hoping to finish another half page (single spaced) of my IP.

    Margaret

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Keep Cranking Margaret!

      Reply
  50. Jordan Hadfield Avatar
    Jordan Hadfield

    Second day here at Dissertation House!
    Today I will be focusing on revising and completing my problem statement, reworking my methodology, reviewing my research questions with Dr. Carter, and creating a table of contents for my proposal.

    Glad to be here!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Glad to have your Jordan!

      Reply
  51. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    I am ready and more determined to complete today’s tasks.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Go Jodian!

      Reply
  52. Susan Mitchell Avatar
    Susan Mitchell

    Good morning! A little more tired this morning, but ready to work. I’m going to first read through the piece of my Methodology that I edited yesterday to see what else I need to do. But I hope to be done with the entire section today. Hopefully, I’ll start on my second task then.

    — Susan

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Go Susan!

      Reply
  53. Alimatou Avatar
    Alimatou

    Hi there!
    Today I am finishing writing up the summary of Ferguson and Maxwell, 2011. Then I am reading DehotI and Braud, 2008. Then I will work on the Monocacy study results.

    Reply
  54. ASB Avatar
    ASB

    Hello second day of DH. Got my heart pumping this morning sprinting here from checking on my undergrad, and now ready to go! Will be finishing reading and summarizing 2 exciting journal articles and then will continue working on my outline.

    Reply
  55. Patrick Doyle Avatar
    Patrick Doyle

    Good morning to all!!

    Day 2 of Dissertation House and it is time to continue where I left off yesterday…reading through and changing the tense of my proposal. It has been nice to get reacquainted with my proposal and make sure that I am still on the path I originally proposed.

    Reply
  56. Amy Pucino Avatar
    Amy Pucino

    Good morning! Second day at Dissertation House and ready to apply lessons learned on overcoming writers’ block in order to write a section on framing.

    Reply
  57. Jordan Hadfield Avatar
    Jordan Hadfield

    This morning, I have already reviewed and edited my problem statement, strengthened my research questions and created a realistic timeline for completion of my proposal.

    Reply
  58. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Morning! Today I am meeting with my advisor on a paper that’s coming from my dissertation. I am also hoping to skim a book for my dissertation. Work Work Work.

    Let’s do it!

    Nikki

    Reply
  59. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Wow, I’ve been away too long! 🙂 These posts remind me of how to deal with a challenge I’ve been thinking about for setting realistic self-imposed deadlines for the rest of the summer. I can set weekly deadlines first rather than monthly ones (in addition to my daily goals), and I’m more likely to meet those. Then I can project and update monthly deadlines continuously.

    Today I made more progress with stats reading and I’m at work now. After work I’ll go to the gym and plan out tomorrow’s work goals.

    Go UMBC DHouse!

    Reply
  60. ASB Avatar
    ASB

    I made progress today with reading/summarizing articles and working on my proposal outline and questions. Tomorrow I will work on improving my problem statement and read the section on problem statements from the proposal cookbook. Then I will read another 1-2 journal articles + summarize them.

    Reply
  61. Susan Mitchell Avatar
    Susan Mitchell

    Well, I went a little backwards for most of the day today. I had the sections of my Methodology kind of mixed up. So, I had to spend time fixing it. I’ll print out a new copy tonight and hopefully truly finish it up tomorrow. I don’t want to commit to finishing another task tomorrow just in case. But I’ll choose one if things go smoothly.

    I haven’t gotten the final “go ahead” from my case study company yet. Hopefully, tomorrow.

    — Susan

    Reply
  62. Margaret Grow Avatar
    Margaret Grow

    The first 2 hours today were great! I ended up writing about a full page of my RD&M section! So I decided to head back and knock out some of the background. Although I didn’t get as much writing as I wanted to get done in that section, I did end up getting a LOT of papers to help me along the way! I’m going to print them out later tonight so I will have them for tomorrow.

    Speaking of tomorrow, I’d like to knock out the majority of the dry, boring background, and go back to the RD&M for a bit so I can finalize a few things with that.

    TTFN!

    Reply
  63. Jordan Hadfield Avatar
    Jordan Hadfield

    Wooo! Another day down. Today, I reworked my problem statement and went through another round of working with Dr. Carter to strengthen it. I’m confident it will be in its final form tomorrow. On top of that, I created a realistic timeline of goals for the completion of my proposal and created headings for the proposal itself. While Dr. Carter was reviewing my statement, I took the time to identify 20 individuals to contact in the Housing Development Departments in two of the major cities I am using for my case studies.

    Tomorrow morning, my day will begin with:
    1. Fixing my problem statement for another review with Dr. Carter
    2. Begin working on my background statement for the proposal
    3. Identify 20 other contacts for my case studies

    Had a very productive day today!

    JH

    Reply
  64. Patrick Doyle Avatar
    Patrick Doyle

    Who would have thought that changing the tense of my dissertation proposal would be taking me so long?! I thought it would be a matter of quickly going through and changing the ‘will be’ statements but it has been far more work than that…

    Tomorrow I am going to continuing this process. I hope that with a little evening effort to help this task along I can finish this by the end of Thursday…

    See ya’ll tomorrow!

    Patrick

    Reply
  65. Patti Ordonez Avatar
    Patti Ordonez

    Today I started my outline and finished reading my two articles. I forgot to write on my to-do list, emailing the doctors to prompt them to meet my students.so I did that. During the morning session since I had heard it before I managed to figure out how to add the pages to Appendix A and B since this is tedious work but I have a lot of latex errors that I can’t figure out. I will meet with a lab mate tomorrow to see if he can help me figure it out. My goal for tomorrow is to finish the outline for Chapter 2 and write most of the rough draft. I will be meeting with my advisor tomorrow so that today I also worked on the formula I think may improve my algorithm.

    Reply
  66. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Wow, everyone seems to be making good progress. Even, or especially, working through the feeling of going backwards is still creating an improved end product and saving yourself a lot of time later.

    This morning I am reading through stats examples and attempting to understand how to run them. Later this afternoon I will copy out the rest of my notes from this article and work on chapter revisions until football practice. I will try to get through two or three of my revision check boxes on my to-do list and see how my timing works out.

    Last night I successfully “parked downhill” – wrote out my to-dos for today, making a note of where I left off. I have an alarm set on my phone to remind me to do this every evening so I can build up the habit gradually. I think it’s starting to kick in!

    Have a great day, DHouse! You inspire me. 😉

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Margaret Grow Avatar
      Margaret Grow

      Goooo Alexis!! I’m glad you’re inspired! Good luck to you today and have a productive, great day! 🙂

      -Margaret

      “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”
      William Arthur Ward

      Reply
  67. Jordan Hadfield Avatar
    Jordan Hadfield

    Today, I am ready to go!

    Today, I will:
    1. Fix my problem statement for another review with Dr. Carter
    2. Begin working on my background statement for the proposal
    3. Identify 20 other contacts for my case studies
    4. Identify 5 new pieces of literature for my research

    Reply
  68. Margaret Grow Avatar
    Margaret Grow

    Good morning!

    Even though I didn’t get as much sleep last night as the night before, I’m feeling pretty good (it could be the fact that I went to my dance class last night 😉 )! SO, here we go!

    Dry, boring BG at some point today, as well as solidifying some of my specific aims and RD&M! I’m pumped and ready to go!

    Margaret 🙂

    Reply
  69. Susan Mitchell Avatar
    Susan Mitchell

    Back to my Methodology section today. First, re-read it. Then fill-in any blanks. I seem to get more tired every day!

    — Susan

    Reply
  70. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    Yesterday was very productive: revised the rationale for my abstract and rationale for my first aim. Also started to revise my second aim. Today, I plan to read an article, change direction of first aim based on PI’s request.. If possible want to start revising introduction. I am very determined to complete today’s tasks.

    Reply
  71. ASB Avatar
    ASB

    Good morning DH! Will work on problem statement further and read more.

    Reply
  72. Alimatou Avatar
    Alimatou

    Hello all!
    I have modified my goals a bit after meeting with Dr Carter yesterday.
    These are my tasks today
    – continue reading my proposal.
    – change the tense
    – Update my research questions

    Alimatou

    Reply
  73. Patti Ordonez Avatar
    Patti Ordonez

    Today I will do my outline for Chapter 2 and begin writing the draft for Chapter 2.

    Reply
  74. Amy Pucino Avatar
    Amy Pucino

    Good morning! Day three of Dissertation House, and all is well. Ready to start the day with a review of reports on refugees and begin an outline on refugee education.

    Reply
  75. Jordan Hadfield Avatar
    Jordan Hadfield

    I am ready to print out my next revision of my problem statement for Dr. Carter, then onto more literature research!

    Reply
    1. Wendy Carter,PhD Avatar
      Wendy Carter,PhD

      It’s nice to get immediate feedback….that’s what this DH is about. Just imagine if you were writing at home alone without any feedback until the entire first draft was done?

      Reply
  76. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Today I am working on these darn equations again. They will not get the best of me. I have come a long way but still need to make some more ground. Pressing on.

    Nikki

    Reply
  77. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    I have hit the afternoon slump. Coffee has been recommended. I will obtain some and keep on pushing.

    Thanks, Margaret, for your encouragement. I believe and I will achieve (fully caffeinated, if necessary).

    Go DHouse!

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Wendy Carter,PhD Avatar
      Wendy Carter,PhD

      Hello Alexis

      Get that coffee and come back. Looking forward to seeing you and your progress soon.

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y. Williams

        Hi Dr. Carter!

        I got some coffee that my friend had made in the office. It was so strong that it gave me jitters later, but I did get some more work done on my stats. I’m not finished yet, but I have made a lot more progress recently and I’m working to continue increasing my productivity each day on each of my tasks.

        Reply
  78. Patrick Doyle Avatar
    Patrick Doyle

    Well I forgot to blog this morning so this entry will have to serve as both. I made some good progress today and also had a great meeting with Dr. Carter. The tense changing continues to progress (although slowly), I have completed a good draft of my physical design section of my Chapter 5, and I have created the shell of the table that I need finish for my mentor.

    Tomorrow I will begin by giving Dr. Carter a printed out draft of my physical design section so she can review it and while she looks at that I will continue to work on changing the tense of my dissertation. Tomorrow is the last day so I have to get the most out of it! Leaving an hour early today (for dissertation related things) but will make up at least that missing hour this evening. See y’all tomorrow!

    P

    Reply
    1. Wendy Carter,PhD Avatar
      Wendy Carter,PhD

      Hello Patrick

      I would prefer that you work on the introductions for each of the results chapter and change the tenses during the commercials instead. In other words, writing the introductions would show more forward progress than tense changes which can be done in a series of 15 minute tasks. Write paragraphs when you mind is clear and do the little things when you mind is not as focused.

      Reply
  79. Alimatou Avatar
    Alimatou

    I have finished reading and changing the tense in my proposal. It is an interesting process. I kept smiling to myself every time I would change a tense and realize that I exactly did what I had planned to do almost almost 2 years ago (20 months exactly). I actually have not diverted from my research questions as much as I thought. I also have a better idea what really remains to be done. There are also things that need to be “toughen” up (or doctored up) in my methods and some concepts that I need to dig.
    I used the UMBC graduate school dissertation template and filled it with material from my proposal. I have now my first draft of my dissertation (!). Bad news is that most chapters are in pretty bad shape or in no shape at all.
    I will now start working on updating my research questions and writing up this section (or sections, I might have to reorganize the document).

    Reply
  80. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    I am proud of me: my rationale for my first aim has gotten the approval from Dr Carter and I got about half way through an intense article.

    For tomorrow plan to complete insertion of all my reference, revise my second aim based on Dr Carter’s suggestions, and if possible start revise my introduction.

    Reply
  81. Susan Mitchell Avatar
    Susan Mitchell

    I made terrific progress today with my Methodology section. No, I didn’t finish, but I felt it only fair that I be able to check off three-quarters of my Methodology task box! Not only have I finished almost all of the revisions to the section, but I’ve really strengthened it. So, I’ll print it out one more time tonight and try to finish it tomorrow. If that’s the only box I check off this week, that’s OK — I’m really happy with the way the section is turning out. I’ll take on my other tasks on Sunday (picnic on Saturday!).

    — Susan

    Reply
  82. Margaret Grow Avatar
    Margaret Grow

    WOO!

    3 out of 4 days done, and I’ve gone from 2 single-spaced pages to almost 5 (meaning I’m almost halfway there!)! I’ve also done quite a bit of research and received and read many papers! I’m feeling pretty good about this – my idea is coming together very nicely. The BG is almost complete!

    Tomorrow, I want to wrap up the BG and then (finally) solidify my hypothesis, specific aims and significance (since I will have all the BG written!).

    See ya tomorrow, DH!

    Margaret

    Reply
  83. Jordan Hadfield Avatar
    Jordan Hadfield

    Tomorrow morning I will focus on working on my background statement for the proposal, and identify 20 other contacts for my case studies.
    I had a wonderful day today and feel like I am “moving forward”.

    JH

    Reply
  84. ASB Avatar
    ASB

    Tomorrow I will finish reading the last article for the week and writing 3 more article summaries. I now have a very basic outline of my proposal, questions and methods, although I am still wrestling with the methods which will require a bunch more reading. I am also trying to figure out how to make my problem statement stronger.

    Reply
  85. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    Today my goal is to revise the rationale for my first aim and to revise my introduction and I also want to work on my presentation as well. I am ready to begin.

    Reply
  86. ASB Avatar
    ASB

    Good morning final day of DH! I am planning to get a bunch done before I go out of town later today, including tightening up and filling in my outline and problem statement. Also I will finish reading the 4th journal article for the week and write up the summaries.

    Reply
  87. Margaret Grow Avatar
    Margaret Grow

    So, I’ve decided. I am very much NOT a morning person! But here I am, ready to work again! (Caffeine = a must today).

    The rest of the BG with finalizing the hypothesis, specific aims and significance. Let’s goooooooooo!

    Margaret

    Reply
  88. Jordan Hadfield Avatar
    Jordan Hadfield

    Good morning! It’s the last day of DH and I am determined to keep the momentum moving forward from here. I’ve been struggling with my problem statement, after pretty much not touching my dissertation work for a year, and I am finally getting to a place where I feel confident and comfortable about what I need to accomplish in the next 6 months.
    Thanks Dr. Carter for being patient with me and for nudging me to write more and to put down on paper what I have in my head.
    JH

    Reply
  89. Susan Mitchell Avatar
    Susan Mitchell

    Good morning — it’s our last day, so we need to work hard! Back to the Methodology section for me. And maybe on to the KFF section. And I heard from my company — I’ll be able to start setting up interviews very soon!

    — Susan

    Reply
  90. Patrick Doyle Avatar
    Patrick Doyle

    Good morning everyone!

    Today is the final day and I am ready to get everything in need done by the end of the day! I have handed Dr. Carter the rough draft of my ‘Physical Design’ section and as she suggested, while I wait for comments I am going to work on my chapter introductions this morning…

    P

    Reply
  91. Amy Pucino Avatar
    Amy Pucino

    Last day of Dissertation House and ready to go! I’m working on my outline and lit review today on refugee education.

    Reply
  92. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Hey TEAMGETITDONE!

    I didn’t finish everything I wanted to yesterday, and this morning I woke up late. 😦 I got to a new section in my stats and spent some time reviewing what I had read before to interpret the new section. So this weekend I have to catch up with my notes on these stats and revisions of my chapters. I’m at my assistantship all day today, but I’m going to work some more afterward.

    I did make motivational progress yesterday by stopping in the parking lot of the grocery store and planning out my next to-dos for today before shopping, since I knew when I got home that I would get distracted and forget. 🙂 I’m feeling myself looking forward to getting to work and gradually losing some of the stress associated with it. It’s not where I want to be, but it’s further than I was. 🙂

    Have a great, productive Friday, DHouse.

    Alexis

    Reply
  93. Jordan Hadfield Avatar
    Jordan Hadfield

    Last day at the DH, I had an amazing time and feel more focused than ever before. I’m ready to spend my 15 minutes a day on my dissertation proposal and I’m going to continue to connect with my DH group and this blog.

    Thanks UMBC for having this!

    Reply
  94. Susan Mitchell Avatar
    Susan Mitchell

    OK, I’m fried. I’m really happy with my progress this week. I’ve just counted the days until I have to turn my dissertation in to my committee: exactly 100! I’m taking tomorrow off (OK, I’ll do 15 minutes), then I’ll keep trudging along. It was great meeting all of the new people and seeing all of the returnees.

    — Susan

    Reply
    1. Dr. Carter Avatar
      Dr. Carter

      Good for you at least 15 minutes should be ok. Have a good weekend.

      Reply
  95. Margaret Grow Avatar
    Margaret Grow

    End of Day 4 of the Dissertation House. And every. single. goal. COMPLETED!!! 😀 😀 😀

    I’m very very happy with my progress and I can’t wait to keep up with my progress 🙂 Thank you, Dr. Carter and Dr. Tull, for all of your hard work, dedication and patience with us and helping us graduate! Can’t wait to see you again!

    Margaret

    Reply
  96. Patrick Doyle Avatar
    Patrick Doyle

    Well all…it has been grand! Good job! I really have enjoyed spending the week with everyone. I wish you all the best of luck and please if anyone would like to talk just get in touch with me…

    Pat

    Reply
  97. Alimatou Avatar
    Alimatou

    OK. End of the dissertation house. I completed only 3 of my 5 initially planned tasks and am half way done with the two remaining. I completed one other task that I added on the way. I feel have reached my goals for coming to the dissertation house and I am glad I attended it. Thank you everyone.
    My next tasks are :

    – update my methods section
    – continue writing the monocacy study results
    – identify all missing items in the document and prioritize tasks.

    ~Alimatou

    Reply
  98. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    It was great meeting everyone at the UMBC DH this week. Since, I my thesis proposal is scheduled for August 9, I want to keep this momentum going every day for the next month. I must do something every day to push be closer to being prepared for that exam!!!

    Today, It was hard getting out of bed: I was tired/lethargic and had lots of thoughts swirling about my duties as a wife and as the woman of the house. I decide some of those duties will have to wait.

    My goal for today is to finish reading a paper, work on revision of the rationale of my 2nd aim. go grocery shopping and some down time with the hubster.

    I am ready…

    Reply
    1. Dr. Carter Avatar
      Dr. Carter

      Great Jodian

      See you can blog and we are here to respond. August 9th will be here before you know it. Glad to remember to do something every day.

      Reply
  99. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    I completed one paper, and read an important segment in another paper. Read my mentor’s comments on one of my aims.

    I did not get to revise my second aim, but that will be one of tomorrow’s tasks.

    Reply
  100. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    Today, I completed reading a method section of a pertinent paper, worked on revision of both the rationales for both of my aims, and the method section of aim A.

    Now I am going to prepare for my TA responsibilities starting this week.

    Reply
  101. evesdawn Avatar
    evesdawn

    Good morning, DH!
    It’s MONDAY! And yesterday, I created my own blogspot to keep myself accountable 🙂 Feel free to leave comments or questions – I’m looking forward to making some progress!

    http://adventuresofdissertationwriting.wordpress.com/

    Good luck to all of you!!!

    Margaret

    “It takes time to be a success, but time is all it takes.”
    ― Anonymous

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      I love your blog Margaret! Don’t worry about the “freak-out” moment. 🙂 They come and go. All will be well!

      Reply
  102. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hello All,

    Today I am halfway in and halfway out but still here and even if I only work on my dissertation for 12 minutes, I am going to do something. I was trying to meet with my advisor but I am not sure that she is in today. I looked forward to any progress I make today! 🙂

    #TeamGet(Something)ItDone!!

    We can do it!

    Nikki

    Reply
  103. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Nikki
    Team Get Something Done!!!

    12 minutes you make me so proud!!! Forward progress that’s what matters.

    Reply
  104. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    I haven’t blogged since Sunday, so I will provide an update. On Monday, I had to TA so I did everything TA-related and spent about 1.5hrs working on my proposal, which revised both aims A & B. Yesterday was a great day: I had my TA meeting, but I finalized the rationale for my first A, revised the methods for both aims, worked on introduction and inserted any missing references. I was also able to read an article.

    Today my goals are: 1) finalize introduction, 2) review entire proposal, 3) email proposal to mentor and selected peers and 4) I got to TA today.

    Off I go!

    Reply
  105. Dr. Wendy Carter Avatar
    Dr. Wendy Carter

    Jodian
    Hi ho hi ho off to work you go. See and you thought you couldn’t blog. Great to see that you could do your TA work and still work on your proposal at the same time. Keep up the good work; wear your cape and tights proudly!!!!!

    Reply
    1. Jodian Avatar
      Jodian

      Thanks Dr Carter!

      Reply
  106. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Wednesday!

    Today I am going to work on my Fall 2011 Study Guidelines. I am going to TA the class where I want to also have the students participating in my study so I need to prepare to meet with the professor to work out a plan to implement the journals.

    I will also revamp my CV today, yesterday I met with my department chair to discuss upcoming job opportunities in my field and so I need to get my “job packet” together. It’s 75% complete but I want it at 100% before the fall so every month when job announcements come I can just send out my packet like Dr. Carter said. I already have my folder, I will add my CV, teaching statement, and research statement and when jobs come up I will only have to edit my cover letter and keep it moving.

    Happy Wednesday!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      When are you planning to graduate? May 2012? Or later.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        May 2012.

        Reply
        1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
          Renetta Garrison Tull

          Hi Nikki,

          You’re moving right along! It can be a challenge to work on the dissertation and search for a job. But it can be done, successfully. I can attest to having a job waiting for me 1.5 years before I finished. I know others who secured faculty positions a few years prior to defending. Some of these successful professors include the following:

          Dr. Harriet Nembhard: http://www.ie.psu.edu/FacultyStaff/faculty/FacultyProfile.cfm?FacID=18

          Dr. Hector Carlo: http://ininweb.uprm.edu/profileViewer.asp?id=hcarlo

          I also want to point you to the following $45,000 AGEP postdoc program, please consider applying: http://www.colorado.edu/GraduateSchool/DiversityInitiative/postdocs/index.html

          Going on job talks can also help you with your presentation skills so that when you are ready to defend, you will find that you are extremely comfortable. Advisors can also be more willing to help you to set a defense date if they know that you have already been vetted by their peers (i.e., if you already have a job.) I’ll see you at the DH at College Park next week.

          Best,
          Renetta Tull

          Reply
          1. drwestmoreland Avatar
            drwestmoreland

            Hi Dr. Tull,

            I missed your post but I will look into the SGEP postdoc program, I would like to explore all opportunities that will be a good fit for me. A job waiting! WOW! That’s a blessing I would like to have. A job would not only push my advisor but me as well! 🙂

            See you next week at DH.

            Nikki

            Reply
  107. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    So Yesterday, I completed the second draft of my proposal and emailed it to my mentor. I asked for feedback on content and clarity and surprisingly, he thinks it’s quite good and only had minor revisions/comments.

    I am waiting for the weekend when I get all my other edits from my different readers to finalize the proposal.

    Today, the goal is to: i) continue working on the background section of the presentation, ii) do some preparatory reading for the impending exam and iiI) grade reports for the lab I TA.

    Everyone be encouraged……just a few minutes a day working on your thesis/dissertation will keep pushing you forward!

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Congratulations Jodian! Keep it going! Next week, I want you to plan some time to meet with your peers to discuss your upcoming proposal process. Formalize the meetings. Invite a group of them to lunch, talk with the department and ask if you can reserve their conference room for an hour or two. You might invite people to bring their lunches and then you can supply cookies. This can also happen in a reserved classroom. Make sure that there is a board. As you talk to your peers, I would recommend that you stand and talk though items that you plan to present. Discuss weaknesses or areas where you would like to request their help for clarity. Be sure that you are standing when you do this … you can write on the board, but this is not an exercise for sitting and taking notes. You may request that another peer take notes on paper, while you record some important points on the board. You can have a notebook next to you, but no sitting. You want to get used to standing in a room of people. This group should be different from the Meyerhoff group. Please plan this activity and add it to your schedule.

      Good luck!

      Renetta Tull

      Reply
      1. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        Thanks Dr Tull!

        Reply
  108. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday,

    I did get sidetracked this morning from posting. This morning I had a 2 hours phone meeting with my advisor. We are still working on the equations and we talked about job opportunities for me and also worked out some things on my CV. Then I went to the library and worked for 4 hours. I read (skimmed) 2 books and now have a few vabuable sentences to add to my dissertation. I am done for now but I will update my CV when I get home for a little while.

    Happy Dissertations!

    Nikki

    Reply
  109. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    Good Morning All!

    So Yesterday, I worked on my proposal presentation and did some study reading. I also completed all my TA grading for this week. I also finalized a practice talk that I will be doing next week Friday. The group is made up of diverse graduate students: 2 are from the labs of two of my committee members, 1 is from a Molecular Biology discipline, which I need to know for my exam, 1 is a member of my lab and a Chemistry student, another student is well-verse in the biological system that is a part of my proposal, and the final student is in a Biophysical program outside of the Univ. of Maryland system. In addition, these are all students that have passed candidacy, literature review, thesis proposals or independent proposals, making them qualified to provide insights into preparing for the exam. I have told most of them that I want them to “tear me down to point of crying”, so that I will be ready for almost anything in my exam. I have also requested research summaries/recent papers from students who are in the labs of some of my committee members.

    Today, the goals are to finalize arrangements for another practice talk with members of my fellowship program, continue reading and making notes and complete another TA responsibility.

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Good plan Jodian! Also consider talking about your research … out loud for a few days before you meet with your group on Friday. It helps when you hear yourself “speak the language of the discipline” in your own voice, often. I’m sure that your husband won’t mind!

      Reply
      1. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        Thanks for the sound advice Dr Tull. I definitely need some individual rehearsals. Have a great weekend!

        Reply
  110. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Friday!

    Yesterday I had a great session at the library with my books. Today I will meet with my advisor and also I will (for at least 12 minutes) add to my dissertation from the books I read yesterday where they apply. I am going to a funding seminar at 11 and then I am going to meet with my advisor at 12:30 to talk about these equations again.

    Happy Friday!! 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Good job Nikki! Please let me know if you will consider the AGEP postdoc that I mentioned above as a response to one of your earlier posts about preparing for the job market. We can also talk more about this topic on Tuesday.

      Reply
  111. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    You guys are on fire. I am encouraged to keep trying even on days like this when things are tough, tough tough tough. Tough. I will get through the day with God’s help. I will do what I can today.

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      You can do it Alexis! Since you’re online, push through and put in 30 minutes of work. One thing that you can do is to plan your goals for next week now! That way, when you get to the DH, you will already be on a roll! Start there … what do you plan to do? Then, what part of that can you do today, tomorrow, and Monday?

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y Williams

        Thank you Dr. Tull. I’m building my way back on track and will use this week to get this train moving again. I have my plan and am at the library today until 6, reading stats and taking notes like my life depends on it. This week will be a victorious one.

        Reply
  112. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello All

    The Dissertation House at UMCP begins in the AM. If you will not be joining us in person, I hope you will join us on line at 9am sharp! No more excuses. If you were looking for a sign that you should get started again on your dissertation and you need some encouragement, then this is your sign and your invitation to work on your dissertation. Ready….Set…See you in the morning.

    Reply
  113. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    DH UMCP! 🙂

    Today I plan to write my draft of my teaching statement.

    I also plan to finish skimming 1 book.

    Nikki

    Reply
  114. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Good Morning, TEAMGETITDONE,

    Today I am starting the first day of the official UMCP Dissertation House! I got off to a rough start but I am feeling ready for a productive and enlightening week.

    My goals for this week are to: 1) Summarize my Clark et al stats article that I finished reading finally, 2) Draft my revisions for chapters 1-3 (at least 3 of my committee’s suggestions), and 3) Pull suggestions from two other completed dissertations in my department that used similar statistics, making notes of how to apply the statistical discussion to my work.

    Taking a breath. The light is green. Here I go.

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      I need to remember to bring big fuzzy socks to work in…

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        LOL. I need a fuzzy hat to work in…Thanks for the e-mail. I am working on my teaching statement now. The first one I wrote sounded like I was teaching 2nd graders.

        Reply
        1. Alexis Williams Avatar
          Alexis Williams

          Ha ha ha ha! Glad to help!

          Reply
      2. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Wrapping up. For tomorrow:
        – Complete my Ta-Da schedule countdown
        – Finish up my FMM notes with questions (what don’t I still understand?)
        – Complete one chapter revision
        – Compose principal email
        – Email brief hello to new contact
        – Get my two sample dissertations into a central location so I can start comparing them for applications to my work

        See, I promised I’d be myself by the end of the day. Feeling much better. Thanks, DHouse!

        Alexis

        Reply
  115. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Good morning Everyone,
    I am looking forward to another productive dissertation house with a wonderful group of peers and friends! I will begin by reading and summarizing an article recommended by my advisor lat our last meeting. Then I will review a transcript to create my student profile for the week.
    Best of luck everyone!

    Reply
  116. Tommy Avatar
    Tommy

    Greetings and Salutations,

    This is my first Dissertation House! I was late this morning driving from Delaware but I’m still excited about getting much work accomplished today and during this week.

    My goals for the week are to : 1) revise Chapter 1, 2) Complete revisions for my Communities of Practice framework, 3) Revise literature review of mathematics tasks, 4) revise my draft case study methodology section, 5) read and summarize 5 articles, and 6) Obtain 3 articles from the library.

    Let’s do this!!!!

    Tommy

    Reply
  117. Lenisa N. Joseph, Ph.D. Avatar
    Lenisa N. Joseph, Ph.D.

    In Summer 2011 Dissertation house! Lenisa N. Joseph, Ph. D.

    Reply
  118. Margaret Avatar
    Margaret

    Hello this is Margaret in College Park UMD.
    I hope you are all well. Today is my first day at dissertation house and I am excited to be here and make significant progress in my work. I will be working on my data analysis for article 2 and 3. I should be able to complete the first paper by Thursday so that I can concentrate on the introduction, methodology and descripitive analysis of the last one. Wish you all success in your work!

    Reply
  119. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Hi Everyone,

    For this week, I will be working on 5 things:
    -Redraft the outline for my proposal
    -Create a spreadsheet with different definitions of activism
    -Summarize 2 book chapters
    -Redraft Theory Section
    -Revise Introduction

    For today I will do work on two things on my list
    -Summarize 2 book chapters
    -Create a spreadsheet with different definitions of activism

    Michelle

    Reply
  120. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Everyone

    We are getting ready for lunch at 12:00. I hope you have been able to accomplish something this morning between 9-12. We started by posting our goals for the week on the wall for everyone to see. Some of the students have posted their goals here as well. I have managed to meet with two students thus far. Three more minutes to go before we head to lunch. When we return, I will be discussing “How to Manage Your Advisor and Committee members”.

    It’s important to not only manage your time but also manage your supporters as well. Advisors are trying to get you to become an independent researcher who will sometime in the future have to manage your own time, reasearch projects and staff. You cannot become an independent researcher if you are always waiting for someone to tell you what to do next. Remember, your dissertation is your research project. You have to make some decisions about what to do next. You can always run your ideas by your advisor. Nonetheless you should not be stalled because you are afraid to make a decision about your project. Remember it’s a learning process; you can’t learn if you are afraid of taking a risk or making a decision.

    Reply
  121. Lenisa N. Joseph, Ph.D. Avatar
    Lenisa N. Joseph, Ph.D.

    Happy Belated Birthday Dr. Westmoreland!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ditto! Happy Belated, Doc!

      Reply
  122. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Wednesday I plan to work on:

    1. Draft of my research statement
    2. Draft of updates needed on my dissertation from my proposal
    3. Skim 1 book (halfway done already) and add to my dissertation

    Today I finished:

    1. Teaching Statement draft
    2. Sent my advisor some information she requested

    Let’s get it DONE!

    Nikki

    Reply
  123. Tommy Avatar
    Tommy

    Greetings and Salutations<

    Today was productive. I was able to check out one of the resources from the library and I requested 3 others. I was able to revise part of Chapter 1 (i.e. NCTM Equity Principle and Curriculum Standards). Tomorrow I will finalize these two sections, revise the section on the causes of mathematics achievement gap, and revise the traditionally pedagogy section.

    Reply
  124. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Hi All,

    Here is a quick set of handouts for working on your teaching philosophy. Some handouts are instructional and some can be used as thinking tools for deciding which schools of thought you match in your teaching. I can talk through any of this with you one on one!

    Click to access Teaching%20Philosophy%20Resources.pdf

    Reply
  125. Tommy Avatar
    Tommy

    Greetings and Salutations,

    Thanks for the handouts Alexis.

    Reply
  126. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Good morning Everyone!
    Looking forward to another productive day! Best of luck to all! Thank you Alexis for resources.

    Reply
  127. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Good Morning everyone,

    Today I’m working on the following:
    – re-framing my problem statement. I have already done a rough draft of this but will revise it again
    – continuing my excel worksheet of literature which focus on activism at different levels of society

    Michelle

    Reply
  128. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Good Morning, TEAMGETITDONE!

    This day is starting off so much better than yesterday, and yesterday wasn’t too bad all things considered. Keep it moving!

    By my TA-DA estimates I should be writing a page a day. My goal today is to wrap up one part of my stats notes (all final notes from Clark et al.) and finish a page of my committee revisions this afternoon.

    The light is green. Here we go.

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Good Evening,

      Today I did NOT get through the whole stats article because I ended up emailing back and forth with a principal to plan a data collection. So I DID finish sending out my emails to new contacts and principals, and one principal has already agreed to send out a note to his teachers for my study! I also wrote a page of my revisions for my chapters and have my sample dissertations in a central location to use for comparison later.

      Tomorrow I will finish my stats notes and complete another chapter revision – either my discussion of why I am excluding one of my efficacy subscales, or how high teacher efficacy and incremental theories are thought to be connected (or should be).

      Building the productivity habit, one sentence at a time!

      Alexis

      Reply
  129. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    GOOOOOOOOOOOOD Morning! 🙂

    I am sleepy and I have a headache. 😦 I was driving in this morning thinking I don’t want to work on my dissertation. I’d rather sleep. But, this is when I need to focus, the days I don’t want to be here.

    I want to be at DH, but my body is still at home. I am getting there. 🙂

    Today I will write a list of revisions for my dissertation from my proposal, draft my research statement, and finish skimming a book.

    Last night I posted my graduation deadlines on the wall near my headboard. My prayer everynight will now include asking God to help me meet those specific 4 dates to turn in my dissertation documents and graduate. AMEN!

    Let’s goooooo! 😉

    Nikki

    Reply
  130. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    Good morning Everyone,

    Today I’m working on my problem statement and summarizing my references on systems thinking. This topic was brought up by my advisor on our last meeting this Monday before he went on vacation.

    Have a great and productive day,
    Elizabeth

    Reply
  131. Tommy Avatar
    Tommy

    Greetings & Salutations,

    Today I am finalizing the summary of the NCTM Equity Principle and Curriculum Standards. I am revising the mathematics achievement gap summary and the traditionally pedagogy section from yesterday. Based on my meeting with Dr. Carter who cracked the whip, I will check to make sure that my problem statement, purpose, and assumptions address the questions found in the “Proposal Cookbook.” I have a set timeline that I must adhere to complete all of my revisions by the end of September. I see the light more than ever now!

    Have a great day!

    Tommy

    Reply
  132. Dr. Carter Avatar
    Dr. Carter

    Hello all

    We are here in the DH again Day 2. Dr. Noah Collins from the Counseling Services Center is here talking about having balance when writing your dissertation. He gave a humorous presentation on his approach to writing his dissertation. He said that he is a morning person. He says if I have to work in the evening the rewards have to go WAY UP if I am going to work at night. His discussion presented the two sides of self that argue with each other about the way to write your dissertation. One side is the drill-sergeant who wants to focus mainly on working on the dissertation, the other fanciful person who does not really want to work on the dissertation. He said one does not have to win at the expense of the other. When fanciful side wins the drill-Sargent calls you lazy, wasteful, slacker, etc. When the drill-sergeant side win, the fanciful side loses and feels depressed and sad. He suggests that when the fanciful side does not want to work, you should negotiate otherwise the fanciful side will go on strike by shutting down, by playing solitaire, or by depression.

    Reply
  133. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Follow-up to Noah Collins’ presentation from the Counseling Center today:
    Call him for more information on counseling services, the dissertation support group, or other information
    301.314.7661 or nmc2001@umd.edu

    Reply
  134. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Today I:

    1. Formatted my dissertation into the required UMD format. This took longer than I thought but it excited me because I have a dissertation. 🙂 It’s 95 pages!!
    2. I reviewed my proposal and the comments from my committee and I made a list of target changes that need to be made and I sent that to my advisor. I also cleaned out my dissertation binder which had some strange copies of things in it that I didn’t need anymore.
    3. I ordered 2 books from amazon.com. I ordered “How to Write Alot” and “Writing About Numbers”. I am a book worm and although I have a kindle for academic books I need them in hand. I have been struggling with some equations all summer and this numbers book seems to be what I need. My books will be on my porch Friday afternoon.
    4. I read “The Academic Job Search” book and got lots of nuggets that I need for where I am right now in my academic job search. This will prepare me for my first activity tomorrow.

    Tomorrow I will:

    1. Draft my research statement

    This is my “hard” thing for the week so I am going to only plan 1 thing tomorow and push myself to get it done.

    If I have extra time I will go on to the next item I have on my chart.

    Happy Wednesday!

    We are #TeamGetItDone 🙂

    On to VBS.

    Bye!!

    Nikki

    Reply
  135. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    I have question: Does anyone know the best way to sync endnote libraries? I am having endnote issues when I switch from my desktop to my laptop and my library isn’t synced. I would like to have the flexibility to work on both without issues. Any help?

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      I’m not good help with Endnote because I’ve had a lot off issues myself with it.. Maybe there is an expert among us?…

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        you’re not using endnote web right?
        If you are, they have workshops at the library (mckeldin), check out this page it might still help:
        http://www.lib.umd.edu/UES/endnoteweb.html

        Reply
  136. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Here is the UMD Dissertation format.

    http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/current_students/electronic_thesis_and_dissertations_at_um.html

    Use the above link and scroll down to Templates.

    I used the long version today and it worked pretty well. I just filled in the information that I had, some sections I left blank to fill in later. It also already has a table of contents that works well and you can just fill it in your section titles in the document and the TOC will update with your titles.

    Happy Dissertation is a Done Dissertation!

    No jealous jump off’s! 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
  137. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    I have to comment that I agree with Dr. Collins, enjoying your personal time is more enjoyable when you did what you said you were going to do on your dissertation for that day. 🙂

    Reply
  138. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday!

    Today I will:

    1. Meet with Dr. Carter
    2. Draft my research statement

    #Thatsall

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Alexis likes this (thumbs up sign)

      Reply
  139. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Good Morning, TEAMGETITDONE,

    Today I will complete another chapter revision having to do with my efficacy variable explanation, and try again to complete these notes for my stats.

    This morning I looked over my lab mate’s statistical discussion in her dissertation and got a little intimidated. But I reminded myself that she wrote one sentence at a time, so that is what I will do. 🙂

    Green light, time to go.

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Whew, today was rough! I have to overhaul my lit review as part of my chapter revisions, and this was affirmed when I did my “Good Morning, Dissertation House” shpiel today. After a tough meeting with Dr. Carter(-Veale – gotta start using that), I know to take a firmer direction with my discussion of teachers’ emotions and implicit theories, and reduce my rather aimless chatter about attributions to a few well-constructed paragraphs (with topic sentences and transitions!).

      Tomorrow, our last day, I will work on the literature reconstruction in my new and improved dissertation template. I will not get a headache.

      K, bye.

      Alexis

      Reply
  140. Tommy Avatar
    Tommy

    Greetings and Salutations,

    I was not in the mood to do any work this morning. I also did not want to be bother. However, Dr. Carter invited me to speak about my research on the Mood Morning America Show! WOW! This was an awesome experience. I have learned so much. Dr. Carter, you are the best!

    Today I am revising parts of Chapter 1! I have 9 days to complete this task. No time to waste!!!

    Let’s do this!

    Reply
  141. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday!!! 🙂

    It’s been a good week.

    Today I:
    1. Met with Dr. Carter and she edited my Teaching Statement for me. She also helped me with the tense in my dissertation, I like to use them all.
    2. The list of revisions that I wrote yesterday for my dissertation I ranked them easy, medium, and hard and then color coded them with my highlighter.
    3. I updated my CV from some comments that my Dean gave me when I met with him on Tuesday afternoon.
    4. I DRAFTED MY RESEARCH STATEMENT! 🙂 It’s crappy and it sounds pretty outlandish but I have a draft!! Woo Hoo! That was my only goal for the day. I kept writing and erasing sentences all the while knowing that I have to write a crappy version and then the better version will emerge from that one, that’s just how I write. 😛
    5. Read a paper related to the status of my research and what the future of design research looks like from this authors perspective. (This was helpful for my research statement)

    I spent 3 hours in the afternoon on the internet doing research about (1) my field and (2) at schools I might want to work at. It felt like I was just reading and reading. But I did pick out some great nuggets from departmental website. I fell in LOVE with a few departments…like Stanford who doesn’t even have any job openings at this time. I was doing a broad search of what it going on in my field all the while trying to figure out what I want to research and where I will fit in.

    I want to build knowledge in mechanical engineering using design research! I know that much, now I have something. 🙂

    Amen!!!

    Friday I will:

    1. Draft a new version of the Design Journal Guidelines for Fall 2011 Study
    2. Skim 4 books and summarize (I Hope…lol)

    🙂

    Bye!!

    Nikki

    Reply
  142. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Good afternoon!
    Today is another day, and I have managed to transcribe yet another interview. I really do appreciate the time to have the space and place to sit and work… moving on to another interview– which I will hopefully finish tonight after my treat for the day, aqua zumba! 🙂
    See you all on line tomorrow!!

    Reply
  143. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Good morning everyone! It’s wonderful to see that you are sharing resources and getting things done! I hope that those who were planning to go to Aqua Zumba had a great time … it was so hot today! I’m sure that the fun provided you with renewal and refreshment. I’ll come over to check in with you later in the morning. I hope to see you around 9:30 and I plan to be there for the rest of the day. I’m cheering you on!

    Reply
  144. Lenisa Avatar
    Lenisa

    Last day of dissertation house….I am pleased with the progress I made and excited to continue with this momentum.

    Reply
  145. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Good morning, TEAMGETITDONE!

    I finally finished this stats article this morning! Today I will continue to overhaul my chapter 2 and revise the sections my committee has recommended.

    Happy Friday!

    Alexis

    Reply
  146. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Friday!!

    I need to start praying right now that next week will be as good a work week as this one!

    Today I will skim 4 books and make notes.

    If I have time I will work on the draft for the Design Guidelines for my Fall 2011 Study.

    Nikki

    🙂

    Reply
  147. Tommy Avatar
    Tommy

    Greetings and Salutations,

    Yesterday was a challenge getting started. Revisions sometimes are not as easy as you think. At times I wanted to throw away what I had written. However, I continued to do what I could. I was able to sit with Dr. Carter and go over paragraphs leading up to my statement of the problem. Things are looking good. Dr. Carter helped me with transition words and making connections between statements.

    Today I will work on revising more of Chapter 1.

    a. Add citations to the problem statement
    b. Work on revising the background section
    b. Pick up the 2 articles that I requested from the library on Tuesday

    Moving Forward!!!!

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Tommy….How many days do you have left for chapter 1?. Keep the schedule going before you go on the unexpected vacation.

      Reply
  148. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Afternoon!

    Today I:

    1. Created a ‘Research Proposal’ for my Fall 2011 Study
    2. I skimmed and summarized 2 books
    3. I contact my advisor and we talked about the Fall study and set a meeting for Monday
    4. I wrote!! I now have some ideas for my 2012 publication season. I will refine them next week and save them for when my advisor asks for them I will pull them out.

    I met all my DH Goals but 1, really just part of 1. I wanted to skim 4 books but I only did 3. I added a few things so I’m not beating myself up because that means I actually ended up doing more than I planned because some things came up that needed to be taken care of. As long as it’s part of my dissertation I gave it some attention.

    It’s all about me.

    I had to send a ‘no’ e-mail today. 😦 It’s all about me.

    Saturday I will read the 4th book and summarize it.

    I already wrote out my goals for next week in my notebook so I will post those Monday morning.

    Time to go!

    Yay for #TeamGetItDone!!

    Nikki

    Reply
  149. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Ok, TEAMGETITDONE,

    We’re close to the end of DHouse, but this is just the beginning. I am still working on reorganizing my literature review and statistical discussion, but I have made a lot of progress and am looking forward to the next steps because I know what direction I am going in. I have my new outline in my dissertation document and I am taking the pieces that I’ve already written and working them in, making the ideas more coherent. transitioning between ideas better, etc. Soon I will have a new draft that has addressed my committee’s concerns.

    We talked a lot about what’s next so that we keep the momentum from this week. Here are some things I typed up during our discussion:
    – Need to be finished March 3rd if want to graduate May 21, 2012 (or whatever that day is).
    – Have a schedule, keep it tight hour to hour and day to day
    – Commit to it and work everything else around it. Like exercise, to be effective you can’t cancel it every time an interruption comes along
    – Change how to organize the information, table the basics, tell the story
    – Time – I have 21 days to a chapter, I have a page to write a day, NO, I can’t do that thing you’re asking me to do. Make what I have to do very specific to today, to what I can do in this moment
    – Get up, get dressed, pack up, get out, sit down and work.
    – New behaviors – when you’ve told someone you won’t be available at certain times, you respect your own time and become UNAVAILABLE at those times and do what you said you would be doing.
    – Get others to sign on when you need something from them, or when you need to get them to stop doing something
    – Keep your board of directors and your working community active and engaged
    – Be urgent about it. This is life or death.
    – Schedule your visits for the same time every week with different people so that you don’t miss seeing your loved ones – Fridays at 5pm or Sundays between 2 and 5

    That formatting is probably all funky, but you get the point. Goodbye for now, but hello again soon!!

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Oh, some of you asked about my little To-Do sheet that I print front and back. You might need to finagle the document for it to line up correctly, but here it is! Edit the document however it works for you.
      http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8700347/Accomplishment-ToDo%20Log3.doc

      Reply
  150. Lenisa Avatar
    Lenisa

    Good morning everyone,
    I realize I have not given my task master a treat for sticking to my schedule. The cake on the week end is for sticking with it in the week. It has been about two months so I am going to the movies (WInnie the Pooh)
    I have 11 hrs for courting with my dissertation today. The goal is to read the abstracts for at least 50 articles and build my spreadsheet so I can see what the generation before me have done in relation to my question.

    11 and 1pm my goal is to get 10 done.
    1pm -1:45 Break for lunch and a quick errand at
    2pm-5pm the goal is to read 15.

    5-8:45 break (Dinner, Winne The Pooh, talk with my cheer leader)
    9-2 the goal to do the other 25
    I will check in on my progress at 5…

    I am about finishing the business…

    Reply
  151. Lenisa Avatar
    Lenisa

    Hi I did 50 abstracts….so the goal tonight is to do the same amount. I finished kinda early and worked on my personal blog…Coolness.

    I am about finishing the business…

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Lenisa, that is awesome progress, and you had time for fun, too! I love it. You give me energy!

      Reply
  152. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Oh my goodness, almost too tired to post.

    Today I finished labeling the sections of my chapter 2 according to the codes that I’m using for the restructuring. I started dumping the sections into a new document. Tomorrow will want to finish dumping and start making the sections coherent, concise. With topic sentences! 🙂

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Alexis
      Congratulations on the restructuring. Keep up the progress.

      Reply
  153. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    6 down… only 50 more to go!!!! 😉

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      You can do it!! One at a time. 🙂 I’ll be working with you.

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Thanks Alexis 😉 Today I got a little behind on finishing up one… but I will try to make up for it tomorrow– well now, today that is.

        Reply
    2. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      You can do it Maritza!!! You don’t have 56 anymore!

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        😉 Very true Lenisa! Thanks for the encouragement! Keep up the productivity this week!

        Reply
  154. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    I had to fight myself today but I finished my restructuring without editing! I will work tomorrow on editing the sections without adding any new information – if that works well I will apply the strategy to the entire chapter. If not, I will have to use a different strategy to continue the chapter 2 overhaul. Either way, each section will have topic sentences. 🙂

    Motivational notes: It helped to give myself consequences, things I wouldn’t want to do, but would have to if I didn’t get to work each day of the weekend. I was definitely encouraged to sit down and get started, and then I used positive self-talk and bribes to keep myself there. By any means necessary. I was also much better today about getting my quality time with my mom after church and then making myself walk out when it was time. I can do this!

    Go TEAMGETITDONE!

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Great job Alexis!

      Reply
  155. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Productive weekend.
    *read all the abstracts and built my spreadsheet so I can see how previous research relations to my question. I can now ask my adviser to look at my studies and make recommendations on research that I should be reading or research that can be omitted.
    *read my chapter one with a highlighter noting my topic sentence being sure contents of the paragraph related directly to the topic sentence. Some edits were needed!
    *created a personal blog so my family and friends could be kept abreast of my progress.
    *reached out and asked for help in areas where I needed support. Asking for help makes me feel vulnerable I really don’t like to ask.

    I started to go see Winne the Pooh but I began with a smallish nap or two….Have I shared that I love my bed and honey.

    Tomorrow (later)
    1) I go to my adviser to a) ask her to look at my studies b) get her in the loop about some other stuff
    2) Start reading the articles and building a picture.

    Good Night

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      This is awesome. Love the bed & honey, too!! How do you know what to ask for? I am still thinking about what to ask people to help me with (I don’t like feeling vulnerable either but I got reminded by a friend this morning that I am being prideful when I refuse needed help and I need to let that go if I am going to finish this degree).

      Reply
      1. lenisaj Avatar
        lenisaj

        Alexis
        Winne the Pooh often strats things with a smallish nap or two! lol

        Pride is my biggest challenge and being prideful has not allowed me to make progress. I HATE people pitying me so I keep my stuff to myself. At SSI 2006 I remember Dr. Knickerson asking us to identify what our biggest challenge was …he suggested that people’s challenge was FEAR, I knew/know mine is Pride. He said to crumple it up throw it out and get on with getting the Ph.D. So 5 years later I am summoning I am hearing the message. Dr. Carter-Veale also talked about keeping people in the loop about what is going on with you-Addressing that as well. And today Dr. Parham was reminding me to do the same since there are somethings I need to share to my chair. Pride paralyzes me it is one of my greatest sins. God is obviously trying to address this with me.

        I thought of things I do which take up time, that I don’t necessarily like to do but need to get done. While I love to eat I can’t say I have a passion for cooking. So I asked someone whose home I eat at often if I can do so a little more regularly. I was teary eyed when I asked and I felt like he was dismissing my need for asking. He said: Lenisa what are you asking could I refuse anyone food. He is like a brother so it was like asking my brother if I could eat when I come to his home hence the response. My ego was bruised cause it was difficult to ask in the first place but I now have a food back up.

        My granny is in the NY at my aunties house with one of my cousins he goes back to Trinidad the end of August and she will be staying on until May of next year. I plan to ask her to come stay with me for at least a month. That way she can take care of her first grandchild for a bit (yeah I plan to use that card!).

        My dissertation will help me break free of the shackles of pride.

        Reply
  156. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday!

    I decided I need to name my two sides. I’m gonna call my task master side Billy Blanks and I’m gonna call my ride off into the sunset side Home Sweet Home. So this weekend I spent some time with HSH, but it was good. I enjoyed my HSHS time because of all the work that I did at Dissertation House last week. I usually feel pressure about social activities. Because so many ppl want me to do different things and I’m not always sure if I really want to. Anyways this weekend I did what I wanted to do with my HSH time. It was good.

    Today I will:

    1. Write for 1 hour
    2. Make tense changes to my dissertation
    3. Meet with my advisor at 11:30
    4. Lunch after my advisor meeting for 1 hour
    5. Make Draft #2 of my Teaching Statement
    6. Work on paper edits from my advisors meeting
    7. Skim final book for my dissertation
    8. Edit my 1 hour writing after lunch

    I know it seems like a lot, but I have it all planned out.

    Since I am the ultimate planner, now it’s time to work! Raw writing starts at 9am!! 🙂

    #TEAMGETITDONE is on!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ha! Billy Blanks is up and at ’em! You can do it! Then some HSH time!

      Reply
  157. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Coffee? Check. Bootie in seat at library? Check. Instrumental thinking music? Check. DHouse Blog open instead of FB? Check! Let’s get it!

    Monday: 1) Editing one section of the re-organized dissertation and then assessing how long it took and whether it helps get the committee revisions accomplished effectively. Yes? Continue with the remainder. No? Decide what can be done differently or faster to finish all revisions so that the research questions are answered with the discussion of the literature. 2) Checking in with assistant principal in one school. 3) Possible mentor meeting 4) Possible search committee meeting in my department for restructuring. 5) Gym.

    Go, TEAMGETITDONE!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ok, the first edited section didn’t take too long considering that I had a couple of important meetings today. I got to see my advisor and my mentor in one day! So I will continue with more revisions and chopping in each section and then decide what needs to be added, including my topic sentences (the first section has them now!). I also emailed that assistant principal.

      My mentor told me to make a list of all of my accomplishments in the past year and meditate on it when I’m stuck to remind myself of how far I’ve come and how much farther I can go. I’m at the 21st mile! She also told me to set a median milestone that I can celebrate when I’m about halfway there, since the endpoint might seem far away if it’s months. So maybe – where will I be by next month? The end of September? I will celebrate those milestones, too. Please remind me. 🙂

      Another hour and then the gym.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Woo Hoo! 🙂 Go Alexis!

        This is your reminder, get a reward!

        LOL 🙂

        Reply
        1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
          Alexis Y. Williams

          LOL!

          Reply
  158. Tommy Avatar
    Tommy

    Greetings and Salutations,

    The has been challenging. My laptop is not working. Ugh! I am having issues with my powercord. I will have to go the Apple store later this evening for a replacement. I decided to use the computer in my office. It’s moving slow but it’s working. It will have to do for now.

    This past weekend I took time to make my weekly writing schedule from now up until I start work on August 22. It ‘s tight but I need it to make things happen. This weekend I also spoke with a couple of friends to discuss my schedule and mentioned I would not be available to talk from 9-5. They said they would just send a text or leave a message on my phone to check to make sure I am ok. I said sure and that I would respond only during my lunch break or at the end of the day.

    Sunday, I decided to spend the day with my church since it was Family and Friends Day. It was well worth it.

    I am back on schedule today.

    My goal today is to do the following:
    1. Email my advisor with my writing timeline
    2. Email committee members to give them an update.
    3. Revise the background section.

    Let’s do this!

    Tommy

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Saying a prayer for your laptop’s healing! Keep up the commitment. By any means – or computers – necessary! 🙂

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Awe Tommy! 😦 I hope your computer gets fixed. My desktop is slow as mollasses but I use it when I forget my laptop and sometimes both if I need to multitask. Keep up the good work. 🙂

        Reply
    2. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Tommy,
      I hope it is really just the power cord! PLEASE BACK OUR WORK ONTO ANOTHER DEVICE. Speak over that baby and command it to operate well.

      Reply
  159. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    It’s been a few weeks since the DH at UMBC. I was doing great crossing things off my list until last week and today.

    So far: I have sent in the proposal to my committee. I came up with the first draft of the powerpoint and presented it to an array of grad students.

    I need to revise the presentation and study (read literature and review course notes), however, my TA responsibilities are really making it difficult.

    Nonetheless, I plan to persevere this week. Have lots and lots of TA grading, however, I plan to have the second PPT draft by this week’s end and complete reading a chapter on atomistic models and force fields.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Hi Jodian,

      We talked last week in UMCP’s DHouse about how TAing can take up your time. Do you have a plan in place for when you only focus on grading and when you absolutely do not grade or answer emails? That’s one of Dr. Tull’s suggestions that might help if you aren’t already doing it. Sorry for unsolicited advice!

      Reply
      1. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        Hello Alexis!

        I certainly appreciate your advice. I have been trying to have select days to do all TA-related matters, but it seems as if it is not enough.

        I have been trying to do all day Mondays and Wednesdays and then 2-3 hrs on Tuesdays for TA meeting and Office hours, and use Thursday evening from 5-9pm to finish up grading. I have a 1 week turn around for the grades, which gives me a small window since every Monday and Wednesday I am collecting new prelab, report and postlab assignments.

        But, may be I’m not sticking to it as close to it as possible. This week I will try my best to stick to the plan.

        Thanks Alexis! Also please free to comment and pass on advice that you have found useful of that you think may be useful in my particular case.

        Reply
        1. drwestmoreland Avatar
          drwestmoreland

          I feel your pain Jodian. I am dreading the semester starting because of that very reason. I have been getting better at it, by my 4th semester I was pretty good but there are always things that come up. During the semester I have to keep e-mail hours. I usually only check it three times a day because so much random stuff pops up. In the summer I might get 1 e-mail a day on my umd account. I agree with Lex, get a schedule and stick to it as best you can. When you fall, and you will because we all do, just go right back without taking the time to have a pity party. Dr. Carter said if you have time for a pity party then your not busy enough. On to the next one.

          Reply
          1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
            Alexis Y. Williams

            Hi Jodian and Nikki,

            Jodian it sounds like you have a good plan. Maybe the more consistently you do it, same time every week and getting right to work when it’s time, the faster the grading will go. You might not have to add more time in that case, and that will be lovely. And, yup, Nikki, I know to be patient with myself when I mess up, because if I’m mean to myself I DEFINITELY won’t want to come back and try again…

            Reply
            1. Jodian Avatar
              Jodian

              Hello Alexis and Nikki,

              Thanks a lot for the words of encouragement. It is certainly important to not get caught up in pity-parties!

              I am pleased to report that Tuesday was a better day. I tried very hard to stick to the schedule. I was also very strict with my TA office hours and recommend students emailing me if their questions are really short. Worked out nicely.

              Since, Monday I have been sticking to at least 15 minutes a day to work on something to progress one step further in my preparations. I must say once I get started I spend no less than 30 minutes!

              Today, I am off to a great start and hope to keep the momentum going. All the assignments that need to be returned today have been graded and entered into the grade book. I also have 40 minutes before my TA-related events begin for the day, where I am going to spend reading at least 1 section of an article.

              All the best everyone!

              Reply
  160. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    I am loosing steam, for a good reason. It’s almost quiting time. I finished ALMOST ALL my work for today except for #5 which was to draft my teaching statement, second draft. Billy Blanks kept me in check all day. I slipped up a few times but I didn’t swim around in my sin. I realized what I was doing and I switched gears. Funny thing is my phone doesn’t even work in my office that well so sprint obviously wants me to finish my dissertation. Pandora helped me make it through the day without falling asleep. I made friends with my dissertation today. He’s not mad at me anymore.

    #TEAMGETITDONE did good today.

    I will go home in almost 1 hour and spend some time with Home Sweet Home, she’s not that mad at me because she likes being accomplished and deep down she knows what it takes!! 🙂

    Let’s GOOO!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      Yay to Billy and Homey! They’re starting to work together!

      Reply
      1. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        Great job!

        Reply
  161. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Happy Monday!
    Seems like computers decided to have an mini protest today! I got mine back from OIT today (it has been more than a month) and for a few minutes it would not boot! We got that sorted out thank God. I email was not going to the new exchange server got that addressed as well.
    Things Accomplished today
    1) Attended to home stuff
    2) Had planning meeting with person I am co teaching with in Fall
    3) Submitted draft of chapter 1 to coadvisors
    4) spoke with advisor about look at my literature an commenting on relevance. I was not able to get he in the loop cause she was on her way out but I will.
    5) Spoke with Dr. Parham who reminded me that I have to do with I need to do to get what I need to get.

    Things to do this evening
    Start reading and filling out references sheet from TADA notebook. Goal is to do at least 10 this evening. I don’t have office duties in the AM so I am going to push it.

    I agree with Nikki
    #TEAMGETITDONE did good today.

    Lenisa

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      Awesome awesome awesome! Great pushing, Lenisa – you are definitely for the business. I think I am going to print out your pride response up there. I need to read that over and over again. *sigh* I almost got a little teary eyed, because I understand. But it’s a beautiful thing, this growing we’re all challenging ourselves to do. We will be stronger for it, so bring on the growing pains. 🙂

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Go Lenisa!!

        Reply
  162. Tommy Avatar
    Tommy

    Thanks everyone. I tried to get another cord from our computer center but they did not have one. However, I was not defeated. I was able to send emails to my committee members of my timeline from the computer in my office. It took forever to send them. I have heard from one member. It was very positive. I read some literature to help clarify some statements in my background section. I should complete this tomorrow. My computer is going to work tomorrow!!!!

    Great job in completing your tasks today Alexis, Lenisa, and Nikki.

    Tommy

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      Way to be creative and patient Tommy. By any means necessary!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        That laptop WILL NOT hold Tommy back!! 🙂

        Reply
  163. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Keep up the good work everyone! It’s inspiring to see that you are continuing to work so vigorously. You’re on a roll … keep up the momentum … press on! Kudos to #TEAMGETITDONE

    Reply
  164. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Yay, TEAMGETITDONE!

    Thanks, Dr. Tull. We are fired up! And even when I don’t feel fired up, I’m learning how to fake it til I make it. Usually at some point during the day, the pushing does pay off, so I just have to wait it out and keep my stride.

    I was asking myself this morning if I can work through my revision chopping this week – get all of it done without adding any new citations. Even yesterday I snuck in a new citation, but I DID make myself write “(citation)” in another place so I wouldn’t waste more time. So today I will 1) work more on the chopping/revising, 2) sneak in some stats review, 3) have two brief meetings, and 4) go to Zumba.

    Oh, and this morning I got an idea! I’ve been trying to figure out how to be the most productive on the days that I have to work (Wed – Fri). I will try to arrange to use an empty office at my job and keep my computer there on those days, so when it’s time to show up for my assistantship, all I have to do is walk across the hallway. When it’s time to get off work, I have to get up from my desk and walk back across the hallway and plan or squeeze in any last work before gym time. That way if I’m working late, it’s on the dissertation. I’ll test that out this week.

    The light is green. Let’s go!!

    P.S. Lenisa, isn’t Dr. Parham awesome, too??

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Good Going Alexis! Yes Dr. Parham is awesome, all that and a little more! She is on the #teamgetitdone!!

      Reply
  165. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Good morning everyone,

    I forgot to sign in yesterday. For today I will be working on my problem statement. Dr. Carter looked it over yesterday and provided feedback. Today I’ll make the changes she suggested. I will also read and summarize two articles on micro- level politics from the social psychology perspective.

    Oh, I’m working on the UMBC campus since I find it difficult to work from home. Compared to UMCP, UMBC is closer to where I live.

    Reply
    1. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
      Michelle Beadle-Holder

      I got the books from Dr. Carter and will drop them off today. Lensia, where exactly should I leave them for people to pick up their copies?

      Reply
      1. lenisaj Avatar
        lenisaj

        Michelle I have them (well they are on my desk in the Graduate School. I am next in office on Thursday so I will send out an email to folk then. Happy writing!

        Reply
        1. drwestmoreland Avatar
          drwestmoreland

          Thanks Michelle Beadle-Holder for getting the books for us! 🙂

          Reply
          1. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
            Michelle Beadle-Holder

            You’re welcome Dr. Westmoreland. Thanks Lenisa for holding them and sending out emails. Thanks again Dr. Carter-Veale for giving us the books! Safe journey to your new home!

            Reply
  166. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday,

    I almost got sucked into the black hole that is my apartment this morning, but I busted out before my head hit the pillow again. I’ve been up since 5:30 but I have church on Tuesday mornings so I always get a late start. Since last week was my birthday I had leftovers from my celebration this morning that I needed to drop at my house. Then I had to change my shoes. Then something was wrong with my pants. Then I needed to take the trash. Then that Glamour magazine was calling my name. Then I needed to pack my lunch. Then I heard a voice….it was Billy….he said get out!

    So I did. Here I am.

    Today I will:

    1. Make more edits to my journal paper
    2. Call my advisor at home to talk about the paper
    3. Each lunch for 1 hour
    4. Go to therapy for 1 hour
    5. 1 Hour of writing
    6. More paper edits from phone meeting with my advisor
    7. Workout at Cole Field House
    8. Draft #2 of Teaching Statement
    9. Edit 1 hour writing

    Go Home! 🙂
    Sleep!

    Haha! 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Nice going Nikki

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Thanks LJ, I need to give you a nick name. I like Nisa! Or Nisa J! Or NJ! Or LeLe!!! 🙂

        Reply
        1. lenisaj Avatar
          lenisaj

          Hold up now! I don’t like nicknames because I love my name. If you must, you have permission for LJ only. 🙂

          Reply
          1. drwestmoreland Avatar
            drwestmoreland

            Yes! Thanks LJ 🙂

            Reply
  167. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Way to go Michelle, with working at UMBC and getting out of the house. Nikki, too – I know how tempting it is to try to stay home.

    I’m struggling this afternoon. I did more editing and read more stats, but I really want to push through for a few more minutes before I have to leave. Ugh! Ok, a minute at a time, a sentence at a time…

    Tomorrow is a full assistantship day and there’s lots to do, but I’m going to take my editing over to my job and work beforehand so I can accomplish my daily goals! Tomorrow I want to work through all of section 2 (that’s three sub-sections, depending on how much I get done in the next 15 mins).

    Go, TEAMGETITDONE!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      I was struggling to this afternoon but I’m back at it. I had to take a Keith Olbermann and Scrabble break for about 30 minutes. My advisor called back 3 times so I got thrown all off. Pressing Forward. One task at a time. 🙂

      Reply
  168. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Dissertations written one word at a time Alexis. Just keep going.

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      I was not able to make progress with my dissertation this between noon and three as planned…I lost three hours trying to reach a Comcast tech to help me get my computer on to the wireless system at home. UGH!! shaking my fist!

      Got a call from Dr. Parham, to help me work through being able to get people in the loop. She is so smart. She gave me specific tips/examples of what to say and how to get the face time to share what I need too with my advisors. #Teamgetitdone has an awesome #Teamdoneit to guide us through.

      On campus now full of grace to push through lots to read. I need to get this done like I need to air!

      Lenisa

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        #Teamdoneit! I love it. I would like to induct Dr. Carter, Dr. Tull, Dr. Rutledge, Dr. Davis, and many more in #Teamdoneit.

        When we get through we will cross the burning sands from #Teamgetitdone to #Teamdoneit. I plan to cross May 2012, who’s gonna be my linesister/brother? 🙂

        Who wants a t-shirt??

        Reply
        1. lenisaj Avatar
          lenisaj

          ME ME ME I will be your line sister I want t-shirt!!!!!! I am crossing in 2012!!!!

          Reply
        2. Mari Avatar
          Mari

          LOL… you are so funny!! But I want to be your linesister too!

          Reply
          1. Alexis Williams Avatar
            Alexis Williams

            Me tooooooo!!! I will be a proud #TEAMDONEIT member!

            Reply
            1. drwestmoreland Avatar
              drwestmoreland

              It’s official! We have a line of 4! 🙂 Now back to work. A good dissertation is a done dissertation!!

              Reply
  169. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    It’s 6:30 I have 2 things left before I can go home…PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSHHHHHHHHHHH 🙂

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      The primary purpose of your dissertation is to get you a Ph.D. In other words, the most important goal of a dissertation is for it to be approved. It’s not a test of your dignity, fortitude, man- or womanhood, or even of your intelligence. It’s a requirement for an advanced academic credential.
      Your dissertation is part of your education. It’s not just a goal of your education. You thesis is almost certainly the first project of its magnitude that you’ve attempted, and such things take practice. It takes a while to assimilate a large amount of material and the different perspectives it affords. Lots of foods take time to prepare regardless of the brilliance and/or tirelessness of the cook. So does a dissertation, no matter how energetic the writer.
      http://chronicle.com/article/Its-a-Dissertation-Not-a/128365/

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        thanks for posting this Lenisa good reminder!

        Reply
        1. Alexis Williams Avatar
          Alexis Williams

          Awesome. Thanks, Lenisa.

          Reply
  170. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Alrighty everyone, I am trying to earn my X for the day on my calendar so here is an update:
    8 interviews down which means I finished up the one from yesterday and got the one done for today.
    I also submitted my portion of coded interviews for a paper I am working on with another student…
    Wishing you all a good night and a productive day for tomorrow!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      This is beautiful progress, Maritza!! Keep up the energy and the persistence. 🙂

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Go Maritza!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

        Reply
        1. Mari Avatar
          Mari

          Thanks Niki!

          Reply
      2. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        🙂 Thanks Alexis!

        Reply
  171. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Ok #TeamGetitDone … two questions for you:

    1) If we were able to get tee-shirts with the logo #teamgetitdone in time for SSI, would you want one, and what colors do you suggest? Would this really inspire you? We may consider investing in it if it will make a difference. If you’re interested, we might put #teamgetitdone on the front, and something else on the back like:

    Dissertation House – From A.B.D. to Ph.D.
    PROMISE logo
    http://www.thedissertationhouse.com

    2) If we were able to set up a conference room for you all to work on your dissertations on Friday afternoon and evening at the SSI at the Sheraton Columbia, would that work for you? You would have a hotel room for Friday night. We have “retreat” activities (indoor and outdoor), but if you’d rather work on your dissertations in lieu of participating in the Friday afternoon and evening activities, we can make that happen.

    Let me know about both questions. We’re calculating our costs and planning our SSI investments now. SSI will be held August 19-20. http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/promise-summer-success-institute-ssi/

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Hi Dr. Tull,

      Thank you for your responsiveness to our shenanigans. 🙂
      1) Yes!
      2) Yes!!!! I will try to arrange to work late Thursday so I can get off mid-day on Friday, August 19. I wonder if there will be a very brief activity outdoor that we can use as a study break, or maybe we can just take a 15 minute or half hour break to go and look at what the rest of the participants are doing if they’re nearby..

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Hi Dr. Tull,

        1. YES!!! 🙂 (I might wash it and wear it every week…lol)
        2. YES!!! I was hoping that a *short* DH was going to happen that weekend anyways. I would so rather work on my dissertation with my linesisters. 🙂

        Thanks for thinking of us and helping us in different ways to get to the PhD.

        Nikki

        Reply
        1. lenisaj Avatar
          lenisaj

          Dr. Tull
          1) Yes!! Like Nikki I will wear it every week!
          2) Yes!!! I was praying that that would happen!!

          Thank you…#teamgetitdone is working!!

          Reply
          1. Mari Avatar
            Mari

            Dr. Tull,
            Aww that would be too cute!!!
            1) Yes!!
            2) I too was also hoping for this option!
            Dr. Tull you’re the best, even if it’s late to order the shirt, your willingness to do it means a lot 😉

            Reply
  172. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Hey #TEAMGETITDONE!

    I’m working on quick edits for my section 2 of revisions. Still tired – maybe it’s my allergy medicine – but pushing until it’s time for my job.

    Reply
  173. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    I want to be on #TEAMGETITDONE! I like the idea of the t-shirt and the rooms at the Sheraton. Alexis, there is a trail behind the Sheraton if people want to take a study break on Friday or Saturday and walk around for fresh air (assuming that the weather and time permits walking :))

    Yesterday I successful worked on my problem statement and it’s closer to being finished! Yeah!!! Thanks Dr. Carter for your help on Monday and Tuesday. I will definitely be contacting you through google. Oh, I also read two articles yesterday on micro-politics and will take notes on them today.

    Plan for today:
    I left the house today at 7:30 am to work at UMBC. I have to get back home by 11 am so I have to be focused. I have workers coming in to fix our bathroom today and I wanted to make sure that I have some uninterrupted and quiet time to write. So for, today my goal is to continue to read and take notes on 3 articles micro-level politics. I want to finish the last section of my problem statement by Thursday and these articles will help me reach this goal.

    Happy writing everyone!!!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      Way to plan ahead for the interruption! You’re definitely on #TEAMGETITDONE! 🙂

      I love the trail idea, too. I will be open to that at the institute.

      Keep it going!

      Reply
    2. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Happy Writing Michelle, how much did you get done?

      Reply
  174. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Wednesday!

    I am late signing in. Yesterday I finished everything I planned to do. I didn’t finish until 10:45pm but I am on #TeamGetItDone and that’s what we do. Then I was walking to my car I got chased by a roach on the sidewalk, these Maryland roaches are aggressive! 🙂

    Today I will:

    1. Make minitab do what I want it to do, run a few ANOVA tests
    2. Write for 1 hour
    3. Edit my writing
    4. Meet with my advisor to talk about the paper
    5. Write about power statistics and sprinkle a blurb into my dissertation

    I am going to an event tonight so I have to get my work done so that I can enjoy myself, I have until around 5pm to get to it.

    Nikki

    Reply
  175. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Thanks for the encouragement Alexis and Nikki. While at UMBC this morning, I read one article. It was an overview piece on micro politics so it was quite long. Got some really good references from it!

    Today is a really nice day outside, so I’m sitting on my patio and working outside, that way the workers won’t interrupt me as much while I take notes.

    Now I’m going to free write some of the things that are lingering in my head, such as why I’m selecting my specific research site–making sure that it is relevant to my problem statement. Then I can focus better on taking notes.

    How are you both coming?

    Nikki, the event tonight sounds a good motivator to get things done. Let us know how that worked out.

    Michelle

    Reply
  176. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Today is going well. I did my free writing and did my edits to the paper for my advisor. Funny thing, my advisor went ghost today. She said we were meeting after lunch and I haven’t seen or heard a peep out of her. I sent her the document and the ANOVA that I did in minitab but I really wanted to talk with her, especially about the ANOVA stuff. I guess we can do that tomorrow.

    I spent the last 20 minutes of my writing time outside sitting under a tree. It is a very nice day, the shade spaces are perfect for picnic. I read from “How to Write Alot” by Silvia. It’s really a good book with tips and motivatioal tools for working throught the writing process of anything.

    Since I will be leaving in 1 hour I will write about power statictics and sprinkle that into my dissertation and hopefully have enough time to edit my free writing. I can edit free writing after my event tonight but I don’t want to do it then.

    How goes it Lex? Mari? LJ? 🙂

    Reply
  177. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Done! See ya’l Thursday! 🙂

    Reply
  178. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Wow – way to go Jodian, Michelle, & Nikki – still laughing at the nickname conversation for Lenisa and we’ll probably hear from her, Mari, & Tommy soon. Who are we missing? 😉

    So, Jodian, I struggled and didn’t stick to my strict cutoff time to leave work today. By the time I got back in front of my computer for more editing, I couldn’t keep my eyes open! But they are open now so I’m going to push on with my second section of edits before I leave. I’m glad that things are starting to even out for the grading/teaching balance.

    We can do this! Goooo #TEAMGETITDONE! We are about finishing the business.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ok, this section is longer than I thought, but I made decent progress. Continuing tomorrow morning. A thought for the road:

      Though no one can go back and make a brand new start my friend, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.
      — Carl Bard

      I love this page!
      Read more: http://www.greatday.com/#ixzz1TLXMdqQh

      Reply
  179. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Good evening #Teamgetitdone.
    Last night I did not read as much as I wanted I got thrown a curve ball…it distracted me but did not derail me. I am about finishing the business.
    Last night
    – I managed to read 6 articles
    – I did some mind mapping as well as free writing about some types of research I can do for publication. I got some good ideas of topics I can collect data on quickly in populations to which I have ready access.
    – I also did a 20 minute free writing on a meditation for my blog.

    Today (when I woke up)
    – Attended the last 30 minutes of a farewell function for the Graduate Ombudsperson
    – Communicated with my co advisors on feedback from Chapter 1 waiting for Dr. McLaughlin to finish reading and then we will all meet. Looks like next week and that fits with my schedule!

    THIS EVENING
    – I plan to get at least 15 articles read and onto research outlines. I have to quit about 2 cause I have to work tomorrow. Hoping for more but goal is 15.

    Alexis thank for that post!

    Goooo #TEAMGETITDONE! We are about finishing the business.

    Reply
  180. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Good evening #Teamgetitdone.
    Last night I did not read as much as I wanted I got thrown a curve ball…it distracted me but did not derail me. I am about finishing the business.
    Last night
    – I managed to read 6 articles
    – I did some mind mapping as well as free writing about some types of research I can do for publication. I got some good ideas of topics I can collect data on quickly in populations to which I have ready access.
    – I also did a 20 minute free writing on a meditation for my blog.

    Today (when I woke up)
    – Attended the last 30 minutes of a farewell function for the Graduate Ombudsperson
    – Communicated with my co advisors on feedback from Chapter 1 waiting for Dr. McLaughlin to finish reading and then we will all meet. Looks like next week and that fits with my schedule!

    THIS EVENING
    – I plan to get at least 15 articles read and onto research outlines. I have to quit about 2 cause I have to work tomorrow. Hoping for more but goal is 15.

    Alexis thank for that post!

    Goooo #TEAMGETITDONE! We are about finishing the business.

    Reply
  181. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    SORRY Not so sure why that happened but on to the next thing…my articles…..

    Reply
  182. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Alright, well it’s 2:20 in the morning. Before I started reading this blog, I was getting ready to quit transcribing my interview for the day 4 minutes short because I was tired. But since this is all about finishing business.. I pushed it through…
    I must say that seeing Dr. Tull’s post and everyone else’s encouragement sure made a difference.
    I definitely have to go back– later today to check it, but I got through it.
    Thank you for helping me keep the momentum!
    Buenas noches!

    Reply
  183. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Wow, ladies! Way to burn the midnight oil! I am encouraged to push because of you. Curve balls and exhaustion? Pshaww! You pick up and keep on truckin. 🙂 I’ve got my drink (coffee) and my two step. Let’s go!

    Picking up with section two in Chapter 2, once again. Let’s see if we can make it through the whole thing today.

    The light is green. 0 to 60. *poof, she’s gone*

    Reply
  184. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday,

    Moving Forward.

    I have some things to do here at home that I have been neglecting all week. I plan to skype with my advisor around 12 so that means I have 2 hours to clean up my home life.

    After I meet with the advisor I will go to campus. We can get pretty loud during our meetings so its easier and I feel more respectful to my office mates for me to do it at home.

    I wrote out my goals for the week and I feel really good about where I am. I will be working on Saturday as well this week to get through!!!

    #TEAMGETITDONE

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Sweeet. Billy and Homey are at it again!

      Reply
  185. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Ugghhh, half an hour… Squeeeeeeeze!!!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ahh, well. Still more to do when I start again – so next: 8 more pages of edits in section 2 and then on to the next 3 sections. I can do this, and I noticed a few times today where I caught a work flow. It does get easier, apparently.

      Today’s quote from greatday.com: “You always pass failure on the way to success.” Mickey Rooney

      Reply
  186. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Hi team,
    I am drained and that curve ball bouncing off the walls! Feeling a little battered but I will not defeated. I have quote for today as well
    The secret of success is constancy to purpose. -Benjamin Disraeli
    I will at least read 2 articles.
    Lenisa is about finishing the business.
    #teamgetitdone

    Reply
  187. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    10 down, only 46 to go!!
    I think I will call it a night soon, Nikki… hope you had a good meeting with your advisor, Alexis and LJ (LOL!) thanks for the quotes! Alexis, your energy reminds me I need to get some rest and go to the gym tomorrow… I really need that endorphin production!!!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Maritza! I am still here, but I am pushing through! Mountain Dew is my friend right now. 🙂 Since I am still here and I have an appointment in the morning I may be in later again tomorrow. Momma needs to sleep!

      Reply
  188. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Lex,

    I really like this book “How to Write Alot”, thanks for the suggestion. True to my form I will finish it tomorrow. Thanks. 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
  189. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Good morning, #TEAMGETITDONE!

    Hmm, my computer isn’t loading my user profile correctly (tends to happen from time to time). That might be because it appears someone forgot to turn on the ac in Marie Mount; it is crazy hot and muggy… But I’ll keep trying to get the login to come up, and in the meanwhile I’m using an office computer. Speaking of which, working on my dissertation at my assistantship has gone well this week. I keep my dissertation stuff in a separate room and work before and after I get off. My commute is less than a minute long and don’t have to waste time.

    Maritza, great progress with the transcriptions! Nikki, I’m glad you like the book! Lenisa, keep dodging that curve ball and I hope it loses momentum soon as it bounces along the walls.

    Today is finish section 2 once and for all day. Well, at least these edits (Later I’ll have more edits of a different kind). Please God let one of these computers start working correctly so can keep making progress. Thank you.

    Happy Friday!

    Alexis

    Reply
  190. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Good morning!!!

    Sorry for MIA yesterday, I guess it was one of my 12 minutes days. The 12 minutes turned into about an hour. I have good news, I just got one other person on my committee. Yeah!!

    Plan for today, finish problem statement, update literature review excel spread sheet, revise outline.

    You’re almost there Maritza, keep working at it. Let’s finish the week with a bang everyone!!

    Michelle

    Reply
  191. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Friday….:(

    I burned the midnight oil last night until 3am I was in my office. Then I went home and actually worked for 2 more hours. I had an event this morning at 7am, so needless to say I am running on zero. I came to campus at 12 to meet with my advisor and I am just now getting out of that meeting.

    Good thing is that she gave me to GO AHEAD to submit my paper to the journal!!!! 🙂 That green light gives me the right to edit as much as I see fit and submit. My goal sit to be walking to my car by 5pm.

    #TEAMGETITDONE will be here tomorrow because I still have work to do.

    Nikki 🙂

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Done! I’m Out!

      Reply
      1. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        I hope you get some rest! Keep pushing through!

        Reply
  192. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    This blog is such a great idea! I get a lot of inspiration from you all.

    Keep pushing through Alexis!

    I had my second practice talk today. My fellow grad students asked really great questions and provided great suggestions, however, now I feel overwhelmed and like I don’t know enough.

    For the weekend I plan to read 2-3 papers specific to my methodologies (MD, ITC, Docking) and grade the lab assignments due Monday.

    Happy weekend everyone!

    Reply
  193. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Happy Friday everyone,
    Jodian, I’m glad I’m not the only one working on a friday night..I’m sure you know your stuff, you wouldn’t be where you are if you didn’t! Nikki congrats on getting the green light for your paper submission, that’s awesome!!! Hope everyone else had a productive day. I should finish up another transcript before going to bed. I also just registered to attend summer success institute.
    I will work again tomorrow at stamp with other community of writer members. I will get another transcript done and will code three interviews for the paper I will be co-authoring.
    Buenas noches!

    Reply
  194. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Hi Team, I am working tonight as well. I guess we are making sure to have someone working through out the day. Tonight I continue to go through my literature review spread sheet and research outline. Planning to go unitl 2:30.

    Lenisa

    Reply
  195. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    11 Down!!

    Reply
  196. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Calling it a night. After fixing my computer, I read 6 articles, completed corresponding topic research sheets, and applied for Summer Success Institute. Thanks for the reminder Mari. Maritza pretty soon you will only have 11more!!!

    Reply
  197. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello All

    I made it safely to North Carolina. Thank you for the cards; I appreciate the sentiments and the feedback. As you can see the internet is working in this small town. I had a video chat yesterday via gmail yesterday so that works too!. Teamgetitdone congrats on the work you’ve been doing and save me a T-Shirt if you get them made. Stay in touch via, phone, ichat, email, or even video chat.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Glad you made it Dr. Carter! We miss you. 😦

      Can you send me your gmail?

      Nikki

      Reply
    2. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      That’s great the you made it safely to North Carolina! I think I have seriously been in denial.. Will definitely be in touch… and see I’ve been blogging 😉

      Reply
    3. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Dr. Carter-Veale,
      Thank God you are there safely. Now you need to pack up the shed! Of course I will continue to see North Carolina as a place in Maryland I can drive to… just a little longer drive. I am going stay in denial. We miss you.

      Reply
  198. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Saturday Morning!!

    I just sat down in the office. I have a few things to clean up from yesterday. Then I have 5 authors whom I have already read to sprinkle into my dissertation. I need to re-write/clean up my power statistics set.

    I submitted my paper to the journal yesterday! 🙂

    Before I leave I will set my goals for next week, writing them down so that on Monday I am ready to roll!!!

    Nikki

    Reply
  199. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    I just got done with one, so it’s 12 down!!! Moving on to 13… 😉

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Yeah Maritza, you chopping them down girl!
      You’re smart, you’re smart, S-M-R-T Smart…ah wait…S-M-A-R-T!

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y Williams

        Ha ha ha ha!

        Reply
      2. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        awe.. you still remember…;)

        Reply
  200. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Saturday morning and #Teamgetitdone is focused on finishing the business!

    Today I got feedback from my co adivsors. I was really bummed advisor comment: “I still think this first chapter needs work.” She asked for all three of up to meet after a few emails back and forth we have decided to meet on Thursday. I did not want to open the document to even look at what she said but quickly ‘womanedup’ realizing that that attitude will not get me closer to finishing the business. As I looked at the feedback I realized it was not catastrophic…I can do this and my advisor is an authority in the field.

    Over the weekend today and tomorrow
    I am going to address edits on the first three pages of the document. a) Find citation, b) look for few citations that are more current, c) discuss or overview research or reports that point to countries having policy statements and implementation structures.

    Lenisa is about finishing the business.

    Goooo #teamgetitdone.

    Reply
  201. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Saturday morning and #Teamgetitdone is focused on finishing the business!

    Today I got feedback from my co adivsors. I was really bummed advisor A: “I still think this first chapter needs work.” Advisor B: “this needs to be focused some more.” They both requested that we meet to discuss how I should proceed. After a few emails back and forth we have decided to meet on Thursday. I did not want to open the documents to even look at what was said on the draft, but quickly ‘womanedup’ realizing that attitude will not get me closer to finishing the business. As I looked at the feedback I realized it was not catastrophic…I can do this and my advisors are well know and authorities in the field.

    Over the weekend today and tomorrow
    I am going to address edits on the first three pages of the document. a) Find citation, b) look for few citations that are more current, c) discuss or overview research or reports that point to countries having policy statements and implementation structures.

    Lenisa is about finishing the business.

    Goooo #teamgetitdone.

    Reply
  202. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    At least this double posting does not happen every time.

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      ok… 14 down…

      Reply
  203. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday,

    So this weekend did not go as planned. I was not as strong as I thought. My body completely gave out on my Saturday afternoon. I did a few things but some things will be moved to this week. No time to wallow. Next.

    Today I will:

    1. Finish 1 book
    2. Write for 1 hour
    3. Edit my writing
    4. Add Jami Shah to my dissertation
    5. Draft #2 of my research statement

    Let’s gooooooo!!

    #TEAMGETITDONE

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      1,2,3,and 5 done. 4 is trying to run away because I am getting sleepy but I will not be defeated!!! 🙂 PUUUUUUUUUUSH.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        DONE DONE DONE DONE!!! !

        Reply
  204. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Ok, I am encouraged yet again reading about all of the things that you folks have been doing over the weekend. Great progress, getting oks for pubs, committee members – even feedback to make changes is still progress, lenisaj! Now you know what direction NOT to go in, so you won’t waste time that might have been wasted otherwise. I saw a sign – no, really – in front of a church this morning that reads, “Don’t give up. You’re closer than you think.” Awwwww, yeah.

    I’m also encouraged because I got even more confirmation that “No one is perfectly strong.” I was feeling weak this weekend after I let my computer issues/curve balls discourage me. But, Nikki and Lenisa (I think L also had computer issues), I know how you feel when you say things didn’t go exactly as you planned them. But I repeat after Nikki, “No time to wallow” because that’s just believing the lie that we can’t make more progress. Yes we can!

    Today: I’m reviewing my stats and editing my chapter. Part 2 will go down in the books as amazing (even though I have to retype part of it that I lost on Friday because my computer didn’t feel like saving it).

    There is so much potential in my now. I will go discover it.

    Dr. Smackdown

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Go Dr. Smackdown! I finished. I’m out. The #hailfail was funny. Hope your car is okay. I’m leaving before the sun goes down today so I won’t get chased down by these #umdroaches that come out at night. 🙂

      Reply
      1. drwendycarter Avatar
        drwendycarter

        The information for The Proposal Cookbook is as follows:

        MicroFutures, Inc.

        671 21st St. NW, Naples, Fl 34120

        Telephone – 239-455-7508

        Email – kjfmicro@aol.com

        Reply
      2. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Oops, missed this one – my car, Taye, is fine! 🙂 LOL at the roaches, though!!

        Reply
  205. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    I forgot to post this morning! I reviewed statistics this morning and I’m working on staying awake this afternoon. I want to finish up my sections during the first half of August, so I have to push like Nikki did yesterday! Time for tea and instrumental music to get me to 6pm!

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      It’s afternoon are you still awake??? Remember what Dr. Collins say if you going to work against your tendencies the rewards have to go Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up and the tasks have to be easy.

      Reply
      1. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Hi Dr. Carter-Veale! I got some tea (caffeinated!) and turned on some thinking music and still wasn’t making much progress on my writing. So I put it aside for a few minutes and finished “How to Write a Lot” – I was procrastinating on the last few pages. Here’s what it says at the end:
        “When I think of the good things still to be written I am glad,” wrote Williams Saroyan, “for there is no end to them, and I know I myself shall write some of them” (Saroyan, 1952, p. 2).

        …I can write a few more minutes… 🙂

        Reply
  206. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Happy Tuesday evening!
    Alexis I love it…
    “When I think of the good things still to be written I am glad,” wrote Williams Saroyan, “for there is no end to them, and I know I myself shall write some of them” (Saroyan, 1952, p. 2).
    Going to print and paste someplace where I can see it often.

    I have been at it since 5 but forgot to post…
    I am working on those edits, preparing for my meeting on Thursday. Not feeling great but #teamgetitdone knows how to PUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH because we are about finishing the business. I”ll call time about 9:30 and headout. Happy working!

    We are missing a few cousins!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      When I read that quote in the book I had the biggest smile on my face! I loved that little book and it’s such a fast read. I recommend it for all.

      🙂

      Reply
  207. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Good evening ladies… I just pushed through 15… and I got to enjoy Zumba this evening (with Alexis;) — Zumba really helped! Tomorrow I will work a full day, code at least 1 interview and transcribe #16!!… Since I am done earlier than usual for the day, I will go to sleep, yay!!
    Buenas noches!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Oh beautiful for early sleep! Great persistence!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Yay Maritza!

        Reply
    2. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Maritza #16 good for you. Are you keeping a pace of 1 per day?

      Reply
  208. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Yeah, Lenisa, where are our cousins? We’re missing part of our team – right now we’re #TEAMGETIT.

    Oops, I put an “S” at the end of William in that Saroyan quote (I guess I’m used to typing my last name…) 🙂 I’m glad you like that quote. It changes my focus to just writing something good and making a simple contribution rather than writing the most spectacular masterpiece out there.

    I am working on editing my Chapter 2 sections before my assistantship. I want to get a first run-through of the changes by Friday so I can get all of the final edits by Tuesday.

    PUUUUUSH!!! Ziff woff wiff woff, puuuush, puuuush! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYR9xX6DvpM (start at 4:57 for now, reward with the whole video after a nice writing session later – it’s actually a great metaphor for the dissertation process, esp. the intellectual thing, ha ha ha).

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      This little piggy was on the road yesterday, I’m back. 🙂 LJ, where are you?

      Nikki

      Reply
      1. lenisaj Avatar
        lenisaj

        Nikki I was sleeping had a tough evening. So took a nap. I am at office now and ready to work!

        Reply
  209. Stacey Brown Avatar
    Stacey Brown

    My name is Stacey Brown and I am a doctoral candidate in the College Student Personnel Program. I work full time in the University Career Center, so I have been in my doctoral program for a while. Thank you to Alexis Williams and Janet Awokoya for encouraging me to join this group! My research topic for my dissertation is on factors that contribute to the college preparation process for high-achieving, middle-class African American students (still looking for a couple of more students, so let me know if you know of any students who may be interested). My goal for the summer is to complete data collection and to begin data analysis, and I am working diligently on that goal. I have completed and transcribed nine interviews and I have a focus group scheduled for this month. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for qualitative software to use to code data. I have used Nvivo in the past and others have recommended Atlas. Does anyone have a preference for these two programs? My goal by the end of August is to have all interviews and the focus group complete and transcribed, so that I can begin working intensely on Chapters 4 and 5.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Hi Stacey!

      I’m glad you made it over to the blog! Can you tell me what age group of students you’re looking for? Keep checking in even when it seems like no one else is posting – eventually someone will respond and ask about your progress, esp. the mentors/coaches. 🙂

      Alexis

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Hi Stacey,

        Welcome Welcome Welcome! Keep checking in and we will all get through this together.

        Let’s go! 🙂

        Nikki

        Reply
    2. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Hello Stacey

      Welcome to The Dissertation House Blog Summer 2011. I am the Dissertation Coach on line . Sounds like you are using a convenience sample for your dissertation and working with qualitative data. Good to see that you have a plan for the summer. I see that you are also working full-time. Glad you were able to join us. We in the DH believe in doing something everyday no matter how small that moves your dissertation toward the finish line. I wish you all the best. Keep blogging because it lets you know you are not doing this alone. I have no answer for you about qualitative data; I am a quantitative methodologist.

      Dr. Carter-Veale

      Reply
    3. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Welcome Stacy! Keep checking in we will all get this done!

      Reply
    4. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      Welcome Stacey! I have heard good things about both nvivo and atlas but have never really had any experience with either. If you were able to work with nvivo I think you should use that– did your advisor recommend either?

      Reply
  210. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Well, today didn’t fly by at the assistantship, but it didn’t drag either.. I’m back to work on Chapter 2 for a bit before I go do upper body at the gym. I finished section 2 and am working on section 3 – chopping up/cutting down/spinning all around! Green light, go!

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      glad you were getting your 30 min workout in! 😉

      Reply
      1. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Yeah! It was tough getting myself to walk into the gym, but I was dancing on my way out. It’s like that, isn’t it…. I will apply that to my dissertation – push through and dance my way out when I’m done!!

        Reply
  211. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hey All,

    I am collecting data in Southern Maryland. I am just finishing for the day. When I get back to the hotel from dinner I need to do my 1 hour writing and read part of a book. I am tired but this has been an exciting day.

    Dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then writing!

    #TeamGetItDone

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Finished!! I did my writing goals and read some (few pages) of my book for the week. So sleepy….goodnight 🙂

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        congrats Niki!!!

        Reply
      2. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Eeeexcelllllent (taps fingers together slowly). I’m sure the sleep felt that much better after getting something done.

        Reply
  212. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Hello everyone!
    16 interviews down and coded three interviews! I also learned about the official call for paper submissions for the CIES conference, so I need to include that in my things to do list. Tomorrow will be another very productive day, for now… to sleep.
    Buenas noches!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Awesome!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Good for you Maritza! 🙂 Yes, sleep was great last night like it was in kindergarten.

        Reply
  213. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Hello my lovely #TEAMGETITDONE!
    Here’s to another green light kinda day! I’m trying to power buzz saw through this chopping by tomorrow. I have a deadline and I will meet it! So exciting.

    “Fortune sides with him who dares,” said Virgil. Let’s dare!
    _____________________________________________________
    Success is not a matter of having everything go your way. Success comes from choosing to find the value in whatever way things go.

    Read more: http://www.greatday.com/#ixzz1U3mrCYj6

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      I dar to dissertate! 🙂 (to talk at length about a formal topic)

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        dar….lol that should have been dare! 🙂

        Reply
  214. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    I am back in my office. Exhausted. Just came to drop stuff off and then home. I will take a nap. When I wake up I will write and read for about 2 hours. See you all soon! PUSH!! I might stop at Rita’s…:)

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      You know? I still haven’t been to Rita’s, but I know the line is usually out the door.. That will be a nice treat for your dissertation efforts!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        I skipped Rita’s because I was exhausted. I still am tired but I’m working it out.

        Reply
  215. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    I had my meeting with my advisor’s today. I’ve been at the library reading some research to fill holes.

    Dr. Carter, I am pleased to report that I “got them in the loop.” I will contact you shortly to share the plan and hear your thoughts.

    I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Sheri Parks, today at a function. She reminded me that getting a Ph.D. requires persistence and that I should not be afraid to “show who I is”. And lots more wisdom and inspiration.
    I am Lenisa and I am in this to finish the business!

    #teamgetitdone

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Wasn’t Dr. Parks awesome? And it was refreshing to hear Tamara’s advisor stories. 🙂 Way to go with YOUR advisors, Lenisa! I loved hearing your report of talking thru things with them and feeling good coming out of the meeting. We are going to finish the business!!

      Reply
  216. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    You know… reading your comments always brings a smile to my face! (saying this like I’ve been on this blog for so long! LOL) Anyway, I am down 17, I also took an hour to join a webinar on ELLs that Dora heard about, it was great. I got a few articles to read from it, retrieved them from the library and will be on my things to do for this weekend.
    Good night ladies!!!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Another “amazing” – you are marching it down the field, as I say in football. Keep a steady pace and you will finish, Maritza!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Go Maritza!!!

        Reply
  217. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    “Live with intention and positive ambition, but not with obsession. Make achievement a joy rather than a job.”
    Read this!!: http://www.greatday.com/#ixzz1U9eOmxPu

    I was just thinking how I flopped a little this morning – I tried to get up *extra* early and ended up oversleeping! Lol. I’m trying to push toward this self-imposed deadline to have all of my chopping done so I can work on revisions over the weekend, Monday, and Tuesday. But it looks like I was trying to expect too much and my body rebelled. But eventually I remembered that “only the present has potential” and got up, got dressed, and got out – now I’m ready to pick up from where I am. “God dwells in me as me” – I don’t have to be anyone else, I can be myself, imperfections and all, and do good work in the present.

    Green light, GOOOOO #TEAMGETITDONE!

    Reply
  218. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Teamgetitdone

    It’s Friday and another opportunity to work on your dissertation. Is today going to be a 15 minute day or 30, 45, or 1hour day? How much time will you spend working on your dissertation? What will you work on today; do you have a list? What can you cross off your list today?

    Alexis I work up early this morning as well. My husband’s family drove here from Boston to celebrate a family event. I really liked what you said about being in the present.
    Maritza any more interviews coded?
    Tommy what’s going on, is the vacation over?

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      Hi Dr. Carter-Veale, Hi family!
      I’m going to take some time to work after I get out of my assistantship and before I meet up with some friends during my designated friend time! This is actually a huge victory for me because I’ve been working hard all week, but even though I really wanted to hang out, I didn’t budge when my friends tried to get me to meet up with them during non-designated time yesterday. I just kept saying “I can’t do Thursday. I can do Friday between 5 and 7.” Eventually everyone ended up choosing …Friday between 5 and 7! And this is one of those “exceptional” cases because it’s a friend who’s never in town, yadda yadda (those exceptions seem to happen every weekend). SO exciting.

      I will update later with my weekend progress!

      Reply
    2. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      Dr. Carter-Veale!
      Ofcourse you would catch me the day I didn’t post… well I haven’t posted all weekend… BUT I’m down with 20 transcripts… and 1 includes a parent interview in Spanish, which is definitely going to take me a little longer but… I’m working through one by one as planned.
      My best friend’s parents are out of town and they left me keys and security code to their place so I’m excited to have somewhere to work! (temporarily but very much needed and appreciated– it’s practically across the street and a clock away from my house!!). Ok, time for some sleep. Glad to see everyone is being productive!
      Hope you are settling well in NC Dr. Carter-Veale 😉

      Reply
  219. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hello All, 🙂

    Who’s out there working on their dissertation this glorious Saturday? 🙂

    I hope all is well in dissertation land and that the wheels of progress are constantly turning. This week I collected data from the US Navy down in Southern Maryland. I wanted to see what professional engineering documentation looks like and compare with the documentation that I get from my students. This was sort of a fishing expedition because my advisor and I didn’t know what we were going to be able to get. We came back with a good chunk of information and some files to start looking over.

    Next week I plan to start analyzing the documents which means I have to read them all first. I am excited because I want to know what I will find. 🙂

    I failed yesterday like your morning was Alexis. I did meet with my advisor on Friday but that was the only productive thing I did with my life. I went to see Planet of the Apes with my girlfriends last night when I should have been sleep. This morning I rode my bike through Rock Creek Park and it was great to clear my head, forgive myself, focus on my achievments, look ahead and press towards the mark of my dissertation.

    I have been doing well with the writing sessions that I schedule each week. I have not been doing them when I scheduled them but they have been getting done during the day. That is something from DH that I hope to keep with me.

    Today I did some writing already and I plan to do some reading before the day is done.

    GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN! 🙂

    #TeamGetItDone!!

    🙂 Nikki 🙂

    Reply
  220. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Yeah, Nikki, that bike ride sounds like it was right on time. And way to get out and spend quality time with your friends and then get back in stride. Work may not always happen when or the way we intend, but as long as we keep coming back, forgiving ourselves, and finding positive ways to renew our resolve and persistence (right Lenisa?), we will finish the business.

    Today I had football – practice and two games. We almost won both games and got into the playoffs, but now it’s pretty iffy. Even though my body is a little worse for the wear, I did make some good plays and get some good exercise with no major pain/injuries. Despite the fact that some guys like to run through women, but whatevs.

    I’m working on my chopping before bed. Good day. Tomorrow will be a good day, too.

    Work, work, work, Senora!

    Reply
  221. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Good morning everyone! I’m checking in with you before I go to church on this beautiful Sunday morning. It sounds like you are all working, getting in some friend time and getting in some fitness time. Since many of you have services or some rest time today, I’d like to suggest that you take some “leisure” time to reassess your goals today. Look at your long-term goals (getting things done for graduation), then structure your goals for the week, and finally, decide what you will do today. Whether it’s for a few hours after services and a nap, or whether you’re planning to put in several hours.

    Plan to get something concrete done today that will make you feel that you’ve made an accomplishment. Maritza, maybe it will be to finish 50% of one of your transcriptions … today. Nikki, perhaps you can completely organize your Navy data and scan through all of the documents as you make a schedule for reading and analyzing them that fits into this coming week’s dissertation writing schedule. Alexis and Lenisa, I’d like for you to outline a specific plan for what you want to accomplish this week, and post your plans here. Everyone, this week, be sure that your reassessment plans include more than just “Work on the dissertation.” I’d like to see the following statement from each of you: “By the end of the week, I will have finished ________ . ” I’m challenging you this week … you are “#TeamGetItDone!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Yay, #TEAMGETITDONE,

      I am working briefly this morning before church (woohoo for me, not at all typical), and I’m glad I checked in. Dr. Tull, I think I was reluctant to post exactly my specific plan because it’s taking longer than I wanted. My plan is to finish chapter 2 revisions this week. I’m not sure if I will have everything done on it by Friday, though. I’ve been chopping, rearranging, and clarifying this past two weeks, but afterward I will need to go back and add in some missing discussion and references. One week seems like a lot to do all that, AND fit in some more statistical review.

      Just thinking this through and posing the challenge to myself. I will probably come up with a creative solution soon. This evening I will come back and work some more.

      Reply
      1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
        Renetta Garrison Tull

        Hi Alexis! Chapter 2 revisions seems reasonable. I recommend adding the missing sections first, then chop, rearrange, and clarify. If you edit before adding, you’ll end up editing again based on the new information. Think of the chapter like a cake. You mix up all of the ingredients first, then you bake your cake layers. Then you ice them one at a time, then you put them on tiers and finally decorate the whole thing.

        Reply
  222. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    So it’s about a day before the big day! My proposal/candidacy exam is on Tuesday.

    I have submitted the written document and have practiced the presentation in front of 4-5 different audiences. I have been trying to review pertinent information about my research methods and the biology of the biological system I’m using in my study. I’m also trying to review keep course concepts.

    Feel like there just isn’t enough time….

    Trying to stay calm and reminding myself that it is not expected that I know everything. I have to get all my studying done tonight, as I TA the entire day tomorrow and I want to turn in early so that I can be somewhat rested for the exam.

    I am ready to be done with this step of the process! My prayer is that all the hours of reading articles/books/internet, meeting with students who are experts in methods that I want to use, and preparing will pay off….

    I hope my nerves will not get the best of me….

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Best wishes Jodian! I’m in the office today and would be happy to hear you go through your presentation again. If you can get a room and projector, just let me know where to go. I’m available between 11:30 and 1:30. (Do you have a lunch break between TA sessions?) If you can’t find a projector, I can just listen to you do it from your laptop. Perhaps we can go to the room where you will be presenting tomorrow. I’d like to go through some tips with you.

      Reply
      1. lenisaj Avatar
        lenisaj

        Jodian,
        EXCELLENT! Congratulations on submitting your proposal and getting ready for the presentation. Practice makes perfect and we believe that all we are doing pays off. Go see Dr. Tull, it is so great that she is available and able to listen and go through tips! Pray,commit everything to the Lord including those nerves and have a fabulous presentation. Success is yours.
        Lenisa

        Reply
        1. Alexis Williams Avatar
          Alexis Williams

          What Lenisa said. Jodian, your committee doesn’t expect you to know everything. You have done so much to prepare yourself and when they ask you to defend your decisions and goals, you will do so. Getting good rest will help that.

          Good luck, sending prayers and warm thoughts your way!

          Alexis

          Reply
          1. drwestmoreland Avatar
            drwestmoreland

            I agree with everyone, my biggest angst was also the fact that I thought my committee would expect me to already be the expert. They don’t. They know your just a graduate student. Think on these things.

            God Bless!

            Nikki

            Reply
  223. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hello All,

    Thanks Dr. Tull for that push, I need to go back to being more specific. I was lingering over on the general side of things. My nap ended up being longer than I thought yesterday but I think it was because I really pushed it Saturday during my exercise.

    I rode my bike in this morning and I will ride home this afternoon so there is my exercise for the day and the air is fresh and crisp outside, just what I needed.

    I will outline (specifically) my goals for this week and repost back in a while.

    Happy Monday!

    Nikki 😉

    Reply
  224. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Good Monday Morning everyone,
    Dr. Tull thank you for the challenge. I have 30 hours this week to work on finishing the business. By the end of the week, I will have finished the following

    a VERY detailed outline of Chapter one as per instructions from my co advisors
    read the World Bank report on disabilities international
    searched for international research on implementation of education policies and /or programmes
    Create time lines for completing and submitting proposals for CIES and AECI conferences
    Create time line for completing and submitting applications for three dissertation research grants

    As regards Chapter 1 that I am still working on….:( My co advisors recommended looking at more international literature to make a case for what I want to study. In addition, I need to include a few more sections that highlight the need for focusing on developing countries.

    Now I am scared because I told the world. But I am a line member in #TeamGetItDone so I will get it done.
    Very Committed to finishing this business.

    GOOOOO #TEAMGETITDONE

    Reply
  225. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Yes, thanks Dr. Tull for this push to put our goals out there, and everyone else for sharing your goals. It’s scary, right? 🙂

    So I am doing a mental interval workout today, trying to work through this chapter 2. By Tuesday evening I want to have finished all of the editing, and by Friday I want to have refined the sections with any additions/citations that were missing.

    Dr. Tull, the reason why I’m editing first is that most of what I need is already there – I just don’t remember which sections I’ve already covered and what still needs to be supplemented until I read and edit. The additions are small sections where I have been putting notes to “add citation” or “back up with more sources,” but I can’t add them without doing this rearranging/editing/topic sentencing first, since that is what’s helping me understand what additional material is still needed in the first place. I think that explains it better; if you still think I should do it a different way, please let me know because I’m not really good at this.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ok, progress.. Ugh… Ok, gym, then some more editing before bed. I think I’ll try to do all my remaining topic sentences first, new strategy…

      Reply
  226. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    By the end of the week, I will have finished:
    1. Making changes to my dissertation that include journal paper updates
    2. NAVY Documents (download, convert to pds, review project 2 files, make a spreadsheet with cognitive terms
    3. Meet with my advisor
    4. Writing goals (3-1 hour sessions)
    5. Read cognition paper from university of michigan
    6. Read number book
    7. Answer 6 questions from my proposal comments and update my dissertation

    Let’s gooooooooooooo!

    All lights are green but now I’m hungry. 🙂 I need a snack.

    Back to work.

    Nikki

    Reply
  227. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Good evening:
    My goals for today (8 to 11pm)

    draft a sketch of the story I want to tell in chapter 1 using topic sentences for paragraphs
    Highlight existing sentences in document and insert new topic sentences in appropriate positions as a holder
    Read first Chapter -20 pages- in the World Bank Disability Report

    Reply
  228. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Dr. Tull, well, I had a wedding to attend on Sunday so I took the day off, but trasncribed two saturday to make up for it. By the end of the week, I will have finished 5 more transcriptions– hmmm, 3 spanish (parent), 2 English (teachers).

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Maritza
      Good for you for making up for that last day in order to stay on schedule. See aren’t you glad I twisted your arm to start working on these transcriptions…keep up the good work. Keep the count going.

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        🙂 Indeed Dr. Carter!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        Reply
  229. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Go ladies! It seems easier to organize myself around life events nowadays, now that I’m forcing my days to be more consistent, saying no to interruptions. Well, slightly easier. 🙂

    I am at the library sitting in an open space. I’m ready to work. If I finish Chapter 2 this week, I made a deal with myself to go to one of the days of an upcoming bachata congress. I might be too exhausted to go, but I’ll be happy even if I sleep through it. 🙂

    Happy day!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ok, I got through my edits and needed to enter the written comments into my computer document. I struggled to get everything entered this afternoon, but after Zumba I talked to Maritza about how excited I would be to get to attend the bachata congress this weekend. She encouraged me to try to push through and do a little more work, so I turned my computer on when I moved my stuff over to my assistantship in prep for tomorrow morning.

      I got through all the written comments and made notes for where to start tomorrow! So exciting. I might get to this congress after all!

      Big push = big reward!!!

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        YAY!!!!! I’m glad, I had faith you would!!!!

        Reply
        1. Alexis Williams Avatar
          Alexis Williams

          Thank you, Maritza! It was just what I needed! 🙂

          Reply
  230. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Good Morning Ladies

    Giving a big shout out to Lenisa, Nikki, Alexis, Maritza and Jodian. it’s Tuesday, Teamgetitdone keep up the good work habits.

    Ladies, you can always video chat me using gmail and my umbc email address. We at UMBC have moved to gmail but our extension is the same @umbc.edu.

    Jodian go into your defense with confidence, make sure your body language says the same thing. Wear the outfit that you feel most intelligent in and be sure to breathe in between questions. Keep in mind that you know more than you think you know. Let us know how it goes.

    Dr. Carter-Veale

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Yay! Dr. Carter-Veale, I don’t have video on my computer, but I think I have a mic built in. Haven’t used it yet so will have to try it out one of these days.

      We’re working hard to work hard! 🙂

      Reply
  231. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Tactical Tuesday!
    Thank you for the shout out Dr. Carter-Veale! :-). I accomplished my goals for last night!
    My goals for this evening 8pm -10pm if I can make it make be I will go till 11.
    1. Read the Education chapter of the World Report on Disabilities. (28 pages)
    2. Review the reference lists for Global Picture Chapter (read last night) and Education Chapter chapter and highlight studies on implementation of inclusion policy or programme.
    3. Review spreadsheet of references, cross checking for paper/reports or studies that are not included.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      You can do it! Puuuuush! 🙂

      Reply
  232. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Well I’m 21 transcripts down…. I got through transcribing one of the shortest interviews in spanish today, definitely one of my most difficult interviews. It was like pulling teeth, but very important nonetheless. Tomorrow I’m heading to the Department of Ed for a public meeting on Assessments and ELLs and since I’ll be done earlier than I usually get out of work, I will push to transcribe one of the longer parent interviews.
    Have a good night ladies!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Goodnight Maritza!

      Reply
    2. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      This sounds like a good plan, and the meeting sounds really interesting! By the end of today you’ll have a long interview out of the way!

      Reply
    3. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Excellent Mari!

      Reply
  233. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Twas The Night Before Wednesday

    So far I am doing well but I need to keep the momentum going. I read the first 8 out of 101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life. I would recommend reading this book for motivation throughout the day you can read a story in like 2 minutes, no really you can. Since we are all under lots and lots of pressure I thought this little story was on poin: “No matter how hard you squeeze a grapefuit, you can’t get apple juice. Squeeze a grapefruit with varying degrees of pressure and from a variety of angles, and you can only get out what is already in there; grapefruit juice. People are the same way: No matter how much pressure we are under, only what is already in us can come out of us.”

    So to that I say fill yourself with LOVE! Love yourself enough to make mistakes and “press on”. Love the people who are in your inner circle with an undeniable love. Fill yourself with sweetness and sweetness will come out no matter how much pressure you are under.

    Today I drove so I thought I was going to be able to run the stairs at Cole Field House but I got there too late and the building was already closed. Anyways I didn’t let that deter me, I know that I work best when I get some type of physical exercise daily and I prefer that it be done outside. So I hobbled on over to the track and ran/walked 2 miles. I got back to my office and felt refreshed and ready for round 2.

    I also went to the counseling center today for my weekly appointment. I would urge anyone having and issued or under any type of stress to go to the counseling center. Anyways that is always a great experience and I always leave feeling that “weight” is gone. Everythings gonna be alright.

    So far this week I have:
    1. Made changes to my dissertation that include the journal paper updates
    2. Uploaded and converted the Navy docs to pdfs and backed them up
    3. Read the cognition paper from University of michigan
    4. Had 2 writing sessions (1 hour each)

    I have a meeting scheduled with my advisor Thursday. Tomorrow I will be tempted to work from home because it is late now and I am still in my office and I need to do some grocery shopping in the morning which means I need to stop back by the house to drop the groceries off. I will carry my book that I need to finish home and I know I can always do a writing session at home. We’ll see, I will check in the morning with my progress.

    “Happy Dissertations To All, And To All a Good-Night”

    Nikki 🙂

    PS: This was a long post

    PSS: What is pss for?

    PSSS: We are gonna #getitdone 🙂

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Nikki, I loved your long post! I felt the love and your determination, and it was poetic and hilarious to beat all.

      I definitely agree with the counseling. Even some of the things that have popped up over the past couple weeks, though not necessarily life-changing, might still have been unbearable if I didn’t have that counseling appointment on my calendar each week…

      Keep on #gettingitdone!

      Reply
    2. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      I missed this earlier… but thank you Nikki! I appreciate this post. Sending you a cyber hug 😉

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Thanks Maritza! cyber hug felt! 🙂

        Reply
  234. Dissertation House 12 Hour Marathon Session Comes to PROMISE SSI | The Dissertation House Avatar
    Dissertation House 12 Hour Marathon Session Comes to PROMISE SSI | The Dissertation House

    […] to content HomeAboutAlumniApplyArticlesBlog – Online ChallengeSummer 2010 ChallengeSummer 2011 ChallengeWinter 2011 ChallengeCoaching and MentoringDr. Wendy Y. CarterDr. Renetta […]

    Reply
  235. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    It’s official, though not yet on the agenda:

    Dissertation House 12 Hour Marathon Session Comes to PROMISE SSI

    Attire for Friday: Casual. We’re ordering the tee-shirts and will plan to hand them out when you register on Friday morning. I’d be so pleased if you would wear them. To prepare for this, wear an outfit that is conducive to wearing a tee-shirt. Arrive by 8:00 AM on Friday, August 19, so that you can register, get your shirts and change.

    I’ll keep you posted.

    #TeamGetItDone

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Ok it is 3 o’clock and I have to be in the office for 8:30 well maybe 9:00 ish. I met the objectives for the night but when packing up saw that I scheduled to have the very detailed out line completed August 10 (my deadline) yeah that’s today!!!!. The date to send it to them is Aug 15 (their request).
      So I worked on it will continue tomorrow wait this evening 7-10.
      Good Morning ALL!

      Reply
    2. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      WOW this is EXCELLENT! WONDERFUL! SUPER! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

      Everyone leaving from College Park we have transportation chartered. I will send an email for people to register soon. The bus will leave at 7:15 am.

      Reply
    3. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      This. Sounds. So. Awesome. Thank you, Dr. Tull!

      Reply
    4. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      Aww.. thank you Dr. Tull!!

      Reply
    5. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Dr. Tull Please save me a T-Shirt. I am available on line if anyone wants to video chat with me during the Marathon on Friday 12-2

      Dr. Carter-Veale

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Hi Dr. Carter-Veale! Thanks Dr. Tull that sounds great!!

        Reply
  236. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Ok, topic sentences, here I come! Reassessing the organization for fit with my original plan, and adding in missing sources/citations afterward.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Got two hours and some topic sentences! Reorganizing according to the plan and adding sources!

      Reply
  237. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Very tired tonight so I just poured through references from that World Bank Document highlighting those relevant to my study. Searched and found 13 references did not count how many in total to be found. Wish I could sleep on them like a pillow and know what each said but that’s not the case so I start reading again tomorrow.
    Right now in my best Winnie the Pooh voice: I am going to head home for a nap or two

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Man, osmosis would be so nice for learning, wouldn’t it… I hope your nap (or two) was restful, Pooh!

      Reply
  238. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    I’m still working on interview #22!! ;( Have I mentioned people speak a lot faster in Spanish!!!!!!!!!!!! sheeeeeshhhh even with the slow speed function!!! I went through and typed as much as I could, but have to clean it up. I don’t think I will be able to finish it tonight but I will continue working on it tomorrow and to balance it out, get the shortest teacher interview.

    The event at the dept of ed was great!! have to add following up with two professors on the expert panel working on ELLs to my things to do list.

    Alrighty, I will try to work a little longer and call it a night.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Yay, Maritza! You are taking the time to do meaningful things. Yay for experts to keep in touch with. And even though you didn’t finish the whole interview, listen to the church billboard I pass on Riggs every day: “Hold on, it’s closer than you think.” 🙂

      Reply
  239. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Still reorganizing! I printed out the document and I am making notes for where the portions that are misplaced should go. Then I will match up the electronic document and then read over the whole thing.
    Green light, go, #teamgetitdone!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Reorganization notes done, next to put the pieces in the right place in the document and read over, making the last additions where they are missing.

      Reply
  240. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    So it’s Thursday……

    and I am pleased to announce that I passed my candidacy exam!!!!!!!

    First, I apologize to Dr Tull for not being able to take up your offer, but on Monday I ended up with only a 30minute break at 12noon – 12:30pm and I spent it having lunch.

    Second, I just want to thank Drs Carter and Tull and all you fine ladies for the encouragement and support! I truly feel blessed for all the strong women who have been sharing their stories and offering up great advice to me.

    I hope that some day real soon I will be able to meet you fine ladies: Alexis, Lenisa and Nikki. It’s just been inspiring to hear about the reality of the grad school journey on daily basis and to know that I’m not the only one with problems……”misery do love company”!

    Have a truly fantastic day everyone!

    P. S. – On to the next stage: MORE WORK & WORKING EVEN HARDER! 🙂

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Jodian,
      You Passed….Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your prayers and hard work have been rewarded!!!

      Now on to the dissertation. Remember a good dissertation is a done dissertation.

      On to the next stage.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Go Jodian! Go Jodian! It’s cha birthday! Let’s Celebrate! 🙂 All the never-ending congratulations to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) The truth is I always knew you were going to pass, just waiting to hear the news! Grad school can be the loniest place on earth, unless you arrange your environment otherwise. That’s what PROMISE does for us and this blog lets us know that we are not alone. I now come in the morning looking forward to seeing what my ‘line sisters” have accomplished the day before and what they are pushing through to work on. I can pray specifically for the needs they have each and every day. I am very grateful and I know that the other ladies are s well.

        You Did It! 🙂

        PRESS FORWARD!!

        Nikki

        Reply
        1. Jodian Avatar
          Jodian

          Thanks a lot Nikki! Be encouraged! 🙂

          Now it’s on to the dissertation!

          Have a great weekend!

          Reply
      2. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        Thanks Dr Carter! You inspire me! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      Soooo Soooo Sooo Soooo AWESOME!!!! Congratulations, Jodian!!!! Give yourself a big reward for this result of your efforts (that isn’t stopping writing, don’t lose the habit – lol)! You can do this!

      Reply
      1. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        Thanks a lot Alexis!

        I am focused on getting my TA work done. But, simultaneously I’m thinking about working in the suggestions my committee made regarding my research questions/goals.

        My goal is definitely to keep working.

        Keep pushing through! Have a great weekend!

        Reply
    3. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Congratulations Jodian!
      I have not meet out in the flesh (at least I think I haven’t) but I am so thrilled. Well I knew you would pass we ‘get it done!’ See you at SSI!

      Reply
      1. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        That’s a lot Lenisa! Appreciate the kind words.

        Unfortunately, I will not make the SSI, as I had prior events scheduled. I know I am missing out 😦

        Reply
        1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
          Renetta Garrison Tull

          I should have read this first to see that you’re unable to attend SSI. But if your plans change, you know that you have somewhere to go!

          Reply
    4. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      CONGRATULATIONS JODIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is wonderful news. I am so happy to hear it and congratulations to you for all of your preparation. I’ll look forward to seeing you soon to give you a congratulatory hug! Are you coming to SSI? We can introduce you to the rest of the group. Both you AND your husband should come! Here is the link with details and registration: http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/promise-summer-success-institute-ssi/

      Reply
  241. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday,

    Today I hope to see my advisor after lunch. Right now I am going to start some document analysis and prepare a draft spreadsheet.

    Work!

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Start analyzing where here for you….

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Thankd Dr. Carter. My head just starting bobbing. Going to see my advisor at 1pm and before I crawl under my desk for a nap going to walk outside for a breath. Did lots of document analysis and have notes to go over with my advisor.

        Reply
  242. Georgette Washington Avatar
    Georgette Washington

    Good Morning Everyone,

    My name is Georgette and I was invited by Dr. Tull to attend the Promise SSI workshop next week. I am currently in the process of tying up some loose ends so that I can take my comps this fall. However I have already begun the process of writing my dissertation in cooperation with my committee chair. My chapter 1 is pretty much where I want it and I am working on my chapter 2 today. My short term goal is to submit my proposal this fall and begin my research. My long term goal is to finish everything so that I can graduate this may. This may be a tall order but it is what I am working towards. I am happy to join this group and any support that you can give will be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Georgette

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Welcome to the DH Georgette

      We wish you all the best in your comps and writing the dissertation.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Welcome Georgette!

        We are #TeamGetItDone

        Post Early and Often!

        Let’s Work.

        Nikki 🙂

        Reply
    2. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Welcome, Georgette!
      Your chair is behind you so you have the support you need on the academic end, and we’ll give you social-emotional support here. Keep your vision and you can accomplish the tall orders!

      Alexis

      Reply
  243. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Happy afternoon, #TEAMGETITDONE,
    I’ve got my coffee and am working again on my chapter 2 “pieces” and additions. Let’s go!

    Reply
  244. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hi All,
    I had a disturbance, but a good one. I met with my advisor until 3:30pm then I came to the office thinking I was going to work and….it was time for my new computer to arrive! 🙂 All smiles but it did just take a nice chunk of time to get everything set up. Now I have a ginourmous screen so I have no excuse for not doing work. I am going to run and then I’ll be back for round 2. I am like Lex I might need to swing by Starbucks after I run.

    Nikki 🙂

    PS: I LOVE my new computer!

    Reply
  245. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Test…

    Reply
  246. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Oopps sorry about that, my new computer fooled me into thinking my post was not there. 🙂

    Reply
  247. Georgette Washington Avatar
    Georgette Washington

    Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome. I’m glad to be here. Still getting some work done which is a good thing. 🙂

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Welcome Georgette! Everything Nikki and Alexis said! We on #teamgetitdone are committed to having #finishedbusiness.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        LJ, I am so sorry I haven’t picke dup my methods folder. Can you bring it to SSI for me? I will probably ride the shuttle from UMD with you. 🙂 (pretty pleases with sugar and spices on top)

        Reply
    2. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Welcome Georgette! I’m glad to see that you’ve already started to post. I was about to send you email. Please follow the application procedures that are outlined on the home page of the website. Or, you can click “apply” at the top of the page. Let me know if you have any additional questions. My email address is rtull@umbc.edu.

      Reply
  248. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Good evening everyone…we have new family members! YEAH!
    I am in my space and focused to getting my readings done so I can accomplish my goal! Started at 7:30 but forgot to check in…At 9:45 I will change locations because the library will be closed. The movement will do me good so I can continue reading. OK ….checked in…. I want to finish this business so bad..opted for a 5hour energy drink over coffee this evening. I don’t have office duties tomorrow so I can PUSH through the night.

    Goo #teamgetitdone.

    Happy for you and the new computer Nikki!
    Maritza you are AMAZING!
    Alexis we are moving moving moving…I see a bachata congress in your future!
    Jordian happy dance happy dance!

    Reply
  249. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Twas The Night Before Friday…..

    I am pushing it but I have no doubt that I will finish what I set out this week for my dissertation goals. If I finish tomorrow I get to go to Hot YOGA! I’ve never been so this is my reward for a great week. I got news today that I am going up to Penn State next week to collect some data so I need to focus and move some things around in my schedule at the beginning of the week so I can drive up there to talk to some engineers and collect data from them. I am excited about the trip but a little anxious because I have OCD a little and like to plan plan plan. I see this as a door opening in the middle of my week that I need to walk through even if it wasn’t planned.

    I gotta go before I miss the last bus.

    TaTa Now.

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Tweet heart,
      I am on campus Friday (later) in McKeldin 9am – 6pm will you be on campus? I can meet you some where.
      OR OR OR
      Send me your campus address and I can put it in campus mail
      or or or
      I can give it to you on the bus next Friday (Gw).
      Options Options options.

      Reply
    2. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ha ha ha at Lenisa’s post! I love you ladies! And yay to our growing family! or #TEAM!
      Nikki, did I tell you the prayer that I got from the church-I-cheat-on-my-church-with? Kinda like the serenity prayer. Liketohearit?Hereitgo:
      “Here I am, your humble servant, reporting for duty. If there is a door you want me to go through, please open it and help me to walk through it. If there is a door you don’t want me to go through, please close it and help me to accept it. I am your servant.”
      I try to pray it every day, and it calms me down and gives me perspective.

      Oh and possibly change of plans for me, Lenisa. I won’t do the bachata congress tonight because I still have some finishing of chapter 2 business. I also have an additional interruption this weekend, because I will be trying to trade in my car. If that takes a while, perhaps the congress isn’t in my future, but I will do what I can to still go on Saturday.

      Soooo:
      Hi Ho, Hi Ho,
      It’s off to work I go!
      To do: finish Mission: Reorganization and Elaboration.
      Onward!

      Reply
  250. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Friday!

    Here (Check)
    Water (Check)
    Coffee (Check)
    Music (Check)
    Extremely Large Computer Screen (Check)
    Yoga Mat (Check)

    I’ve got work to do. Alexis I have a church-that-I-cheat-on-my-church-with too! I call it my jump off. I’m glad that I am not alone. Thanks for that prayer. I will post it somewhere and read it when my OCD pops up. LJ! I love love love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 I will try to meet you today if not I will just get it on the bus. The engineering building is on the back side of beyond and I don’t want anyone to have to walk over here. I am glad that we are growing too, like a big TREE! 🙂

    #TeamGetItDone

    Here I go…

    Nikki

    Reply
  251. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    You all are funny! Well I didn’t get to post last night but guess what? I”m back on plan. I have 23 down.
    I will transcribe one more teacher tonight to meet the 3 parent, 2 teacher transcripts goal for the week. woo hooo…
    Lenisa- you funny…
    Nikki and Alexis you are great!
    Hope you’re having a productive day. I’ll get back to transcribing after work…

    Reply
  252. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Saturday!

    Who’s out there in #DissertationLand! I have 2 things to do today to complete my goals for this week. I also need to wash and pack for my trip so I am starting early so that I don’t end up in a bind later on today. I will start working in 30 minute increments and then bounce back and do packing and such.

    Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      Hey ladies,
      I’ve been working but just logged in. Hope you reached your goal Niki!
      I stayed in the office to transcribe my interview due yesterday and got it done. So i met the goal for the week! 24!! Yay
      Today I transcribed another one for the day,25!! and started one for tomorrow but I’m taking it slow because I’ve had a headache all day. I will stop where I am at 9 and get some rest/sleep.
      Alexis– car or Andy Andy?!!! If you went to the bachata congress I want to hear about it and live vicariously. 😉
      Lenisa– CONGRATS!!!

      Reply
  253. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Hello everyone, we have treats in store! First, even though Dr. Carter-Veale will not be at the SSI DH in person, she will be available for video chats between 2 and 4 PM on Friday, Aug 19. Your laptop should have a camera. Second, we have ordered #TeamGetItDone tee-shirts! I hope that they arrive in time. I’ll let you know. But since Friday is our casual day, please come prepared to change into your shirts on Friday morning so that everyone will know about #TeamGetItDone. We’ve ordered enough for all DH alums and participants. I think that Patti Ordonez will be joining you. I’m not sure about Michelle and Robert, but they are possibilities since they are registered. I’ll check the list of registrants.

    Please remember to fill our your DH applications. It is the standard procedure. While we know that many of you will be participating, we still need the application to be send to promisestaff@gmail.com as per the directions on the front of the website. Natasha and Violeta will be bringing the post-its and markers, so be prepared for goal-setting. You know the drill. You can acclimate Georgette. I’ll be there to get you started. You will be in the Caucus Room I of the Sheraton.

    Reply
  254. Robert Holder Avatar
    Robert Holder

    Per SSI DH application instructions, posting my goals… unless I get on a roll and accomplish everything before Friday 🙂

    1) Document current set of results
    2) Streamline the current code base to facilitate experimentation on additional domains
    3) Review statistical sampling literature as inspiration for approximation algorithm improvements 4) Explore means of supporting high-dimension problem instances

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      We now have the entire Holder family! Welcome Robert!

      Reply
  255. Georgette Washington Avatar
    Georgette Washington

    Hello Everyone,

    My internet was down this weekend so I was not able to post. But I have been able to further refine my chapter one. My goals for this week are:

    1. Organize the sections of my chapter 2.
    2. Begin filling in the organized sections with the relevant content.
    3. Finally decide between an all qualitative or mixed methods approach for my research.

    I am finishing my DH application and should be able to submit by tomorrow. As one of the newest members of #TeamGetItDone, I look forward to meeting each of you this weekend.

    Georgette

    Reply
  256. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Yay, I’m seeing good news in terms of progress and the DHouse plans!
    Maritza, my car transitioning took over this weekend. I am no longer driving Taye, my ’95 Civic with over 213,000 miles! Sniff. But it’s been a hassle trying to get the records straight in preparation for transferring it to whoever the new owner will be. So I’m behind on my goals and I didn’t get to see Andy Andy. 😦 But if I’ve learned nothing else, it’s that I can’t stop just because things didn’t go as planned. I’m picking myself up and getting back in the saddle …er, car.

    So, this week I’m sending off the latest recruitment call for participation for high school teachers in my new county, since they come back to school this week. And I will finish the work on my chapter 2 so that I can give it to my advisor. Today I am doing the last reorganization and adding sources/citations.

    K bye.

    Reply
  257. Patti Avatar
    Patti

    I am so glad that dissertation house is at SSI this year. I wanted to go without feeling guilty and now I can. My goals for the DH @ SSI is to write the rough draft of Chapter 4 and get it to the point where I can turn it into my advisor on Monday morning. If time permits, I would like to take my rough draft of Chapter 5 and convert into something for my advisor, but I recognize this is overambitious for 12 hours… but you never know.

    Reply
  258. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Movements Monday! Hello All,
    I received feedback from both my advisors on the detailed draft. My goal for this week (today to Friday pm) is to
    a) reorder the paragraphs in the present document according to the approved draft.
    b) revise those that need revision
    c) write two new paragraphs under subheading early childhood
    d) ensure references are correct
    d) read and edit document and submit to advisors
    I plan to have this completed by Friday evening so that I can start outlining chapter 2 during SSI dissertation house on Saturday.
    I want to finish this business! Go #teamgetitdone.

    Reply
  259. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hi Everyone,

    I am in State College, PA until Wednesday collecting data. I spent ALL DAY coding journals at Penn State. I am grateful to be here but I am busy busy busy. I tried to blog from my phone earlier but I couldn’t get the link up on my blackberry. If anyone knows how to use wordpress with a bb please let me know. I have a Curve.

    I am excited about DH and glad that everything is working out. I planned a 1 day trip to NY on Thursday to visit my sisters before I drive back to Maryland. I am just going to see how I feel and make a game time decision. I have been doing better about doing what’s best for me and my body to help me finish my dissertation. I now know that wearing myself out trying to be everyone’s all in all is not the way. I have lived and learned, I have to take care of me and my time.

    This week I am pretty much collecting data for 3 days and then travel for 1 day and then SSI for 2 days. That’s the week.

    I’ll be ready for my Hot Yoga next Friday! For sure!!! 🙂

    Let’s GOOOOOOOOO!

    #TeamGetItDone

    Nikki

    PS: It’s like 60 something degrees here, I have the heat on in my hotel room. Brrrrrrrr. 🙂

    Reply
  260. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    I have 27 down, and working through one more in Spanish that is definitely taking me a while.
    I submitted dissertation house application and will hopefully get out of work a little earlier tomorrow to work and join Michelle. It was nice having a transcribing//writing partner today.

    Reply
  261. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Latest news: Dr. Judith Kadarusman Pollack is back from Indonesia and will be assisting with facilitating the Dissertation House. More about Dr. Pollack: https://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/coaching-and-mentoring/dr-judith-k-pollack/ . Dr. Pollack is a product of the DH. Her picture (as a student) is on the front page of this website. She has worked with many students of PROMISE to prepare them for defenses and presentations. I’ve seen faculty members sing her praises at defenses. She has also helped PROMISE students win awards at conferences.

    Reply
  262. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Quick post: survey invite sent to a principal in my new county who agreed to participate. I have some more emails to send out soon, too. Finished reorganizing chapter 2, so cleaning it up the rest of the week.
    K bye!

    Reply
  263. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Good Morning All

    It’s great that Dr. Judith Pollack will be at the SSI marathon Dissertation House. I will be available on-line to help out and consult on Friday from 12-4. I think we can do 30 minute video chats. Hope to see you all then.

    In the meantime, I see we have some new people joining us. Welcome Robert to online DH; I hope now that Michelle is working towards the finish line you are re-energized around your dissertation as well. Patti your plans for SSI does seem a bit ambitious but who needs sleep. Nikki in PA we look forward to your return; I presume you will be working on the analysis when you get back. Alexis what is the count in terms of participants thus far….how close are you to that magic number? Maritza did you attend Dora’s party, check in with me on Friday so we can video chat. What’s the count on your transcriptions? Lenisa you might consider using the “references” in Microsoft offices since you are at the proposal stage. It will generate a bibliography at the end of your document when you are done. Georgette how are those comps coming; I hope you are creating a research summary i.e. research template for all of those articles you are reading.
    All the best to you.
    Have a great day

    Dr. Carter-Veale

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      🙂 Hi Dr. Carter-Veale — 28 down!! Half way there!

      Reply
      1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
        Renetta Garrison Tull

        Maritza,

        If you still need help, please check with our new PROMISE GA for UMBC, Miguel Niño. He is a certified Spanish Translator (oral and written).

        Reply
  264. Georgette Washington Avatar
    Georgette Washington

    Hello Everyone,

    After some starts and stops, I’m finally able to get to work like I want. Chapter One has been revised. I’m just looking it over to make sure the flow of information is correct. I have begun categorizing my articles for Chapter Two so I can begin to show the gap in this field of research that I have found and am looking to fill. I was also able to get my DH application in last night as well. Thank you Dr. Carter-Veale for the shout-out and advice. I look forward to working with you as well. That’s it for now. Just wanted to check in. Now it’s back to work for me. 🙂
    Georgette

    Reply
  265. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Hi Everyone,

    Yes Dr. Carter-Veale, I’m working towards the finish line :). How is your new home?

    Signing up for my goals for #TeamGetItDone Dissertation House. I will be working on two sections of my Literature Review.

    My plan is to write about different perspectives within social movement literature regarding the significance of:
    1. Institutions (movements’ challenges to institutional practices, policies, laws, customs they consider unjust)
    2. Identities (the formation of collective identities and the tensions within social movements around which identities/groups are worthy of support)

    Michelle

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Thank you Michelle. Try to get some reading down tomorrow so that you can get into “writing mode” quickly on Friday afternoon.

      Reply
  266. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Forgot to mentions that we are having a small dissertation writing group in the Art-Sociology building. Maritza is transcribing while Danielle and I are writing. Tanya should be joining us soon. If you are on campus and would like to write with us let me know (mibeadle@gmail.com). I’ll be here tomorrow and Thursday.
    Michelle

    Reply
  267. Georgette Washington Avatar
    Georgette Washington

    Ok. I’ve made my changes to Chapter One. and printed it out for review. Chapter Three has been organized and filled in with most of the necessary information. I decided to conduct a mixed-methods study using a well respected teacher efficacy questionnaire for the quantitative data collection. For qualitative data collection I want to use class observations coupled with some teacher interviews. Chapter three is also printed out for review. That’s it for now.

    Georgette

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Is that the OSTES?? I’m using the instructional strategies and classroom management subscales (I think that’s it.. off the top of my head). Good progress!

      Reply
  268. tgeiger23 Avatar
    tgeiger23

    Hello All,
    My goals for this weekend are to narrow down topic, write Introduction,Statement of the Problem, Hypotheses and Research Questions.

    Reply
    1. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
      Renetta Garrison Tull

      Hi Tanya, welcome!
      There are 12 hours and you must be able to measure your goals. You will have 12 hours, minus a small period of discussion, dinner, and breaks as needed. How many hypotheses do you need to formulate? How many research questions (estimate?)

      Reply
    2. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Welcome, Tanya!

      Reply
    3. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Hello Tanya

      Welcome to the DH online. Great goals; as the resident dissertation coach I suggest that you start with a smaller goal and build from there. Start with the Statement of the Problem, everything generally builds from there. It is the foundation for everything else.

      Dr. Carter-Veale

      Reply
  269. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    I don’t feel too well past two days, I feel like a truck ran me over and I see it backing up…so blogging quickly and then rolling into a comfortable space.
    My plans for dissertation house (12hrs)
    a) revise paragraphs as needed
    b) ensure references are correct
    c) read and edit document
    I plan to have this completed by Friday evening so that I can start outlining chapter 2 during SSI dissertation house on Saturday. If not I will have to work more than three hours on Sunday and – in my best three year old voice – “I don’t want too!” stomp! stomp! stomp!

    I want to finish this business and be alive to celebrate it so I am off to get some rest.
    Go #teamgetitdone.

    Reply
  270. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    29 down….

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      🙂 🙂 😀

      Reply
  271. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    You folks are amazing. And Lenisa you’re right to get rest when you feel like the truck that just ran you over is about to back up for seconds… Take care of your body and your mind.
    Dr. Carter-Veale, I have 135 surveys completed and I just sent out another wave of requests, so I hope to get my 200 out of 300 minimum…

    My goal for SSI is to finish this chapter!!!! It’s so simple but it’s just time-consuming. I’ve made SO much progress but sometimes I forget how far I’ve come.
    Ok, back to work.

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Alexis
      Thanks for the update. I hope that you are not waiting until you get 200 or even 300 before you start exploring the data. You should know by now if you have to recode some variables, or if some variable need to be dropped all together. Do you know some of the initial tables that you will have to generate? Put some deadlines in place around the Literature Review otherwise you will be spinning your wheels. Hope to speak with you tomorrow.

      Reply
  272. Dr Judith Pollack Avatar
    Dr Judith Pollack

    Hello everyone,
    Looks like you are working superhard on your dissertation this Summer! I was in your shoes just a few years ago, and I can tell you how much Dissertation House has helped me get Phinally Done. I am excited to join you tomorrow for the Dissertation House Marathon at SSI.
    Dr Carter-Veale, good of you to join us via video! Spare me a few minutes to say hi.

    To a successful (and done!) Dissertation!
    –Dr Judith Pollack

    Reply
  273. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Goals for the day is a 90 min parent interview in Spanish, and a 34 min teacher interview in English. I’m hoping that working with my peers will help me get through these two (especially the one in Spanish that I’ve been avoiding!!)

    Reply
  274. Patti Avatar
    Patti

    Hello Everyone,

    Getting online was a bit of a challenge this morning. Thanks to Dr. T who realized I needed to buy some airline tickets for an interview and gave me a 24 hour connection to the internet. Anyway, that was one of my goals today. DONE! Today my goal is to convert a journal paper I am writing into the dissertation Latex format and then finish writing the evaluation section of the paper.

    Good to be at SSI!

    Reply
  275. Dora Avatar
    Dora

    Here we are, hour 2 into the 12 hour dissertation “house” at SSI. I have been working on revising my code book, since I realized about three of my concepts were unclear and I was getting tripped as I was trying to code my first transcript. My code book should be done within the hour and then I want to finish coding my first transcript. I’m going to try to remember to post my progress and musings half way through (8pm) and 1 am (although, to tell you the truth, I don’t think I can last that long – it’s waaay past my usual bedtime ).

    -Dora
    #TeamGetItDone

    Reply
  276. Angel Avatar
    Angel

    Hello Everyone!
    Long time no see. It’s good to be back! Now, for the fun stuff, work…
    My goals for this 12 hour sprint are
    1. Revise contact list for recruited participants
    2. Develop questionnaire distribution schedule
    3. Create codebook and spreadsheet for questionnaire data entry.
    Wish me well!
    Angel

    Reply
  277. Dr Judith Pollack Avatar
    Dr Judith Pollack

    Welcome to SSI Dissertation House 12h Marathon!
    I am sitting in the Caucus room with 11 graduate students wearing #TeamGetItDone t-shirts. It took a while to sort out the Internet access and to settle down. But now everyone is getting in “the zone.” I am excited to be here and help you make progress with your dissertation.
    As I said earlier, my specialty is defense presentation preparation. Keep in mind that as much as you think that your research is “cool” you need to be able to tell other people about it. Only a handful of people will read your dissertation, but everyone at your defense presentation will see your presentation. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to craft your presentation. A GREAT Defense Presentation will convince your audience that you indeed deserve that PhD!
    To your successful dissertation defense!
    –Dr Judith Pollack

    Reply
  278. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hi Folks!

    I am posting here because I finally got the internet. Today I am going to:

    -Write 2 pages of observations from the data I collected at Penn State
    -Add some jobs to the job spreadsheet
    -Work on my research statement
    -Re-Code data from Penn State (as much as I can get through- I would guess 50 pages worth)
    -Finish “Writing About Numbers Book”

    Here I go. I got snacks so I feel better.

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Just finished my book. It is a really good guide to writing about numbers. I am going to write some observations now.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Just finished writing 3 pages of observations from the data I collected at Penn State. I am going to give myself a small reward and keep moving.

        Reply
  279. Georgette Washington Avatar
    Georgette Washington

    I am enjoying my time at SSI today. This is my first time participating in both SSI and Dissertation House and it’s great. Nice to be able to interact with people who are moving in the same positive direction that you are. After talking with one of my fellow students I have more clarity on the concept I’m trying to convey in my study. Now it will be easier to write. Thanks, Alexis!!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Aww, yay!!! I’m glad to share, Georgette – this is good for all of us.

      Reply
  280. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Speaking of sharing, couldn’t resist this one:
    Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.
    — J. Willard Marriott
    Read more: http://www.greatday.com/#ixzz1VWLSSZnC

    Making good progress with cleaning up Chapter 2, making clear sentences throughout each paragraph for a more formal draft. I won’t finish the document tonight but I have a better grasp of how fast I can move through this portion. Afterward I will add a few citations and then I will be ready to print!

    Goooooo, #TEAMGETITDONE!!

    Reply
  281. Dora Avatar
    Dora

    Completed my goals (thank you fellow DHers for the applause). Can I leave now?

    -Dora
    #TeamGetItDone

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Yes! 🙂

      Reply
  282. Georgette Washington Avatar
    Georgette Washington

    Ok, so I was able to get my Chapter three revised and tighten up my chapter one. My ideas and concepts a clear enough for me to now write my chapter two. DH was a very interesting and unique experience. It really helped me to focus even more on getting my proposal ready. I also know that once I collect my data, I have a network of support to get chapters four and five ready to defend. This has really been a very enriching time for me. I am looking forward to the rest of the SSI conference. It’s fun being part of #TeamGetItDone.

    Reply
  283. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Just finished adding jobs to the jobs spreadsheet. One hour to go. First there were 11, now there are 3.

    I also started re-coding the data and got some pages done, I have a total of 150 or so pages to re-code so that will take a minutes but I will work on it for at least 12 minutes per day until I am done done done!

    I did everything on my list except my research statement, which I successfully avoided all day. I am still waiting on divine intervention to help me write it up. Well I actually already wrote it, but its long and it’s really 3 pages worth of bullet points. Ahhhhhhh….the joys of procrastination.

    It’s midnight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

    We are #TeamDelirious

    Nikki

    Reply
  284. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Were about to start the #PROMISEPROBATE show!!! Meet us in the front of the Sheraton in 20 minutes….hehehehe

    🙂

    Reply
  285. Patti Ordonez Avatar
    Patti Ordonez

    OK, I am really tired now. It’s funny Nikki is sitting right next to me and I saw her working so hard and now I find out she is burnt like me. Basically, Maritza is the only one who is still productive at this hour. But I am going to write this and do a raw draft of my evaluation.

    I accomplished all of my task plus one and minus one. The plus one is that I used my time here to get some coaching on my presentation for next week. It’s a big presentation so it was an unexpected plus. I actually practiced my talk to her! She gave me some wonderful advice on how to tailor it to my audience which will consist of some of the leading computer scientists in artificial intelligence and machine learning as well as some of the medical doctors who are the leaders in biomedical informatics. She improved my presentation soooo much!!! I am going to rock! That’s important because I want to get post-doctoral offers from this presentation.

    By incorporating my journal paper into my dissertation, I have added 14 pages to my dissertation and I still haven’t added the figures!! I am at 135 pages now! Now the hard stuff. I have 40 minutes to write the rough draft of my evaluation results and I will be finished for the evening…

    We are #TeamDelirious

    Patti signing off….
    If you want to keep following me on my dissertation progress, you can visit my PhD Completion Blog at http://pattiordonez.wordpress.com

    Maritza just finished!!! I am getting at least 20 minutes in!!! Congrats, Maritza!

    Reply
  286. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Patti
    Maritza
    Nikki

    The last 3 standing. I am glad we pushed both for Maritza and also for Patti because I was able to review my week’s work and write down my goals for next week starting on Monday. Its always good practice to clear your head and take a step back and see what did I accomplish this week, pat yourself on the back before moving on. Pressing on is important but it’s also important to nourish your spirit and take heed to the process that is leading you to your purpose!

    I would hate to miss something in this process and therefore have to repeat it. So I needed the re-grouping time.

    We were all pretending to be strong and working hard for the morale of the TEAM. That’s why we work well together. We have a common goal…GRADUATION! I can picture myself walking across the stage with that bright red gown on and these ladies and gents walking right behind me smiling and waving!!! We are #TEAMGETITDONE!!!!!

    🙂

    We survived.

    All is well.

    Night. Night.

    Nikki

    Reply
  287. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    as nikki said… we are the champions….. 😉 you’ll missed a good probate…
    31 done… not 32 but that’s ok ;
    )

    Reply
  288. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Congratulations to all of the DH participants! Huge SHOUT-OUT to the last 3 standing! Time for all to get some sleep. Good job everyone!

    Reply
  289. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Good grief! I knew Nikki got back to the room late so seeing this is confirmation that she was #GETTINGITDONE!! congrats to the last three standing. I am SO impressed.

    I was just stopping thru to say thanks for an awesome, productive, uplifting weekend to my #TEAMGETITDONE family. And it’s not even over!! Ha!

    Reply
  290. Patti Ordonez Avatar
    Patti Ordonez

    Thank you, Dr. Tull, for such a wonderful Summer Success Institute and for hosting a 12-hour marathon dissertation house! Here is the trio the morning after…

    Reply
    1. Patti Ordonez Avatar
      Patti Ordonez

      OK…. imbedding the tag didn’t work so I will offer a link to the image….

      Click here

      Reply
    2. Patti Ordonez Avatar
      Patti Ordonez

      OK…. embedding the tag didn’t work so I will offer a link to the image….

      Click here

      I also wanted to thank all the PROMISE staff for a great SSI, especially Judith and Lenisa for all their work with us in Dissertation House. You guys were great!

      Reply
      1. pattiordonez Avatar
        pattiordonez

        OK… messed up again… I am just posting the url

        Reply
        1. drwestmoreland Avatar
          drwestmoreland

          YAYAYAYAY! I got it!

          Reply
        2. Alexis Williams Avatar
          Alexis Williams

          How is it that you ladies don’t look at all like you stayed up til at least 1am the night before??? Beautiful!

          Reply
        3. Mari Avatar
          Mari

          Thank you Patti!

          Reply
  291. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    I am preparing for the week before classes start…i.e. the last week of summer!! SSI was GREAT!!!!!!!!! 🙂 It was everything I needed and more. Dr. Tull, I accidentally brought my evaluations home with me…Sorry. I can possible mail them to you at UMBC.

    #Motivation

    Nikki

    Reply
  292. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    I was so tired after SSI – I think my brain was worn out. But I am rested and tackling a new day. I will try to get thru chapters 2 and 1 changes this week, which will be a lot considering I’ll also be tackling a fall orientation. But if I can push through, I’ll give myself a nice reward. I haven’t figured out what that is yet…

    Reply
  293. Georgette Washington Avatar
    Georgette Washington

    Hello Everyone,

    Well I am now back at work. Teachers had to report in this week. So another school year begins for me to do my balancing act of teaching and writing my dissertation. My goal for this week is to get 1/3 to 1/2 of my chapter two written. That should be fun with my new schedule :-).

    On another note, I really enjoyed SSI and Dissertation House this past weekend. Dr. Tull thank you so much for inviting me and thank you to all of #TeamGetItDone for welcoming me to your community.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Hey Georgette,

      How are your goals progressing this week?

      Nikki

      Reply
  294. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Happy Monday,
    SSI was great! I so love catching up with old friends and hearing all the great news. Dissertation house was productive and I so like my T-shirt! Thank you Dr. Tull, DR. Carter-Veale and Dr. Pollark.
    This week is going to be interesting, Welcome Reception, Orientation, and a rounds of doctors visits…The rewards have to be way up right?! Why don’t I know what to reward myself with …besides cake!!!
    So my plan for this week. Complete and submit this chapter and create a draft outline of chapter 2.

    Today I will write two paragraphs.

    #Teamgetitdone lets go!!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      I will save you a cupcake!! 🙂

      Reply
  295. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Hi #TEAMGETITDONE!
    Yesterday I realized I was expecting way too much. I know this because I completely shut down. I have a lot of stuff to do today (Lenisa, I feel your pain, maybe not the doctors’ visits – that reminds me to make an appointment – but definitely with all the orientation stuff). But if I’m realistic, I can fit in just enough that will get me closer to finishing chapter 2 this week (piling on chapter 1 is just ridiculous).
    So I will work on section 2 today and that’s it. I will do as much as I can without crumpling like I did yesterday. And I will let myself work out tonight. The thousand-mile journey begins with the first step.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Yes, one step at a time. Sometimes one step per day. You will get there.

      Guess what???? I found the red cap in my bag the other night. LOL!

      Reply
      1. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Ha!!! It took me a second to remember what the red cap was. For the dry erase marker!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

        Reply
        1. drwestmoreland Avatar
          drwestmoreland

          Haha. Dirty little marker cap hiding from Alexis! 🙂

          Reply
  296. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Good Morning Ladies of Teamgetitdone

    Writing a dissertation or the process itself will force you to learn some things about yourself. Can you work all night? Can you work all day? Can you work all night and day? The answer is probably no to all of the above questions. The trick is to take care of yourselves so that you can do your best or even your almost best. Alexis, I like how you revised that big goal into a measurable one that you can cross off.

    I was glad that the technology worked on Friday and I got a chance to chat with many of you. From the pictures of you in your T-shirts you looked wonderful.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      I can’t work all day but I can work all night especially if I am in my office and it’s quiet. I might have to schedule a couple of dissertation marathons between me, myself, and I without taking my body out in the process.

      Reply
    2. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Thank you, Dr. Carter! It was great to talk to you and to participate in the DHouse with our T-shirts!

      I was reading 7 Habits of Highly Effective People before bed, and the questions came up: 1) What one thing that you’re not already doing would make you so much more effective in your personal life, and 2) What one thing would make you more effective in your professional/work life? I didn’t know right away, but after sleeping on it last night, I think it’s that I still expect myself to accomplish big things, but just not so much at a single time. Somehow that expectation creeps in repeatedly and shuts down the whole operation. But when I’m aware, I can remember that “inch by inch, it’s a cinch” like Barbara at Learning Assistance always says.

      I finally made some progress this morning, despite having a ton of stuff to do for work. I look forward to making more progress on section 2 and working through this “inch by inch” and I WILL #GETITDONE (Can’t stop won’t stop)!!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Inch by Inch, It’s a Cinch! I like that!! Because I have limited OCD I like to start and finish completely, this doing a little bit at a time is killing my nerves. I am a finisher. I should be called ‘The Closer’. I wrap things/projects/deadlines/to do items up! 🙂 This dissertation is not a ‘closer’ type of project. It doesn’t allow for that. I have to just do little by little and know that one day it will be done when I join #TeamWeDidIt

        Reply
  297. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Ok ladies! I’m back… let me just tell you that I was transcribing as the first earthquake hit….! I’m a little behind, still at 34 but I’m down 34. Another cousin agreed to help me with transcribing, unfortunately she too is going to start school. I’m crossing my fingers that she’ll be able to help– there was a reason why i hadn’t asked her before..
    I’m going to have a very busy few next couple of days!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Keep pressing Maritza!

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Thanks LS! 😉

        Reply
  298. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Morning Ladies,

    What a week!!! The earthquake caught me off guard big time!! And I was sick yesterday so now I feel guilty bc I didn’t get any work done. I have 2 Dr.’s appointments today, one for me and one for my dead computer. LOL. I have to keep pressing on. I will check back in later. I have a conference next week so I will be working on the 12 minutes a day and know that I am doing the best I can. With the semester starting next week I feel like my life is all over the place. God is giving me peace. Amen.

    Have a Great WEDNESDAY!!

    No aftershocks please…I can’t take it.

    #TeamGetItDone Can’t Stop Won’t Stop.

    Peace,

    Nikki

    Reply
  299. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Good morning #TeamGetItDone!

    There is a picture of all of you on the front page of this website, http://www.thedissertationhouse.com . Serenella Linares from College Park (and Patti’s SSI Roommate) is also in the photo because although she wasn’t with the group, she was working on her dissertation in the back lobby of the hotel.

    I’m planning to see the College Park group at the reception tomorrow in Nyumburu, and UMBC folks can come to the Life/Work Balance lunch with Dr. Deluty on Friday: http://my.umbc.edu/events/7354 . Hopefully this means that I’ll have the pleasure of seeing nearly all of you again this week.

    You’ve done a lot of work over the last few days. Your advisor should be in the loop. Consider setting up a meeting with her/him to provide a summary of what you have completed, and your plan for completing immediate next steps. Don’t make her wonder about your progress. Don’t give him cause to doubt your dedication. Advisors consider their model students “apprentices” … yes, you should think for yourselves, but they are thinking about “mini-versions” of their productivity and accomplishment. It’s not a loss of identity on your part, it’s part of the training. You train under them, and do things their way, based on their expectations, and then you are released into the world to do things your way.

    Keep pushing forward. You already have a great start to the semester. Can’t Stop/Won’t Stop. You CAN do it, you WILL do it!

    Take care,
    Renetta Tull

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Hi Dr. Tull,

      My advisor is in Iowa but we talked over the phone at lunch and she confirmed what we talked about during our ‘power networking’ session that I am more and more taking over my dissertation and she is fading. She’s not leaving me but she knows that I can handle the work and make progress without talking or seeing her everyday. It feels good to be here because it means that she feels confident in the fact that I am ready for graduation.

      Woo-Hooo!!!

      Thanks,

      Nikki

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Congrats Nikki!!!

        Reply
      2. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Woo woop!!! Go Nikki!

        Reply
  300. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    35 down!!! and 36 on the way….

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Maritza…….did you back-up your data yet?

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        yes chica! thanks for remembering 🙂

        Reply
    2. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      And Woo woop!! Go Maritza!!!

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        😉

        Reply
  301. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Hi #TEAMGETITDONE!

    I’m so tired but I’m here and I worked this morning – completed several more paragraphs in my chapter and will try to get back to this later this evening. But if yesterday is any indication (including that 1am rumble this morning), it will be a hectic day in prep for the orientation tomorrow. I will do my best to stop by the networking session tonight, though – I really look forward to that if I can make it.

    So my goal is to finish up at 5pm and run over to the reception, try to squish in a workout at the gym, then head home and work for at least a few more minutes on this chapter before going to bed early.

    Here we go! Can’t Stop Won’t Stop!

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      Wow… you’re such a busy bee….!!!! Keep going Alexis!

      Reply
      1. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Thanks, Maritza! I’m trying, but it’s hard!!

        Reply
  302. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Kendra posted this on fb and it’s worth reading. She is a grad student here at UMD, I’m not sure what he major is but she goes to my church. You will laugh and be inspired at the same time.

    Back-to-School Beatitudes: 10 Academic Survival Tips

    🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
  303. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Kendra posted this on fb and it’s worth reading. She is a grad student here at UMD, I’m not sure what her major is but she goes to my church. You will laugh and be inspired at the same time.

    Back-to-School Beatitudes: 10 Academic Survival Tips

    🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      This was funny.. and sadly I can relate…! I seriously need to get some exercise in! Ok i’m 37 and a half down…

      Reply
  304. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Good evening all,
    Nikki, I had it in mind to share that link as well! I have been working slow this week it is a very hectic one but determined to get in at least 30 minutes each day. Piping this chapter out. Anyone interested in joining me for an online challenge on Saturday? I am thinking 9am to 7pm. Break for lunch included (I must eat). Anyone?

    Reply
  305. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    I am with you Lenisa, this has been that week. The last week of summer. Preparing for the half time TAship. A earthquake. A hurricaine coming. Dr.’s appointments. Computer died. MLK Memorial dedication now cancelled but I still have a volunteer session tomorrow for the prayer service. YET! I have been able to do at least 12 minutes a day on my dissertation. The TADA Methods Journal really helps to keep me focused!!! Thanks Dr. Carter!

    Nikki

    Reply
  306. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Ladies I’m working with you… I need to crank out as many transcriptions *just in case* power goes out which i hope it doesn’t. I’m still working on 37.. yesterday I had an orientation — so I was able to get a part time internship at the library of congress as an education specialist. At the orientation I met someone from the White house initiative on educational Excellence for Hispanics– just where I want to work at next! SO…. gotta get working on transcription!
    Have a productive day ladies!!! Stay safe!

    Reply
  307. Dora Avatar
    Dora

    I had some very good intentions today. Work for an hour and take a break for 1/2 an hour. I was going to do that all day until nightfall – or until I started hearing seeing lightning (last Sunday one of our trees got hit by lightning and blew out several electrical “things” in the house). So far, I have worked for an hour, and taken an hour and a half nap. Then, I moved on to coding, which is difficult because I am trying to teach myself NVivo, and now I am being slowed down because it’s acting funky. Still, I am trying not to let my poor start throw off my groove. I will continue coding. That is all I will be doing for the foreseeable. My concrete goal for today (thanks to Dr. Carter) is to finish coding two transcripts.

    #TeamGetItDone

    Reply
    1. Dora Avatar
      Dora

      I finished coding two transcripts. Hurray! I also sent out a transcript to a student for their review. Now that the power is back on, I think I’ll take advantage of it and do some laundry. I hope you all had (and/or are having a productive day).

      #TeamGetItDone

      Reply
  308. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    I love it I have company!

    Reply
  309. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    ok ladies… actually the above was a typo, 38 down working on 39 now

    Reply
  310. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    I am having difficulty focusing. Nap time.

    Reply
  311. Dora Avatar
    Dora

    Hi everyone. I hope that you all survived Irene with just minimal damage. I was lucky to only lose power twice, and only for a few hours. I’m writing because I was wondering if any of you are good (or at least proficient with) NVivo 9 and would be willing to get together with me for an hour or so (not sure how long it would take) to go over NVivo with me. I am trying to teach myself how to use it because the training seminars are $300-$500. So far, I’ve watched a few on-line tutorials, checked out youtube, uploaded my data and set up nodes. I’ve also coded three of my transcripts. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I’m supposed to be doing, but I wanted to make sure that I haven’t missed anything. I have this nagging feeling that there might be a better way to do things and there’s a few things I want to do that I haven’t been able to figure out. I’m not sure if I can’t figure it out or if what I want to do can’t be done. Would you be able to help me? If so, please let me know. I’ll come to you at your convenience. The best days for me are Thursdays-Sundays, but I could also do Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays after 4. Thanks.

    Dora
    #TeamGetItDone

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Hi Dora,

      I haven’t used NVivo, but Stacey Brown, who is also working on her dissertation and has posted here before, has mentioned that she used it. I am looking for her email address to see if I can contact her about this.

      Alexis

      Reply
    2. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Dora you may consider sending this as a message over the International Education Policy listserv I believe there are students who are using Nvivo.

      Reply
  312. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    I got confirmation that if I keep moving, things work themselves out in such unexpected ways. Last Thursday, I stopped by the networking session for the Grad School and heard Anna, the GSG president, speak about the programs and activities that students can participate in through GSG. It turned out the next day that Anna couldn’t make it to the CTE orientation during our scheduled time, but I was able to repeat pretty much everything she had said the night before on her behalf! We kept it moving and the program was a success, thanks to everyone’s hard work.

    Now I’m struggling to keep it moving this week with all the disturbances and interruptions – for me it doesn’t take much. I realized last night that I wasn’t getting my work done, so I let myself go dance FINALLY. It felt so good and I really cherished every moment, it was like a really indulgent dessert. Now I’m going to push myself to finish up my chapter so I can turn it in on Friday during my lab meeting. Pray for me please just to follow the pathway one step at a time and stop trying to jump ahead of the process.

    Reply
  313. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday!

    My conference is this week until Wednesday but I am still committed to doing something for at least 12 minutes per day. I have been in sessions all day for the conference. I am taking a break now to work on some slides for a presentation I have on Thursday. This is kind of my main conference so I am hoping that I might be able to get a job lead or a post-doc position hence I am in ultra-networking mode. We survived Irene, now we need to survive our dissertations.

    Onward and Upward!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Go and get it, Nikki! You are positioning yourself to finish the degree AND get a job. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. So go get ’em!

      Reply
  314. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    hey ladies…
    It has been super Painful to get through one interview.. I have been sitting down for what feels like an entire weekend… and have about 20 minutes more worth of audio, in spanish.. with a lot of important responses… but I’m tired. I think I will go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a new day. So far I have 40 done, 2 sent to be transcribed, and 14 more to go 😦
    Good night….

    Reply
    1. Dora Avatar
      Dora

      You should have listened to me and not done so many interviews! 😉 I know you have a lot to do, but make sure you are getting 7-8 hrs of sleep. Stay healthy! I’ll let you know when my sister’s done with my transcribing.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        You can do it MARITZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

        Reply
        1. Mari Avatar
          Mari

          Thanks Nikki!

          Reply
      2. drwendycarter Avatar
        drwendycarter

        Hello Dora

        More interviews once transcribed will give her an more in depth look at her research question and more information for future publications. While transcribing now could seem like a pain…the data will serve it’s purpose now and in the future. Hindsight is 20/20 and help is not suppose to hurt. I am sure she listened to her advisor who has the final say.

        Reply
        1. Dora Avatar
          Dora

          Maritza & I have the kind of relationship where we can tease each other. Just trying to pass on your “a good dissertation is a done dissertation” mantra.

          Reply
          1. Mari Avatar
            Mari

            yes we do Dora, thank you! 🙂

            Reply
        2. Mari Avatar
          Mari

          Yes thanks for the reminder Dr. Carter… more in depth look, more publications… sounds good to me, finished that interview finally! moving on to another

          Reply
      3. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        thanks Dora,… yes I know… gotta sleep… and gotta get excercise in, and gotta eat healthy…

        Reply
    2. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Maritza
      Good Morning so it’s now 2 days later. Did you finish that interview. August is over are you done with your interview? Do you have 12 more to go? You started with about 56 and you are down to 12….Good for you. This is not the time to give up but to strengthen your resolve to finish!!!!!

      Dr. C.V.

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Hi Dr. C.V,
        I just made it to 12 today…I’m going to go to dinner with my best friend for her bday and I’ll get back to at least start another one tonight.
        Thanks for encouragement… btw, really, Dora did not in any way mean to be hurtful by her comment, I actually thought she was sweet!
        Thank you ALL for your support on and off the wall 😉 I ran into Alexis this week too! Yes, I will be getting these done so I can move on and get one step closer to getting it all done 🙂 Hugs to you all!
        -mari

        Reply
  315. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    I did not meet my goal last week. So I am working hard this week. I plan to send this chapter in by Friday I am a week behind on my schedule. My goal for this week skim through the early childhood articles and write the three outstanding paragraphs, read and edit, check APA and send it off already. Dr. Cater-Veale thanks for the tip on using reference in Office.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      I’m with you, behind but working hard. Let’s get it done by Friday!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        I am with you both, behind but working hard and I am not penciling in a pity party, Let’s get it done!!! 🙂

        Reply
      2. drwendycarter Avatar
        drwendycarter

        Good Morning Alexis

        It’s Friday ….what’s the status? How many more surveys left to come in?

        Reply
        1. Alexis Williams Avatar
          Alexis Williams

          Hi Dr. Carter!
          I talked to my lab about my surveys – I’m at about 155 and aiming for at least the 200, so I’ll try to get 50 more. I actually got an email from one person that I contacted – you remind me that I need to call him! Another one of my lab mates will help me with some of her contacts, and I will send out reminder emails at the beginning of next week.

          This past week I was working on turning in my chapter to my advisor, and I got through most of it but didn’t finish the last section on my 4th research question and the design issues section. So I’m at the union with Dora and company – and checking in with Nikki – and I’m gonna put in good work. It actually helped me to get as far as I did this past week – I was kind of excited to work today because I know I can finish it, and I have missed that feeling for a while.

          Onward!

          Reply
  316. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    I keep thinking that this writing process is so hard, but I realize that I make it so much harder. I remind myself of a good piece of advice I got, that some lessons I’ll learn, and have to re-learn over and over. Life is a continuous unfolding and each seemingly absurd or “wasted” moment is part of the valuable process. I can’t accomplish anything when I expect way too much. It could be so simple…
    So yeah, more writing. Still trying to put this chapter to bed and build up the good writing habits – inch by inch, it’s a cinch.
    Go #TEAMGETITDONE. We’re still in it to win it.

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      It’s a cinch!!! Are you going to Zumba tomorrow at 5? I can’t make the class today. 😦

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        I decided to go to Hot Yoga today! So maybe we can get together for Zumba next week.

        Reply
  317. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday,

    Conference is over. I am preparing for my class at 11am now and after I come back and decompress, have lunch I will start coding the data from Penn State. I may try to meet with my advisor today if she is available to talk about the conference. After I finish working on my dissertation and before I go home I will have a post-conference session with myself where I make contact with those I networked with, review papers and presentations that I thought were interesting to file away, etc.

    Let’s Gooooo!

    #TeamGetItDone

    Nikki

    Reply
  318. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Friday,
    I didn’t have much time today so I didn’t expect that much. I created 2 drafts today of my research statements. The nature of my work will fit into one or two engineering departments so my advisor suggested that I write 2 research statements to taylor my job applications for those schools and possibly give me a greater advantage when looking for a job. My advisor is leaving on 9/10 to go to the UAE for the semester so we will have a few meetings next week and then its all Skype and E-mail. I hope it works out well for both of us. I am going to HOT YOGA now and then home to take care of some things. I will be working tomorrow because the conference took some of my dissertation time. I don’t know if I will be up early but I will put in a days work.

    Happy Friday to all!! 🙂

    #TeamGetItDone

    Happy Labor Day Weekend!

    Nikki
    🙂

    Reply
  319. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving.

    – Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Today I am crawling, but I am here in my office proudly crawling towards my goals!!

    Keep Going

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Keep crawling closer to the finish! I forgot to respond in my response earlier – let’s do the zumba on Tuesday! I am not doing all of those classes, though. That’s ridiculous (and I don’t have enough time!)! Lol!!

      I hope hot yoga was awesome!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        That is ridiculous! LOL.

        I finished my 2 research statements and sent them away to my advisor! I have a few more things to do but I am hoping that I can wrap up by 7pm. 🙂

        Okay now I am walking.

        Nikki

        Reply
      2. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Great work at union with the writing group! I got some clarification for section 5 of 6 and added notes for a major study that addressed something like my 4th research question (a little stretch, but not too big for considering the interaction I’m looking at).
        Gonna take a break to transition home and then hopefully I’ll get more done there.

        Reply
        1. drwestmoreland Avatar
          drwestmoreland

          So…..I am still here. One more thing to do and I promise I am going home. I have a double movie activity planned for Sunday night so I wanted to make sure I completly enjoy the shows!!! 🙂

          Reply
          1. Mari Avatar
            Mari

            Enjoy your movies Nikki!

            Reply
  320. Dora Avatar
    Dora

    Today was a rough day. I did not want to come to campus but I knew I would to nothing at home. So, the first accomplishment of the day was actually getting myself here. The second accomplishment is putting in eight hours (minus the yoga class I went to on campus) because the whole time I’m thinking, “I want to go home. I don’t know if I can make it until 5pm.” Nevertheless, it is a good thing I stayed (I took a 10 minute break after I finished something to refresh myself) because I reviewed and edited 4 transcripts and then sent them out for participant review. I also am almost done coding another transcript.

    #TeamGetItDone

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Sweet! It’s the best victory when you work through the “roughness” and the “I Don’t Want Tos.”

      Reply
    2. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      Awesome work Dora! Glad you stuck with it!

      Reply
  321. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    transcribed only 4 minutes into interview #46… but it’s a start, “crawling” is still getting me somewhere 😉 I will continue on this tomorrow.
    Good night everyone! Hope tomorrow is another productive day!

    Reply
  322. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    I could not sleep for guilt! The Jealous lover (my dissertation) would not let me rest. Last week with the orientations was a wash and this week I just did not get back the groove. Groove or no groove I need to #getitdone. So I got out of bed and going to read for 2 hours (4-6 papers) and write for 1 hour.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Oh WOW! The Jealous Lover wins again! 🙂 Good job putting in some work.

      Reply
  323. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Congratulations to all of you for your diligence, tenacity, and determination to #getitdone! Every “crawl” (via Mari), page read (e.g. Lenisa), edit, code, transcript, page written, etc. leads you closer to the goal. Keep pushing. It will be a great reward!

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      Thank you Dr. Tull! Hope you are having a good weekend.
      😉

      Reply
  324. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday!

    I am going to get some coding done today! My goal is 40 – 60 pages.

    I think I am still crawling today, well at least my eyes are feeling that way because they keep trying to close. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      awesome Nikki, I’m working too– working on interview from yesterday. Will finish it today, and move on to another.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Let’s do it! 🙂

        Reply
  325. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Question:

    What do I put in my “job talk” presentation slides???

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Good to see progress and congrats on getting the opportunity for a job talk. It means you have made the “short lists.” Think of your job talk as similar to a presentation at a professional conference however you must have some results. At some conferences you can get away with just an idea but for a job talk you must have some results and be prepared to have some information on what are the next steps in this research and where these results fit into the entire dissertation. For a job talk the faculty want to think that your dissertation is almost done and it is the beginning of a long research career. Make sure that it is clear and organized too. That is my short answer.

      Reply
  326. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Has anyone sprained their foot before? any tips on getting around?

    Reply
  327. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Dr. Tull, Thank you for the encouragement.

    Nikki, It all depends on the topic you want to present. The job talks I have been to have been very different…basically a lecture on a topic. In one instance I served on an interview panel and we asked the candidates to present on a specific topic. Do you have Dr. Bell’s Job talk packet? I can’t recall if there are tips on the presentation in it but many persons have used it wait success.

    Mari, In my experience a sprained foot is not joke. I thought I sprained my foot last year and when I went to the ER I had in fact torn ligaments. So tips a) visit and ER b) ice the injured area as often as possible. c) keep the foot elevated as often as possible. d) Keep pressure off the sprained foot. So moving around becomes limited. I used crutches for about 3 months! I think I still have mine but you really should see a medical professional and be sure all is well.

    I am so crawling today as well. Head hurting, eyes burning, throat scratching, body aching. Drinking Emergency (thanks Nikki) since last week when I noticed the weird throat feeling but I have not kicked what ever this is…

    Today I will read 14 papers, and start prep for class on Tuesday and Thursday. I can do this.

    go #teamgetitdone

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      No I don’t have Dr. Bell’s packet but I remember something about that from last year SREB. I will have to look in my file cabinet, I may have something.

      Reply
    2. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      thank you very much Lenisa and I hope that you feel better soon, Emergen-C is AWESOME! Hope you’re also getting some rest/sleep!

      Reply
  328. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Today I started by job talk presentation. I don’t have much more than a outline. I read a few articles on google that were somewhat helpful and gave tips and advice on the job search process. I just did a google on “Academic Job Talk” and lots and lots of things came up.

    I sent some job related e-mails and I got confirmation from my department chair and 1 of my committee members to use them as references on my job applications.

    Then I had to recode more from my professional design journals, I coded over 30 pages. My goal this week is to finish. I feel like I have to keep backtracking because my coding scheme is evolving while I am applying it but I note all the changes I make and will update those in my dissertation. I have 40 pages left in 1 journal and 55 pages in the 2nd journal.

    I have my TAship tomorrow, a Dr.’s appointment, and a brief mtg. with one of my committee members in the morning so I won’t even sit at my desk good until 3pm. Since I already know what I am working on I should be able to hit the ground running.

    I started my final set of data collecting last week and got 10 students to participate for the semester. I want 10 more. Please pray that I get those 10 this week! I have everything ready to give to them I just need willing and able bodies.

    Best Wishes for those working today!!

    I’m out!

    #TeamGetItDone

    Nikki

    Reply
  329. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Well I’m closer to being done with the interview from yesterday… I will continue working on it for a little longer but I don’t think I’ll be able to finish it.
    Thank you Lenisa for your tips- if swelling doesn’t go away by tomorrow completely I will go to ER. While I used my pedal with the left foot, I rested my right foot, iced it, raised it, and used brace. I hope it’ll be ok though!
    Wishing you all a good night and a productive day tomorrow!

    Reply
  330. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    I paused at 4:30 for some frienamily time (my term for friends who like family). I wore my #teamgetitdone shirt today…My niece was was the best
    Zoe: Aunty you going back to work on your dissertation?
    Me: Yes Zoe
    Zoe: Let’s establish a time for you to leave! I really want you to be finished.
    I love her so!!!! left at 8 got back to the office at 8:30 and worked…Oh and got some cold meds…

    I read 7 articles and entered the information to the review template sent an email to my advisors to keep them in the loop. I will read the other 7 tomorrow.
    I did most of the prep for class I teach Tuesday and Thursday and had a brief phone meeting with the person I co teach with.

    I have my assistantship and I teach tomorrow so I need to get some rest.
    If anyone is still plugging have a productive night!

    Reply
  331. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday!

    Well at least it’s a short week. Meetings and Teaching Assistantship starting now.

    Happy Dissertations!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
  332. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    OMG! Still catching up with everyone’s comments, but I’m happy that you’re all pushing forward – even at a crawl, or a hop (Maritza!! What happened? Maybe I haven’t read that far yet). I spent the whole weekend finishing the chapter 2 revisions that I had aimed to turn in on Friday. I finally turned in the chapter this morning (just before my advisor picked up her mail, methinks). I felt anxious rather than relieved, but I think I’m ready to get this week’s goals underway after I finish at my assistantship.

    I hope everyone who is healing in any way recovers entirely!

    Alexis

    Reply
  333. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    46 is finished finally… I’m going to start the next one but I stayed up late last night and I’m a little tired so probably won’t get too far…

    On a good note, I am super happy that I only have 10 more to go!! but yeah, let’s just say that my original plan, balancing easy and then hard one didn’t quite work. I needed the motivation of finishing shorter ones! I guess that’s what you meant Dr. C.V 🙂

    As for my sprained foot Alexis, I went walking with my dad ar sligo creek trail on sunday, and apparently I sprained my right foot because by the time we were walking back to the car I was limping and it was definitely swollen Sunday afternoon thru yesterday evening. It’s MUCH better today though. I am still in a little pain but it’s not too bad.

    Now back to last 10….
    Good night ladies!

    Reply
  334. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    only 3 minutes… into the 47 interview.. but it’s worth celebrating with some sleep 😉 Now really good night!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Definitely worth celebrating!! You’re on the home stretch! You can see the finish line! Hold on – it’s closer than you think! And Maritza, that’s crazy about the hike hurting your foot. I’m glad it’s feeling a lot better, though!! Take your time to heal up so you can be my gym buddy again without re-injury.

      And something about the name Dr. C.V. just seems so appropriate to me… 😀 😀 😀

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Thanks Alexis! Well it’s kind of a walking trail, kind of embarrassing that I got injured walking, but hopefully it heals soon so I can be your gym buddy and because I really need the exercise!

        Reply
        1. Alexis Williams Avatar
          Alexis Williams

          Take it easy and heal completely! The gym will be there. 🙂

          Reply
      2. drwendycarter Avatar
        drwendycarter

        Good Morning
        Maritza and Alexis I agree Dr. CV sounds appropriate.!

        Reply
  335. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Sooo tiiired after waking up this morning with another headache. Wondering how much caffeine is in this tea – I want it to keep me awake but I suspect caffeine helped me get the headaches that stole my rest in the first place…

    Continuing revisions on Chapter 1 today – I want this part to be done by the end of the week. I’ve got my tea and my candle and I don’t have to go back outside anytime soon, so let’s get it. I worked this morning and I’ve got 3 more hours to pack in the knowledge.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Puttered out and ate some food. Starting over. OOk, GO! #TEAMGETITDONE

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Hope you got lots done!

        Reply
  336. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Just got home less than half an hour ago from work, and on to my work! Let the transcribing begin 🙂

    Reply
  337. Dora Avatar
    Dora

    Worked so hard today, I gave myself eye strain & a headache. Still, it was worth it. Feeling a sense of accomplishment.

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      Felicidades Dora!!! Sorry about the headache, hope you feel better by the morning.

      Reply
  338. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    My brain feels like my laptop, it needs to shutdown for updates. Have a good night, comments like those means I need a lot of sleep. I had a productive 4 hours?! Wow time flew by! Didn’t finish transcribing 47th interview but will keep at it until it’s done. Buenas noches!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      LOL. I know the feeling. My brain starts feeling like that right aroung midnight every night.

      Reply
  339. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hola Ladies,

    Sorry I fell off the face for 2 days. I have been coding etc. I stayed home yesterday to set back up my computer and I was scheduled to have a conference call with a faculty member at Norfolk State U but that got changed and then cancelled. Anywho, yesterday was a #fail for #dissertation.

    Today is a new day. I have my TAship today which is also the group that I am collecting my last set of data with so during their lab today I will be checking their journals and writing some preliminary observations. I am also covering a class for a professor today but were are just watching videos so no stress added there.

    I have a meeting with my Dean and Department Chair on Monday and then my goal is to send out my first batch of JOB applications on Wednesday pending they do not have any major requests for changes.

    Thanks Dr. Carter for the job talk tips, I don’t have an interview yet but I know that I will get one and I am just trying to think ahead a little.

    We are #TeamGetItDone

    I need to wash my shirt I have a feeling I am going to need to wear it this weekend.

    Keep Going!

    Nikki

    Reply
  340. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    In graduate school and when you are writing your dissertation time marches on as we enter another month. It’s hard to believe that in only a few months this year will be over. For many graduate students late August marks the return to school and the beginning of another school year. For dissertation writers August marks another semester brings mixed feelings of seeing the freshmen class move their boxes onto campus with the excitement of new beginnings and another reminder that your dissertation is still hanging over your head. Holidays like Labor Day can mean something for graduate students who work full-time; it’s a day off from the daily grind. There’s not another holiday until Thanksgiving. Stop waiting for the holidays, advisor’s feedback, completion of experiments, to provide you with the enthusiasm and motivation to write your dissertation. It’s important to accomplish something even when you don’t feel like writing. How enthusiastic do you have to be to create a Table of Contents, Approval page, Dedication page, Cover page, References, create an outline etc? Dance, even if you don’t hear the music. Writing your dissertation is not mainly about writing it’s about effective time management.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Thank you, Dr. C.V. – I am learning this lesson over and over. It’s not enthusiasm that has been getting me up lately (although I am noticing more and more that enthusiasm does creep in sometimes). The thing that got me up today was the fact that I got up at the same time yesterday and the day before that and the day before that and the.. well you get the point. I’m learning that habits are made from the same stuff that addictions are made from; I would bet that the brain interprets them very similarly. Therefore, at least in theory, the more I work, the more I “addict myself” to the process of #gettingitdone consistently. I can push and it feels so much better afterward. And when I can’t push? Well, there’s always the dedication page! Dance, baby, dance!!

      Reply
  341. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Thank you Dr. C.V. I needed this reminder. I like that Dance, even if you don’t hear the music.

    I dropped of the grid with a cold last two days, had to leave assistantship yesterday as cold symptoms were really beating me. DayQuil and NyQuil are controlling symptoms enough for me to read. Going to read remaining 5 papers tonight. I wanted to keep doing something so read two between Tuesday and yesterday.

    Reply
  342. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Friday,

    Thanks Dr. CV I will keep dancing. My advisor is skipping town tomorow so I am spending some time with her today and I also have a meeting with another one of my committee members. I am finally finished my 1st round of coding. Up next: Putting the data into a spreadsheet and organizing it. I also need to update the coding scheme based on things I found when I was coding that I a had not previously accounted for. This was a short week but it didn’t feel like it. I have a few friends in town this weekend so I will need to do some “frienamily” time as LJ says, but I will make sure that it’s scheduled so that I actually can get some work done.

    Happy Dissertations! 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Work it, ladies! Way to recover from the setbacks, illnesses, and injuries. Dr. Nikki, enjoy the *ahem, scheduled* frienamily time (I like that).

      Reply
  343. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    I turned in another chapter revision today *on schedule*! Woohooo! I wanted to have all three chapter revisions turned in by the 21st, so I’ve already printed out chapter 3 to get started on that over the weekend. I’m also working on getting more data – both through previous contacts and a friend who suggested I try some of the folks she knows. So here we go, #TEAMGETITDONE!

    Ooooh, it’s the freakin weekend, I’ll *work* to that. Yeah-eeyeah…

    Reply
  344. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    I’m with you ladies, at work transcribing– no LOC, no RA just transcribing, feels good! Have a productive day!

    Reply
  345. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    ok, update– just finished 47! Gonna take a little break, ie, eat lunch, move locations and on to 48.

    Reply
  346. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    Hello TEAMGETITDONE!

    I just want to share with you some good news and thank those who helped make it possible.

    Soon after the DH2011, I finished my proposal and send it to my committee (I worked non-stop and I really mean non-stop!).

    This week I had an awesome qualifying exam and now am a Ph.D. candidate! It feels great!

    As you can imagine, I am in recovery mode but the suffering and challenges were well worth it!

    I would especially like to acknowledge Dr. Carter-Veale for her expert guidance and advice. There are no words to express how thankful I am to her.

    I also want to take the opportunity to thank Dr. Tull for all her support and encouragement. As you all know, the DH and SSI are excellent and much needed programs. It is key to have someone like Dr. Tull, who believes in them (and us), as the engine behind these great programs.

    I thank each of you for inspiring me. It’s great to be part of this team.

    Have a productive weekend!
    Elizabeth

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      Congratulations Elizabeth!!! This is great news!

      Reply
    2. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      I am late on the congratulations but they are still heart-felt! CONGRATULATIONS!!! You worked so hard and it paid off! I’m glad to be part of this team, too. Keep sharing your progress (hopefully I’ll actually remember to share mine..)

      Reply
  347. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Working on the 48th interview with COW at the Union.

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      ok, so per Dora’s request… my goal for COW time was transcribing at least 20 minutes worth of the interview for the day. These last couple of interviews do not necessarily lend themselves to be done in a day so breaking it into smaller time chunks. I met the goal yay! I’m still going to continue transcribing but glad I met the 20 min goal 😉 This is my celebration for the moment bragging about achievement over the blog! LOL

      Reply
      1. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Me likey.

        Reply
  348. Dora Avatar
    Dora

    Another day of drudgery. I am feeling SO unmotivated lately but, still, I keep plugging along. Since I was unmotivated today, I probably let myself get easily distracted so I did not accomplish everything I set out to do today. I did, however, get some necessary things accomplished. I reviewed two transcripts and then sent e-mailed them out for participant review, I followed up on another transcript I was waiting for and I began coding a transcript. Had I not been feeling so “I don’t want to be here” I may have finished it. Wrapping it up for the day, though.

    Reply
    1. Mari Avatar
      Mari

      wow Dora, you fooled me– hmmm, we were a little worried about you after yoga! Not sure if Michelle mentioned it when you returned. Well glad you got something done! Hope you enjoyed Cristina’s housewarming!

      Reply
      1. Dora Avatar
        Dora

        Worried?

        Reply
        1. Mari Avatar
          Mari

          well you took a while after yoga… ! so then we realized you did the cardio, and then you stopped by mckeldin, etc. 😉
          we missed you!

          Reply
  349. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    After COW at the Union, I went to the gym and walked on the treadmill since I feel that shouldn’t put too much pressure on my foot, even though that’s how I hurt it in the first place. I needed to feel like I exercised. I went home, cleaned up, ate dinner and went back to work.
    I have finished 48! I will try to do some housework until I pass out and 49 will be started tomorrow…

    Reply
  350. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Today has been somewhat productive– didn’t finish 49, although I was able to get 8 minutes worth of transcribing. I also wrote a letter supporting my boss and committee member for tenure which is due tomorrow, and I finished a scholarship application which is due this Wednesday. I also included a brief update on my dissertation for one of my committee members who contacted me about something unrelated to dissertation. I will try to get a little more transcribing done before I head to sleep. Hope everyone had a great weekend and is getting ready for a productive week!

    Reply
  351. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday,

    This weekend was a fail for my dissertation, but much needed rest and frienamily time. My friends were in town for the Howard-Morehouse Classic Football game. I was able to see everyone and I also managed to get some much needed rest in the midst of it all. I woke up this morning, cleaned my apartment (I had guests staying for the weekend) packed my lunch and came to school. I think it’s high time for another “leave me alone” e-mail to my family and friends,

    Something else happened last week, my advisor left for the UAE, she will be back in January. We plan to have skype meetings and also use go-to meeting to get work done together. I had a meeting this morning with my department chair and I have a meeting this afternoon with my dean. I am still trying to get some job applications out this week.

    So today I will enter data into my spreadsheet and update my coding scheme.

    Happy Dissertations!

    Nikki

    Reply
  352. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday,

    I have my TA-ship today and that sometimes means the day gets shot. I have a goal to not let that happen today. Although during my TAship I am collecting data for my dissertation so I guess it’s not all a bust.

    Work . Work . Work .

    Nikki

    Reply
  353. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Good Morning all
    Before taking a rest; it’s important to have a plan of how, when and what will you do after the rest is over. Good for you Nikki……Work work work and work some more.
    Teamgetitdone Keep up the good work.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Thanks Dr. Carter. I finished inputing the data in the spreadsheet today. Tomorrow I will edit the coding scheme and update the data with changes needed. My goal for tomorrow is to be ready to do preliminary analysis by the time I go home or before I go home.

      Reply
    2. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      This is good advice. I especially needed to plan ahead this weekend/week because I had some major interruptions that left me with little rest and with lots of distractions. But I’m learning my lesson at least!

      Reply
  354. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Still recovering from getting completely thrown off this week. My goal for the rest of the week is to have my agenda ready for my meeting with my advisor this Friday and work through as much of chapter 3 as possible, which will require my reviewing more stats. Fun times.

    I’m also reviewing applications at work which have to be done tomorrow, and we’re offering a major workshop tomorrow so I won’t have time to review applications AT work, so that will have to get squeezed in tonight/tomorrow morning…

    Tired. But making it a good day.

    Reply
  355. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    I finally made it to the gym today after 2 weeks off. I started late because I have a e-meeting at 930pm with my advisor which is 530am her time. I am revising (hopefully finally) my research statement. I am also going over the coding scheme edits with my advisor and posing some questions for her. I actually don’t feel so tired but I am going to go home for my meeting so I don’t miss the last bus but I have to keep myself (1)awake and (2) motivated when I get home.

    This semester is flying by ladies, let’s do all we can with the time we have.

    Happy Dissertations!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Stay awake! You can do it! And you’re right on with the using the time we have.

      A man who dares to waste an hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
      — Charles Darwin

      #TEAMGETITDONE!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Thanks, I did and it was great. I was struggling but we made it work and got some great work done and some good feedback. 🙂

        Reply
  356. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday,

    I am having my TAship today but I also have lots of tasks to do from my meeting with my advisor last night. I will be back in my seat by 2pm ready to WORK!

    Let’s Get It Done!

    Nikki

    Reply
  357. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Ok, today I submitted my agenda for tomorrow’s morning and updated my “Project: Dissertation Accomplished” goals so that my advisor can look over everything with me tomorrow. Then I hosted a workshop on public speaking for work that went really well – the speaker is awesome – and then participated in a fellowship selection. Was so exhausted by the time I sat back down at my grad desk that I fell out. My lab mate found me knocked out at my desk..

    Finally awake, but now it’s time to go. I will work on this award application before bed if possible, but otherwise I’ll be up at 5 ready for the day… Tomorrow I will work on some more of Chapter 3, the award app, and look up some stats tutorial info.

    Gnight, #TEAMGETITDONE!

    P.S., good work, Nikki on the meeting and keeping your focus!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Oops, I guess you can’t edit a comment after you’ve pressed post.. Lol.

      Reply
  358. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Ok, today I submitted my agenda for tomorrow’s meeting and updated my “Project: Dissertation Accomplished” goals so that my advisor can look over everything with me tomorrow. Then I hosted a workshop on public speaking for work that went really well – the speaker is awesome – and then participated in a fellowship selection. Was so exhausted by the time I sat back down at my grad desk that I fell out. My lab mate found me knocked out at my desk..

    Finally awake, but now it’s time to go. I will work on this award application before bed if possible, but otherwise I’ll be up at 5 ready for the day… Tomorrow I will work on some more of Chapter 3, the award app, and look up some stats tutorial info.

    Gnight, #TEAMGETITDONE!

    P.S., good work, Nikki on the meeting and keeping your focus!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Thanks! It was hard but I did it!

      Reply
  359. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Good morning, I’m back!

    Last night I purchased student tix to see James Farm with Joshua Redman on Sunday, 9/25 (http://claricesmithcenter.umd.edu/2010/c/performances/calendar), ran to the gym for Zumba, and worked on my application. I got a good amount to work with between last night and this morning.

    Now I am at my desk on campus with my ginger tea and a bowl of oatmeal, headphones plugged in, gearing up for a productive morning of revisions and stats, then lab meeting and advisor meeting. Let’s go!

    I ❤ #TEAMGETITDONE

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      GoodMorning Alexis! I am here with you. Hope you have a productive day. I am sitting at my desk replying to e-mails. Just had my raisinbread toast and Mango-Orange juice, music playing loud bc I am the only one here this early. Let’s gooooooo!

      Reply
  360. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Friday,

    Pray. Check.
    Read Bible. Check.
    Celine Dion Pandora Station. Check.
    Breakfast. Check.
    E-mails. Check.
    Calendar Conflicts Resolved. Check.

    Re-Coding Dissertation Data Starts Now! 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ha ha ha ha! Awesome. Yeah! Let’s go!!

      Reply
  361. Dora Avatar
    Dora

    Good morning everyone. Today finds me at Panera in Laurel with two fellow Higher Education students (come join us if you’d like!). My goal today is to finish transcribing my last two first interviews.

    -Dora
    #TeamGetItDone

    Reply
    1. Dora Avatar
      Dora

      Hurray! Finished those two transcripts. I resisted the urge to wrap it up and pushed on. That allowed me to write back to the four students that have given me feedback on their second interview transcript as well as upload these transcripts into NVivo. I also started looking at the themes/findings of dissertations. I think this will help me in refining my codes. I want to do this before beginning the coding of the second interviews. All done for today, though. Heading off to the Greenbelt Blues Festival! I hope to sneak in some dissertation talk, though, so that I won’t feel 100% guilty for taking time off. Ha ha.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Yay Dora! Good Job on pushing through you will now enjoy the event less the guilt of the dissertation. Have fun, you deserve it!

        Nikki

        Reply
  362. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Good afternoon, I just finished transcribing interview #51. Moving on to 52…

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Go Maritza!! I had to let my brain breathe some today. Keep up the good work. We are thinking of you always.

      Nikki

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        So sweet Nikki 😉 Thank you. Hope you enjoyed a brake, you deserve it, you’ve been working hard!

        Reply
  363. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Still on 52… it’s one of the longest interviews, and at point with three people speaking.. student, and both mom and dad– the only one of it’s kind. I will continue working on it a little bit longer tonight and then again tomorrow.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Sooo, it’s kind of like three interviews in one… Hope you continue to make progress! Way to push through the weekend!

      Reply
  364. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Hi #TEAMGETITDONE,

    I’m ready for the week, keeping my mind on the things that are most important to me. I listed my goals for this week and got my Survey Monkey upgrade taken care of in my grad office. I’m about to have to get to my assistantship, but afterward I will input some of my Chapter 3 updates from this weekend and try to get closer to turning it in by Wednesday. I also want to send out some more emails this week for data, read an article I’ve been “assigned”, and get through a stats tutorial. 🙂 Oh and I need to get this award application prepped.

    Let’s go!

    Reply
  365. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Morning TeamGetItDone!

    I am going to do some coding today. I had an appointment the larger part of the morning and now I am at my desk ready to work. Going to get a drink and then start coding.

    Let’s Gooooo!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      One round of coding done….(That was a short one…sometimes they take much longer)
      Round two starting now. 🙂

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Round two of coding done…(my brain is all much now full of numbers)
        Round three starting after a 10 minute brain break. 🙂

        Reply
        1. Alexis Williams Avatar
          Alexis Williams

          Doin great!! Keep it moving!! And nice touch with the good breaks, too. 🙂

          Reply
          1. drwestmoreland Avatar
            drwestmoreland

            Round three of coding done!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
            Brain is fried, gonna drag myself out to the bus-stop.
            Two more rounds tomorrow and my TA-ship.

            I’m with you Alexis. This day is done.

            🙂

            Reply
  366. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Ok, I’m out. Gonna start again tomorrow, bright and early. This day is done – got in minimal work on Chapter 3 but I did get my planning system back together. Let’s see what Tuesday holds.

    Reply
  367. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Managed to sleep through my alarm this morning – I mean NO recollection of the alarm going off whatsoever. But I kept it moving and got to campus. I have a couple hours to work on Chapter 3 before Ed Psych colloquium, then assistantship, then more chapter 3 (trying to get it into better shape for tomorrow), then Zumba.

    Let’s go, #TEAMGETITDONE!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Ok, got through some more revising, and can see the end of this section but I also see that I need to add on some discussion of basic assumptions. But I already knew that. I will finish this part when I get back and turn it in with a note of what’s to come.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Way to go Lex. I know the feeling sleeping through the alarm without even remembering hearing it in the first place. It’s kinda freaky because I’m like I had to get up and turn it off and go back to sleep and I don’t remember any of those events. Good for you not to beat yourself up and just come on in! Even in this rain, walking to the bus this morning was harder than it normally is. Being a 5-day a week pedestrian has taught me alot about how people in their cars treat us walkers. 😛

        Reply
  368. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday,

    I’m back in the office. Going to start today’s first round of coding at 3pm. That means I have 28 minutes to get my work station together here, get coffee and start to work.

    Let’s goooo!!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      The Devil is a lair! I have a confession. I sat down at 3pm to start working and I don’t know what happened because when I woke up it was 3:45pm and my neck was hurting and my hands were still on the keyboard. I couldn’t have slept for more than 20 minutes because I coded a few pages of data. On line 122 out of 733 now. PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSHHHHH!

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y. Williams

        PUUUUUUUUUSH!!!! Apparently the sleep coma hits us all (See my post on Sept 15). Keep it going! I’m getting ready to get off work and go push some more on this Chapter 3… Then Zumba!!!

        Reply
        1. drwestmoreland Avatar
          drwestmoreland

          Yes! On line 426 now. Keeping it moving. The crazy thing is that I had a 1/2 full cup of hot cappuchino (sic) sitting right here on my desk!

          Reply
          1. drwestmoreland Avatar
            drwestmoreland

            Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 Wish I finished earlier but all is well. Will prepare for tomorrow.

            Reply
  369. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Wednesday!

    Hump Day! I almost got sucked into staying in bed but I fought it off and here I am. Today I get to workout so I am so excited but I have a meeting, seminar, meeting back to back for like 3 hours this afternoon that’s gonna steal my time away. Nonetheless, when I get back after working out and my meetings I plan to make changes from yesterdays coding results and code at least one round today. I am closer to having the coding scheme look like I want it for the dissertation so I am happy about that.

    Let’s Go!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Wow – look at all the potential that comes from just getting yourself to GET UP!! 🙂 Congrats on that victory; I definitely struggled this morning!!
      It was great getting to see you yesterday at the Hammonds talk!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Yea my bed has been getting on my nerves all week. Trying to hold me down. I’m a winner and winner’s don’t stay in bed. The seminar was great, such an accomplished black woman professor in living color. That’s always great to see. 🙂

        Reply
        1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
          Alexis Y Williams

          Ha ha ha (re: bed holding you down).
          I didn’t know she was Dean, too – read the description, decided I would go, then forgot all her credentials..

          Reply
          1. drwestmoreland Avatar
            drwestmoreland

            Yes! Great woman. I going to put her in my cirlce of winners! I wish I would have had time to stay longer to talk with her after it was over.

            Reply
  370. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    #TEAMGETITDONE,

    I’m up. I’m at school. I’m ready to work. Thank God for this.
    I talked with a friend yesterday about improving some of my organization, specifically dealing with emails. I got lax about checking email and FB all the time, anytime. So now I’m going to just do mornings first thing and then wait until later when I’m at my assistantship, since I have to check email there anyway. I’m also going to get back to recording my daily writing progress, which I’ve been slacking on…

    Today, I am REALLY submitting this chapter 3 revision with notes about what’s next, and I’m typing up some application notes that I made. I’ll work on stats afterward if I have time.

    Ok, light’s green, gotta go!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Go Go Go!

      Reply
    2. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Woop woop! I turned in the revisions for chapter 3! So now I need to buckle down on my stats. I have my survey monkey account in place so I can play around with the data, and I will read up and start drafting the stats discussion.

      Right now I’m going to go change for the gym and take my missing data article with me for waiting in the beginning-of-the-semester zumba line.

      Reply
  371. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday,

    After my TA-ship I spent some time in deep thought. I needed to get some questions out of my mind that I had been thinking about for a few weeks now. I fell off my “writing every day” motto after the DH, I need to try to start that back up, because it was a good way for me to get everything swimming in my head out someway. I am working on my research statement and I am going to draft a journal paper tonight that I want to turn in before the end of the year. My office is freezing today for some reason and I can’t turn on my little heater because everytime I do it blows the entire suite of offices eletrical supply. I acutally have on one glove as I type this because I randomly found it in the bottom of my office drawer. I look like MJ. I am so coooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllldddddddddddddddddddd. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. These are not optimal working conditions. 😦

    Nonetheless, I press forward.

    Nikki aka IceCold

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Dear IceCold,

      You are better than I am because I would have been OUT of there! I HATE being cold, especially when I’m trying to force myself to think, which I already don’t want to do… 😉

      You are also right that getting back to daily writing will help get some of those swimming thoughts out. So will getting to the gym (as I get ready for late zumba!)…

      Reply
  372. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Hi Everyone,

    I’m working on comments/feedback that I got from my adviser today.

    Michelle

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Hey Michelle!! Good to hear from you lady. Keep up the good work.

      Nikki

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y Williams

        What she said. 🙂

        Reply
  373. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Friday!

    I am going to meet with my advisor in the morning. First thing I need to do is make a outline/draft for a journal paper that I was supposed to do yesterday. Everything I am putting finishing touches on today will be for our meeting tomorrow morning.

    Happy Dissertations!!

    Nikki

    Reply
  374. Wendy Carter,PhD Avatar
    Wendy Carter,PhD

    Good Morning All
    Welcome to the Employee Dissertation House at UMBC.
    Today’s session is dedicated to those working warriors, administrators, and staff members who work everyday on our behalf but still aspire to finish their dissertation in the off hours.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Hi Dr. Carter!

      Reply
      1. Wendy Carter,PhD Avatar
        Wendy Carter,PhD

        Hello back to you Dr. CV

        Reply
  375. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Happy Friday, #TEAMGETITDONE,
    I am glad to see everyone and I’m excited to get into the groove. I’m going over to the lab to look for a stats book my advisor referred me to, and if I don’t see that I will go over some factor analysis notes that are also there. I need to squeeze in some updating of my award application statement, too, but I want to do some stats stuff first since that’s my Achilles’ heel.

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Ok, I procrastinated. Starting again! Off to the lab!

      Reply
  376. Margaret Dabek Avatar
    Margaret Dabek

    My name is Margaret Dabek and I am new to the Dissertation house. I am very excited about this opportunity to work on my independent proposal in an organized setting. I think the accountability will really help me push myself to meet all my goals today!
    My goals (5) include:
    1. write an outline
    2. Read 5 background articles
    3. make tagged endnote files for the articles in #2
    4. Write 1 page introduction
    5. Outline synthesis for 1 compound
    6. Make chemdraw figure for goal #5

    Any additional suggestions/help/hints welcome! Will update soon…

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Welcome Margaret! Great goals! I’m not sure how long those articles in #2 are, but if they’re long and take a lot of time, you might work on skimming them first and getting basic details for #3 so you’re not overwhelmed.
      Good luck! You can do it, one small chunk at a time!

      Reply
      1. Margaret Dabek Avatar
        Margaret Dabek

        Thank you for the advice!!!
        I had some minor set-backs with organizing my proposal idea that day, but everything is finally squared away 🙂
        I managed to get done a decent outline and a detailed Problem Statement that my adviser approved later on- so this is good news! DH was SO inspirational for me! Learned so much!

        Reply
  377. John Fritz Avatar
    John Fritz

    Good Morning Wordsmiths,

    I’m not yet at the dissertation stage, but I’m looking forward to this dedicated time (during daylight hours) to work on my research. My goals today are to 1) propose a revision to my existing IRB protocol, 2) draft a GSA research mini-grant proposal for a conference presentation, and 3) update my department’s student degree requirements check list following a consult with my advisor over the summer. I need to get #1 done, would be happy to make a solid dent in #2, and #3 would be a bonus.

    Thanks,

    John

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Ooh, you reminded me I need to renew my IRB… And you don’t have to be in dissertation phase to benefit from social support! Good luck, John!

      Reply
    2. John Fritz Avatar
      John Fritz

      #1 & #2 done. Thanks for letting me breathe the rarefied air of #teamgetitdone scholarship in action. I look forward to another DH when I’m at your stage–and you all have of course left me in your done dissertation dust!

      Best,

      John

      Reply
  378. evesdawn Avatar
    evesdawn

    Good morning, DH! My name is Margaret Grow, a DH Summer 2011 attendee, and I’m very excited to be attend the Fall DH!! Since the summer, I started my own blog, and have been blogging (just about) everyday with the express purpose of maintaining accountability. My blog is here: http://adventuresofdissertationwriting.wordpress.com/ and I’ve already updated it for today!

    Good luck to all of my fellow DH colleagues and to #TeamGetItDone!

    Margaret

    Reply
  379. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Hi again,
    Almost through with one of the assignment
    1. Revise Outline/Table of Contents (will finish tonight)
    2. Revise Intro (did one paragraph)
    Michelle

    Reply
  380. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Oh I forgot to say what I’ll do tomorrow. I plan to revise my problem statement, hopefully for the last time!!!
    Michelle

    Reply
  381. Tracy Irish Avatar
    Tracy Irish

    Hello again,
    I was successful in completing the edits and changes to chapter 3 – it was sent off to my advisor. I have started the edits to chapter 4. Tomorrow I will continue with work on chapter 4. I need to find missing information on the schools in my sample and then work on edits for the sections there and finish the final two sections of the chapter.
    I am tired (but not hungry – the food is always right here!) and ready to break for the night.
    See you tomorrow.
    Tracy

    Reply
  382. evesdawn Avatar
    evesdawn

    Followup to today:

    End of DH Day 1

    Reply
  383. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Ok, quickly before this thing decides to erase my comment again– Guess what?!! I just transcribed my last parent interview!!! I am waiting for one that is thankfully being transcribed for me, and I should get that one tomorrow. I am also waiting for 2 teacher interviews but all in all, and that will add up to 56!!!
    Just in time for tomorrow, well later today when my program is having a potluck and of course work always comes up. 😉 Ok, now I have a lot more work to do. I will start by going over at least 4 student interviews from school B which are the ones that I may have to follow up on.
    Good night!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Way to go Mari!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 (insert excitement)

      Reply
      1. Patti Ordonez Avatar
        Patti Ordonez

        Congrats, Mari! I remember how hard these were to do in our last DH. You are working hard. It will pay off!!!

        Reply
      2. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Thank you!!

        Reply
      3. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Thank you Nikki! 😉

        Reply
      4. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        Ditto what everyone said! Can you believe you finished them and it’s still September?? Awesome #GETTINGITDONE

        Reply
    2. Wendy Carter,PhD Avatar
      Wendy Carter,PhD

      Excellent!!!! Congrats; we are inspired by your persistence.

      Dr. Arm-twister

      Reply
      1. Mari Avatar
        Mari

        Dr. Arm Twister, I mean Dr. CV 😉 yes… wow… just had a flashback to that meeting. THANK YOU!

        Reply
  384. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Saturday Morning!

    In my office with my coffee about to meet with my advisor who is 8 hours ahead of me in the UAE.

    Best wishes to those UMB Employee DH Folks! 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
  385. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Whew! Just had a productive 2 and a half hour meeting with my advisor. Now I am going to get breakfast and then run 1 errand and then to the gym. I should be back home by 12 updating my research statement and I have 5 papers to read and I have papers to grade by Monday. Where did my life go?

    Happy Dissertations!!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Wendy Carter,PhD Avatar
      Wendy Carter,PhD

      Sometimes we have to redefine ourselves so that we can stop wishing this part of our life is done. Stop looking ahead and focus on where you are now. I see that you read the Bible; somewhere in there it says something like “Bloom where God has placed you”. Remember when you are writing your dissertation your life can be full of challenges and triumphs, easy times and hard ones, but you can also thrive even in difficult conditions. Make the most of your life experiences, including this time, and most of all enjoy the journey! This is your current life and what you signed up for, remember? We’ll be here waiting for you when you get back from the gym.

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Yes! I signed up for this. Dr. Chris Jones from MIT told me the exact same thing at my first SSI in 2007 and I never forgot that. Since I was a “new” graduate student then I went home and decided I was either going to be “here” or be “gone”. I decided to be “here” and grow here. I am enjoying the growth, sometimes my patience runs thin but I see the growth and increases in me! Thanks Dr. CV!

        Reply
      2. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y. Williams

        Alexis likes this.

        Reply
  386. Tracy Irish Avatar
    Tracy Irish

    Good morning,
    Today I will work on edits to chapter 4. My goal is to complete the “easy” edits and then move to the re-arrangement that was suggested. Final edits and summary paragraph are last two final components needed – hopefully, I will get to these today!
    Tracy

    Reply
  387. Michelle Beadle-Holder Avatar
    Michelle Beadle-Holder

    Good Morning Again,
    I was falling asleep in front of the computer last night, so I did not finish the outline. However, I did finish one section. Yeah!!! Today I’ll finish the outline and if I have time write another section of the problem statement.

    Michelle

    Reply
  388. Robert Holder Avatar
    Robert Holder

    Lab mates have some good ideas to get the SC+AL algorithm working a bit better. Time to code the improvements and get some test results.

    RHH

    Reply
  389. evesdawn Avatar
    evesdawn

    Goals for today:

    Mini DH Day 2!

    Good luck, DH!

    Reply
  390. Wendy Carter,PhD Avatar
    Wendy Carter,PhD

    Good Morning Teamgetitdone

    We are here again in the Employee’s DH Saturday morning. We have a few hours to accomplish some goals. Remember when you are working on your dissertation it does not have to be all or nothing. Doing something, anything is forward progress.

    Reply
  391. Patti Ordonez Avatar
    Patti Ordonez

    Goals for today:

    1/2 day Dissertation House

    It’s great to be here and see the regulars! I have left my cell phone, my desk, and everything else behind to focus for the next three hours on Chapter 2. Welcome the new DHers!

    Have a productive day, Patti!

    Reply
  392. Patti Ordonez Avatar
    Patti Ordonez

    I wish a productive day to all the DHers out there in internet land and to those in this room as well….

    Signing off…
    #TeamGetItDone…

    Reply
  393. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Hola a todos! Greetings from Puerto Rico! I’ve just left a summit of Texas graduate deans and faculty that was held at the University of Texas at Arlington and am back in Puerto Rico to work with Universidad Metropolitana. I will go to see Jessica Soto Perez’ parents today. They live in San Sebastián and we will go to a restaurant that is owned by UMBC Peer Mentor Victor Torres’ brother-in-law (el marido de la hermana de Maria, la esposa de Victor) in Aguadilla. I’ve seen that transcripts have been completed, papers have been accepted to conferences, algorithms have been improved, and edits are nearing completion. Congratulations on all of your hard work and your RESULTS this week! Continue to work toward your goals! We’re cheering for you!

    Reply
  394. evesdawn Avatar
    evesdawn

    Results for today:

    End of DH Day 2!

    YAY! All goals complete 🙂

    Reply
  395. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Can I just tell you how inspiring it is to see so many people posting on here?

    I’m trying to hurry and type because I’m at the Library of Congress and the coatroom where you have to check all your stuff will close in about 20 mins. I got a crash course in how to navigate the LoC today, and came out of it with a reader’s card and some great progress with 1) journaling my research goals, 2) organizing my reminder messages for un-responded participants and 2) working on my award application that I’ve been preparing. This is despite a wicked sleepy-attack in a place where I am allowed no munchables and no water to guzzle when I get tired. I turned on my “Miss Independent” Pandora station and worked on tasks that wouldn’t make me even more sleepy; if you’d been here you would have seen my poofy hair bopping to the beat over the desk dividers…

    Next:
    1) Read missing data article,
    2) skim/read FMM-related articles and take notes,
    3) work on tutorials
    4) continue application

    Ok, now less than 15 minutes to closing time. Time to go!

    #TEAMGETITDONE

    Reply
  396. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday,

    I had an accident Saturday at home. I cut myself. I am fine but I had to patch myself up and Sunday was a #fail for the dissertation. All is well. I had a meeting at UMBC yesterday and choir practice, but I managed to re-write my research statement and send it to my advisor and I was happy to see that she e-mailed it back to me this morning.

    Today I have a massive grading marathon to do that may/may not take all day. I am going to start now and work until Zumba!!! When I finish grading I will (if I have time) revisit my data and start writing my initial observations.

    Happy Dissertations!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      OMG… Nikki – I’m so glad that you’re ok. That is something I talked to my mom about recently after she cut herself, how scary it would be to be alone when it happened!

      You seem like you are pulling it all together – good progress esp. with the research statement! Keep pushing and I’ll see you at Zumba!

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        Yes!! I always forget my gym clothes on Tuesdays, but I got ’em this time. 🙂

        Reply
  397. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    I still can’t believe it’s Tuesday already. Sometimes the week goes by so slowly, but this week is flying past me.

    I have to submit my award application this week, so I need to run my personal statement and vita by my recommenders. Not fun – it’s tough trying to brag about things you’ve done, especially when in the back of your mind you feel like they’re not enough and will only expose your weaknesses. I’m doing better with my impostor syndrome but I’m not completely recovered…

    Also finishing reading a missing data article today.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      I met a professor at a conference last month who said she still has impostor syndrome and she came out and said with without shame. Now I am talking about a woman who is the Department Chair at Iowa State in Industrial Engineering…..so…not to worry Lex….we are not alone…I just try to drown out my impostor voice with my I COMPLETELY belong here voice…take that devil!

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y. Williams

        I love it!! Ha ha!!! I will try to remember this (or relearn it later)…

        Reply
  398. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Wednesday (as Nikki would say)…
    “Even when you fail, it won’t be for long.” This was on greatday.com today, and I ignored the site the whole day as I felt like a failure. Finally I took a moment to read this on my home page and *ahhhh* I took a breath and relaxed a little bit.

    Even if it’s for a few minutes, I can do something to get closer to where I want to be.

    I will take a few minutes and improve this application. Tomorrow I will take a few moments to review what I did tonight. Then I will leave my agenda for my meeting on Friday for my advisor, and I will work on my stats goals outline.

    Woosaah, namaste, amen.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      LOL…. 🙂

      Reply
  399. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Greetings everyone! I’m still in Puerto Rico and things are going well. I have several meetings tomorrow and my schedule was shifted this evening, so I have to shuffle a few things around. Congratulations on continuing to push forward! Now that several of you will be at the SREB conference in Atlanta at the end of October, be sure that you plan time for working on your dissertations. Regarding the “Imposter Syndrome”, I went through a recent bout of it myself a few years ago. Here it is: http://renettatull.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/california-dreaming-overcoming-the-imposter-syndrome/

    Take care!
    (Since I’m still up working, I guess I’ll miss out on a 7AM morning walk at the beach.)

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Hi Dr. Tull,

      Thank you for checking in from PR – I love this impostor syndrome post and it turns out I read it before. It’s still so relevant – I have to tell myself the same things. Sometimes I am able to “get out of my own way” as one of the musicians with Joshua Redman’s James Farm jazz group told me the other day. Other times I shy away from good opportunities. But I also have to remind myself to use every experience – even the ones I see as failures – as a way to learn more about what’s important in achieving my purpose.

      I love the pics from PR! If you’re still there, I hope you and the others enjoy the rest of the visit. And I hope you fit in some more 7am beach walks!

      Reply
  400. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday….(yep)

    I have my TAship today. I am going to grade papers for 2 hours. Give a lecture for an hour. Finish up any grading and eat lunch for an hour. Ship some boxes to my advisor in the UAE. Read for 1 hour. By now it should be 2:15pm. Then back to my office to edit and add some examples to the codes. I also need to review my old “raw writings” for something I want to put in my dissertation.

    Let’s Goooooo!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Williams Avatar
      Alexis Williams

      Woop woop! Go, Dr. Westmoreland! #GETITDONE! 🙂

      Reply
      1. drwestmoreland Avatar
        drwestmoreland

        At desk working…eyes a closing..head a bobbin..shoulderlean shoulderlean….time for a water break

        Reply
  401. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Friday,

    Got up at 530, left my house at 6. (Walking to the bus in the dark….boo) Had to finish preparing for my 9am advisor meeting. Meeting went well. I just got some random TAness dropped in my lap that I am trying to deal with. Going to lunch with my officemates to clear my head and then I’ll be back to deal with my dissertation. Oh I wrote 2 pages this morning! Woop Woop! And I sent them to my advisor.

    Friday…..:)

    Amen.

    Happy Dissertations!

    Nikki

    Reply
  402. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Standing in line at the grocery store. Trying unsuccessfully to get out of my own way all weekend. But I have an idea for planning out this week that might help set my pace better – I’ve been expecting too much and shutting down once again. Bleah. Welcome to fall, but I’m getting back up. Starting now.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Gotta Gotta Gotta Get Up! I pray myself out of my own way. I got in my way yesterday, but I had a change of heart this morning. Go Go Go Alexis! 🙂

      Reply
  403. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday,

    I am actually working at home today. I had to make a game time decision. I woke up late and I have an appointment at 7pm in Largo so I decided the 2 hour travel time on the bus was not worth it. No TV, just me and the computer. When I get tired I switch between the laptop and the desktop. I have to have SHARP FOCUS when I am at home. It’s hard but not impossible. I am working on some job apps today and I have a few TA-grading duties. All is well.

    I am leaving tomm for PSU again to collect data for 3 days. I need to mentally prepare for that three day data collecting marathon. I can do it.

    Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    #TEAMGETITDONE

    Amen,

    Nikki

    Reply
  404. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Ok Nikki – it’s not our own strength that will get us #done. Thanks for the encouragement, sis. I’ll pray for a great three days of data collection for you. And I’ll pray for three days of pushing through stats for me. This is my stats month. Stats every day, slowly but surely, learning and practicing. First I’ll pray that I can get out of this bed again…

    Reply
  405. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Teamgetitdone

    Sometimes prayer is a last resort and sometimes it can be the first thing that we do before we start working. Either way it works. Glad to see that you have been making some slow and steady progress. Another week has passed; I hope that you have been able to cross some things off your to-do-lists. Keep up the good work.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Amen. I completely agree. We are too hard pressed to not pray each and everyday. The days that I don’t pray before I leave my house for whatever reason, I can tell the difference. It’s like walking in the rain with no umbrella. Although I believe God hears even my unspoken prayers, my personal journey requires more and more prayer.

      Data collection at Penn State went well this week. I killed 2 birds with one stone. I set up my excel sheet to analyze part of the data as I was entering it in. I used a old version of the analyzed data and cleared it but didn’t even realize the 2nd part of the sheet was still active and started calculating totals as I was coding the design journals. I praise GOD!! That was amazing! I just saved myself a week of work.

      I was also able to apply for 3 jobs this week!! I am going to be completely honest I have not idea what I am doing. I am looking for a faculty position but I am still tinkering with the post doc position idea. There are just some titans out there in my field that I would treasure the opportunity to work with, but then there are some amazing faculty positions open at places like Harvey Mudd and MIT. What is a girl to do? I prayed this morning that God would reveal to me the road map and navigation tools for this new “job” path I am taking. I am excited to see what He has in store for me.

      I am going to the gym now and then a few errands before I come home to prepare for Sunday.

      If anyone is out there working today…stay warm and work hard. Your blessing is on the way.

      #GoodEqualsDone

      Nikki

      Reply
      1. Alexis Williams Avatar
        Alexis Williams

        This is so good! A pastor this weekend said that often going to God is our last resort but it should be our reflexive first step. Or first kneel… But thank God he doesn’t ignore us when he is the last resort.

        Nikki the data story is awesome; I love it. Keep going for what you want even when you aren’t really sure what that is or what you’re doing. You’ll end up in some amazing places that way.

        Reply
  406. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday! 🙂

    Today I re-arranged the chapters in my dissertation. There are now 6 and I hope to stay that way. I also created a expanded version of a table that I used in my proposal presentation that my advisor suggested. I spent most of my day on that. I also did some TA duties and read some of the “101 Ways to Improve Your Life Book” It’s really good!

    Bye!

    Nikki

    Reply
  407. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday…

    I had to fight a little to get out of the house today but I made it. Praise God. I decided to ride my bike to the PG Metro and catch the UM Shuttle (because it lets me get fresh air, exercise, and get to school for free but requires HIGH motivation) and I almost MISSED the UM Shuttle because my bike chain got messed up, but the Shuttle was held up by the Metro Bus (or God) and I caught it. I have 2 hours of class before I start working today. I forgot something at home that is crucia, but nonetheless I have 7 papers from my conference this summer that I need to scan and add to my dissertation if applicable.

    Then at 6pm we are going to ZUMBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    #HappyDissertations

    Nikki

    Reply
  408. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    I made it! Nikki, I loved your comments above and I love your drive (or pedal)! I will see you at Zumba.

    Over the last week I was able to get some more data and this week I’m contacting some new principals, so I’ll report back on that. I’m also learning about FMM and LCA and CFA (stats) while I get my current data set cleaned up. This morning I reviewed some of my stats notes on FMM and it is ringing a bell. Yay! Tis all.

    Off to assistantship and then zumba.

    Goooooo #TEAMGETITDONE!

    Reply
  409. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Ok, let’s wake up and embrace the possibilities of a new day, body. One, two, three – and UP! Ooh, ok. Let’s go.

    Got an IRB renewal to work on and a new email request to send to some principals, and some stats to read if all goes well. Thinking of a master plan… 🙂

    Walk the stage. Happy #GETITDONE day!

    Reply
  410. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday,

    Today I will:
    1. Finish cleaning up Chapter 1 and forward to my advisor.
    2. Finish the expanded definitions table I started on Tuesday and forward to my advisor.

    Let’s Go.

    Nikki

    Reply
  411. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuedsay,

    Whew, I made it out the house this morning. It was kind of chilly. Anyways, my students turned in an assignment on Thursday so I need to start grading today. After lunch the grading marathon begins. I spent the morning updating my research statement. (It always seems to be a work in progress) and other random stuff. I also have a call tomorrow with a professor so I need to spend a little while re-reviewing the work that he does.

    #TeamGetItDone

    Nikki

    Reply
  412. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Tomorrow. When’s the last time I said this word in a plan for productivity? I am fighting to regain my plan, starting today.
    I already wrote out tomorrow’s plan, which includes:
    – emailing two principals
    – preparing my agenda for a meeting with a professor
    – preparing IRB renewal
    – reviewing a section of my stats

    I am behind on going to bed but I was determined to post here. I will still get way more sleep than I got last night.

    G’nite #TEAMGETITDONE

    Reply
  413. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hey Lex and Friends and Family! (LOL)

    I am currently at SREB in Atlanta meeting and greeting with new friends and old as well. I hope your plan is going well today Alexis. I am pretty much off for a few days. I am struggling to check e-mails with the conference schedule they have us on. I am also trying to get around and talk to as many recruiters as possible. It is only the 2nd day of the conference and I am already out of cv’s. I don’t know why I only printed 10 copies but there are some really great schools here like Purdue University, University of Arkansas, Oklahoma State University and many many more. I am still going to get around and talk to as many as I can.

    I saw Dr. CV this morning and she said you are on the job market! I know and I am optimistic that I will find a place that is a great fit for me. I will tweet my picture with Dr. CV later when my phone charges back up.

    #HappyDissertations
    #TeamGetItDone

    Bye!

    Nikki

    Reply
  414. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Nikki that is so awesome!! I’m so glad that you are taking advantage of the great opportunity! I’ll say some prayers for you!

    I’m finishing up a productive day. I was struggling there for a while but I am turning this bus around. I finally got up on time without snoozing and my outlook on life reflected what I know to be true today instead of what I fear. I’m joyful.

    About to go to bed on time again, and my plan for tomorrow is done. More IRB, stats, maybe playing around with data. I’m looking forward.

    Take advantage of this time and renew yourself. Come back refreshed and determined from what you experienced!

    Tell my sis hi while you’re there. She lives in grant park. 🙂

    Happy travels, #TEAMGETITDONE!

    Reply
  415. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Day 2 of getting up on time. I am already so much further in a day and a half than I have gotten over the past 2 weeks. Am I exaggerating? Maybe only a little.

    I came to campus and promptly fell asleep at my desk. I guess I didn’t sleep as well as I hoped last night, but I still slept a lot more than I did a few nights ago. It’s easy to push hard when you know how bad off you were only a day earlier. I want to remember this urgency when I’ve been well-off for a while. No coasting.

    Anyway, I have until 5pm, so three hours of IRB and stats. Fun times.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Good JOB Alexis for getting up BTW I still owe you $10 and I was carrying it around for 2 weeks then I used it to tip some people in Atlanta at SREB. Ah, I will make an effort to get it to you this week. Sleeping at the desk is NOT a fail because sometimes when I wake up very early around 10am I need a nap and then after lunch I need another nap and on those days I get so much work done. We work eat and sleep and try to balance everything else outside of that. Keep up the good work.

      Reply
  416. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Almost Monday,

    SREB was great. I tried to tweet my picture of me and Dr. Carter but it’s not working. I will post it on my website so you can see us. My website is sophoria.weebly.com

    I am mentally preparing myself for tomorrow while resting and trying to push the jet lag out of my system. I am packing my backpack and lunch so I have no excuses in the morning.

    Time to get this #dissertationdone

    I declare that this week is productive, healthy, peaceful, guilt-free, forgiving, self-reflective, and that my eyes will be open to see the beauty around me.

    Let’s go.

    Nikki

    Reply
  417. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday,

    Going to:

    1. Analyze some data
    2. Make some histograms
    3. Read a chapter from my 101 Great Ways book
    4. Check my e-mail
    5. Work Out

    6. GO HOME!!

    Let’s do it!

    Nikki

    Reply
  418. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Wednesday,

    Hump Day!

    I finished everything yesterday except reading from my book, so I will start today with a read.

    Today I will:

    1. Start Coding NAVAIR Documents
    2. Scan Students Journals from this semester
    3. Re-vamp coding categories (e-mail to my advisor)
    4. Edit Chapter 2 of my dissertation, I need to move some things around before I talk with Dr. Carter Friday

    I am going to a Zumba class tonight in Glenarden so I am not sure about #4 but I will aim for it nonetheless. The least I can do is print out the chapter and read it on the bus ride home and start formulating my thoughts about how I want to change it.

    Let’s Go.

    Nikki

    Reply
  419. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday,

    Today I am not fully here but here nonetheless. Sitting at my desk ready to go. I am a 1 task pony today. I will start with #4 from yesterday. I’ll be back when I’m done.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Still working on Chapter 2. Inhale. Exhale.

      Reply
  420. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Good Morning Ladies
    I am back from Atlanta and off to a slow start. It was great to see some of my former DH students at SREB. I presented a workshop on “Tips to Writing a Proposal”. I also met some new students as well. I went to dinner with Dr. Heather Holden, watched a movie with Dr. Janet Awokoya, enjoyed a moment admiring Jodian beautiful haircut, and spent some time with drwestmoreland and Michelle Beadle-Holder.

    It’s not too late to make plans for graduation in May. The real question is how hard do you want to work. If you have been working steady and are ready to graduate you might need an attitude adjustment. If you are thinking about graduating in May, now is the time to begin your final push. Most people think that January 1st is the time make your New Year’s resolution to finish your dissertation. If you will be graduating in the spring, you have to finish your full draft by early April, 4 months after the start of the new year. If you start Nov 1st you have 6 months.

    Are you really 6 months away from getting your PhD?

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      YES YES YES!!! I was thinking about this as I was walking to my bus this morning. What a reality check. Thanks Dr. CV.

      Reply
    2. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Me, too! I talked over my deadlines with my advisor today. I’m going to push this one out. I can do it.

      Here is a great self-check list that my friend posted on FB today (which I only checked once for about 5 minutes – go me!!). It helps consider what priorities I’m making in my life, whether the “dissertation and beyond” is the most important thing right now, as it should be:

      Ten Scary Questions for Brave ABDs

      1. How seriously are you protecting and honoring your scheduled work sessions? (Even scarier question: Do you even have a schedule?)

      2. How much time are you spending on the Internet and e-mail? (Are you sure?)
      …
      3. How long has it been since you have been in touch with your Dissertation Chair/Academic Advisor?

      4. If you are not happy with your current relationship with your advisor, have you really tried to improve communication and improve the relationship?

      5. When you are spending time researching on the Internet, are you actually researching or just procrastinating?

      6. What are you resisting?

      7. If you are struggling with your mood or ability to focus, have you tried everything yet? (e.g., therapy, exercise, improved nutrition, dissertation coaching, medication, music, light therapy)

      8. Are there any toxic people in your life who are optional? (What would it cost you to avoid them?)

      9. Are you doing everything possible to minimize distractions during your scheduled work sessions? (Why not?)

      10. How’s your attitude toward your doctoral program and your own work? (Is there room for improvement? Can you take more responsibility for improving your attitude?)

      Good stuff!

      Reply
  421. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Ok, today I was off to a slow start but I finally assigned deadlines to my dissertation tasks and then had a successful meeting with my advisor where she critiqued my deadlines with me and helped push me along. Afterward, I worked on my data and organized my next steps.

    Tomorrow I’ll (in Dr. Westmoreland style):
    1) send some early recruitment emails,
    2) meet with one of my lab mates about my confirmatory factor analysis set-up,
    3) drop off my IRB renewal request that my advisor signed today, and
    4) read/take notes on CFA.

    Let’s go, #TEAMGETITDONE (and sorry to stay away last week. It’s been hectic but I’ve been working)

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      P.S. – Gonna try for 7:15 Zumba…

      Reply
  422. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Today was job application day and it’s not over. I have sent in 6 and I have 4 more. I also had a departmental dinner and then I just came back from basic step class at the gym. I am going to try for Zumba tomorrow Alexis. I will also try to remember your $10!! LOL. 🙂

    Back to work.

    Nikki

    Reply
  423. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday,

    Today I have class and I have to stay for lab because the professor is absent. After lab I will attend the seminar on “Inside Faculty Hiring”.

    Then….I will work on coding some documents until I head to the gym.

    Let’s Gooooooooooooo!

    I’m kinda sleepy.

    Nikki

    Reply
  424. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thursday!

    Today I am going to:
    1. Scan the 6 journals I have collected so far this semester
    2. Check in on my students who still have journals
    3. Start coding the journals from Spring 2011 semester

    I have bible study tonight and I also **might** go to the athlectic conditioning class at the gym.

    That’s all folks! 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
  425. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Sooo, if I would have posted an hour ago I would have been happy. I’m in the office and I have my agenda ready. But then I found out that a stats class my committee member is letting me start auditing met yesterday when I thought it wouldn’t meet again until next week. The lecture was on a topic that I need for my dissertation. I hope I am done crying over the thought “Why didn’t I just check yesterday???”

    I emailed the professor. I will try to move on, but this is so frustrating that I just shake my head. I keep reading these quotes about learning from failure, and I believe them. I really do believe them. It’s just hard right now.

    Anyway, today I’m
    1) Turning in some updated research question predictions to my advisor (the document has been sitting next to me since I found out about the class.)
    2) Continuing to clean up my data set
    3) Preparing my Monday presentation for my lab about my RQs and analyses

    Trying to end on a good note: This week my IRB renewal was approved and I made an appointment with a principal to introduce my study. Maybe I’ll try to get on another principal’s calendar while I’m up there…

    Trying to smile. I don’t have to be completely happy to do good work.

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Hey Alexis! 🙂 Let’s turn that frown into a smile. 🙂 Hope your day has been going better. Give yourself a break this week and have ice-cream, see a movie, or my personal favorite go shopping! 🙂 Like Dr. CV says “If you have time for a pity party then your not busy enough”. Let’s move on, together. Embrace our limits as humans and let God control the rest. Maybe you could ask another student or the professor for the notes from that lecture for you to review them. Or check youtube for lectures on the same topic and watch a few of them this weekend. I sometimes find youtube and google helpful in hearing other people’s view of explaining things. Try to catch that professors office hours next week to clear up any muddy points you have about the lecture you missed after you read the book or study another students notes. Hope something helps.

      Reply
      1. alexiswilliamsinc Avatar
        alexiswilliamsinc

        Nikki! Thank you so much!

        Thank you for reminding me of Dr. CV’s words – I found them to be true on Friday when I found myself being GRATEFUL for having made a schedule that I was falling off of the longer I took to recover. The schedule pulled me to move on once I’d taken the needed time to vent and it reminded me that I can always make things worse. Shutting down definitely would have made things worse.

        That experience definitely helped me to embrace my limits and just trust God. I did email some of the people in the class and I will visit the office hours if I’m still muddy.

        I never even considered YouTube for this. I will see what I find. If that todesn’t work, you remind me of another website that should have some helpful info.

        Again, this was so helpful. Thank you for being there for me!

        Alexis

        Reply
  426. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Today I met with Dr. CV and I really need to plan out my next 6 months. I have 6 chapters and 6 months to graduate. I can do it. I am going to spend some time doing that today.

    Reply
  427. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Hi Alexis,

    Hello from Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh! Nikki gave some GREAT advice. I was about to write some of those same things and then I took time to read what she wrote. She is on point. Please follow that great advice.

    To everyone who wants to come to Dr. Carter-Veale’s talk on Saturday, if you are outside of UMBC, you can post/register here: https://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/completing-your-thesis-or-dissertation-saturday-seminar-november-12-2011/

    You’ve been able to hear most of her points for this lecture in the DH, but it is a good refresher and keeps you in dissertation mode. If several of you are coming from College Park, I would recommend making a fun day of it. You can come to the seminar in the morning, connect with Dr. Carter-Veale, and go to lunch together in the afternoon. A change of scenery can be good … the lobby of the Sheraton, Panera at Columbia Mall, or some other location.

    Take care!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Hi Dr. Tull! Hi Dr. CV!
      Dr. Tull, I’m sorry I didn’t finish my posts the other day – the computer I was on kept slowing down whenever I typed so there was a delay for each character of about 10 seconds. I wanted to tell you thank you, too, for your encouragement and backing up Nikki’s advice.

      Everyone, I’m sorry I won’t be able to make Saturday. I really need the constant reminders of things I’ve maybe heard before, and there’s always something new even when I think I know it all. I will wear my T-shirt in spirit and solidarity. 🙂

      Reply
  428. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Teamgetitdone.
    Can you wear your T-Shirts on Saturday? I actually have one of my own; I will be wearing mine. Join me. I am looking forward to seeing familiar faces as well as new ones. This is my favorite workshop because it gives an overview of the process. Two hours is never enough time but it works. Come and have breakfast with me. See you on Saturday.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Yes Teamgetitdone will wear our shirts!!!!!!! I plan to attend. I’m excited. I allways need motivation.

      Reply
  429. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Tuesday,

    Today I am working on Chapter 2 revisions. Cranking them out. I have until Friday to get Chapter 2-90% done. I also have some graphs to make for my advisor and I should set up a meeting with her. I will focus on Chapter 2 today, Graphs tomorrow, and Chapter 2 again on Thursday.

    I will #knockitout!!

    Nikki

    Reply
  430. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Hello Wednesday! Hey Nikki!

    Today is an assistantship day so I’m doing some early morning stats reading in preparation for tomorrow’s class that I’m auditing to get solid on confirmatory factor analysis (recommended by my committee member who teaches the class). Yesterday I got some help from some students in the class for what I missed last week, so I feel a lot better.

    I have my agenda set for the day and my hourly play-by-play. I will be hosting a workshop on helping students learn more effectively using practical applications of brain research; the workshop is centered around a DVD for the book Brain Rules, and an instructor at UM who uses the book to teach his class will present. I’m really excited about it.

    I’m off to go read!

    Alexis

    Reply
  431. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hi Alexis!

    Yes it is Wednesday! Hump Day!! Let’s get over it. I have charts charts and graphs to make today. Starting now… 🙂

    Nikki

    Reply
  432. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Hello ladies!
    I’m back! I had a reawakening earlier today. Thank you Dr. Carter.
    I just resubmitted my IRB addendum to the PI of the project. I will try to follow up with her in a few days because she is not completely back from maternity leave.
    I am going to continue working at UMBC with Tanya until 8 pm. I will work on an outline for remaining chapters until then, and hopefully go to the gym afterwards.
    It was nice seeing you at the event Nikki 😉

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      It was nice to see you to Maritza!

      Reply
  433. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Hello ladies!
    I’m back! I had a reawakening earlier today. Thank you Dr. Carter-Veale.
    I just resubmitted my IRB addendum to the PI of the project. I will try to follow up with her in a few days because she is not completely back from maternity leave.
    I am going to continue working at UMBC with Tanya until 8 pm. I will work on an outline for remaining chapters until then, and hopefully go to the gym afterwards.
    It was nice seeing you at the event Nikki 😉

    Reply
  434. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Ladies

    I was so good seeing everyone this morning at the workshop!! Let’s renew our efforts and commitment to getting done.

    Reply
  435. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Hello everyone! I’m checking in with you! I hope that you enjoyed your time with Dr. Carter-Veale this morning on UMBC’s campus. I’m glad that some of you were able to attend. I’ll look forward to seeing you on Friday at the Fall Harvest: http://promiseagep.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/promise-fall-harvest-dinner-november-18-2011-at-college-park/.

    Reply
  436. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Hello I am back. Thanks everyone. Have a meeting with my advisors next week. Things look good.

    Reply
  437. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Teamgetitdone
    It’s Tuesday. When you are writing your dissertation everyday seems just like the day before. However, when you make a schedule everyday seems like progress. Everyday you should be able to cross something off your to-do list. If you can’t cross something off it means that you have not broken your tasks down small enough. For example, a dreaded task that might take 4 hours can be broken down into four 1 hour tasks. These one hour tasks can be broken down further into 15 min tasks. If you dread reading a journal article; you can break the process down into 15 minute increments. You can take 15 minutes to download the article and put the bibliographic information into your reference database, You can take 15 minutes to read the introduction, and find the research question. Fifteen minutes to read and take notes on the methodology. You get the point. What can you cross off your list tonight?

    Teamgetitdone, I hope that you are working on getting it done that’s why I haven’t seen a post. Welcome back Lenisa; I hope you are feeling better and stronger as well. Since you will be meeting with your advisor I hope you have an agenda and a progress report. Alexis how is that statistics class going? Nikki I hope to see, hear or speak with you again on Friday.

    Reply
  438. Mari Avatar
    Mari

    Thank you for the reminders Dr. CV. I still have to finish the outline, I hope to have it done by the end of this week. I have also been looking at video clips of Atlas.ti.
    The PI submitted my IRB addendum this morning and according to a reply, we should receive notification within the next two weeks.
    Hope everyone is doing well!

    Reply
  439. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Dr. CV. Thank you for those reminders. I have an agenda for the meeting and I think I will work on that as well.

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Lenisa

      How did the meeting go?

      Reply
      1. lenisaj Avatar
        lenisaj

        Dr. CV i did not see this before now. The meeting went well. It was about both the dissertation and work. Maggie wanted me to make some changes to make my argument more early childhood focused. She recommended a book and two dissertations for me to review.

        Reply
  440. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Good Morning all

    When writing a dissertation, doing nothing is not really an option. Writing a dissertation requires a commitment to daily forward progress. What are you going to do today to show your commitment? What will you work on? Thanksgiving is on Thursday; what will you do today so that you can enjoy your holiday without a sense of guilt? Work hard for the next 3 days starting today and reward yourself on Thursday. On Thursday you can take 15 minutes and work on something really small like your “Cover page”. Maybe you can write the introductions to each chapter. Maybe you can write up a section of your methodology. How about writing up some of your tables and figures? Can you work on the bibliography? Knowing that Thursday will be spent with friends and family should motivate you to get something accomplished today. Perhaps today is the day that you give up the need for perfection—-try writing whatever you want to without worrying about how it sounds. Write as if you are the only on who is going to see it; you can always hit delete or edit later. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect it just has to be done. At 8:43 in the morning you still have an opportunity to get something accomplished today because a good dissertation is a done dissertation.

    Have a productive day.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Thanks Dr. Carter! I am pushing to be productive for the next three days. 🙂

      Reply
      1. drwendycarter Avatar
        drwendycarter

        Good Morning Nikki,
        Glad to see that some sickness can’t keep a good girl down. Put on your cape and tights for the today and tomorrow. Happy Holidays.

        Reply
  441. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Hi TEAMGETITDONE!

    It’s amazing how fast time can pass. I didn’t realize it had been so long. I have been working on keeping up my schedule and accomplishing small tasks. Today and tomorrow I am working on my data set to practice my analyses with what I have so far. Wednesday morning I will be traveling to Atlanta, so my goal is to give myself small tasks to do on the road. Usually I overplan for Thanksgiving and come back disappointed.

    Dr. CV, the stats class is going well; it encourages me to keep up with my reading and pace myself. I also got to meet with another principal last week, so I will come and talk to her teachers in early December! I’m hoping and praying that this will put me over the 200 mark at last.

    I know Nikki has been sick since last week, so that’s probably why she hasn’t posted much. It’s good to see everyone. Let’s keep her in our prayers (and Nikki, if you get back before the holiday, I hope you’re feeling better and have a good Thanksgiving!).

    Alexis

    Reply
  442. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Alexis, Thanks for the update. Nikki take care of yourself and come back strong. I am sure your fellow bloggers won’t let you down.

    Reply
  443. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Hello All,

    Thanks Dr. Carter and Alexis for the well wishes. Thanks to Lenisa for brining me juice and cake this weekend, that really really made me smile. I really missed everyone and I am really happy that I am mostly back on my feet. I do not have the internet at home so I am not able to do anything dissertation or school related at home besides read articles and I am mostly past that. Okay, that’s not really true I guess I could work on some spreadsheets too….LOL. Anyways I lost a week but I didn’t loose my mind and I was already not taking a vacation for thanksgiving so it will be alright that I work some through this holiday and into the weekend.

    I have to put a dent in my Chapter 3 this week and get it to 90%, it’s methods so I already know what I did its just a matter of sitting down putting it into words. It is going to be done! I see me finishing it and e-mailing it to my advisor. I also have some analysis to get done this week including write-ups about those analysis.

    I am going to start Chapter 3 now and see what happens.

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      Yay, Nikki! Glad you’re back!! With head raised! Let’s get it.

      Reply
  444. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Well, there’s fog everywhere in College Park, but there’s a nice, warm glow from the lamp over my desk, and I’m happy to be awake, warm, clean, and dressed in comfortable clothes. I am thankful for this. Hey, Thanksgiving can’t start too early!

    I have to do some planning ahead to be ready for next week since I’ll be traveling starting tomorrow morning.
    1) I will submit my meeting agenda for next Monday’s meeting with my advisor – it seems so far away but really it’s more like two business days if you count tomorrow.
    2) I will get this data set cracking (cleaned up) once and for all (or for now) and try out whatever analyses I can get to run.
    3) When I start to get tired – already had a dose of that this morning – I’ll take a walk over to my grad office and have a spot of tea. 🙂

    Ok, today is definitely a silly day. And it will be a good one if I get work done, too.

    Happy Tuesday, #TEAMGET’ERDONE.

    Reply
  445. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Alexis you are so right, there is fog everywhere I can’t escape it. It tried to keep me in the bed but I said “NO!”. I agree with you as well I am grateful for my life I was thinking as I got dressed this morning that I am so happy with where I am right now. It is a sweet season. Everyone should find something to be thankful for.

    Today I will:
    1. Give a lecture at 11am
    2. Make the layout for Design ME Day during my students lab
    3. Print and re-read this e-mail from my advisor
    4. Work on some analysis graphs
    5. Contact my advisor
    6. Go home
    7. Chapter 3 edits

    The time change is killing me and making me adjust my schedule and do some work from home so I am not walking home late into the midnight of darkness or as my mother says “when the boogye man comes out”. Nonetheless, I will do my best to be diligent in the house and in the field.

    Yes, go #TEAMGETTHEEDONE !!!!! 🙂

    Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      There is fog here too in NC

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y. Williams

        Wow, we’ve just got a dreary coast today.. Gotta keep the sunshine in your heart!

        Reply
  446. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Ok, modified my data file and it’s almost ready for test running. I ran some descriptives already and made notes for what’s next.

    Now I will plan my Thanksgiving schedule so I’m not expecting too much of myself over the break, and then go home and finish packing.

    Have a good Thanksgiving, everyone!

    Alexis

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Good Job Alexis. You shouldn’t do anything over break that takes more than a 1-2 hour chunk of time, that usually works for me. Why because that’s the length of babies nap time, grandma’s nap time, everybody’s nap time! LOL. I hope you are successful in all your holiday work efforts.

      Nikki

      Reply
  447. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Wednesday,

    Much of the same from yesterday. I got comments from my advisor last night so I will start there and see how much I get done.

    Let’s Go!

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      WHEW!! What a day! I did most of what I set out to do. Now off to church for Pre-Thanksgiving Services. Happy Turkey Day #TeamGetItDone.

      Nikki

      Reply
  448. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Teamgetitdone

    Welcome back, though it is tempting to relax further, this is a friendly reminder to get back to work. Because we have set deadlines we should know what we are suppose to be doing today and how many days we have left until our defense and or graduation. If we practiced what we learned in the DH, we should know where we left off and what our thinking was at the time. We should not have to re-familiarize ourselves with the dissertation again for the hundredth time. We should not be waiting for the enthusiasm and the motivation to kick us in gear either. By now, we know how to work on the dissertation when we are still less than motivated to do so. And if all else fails set your timer and get 15 minutes in.

    30 days and counting……3 days ago I activated my 30 trial of Nvivo 9; each day the computer tells me how many days I have left. Today, I am on day3 I have 27 left; the computer shows 27 days left. Seeing the number of days left as I get started each day makes me work with a purpose and a goal. This means I have had 30 days to learn this software and analyze my data. Thus far, I have loaded the data thus far and code each survey questions. My next task is to identify themes and code them. I realize that I cannot afford to waste a day. Joel Olsteen said this morning everyday is like vapor; you cannot get it back once it is gone. How many days do you have until graduation?

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      Yes, this is good, Dr. CV. I always struggle trying to get work done while around family in an unfamiliar place. Heck, it’s hard enough for me to get work done ALONE in a FAMILIAR place. That’s not considering the 12 hour drive home from Atlanta last night. So I came back today with a little more anxiety than normal, but determined to pull myself back together.

      I have been trying to get myself to recalculate my countdown, and this is just the impetus. This is good.

      Today I read and took notes on my stats and I am trying to run some of the analysis before leaving. I will also take a peek at my countdown before I have an anxiety attack… Today is just a high anxiety day. I can accept it. Tomorrow will be better. Or the day after maybe.

      Reply
  449. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Thank you Dr. Carter-Veale. A rough estimate walking in Decemeber 2012 gives me 387 days to my graduation. This morning I
    1. Wrote letter for my work status re-authorization,
    2. Complied the needed documentation and signatures
    3. Took documents over for processing
    4. Filled out documents for program extension, got signature from my advisor.
    4. Printed exam for class tomorrow.
    5. Read last chapter of 1 book my advisor recommended at our last meeting.

    This evening I will
    1. Review the reference list in the book
    2. Identify reference that could help Literature Review.
    2. Read dissertation recommended by my advisor
    3. Grade 10 papers.

    Reply
  450. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Thank You Dr. Carter for that reality check (I haven’t swallowed it yet, it feels like glass in my throat)….I have 174 days until my May 20, 2012 graduation. Lord have mercy.

    Today I was here by 7:30 am and I am still here. I spend a good part of the day fixing some data in my spreadsheets. Then I wrote a few paragraphs about that data and put it into my Chapter 5 which is 1 of my results chapters. I am a bit overwhelmed because the data set is huge and representing it on a 8.5×11 sheet of paper is perplexing me.

    I have a meeting with my advisor on Wednesday. I plan to get ready for that tomorrow by coding some journals from Spring 2011 and thinking about ideas for a conference paper for next summer. I also plan to use the data I worked with today to make some more (much smaller) tables by groups of my codes. Tomorrow I am also covering a lab class for my professor. 😦 I need super sharp focus.

    Confession: I am behind on my writing schedule. First I was sick then my advisor dumped some random stuff in my lap. This week I need to get Chapter 3 to 90% AND write the Introduction for Chapter 4. Dr. Carter I had already written the Introduction for Chapter 5 and I didn’t even remember that I wrote it. LOL. I know. I plan to tackle the Chapter 4 introduction Tuesday and spread Chapter 3 over the final 3 days of the week.

    Pray Church. I need a miracle this week.

    Amen!

    #TeamGetItDone

    Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y. Williams

      God will give it if you ask it. Walk in faith, Lenisa and Nikki! Nikki, I’m behind, too, but my fear is all that holds me back. Let’s work on this together. I’ll be happy to do the work and forget I did it already!! 🙂

      Reply
  451. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Good Morning Ladies, I have 386 days to go.
    Yesterday I accomplished everything but grading those papers and another set will drop on my lap today! Lord have mercy give me time and focus. Today I have my assistantship and I teach….my plan for the day is to…
    MORNING
    1. Get signature from Program Director and College Dean for program extension
    2. Go to Assistantship
    3. Give an exam
    4. Grade 15 papers
    EVENING
    5. Revise the chapter with information from the readings
    6. Grade 5 papers

    NIkki and Alexis I am so behind I feel like I am drowning. But God is able. Have a productive day team!

    #Teamgetitdone

    Reply
  452. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Lenisa and Nikki, we’re three for three with our behind behinds. But as long as we keep moving and don’t let ourselves – or each other – fall off, God will pull us through and give us those miracles we’ve been asking for. God definitely pulled me out of bed this morning – I KNOW that wasn’t me…

    Today (122):
    1) Attempt a confirmatory factor analysis with current data set to work out kinks
    2) Prep teacher email to send to principal
    3) Meet with International GTA fellows for work
    4) Meet with advisor
    5) Decide my next steps and update my Dissertation Accomplished list

    Lenisa (and Nikki) the last Dissertation Support group with Marcy Marinelli is this Friday from 12pm – 1:30pm in 2122 Shoemaker. If you still feel like you’re drowning by then, you should stop in!

    Reply
  453. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Today…173 days to go….I will

    1. Check E-mails
    2. Write Chapter 4 Introduction
    3. Cover Lab from 12-2pm
    Go home to get my car……BREAK
    4. Check website for conference requirements
    5. Review paper my advisor sent me
    6. Create coding groups
    7. Make new graphs with previous groups
    8. Code Spring 2011 Journals (I want to at least start this)

    Thanks Alexis, I might stop by if I can muster the strength to wakl to Shoemaker.

    #TeamGetItDone!!!

    Nikki

    Reply
  454. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Ok, the day went very well. Got through three back-to-back meetings and got my CFA to run with the unexpected help of my awesome labmate. Now I have to figure out what all these pages of output mean and what I need to fix… 🙂

    On Friday after the dissertation support group, I’m going to try to go by the Effective Job Interviews talk in Tawes if I can get my schedule switched around. I registered just in case.
    http://www.training.umd.edu/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.CourseDetail&CLASS_ID=82309

    Now I still have to:
    1) prep my email to teachers that I’ll send off tomorrow and
    2) update my Project: Dissertation Accomplished list of to-dos and dates.

    Stuff for later:
    3) Go over adjustments to my data set
    4) Review my output from the CFA
    5) Look over the homework from stats
    6) Put together basic tables (descriptives, correlations, etc.)
    7) Set up a meeting with my stats committee member for December
    8) Overview my next analyses

    Reply
  455. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Good News all around congrats Alexis!! I am about to wrap it up for the day. Today I finished the Introduction to my Chapter 4 and polished the Chapter 5 Introduction. I also created my list of Tables and list of Figures and double checked and corrected some inconsistencies. That took all morning. Then from 12-2 I covered a lab class. Then I took my break and went home to get my car and did a few chores at home that I had been avoiding. I came back for round 2. I re-read a paper from my advisor and came up with some thoughts for a conference paper. Then I made a few changes to some graphs that she suggested during our last meeting and sent a copy of the new charts to her for review. I created my new categories for my cognitive codes and I was going to graph them but I want to wait and see what my advisor thinks about the groups that I have chosen. I can no longer see straight so I am going home.

    Goodnight to all!

    Nikki

    Reply
  456. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Today…..172 days to go….I will:

    1. Meet with my advisor at 8am
    2. Chapter 3
    3. Apply for the GEE Conference opportunity in the Spring
    4. Chapter 3
    1pm I will break for bible study.
    5. Apply for job at University of North Texas
    6. Chapter 3
    7. Re-grade some papers
    8. Chapter 3

    I have sprinkled my day with my Chapter 3 updates, I hope it actually works out that way.

    #TeamGetItDone

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      So far I have done #1, #3, #5, and #7. I am about to go to bible study. Clearly I have some avoidance issues….:(

      After lunch we will try this Chapter 3 thing again……

      Nikki

      Reply
  457. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    Day 385,
    Good Work Alexis and Nikki! NIkki how did it go after lunch?
    Yesterday I accomplished everything but grading those papers. I spent more time addressing the issues in the chapter.
    Today I had my assistantship. This afternoon I must just get the papers graded. I did 20 minutes reading and editing stuff I did today and now on to paper grading.
    TTFN
    Lenisa

    Reply
    1. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Oh Alexis I have to work so I will not be able to come by the support group. I will try to set an appointment to see someone.

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y. Williams

        Try for an intake appointment and see if there are current walk-in hours. Both should be helpful. No drowning allowed.

        Reply
  458. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    121
    Bust. Trying for a stats challenge for December. After some morning work before my assistantship (sent off my teacher email, yay), I got back to lab close to 6, ate, and accomplished nothing more. Had so much planned. Disappointed.

    Will go home, try again tomorrow.

    *sigh*

    Reply
  459. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    171
    Yesterday was a bust! I am trying right now to redeem myself. Trying….

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      I really had to push today but I did it! I re-worked 16 pages in my CHAPTER 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was really starting to resent that chapter but now I really like the way it is looking. I was avoiding it because I had to make so many changes from what it was for my proposal. I fixed 6 tables, 3 figures, and made it through 3.5 sections. I have about 12 more pages of editing to do tomorrow and I plan to start bright and early in the morning.

      Today my plan was to only plan to do 1 thing and that worked for me.

      I’m going home and eat some chocolate peppermint bark to reward myself!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

      #TeamGetItDone

      Nikki

      PS: I hope this works again tomorrow….

      Reply
  460. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Teamgetitdone
    I see the countdown is on!!!! wonderful. One more day towards graduation. Keep up the good work.

    Reply
  461. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    384 days to graduation
    Today was a wash. I am so tired…Wait …. what is that you say tomorrow is Friday. I am not even excited. Today I did not go to work I just slept, woke up around 10 drank some juice opened the windows at my house went back to bed. Not finished grading papers but that will wait. I need to touch my dissertation cause the days will go by.
    PUSHING UGH! Don’t want to but I am going to do at least one thing I am going to check references in the document to make sure they are all there.
    #teamgetitdone.

    Reply
  462. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    Hello All,

    I know I have been on hiatus, but I’m back. To recap what’s happened since I last saw Dr Carter, Lenisa and Nikki at the conference in Atlanta back in October:

    So after getting back from Atlanta, my computer crashed and the apple personnel was unable to recovery any of my data from the hard drive. My research is in theoretical/computational, so needless to say valuable information and hundreds of journal articles were lost. Lesson learnt: make sure to always back up your work and other valuable documents. Then, two weeks later had to re-start my main project from scratch.

    But, that is all behind me. Now, I obsessively backup my work and encourage my mentor to get backup drives. The backup drives came in yesterday and I can ease my mind from my obsessive behavior…lol. Also, yesterday I submitted my first fellowship application to the Merck-uncf graduate fellowship. Finally, in working towards my dissertation I have been maintaining a running powerpoint and excel workbook of my results. It keeps my data organized and allows me to quickly make presentations to show my mentor during our weekly meeting.

    Today, my goals are to: 1) TA grading and 2) attend a mini-symposium from NIH female scientists at 12noon.

    Have a great weekend!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Hey Jodian! Welcome back!

      Reply
    2. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Hello Jodian

      Welcome back; good seeing you in Atlanta and what a beautiful hair cut that was. Anyway, it is also good to see that you are able to put some words on a blank page after that catastrophe with your computer. Yes I always recommend that students back up their work or data on something other than their lap to because “bad things happen to good people.” Even jumpdrives break as well. Nonetheless, a back up drive call Clickfree 500GB Hard Drive with Complete PC Backup can back up more than one computer. The price is about 90.00 on http://www.QVC.com or possibly AMAZON. Of course with everything there is a down side. In this case you can back up more than 1 PC or MAC but not both. Thus I choose to back up PC at work and PC at home. My Mac is just out of luck.

      I like that idea of mini-presentations to present to your mentor. I would also recommend
      summary paragraphs as well for your own benefit because writing well takes practice.

      Reply
      1. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        Well Dr Carter, school has taken it’s toll and the cut is shining like it was. But, break is coming soon.

        Thanks for the suggestion for the hard drive backup. Also, I think summary paragraphs are a great idea!

        Have a fantastic weekend!

        Reply
    3. lenisaj Avatar
      lenisaj

      Welcome back Jodian!

      Reply
  463. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    170……

    This morning I came in early because I need to leave early. I already worked on Chapter 3 this morning and I have 25 out of the 27 pages edited, that’s 92% for all my nerds. I will do the 8% after lunch but one part of that is a new section so it might take me longer than I planned. Nonetheless I press on. I got from 25,000 words to 25,999 words this morning and I have more to write before I leave today. I like the numbers game because it motivates me even though I know that parts will be edited and things changed around after my advisor makes her edits I feel good knowing that I am pressing forward. I added a few new tables this morning as well. I am writing the methodology so it is not that much brain power but it does require memory…..:)

    I’m going a lunch/holiday party! Since I did my work this morning I can truly enjoy myself!!!! 🙂

    #TeamGetItDone

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. drwendycarter Avatar
      drwendycarter

      Nikki
      170 more days and counting……Good for you using the numbers can make things less overwhelming. Did you take my advice about getting help from others to edit the document before you present it to your advisor. Remember your advisor is not your official editor and would always prefer to see a polished document.

      Have a good weekend teamgetitdone.

      Reply
    2. Jodian Avatar
      Jodian

      Great job! Keep up the good work. Have fun at the party.

      Reply
  464. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    382 Days and counting…
    Today is going successfully!! Proud of me.

    9 am-1:00pm: Grading test papers
    I was on campus early 9 am to grade test papers with my co- lecturer. Nikki I will be sure to use some numbers in the future to help me quantify my progress. We were not finished there was a small pile left not sure how many we will meet on Monday evening to finish.

    1:30pm – 2:45ish: Ran some errands and eat lunch.

    3:00pm – 7:45pm Dissertation work
    At 3:00 pm I was in the library settled in my chair ready to work. This was my major accomplishment! I settled down and wrote 701 words. I know where I left of to start again tomorrow (Gw).

    9:00pm – 12:00pm
    I am home now and settled to grade some more project papers. I have done 25% thus far. Intention is to get 25% more done.

    I hope to repeat this tomorrow! #teamgetitdone

    Reply
  465. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    380 Days to go!
    On Saturday Night I graded those 8 papers and went to bed. I felt very satisfied with my accomplishments for the day.
    On Sunday I went to Church in sweats so that I could head to the library immediately after Mass. I graded the rest of the papers and created a spreadsheet. I was finished a little after 4:00 and able to enjoy the rest of my day.
    This Morning: I attended a funeral for three members of one family who died in a fire at their home last week. I don’t know if it is age but seems like death is all around lately…or maybe that youthful sense of invincibility has gone and I am more aware of death. Either way…please be safe folks.
    So I meet my co lecturer at 4:00 and we graded the rest of papers. We had one question left on 16 papers which we zipped through quickly I was saying good bye at 5:00!!
    Some of our students called and asked to meet to clarify some issues related to a presentation they have tomorrow so I meet with them from 5:30 to 5:45.
    I am now in the library settling in to finish writing from where I left off. Now that I am working steadily I don’t feel submerged.

    Reply
  466. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    Yesterday was a productive day. I made some progress with my research and I was able to make some more figures and added to my working Powerpoint of my research data. Also, I am taking Dr Carter’s suggestion of writing summaries. In addition, I got some grading done. When I got home I was extremely tired and really couldn’t grade through the commercials of my favorite show, so instead I went to bed a little earlier than the day before (yaay!).

    Today, the plan is to attend my quantum chemistry class, work on a group report and presentation with my classmate, meet with my advisor to show the new data, and continue grading.

    A little saying that keeps me pushing is this: “The heights of great men reached and kept were attained by sudden flight. They while their companions slept were toiling through the night.”

    Reply
  467. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    166 days to go….

    Saturday I did come back to my office and finish Chapter 3 and I made the outline for the paper and sent that to my advisor. I also set up a meeting with her Monday morning.

    So I came in yesterday full of hope and exhaustion. I had a 8am meeting with my advisor so you know what time I had to get up to get here. I met with her until about 9:30am and the meeting was great. We mostly talked about an outline for a paper that we want to do. We also realized that we had a journal paper under review that we had comepletely forgotten about. Anywho…then I proceeded to fall asleep at my desk until about noon. 😦 I could not get myself together the rest of the day so I made a to do list, balanced my checkbook, and applied for 3 faculty positions and then I went home around 5:30pm. Monday was a #halffail.

    Tuesday (166 days to go). My students have their final presentations today from now until 2 or 3pm. Hence my day belongs to them. After the presentations I have to do housekeeping and then I will probably go home because I went to prayer meeting this morning so I have been up since 5am. I will back-up my computer on my external hard-drive before I go home though, something that I try to do every week and I keep that copy at home. I know we were talking about that on here a little while ago. The disk I have is from Dell and it was like $40 but that was about 2 years ago when I bought it. It gives me peace of mind.

    This week my focus is getting Chapter 4 to 50% and I will get it done. I struggle with not wanting to make so many major changes on my own without my advisor but thats because I am still being wanned off of her so bear with me. I am getting there.

    I’m off to serve my students.

    Happy Tuesday.

    Nikki

    Reply
  468. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello teamgetitdone
    It’s Tuesday and Nikki has 166 more days to go and moving slowly into the realm of independent researcher. Nikki just remember to document the rationale for your decisions. Research is also about building a persuasive argument for your point of view. My countdown with Nvivo continues and I missed a couple of days last week that I will not be able to get back. Nonetheless, I continue to move forward without looking back at the time that I have lost. Today the task is to look forward and make the best use of the time I have today. I suggest that we work on that issue today. Keep it moving in the right direction.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Thanks Dr. CV, I am moving forward. 🙂

      Reply
  469. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    Today, I’m struggling. Very tired!

    Anyways, my goals are 1) to do some research and 2) spend most of my time grading. I really need to catch with this grading, but there is just so much and being tired doesn’t help. Anyways, I am pushing through the tiredness/fatigue.

    Have a great and productive day.

    Reply
  470. Alexis Williams Avatar
    Alexis Williams

    Welcome back, Jodian! Hi Everybody!

    Wed, Day 114 – I had to check in finally. I’m into my stats challenge month. I’m reading and running what I can, putting together my basics and attempting the tough stuff. Yesterday I went to Harford county one last time and talked to some teachers to beg for their participation. They looked like they were trying to look friendly but I could tell it had been a long day and they just wanted to get everything over with. I hope I get a good amount of participation (praying!!).

    Today is an assistantship day so I won’t get much done. I will leave campus right after work. But maybe I can do some more planning tonight once I get home, breaking down my stats challenge duties into manageable pieces according to date. That should work; I’ve been trying to get myself to do this for a while to give myself an “appropriate but determined” push.

    Have a great day, #TEAMGETITDONE!

    aLEXIS

    Reply
  471. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello Teamgetitdone
    We are coming down to the holidays again. We can’t going into the holidays without a plan. We must plan ahead and anticipate interruptions in our schedules, with feelings of both joy and despair. What is your plan B when plan A falls short. Will you give up and wait until the campus opens again? Will you find the local library, Starbucks, Einsteins, airport, to continue your work? What if you get snowed in and your flight gets canceled? During the winter holidays these events are not really a surprise anymore. Do you have a back up plan when your computer fails? Do you have a hard copy of your latest draft than can be scanned back in if need be? Have your used Dropbox to save the latest draft of your dissertation? Have you emailed a copy to your best friend? to yourself? Don’t wait until the impossible happens; by now you know that something will happen the question is what is your response going to be? We all write our dissertation hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. I wish you all the best in the coming days counting down until the defense, revisions and also graduation.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Hey Dr. CV,

      I am going home (Texas) next Thursday and I have included working days into my schedule. I have basically planned routine things to do that don’t require too much prep work and that I can do in about 2-3 hour time blocks because that is probably all I can afford to focus on at a time.

      So, I will find the local library which is close to my parents house because I can’t study at their house, too many bodies. I will not give up. I will post on the blog throughout the holidays in search of accountability and motivation. When I go home I have to up the rewards in order to get myself to do work, BUT the rewards at home are so much better than they are here in Maryland because all my favorite food and drink places are there and friends and family are just a phone call away. So I am surrounded by rewards, but I have to earn them.

      I am taking my laptop with my and my external hard drive which holds the latest copy of my dissertation. I will re-copy my computer before I leave again next Thursday. I will also e-mail a copy to my best friend and one of my sisters for safe keeping. Okay so I just did that, now I feel better. I hope my flights do not get cancelled but in case they do I will have my laptop in my carry on bag along with my power cords for #airportwriting sessions if needed.

      I do not have a hard copy, but I guess I could print one. That would suck the life out of our poor old office printer. Okay maybe I can do that now while my office mates are gone…..(insert sneaky look here)

      I was just talking with my sister last night because I always FREAK out about packing for long trips home like this so I started packing last night so that next Wednesday night I am not in a tissy. Thanks for all the questions and suggestions, I am going into action now!!

      Dr. CV, my editor got sick. I need to find a new one. I know a lady at my church who actually works at APA but I need to consult her about how much she charges since I am already over 100 pages and it is the holiday season so the budget is tight. Speaking of budgets, I am looking for one Alexis Williams to pay her $10 that I owe her……. 🙂

      Anyways, back to work.

      Nikki

      Reply
      1. Jodian Avatar
        Jodian

        Nikki, I must say I am very impressed! You’ve got a solid plan. Now I feel terrible, yet motivated.

        When I get breaks like Christmas, I have always seen it as a time to recuperate (especially after working on minimal sleep for more than half of the semester) and spend time with the family and friends. Furthermore, if I leave the country I REALLY don’t think or do work.

        Nevertheless, I think it is time for a change and the need to develop the spirit of getting some work done no matter what. Thanks Dr Carter for really shedding light on my folly. I don’t leave until a few days before Christmas so I will spend the last week and a half to come with my plan.

        As for today, it’s back to more grading and at least 1-2 hours of research.

        Have a great day!

        Reply
      2. lenisaj Avatar
        lenisaj

        Thank you Dr. CV. I need to get a plan in place. I think I may just try to cross the street an go to Atlanta Bread if campus closes but I need to develop a more solid plan.

        Reply
    2. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      113

      LOL at Nikki’s “looking for one Alexis Williams” (sneaky look here). 🙂

      Dr. CV, I am so happy to NOT be traveling but I still have to do all of this. We get snow (and tornadoes and hurricanes AND earthquakes) in MD, too, so I have to be just as prepared for a 1/2 hour commute as for a 10 hour one.

      I will continue to back up everything I work on in computer files/ jump drive files/ Dropbox. It’s also a good idea to email everything to myself – I can use my Gmail for that.

      And I will also set my steady, realistic goals so I don’t come back in January surprised at my lack of productivity – like you said, that’s old and I’m over it. Time to #GetErDone…

      Reply
  472. Renetta Garrison Tull Avatar
    Renetta Garrison Tull

    Hello everyone! Congratulations on continuing to blog!! I’m just checking in quickly to say hello. Here are some quick thoughts:

    1) Regarding editing, consider some of your friends and colleagues in the English Department or in another discipline. They might enjoy earning a little bit of extra money. In addition, some of them might edit in their jobs and are in doctoral programs as career professionals.

    2) Would you be interested in coming together for a “DH Working Day” at UMBC? You would be working on your own, but you would be together. You can pick a spot to do this at College Park, or you can come to UMBC. I’ll be in the office on Dec. 14 and Dec. 21. If you come on Dec. 21, you can join us for lunch in the Skylight room. That is our Dec. commencement day, so we should be able to get a room in the Commons. I’m also on campus on Weds. Dec. 14, so if you want a room on that day, we can probably work something out.

    Take care and good luck!

    #TeamGetitDone!

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Hi Dr. Tull!

      I’ll be at work both of those days but it sounds like a great day for productivity (probably with free parking)!

      You remind me that Dr. Marcy Marinelli at the Learning Assistance Service of the Counseling Center is going to try to organize some Friday study days in January similar to what we’ve done for Dissertation House. She has heard wonderful things about the DHouse and wants to continue the community effort.

      Reply
  473. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    I just had a thought, since we are sisters in the dissertation does anyone on here want to swap editing with me? I’ll proof yours if you proof mine. I have done editing for journal papers and for my advisor I would prefer someone else to take the first editing pass at my document. We can talk about the details offline.

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Ooh, that would be tough for me right now. It seems like I’m perpetually behind and I don’t want you waiting around for me, which inevitably you would. It’s a good idea, I’m just not sure I could do it at this point.

      I hate to volunteer her, but Margaret from our group just finished! She’s done (and tired) and happy! I don’t know if she’d be up for something like this, but it might not hurt to ask. If nothing else, at least we can congratulate her on breaking through!

      Reply
    2. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Ok, never mind on the Margaret suggestion – she’s still finishing up with teaching her classes, so she’s still very busy. Congrats, Margaret!

      Reply
  474. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    113

    It seems like my computers are taking extra long to load this page. Are we posting too much? 🙂

    I just got out of my last stats lecture for factor analysis after a full day of work at my assistantship. My goal is to take what I’ve learned (am still learning) and apply it to my analyses. I still don’t know how many new participants I’m going to get by December 22, but after that, I’ll just go with it. Which means I have my own deadline for getting my understanding of all the assumptions, descriptions, etc. under my belt by then. Two weeks!

    I have serious brain drain, so I’m going to plan for tomorrow and the weekend and go to bed. Not much time left!

    Reply
    1. Margaret Udahogora Avatar
      Margaret Udahogora

      Hello everyone,

      I hope this message finds you well. This is to inform you that I completed my defense a week ago. It went well and the feedback from my advisor was outstanding.

      My sincere gratitude to goes Dr. Wendy Carter and Dr. Renetta Garrison Tull for their guidance and support. I do appreciate also all the Promise staff and my colleagues at UMD who worked with me over the weekends. I wish you success and look forward to hear great news from you all!

      Margaret Udahogora Ph.D., RD !!!!

      Reply
      1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
        Alexis Y Williams

        So SO awesome!!!

        Reply
        1. Jodian Avatar
          Jodian

          Congrats Margaret!

          At Nikki, I actually haven’t started writing the physical dissertation, as I am still early in the process of getting data. However, I have experience in writing fellowship application and scientific articles for school assignments and helped in preparation of a manuscript for a journal submission.

          I am a slow reader, but very thorough and I would be willing to read it for you. Let me know at jobrown1@umbc.edu.

          I finished the set of lab reports I have been grading since last week. Today, the plan is to put in some major time for research and some time for starting the new reports.

          Have terrific day!

          Reply
      2. drwendycarter Avatar
        drwendycarter

        Hello Margaret
        That is great news. We love it when you successfully complete your goal. Congratulations on completing your PhD. Welcome to the Club. Glad you drank the Kool-aid!

        Reply
  475. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    Monday! 159 days to go and today didn’t start so well, I had some bad or old food yesterday and I am still feeling the side effects.

    Anyways I walked in my office about an hour ago and I think my students can smell me because they came at me like wild animals. Today is about planning and preparing since my tummy won’t let me mind focus. I am leaving Thursday for Texas so I need to re-arrange files and put the important ones in my dropbox to work on while I am at home. I also have some higher education chronicles stacked on my desk that I need to look for jobs in and return them back to my department. There are always student concerns so I will wade through those as they come.

    I already have an entire day of scanning to do tomorrow when I collect my final journals from my students. As for my dissertation the most I can do (12 minutes) is read this paper my advisor sent me on Friday to see if it belongs in my dissertation, that is about all I can manage today.

    Nikki

    Reply
  476. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    373 Days and counting
    On Saturday I hit the 90% mark in addressing the comments and feedback from my advisor and chair. This week my intention to get the other 10% finished and resubmit to paper. My class has there final tomorrow and they have been emailing with every concern imaginable. My co lecturer and I have agreed to sit down on Tuesday (tomorrow) evening and grade all the papers!! I have assistantship duties from 8-5 so we grade from 5 to…we finished.

    Tomorrow in order to be sure I do something I would print what I have done thus far and read it while they take the test.
    Have a great week #teamgetitdone

    Reply
  477. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    It’s been a struggle getting my grading done. I completed my quantum chemistry report and presentation, so that was good. But, now it’s time to finish grading and do some major research before break. I get the research done, but I fall asleep during grading no matter where I am.

    So, the goal for today is to allot some grading time during the morning (when I’m at my best) and some in the evening. There will also be time for research.

    Have a great day everyone! Safe travel to Nikki!

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Thanks Jodian!

      Reply
  478. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Hello All
    To all of the December graduates, congratulations on successfully completing your PhD. Does anyone know if Tommy finished? For the upcoming May graduates 2012 is your time and date to finished.This might be the last Christmas that you have to spend working on your dissertation. Just imagine that this same time next year, you will be relaxed and really enjoying the holidays without a sense of guilt. Keep up the good work and keep the countdown going.

    Reply
  479. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    Beyond writing the last draft of your dissertation, to graduate in May there are a number of dates and deadlines you must remain cognizant of. There are deadlines for filing for graduation, a dissertation defense, dissertation announcement, making revisions, ordering a cap and gown, depositing your dissertation, sending the dissertation out for binding, filling out the Survey of Earned Doctorates, paying all of your outstanding debts, etc. Do you know what the deadlines for your university are for 2012? Do you have them posted on your calender or in a prominent place to jog your memory. Missing a critical deadline can have negative emotional as well as financial consequences. It is your responsibility to be aware of these deadlines not your advisor’s. Get the calendar out and start the new year off right by writing down these deadlines.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      Hi Dr. CV,

      I just put all those important dates on my calendar. I have them written down but on the calendar is a good place to have them as well. Thanks for the reminder, I have 4 important dates: application for graduation, nomination of my committee members, uploading my dissertation document, and graduation!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have these dates also posted on my headboard so every night (when I’m at home) I pray over them because I am expecting God to help me as I pursue greatness!

      Nikki

      Reply
    2. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Oh, this is good…

      Reply
  480. lenisaj Avatar
    lenisaj

    368 Days and counting.
    I finished the comments from my advisor but did not resubmit the paper. There seemed to be some holes that I need to address and I do want someone else to read and edit before sending it to them. I meet with my co lecturer on Tuesday night and graded all the papers WHEW! Class did well, can’t recall the distribution of grades now but there were more A’s than B’s and no score lower than a B.

    Today I am meeting with the Community of Writers (COW) My goals
    Make a schedule for Winter term
    Write a draft of the purpose statement for a scholarship application due in mid January.

    Reply
  481. drwendycarter Avatar
    drwendycarter

    To all of you working on your dissertation this holiday season, Happy Holidays. Let’s make our New Year’s Resolution to complete the PhD, complete our proposal, complete our comprehensive exams. Finish what you start and get what you came for.

    I wish you all the best in the coming year. We will be moving over to a new blog page in January with the start of the Winter DH for UMBC students. Join us on line Tues, Jan 17th, 2012.

    Reply
    1. drwestmoreland Avatar
      drwestmoreland

      151 days to go…..
      That is the BEST New Year’s Resolution!!
      I am in Texas now and have been sick since I arrived on Thursday. Last night was the first night that I pulled out my laptop to check e-mails and such. I have a phone interview today for a job at a BIG school here in Texas so I plan to spend the remainder of this morning preparing for that interview.
      I also plan to look at a research paper that my advisor and I have been working on and send her the draft copy tonight, even if it is late I need to get that to her.
      Since I am at home this makes doing work harder because I want to play around, but I will remain as focused as possible. Actually it was kind of good that I have been sick because my body was able to rest properly. I still have another week and a half to press forward with my dissertation goals.

      Nikki

      Reply
  482. drwestmoreland Avatar
    drwestmoreland

    I just finished my telephone interview now I need to go visit my grandmother, I will work on the draft paper when I return.

    One of the questions was: Are you still on track to graduate in May 2012? I proudly answered YES YES YES YES!!!

    Happy Tuesday in Dissertation Land!

    151 days to go…..

    Nikki

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Alexis likes this!

      Reply
  483. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    Day 99.
    Struggling. Try again tomorrow.

    Reply
  484. Alexis Y. Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y. Williams

    Day 98.

    Ok, this counting down has intimidated me enough. I am in the office and have sent off a final reminder to my last school, I have requested a meeting for January from my advisor, and I will work on my stats until it’s assistantship time.

    I haven’t gotten up on time for something like two weeks. Three weeks makes it a habit, so I’m not letting that one set in. I was so grateful to be out of bed on time today, it was like I finally came out of a foggy bad dream. I was rushing everywhere and arriving late, and my focus has been nonexistent. I have seen some amazing progress in my friends, and they are thanking God, so I will be inspired by the message I am receiving.

    Good Day, #TEAMGETITDONE. It’s good to be back.

    Alexis

    Reply
  485. Jodian Avatar
    Jodian

    I have Finally completed TA grading, which meant I got no sleep last night. Now I’m awaiting to hand them off to the professor. While I wait, I plan to do some research and reach to a nice stopping place.

    My goals for the break, which starts tomorrow are:
    1) work on a poster presentation that I will be presenting in January 2012
    2) find an internet cafe and try to work on some job submission
    3) read one journal article

    I will have limited internet access, but I will check in when possible. Wishing you all a terrific holiday!

    – Jodian

    Reply
    1. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
      Alexis Y Williams

      Hope you had a great holiday season, Jodian! Did you get any of your goals done?
      Take care.

      Alexis

      Reply
  486. Alexis Y Williams Avatar
    Alexis Y Williams

    I’m finally back. Gearing up… hey… Look what I found!

    https://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/winter-challenge-2012/

    Let’s Go, #TeamGetItDone – in 2012

    Reply
  487. Dissertation House at 2012 SSI for “Alumni” – Friday, August 17 | The Dissertation House Avatar
    Dissertation House at 2012 SSI for “Alumni” – Friday, August 17 | The Dissertation House

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What is dissertation house?


The Dissertation House program is an intensive writing retreat designed to help graduate students overcome the barriers that often impede progress on their dissertations. Developed by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the program provides a supportive and structured environment where students can focus on their writing, receive feedback, and learn effective time management and goal-setting strategies. Over several days, students work in groups, participate in workshops, and receive coaching from experienced facilitators. The Dissertation House program has been highly successful in helping students make significant progress on their dissertations. It is widely regarded as a valuable resource for graduate students seeking to complete their degrees.

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